Herald is originally from northern Kentucky, but moved to Houston 20 years ago for her then-partner’s job. There, she spent 18 years working as a director at a local childcare center up until she lost her job in February, though this was not the first of her long list of battles she has recently fought.

The mother of two was fighting a bout of sickness in fall 2025, when the required surgeries and tests led doctors to fear that cancer was present in her body.

“They thought I had uterine cancer when they did my CT scan, but luckily those [cells] came back precancerous. I have a family history of breast and uterine cancer with my mom and grandmother, so then, everybody went on high alert,” recalled Herald.

After more tests and a mammogram, she was ultimately diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in December 2025, specifically what is called triple negative breast cancer.

“It’s highly aggressive [and] there’s no true treatment that targets that cancer, so they just kind of hit you with a couple different drugs and hope for the best. In my case, they luckily feel like they removed everything. They removed some lymph nodes [and] those came back negative, but the downside is that triple negative has a high reoccurrence rate within two to three years somewhere else in the body,” Herald explained.

Although currently cancer free, she stated that she has to get bloodwork done every four months to ensure that there are no changes that indicate that the cancer has returned.

Throughout  the months of treatment, Herald tried her best to continue her job, though she shared it was difficult, due to her weakened immune system. She worked up until the day before she had her surgery. The business, she said, was small and family-owned, so there were no short-term or long-term disability opportunities or benefits, resulting in an abrupt end to her income.

Furthermore, her insurance, which wasn’t great, as it wasn’t through her employer, resulted in an out-of-pocket pay of $9,000. This, coupled with the loss of her job and being single, was difficult, leaving her alone and without support.

In April of this year, she relocated to San Marcos to be closer to one of her sons; however, she did her best to keep the difficulties from her children, who were both in college and out trying to live their own life. The mother “didn’t want them to worry,” though soon, her “whole life turned upside down,” making it harder to hide the challenges she was facing.

“The chemo was rough. I was hospitalized after my second treatment. You did okay the first couple of days because of all the steroids and the premeds they give you, but days three through 10, you felt like you had a massive case of the flu — no energy, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything and then, about the time you would start feeling better, you would get another treatment,” she shared.

Herald’s been unemployed and living out of motel rooms and shelters, when available, as she tries to get back on her feet.

In the last eight months, she’s lost valuable memories, such as her son’s scrapbooks and photos, possessions of her parents — now only possessing what can fit in her car.

The diagnosis not only affected her, but also her boys, Herald said, as she can also no longer support them the way she was once able to.

The mother noted that before, she helped with tuition and sent money weekly for food, but now, she simply hopes to have enough for a motel room. To mend this, one son has taken up a job working nights, but this has made his schooling more challenged, she shared.

“It just makes you feel like a horrible [mother]. I’ve told them, ‘I’m sorry that this has happened’ and that I can’t be there for them, that they deserve a lot more and they shouldn’t have to be stressed out in college and they should just be able to focus on getting their degrees. I wish it could be different. I wish things had turned out differently,” said Herald. “My life this summer was: I would do Amazon Flex, then I’d have enough money, hopefully, to get a motel room and food and gas and literally repeat. I’ve been doing that since the end of June and there’s no way to get ahead because it’s like Groundhog Day. I’m reliving the same day over and over and over again,” she said.

Still, she’s doing her best to show up where she can, regularly visiting with them and creating memories. She often joins her Texas State University son’s visits to the grocery store and recently traveled to visit her other son at Texas A&M University and meet his friends.

“I’m still going and praying and I believe it’s going to work out. I’m just trying to be patient, but it’s just, I fought so hard just to beat it and I know how lucky I am. I would watch those people that were taking chemo that have been coming for a year and I always wonder, ‘Why me? Why did I get so lucky?’ And I was thankful. I pray for all of them every day because I know some of them don’t have the chance like I did, but you fight so hard and then, all of a sudden you’re just [constantly] fighting. You finish one battle and now, you’re fighting for survival,” Herald expressed.

Organizations, such as Community Action of Central Texas have been crucial to her journey, as they not only helped with some of the payment for her surgery in February, but also with her car payment.

Herald’s story isn’t unique. According to American Cancer Society, a 2021 survey revealed that: 75% of cancer patients and survivors reported missing work, due to cancer care and treatment; 69% have missed more than four weeks of work; 39% have missed more than three months of work; 33% who missed work did not receive any income; and 13% lost or quit their jobs, due to treatment. These numbers are part of the reason she chose to share her story, not only to educate others on the reality of fighting cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but to advocate for the organizations that do so much to aid them.

“Those groups really do help and they really do make a difference,” she said. “When I’m having a bad day, I just remember how lucky I am and that it could have been a lot worse … I’m just very blessed and I’m just praying every day that whatever my next path will be, it’ll be presented in front of me soon and I can move on.”

Following a recommendation from the Historical Preservation Commission and a council workshop held May 19, the city moved forward with revisions to its historic district guidelines to reflect a broader range of architectural styles and establish preservation expectations based on the significance of individual buildings. According to council documents, the guidelines are intended to preserve historic building features and the overall character of downtown, while facilitating redevelopment and continued economic activity in the area.

The previous historic design guidelines were adopted in 2013 and were based on architectural styles identified in the city’s first historic survey in 1992. After a new historic survey was adopted in 2024, the city began updating the guidelines to account for additional architectural styles and better reflect the district’s historic resources.

Emily Payne with HHM & Associates, who discussed the updated standards with council, said the guidelines were developed to balance preservation with the practical needs of downtown businesses.

“Buda has a wonderful, vibrant, economically viable downtown. We don’t want guidelines that are so strict that businesses can't continue to operate,” Payne said. “The guidelines encourage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse. They don’t stop you from making changes to the building that keep them in use. They focus on preserving the overall setting and feeling of the district as a whole and allow treatments that keep the buildings comfortable, efficient and affordable.”

Assistant director of Development and Services Will Parrish said the revised standards distinguish between regulatory requirements and recommendations based on the preservation priority of each historic building.

Rather than applying the same expectations to every property within the historic district, the guidelines tailor preservation treatments to the historical significance of individual structures. The approach is intended to help protect the district’s defining characteristics, while allowing appropriate changes to buildings with different levels of historical significance.

Parrish also said the updated standards will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2027. The delay gives property owners and applicants time to submit applications and continue working under the existing guidelines before the new standards take effect.

Council approved the standards and recommendations in a 6-0 vote. Council member Matt Smith was not in attendance.

Council also held a required public hearing on a proposed change of use involving three park properties that would provide right-of-way and public utility easements needed for the Old Black Colony Road project.

According to city documents, the proposal affects approximately 0.42 acres of Whispering Hollow Homeowner Association parkland, 2.40 acres of Whispering Hollow Park and 1.07 acres of Summer Pointe Park. Together, the properties account for approximately 3.89 acres.

The proposed change would allow portions of the properties to be used for right-of-way and public utility easements associated with the road project.

The proposal raised concerns about the use of designated parkland for transportation and utility infrastructure. Council member LaVonia Horne-Williams acknowledged those concerns during the discussion, saying the city was attempting to balance the need for the road with the potential effects on surrounding properties and parkland.

“I understand that there is concern and that citizens are worried about the parkland component, some of that property being utilized as right-of-way and for public utilities,” Horne-Williams said. “What we are trying to mitigate is harm on either side and still be able to build a road that everybody wants.”

At the request of city staff, council tabled the item until its Dec. 1 meeting to allow additional time for public notice. The proposal is expected to return for further consideration at that meeting.

The next Buda City Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The item initially included Johnson and Lehman high schools, but Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy stated at the beginning of his presentation at the Oct. 19 meeting that they will no longer be part of the recommendation.

The request to rezone is a result of fast growth, said Savoy, as it’s usually required when a new school opens, but, sometimes, is needed in between, as well. However, he emphasized that staff recognizes that this could be disruptive and has attempted to limit this as much as they could.

