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Conroe ISD approves 5 new principals at June 2 regular board meeting.

At its June 2 special board meeting, the Conroe ISD board finalized the hiring of five new principals to serve the district for the 2026-27 school year.

Meeting highlights
1. Gordon Reed Elementary
Amy Barber originally served at Giesinger Elementary School in multiple roles, including classroom teacher, coach and assistant principal.

2. Giesinger Elementary
Angela Akin Fonville has nearly two decades of experience in educational leadership. She's worked as a summer school principal, trainer, data analyst and classroom teacher through her work at Cy-Fair and Conroe ISDs.

3. San Jacinto Elementary
Lara Vasquez has over 29 years of experience in the education field, serving as a teacher, literacy coach, educational diagnostician and assistant principal at Runyan Elementary School.

4. Oak Ridge Ninth-Grade campus
Barbara Solberg formerly served as the associate principal at Conroe High School. She has over 31 years of educational experience with 19 years at the administrative level.

5. Birnham Woods Elementary
Tonya Smith is a former principal of Buckalew Elementary School, where she also served as assistant principal for over a decade.
 
Now Open
Spill the Tea Nutrition open along Sawdust Road

Spill The Tea Nutrition specializes in energy-based drinks ranging from loaded teas, protein shakes and snacks with no added sugars.

What's new: The smoothie bar held its grand opening on Memorial Day, officials said.

  • Opened May 25

  • 314 Sawdust Road, Ste. 110, Spring
 
Latest Education News
Tomball ISD approves 2% pay raise for teachers, reviews 2026-27 budget

At its June 2 Regular Board meeting, the Tomball ISD board voted to approve a pay raise for all teachers and staff in the district as well as approve the general budget for fiscal year 2026-27. 

Meeting highlights: The current 2% pay raise aligns with past yearly moves the district has made to retain and reward teachers for their work. As previously reported, TISD approved a 2% pay raise for last year's 2025-26 budget. This current pay raise would be the 15th consecutive year with an approved pay raise.  

Quote of note: “I'm glad we’re able to give a raise, and I’m fully supportive of that. I think 2% is the right number for this year. I wish it could be more, but let's see what happens in the years out,” TISD board Vice President John McStravik said. 

One more thing: The board also voted to approve the general, food service and debt service funds for FY 2026-27. 

 

Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Screen on the Green

Pride Houston Festival and Parade

June 5, 7-9 p.m.
Houston

June 6, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Houston

Learn more.

Learn more.

 

World Ocean Day

KimoKawaii Anime Convention

June 6, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Galveston

June 6-7, times vary
Conroe

Learn more.

Learn more.

 
To submit your own event, click here.

Statewide News
ERCOT forecasts record electric demand this summer amid data center boom; says grid will hold up

Texans are on track to use more electricity this summer than ever before, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced during a board meeting this week.

The details: ERCOT, which operates the power grid for the majority of Texas, is forecasting high temperatures and moderate rainfall this summer. Coupled with the proliferation of data centers and other large projects, demand on the grid could surpass 92 gigawatts, officials estimated June 2.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave.

What it means: However, ERCOT officials said a grid emergency or blackout is unlikely this summer. State officials have said this is due to:

  • The addition of nearly 11 gigawatts of power capacity to the grid in the last few months
  • The agency's ability to require large facilities to reduce their energy use in tight times

Zooming in: There is a 0.09% chance of a grid emergency this June and a 0.21% chance of an emergency in July, ERCOT found in recent reports.

 

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Vanessa Holt
Senior Editor

Nicole Preston
General Manager

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