Conroe City Council approved new regulations Aug. 13 governing how data centers could be developed and operated in the city, as officials said there is already interest in bringing the industry to Conroe.

The details: The ordinance adds regulations covering permitting, construction, operation, decommissioning and public transparency for data center facilities.
Newly appointed Community Development Director Brandy Taylor said the goal was to put protections in place before a project moves forward.

“The reason for bringing this forward is to really have a mechanism in place so we can protect our infrastructure and our taxpayers,” Taylor said.
Taylor later told council there is already “some interest here in Conroe,” but she did not identify a company or proposed site during the discussion.

What you need to know: Under the ordinance, Conroe is open to data center development that is compatible with the community and existing infrastructure. A developer must demonstrate adequate water, sewer, street, drainage, signal and electrical capacity, while costs for infrastructure needed to serve the development must be funded by the owner.

Several Montgomery County school districts, including Conroe ISD, have seen enrollment increases in the last five years, while others in the Greater Houston region experienced losses.

Community Impact analyzed data from the Texas Education Agency to learn how many students were enrolled at public school districts for the 2025-26 school year compared to the 2021-22 school year.

The context: Over the last five years, more than half of public school districts across the Greater Houston area lost students, with one district—Aldine ISD—seeing a more than 15% decline in enrollment, according to Texas Education Agency data released for the 2025-26 year. In The Woodlands area, however, six districts analyzed from Montgomery County and North Houston show increases in that time frame.

On the heels of a week of budget workshops, Montgomery County commissioners are set to handle a range of regular business items during the Aug. 20 meeting such as approving vendors for several bond projects as well as advancing a flood mitigation project.

What you need to know: Several projects that could move forward this week include approving the vendor for debris monitoring for San Jacinto Watershed and Tributary Barrier Flood Mitigation projects, for Stewart Creek, Lake Creek and East County, according to the agenda.

In 2025, Community Impact reported that the Texas General Land Office announced $60.37 million in funding had been awarded for drainage improvements across the San Jacinto River watershed. Community Impact previously reported that the county's application was originally filed in 2022, and the funding would be used to remove obstructions, clean tributaries and repair eroding creek beds and stream banks.

Also of note: The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 20 at the Alan B. Sadler Commissioners Court Building.

Many Texas students began returning to the classroom for the 2026-27 school year in mid-August.

Here are five things Texans should know as the 2026-27 school year kicks off.

The details:

• 2026 school accountability ratings issued
• New rule impacts accountability-related school closures
• 100K students using new Texas Education Freedom Accounts
• Public school closures deepen across Texas
• Check out recent public education laws