“This plan is a bit of a bridge plan, to get us from Point A, where we’re at, to hopefully all the way to Point B, which are the new schools opening, and that would be the natural time to rezone to add those schools in there,” Savoy said.

Regarding Sunfield, the plan was originally to move the prekindergarten program to Tom Green Elementary School, but, after community response, it was decided to leave the program as-is, though Savoy said that this may not be feasible in the future.

Instead, the change will affect cap and overflow students — or families that move into the district after Jan. 1, 2027 — located in Planning Unit 42 and 43B, as they will be slated to attend Tom Green, rather than the zoned school of Sunfield. These units include houses in the southeast and southern portion of the Sunfield subdivision.

There are currently 1,042 students at Sunfield, with a maximum capacity of 1,200. Without the change, this number will rise to 1,134 in the 2027-28 school year and to 1,226 in 2028-29. After implementing the cap and overflow student adjustment next year, the estimated enrollment will be 1,075 for 2027-28 and 1,108 for 2028-29.

This will allow for the growth to be controlled, as by the time Sunfield reaches 1,171 students in 2029-30, Elementary School #18 will be preparing to open for the 2030-31 school year.

Tom Green has 615 students and will reach no more than 732 by 2030, even with the newly zoned students.

“I want to point out, [so] that everyone will know: I think there’s been some misconception that if the campus has more kids then the class sizes are bigger — totally two separate things. The campus total capacity is what we’re looking at when we’re talking about zoning, [while] class sizes are a function of state funding and how many teachers we can hire,” clarified Savoy.

In actuality, if the student population were to lower, for example at Sunfield, he continued, the staff would move to where the new growth is being relocated.

The next hotspot for the district is McCormick Middle School.

“The problem that we really have with McCormick is, while it’s a 1,600 maximum capacity, you really start getting pressure on what’s called the core facilities — the cafeteria, the gyms, all of those types of things,” said Savoy.

The middle school sits at 1,358 students and in 2030, when there will be a full district rezone, there would be 1,687. So, the suggestion is to shift Planning Units 52, 102 and 103 — located south and east of the large curve on Windy Hill Road — to attend Chapa Middle School. Chapa has 802 students, which would rise to 995 after McCormick students begin attending next year. Although it would reach 1,091 by 2030, this is only 20 more than capacity and a full district rezone would occur the same year.

As with the elementary schools, there are grandfathering clauses available, such as allowing younger siblings to stay or finishing out middle school careers at McCormick, if the family so chooses, though transportation would not be provided.

“We’re pretty confident that if we make this very limited plan come to fruition, that that is going to help out and it’s going to buy us a little time and we're going to get to the opening of those new schools,” Savoy stated.

Trustee Esperanza Orosco shared her approval, as she felt that the plan could relieve some of the pressure experienced by Sunfield and McCormick.

“I hope the community understands how well we listened to what they’re providing us because it was immediate the feedback that we received and the reaction to changing the plans based on their feedback. So, I just want to continue to encourage that feedback because it is listened to and it is acted upon,” said trustee Geoff Seibel.

No action was taken at the Oct. 19 meeting, but at the Oct. 26 meeting, trustee Byron Severance motioned to approve the rezoning, with a second from Katy Armstrong. The item passed unanimously.

Council initially approved an agreement with PNT Law Firm to conduct an investigation between Mitchell and ASP — which employed him after his 2025 resignation — in May 2026.

According to the investigation report, the law firm was hired to answer whether Mitchell had a conflict of interest during the time the city’s contracts with ASP were approved, in accordance with Texas and local law,  and if so, what the legal implications are.

Chris Peele, PNT attorney, immediately shared that there were no violations of the Texas Local Government Code or the Texas Penal Code, nor was there any indication that the city’s contracts with ASP were influenced by Mitchell. However, city charter and ethics code provisions regarding disclosure were violated.

The investigation consisted of 20 interviews, including current and former employees and council members, though three interview requests for former council members Bear Heiser and Robert Rizo, as well as former city traffic engineer Spencer Keane, went unanswered. Additionally, ASP and Mitchell refused to be interviewed, but had attorneys provide statements, which denied claims of wrongdoing, shared that he is not a shareholder and stated that his first day of work was Dec. 16, 2025.

Contracts, master agreements, Mitchell’s resignation letter, financial disclosure reports, text messages, council meeting documents, board meetings, recusal forms, Facebook pages, ASP’s website and more were all reviewed by PNT, said Peele. Communications between Mitchell and ASP, as well as their financial records, were not observed, as investigators do not have the ability to subpoena.

“There have been allegations and concerns about Travis Mitchell that stretched back further,” said Peele. “But we didn’t have any evidence that that existed. We had plenty of witnesses who pointed to prior allegations of corruption … but we noted that those prior allegations did not result in any findings to action by the city. So, we didn’t use those to sort of bootstrap or influence our evaluation of the facts that we found. We started with a clean slate.”

Witnesses were unable to point to specific evidence of improper influence conducted by Mitchell and although he’s now employed by ASP, it’s not enough to prove that there was any actual wrongdoing, he explained, adding that when PNT reviewed video footage of alleged incidents, “the recollection of the what happened in the meeting didn’t match up with what we actually saw.” In fact, most of the time, ASP was either selected by an outside contractor or after a full request for qualifications process done by city staff, said Peele.

Peele then began outlining a timeline for the last six months of Mitchell’s tenure, where there were disclosure violations. According to witnesses, the former mayor was initially aiming to take a job with Kinder Morgan around the time of his resignation announcement in July 2025, but that opportunity “must have” fallen through around September of that same year.

In October 2025, Mitchell was off camera during a vote of amendments to a contract that would affect ASP and was therefore considered absent. A week later, during a TML conference, he shared that he had interviewed with ASP, said Peele.

City attorney Aimee Alcorn-Reed then sent him a conflict of interest form Nov. 6, after Mitchell notified her that he had taken a job with ASP. His final council meeting was Dec. 2 and there were no items with ASP on the agenda.

Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale also shared a recording of a meeting she had with Mitchell Dec. 22, on his last day as mayor and a day before she took office. In this, Peele stated that Mitchell reveals that he told ASP to stop negotiations until after the November election and that he “skipped out on votes” because he didn’t want to “break the rules,” which is evidence that he knew he had a conflict of interest.

Ultimately, PNT believes that there were two primary violations under City Charter Section 12.02 Acceptance of Gifts, also violated by ASP, and the city’s Code of Ethics 2-171 Improper Economic Benefit.

The first stated that no officer or employee of the city shall accept, directly or indirectly, a gift, favor or privilege exceeding any nominal value or employment from any utility, corporation, person or utility having or seeking a contract or doing business with the city. The Code of Ethics states the outside employment should be known by council and community, so that it can be factored into the votes or current work.

Alcorn-Reed stated that she will connect with the city’s ethics attorney to see if there is a comprehensive guide for council to handle the violated codes.

“I know there’s a lot of people that were concerned about the price of this, which was $150,000, but in essence, if we can find that that was a violation and we have the $311,000 that is up in question right now [and] we have the information to support that, we could ultimately not pay that or put that on hold,” said Flores-Cale.

She was referring to the vote that occurred prior to the item regarding Mitchell and ASP, which resulted in pausing a $311,604 amendment with ASP for work on the eastern portion of the Bebee Road Project, until the Ethics Commission could review the investigation. The motion to pause passed 5-1, with council member Lauralee Harris dissenting. Council member Claudia Zapata was not in attendance.

“I’ve heard some comments about voiding contracts, just to be clear, and I think city attorney Alcorn-Reed stated this already, but a violation of 12.02 does not make the contract void; it makes it voidable,” said Peele.

Council also voted 6-0 to approve a motion to reduce the rates for water and wastewater for out of city customers to 120% of the inner city rates, to an applause of residents. This comes a year after the outside city rates increased by more than 70% for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

This change will decrease city revenues by $2,139,706, or 30.9%, from $6,931,226 to $4,791,520. These revenue differences will not by absorbed by city customers, explained interim city manager Perwez Moheet. Instead, it will come from the fund balance, since there is a slight surplus for this fiscal year, but there will have to be a rebalancing in the future: “Now is the ideal time, if we’re going to make any changes.”

