The McKinney ISD board of trustees approved spending over $4.8 million on the next phase of renovations to Bennett Elementary School, Evans Middle School and McKinney Boyd High School at a March 23 meeting.

The board also approved spending approximately $4.8 million on an Apple device refresh for 15 elementary school campuses.

The details: The district previously approved spending nearly $6.86 million on upgrades to school facilities at a January meeting. The additional $4.8 million is for the next phases of these campus refresh projects, per district documents.

The district has approved approximately $11.6 million on campus refreshes for these three campuses as part of the summer 2026 campus refreshes, according to district documents. The repairs include blinds, wall panels, signage, resurfacing tennis courts, light fixtures and other miscellaneous repairs, district documents state. The cost breakdown for the repairs is as follows:

• Bennett Elementary School: $2.21 million
• Evans Middle School: $138,202
• McKinney Boyd High School: $1.89 million

Naba Style Nails recently opened in McKinney, business owner Nesim Zeydanli said.

The details: The beauty industry business offers Russian manicure and pedicure services.  

• 3721 S. Stonebridge Drive, Ste. 503, McKinney

Ambrosia closed its downtown McKinney location after the owner retired in late December, according to a company social media post.

The specifics: Ambrosia offered home goods, gifts, decor and more, per its social media. The storefront, which used to be a shared space with neighbor Patina Green, underwent renovations in January to divide it into two separate spaces.

• 116 N. Tennessee St., Ste. 101, McKinney

Construction at the Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth and paving along Legacy Drive in Prosper are two of many new projects filed recently with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Here are five of the most expensive permits filed with TDLR in the past week.

1. Cook Children’s West Tower expansion

2. Residence Inn McKinney

3. Legacy Drive paving and drainage improvements

4. Bank 7 Frisco Branch

5. Fuel station and car wash for H-E-B in Denton

Beginning April 1, Texans can no longer use food stamps to purchase sweetened beverages and candy.

How we got here: During the 2025 legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 379, which prohibits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from being used to purchase candy and sweetened drinks. In August, the federal government approved a waiver allowing Texas to implement the prohibition beginning April 1.

Texas will be the ninth state to prohibit SNAP benefits from being used on sugary items, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

How it works: Under SB 379, Texans will not be allowed to use their SNAP benefits to buy sweetened drinks containing any artificial sweeteners or at least 5 grams of added sugar, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. SB 379 also bans the purchase of candy with Lone Star Cards.

It is up to Texas businesses to determine which items are no longer SNAP-eligible, update their store purchase systems and train staff to recognize the newly restricted items, according to the HHSC.