1. New trustees elected to Cy-Fair ISD school board
Eleven candidates ran in hopes of being elected to one of four open seats on the Cy-Fair ISD board. Newcomers Todd LeCompte, Justin Ray and Christine Kalmbach as well as incumbent Julie Hinaman won their respective races and will serve four-year terms.
2. Chevron acquires land in Bridgeland
Chevron purchased 77 acres in Bridgeland Central. Officials said plans included a research and development campus “to advance our work toward achieving a lower carbon energy future.”
3. Cy-Fair ISD approves FY 2023-24 budget, staff raises
Cy-Fair ISD’s board approved a $1.21 billion budget for fiscal year 2023-24, which included a projected shortfall of about $138.6 million. Despite coming up short on revenue, the board also approved 3% raises for all employees and increased the starting teacher salary for FY 2023-24 from $60,500 to $62,000. At the time of the budget approval, board members said they were hopeful the Texas Legislature would increase public school funding during a special session. The Texas Legislature wrapped up its fourth special session Dec. 5 without increasing public school funding.
4. Texas Legislature debates helping parents cover education expenses outside public schools
A proposal to use state money to help parents pay for private schools was a hot topic in the Texas Legislature throughout the year. Despite this being among Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priorities for the legislative session, the Texas Legislature concluded its fourth special session Dec. 5 without approving education savings accounts.
5. Cy-Fair ISD names two campuses
Dr. Carla Brosnahan Elementary School and Roy J. Sprague Jr. Middle School were approved as the official names of Cy-Fair ISD’s 58th elementary campus and 20th middle school. Both campuses opened for the 2023-24 school year in August and were funded by the 2019 bond.
6. Harris County Flood Control District purchases portion of Longwood Golf Club
After years of negotiation efforts, the Harris County Flood Control District purchased about 80 acres of property from Longwood Golf Club. The land will be used to hold stormwater runoff and widen Little Cypress Creek, which should improve drainage. As of press time, Longwood Golf Club was set to reopen in late December following renovations that started in late April.
7. New industrial projects underway in Cy-Fair
Several new industrial projects continued construction, broke ground or were announced for the Cy-Fair area this year, including Prologis and a new project by LGE Design Build.
8. Harris County Fair & Rodeo wrangles permanent home off Grand Parkway
Fred Stockton, owner of Stockton Inc. and chair of the Harris County Fair & Rodeo board, purchased 165 acres of land for the future home of the Harris County Fair & Rodeo at northeast corner of Telge Road and the Grand Parkway.
9. Cy-Fair congregations opt to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church
After several Cy-Fair churches voted to leave their denomination as progressive and traditionalist members of the United Methodist Church reached an impasse, Community Impact spoke with local faith leaders about their congregations’ choices to either stay with the UMC or join the Global Methodist Church.