Because the change requires an ordinance vote, council will have to approve it for a second time at the Nov. 17 meeting, said Perwez. Then, it will take effect for the December billing cycle.

To listen to the full discussion, visit bit.ly/3VTMx2x.

Kyle City Council will meet next at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 for a special meeting.

Beginning Oct. 25, Angels for Elders clients will receive care under the Blue Water Homecare name. For the families involved, very little changes will occur day to day, said a news release. Angels for Elders caregivers are joining Blue Water Homecare alongside the clients they already know and care for and the agency's local phone number, 512-847-7445, will remain the same.

Angels for Elders founders Ann Guilford, RN, and Kima Coltharp, RN, will help introduce clients and caregivers to the Blue Water team during the transition. Denise Salinas, executive director of Blue Water Homecare, will oversee care going forward.

“We built Angels for Elders on the idea that people should be cared for at home by someone who knows them,” said Guilford. “When we started looking at what came next, we wanted a partner who runs things the same way. Blue Water is nurse-led and local and they understood right away that our caregivers are the heart of this.”

That continuity was important to Blue Water Homecare, too.

“Ann and Kima have earned a lot of trust in Wimberley and we don’t take that lightly,” said Jennifer Prescott, RN, MSN, owner and [chief operations officer] of Blue Water Homecare. “Our goal is to keep the people and relationships that families already know, while giving them the support of a larger care team behind the scenes. The families who have trusted Angels for Elders over the years shouldn’t notice anything different except more help when they need it.”

Families with questions can call 512-847-7445 or Blue Water Homecare’s main office at 512-872-2955.

Owner Mark Rodriguez is a Houston-area native and a barbershop expert with a lifetime of experience behind the chair, according to a news release. Known for his attention to detail and pride in his craft, Rodriguez believes in treating every customer with respect and making sure they leave feeling their best. 

 After eight years of investing in the Belterra community, the barber brought that same commitment to Dripping Springs, a community he values for its welcoming spirit and small-town values, the release continued.

 That vision became The Drip Haus, a barbershop built on quality, genuine connection and care for the people and community it serves. 

 For Rodriguez, it’s simple: do good work, treat people right and give back to the community he calls home. 

 Drip Haus Barbershop is located at 27320 Ranch Road 12, Suite B, in Dripping Springs.  Call 512-202-7208 or driphausbarbershop@gmail.com for an appointment. Visit www.driphausbarbershop.com for more information.

The model home captures the builder’s ongoing commitment to delivering quality craftsmanship, luxury architecture and exceptional homebuilding experiences to the Texas Hill Country, according to a news release. Whether homebuyers are seeking an immediate move-in option or looking to build a personalized home tailored to their family's lifestyle, Perry Homes offers an array of deluxe floor plans and carefully curated design selections.

Creek of Driftwood, located in the heart of Driftwood, is an established gated community offering an idyllic, private Hill Country lifestyle just minutes from Austin, Wimberley and downtown Dripping Springs, the release continued. Known for its mature oak trees, half- to one-acre homesites and tranquil residential atmosphere, the neighborhood balances serene rural charm with everyday conveniences. In addition to spacious floor plans, families benefit from zoning to the highly-rated Dripping Springs ISD.

Visitors and prospective buyers are invited to tour the model home and explore available home opportunities. The sales center is located at 381 Onion Creek Lane, Driftwood, with open hours from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from noon to 7:00 p.m. Sunday.

For additional information or to schedule a private tour, contact Perry Homes sales professional Stacey Harrison by phone at (737) 306-8642 or by email at Stacey.Harrison@perryhomes.com.

Derek Harvey and Taylor Harvey had barely left their Woodcreek neighborhood when a strong contraction made Taylor worry they wouldn’t finish the drive to San Marcos. By the time they reached the bridge over the Blanco River, worry had become certainty.

Derek said that his wife told him, “Pull over, this baby’s coming out.”

Minutes later, a Wimberley parking lot became an unexpected delivery room, with two paramedics helping the couple welcome their second son.

For Derek, the trip had started with a phone call to Luminary, the San Marcos birthing center where the couple planned to deliver. Taylor’s water had broken and he called to let the team know. As her contractions intensified, he called again before they headed out.

Then came the contraction just outside their neighborhood.

“I don’t want to have this baby on the side of the road,” Derek recalled Taylor saying.

He switched on his emergency flashers and continued toward town, but Bennett’s arrival was moving faster than their drive.

After Taylor told him to stop, Derek pulled into the parking lot near the Hays County Precinct 3 offices. Two women were outside a nearby nail salon and he quickly got their attention and asked them to call 911.

“I just went into action,” he said.

Wimberley Emergency Medical Services paramedics Adrian Castillo and Michael Afflerbach arrived within minutes, Derek estimated. The baby was already crowning.

There was no time to continue to the birthing center. There also was no reason to move Taylor, Afflerbach said. She was positioned well inside the car and Derek was beside her, ready to help.

“Once we saw the baby crowning, you already know it’s imminent,” Afflerbach said.

The paramedics prepared their equipment and stayed ready for complications. Castillo said his attention was on getting both mother and baby safely through the delivery.

“Michael and I had everything prepared and ready, just in case something was to happen,” he said. “We were prepared.”

About five minutes after the paramedics arrived, Bennett was born.

“Textbook birth,” Afflerbach said. “I mean, it was perfect.”

The moment brought another surprise. The Harveys had waited until the birth to learn whether their baby was a boy or a girl.

EMS Chief Cathy Montgomery described the discovery as Taylor brought the newborn to her chest.

“Oh, it’s a boy,” she recalled the parents saying, which they noted added another boy to the family.

For Castillo, who has worked in EMS since 2021, the birth marked a different kind of first. Although he had been involved in childbirth calls before, this was his first delivery relying on his partner and the resources they carried.

He called it one of the highlights of his career — so far.

Afflerbach, a paramedic since 2020 and a father of four, had participated in his own children’s births with midwives. Still, helping welcome a healthy newborn on an emergency call offered a side of the job he seldom experiences.

“It’s very rare we get to see this side of things,” he said.

Montgomery said emergency crews more often meet families when someone is sick, injured or grieving. This call gave them the chance to share in a joyful moment — and to support a mother doing the hardest work.

“Mom is the one that’s actually doing the work,” Montgomery said.

The chief credited teamwork amongst Taylor, Derek and the paramedics, who were ready to intervene if the delivery did not go as expected.

Derek also praised the Luminary team, who he said arrived about three minutes after the paramedics and joined in caring for Taylor and Bennett.

“They were super professional and very kind,” he said of the paramedics. “We were so happy that they were there.”

Looking back, Derek is still struck by how smoothly an unplanned parking lot delivery unfolded.

The destination changed, but the outcome was everything the Harveys had hoped for.

Mother, baby and the rest of the family are healthy and doing well, Derek said — with a new little brother and a birth story they won’t soon forget.

The Wimberley ISD State of the District was held in the Wimberley Community Center and hosted by the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce. City and community leadership were in attendance to learn about construction updates and student success during the event.

Bonewald began by sharing that the district has approximately 2,700 students across four campuses, beginning with a prekindergarten program at age 3 through 12th grade.

Throughout the years, the district’s enrollment has stayed steady, continued the superintendent, despite the fact that there are fewer children being born, due to economic stressors and lifestyle changes. This means that the beginning grades at the elementary level have the lowest enrollment, but that the district is actually seeing an increase in enrollment at the third to fifth grade level; ultimately, balancing the number of students.

Next, chief financial officer Michael Doyle took to the podium to discuss the status of the 2025 bond projects, including: Prop A at $109.9 million for growth, safety and rehabilitation; Prop B at $6.05 million for technology; Prop C at $5.73 million for Texan Stadium improvements; and Prop D at $13.23 million for a shaded multipurpose activity center

The follow projects are happening at each school:

Blue Hole Elementary School: A new parking lot has been constructed for safety and a new roof has replaced the previous hail damaged one.

