When Round Rock ISD posed its annual calendar survey to community members, it proposed the option of a weeklong break in October or an earlier start to the 2027-28 school year. 

District administrators said in a March 26 meeting that survey responses led them to create an entirely different calendar option. 

What you need to know: District administrators provided an update to the board, showing the results of this survey and how they informed the calendar option that will be presented to the board for approval in April.

The details: RRISD Chief of Access and Opportunity Karen Gray said the district explored the possibility of a fall break after receiving suggestions from community members. 

Gray shared that community members expressed concerns about child care challenges for both calendar options—A and B—that had either a fall break or an early start. 

Williamson County commissioners adopted the Atlas 14 Floodplain Mapping Study March 24, which identifies flood-prone areas to guide growth and development in the county, as well as helps reduce flood risk, according to county documents.

How it works: The Atlas 14 study identifies flood-prone areas using updated scientific rainfall data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as topographical information.

Williamson County will use the study for drainage and floodplain management in unincorporated areas of the county, according to a news release.

The Texas Water Development Board accepted the study in 2025, and with recent court approval, the study can regulate the floodplains and enforce permits for encroachment.

The impact: In the past decade, Williamson County has experienced severe flooding, including in 2010, 2015 and 2017. Most recently, deadly floods over the July 4, 2025, weekend devastated parts of the county.

A few doors down from Mama Betty’s Tex-Mex on Parmer Lane, dynamic duo Jason Carrier and Forrest Higdon opened Happy Slice Pizza last October, serving specialty pizzas, baked fornatas, salads, desserts and a full drink menu.

Craving pizza? One of the most popular specialty pizzas at Happy Slice is inspired by Carrier’s Tex-Mex restaurant. Known as the Barbacoa Betty, the pie is served with Mama Betty’s barbacoa, diced onions, cilantro, jalapeno crema and adobo sauce.

What’s special about it? Happy Slice dough is made with unbleached and unbromated flour, cellulose-free cheese and no artificial citric acid in the tomato sauce. The menu also offers gluten and dairy-free options for people with dietary restrictions. Happy Slice Pizza is also the first pizza restaurant in Texas to serve the San Nicola tomatoes in its sauce. Previously, the sauce was made exclusively for restaurants on the East Coast until the company opened a second production line, Hidgeon explained.

• 9900 W. Parmer Lane, Ste. 100, Austin

The Texas power grid is undergoing “generational” growth, experts said during the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ annual summit March 31 in Round Rock. Much of that growth is due to data centers—an industry under scrutiny from state lawmakers as some Texas communities push back against proposed developments.

The big picture: Over 2,000 projects totaling 453,000 megawatts are currently looking to connect to the state grid, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said April 1. About 357,000 megawatts of those connection requests are potential data centers, ERCOT documents show.

Looking ahead: Communities should take the lead on discussions about individual data center projects, Vegas told reporters. He said that when “communities that are ready to support those investments,” ERCOT is prepared to help data centers connect to the grid.

During a March 31 discussion on data centers, panelists noted that the projects have an “increasingly high” negative reputation in communities across the state. Austin consultant Eric Goff said developers often need to make commitments to local residents to earn their support for data center proposals.