Drivers with disabled parking license plates and placards will no longer be paying for parking near the Comal River.

The gist: New Braunfels City Council approved an ordinance change on second and final reading April 13 that adds disabled parking license plates and placard holders to the paid parking exceptions in river areas. City Council approved the ordinance change on first reading in March.

The ordinance change aligns with the exceptions for river area parking and downtown parking by allowing those with a valid disabled license plate or placard to park for free in all city-owned paid parking locations, according to agenda documents. In November 2024, the city approved a change to the exceptions to downtown parking by allowing individuals with a valid disabled license plate or placard to park for free.

New Braunfels Christian Academy’s K-5 students will be relocating from 995 Mission Hills Drive to 220 FM 1863 this fall.

What you need to know: Students will be relocating to the academy’s secondary campus as part of its One School Initiative—which is an initiative to get the academy’s elementary, middle and high schoolers on one campus to feel like “one family,” said Jessica Adams, director of NBCA’s early childhood center.

Director of Marketing and Communications Madelon Parker said it was a “huge blessing” because the relocation will allow for more capacity at their Mission Hills location.

“We now have more room to continue to grow,” Parker said.

• 220 FM 1863, New Braunfels

The San Marcos City Council is in the process of updating its Land Development Code and Design Manual, in part to address new types of development. The council voted on multiple amendments, not yet finalized, to increase restrictions on the development of data centers at an April 21 meeting.

What happened: City staff proposed an update to the Land Use Matrix to add data centers to the system as an individual line item.

Mayor Jane Hughson proposed an amendment that would only permit data center development in High Industrial-zoned areas on a conditional basis, requiring council approval.

City Council approved Hughson’s amendment. Place 6 council member Amanda Rodriguez then proposed a new amendment that would not permit the development of data centers in any zoning district within city limits.

Rodriguez’s amendment failed to pass, with three votes in favor and four dissenting.

Diving deeper: Council voted to approve a variety of additional amendments related to data centers.

Looking forward: The council will vote to fully approve the amendments May 5 and 19.

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.