Jacob's Well Elementary School: New HVAC system and a new roof from hail damage.

Danforth Middle School: Concrete slabbing has been placed for the new Performing Arts Center and the cooling tower has been updated.

Wimberley High School: The new band hall addition and the weight room is currently being slabbed, while construction has been completed on the new underground detention pond and new marching band pad.

Bonewald added that, unfortunately, some of the students may feel a bit of discomfort toward the end of the year, as demolition is slated to start earlier than initially anticipated, in order to comply with timelines, such as the girls locker rooms at Danforth.

Other projects ongoing, said Doyle, are the multipurpose activity center, which will allow outside organizations to safely practice during the extreme Texas heat, new HVAC and restrooms at the middle and high school level, new lighting for the practice fields that are Dark Sky compliant and more.

Moving inside the classroom, Bonewald shared that the district has also started implementing an audio enhancement device. This is both for instructional and safety purposes. First, the audio enhancement will allow students at the back of the classroom to have a better chance of understanding what the teacher is saying and prevent the instructors from straining their voices for speaking loudly eight hours a day.

It will also serve as an alert device, said Bonewald.

“It has a certain sequence,” he explained. “It will either alert the front office if there’s some sort of emergency — it might be a medical emergency; it might be a safety situation. Another sequence will go directly to first responders at 911.”

Additionally, translation earbuds are in the beginning stages for students that have English as a second language, as this is a growing need in the district, he shared.

Over the past year, success was aplenty in the district, said Bonewald.

He noted that out of eight schools, WISD earned 801 University Interscholastic League points among several areas —  including theatre, art, athletics, debate and more — scoring more than the other seven schools combined.

Students also surpassed the national average for advanced placement testing, with a 93.4% passing rate. These tests can then qualify for college credit, said Bonewald, though that is not the only option.

“Some kids are going directly to college; some kids are going to get certificates that allow them to go straight into the workforce; [and] some are going to get certifications and still go to college because that’s the right path for them. Two years ago, Wimberley High School earned a total of 173 certifications … This past year was 358,” shared the superintendent.

These students are taking the skills learned and implementing them into their own businesses. He even shared that at the 2026 graduation, a student was passing out his business cards as he walked the stage.

“We’ve talked about facilities. We’ve talked about academics and extracurricular success. One of the things that really came clearly to me when we went through that strategic planning process with a large group of our community several years ago is that our community also values that we are teaching character traits in our schools,” he recalled.

In an effort to do this, programs, such as T.E.X.A.N. Roots and the Fig Tree Outreach Program have begun. The first started in 2021 with the intent to create thoughtful decision making, interpersonal skills, personal skills, goal setting and problem solving, while the second provides food for children facing food insecurity.

Bonewald also shared that the district has had to be strategic with its finances, due to limited funding from the state legislature: “If you increase funding, but you tell local school boards exactly how that funding can be used and can only be used that way, it does nothing to address inflationary costs in operating the entire system, paying custodians, buying food — all of these things that the districts have to do.”

Finally, he concluded the presentation by praising the organizations that come together to support Wimberley ISD and its students, as well as noting that community members can help sponsor a practicum student, donate materials and resources, support teacher and staff recognition and support the Wimberley Education Foundation to continue to help the district.

Tourism

Tourism director Michele Woods began her presentation by going over numbers from fiscal year 2025-26, which included a total net revenue of $854,000, an increase of approximately $157,000, or 23%, from the previous year.

“What’s really interesting and kind of complex about that is that that reflects not only some increased tourism performance, but there was also some really intentional work that we were doing all year long kind of behind the scenes to improve how we’re both collecting that revenue and then, also retaining it,” Woods explained.

At the beginning of 2026, she continued, the department set out to look at the city’s hotel occupancy tax (HOT) accounts to understand each one, identify which ones were behind and figure out how to help them come into compliance.

As a result of those efforts, approximately $40,000 in back taxes were collected, while an additional $100,000 has been tagged as outstanding. They are working with the city attorney on the collections for the overdue accounts.

A renegotiation of the department’s contract with HdL Companies netted a decrease from approximately $144,000 last year to about $56,000 this year, for which council congratulated them.

On the marketing side, Tourism’s Stars, Stripes and Wimberley Nights program led the net HOT revenue for both July and August to increase approximately 27%.

Building onto the traditions built from the past few years is the goal for the upcoming Hometown Holidays, said Woods. Some additions to the event are the Great Wimberley Reindeer Trail, which will include 13 different 6- to 7-foot lighted deer spread around town and have a scavenger hunt with it, and Ben the Longhorn, who will join Texan Santa downtown Saturday, Dec. 19.

Finally, they will be bringing back the New Year’s Eve ball drop, following its success last year.

“We will still have the ball; we’re not going to have a boot to drop yet, but that is in the plans,” she stated.

In 2027, priorities include:

Implementing Placer.ai

Improving visitor experience

Increasing HOT compliance

“Before I wrap up, I do want to take a second and just recognize [visitors services coordinator Gabrielle Snyder.] Our office, especially in looking back at this, has been able to get a lot done this year and there’s no doubt it could not have been done without her,” Woods concluded. “So, I just want to thank you.”

Parks

Parks director Erica Flocke shared the department’s annual report, citing 145 acres of parkland managed, an average of 65,000 swimmers per year and more than 60 annual programs and events under its purview.

There are eight locations with public parkland in the city limits, including:

Blue Hole Regional Park

Cypress Creek Nature Preserve

Martha Knies Community Park

Oak Park & Welcome Center

Old Baldy Park

Patsy Glenn Refuge

Sunrise Park

Wimberley Community Center

Parks staff is broken down among four managers: Isabella St. John, operations; Rachel Littleton, programs; Bryce Burkhalter, maintenance/natural resources; and Samantha Engemoen, community center. In addition to managers, there are 10 year-round employees and 21 seasonal employees.

“I can’t talk about anything in this department without talking about the people that run it because I’m just one face in this department and these are the people that are running everything in this department,” said Flocke.

In regard to actual park operations, while the total number of half-day passes sold was down 1% from FY 2025, income generated from those passes increased 39.6% to a total of $851,442, due to a price increase on them.

Additionally, 402 seasonal passes were sold, generating $46,244, and merchandise sales garnered $45,729. Currently, merchandise is only available in person, however the department has seen an increase in requests for online availability, which Flocke said she is looking into.

Another positive change over the previous season is that there were only 10 swim slots cancelled, due to weather, and there were no closures related to water level.

While the majority of visitors to Blue Hole Regional Park come from South Austin, the park saw visitors from at least 47 different countries during the fiscal year.

For programs and events, the department had nearly 4,000 total program participant bookings for the year. This includes everyone who signed up for an event on the website; however, some events, such as BOO! Hole Halloween, do not require signup, so those numbers are not included.

Enrollment was down at both the Blue Hole Nature Camp and Wimberley Summer Camp, at 86% full and 47% full, respectively. The Spring Break Camp was 100% full, but only served 20 children.

With only three employees, the maintenance/natural spaces department was spread thin, but still managed to complete numerous projects over the course of the year, including, but not limited to:

Repaired Old Baldy steps

Designed, built and installed more than 50 trail signs

Installed stage at Oak Park

Replaced drinking fountains at Blue Hole

Conducted E. coli testing and monitored water levels at Blue Hole throughout summer

Removed playground at Martha Knies Community Park in preparation for new playground

There were also numerous upgrades and repairs made at the Wimberley Community Center, including: senior lounge kitchen renovation, restroom plumbing repairs, baby-changing stations added, fire system repairs, HVAC repairs and more.

Revenue for the parks department came in higher than expected, at $1,167,625, while expenses came in lower than anticipated, at $841,115.

While expenses for the community center itself came in slightly under budget,at $238,759, so did the revenue, at $72,731, rather than the $85,000 budgeted. The $166,000 loss was made up by the parks budget.

