Latest news with #LaceyBeasley
CBS News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
North Texas educators talk pros, cons of new bill that would allow young children to be suspended from school
Texas lawmakers are working on a bill that could change how children are disciplined in school. It's called House Bill 6. If passed, this would allow suspensions for students from pre-K to second grade – students ages 4 to 8. Under HB 6, students can be suspended if there's an offense related to weapons; if students threaten the immediate health and safety of others; or if they repeatedly or significantly disrupt the classroom, as determined by the campus administrator. If passed, the bill would allow in-school suspensions up to 10 days and out-of-school suspensions up to three days. Are those students too young to be suspended? To get answers, Lacey Beasley spoke with Kennedale ISD's superintendent and director of counseling services for their take. Kennedale ISD has a disciplinary program to prevent suspensions at all ages. Kennedale ISD superintendent Dr. Chad Gee said a lot of behavior issues go back to life at home. "I will say that Kennedale is not against it. I think there must be some guardrails in place," Gee said. "We are a district of innovation, so we previously already put in place on that plan to be able to suspend students below third grade, but we limited it to two days. Not three days, like the normal suspensions are." In an interview with Lacey Beasley, Gee and Stephanie Devlin, director of counseling services at Kennedale ISD, talked about the pros and cons of the bill. The following conversation was lightly edited for clarity. Lacey Beasley: Do you think that pre-K to second grade age, is that too young to be suspending students? Gee: This is where HB 6 comes into play, and this is where our district of innovation comes into play. We were experiencing students with very severe behaviors that were compromising the classroom environment. I watched a 5-year-old tear up a kindergarten classroom, and when I say tear it up, I mean destroy it. It's real. And how are those teachers supposed to educate all the students in their classrooms with that going on? We don't necessarily have the resources to deal with a lot of those behaviors, so I see the purpose with HB 6. Devlin: It's never our first go-to in any grade level, especially at this grade. Multiple interventions and conversations are done prior to reaching the point of putting a student outside of school. Beasley: If home life is not okay, then there's no way school life can be okay. Gee: How are they supposed to learn when they're dealing with all these other things in their life? It could be food insecurity. We see kids who witness things that they shouldn't be witnessing. Devlin: I remember sitting in a training hearing, if they're mad or sad, they can't add, which is the simplicity of that is so true even for adults. We can't control that in their homes. We can control that here.
CBS News
02-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Parents encourage others to vote after school closures in the Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD
CBS News Texas is dedicated to keeping you informed on the current state of education in Texas with a new segment called "The Learning Curve." You can watch "The Learning Curve" every weekday morning during CBS News Texas Mornings at 6 a.m. If you have something education related you would like us to look into, send us an email at texaseducations@ . A group of Carrollton Farmers Branch parents are calling for others to get out and vote after they say they were blindsided by the decision to close four schools within their district. The school board voted to shut down the four schools due to a lack of state funding. The schools that are slated to close at the end of the school year are; McCoy Elementary, Furneaux Elementary, Central Elementary and Long Middle School. "Are y'all considering leaving CSB ISD after this decision?" CBS News Texas Reporter Lacey Beasley asked a group of parents. "I was a student in this district for 12 years. We bought this house because it was in CFB ISD and for the first time, I am considering moving my youngest to a different district. It's just the blatant lack of transparency and the blatant disrespect, quite frankly, from these people that we are supposed to entrust our children's education with," said Tierney Gonzalez, a parent in the district. McCoy parents recently combed through financial records and performance evaluations, trying to understand why the district decided to permanently shut the school's doors. Families say McCoy is the heartbeat of the neighborhood, and it's highly regarded for its LEAP program for exceptionally gifted students. According to CFBISD, it's an old building in a feeder pattern that currently has four elementary schools all located within a mile of each other, so closing it would improve district-wide utilization. "I wish I was more involved, I wish I pay more attention. What's going on? And now I'm seeing everything. I'm like, oh my God, all these things were happening. And like, we didn't know. We just trusted them," said parent Venus Basaran. "I always vote in the elections. I don't always know a lot, but I always go and vote. But now I know so much about it," said parent Mary Patton. "These elections are really important. And even if you don't live in this district, go to your own district and look who's your board members. What do they stand for?, said Basaran. "You woke us all up. We are awake. We are fighting. We're not going anywhere. You close our school. We're not done. I'm not done. If McCoy closes this year and my kids are in a different school next year, I'm active," said Patton. "It doesn't involve you until it does and at that point, it may be too late. You know you're safe until you're not," said Gonzalez. North Texas school board elections are approaching, with numerous seats up for grabs across the region. You can check your registration status by going to the Texas Secretary of State website. The last day to register to vote in the May 3rd election is April 3rd.
