Five times Texas has shut down struggling school districts

Mihir Zaveri

Nov. 16, 2015Updated: Nov. 16, 2015 5:05 p.m.

1of2Students leave La Marque High School in the afternoon, Friday, Nov. 13, 2015, in La Marque. The school district will be shut down at the end of the school year.Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle

Last week, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced he was closing down Galveston County's La Marque Independent School District, which Texas Education Agency officials called an extraordinary move reserved for circumstances where no other action could improve student welfare.

Williams' decision followed years of academic and financial problems at La Marque. The superintendent there -- Terri Watkins -- announced her resignation last month after two years at the district, stating that she had inherited problems from previous administrations.

Larry Callies, left, and Bud Northington, right, tour the inside of a slave quarters in Northington's family land, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Egypt. Callies says Northington is a descendant of a slave owner who owned, and bred with, Callies's lineage. Callies will be staying overnight in the preserved slave quarters and former plantation of Northington's relatives. Callies owner of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg.

Larry Callies, left, and Bud Northington talk while seated inside a slave quarters in Northington's family land, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Egypt. Callies says Northington is a descendant of a slave owner who owned, and bred with, Callies's lineage. Callies will be staying overnight in the preserved slave quarters and former plantation of Northington's relatives. Callies owner of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg.

Larry Callies, owner of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg, smiles as he talks about staying overnight in the slave quarters of Bud Northington's family land, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Egypt. Callies says Northington is a descendant of a slave owner who owned, and bred with, Callies's lineage.

Larry Callies, owner of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg, gets his horse ready to ride while visiting Bud Northington's family land, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Egypt. Callies says Northington is a descendant of a slave owner who owned, and bred with, Callies's lineage.

Bud Northington, left, and Larry Callies, right, talk right outside of a slave quarters in Northington's family land, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Egypt. Callies says Northington is a descendant of a slave owner who owned, and bred with, Callies's lineage. Callies will be staying overnight in the preserved slave quarters and former plantation of Northington's relatives. Callies owner of the Black Cowboy Museum in Rosenberg.

Juneteenth

A Black cowboy learned his friend's family enslaved his ancestors. Now they're even closer.

Ahead of Juneteenth, one of Texas' last Black cowboys spent the night at a plantation owned by his longtime friend. The pair recently discovered they're distant cousins because of slavery.

By Ryan Nickerson

Five times Texas has shut down struggling school districts

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