On April 2, the Lone Star College System’s board of trustees approved unchanged tuition rates for the 2026-27 school year and discussed lowering the rates in the future.

What happened: During the LSCS trustees’ regular April 2 meeting, trustees unanimously approved the proposed tuition rates for the 2026-27 school year. The rates will remain at:

• $111 per credit hour for in-district students
• $249 per credit hour for out-of-district students
• $313 per credit hour for out-of-state/international students
• $43 per credit hour for dual credit students

On April 11, Cypress Ace Hardware and Feed will be celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The gist: Founded by Bill and Susan Murff in 1996, the location has hosted multiple community events to support local charities, according to their website. To celebrate this occasion, the location will be offering deals to its customers.

These deals include up to 20-30% off select in-store items and more.

• 11655 Jones Road, Houston

Student homelessness increased across many Greater Houston-area school districts over the last five school years, while foster care numbers showed a more uneven pattern from district to district, according to Texas Education Agency data released March 6.

The overview: Community Impact reviewed TEA data for 28 Greater Houston-area school districts to compare the number of enrolled students identified as experiencing homelessness or living in foster care in 2025-26 versus 2021-22. In the foster care data, Fort Bend ISD and Aldine ISD had the highest counts in 2025-26. 

In the homelessness data, Houston ISD stood above the rest of the districts shown, nearing 6,000 students in 2025-26. Other districts, including Alief ISD, Clear Creek ISD, Conroe ISD and Fort Bend ISD, all showed higher homeless student counts in 2025-26 than in 2021-22, while several others were flat or down.

Missed any Community Impact articles from this week? Check out five trending stories in the Greater Houston area from March 30-April 2.

• Harris County Precinct 3 pilots new approach to street repair with recycled tires
• Buttermilk Cafe opening in Willis
• Big Air slated to open Missouri City location this summer
• Booked and busy: 31 stores to visit during the Houston Independent Bookstore Crawl
• New modern, retail, dining space coming to League City

Three medical cannabis businesses have been conditionally approved to participate in the Texas Compassionate Use Program, state officials announced April 1.

The big picture: The companies received conditional licenses from the Texas Department of Public Safety in an effort to expand access to medical cannabis products. Under the compassionate use program, physicians can prescribe medical-grade, low-THC products to eligible patients in partnership with licensed dispensaries.

Zooming in: Two of the three businesses given conditional licenses April 1 are affiliated with existing medical cannabis dispensaries that work in several other states. The new licensees are:

• GTI Texas, LLC (doing business as RISE Dispensaries) in West Texas
• Cresco Labs Texas, LLC in East Texas
• Texas Medica Collective, LLC in Northeast Texas