The department is not without its challenges, some of which include operational challenges, such as limited revenue generation, competition with free public spaces and aging infrastructure at the community center. Additionally, high visitation at parks is resulting in maintenance, restrooms and infrastructure struggles, said Flocke, especially on busy weekends with limited staff.

Looking ahead to FY 2027, Flocke anticipates suggestions from a recently-created Community Center Evaluation Committee, which has been tasked with deciding how to improve revenue and what the future of the facility should look like. She is also anticipating the completion of the Aquatics Feasibility Study, which will soon come back to council, and the new playground at Martha Knies Community Park in November.

No action was taken, as both reports were intended to only provide updates to council.

Wimberley City Council will meet next Thursday, Nov. 5.

The project, according to its website, is the creation of a large mosaic through hands-on workshops. For art therapist Wanda Montemayor, those returning participants have become one of the most meaningful parts of it.

Community members throughout the Hill Country have come to make clay tiles for a community mosaic supporting those affected by the Fourth of July floods, said Montemayor. Along the way, some who first arrived needing support have become the people offering it.

“They begin helping others, sharing their experiences and taking ownership of something that belongs to their community,” Montemayor said. “Watching them shine has been incredibly moving.”

That spirit brought Montemayor and volunteers to Whataburger in Dripping Springs Sunday, Oct. 18, where people of all ages were invited to make tiles that will become part of the mural.

The free workshop offered a way to contribute to a project built around the people, history and strengths of a community recovering from loss.

“Every single tile is handmade with a beautiful message, a meaning behind it,” Montemayor said.

An Austin-based art therapist, Montemayor spent 23 years in public education before opening Community Arts, an art therapy group practice. Her work eventually took her to Uvalde, where she helped guide a large-scale healing mural after the tragedy there.

That project took about 13 months, she said, and her connections to the community continue.

The experience also helped establish a path to Kerrville. Montemayor said the National Endowment for the Arts, which helped fund the Uvalde project, recommended her as someone who could assist with an arts response after the tragedy.

Before moving forward, she asked whether the community wanted that kind of project. Their answer became a mosaic intended to acknowledge loss, while also celebrating the community’s identity.

“We’re here because of a hard event,” Montemayor said. “But we actually are rooted in what’s right with the community.”

The design includes 121 birds representing lives lost, she said. Its larger focus draws on local heritage and the things that connect people to the place they call home.

Montemayor has watched that sense of connection develop during repeated workshops, particularly those at Color of Clay in Kerrville.

Early visits sometimes brought difficult emotions to the surface. Simply being present and engaging in the creative process could be hard, she said. But over time, she saw some of those same participants grow more confident, find enjoyment in the work and become leaders within the project.

“To me, that's one of the most powerful parts of this project,” she said. “It's not just about creating a beautiful mosaic; it's about watching people move from receiving support to offering it to others.”

That change does not mean grief has disappeared.

“This work has reminded me that grief can be gentle,” Montemayor said. “We often think of grief as something that has to be heavy and painful, but I've learned that there can also be moments of joy, laughter, creativity and connection, even in the midst of tremendous loss.”

People need time and space to process their experiences in their own way, she said. Sometimes that means tears. Other times, it means making art around a table, sharing stories and finding moments of happiness together.

By the time of the Dripping Springs workshop, the effort had produced more than 30,000 handmade tiles and reached more than 8,000 people, according to Montemayor.

The planned mural consists of 47 panels, most measuring approximately 3 feet by 5 feet. Thirty-three panels had been completed, she said, with installation hoped for in January 2027 at the Hill Country Youth Event Center, known locally as the Ag Barn.

Behind those numbers are teachers, artists and community members who have helped carry the project forward.

Montemayor described a training approach that equips local educators and artists to lead the work. Participating educators come from communities across Kerr County, including Ingram, Center Point, Hunt and Kerrville.

“They’ve been the backbone of this entire project,” she said.

Art teachers, she explained, are especially well positioned to reach children because their classrooms serve students across a campus. Teachers, coaches and mentors also bring relationships that can help support a community after hardship.

Several local art educators have told her the project has been transformative both personally and professionally. Two have written grants to bring similar opportunities into their classrooms, she said.

“This is the community’s mural and we are there to help support them,” Montemayor said.

This philosophy extends to the project’s traveling workshops.

People affected by the floods do not all live in Kerrville, she said. Taking tile-making opportunities to other communities allows more people to participate, including those who want to offer support even if they were not directly affected.

The Dripping Springs event, held at Whataburger on E. U.S. 290, was one such stop. The flier listed Whataburger, the Kendra Scott Foundation and Community Arts as supporters.

All of the project’s workshops are free, Montemayor said.

Two workshops remain, according to Montemayor: one in San Angelo and a final gathering at Color of Clay in Kerrville from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8. She said details for the Kerrville workshop would be posted soon at comarts.us.

For Montemayor, the reason to keep going is found in the people who return, those who find their voices, build confidence and begin helping others do the same.

“Those moments remind me that healing doesn't mean forgetting what happened,” she said. “It means finding ways to carry our grief, while also making room for joy, connection and hope.”

The Presidential Scholars award includes a four-year scholarship covering tuition and fees, as well as a Study Abroad semester and a $1,000 undergraduate research stipend, said a news release. On-campus housing and a meal plan are covered for the first year.

The program will launch for the Fall 2027 semester, with a Dec. 15, 2026, application deadline.

“The Presidential Scholars Program will equip the top students in Texas with the tools and opportunities they need to reach their full potential, both as Bobcat students and as Texans,” said TXST President Kelly Damphousse. “TXST is where they can study alongside nationally recognized faculty members, conduct groundbreaking research and cultivate leadership skills that will last a lifetime, all while gaining transformational global experiences through our Study Abroad opportunities.”

Eligible students must have graduated in the top 5% of their high school class with minimum test scores of 1400 or higher for the SAT or 30 or higher for the ACT. Applicants must be first-time freshmen attending TXST in San Marcos or Round Rock. Texas residency and U.S. citizenship or permanent U.S. residency is required.

Homeschool students are eligible to apply. Test-optional candidates may be considered, but meeting score requirements strengthens the application.

The 24 Presidential Scholars will be selected from each of the eight academic colleges at TXST: Applied Arts; Education; Fine Arts and Communication; Health Professions; Ingram College of Engineering; Liberal Arts; McCoy College of Business; and Science. Each college will be allotted three Presidential Scholars.

The $1,000 research stipend will support Presidential Scholars to pursue undergraduate research initiatives within their selected discipline, under the guidance and supervision of faculty mentors. Overall, the initiative aligns with TXST’s Run to R1 and encourages research at every level at the university.

The one summer semester Study Abroad component may be completed on faculty led-summer study trips or at one of TXST’s five international educational hubs, hosted by partner universities in Edinburgh, Scotland; Inverness, Scotland; Madrid, Spain; Oxford, England; and Tokyo, Japan.

For more information or to apply, visit bit.ly/3VxUqdE.

SAN MARCOS — Domestic violence is often misunderstood as only physical abuse, but at its core, it is about power and control. Abusers may try to take away a survivor’s freedom, independence and ability to make decisions, creating fear and dependence. For survivors with mental health diagnoses, abuse can be even more complex because those diagnoses may be weaponized against them.

This can happen through gaslighting, where survivors are made to question their memories, feelings or experiences. It can also occur through treatment of sabotage, such as hiding medication, interfering with therapy appointments or threatening to disclose private mental health information. Abusers may use isolation to disconnect survivors from supportive people and resources or engage in legal abuse by misusing the court system to portray survivors as unstable or unreliable.

It's important to understand that domestic violence affects much more than a person's immediate safety. It can impact physical health, emotional well-being, relationships, parenting, employment, housing stability and a person's sense of identity. When so many areas of life are affected, survivors may experience anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances and sometimes symptoms become more noticeable after they reach safety and begin processing their experiences.

