The North Texas Municipal Water District’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget is increasing about 8% from the previous year, according to a news release.

The full story: NTMWD’s board of directors approved the $978 million budget during a Sept. 24 meeting. The budget allocates funding for the organization’s regional water and wastewater systems that stretch throughout North Texas.

The context: NTMWD provides wholesale water, wastewater and solid waste management services for multiple cities including Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson, according to its website. The organization funds its budget through wholesale rate charges to member cities and customer cities, according to the news release.

Breaking down the budget: The FY2026-27 budget projects $978.4 million in expenditures and nearly $977.7 million in revenues, according to the budget document. Expenditures are increasing from last year’s original budget , which projected $902.4 million in expenses.

Capital investments related to increasing capacity and maintaining infrastructure are “main drivers of the rising costs,” the news release states.

Work is underway to open the Primrose School of North McKinney on North Hardin Boulevard.

The details: The preschool will offer programs for infants, toddlers and pre-K students, according to a news release. Primrose will be constructed with more than 8,600 square feet of indoor classroom space and about 10,500 square feet of outdoor play space. The school will open with 13 classrooms.

• 2131 N. Hardin Blvd., McKinney

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport introduced a new program from the Transportation Security Administration and new parkway speed limits, while KFC debuted a “next-generation” Open House restaurant in McKinney. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. New TSA program, speed limit change, parking rates: DFW Airport roundup

2. KFC debuts new Open House restaurant concept in McKinney

3. Celina officials plan for future development as DNT expands

4. San Martin Bakery opens new Plano location

5. Frisco ISD approves elementary class-size state exemption

6. TxDOT plans $38M construction on FM 1385 in Prosper

Texas school districts using the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum saw slightly better year-over-year achievement last school year than other districts, according to Texas Education Agency data released Sept. 30.

What's happening: During the 2025-26 school year, 619 of Texas' 1,200 public school districts opted in to implement at least one of the three Bluebonnet curriculum programs—elementary math, secondary math and elementary language arts.

On this spring's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, districts using the state-developed math materials saw student improvement that was 0.6 percentage points higher than students in other districts, while districts that implemented the reading materials performed 0.2 percentage points higher on the STAAR than other schools.

What they're saying: The TEA said the gains in student achievement are an "encouraging sign of early progress."

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide educator union, disagreed, calling the results "rather paltry."

"It may take a few more years to determine if this is a valid trend or simply an anomaly," Capo said in a statement.