Teachers and staff at McKinney ISD will receive a salary increase next school year.

The McKinney ISD board of trustees approved raising teacher and staff salaries by 3.5% for the 2026-27 school year at its April 20 meeting.

The specifics: Certified teachers, non-exempt eligible employees and eligible exempt employees will all receive a 3.5% salary increase based on the midpoint of each pay scale, per district documents. Starting salary for certified teachers will increase to $64,700, and the starting salary for teachers with a master's degree will increase to $66,200, district documents state.

What they're saying: “We know that in order to support the goal of retaining and recruiting the best to team McKinney, a competitive compensation package is one of the foundational components of these efforts,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Alana Chisum said.

A second Mo’ Bettahs restaurant is slated to open in McKinney, according to a development filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The details: The Hawaiian restaurant offers a traditional plate lunch, featuring a choice of meats—grilled teriyaki chicken or steak, kalua pig, pulehu chicken, katsu chicken or shrimp tempura—paired with macaroni salad and white rice.

• 4070 W. University Drive, Ste. 100, McKinney

After years of construction, the Texas Department of Transportation is nearing completion of its $135.9 million US 380 improvement project in Denton County.

What's happening?: Tila Grant, TxDOT public information officer, said in an email final work on the project is expected to wrap up sometime in April. However, remaining construction on the Collin County segment is still years out from finishing as exact timelines are still being determined due to questions of funding.

What it means: Town and county officials said they hope these improvements will also ease congestion and reduce accidents along the corridor. Since 2019, annual daily traffic near the intersection with Gee Road has increased by just over 50%, according to TxDOT data.

Quote of note: “The improvement of [US] 380 is a huge milestone for the town of Prosper, both for our local commute as well as the regional commute,” Prosper Mayor David Bristol said. “Little incremental improvements eventually will get us to where we need to be.”

A new Richardson ISD middle school and a body shop in McKinney are two of several construction permits filed around Dallas-Fort Worth. Check out five of the latest permits filed in the Metroplex.

Richardson West Middle School: A filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows that construction on Richardson ISD’s Richardson West Middle School is scheduled to start this summer, as part of RISD’s middle school transition. The project will build a three-story middle school and baseball field on the site of Richardson High School’s baseball stadium, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Construction will be complete in fall 2028, according to an update from RISD.

• Location: 1309 Holly Drive, Richardson
• Estimated timeline: June 1, 2026-fall 2028
• Estimated cost: $54 million

• Location: 7601 Preston Road, Plano
• Estimated timeline: June 15, 2026-March 15, 2027
• Estimated cost: $2 million

Alaska Airlines will start twice-daily flights between San Diego International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on April 22.

The Seattle-based airline had previously announced that the DFW Airport-to-San Diego route was one of five new nonstop routes. Alaska Airlines, as well as its subsidiary Hawaiian Airlines, will now fly to 49 nonstop destinations from Southern California.

Alaska Airlines is offering 35% more flights from San Diego this spring than the previous year, according to a news release.

The details: According to its website, flights will depart from Dallas to San Diego at 3:13 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., with each flight taking 3 hours and 14 minutes to arrive in California. A Boeing 737 will be used for the trip, according to a news release.

Alaska Airlines is in Terminal E, Gate 11, at DFW Airport.