Eligible K-12 students receive free school meals after legislature approves funding
This school year, students who are eligible for reduced-price meals can receive free breakfast and lunch at public schools across Texas.
The overview: During the recent legislative session, state lawmakers approved $19.8 million to cover the cost of reduced-price meals for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years.
What parents should know: Eligibility for free school meals is determined based on a family’s income through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.
Families can contact their school district to fill out an application for free or reduced-price meals at any time during the school year. Students who are deemed eligible for reduced-price meals will receive them at no cost through the 2026-27 school year.
What they're saying: “Kids who would have paid a small fee for meals will now receive them at no cost,” said Stacie Sanchez Hare, director of No Kid Hungry Texas. “[School] is where we know so many kids get their meals—it is a guaranteed place for kids to have access to free and nutritional meals.”
$108 million expansion at Medical City Plano begins
A 131,700 square foot expansion project at Medical City Plano has begun.
The overview: The $108 million expansion to the hospital tower that first opened in 2019 is “necessary to meet the growing North Texas population’s need for high-level emergency, medical, surgical and oncology care,” according to a news release from Medical City.
The expansion will include:
60 additional beds for medical and surgical patients
Coit Marketplace zoning request heads to Plano council without commission recommendation
A rezoning request for Coit Marketplace that would allow more retail space is headed to Plano City Council without a recommendation from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
What you need to know: At their Sept. 15 meeting, commissioners split 3-3 on motions both to approve and to deny the rezoning request due to mixed opinions on adding more retail to the area. The applicant is seeking to rezone 4.5 acres on the western side of Coit Marketplace, located at Coit Road and Ridgeview Drive, from regional employment to regional commercial to allow additional retail use.
What they're saying: City staff recommended denying the request, citing concerns about the “overabundance of retail zoning within the city” as well as inconsistencies with Plano’s comprehensive plan. Michael Doggett, engineer and representative for the applicant, said the request is to “clean up” split zoning after their staff discovered parts of the Kroger anchor site and another lot were placed in two districts.
Denton County purchases Ponder fire station for $2.1M
Denton County commissioners approved the $2.1 million purchase of the Ponder Volunteer Fire Station at a Sept. 9 meeting as part of an effort to improve emergency services to unincorporated areas, according to a news release.
The gist: Proceeds from the sale will fund 24/7 staffing for emergency services at the Ponder fire station through October 2028, the release states. Denton County will lease the fire station to the Ponder Fire Department for $1 a year, according to county documents, and provide an ambulance to serve the town’s emergency response zone, per the news release.
