The Leander ISD board of trustees are continuing long-range planning discussions in light of budget concerns and pushback on potential elementary school closures. 

Some context: LISD officials are projecting multimillion dollar budget shortfalls over the next several years. In May, officials began considering ways to address these shortfalls, and in September, the board approved a resolution to establish criteria and thresholds for potential campus consolidations, including how enrollment will be considered.

Major takeaways: Under potential new staffing guidelines, or the ratio of staff needed to effectively serve a campus, campuses with 400 to 499 students would be under the low-enrollment phase 1 threshold and adjust staff levels for librarians, receptionists and registrars to 0.5, or part-time roles. Campuses with up to 399 students would be under the low-enrollment phase 2 threshold which would adjust the same roles to 0.5, along with assistant principals, counselors and instructional coaches. 

Next steps: The board is slated to continue this part of long-range planning at its Dec. 4 workshop, including:

• Finalizing staffing guidelines
• Developing enrollment thresholds 
• Exploring mitigation strategies 

Those looking for an Austin restaurant to dine at this Thanksgiving have several options. Some restaurants require reservations and others accept walk-ins.

Corinne
Community members can stop by the restaurant for lunch or dinner and taste traditional Thanksgiving meals, including roasted turkey. Entrees can be paired with seasonal sides and housemade desserts.

• Price: $65 per person
• 304 E. Cesar Chavez St., Austin

• Price: $49 per person (Thanksgiving menu with caramelized prime rib)
• 11801 Domain Blvd., Ste. 100, Austin

• Price: $40 per person
• South Congress Hotel, 1603 S. Congress Ave., Austin

A new "state-of-the-art" hospital and medical research campus from The University of Texas at Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center may move from its planned location downtown to a site in Northwest Austin, UT officials announced this month.

What's happening: The UT Medical Center was first announced in summer 2023 as a major new piece of UT Austin's academic health system. The project, then estimated at $2.5 billion, was envisioned as a pair of medical towers housing an MD Anderson clinical and research cancer center and UT Austin specialty hospital on the old Frank Erwin Center site off I-35.

However, university officials are now considering UT land near The Domain as the possible future home of the UT Medical Center. A timeline for a decision on whether to locate the medical campus downtown or in Northwest Austin has yet to be determined.

The possible shift away from downtown comes months after state law was changed to allow the hospital towers to be built on the Erwin Center property.

This year, voters in communities across Texas were skeptical of local property tax hikes and supportive of larger tax breaks for homeowners and businesses, results from the Nov. 4 election show.

The overview: Voters in Community Impact’s coverage areas approved just over half of the local bond propositions and tax rate elections on the November ballot, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Statewide, 40% of tax rate elections and 45.9% of bond propositions passed, according to Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican and property tax policy writer.

Zooming in: Cities, counties, school districts and other local government entities use funding from tax hikes to build new schools and facilities; hire educators and first responders; and maintain local infrastructure. However, amid high inflation nationwide, more Texas residents are tightening their belts and asking local officials to do the same, fiscal policy experts told Community Impact.

Local governments whose tax hikes were shot down are now grappling with how to make cuts while maintaining essential services, Community Impact reporting shows.