Local Matters Advocacy Weatherford, TX - Devon Flowers, M.Ed

A very important special education case involving Weatherford ISD is making its way through the courts, and the outcome could affect families across Texas.

Here’s what’s happening... A student named Kelton Lightfoot who has a traumatic brain injury and significant disabilities attended Weatherford ISD. His father Shannon Harriman says the district was unable to provide the education and services his son needed under federal special education law (IDEA). Eventually, Kelton was placed in a residential treatment facility in Utah because his needs were so significant.

Like any parent who believes their child’s rights have been violated, Harriman used what’s called special education due process. For anyone unfamiliar with that term, due process is basically the legal system for special education. It’s how parents challenge a school district if they believe their child has been denied a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) or other protections guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Normally, an independent hearing officer hears evidence from both sides and decides whether the district followed the law, but this case has become bigger than one student.

According to the lawsuit, the family argues that the way Texas runs its special education due process system creates barriers that make it difficult for families to really access the process. It is not only “Weatherford ISD making the wrong decision" but also highlights how the system parents are supposed to use to challenge decisions isn’t equally accessible to everyone.

The case now involves Weatherford ISD and Texas Education Agency (TEA) since TEA oversees the state’s special education due process system. If courts agree with the family’s arguments, Texas could be required to make changes on how special education due process hearings are conducted statewide. That means the outcome could affect thousands of families not just one.

This case is important because it raises bigger questions...
• Can every parent realistically access the due process system?
• Are there unnecessary barriers that prevent families from enforcing their child’s rights?
• Is Texas meeting its responsibilities under federal special education law?

(Note: It’s important to remember that these are allegations being argued through the legal process. The courts have not issued a final ruling on the broader claims, and Weatherford ISD and the TEA have the opportunity to present their side as the case moves forward.)

Source

Ruhman, A. (2026, July 28). In “limbo”: North Texas family’s legal battle with school district could affect special ed statewide. KERA News.

For most people, “work is where they’re on their best behavior.”

Let that sink in.

Fill out the returning student verification forms so your child can be added to teacher rosters!

Instructions:
https://www.weatherfordisd.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=236880&type=d&pREC_ID=615145

“Most of life is just ordinary. You gotta be happy alone. You gotta be happy a little bored. You gotta be happy when things are hard. You gotta learn to be satisfied when you failed and things don’t go your way. All of that keeps you getting up. I think there are a lot of young people who are searching for this impossible feeling of continuous happiness.” -Michelle Obama

If y’all haven’t checked out CommUNITY (right next to Unity Recovery), you should‼️‼️‼️

I think I saw them post about it on Facebook before, but I didn’t really know what it was or meant until someone mentioned it in the Mafia Moms group. Since I have gamer kids, it piqued my interest, so we stopped by today… and it was way cooler than I expected.

They’ve got a section of gaming computers with headphones, Nintendo Switches, PlayStations, Xboxes, a huge TV with gamer chairs, and several vintage arcade games. They have plenty of places for parents to sit, chill, charge their phones, and just hang out while kids play. Everything is new which makes it even more fun. It’s a nice place to spend a hour or two, especially during this brutal heat... PLUS IT IS FREE‼️‼️‼️

For community spaces like this to succeed people actually have to use them… It’s a free community resource, and I’d love to see it stick around so if you’re looking for somewhere to take your kids, I’d definitely recommend stopping by and checking it out. 😊😊

Unity Recovery
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No one knows when morality began but likely developed over a long period of time. Modern humans have been around for about 300,000 years. Christianity is about 2,000 years old. People were raising families, living in communities, settling disputes, and surviving together for a long time. Some of the building blocks of morality aren’t unique to humans. Chimpanzees can protest unfair treatment. Bonobos comfort distressed members of their group. Elephants protect injured herd members and appear to grieve their dead. Wolves cooperate to survive. They are kinds of social behaviors that morality can expand from.

During early human life if everyone in a small group stole often, abandoned children, or killed over every disagreement then that group probably wouldn’t survive. Groups that cooperated, shared resources, protected children, cared for injured people, and built trust were likely to make it. Over thousands of generations, those behaviors became customs, then expectations, and eventually written laws.

We have archaeological evidence suggesting compassion existed too. At Shanidar Cave, in present day Iraq, researchers discovered remains of ancient humans with severe injuries and disabilities who lived years after those injuries occurred. They couldn’t survive on their own. Someone had to feed them, protect them, and care for them.

When civilizations began writing laws, moral codes existed in different cultures. The Code of Hammurabi in Babylon, ancient Egyptian ideas about justice and truth, Confucian teachings in China, Hindu traditions, and Greek philosophy contained ethical principles. Different societies, separated by geography and culture often have the same basic conclusions like don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t betray your community, care for your family, and keep your word. The way so many societies developed similar core values without sharing the same religion suggests morality isn’t exclusive to one religion.

It is more likely that humans are social creatures who evolved in groups where empathy, cooperation, fairness, and protecting one another helped to survive, and people avoid causing harm (or should avoid it) because other people also experience pain, fear, love, joy, and grief.

Sources

Shanidar Cave, Evidence of long term care for injured prehistoric humans.

Code of Hammurabi, One of the earliest surviving written legal codes (c. 1750 BCE).

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871), Early argument that moral instincts evolved from social instincts.

Frans de Waal, The Bonobo and the Atheist (2013) and Primates and Philosophers (2006), Research on empathy, fairness, and cooperation in primates.

Smithsonian Institution, Research and educational resources on human evolution and the development of early human societies.

National Geographic Society, Articles on human evolution, prehistoric archaeology, and early civilizations.

Has anyone seen, "The Amazing Digital Circus?" If not, I think you’re missing out on one of the most underrated creative animated series to come out in a long time.

On the surface, it looks like chaotic internet humor with bright colors and goofy characters. The premise is a group of people who become trapped in a bizarre virtual circus after putting on mysterious VR headsets. They can’t remember much about their lives before, they can’t escape, and if the psychological stress becomes too much they can “abstract” which means they basically "lose themselves" completely. Every character copes differently. Some cling to routines, avoid reality with humor, become controlling, shut down, some desperately search for meaning...

What makes it good is how it uses a ridiculous digital setting to explore things like identity, anxiety, loneliness, depression, masking, purpose, grief, trauma, toxic positivity, and what it means to hold onto yourself when things around you feel fake.

The writing is really smart. Every episode has layers and reward paying attention, and there are details and visual storytelling moments that people spend a lot of time dissecting.

I also think it low key embraces people who may feel different. The fanbase is a lot of people who are LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, artistic, and creative. The creators have spoken about wanting the characters to be interpreted in ways that resonate with audiences vs forcing strict labels.

It balances existential horror with funny dialogue and is a rare show where kids can enjoy it and adults think about what it all means and also enjoy it. If you like weird internet culture, psychological stories, hidden symbolism, surreal humor, or animation that respects its audience’s intelligence, you'll probably like it but don't be fooled into thinking it’s “just a kids’ cartoon.”

Does anybody know if the largest Granbury Breaking News group is up and running? I’m assuming it is since it’s such a huge group. The only other explanation is that I got banned, which is CRAZY considering the stuff that gets posted in that trash a$& group DAILY.

I’m soooo curious after only a few days which comment finally did me in? Defending LGBTQ+ people every time the homophobic posts and comments rolled in which has been every freaking day, or was it my most recent comment calling out racism? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

Do you honk at people in traffic or at a light?