By believing survivors, connecting them to trusted support and encouraging safe documentation when appropriate, we can help them protect their voice, rebuild independence and support healing and recovery, which are essential to long-term health and well-being.

If community members suspect that someone may need help with an abusive relationship, they can call HCWC’s 24-hour HELPline at 512-396-4357 to talk to advocates and learn more about advocacy, counseling and group therapy options for survivors.

Founded in 2023, the TXST Space Lab is a research lab in the Department of Physics that designs, builds, tests and operates spacecraft. Lab-developed flight software and spacecraft assembly work currently support satellites in orbit through the PROVES Five collaboration and the lab runs its own ground command station in San Marcos for satellite communications. Students from physics, engineering and computer science work alongside faculty across the full mission lifecycle — from circuit boards and flight code to launch-day operations — and the lab partners with universities, agencies and industry to fly research payloads in low Earth orbit.

The milestone builds on years of work by the TXST Space Lab to help other universities prepare satellites for orbit. Students and researchers in the TXST Space Lab built and tested Maia and will command it once it reaches orbit. The mission puts the team’s spacecraft assembly, flight software and ground communication systems aboard a TXST satellite for the first time.

“This launch is a testament to what Bobcats can do when we come together and tackle something as complex as satellite design and operations,” said Evan Jellison, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Physics and TXST Space Lab coordinator. “The mission wouldn’t be possible without the diversity of skills and expertise students brought to the project. Maia is also a stepping stone for TXST. Once we finish this mission, what’s stopping us from doing another?”

The student team includes: Nate Gay, software lead and mathematics student; Saidi Adams, an electrical engineering student on the software team; Jasmine Rawles, a mechanical engineering student and engineer; and Johnny McCaskill, a mathematics, physics and computer science student, who works in engineering and mission modeling. Physics alumnus Chase Blount also serves as an engineer. Many other TXST students contributed to Maia’s development, testing and launch preparation.

Maia carries MOSAIC, a TXST-developed system that allows students to test different instruments and spacecraft components. MOSAIC includes a TXST-designed radiation sensor that will measure radiation in low Earth orbit.

“Maia is the first time TXST has run a mission of its own. Our students build it, test it and then, command it from our own ground station once it’s in orbit,” said Blagoy Rangelov, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physics and principal investigator of the TXST Space Lab. “Once a university can do that, an idea sketched on a whiteboard in San Marcos has a real path to orbit.”

After reaching the International Space Station, Maia will remain there until it is sent into solo orbit around the Earth. The TXST team will then make contact with the satellite and begin the mission.

The successful launch of Maia also opens new opportunities for future research. The Space Lab aims to help TXST researchers and regional partners test new technologies and conduct experiments in space.

Brian Sledge, legal counsel, walked through the changes with the board, stating that he would not be mentioning any grammatical changes, such as typos, or housekeeping amendments.

“Most of the substantive changes establish a new permitting framework for the Trinity Aquifer,” said Sledge, adding that the historical permits will be divided into Historical Trinity and Historical Edwards, as well as a Conditional Trinity. There is already a Conditional Edwards.

He noted that the core amendments provide that “total Trinity production, including exempt use of all permits, shall be permitted to maximus for practical, but not beyond the amount that’s required to achieve the applicable desired future conditions.”

Essentially, the existing permits will be reclassified as historical, while new permits will be recognized under a Conditional Trinity. Those already in the process of receiving a permit will still be under the historical section.

“I don’t think that’s something that the board had to do, but the board decided to do it. There’s a number of folks [who have] already done their well … and are preparing to submit a Trinity production permit application, so we are going to allow those folks in. Those provisions are included in the rules,” said Sledge.

Additional changes include acreage-based limits on total production for Conditional Trinity permits, as this is common for many groundwater conservation districts, he explained.

The lower and middle Trinity is being set at 10,000 gallons per acre per year, while the upper will be 5,000.

“[This] is intentionally set above what we call the minimum production allowable. It’s actually more water than is actually there. If you divvy up on total available groundwater necessary to achieve the [desired future conditions] for the Trinity by the acreage that covers each of those Trinity management zones, the actual number of gallons available per year is much lower,” said the attorney. “But as the district sets out the rules, we’ve adopted these higher values for now to allow additional production until if and when it becomes necessary to reduce the production allowable.”

Retail public utilities will receive credit for the acreage in their certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) or within the corporate boundaries.

Sledge added that, “You can subtract out acreage within somebody’s CCN for an individual permit holder and that CCN, or an exempt well owner, take[s] that acreage off of the table for the retail public utilities, so that there’s no double dipping on it. Each area is recognized under one permit.”

The same curtailment percentages that apply to Historical Trinity permits, which Sledge shared are 20% for Stage 1, 30% for Stage 2 and Stage 3 will apply to the Conditional Trinity permits. There will be an additional measure of protection built in by the per acre limitation on total production.

Other amendments are as follows:

• Hydrogeologic reports must be completed within the last three years to be used

• Permits are for annual one-year terms

• Any new amendment seeking increased authorized production is treated as a major amendment and goes before the board

• Renewal requests with the same acreage will be renewed at the same volume, while those with amended — less — acreage will be renewed at a reduced rate

• Those on Conditional Trinity permits must notify the district accordingly, if acreage is lost

• Increasing the penalty range for Water Code of Civil Penalty Enforcement

• Spacing regulations and distance from property line updates in the constructions standards

After the presentation, entitlements manager for MileStone Community Builders Shani Armbruster spoke during public comment. As a representative of MileStone’s planned community, Hays Commons, at the corner of FM 1626 and SH 45, she shared concerns about the rules that would cut the currently pending 500-acre foot request to 16.5 acres — a 97% reduction. However, she believed that the development’s application would be grandfathered in and requested acknowledgment.

Asking whether or not there is an opportunity for churches, schools and other projects that are in the development and permitting process to apply for modifications to existing historic permits was Buda resident David Wilson.

Two attendees also questioned the reasoning behind the gallon per acreage limit, asking what science was used to come to these numbers and citing potential compliance problems.

Finally, Victoria Rose of the Save Our Springs Alliance expressed her support of the new rules.

The board went into executive session, following public comments, and reconvened to take a vote.

Sledge recommended that based on comments received, that the references be changed from Sept. 19, 2026, to Oct. 16, 2026, so that the grandfathering provisions are triggered at the adoption of the rules.

Those like Hays Commons, that had an application, but still hadn’t yet filed a production permit, will still be processed under the previous historical provisions; the same analysis will still be required, but the new acreage-based requirements won’t be present, Sledge said.

He also noted that applications for wells proposing to withdraw groundwater from the upper, middle and lower Trinity management center will be processed as Conditional Trinity production permits.

Board member Vanessa Puig-Williams motioned to approve the proposed rule amendments, with changes recommended by counsel. A second by Jon Cradit led to a  5-0 approval.

The next BSEACD board meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12.

When Ryann Payne and Brad Payne met at Buck’s Backyard in Buda in 2021, they knew almost immediately that they saw a future together. Just 20 days later, they were engaged, ultimately getting married in July 2022.

Shortly after their wedding, the couple began trying to expand their family, as they didn’t want a large age gap between future children and Brad’s son. Though, months of trying and  failed fertility treatments caused them to take a break.

“We kind of just gave up for a little bit and we were like, ‘Let's take a break. I'm tired of focusing on this all the time. Let's just see what happens,’” Ryann explained. “Literally, a couple weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. So, that was miracle number one with Jett.”

For all intents and purposes, the pregnancy went just as it should. Even with additional anatomy scans, due to the baby measuring large, there was no indication of the trouble that would come.

On June 8, 2024 — Brad’s birthday — Ryann went into labor. Determined to not go to the hospital too early or sit in the house, she labored through their older son’s baseball tournament all day and even hosted a party for Brad that evening.

The next morning, the couple went to Ascension Seton Hays Hospital, where Ryann was checked into the Labor and Delivery Unit at 2 centimeters dilated and with slightly elevated blood pressure.

Around 6 p.m. that day, it was time to start pushing.

