Today’s Texas School News

BASTROP, Texas (AP) — A Central Texas school district devastated by 2011 wildfires has recovered enough to lower its tax rate.
The Austin American-Statesman (http://bit.ly/15LFCZE ) reported Sunday that rapid growth has more than made up for money lost by the Bastrop Independent School District. The district this fall knocked 2 cents off of its tax rate.

Wildfires that started Labor Day weekend 2011 destroyed nearly 1,700 homes and burned about 32,000 acres. The disaster also wiped out $1.7 million in property tax revenue for schools. Records show 138 students left the district, costing an additional $815,965 in funding for per-student attendance.Superintendent Steve Murray says the school district now has 350 more students than before the fire. Projected enrollment this year is about 9,400 students.

Online:http://www.bisdtx.org/

SPRING, Texas (AP) — Children have returned to classes amid tighter security following a knife fight at a Houston-area school that left one student dead and three hurt.

Metal detectors were in place Monday at Spring High School in Spring, about 20 miles north of Houston.

The campus was closed since last Wednesday's attack left 17-year-old Joshua Devon Broussard dead. Harris County sheriff's deputies arrested 17-year-old Luis Alonzo Alfaro, who was being held Monday on a murder charge with bond set at $140,000.

Investigators blame gang rivalry for the fight in a corridor. Principal Donna Ullrich has announced six meetings are planned with parents to discuss school safety and security.

A service Sunday night for Broussard was disrupted when shots were fired outside Spring Baptist Church. No injuries were reported and nobody was arrested.