Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles is recommending the closure of 12 campuses beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

The details: Miles briefed the district’s board of managers during the board’s Feb. 12 meeting.

"This decision was not made lightly, and our focus remains on ensuring every student has access to a strong, supportive and opportunity-rich learning environment,” Miles said.

A closer look: The announcement is coming nearly a year after Miles first told board managers that closures would be likely due to declining enrollment and increased maintenance costs at several campuses throughout the district. Miles said seven of the schools recommended for closure will be closed permanently, while the remaining schools recommended would be co-located at a separate campus.

What they’re saying: Many of the individuals who signed up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting said they felt blindsided by the announcement.

What’s next: Board managers are expected to vote on finalizing the closures during the board’s Feb. 26 meeting.

Children aged 6 months to 8 years will soon have a chance to attend ballet classes at Tutu School Heights.

Tutu School Heights is a boutique ballet school offering imaginative, age-appropriate ballet classes. The M-K-T Shopping Center spot is the fourth location in the Houston area.

In their own words: “We believe that every child should know what it feels like to dance to the strings of Tchaikovsky and Bach,” Mary Adams, owner of Tutu School Heights, said. “We exist to make space in children's lives for confident creativity and pure joy that comes from finding oneself in music and movement.”

What we know: Classes are broken down by age and skill level, with Baby Ballet, Tutu Toddlers, Exploring Ballet and Primary Ballet Prep. The school also offers ballet birthday parties, camps and monthly events.

• 600 N. Shepherd Drive, Unit 454, Houston

Houston City Council unanimously passed $2 billion in bonds Feb. 11 to expand the George R. Brown Convention Center over the next 12 years.

The bonds would fund transformation projects for the GRB that include new event halls, restaurant and retail spaces, and “the largest ballroom in Texas.”

Some context: The project is expected to be paid through the state's portion of incremental hotel occupancy tax revenue growth. The funding mechanism is the result of Senate Bill 1057 from the 88th Texas Legislature, which authorizes local government to collect a portion of hotel occupancy taxes in excess of the amount collected in the previous year for up to 30 years.

The expansion will include a 100,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza that will connect the convention center to the Toyota Center, and a southward extension of the Avenida Plaza that will connect Discovery Green to GRB’s new Central Plaza.

What else: The first phase of the expansion is expected to be completed by 2028, with the entire project slated to wrap up by 2038.

The Houston Fire Department’s newest station—Station 92—is now serving the George Bush Intercontinental Airport after a grand opening celebration was held for the facility Feb. 6.

At a glance: The new 21,000-square-foot fire station is one of three fire stations at IAH. The facility will be staffed 24/7, 365 days per year.

Station 92 has features such as:

• Six fire-response apparatuses
• Administrative offices
• Access to the airport’s airfield
• Dorms for firefighters to rest

In a 3-1 vote, Harris County commissioners authorized moving forward on two new studies that will look at potential long-term solutions to jail overcrowding issues.

The big picture: The Jail Infrastructure Governance Advisory Committee, or JGAC, was formed in 2024 to identify methods of reducing detention rates and improving overall efficiency within the county criminal justice system.

The committee requested $1.25 million in funding for a study directed at:

• Overall jail detention rate reduction
• Master facility planning
• Implementable program step designs

Need to catch up on Community Impact’s coverage from last week? Check out five trending stories in the Greater Houston area from Feb. 9-13.

Check this out: Montgomery County Precinct 2 residents will have an opportunity to dispose of their heavy trash March 7-8 during Commissioner Charlie Riley’s Heavy Trash Clean Up Day, according to a Feb. 4 Facebook post.

From 8 a.m.-5 p.m. March 7 and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. March 8, residents can bring their heavy trash to 31245 Friendship Drive, Magnolia. Accepted items include batteries, tires and electronics, among others. 

In other news: The Houston Texans are setting up shop in Bridgeland.

The NFL franchise is collaborating with Harris County Precincts 3 and 4 and Howard Hughes Holdings to invest $83 million into a new “Toro District” in Cypress, which will include a new Texans headquarters and training facilities. Harris County commissioners approved the public-private partnership Feb. 12 following a closed-session meeting.

Also of note: A new La La Land Cafe is expected to open in Katy's Meadows Marketplace later this year.