College Station City Council unanimously approved a grant application at its April 23 meeting, tied to the city's automated license plate reader camera system. The approval followed public criticism over privacy and surveillance concerns.

The gist: Council members allowed College Station Police Department to apply for a grant that would help fund the city's contract with Flock Safety, a company that operates these cameras.

The grant would provide $308,700 toward the program.

Police Chief Billy Couch described the system as an effective investigative tool used to combat vehicle theft and traveling crime.

What residents are saying: Several residents spoke against Flock during public comment, arguing the cameras allow warrantless tracking and rely on data storage controlled by a private company. Couch said data collected by the cameras is encrypted, retained for 30 days and accessible only to authorized personnel.

The takeaway: The vote primarily addressed funding rather than policy direction, Mayor John Nichols clarified.

One more thing: Flock Safety had not responded to Community Impact's request for comment addressing public concerns.

College Station ISD received updates at its April 21 board meeting on student wellness efforts and growing special education services.

About SHAC: The district's School Health Advisory Council reported a year of expanded collaboration between parents, educators and community members. The council met six times while reviewing the CSISD's wellness plan, campus safety efforts, nutrition programs and active transportation initiatives.

Included in SHAC's key recommendations:

• Adding a floating nurse position to improve coverage and build a stronger nurse pool
• Create two subcommittees for active transportation and to plan a spring 2027 Healthy Families Expo

• Special Olympics
• Transition-focused "pop-up market"
• Strong reading skills

Need to catch up on news in the Bryan-College Station area? Check out the top stories from April 20-24.

• Beloved Bryan restaurant reopens with crawfish boil
• Brazos County moves forward with courthouse annex construction despite groundbreaking cancellation
• Brazos County receives primary election results following recount
• Bryan ISD prepares for school bus seat belt mandate, submits funding report
​​​​​​​• College Station ISD highlights student health initiatives, special education progress

Some Texas families began learning April 22 if they were accepted to the state’s education savings account program for the 2026-27 school year, officials said.

The big picture: Over 42,600 students will receive funding notices through April 24, the state comptroller’s office announced April 22. The first awardees include low- and middle-income students with disabilities and their eligible siblings.

Families accepted to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program will receive state funds to send their children to private school or homeschool them.

The details: The first round of awardees is set to receive about $400 million of the $1 billion allocated for the program. Up to 100,000 students are expected to qualify for the program's first year.

The comptroller's office will run a lottery the week of April 27 to determine which low-income students will be accepted based on a prioritization system.

Stay tuned: Families that do not qualify for funding will also be notified through April 24. Additional students will receive funding awards in the coming weeks, a program spokesperson said.