Balancing budgets, competition: Northside, North East ISD look to new school year
As the 2025-26 school year begins, both John Craft, superintendent of Northside ISD, NISD, and Sean Maika, superintendent of North East ISD, NEISD, are optimistic about their districts’ trajectories.
The outlook: Both superintendents expressed concerns about a number of emerging trends that are unique to this era. This includes changing demographics, such as smaller families and less people having children; increasing competition from charter schools and other alternative education options; a lack of standardized testing and accountability in alternative education options and the potential impact of the upcoming educational savings accounts.
For the upcoming school year, Maika seeks to take a pragmatic, business-like approach towards the educational landscape.
Craft said that NISD faced the same inflationary pressures as households and businesses have over the last few years, forcing them to adopt deficit budgets, which occur when a district spends more than it accrues in revenue. To combat this, the district streamlined its upcoming budget.
A nationwide gym chain is continuing its expansion in San Antonio.
Crunch Fitness has opened a new location in North San Antonio, at 10103 Wurzbach Road.
Manager Edwin Torres said they opened on July 30.
The context: Crunch Fitness has several locations across San Antonio, with this new location and another in Windcrest being the newest, according to their website.
What’s special about it: Crunch Fitness offers the standard 24/7 gym membership experience.
There’s treadmills for cardio, free weights for powerlifting and machines for refining specific muscle groups, according to the gym’s website.
Additionally, the gym chain has group fitness classes, nutrition plans, tanning beds and more.
New flyover ramp opens Aug. 28 on Loop 1604 North Expansion
The Texas Department of Transportation opened a new flyover ramp at the Loop 1604 and I-10 interchange in Northwest San Antonio at 5 p.m. Aug. 28.
Zooming in: This latest development is part of the Loop 1604 North Expansion project, a $1.4 billion project that includes the expansion of main lanes from a four-lane to a 10-lane expressway.
Drivers will be able to access the flyover ramp on Loop 1604, just past Northwest Military Highway, and connect to I-10 before the De Zavala Road exit. The new ramp will provide drivers with an easier connection when traveling from westbound Loop 1604 to eastbound I-10, according to a news release from TxDOT.
The background: In the last eight months, three flyover ramps have opened, with more planned for the future. A fourth flyover is anticipated to open later this year, with all eight being completed by the end of 2025, according to the news release.
FOODIE FRIDAY Check out these new restaurants and bars opening across the San Antonio area.
A new Korean barbecue restaurant has officially opened its doors in Live Oak this week. KPOT Korean BBQ & Hot Pot opened on Aug. 28 at 7741 N. Loop 1604 E., Manager Jerry Stone told Community Impact.
Items like beef bulgogi, short ribs and prime brisket, along with fresh vegetables, soups and a variety of noodles are available.
Customers create dishes in a build-your-own meal fashion, which are then heated on stoves at dining tables with assistance from restaurant staff, according to their website.
A home-based cottage bakery specializing in desserts is now serving the New Braunfels and surrounding areas.
Taste Heaven on Earth—owned by Avion Moore—began operating in June and serves patrons in the New Braunfels, Northeast San Antonio and San Marcos areas.
“I love to cook, but I especially love making banana pudding,” Moore told Community Impact.
Amid Democratic criticism, Texas lawmakers vote to overhaul STAAR and launch new tests in 2027
Both chambers of the Texas Legislature have voted to overhaul the state’s standardized testing system, putting public school students one step closer to taking new exams in the 2027-28 school year.
The details: House Bill 8 would eliminate the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness and replace it with three shorter tests, which students would take at the beginning, middle and end of each school year.
Bill author Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, said HB 8 would “reduce test anxiety, provide teachers with immediate feedback and create a pathway for trust in our system again." The majority of House Democrats and a few Republicans disagreed, arguing Aug. 26 that the bill would increase the amount of time students spend on exams and essentially create “another STAAR test” developed by the Texas Education Agency.
Next steps: After state senators passed HB 8 with a 21-7 vote Aug. 27, the bill returned to the House for consideration of a Senate amendment. If House lawmakers sign off on the changes, HB 8 will be sent to the governor.
