News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Top Stories: Paxton Approached School Districts Before Federal Lawsuit

Marjorie Kamys Cotera
/
Texas Tribune
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The top local stories this morning from KERA News: State Attorney General Ken Paxton asked two school districts in North Texas to pass restroom policies at odds with federal guidelines.

The Texas Tribune reports Paxton’s office approached the Harrold and Wichita Falls school districts about adopting a policy for transgender students he could use as an example in a lawsuit against the federal government. That policy would require students to use restrooms according to the gender cited on their birth certificates

The Wichita Falls school board decided not to adopt it, but Harrold trustees did.

When Paxton talked about the suit Wednesday, he said the small school district would be hard hit if the Obama administration revoked federal money for not complying with its transgender guidelines.

A Paxton spokesperson did not provide a number on how many districts the Attorney General approached.

Other stories this morning:

  • The family of Antoinette Brown is asking the city of Dallas for $5 million due to Animal Control’s quote “negligent administration and policies.” Brown died earlier this month after she was mauled by a pack of stray dogs. Mayor Mike Rawlings promised an overhaul of city policies on handling aggressive dogs.
  • In our Friday Conversation, a Dallas surgeon talks about how he almost died from the West Nile Virus a decade ago.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.

Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.