GCISD secures $6M from VATRE, looks to generate additional revenue
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD secured an annual multimillion revenue increase after voters passed a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, per previous reporting. The district is using the funding to stabilize its budget and plan for the future.
What happened? Voters approved a 3-cent increase in maintenance and operation taxes that is not subject to recapture, which is property tax revenue that returns to the state.
In the last five years GCISD officials lowered the tax rate by over $0.47 per $100 valuation, Superintendent Brad Schnautz said.
“State compression allowed the [maintenance and operation] tax rate to [decrease] through time, and our board [reduced] the [interest and sinking] rate,” he said.
If GCISD’s VATRE didn’t pass in 2024, GCISD’s budget would have had to be reworked to accommodate a multimillion shortfall, with 87% of the budget affecting teachers and staff, said Nicole Lyons, GCISD’s executive director of communications.
The Wildflower Outlaws to bring bohemian styles to Grapevine Main Street
Plans are in place to open The Wildflower Outlaws, a bohemian-themed boutique, in downtown Grapevine this fall.
The details: The store will sell women’s apparel with a Western bohemian flare and a focus on quality, handpicked pieces. Many of the store’s clothing lines are made in the U.S., and international pieces are handmade by artists. The Wildflower Outlaws will be operated by a mother-daughter trio.
What they’re saying: “We curate our collections based on slow fashion—we want to provide those staples that are meant to last while being conscious of our impact on the earth and fashion forward,” one of the store's co-owners said.
Check out 6 restaurants newly opened in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
Looking to explore food opportunities beyond your community? Check out the following restaurant news from across the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, as previously reported by Community Impact.
1. Flower Mound: Supreme Boil: The restaurant offers Cajun food and seafood boils, which includes a choice of mussels, clams, crawfish or shrimp, according to its website.
Opened Aug. 1
2321 Cross Timbers Road, Ste. 413, Flower Mound
2. Frisco: Musume: Musume at The Star’s menu includes sushi and sashimi made with fresh fish flown in daily from Japan, as well as authentic Asian cuisine offered in both small and large plates, vegetarian and vegan dishes, salads, tempura and ramen. It also features a six-or-eight course Omakase curated daily by chef Yuzo Toyama, a company news release states.
8 new mobile STEM labs to visit 270 Texas school districts this school year
Education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, may become more accessible for Texas public school students this school year.
What happened: Officials from national education nonprofit Learning Undefeated and the Texas Education Agency celebrated the opening of eight new mobile STEM labs at a Sept. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Austin. The TEA-funded labs are expected to visit 270 school districts across the state in the 2025-26 school year.
Notable quote: “In an ever-changing world, access to STEM education remains critical to help prepare our students for career pathways and lifelong success,” said Alejando Delgado, TEA deputy commissioner of operations.
The overview: Learning Undefeated built eight new mobile STEM labs after receiving a $3.5 million grant from the TEA, according to Learning Defeated information. The organization opened its first mobile STEM lab in Texas in 2020.
The nine regionally-based labs will now visit elementary and middle school campuses across the state’s 20 educational service center regions. Kindergarten through eighth grade students may participate in a variety of STEM activities to learn engineering design.
