Beaumont ISD Raided by FBI – Admins Stole Millions – Texas to Take Over School District?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided the Beaumont Independent School District and homes of two top School Officials. The FBI is assisting the US Attorney’s Office investigate allegations that School Officials created bogus accounts to steal money from the school and from the taxpayers. There is no official figure but rumors are that the total stolen could be in the millions of dollars.

No one should really be surprised at this I suppose. We are talking about the notoriously corrupt Beaumont ISD. I have written several articles about Beaumont ISD corruption in the last few years and I never even scratched the surface. My most recent article about Beaumont ISD was only a couple of weeks ago and was about a Federal Judge ruling the Beaumont ISD/DOJ election was illegal and also about BISD paying a top Administrator, Jessie Haynes, to be a fugitive.

According to KBMT Channel 12 News in Beaumont, “Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the administration building early Thursday morning. They also raided the home of the district's Director of Finance Devin McCraney and the home of District Comptroller Sharika Allison.”

The Texas Education Agency is currently investigating BISD. It is believed that the TEA discovered the mismanaged money trail and contacted the Federal Authorities which led to the raid. The State of Texas denies that they knew anything of the FBI raid and the TEA says their investigation is unrelated to what the FBI is investigating.

Will this latest incident be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and forces the State of Texas to take over Beaumont ISD? This would not be the first time. Beaumont ISD has a long history of corruption and the State of Texas has had to take over the School District at least once before.

BISD School Board Member Mike Neil has been fighting to correct problems in the school district ever since he was elected. Neil told KFDM Channel 6 News in Beaumont, "There's no doubt in my mind there's been corruption in the past," said Neil. "Whether or not there's currently corruption, I'm not going to say. But there's no doubt in my mind this is not a correctly run district, especially from a business standpoint."

Texas Senate passes sweeping charter school bill expanding number of charter schools

from KFDM 6 News: http://www.kfdm.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/kfdm_vid_4444.shtml

By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Senate has overwhelming approved a dramatic expansion of the number of charter schools allowed to operate in Texas.

But what passed wasn't nearly as ambitious as originally proposed.

Sen. Dan Patrick's bill would increase the cap on the number of licenses to operate charter schools statewide from the current 215 up to 305 by September 2019.

It passed 30-1 on Thursday with surprisingly little debate. Democrats and Republicans alike then congratulated Patrick.

The measure now heads to the House, where it faces a tougher road.

Patrick had originally pushed for lifting entirely the cap on licenses, and creating a special board to oversee a flood of new applications he expected would follow.

But Patrick said the bill that passed is "much, much better" than the original.

Texas Senate Approves Drug Testing for Welfare

from KFDM News: http://www.kfdm.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/kfdm_vid_4423.shtml

By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The Texas Senate has passed a bill to drug test some welfare applicants and cut off drug users from receiving money.

The bill by Sen. Jane Nelson, a Flower Mound Republican, covers adults applying to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides poor people with money for food, clothing, housing and other basic needs.

The bill passed Wednesday temporarily cuts off benefits to drug users, with a permanent ban after three failed drug tests. Money would still go to an applicant's minor children through a third party.

The program spends about $90 million on 100,000 Texans every year. Nelson says taxpayer money should not be used to support a drug habit.

The bill now goes to the House for consideration.Senate approves drug testing for welfare