ATX-SWA: Impact 9/11/2025

Dripping Springs ISD staff will see salary increases for the 2025-26 school year.

The details: The DSISD board of trustees approved the 2025-26 compensation plan Aug. 26. 

Teachers with one or two years of experience will receive a $1,700 increase. The starting teacher salary will increase by $500 to $56,000, according to a news release.

Salary increases for teachers with three or more years of experience were funded through House Bill 2, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature earlier this year. Teachers with five or more years of experience will receive a $5,000 salary increase, while teachers with three to four years of experience will receive a $2,500 increase.

All other employees will receive a 3% midpoint salary increase, according to the release.

What else: In September, the board is slated to approve the tax rate.

Producers with the Pecan Street Festival announced on Aug. 25 that the biannual celebration would return to the Hill Country Galleria this fall from Sept. 13-14. Here are a few details to know about the festival.

The overview: The festival was first relocated to the Hill Country Galleria in May as a solution to space constraints on Sixth Street, where it has historically taken place. At the fall festival, a full block of children’s carnival rides will be introduced, and the Central Plaza Lawn in front of the Bee Cave Library will offer art workshops for kids, as well as other activities.

What they're saying: “We had to move both because expenses in the city of Austin impacted the show financially, considerably, and second of all because the streets transformed and so we didn't have a way to actually activate the show,” Pecan Street Festival Executive Producer Luis Zapata said.

No decision has yet been made on where future festivals will take place.

Austin-based private school Alpha School is aiming to expedite learning for more students using artificial intelligence at new academies opening across the country.

What happened: On Sept. 9, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited Alpha School in Austin alongside Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. Alpha School co-founder MacKenzie Price highlighted how the school is using AI to personalize and improve students’ education.

What they're saying: “It's the most exciting thing I've seen in education in a long time,” McMahon said about Alpha School. “I'm incredibly enthusiastic about this.”

How it works: Students complete their academic learning in two hours each day using an AI platform known as 2 Hour Learning. Price said the Alpha School model enables students to learn twice as fast as they would in a traditional school setting.

The update: Alpha School opened several new academies across the United States this school year, including a K-3 school in Plano and K-8 school in Fort Worth. The company is planning to open an academy in Houston this winter.