HTX-KTY: Impact 9/1/2025

Katy ISD’s alternative disciplinary campus may be downsized in favor of a virtual model following recent legislation.

In a unanimous vote, the board approved design services Aug. 25 to repurpose the Opportunity Awareness Center, or OAC, site as part of a long-term plan to expand the nearby Miller Career & Technology Center, or MCTC, which currently has a waitlist of students wanting to enroll. The new site is slated to be open by August 2027.

The proposal: The new OAC facility will feature 16 classrooms, down from the 37 rooms in the current location, per staff reports. The new campus would allow the MCTC to expand into the OAC’s existing space to meet increasing demand for career and technical education.

The financials: The project has a budget at $7.5 million which would come from interest income from bond proceeds, per district documents.

Looking ahead: Superintendent Ken Gregorski said input from staff and stakeholders will be solicited in the months ahead. However, final design and construction decisions will require further board approval.

Fort Bend County filled the final spots of the county’s new Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee at an Aug. 26 meeting.

Appointments come after a July 8 Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meeting, where a 3-2 vote approved the creation of the committee, and a July 22 meeting in which Republican court members appointed six members to the committee.

Zooming in: Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage and Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy each appointed two members to the committee, including:

• Pamiel Gaskin, financial officer of the Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District 
• Richard Morrison, former Precinct 1 commissioner 
• Nicole Roberts, attorney and municipal utility district board director 
• Dora Olivo, former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives
  
   

Tiger Rock Martial Arts, a martial arts franchise, is set to open a new Jordan Ranch location in Fulshear.

The overview: The franchise, which has over 100 locations nationwide, aims to help students develop holistically, instilling practices such as awareness, self-confidence and conflict resolution, according to its website.

The business offers four different types of programs divided by age group:

• Tiger Cubs, ages 4-5
• Juniors, ages 6-11
• Teens, ages 12 -15
• Adults, ages 16 and older

One more thing: The Fulshear location will host a grand opening celebration Sept. 6 from 1-4 p.m. featuring giveaways, demonstrations, a bouncy house, free refreshments and self-defense seminars, according to the company’s social media.

• 2506 Jordan Ranch Blvd., Ste. 3, Fulshear

Harris County commissioners are urging officials from The Federal Emergency Management Agency to release updated floodplain maps.

The gist: Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia brought the motion to the Aug. 26 court meeting, where commissioners unanimously voted in favor to authorize a letter signed by court members to prioritize and expedite the maps which guide infrastructure and insurance decisions for a county with a growing population of more than 4.7 million residents and nearly 1.8 million households, according to the latest data by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“We respectfully urge FEMA to prioritize and expedite the release of these new flood risk maps for Harris County," Garcia said.

Zooming out: The last time frame FEMA was set to release Harris County’s preliminary flood insurance rate maps was in 2023, according to Harris County Flood Control District officials, as previously reported in Community Impact. Previously, the HCFCD projected FEMA would release maps in the spring or summer of 2022, but has continually pushed back its estimate.

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.