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As local districts prepare for a new school year, district officials are waiting to see how the new Texas Education Freedom Accounts will affect enrollment.

The big picture: State lawmakers created the TEFA program in 2025, and accepted students will receive some funding for education opportunities that include: private school tuition and fees; tutoring and therapy; homeschooling; and other services.

Locally, Katy ISD saw 5,108 students who live in district boundaries—the eighth highest in the state—apply for the TEFA program for the 2026-27 school year, while Lamar CISD saw 3,855 students apply, data shows.

Zooming in: Over 2,700 private schools—including more than 60 Katy and Fulshear-area schools—have been approved to accept TEFA funding alongside hundreds of tutoring groups, therapy centers and other service providers.

Stay tuned: Texas has the largest program waitlist in the nation with more than 121,000 eligible students waiting to join the program, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office.

Katy ISD’s board of trustees have decided not to fill outgoing board member Rebecca Fox’s seat ahead of her upcoming October departure.

In a nutshell: Board President Lance Redmon announced at an Aug. 17 work study meeting no board member has made a motion to replace Fox, who is leaving on Oct. 12, since initial discussions began Aug. 8.

How we got here: Fox announced her departure from the Katy ISD board of trustees at a July 27 meeting, citing her desire to spend more time with her family.

Although she originally planned to step down from her position in 2027 when her term ended, Fox said she made her decision about leaving her seat early public in July to give the district and board “ample time” to prepare for this transition.

Stay tuned: Katy ISD will hold a general election in May 2027 for board positions 6 and 7, according to the district’s website.

Rowan, an ear piercing and hypoallergenic jewelry brand, will open a studio in LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch, company representatives confirmed.

How it works: Founded by Louisa Serene Schneider, the jewelry business focuses on safety, medical expertise and thoughtful care, Rowan representative Elizabeth Baxter said.

All piercings are completed by licensed nurses and include the brand’s hypoallergenic jewelry, which is designed or curated in-house.

Taking a step back: The Katy location will be Rowan’s 11th Texas location, joining more than 100 studios across the country, Baxter said.

• 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd., Ste. F155, Katy

Harris Health, the county’s public healthcare provider, proposed a tax rate increase for the upcoming fiscal year to the Commissioners Court Aug. 17.

The background: Victoria Nikitin, Harris Health’s chief financial officer, asked the court to consider a $0.1 increase to last year’s revenue rate. Harris Health also proposed receiving $10 million from the county, which would be broken into $6 million in “waived revenue” and a $4 million placeholder in operating expenses to support county services.

“This budget is a really tight one for us in the sense that we are still having a lot of processes that are in flight, related to technology and other strategic initiatives...but the majority of that is really due to inflation,” Nikitin said.

Stay tuned: If approved, the rate would go into effect Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

The Texas House State Affairs Committee heard from power grid officials; data center developers and industry representatives; local government officials; cybersecurity experts; and utility companies during an Aug. 19 hearing on the growth of data centers in the state. Dozens of Texas residents also testified about the impact of data centers in their communities.

The details: Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said it will take the grid operator several months to audit about 200 gigawatts of data center proposals. ERCOT will request information from all large and medium-sized data centers that are expected to use at least 25 megawatts of electricity.

ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission were ordered on Aug. 3 to audit all data centers seeking to connect to Texas’ power grid. They anticipate completing that audit in late November or early December, Vegas said.