ATX-GEO: Impact 10/15/2025

Georgetown ISD teachers will have the opportunity to begin receiving higher compensation through the Teacher Incentive Allotment this summer.

The statewide program is intended to help high-performing teachers reach a six-figure salary by earning stipends based on their effectiveness in the classroom. GISD has been working to join the TIA for the past two school years.

How it works: The TIA provides Texas teachers anywhere from $3,000 to $36,000 on top of their salary based on the level of designation they receive, including recognized, exemplary and master.

Teachers may earn one of the three designations based on a teacher evaluation system, known as T-TESS, and the percentage of their students that met or exceeded their expected growth on assessments, GISD officials said.

The impact: Based on data collected last school year, GISD teachers may receive anywhere from more than $3,000-$19,000 depending on their designation status and campus.

Eligible teachers are expected to be notified of their designations in April or May and receive their first payments in June, according to district documents.

1872 Golf Club, an indoor golf simulator and cocktail bar, is now open in Georgetown. 

The details: The membership-based club offers 24/7 access to its golf simulator bays. In its grand opening phase, non-members can book their tee time online or in person. 

Reservations began Oct. 5 with a soft opening, and 1872 Gold Club plans to open its bar on Oct. 13, a company representative said. Grand opening celebrations will follow on Nov. 1. 

• 5373 Williams Drive, Georgetown

Emergency cleanup crews will finish the ongoing debris removal operations in Williamson County in mid-December, County Emergency Management Director Bruce Clements said at an Oct. 14 meeting.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency funded the cleanup following the July 4 weekend floods, which damaged many Central Texas cities, including Leander, Georgetown and Liberty Hill.

What’s being done: Grapple trucks filled with materials like tree branches, vegetation, soil and rocks have been transporting the debris to a cleanup site in Williamson County daily. Austin Wood Recycling in Hutto is turning the natural material into mulch, amounting to an area of mulch the size of a football field and over 60 feet deep.

The update: Debris removal must be completed within six months of the disaster, in accordance with FEMA rules, and the county has targeted a completion date for before Christmas, Clements said.

Texas Ramp Project, which builds free wheelchair ramps for those in need across the state, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, according to a Sept. 15 news release. Over its 40 years, the nonprofit has built ramps for over 30,000 recipients with the help of over 3,500 volunteers.

Some context: The organization began in 1985 as the Dallas Ramp Project before being incorporated as the Texas Ramp Project in 2006, according to the news release. Texas Ramp Project provides the ramps to recipients at no cost, according to the news release. Most ramps cost between $800-$900 to build.

What else: In 2024, Texas Ramp Project built 2,727 ramps in 145 counties, according to its Sept. 1 fact sheet. To get a ramp, recipients must be referred by a health care provider or qualified organization via the nonprofit’s website.