13 Investigates finds 1 in 5 terror threats against Texas schools was made in Houston area
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The 13 Investigates team discovered that one in five terroristic threats in Texas schools are made in the Houston area.
Last school year, there were more than 3,244 terroristic threats made against Texas schools.
Most were unsubstantiated but still greatly impacted attendance.
The Texas Education Administration (TEA) grants low attendance waivers for safety reasons ranging from terroristic threats to broken pipes. A district is eligible for a waiver when school is held, but attendance is at least 10 percentage points below average. Waivers allow districts to exclude low attendance days from Average Daily Attendance (ADA) and Foundation School Program (FSP) funding calculations.
At a school board meeting Tuesday, the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD met to discuss submitting a waiver to the TEA.
ABC13 reviewed low attendance waivers according to the TEA in the area from 2017-2023.
Cy-Fair ISD
2019 - 2020
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting two schools.
Houston ISD
2019 - 2020
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting four schools. Missed school days waiver granted for safety incidents impacting all campuses.
2017 - 2018
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting seven schools.
2018 - 2019
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting 10 schools.
Katy ISD
No low attendance or missed school days tied solely to safety issues.
Fort Bend ISD
2017 - 2018
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting two schools.
2018-2019
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting one school.
2019-2020
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting one school. Missed school days were granted for safety incidents impacting seven schools.
2022-2023
Low attendance waiver granted for safety incidents impacting five schools.
Editor's note: Safety incidents explicitly attributed to weather and infrastructure excluded.
In the past school year, 34 waivers were granted for low attendance by the TEA for safety incidents in Houston-area schools; Friendswood - four, Pasadena- six, Aldine - three, Conroe - one, Fort Bend - five, Lamar CISD - two, Galena Park - three, Sheldon - one for all campuses (impacting 13 schools), Goose Creek ISD - five, Spring Branch ISD - one, Clear Creek - one, Dayton - one, and Brazosport - one.
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