The Cy-Fair ISD board of trustees unanimously adopted a total property tax rate of $1.0369 per $100 of home valuation during a Nov. 9 meeting. This adopted rate is $0.03 lower than the 2025 tax rate due to a decrease on the debt service side of the district's property tax rate.

In a nutshell: the adoption follows a failed election where local voters rejected all five of the district's propositions, including a 12-cent voter-approval tax rate election and a four-proposition $1.63 billion bond. The district now faces a projected shortfall of $88 million for fiscal year 2026-27. This includes an additional $7.1 million loss in state funding caused by lower-than-anticipated enrollment numbers.

To address the deficit, the district is planning several actions:

• The Long-Range Planning Committee will look into potential boundary changes as enrollment drops.

• Staff will be notified of pullbacks on travel and limits on overtime usage.

• The district will work with task forces to update the board and staff, with plans to present more finalized proposals by February.

The Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss several key initiatives during its Nov. 12 regular meeting, including disaster recovery, artificial intelligence and violence prevention.

Latest update: Commissioners are expected to discuss a one-year spending deadline extension granted by the Texas General Land Office for federally funded Hurricane Harvey recovery and flood mitigation projects. The new deadlines are February 2028 and March 2029.

Another detail: Additionally, the court will consider a new county AI policy developed by the Universal Services department, which recommends implementation in May 2027 to allow for department training.

One more thing: The court will also consider adding 24 jobs to expand two violence prevention and interruption programs, HART and RISE. The proposed positions include:

• Ten crisis intervention specialists

• Six outreach workers for violence interruption

• Two supervisors for violence interruption

• Two case managers

• One outreach worker for hospital violence interruption

• One project manager

• One senior data analyst

• One communications specialist

From local churches to statewide traditions, see which organizations are collecting donations to feed Houstonians this holiday season. This list is subject to change and not comprehensive.

Participating organizations:

• Cy-Fair Helping Hands

• St. John Vianney Catholic Church

• Prince of Peace’s Thanksgiving Loaves & Fishes

• 14th Annual Fifth Ward Fall Festival & Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway

• Keep US Fed Montgomery County

• City Wide Club and CW 39 Super Feast

• Operation Turkey

• Montgomery County Food Bank

• East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry

Lone Star College System did not cut any classes from its core curriculum after conducting a review mandated by Senate Bill 37, which went into effect in September 2025.

What’s happened: Under SB 37, governing boards of higher education institutions must review their core curriculum lists every five years, with the first review due by Jan. 1, 2027, according to the bill posted on the Texas Legislature’s website.

On Nov. 5, LSCS’s board of trustees unanimously approved a list of 135 courses for the college system’s core curriculum for the 2026-27 school year.

How we got here: A team of faculty members evaluated LSCS’s core curriculum list, in accordance with SB 37, from February to September.

Democrats saw decisive wins up and down the ballot in Texas and across the nation in the Nov. 3 election, flipping the Lone Star State to Democratic control for the first time in a generation.

The big picture: Texas has had a Republican governor, state Senate and state House since 2003. Next year, the state will be led by a Democratic governor, with a Democratic lieutenant governor presiding over the Senate and House lawmakers likely electing a Democrat to lead the chamber—however, the senators themselves will remain majority-Republican.

More details: How much power Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin will have over the Texas Senate is largely up to senators, who will approve the chamber's new rules when the legislature convenes in January.

Sam Hooper, a legislative attorney and consultant, said he was "hopeful" that the election results would lead to "a more collegial Senate" and cooperation among lawmakers of both political parties.

The majority-Republican Senate and majority-Democrat House will have to find a balance, as bills cannot become law without approval from both chambers.