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As Clear Creek ISD prepares for the upcoming school year, the district is continuing to roll out a strategic plan designed to reduce its number of uncertified teachers and align with state guidelines.

Why it matters: Initially approved by the board of trustees in February, the plan transitions the district away from relying on District of Innovation exemptions to hire uncertified educators in core subjects, in response to restrictions imposed by House Bill 2, passed during the 2025 Texas Legislature.

Zooming out: Uncertified teachers made up 52% of statewide new hires in 2023-24.

Kolache Factory will open a location in Nassau Bay in October, franchise owner Jason Montegut said in an email.

The details: The bakery and cafe franchise founded in 1982 offers a variety of breakfast, meat and fruit-based kolaches, according to previous reporting by Community Impact. 

What else: Montegut owns another Kolache Factory location in League City at 306 Gulf Freeway N., League City.

📍1740 E. NASA Parkway, Houston

Houston airport workers will receive a minimum wage increase of $5 for a new wage of $20 an hour, which will gradually rise to $23 an hour by 2028.

What this means: Mayor John Whitmire signed an executive order Aug. 12 alongside members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the labor union that represents airport workers, that would immediately begin the new wages.

Workers employed by air carriers, concessions and airport contractors will qualify for the raise.

“This helps, but this is just the beginning,” Whitmire said. “It's not going to be just wages. It's going to be working conditions.”

Before signing the executive order, the minimum wage was $15 an hour at Houston airports, including Hobby and IAH. This is the first salary increase for Houston workers since 2023, when former Mayor Sylvester Turner raised their minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour.

One more thing: The increase is scheduled to go up to $21 in January 2027, $22 in October 2027 and by 2028 it will be $23 an hour.

The Texas Education Agency released public school accountability ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14.

"We use [A-F ratings] as a way to evaluate our own performance as adults, and then build action plans so that the way that we run our schools next year can be even better than last year," Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during an Aug. 14 news conference.

The overview: Across the state, 85% of campuses received a C rating or higher, which is considered “acceptable" academic performance.

Schools are rated based on three criteria: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.

Zooming in: At least one district, Austin ISD, is at risk of being taken over by the TEA after two of its middle school campuses received their fifth consecutive failing grades this year. State law requires the agency to shutter those campuses or take control of the district.

Any potential state-mandated closures or takeovers will not happen immediately, as districts with concerns about their ratings have through Sept. 11 to appeal scores to the TEA.