State of Texas takes control of Houston-area district

The North Forest (Texas) school board has fired Superintendent James Simpson today after the Texas Education Agency announced plans to place an outside financial manager in charge of the school system's spending. Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley says the 9,000-student district in northeast Houston has had problems managing its finances "for the past several years." A recent state audit found the district failed to keep adequate records to document whether it appropriately spent $23 million in federal funds and $41 million in voter-approved bond money. North Forest officials have been unable to show how they spent millions of dollars that the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded them after Tropical Storm Allison damaged district facilities in 2001.

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