“His heart rate was never unstable,” Ryann recalled. “The only thing that was a little bit off was my blood pressure was a little high. At that point, there was zero concern for anything.”

Despite three-and-a-half hours of pushing, Jett’s vitals remained stable and Ryann remembered thinking he was stubborn. But everything changed when he was born gray and motionless, not crying.

Rather than getting those first moments with her newborn, he was whisked away immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Throughout the evening and through the night, doctors performed tests on Jett, who Ryann said was inconsolable, convulsing and wouldn’t eat, but none of their ideas about what could be wrong quite fit the scenario.

It was at shift change the next morning, when a new neonatologist and new nurse, Nicole Trudeau, came to review the newborn’s case with the parents, that Ryann noticed the nurse’s face.

“He started shaking again and the nurse looked over and she put her hand on Jett and she looked at the neonatologist and you could tell that she was trying to quietly say something,” the mother said. “The neonatologist looked at him, touched his arm and she was like, ‘He's having seizures. We need to call Dell [Children’s Medical Center].’”

The transport team arrived to take Jett, stopping by Ryann’s postpartum room before they left to say goodbye. Once arriving at Dell, the neonatologist on-call, Dr. Sameer Gajjar, made the decision to get an MRI immediately, prior to admitting the baby, which Ryann believes helped lead to a quicker understanding of what was happening and the eventual positive outcome of the case.

By the time she was discharged from Ascension and drove to the new hospital, Jett’s doctors had discovered the cause of all of the symptoms: he had suffered from four perinatal strokes in various locations in his brain. They warned that, in addition to potential cerebral palsy, the child would likely have significant motor function problems and may never walk.

Due to symptoms the baby was experiencing, Ascension retained Ryann’s placenta to conduct a placental study. The exam indicated that it was irritated by the extended time she was pushing during labor. As a result, the doctors believe that microscopic pieces broke off in utero, traveled through the umbilical cord and into Jett’s bloodstream and brain. However, the definitive cause is uncertain.

“I literally thought I was going to throw up on the floor,” Ryann recalled. “My very first thought was, ‘He's going to have to sit in a wheelchair on the sidelines and watch his brother [play baseball] for the rest of his life.’”

Because the electrical activity in his brain was too high — causing the seizures — he was placed on multiple medications, one of which required intubation for approximately 24-36 hours. After this, the seizures largely stopped occurring.

Jett stayed in the NICU for 11 days — until the electrical activity was at a stable level — and remained on two preventative seizure medications after discharge.

Neonatologist Dr. Ashley Lucke explained that it was difficult seeing the days when Jett could barely move his arms, due to exhaustion from the medication, but emphasized that, “I think the key things for me that I remember was trying to take moments where it felt like there was little hope left and assure Ryann and Brad that Dr. [Leah] Ferrante and I could see the future potential and the beauty of how adaptable a newborn baby's brain is .. I specifically sat Brad and Ryann down in the NICU and told them that we’re still hopeful of what his prognosis could be with the right amount of physical therapy, specialized medical treatment and love poured in by his parents.”

Jett was eventually weaned off of one of the medications at four months old, following a repeat EEG to check his brain. His mother shared that hearing this news was one of the first truly good days.

“Dr. Ferrante was able to get the results while we were still at the hospital, so she was able to deliver that news in person to us that his results were significantly better than she would have expected,” Ryann stated. “She said they weren't perfect, so she didn't want to wean him off of both seizure meds. But she was like, ‘I did not expect them to look as good as they do … It's obviously very early [and] four-month-old babies don't do a lot, but based on what four-month-old babies typically do, he looks to me like he's advanced.’”

After an additional EEG at eight months, Jett was taken off the remaining medication. Aside from slight concerns about the function of his left arm when he was approximately 1 year old, which resolved on their own, the now-2-year-old has no known deficits from his early complications.

“It's just, every day of his life has been apparent that something about this kid is special,” said Ryann. “Not only has he always met his milestones, he's blown us away in every category.”

For 2026, he was selected as an ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network, which partners with hospitals across the United States to raise funds for local children’s hospitals.

Ryann explained that these events were initially difficult for her: “I broke down in our room crying after because most of the kids that are involved with Children's Miracle Network have permanent disabilities or they've gone through cancer and these little, tiny children have been through more in their few years of life than some of us will ever go through in ours. It just made me feel very guilty to be there with Jett because he truly is a miracle; he shouldn't be able to be doing the things that he's doing. We never imagined that this is what life would look like for us. It’s just so different and so much better than we could have imagined.”

She has tried to change her perspective on this, she continued, by reminding herself it’s a gift to be able to give hope to other people and provide a positive story for other parents going through the unimaginable.

The family has also done fundraisers for the Dell Children’s Neuro-NICU and other NICU families for both of his birthdays.

As for Jett, in a true testament to how far he’s come, he was invited to play on the 4U tee-ball team over the summer and is the youngest player on the team. His first game was Sept. 19 and Lucke and Ferrante were there to cheer him on.

“He hit the ball off the tee and ran back to the dugout instead of first base,” Ryann said, laughing.

“All of [the hard work and love] was the recipe to go from barely able to move his arms, to a home run swing on the field,” said Lucke. “I still recall the heaviness that we felt reading Jett’s MRI and we frequently go back and look at it, questioning whether our memory of the extent of his injury is correct. We question that maybe his MRI was not as severe as we remembered, but indeed, every time we go back and look at it again together, Dr. Ferrante and I are overcome with gratitude and appreciation of what a privilege and honor it is to be a part of his story. He is an extraordinary little boy who I truly believe is destined to do incredible things in this life beyond what any of us can fathom.”

Ultimately, life for Jett isn’t anything like his parents or his doctors were expecting, in the best way possible — something Ryann can only simply call a miracle.

As a gift back to the community for supporting the company, the organization donated 15 trees to be planted along a “forgotten” trail in Lake Kyle. Pictured, Diego and his son work on digging a hole for one of the trees.

He first discussed the growth that is present in the district. According to demographers, the district is estimated to be at 45,435 students for the 2035-36 school year. Currently, enrollment is at 25,439. However, the numbers have been difficult to estimate over the past few years, often leading to incorrect numbers when planning for the budget. This is because student enrollment has been more conservative than it previously was, due to several factors, he said.

The biggest reason is due to the new vouchers approved by Gov. Greg Abbott, said Wright. These vouchers have a flat check of $10,000 per student — no matter the school attendance, which varies from the public school funding that is reliant on students being present daily  — and allow students to attend private charter schools. There are 278 children within the district’s boundaries utilizing these vouchers, said Wright, though there are some that received them, but weren’t accepted into the private schools.

“We have a substantial amount of kids that received vouchers, but weren’t accepted into private schools and so, that’s part of the equation. Of the ones that received vouchers, about 73% of them were already in a private school. So, about 27% were our students last year and are now in a private school setting,” said Wright. “And the majority of those, of that [27%], are in a prekindergarten program and hopefully, they’ll come to us next year as kindergarteners.”

Additionally, there are approximately 300 students that are simply not enrolled, revealed the superintendent. He shared that students that were previously attending the schools can be seen around town, but are not in either private or public schools, for fear of their parent(s) being deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The students shared that their primary fear is their family being separated because if their mother or father gets deported, they will be split up. Ultimately, this is causing these students to go uneducated, he said.

If it wasn’t for the vouchers and this national policy, Wright shared that the demographers’ numbers would be more accurate. Still, the 3,500 homes built each year are holding steady at 0.8 kids per household.

Wright said that, on the subject of housing, the district is planning to cut the ribbon on its affordable housing community, Live Oak Commons, off of Highway 21 Friday, Nov. 6. The 362 units have been under construction for the past year and will soon be filled with Hays CISD employees. Though, there are still more than 500 individuals on the waitlist, said Wright.

He also noted that High School #4 broke ground recently, with several 60-foot piers in the ground to ensure that the building stays safe and stable in the future, as it was built on “suspicious” soil. Despite the facility being “massive,” Wright said that the rapid growth in the district is making staff and the board of trustees shift their mindset.

“Looking at our numbers and looking at the state’s revenue shortfall for schools, we’ve had to change directions in whether we build new buildings or whether we add on to existing buildings. So, with our board’s help, we changed our philosophy and we changed our district standard,” explained the superintendent. “We increased capacity thresholds at our elementary schools to 900, our middle schools to 1,200 and our high schools are now 2,800 to 3,200.”

The reason behind these increases is because to open an elementary school is $5 million, a middle school is $8 million and a high school is $15 million. The funding for these have been depleting the maintenance and operations (M&O) side of the tax rate, said Wright, so by instead adding extensions to the existing schools, the district can save money by avoiding hiring all new staff, filling entire libraries, etc.

As a result, Lehman, Hays and Johnson high schools will have additional facilities built. Johnson’s opened up last spring, said Wright, while Lehman's and Hays' are still under construction. Each of the seven middle schools will also have added academic wings in the future.

For the elementary schools, Kyle Elementary School is receiving a two-story renovation to accommodate the new student capacity, while Fuentes Elementary School will replicate Elm Grove Elementary School for its construction.

New weight rooms were implemented at the high schools to also help with this M&O rate, said Wright. The facilities can now hold up to 300 students, reducing the weight room periods from seven to three. Now, the coaches that were once stuck in the weight room all day can instead teach math, English and more.

Other athletic improvements include the new multipurpose activity centers that allow students to practice safely from the extreme Texas heat and turf on the baseball and softball fields. The latter has resulted in money generation, as, due the district’s central location, many competitions are being held here.

Fine arts gyms at the three high schools have also been installed and the new LHS auditorium was opened last year. This was a necessity, said Wright, since the Hays Performing Arts Center was continuously booked up, preventing outside use from occurring. With the new facility, students have more opportunities to perform.

He then covered student success over the past year:

• JHS and HHS marching bands made it to the state marching contest

• LHS received a gold meal in mariachi

• HHS mariachi competed in the University Interscholastic League for the first time

• LHS, HHS and JHS water polo made playoffs, with JHS making it to the regional semifinals

• JHS girls basketball team made it to the playoffs for the first time

• JHS baseball and softball teams made it to playoffs

• 2,164 students earned advanced placement credit for college

• 522 students earned college credit through dual enrollment at Austin Community College

“Next, college and military readiness. This is something that we track because we want our kids to be ready for what comes next. So, if you look at the district total, it’s 83% … [and] if you look at our comprehensive high schools, [their average is] more than 90%,” said Wright. “So, the district [average] is skewed by Live Oak Academy, but I wouldn’t trade [it] for anything because it provides special, nuanced education for kids that don’t fit in at a 3,000-student high school. So, I’ll trade a few points to make sure that we take care of our kids and that’s what we do.”

Wright shared that the career and technical education program is also thriving, as many students partake and prepare for their careers outside of the school, including finance, plant science, automotive, culinary arts and more.

Near the end of Wright’s address, he forewarned that the board didn’t endorse anything he was about to say, but that, as a superintendent on his way out, he had some thoughts to share: “Public schools have become villains of sorts because of the governor’s agenda to get vouchers. I’ve always told everyone in Hays CISD that we go by the 98%, 2% rule. Ninety-eight percent of the people and kids are going to be amazing. They’re going to do everything that you do. They’re going to do it well and then, 2% are going to be major challenges. You can focus on the 2% and every time somebody screws up in that 2% at any school across the state, you’ll see it posted by our governor. Do you think that bodes well for people that are in college right now that are thinking about being teachers, if their own governor is saying how bad public education is? It’s why we have a teacher shortage. It’s why we have an administrative shortage and at some point, we’ve got to stop vilifying public education.”

He continued on, stating that the state leadership is focused on the wrong issues in schools: “I still don’t understand why we just can’t find politicians that focus on unification, instead of trying to divide. Why can’t we unite?”

The state should focus on funding the schools, emphasized Wright. For example, the state continuously makes mandates that it refuses to pay for, expecting already underfunded school districts to foot the bill, he said. The district also only receives $45 million for special education, while regularly having to make up the remaining $45 million it still needs.

“Put that into perspective: We’re talking about boys in girls' sports instead of funding special education,” he stated.

Wright stressed that education is an investment that the state should be willing to make, adding that “education is the backbone of democracy.”

“So, in my opinion — as I fade into the sunset — we’ve got to do something different. We've been playing this game for how many years, since the late '80s. We have this testing regimen, where the state board decides what our Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are going to be. They decide what our materials are going to be. The elected officials decide what the Texas Education Code is going to be, what the Texas Administrative Code is going to be [and] how schools are going to be measured and we follow it to the letter of the law. Local control has pretty much been obliterated and yet, when something goes wrong, they blame the schools when all we do is follow what they give us,” said the superintendent. “We’ve got to stop listening to politicians campaigning because we’ve got to kill the negativity and we need to turn the tide because if we don’t, we’re all going to suffer as a result of it.”

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, during the Drug Enforcement Administration's National Prescription Take Back Day, a safe medication disposal site will be available at the Public Safety Center, located at 1700 Kohlers Crossing, Kyle.

This Prescription Drug Take Back event encourages community members to remove unneeded or expired medications from their homes as a proactive measure against medication misuse. These efforts will help prevent drug addiction, overdoses and illegal distribution by ensuring prescription drugs do not end up in the wrong hands, according to a news release.

Participants can safely dispose of controlled substances, over-the-counter medications, ointments, patches, creams, non-aerosol sprays, vials and pet medications. Used needles and other sharps will not be accepted. All accepted medications will be properly destroyed, the release concluded.

For more information, visit bit.ly/4z55TQQ

AP Scholar Awards are granted at various levels, based on students' average scores and the total number of exams taken:

•   AP Scholar: Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams.

•   AP Scholar with Honor: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

•   AP Scholar with Distinction: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

Of the 221 students recognized, 70 earned the highest honor, AP Scholar with Distinction. Another 55 students were named AP Scholar with Honor, while 96 received the AP Scholar designation. In addition, more than 190 members of the Class of 2026 also received honors.

A list of honorees who are current DSHS students is included below.

AP Scholar with Distinction

Liyana Ahmed

David Allsbrook

Alaina Atkins

Joseph Austin

Reese Baker

Natalie Barry

Evan Bergeron

Sinead Blair

Brandon Carter

Bryce Chomko

Livvy Christensen

Erin Clarke

Riley Cole

Isabella Contreras

Anthony Delgado

Lauren Diaz-Reyes

Christy Friedland

Audrey Funk

Lara Gambacorta

Zoe Geng

Spencer Godard

Piper Granberry

Adan Guerrero

Trinabh Gupta

Morgan Hall

Greyson Hill

Genevieve Howard

Colton Inglish

Anvika Jain

Madeleine Johnson

Hima Katta

Keller Kerr

Vance Kincannon

Allen Kundukulangaracijo

Marley Lawrence

Mia Lee

Pierce Logsdon

Vincent Lombardo

Kou Maeda

Shreya Manojkumar

Julian Matthews

Ava Moore

Grant Mora

Samuel Mora

Sophia Neupane

Colton Papp

Lucy Povondra

Dev Prabhu

Hansini Ramakrishnan

William Reale

Jonah Rees

Julia Reneau

Trevor Riley

Cody Ritchey

Callie Schumacher

Benjamin Seshan

Madison Sestak

Abram Smith

Antoine Soson

Tana Steinbach

Jaylyn Stiles

Mackenzie Sullivan

Gracie Thomas

Caris Thompson

Seidriya Visser

Ludmila Voskresenskaya

Lillian Wearden

You Wu

Gabrielle Wyman

Colin Ziegelman

AP Scholar with Honor

Landon Almager

Irene Asensio

Nicole Bockelman

Lauren Byrnes

Ainsley Coleman

Jackson Daniel

Anaar Desai

William DeShazo

Isabella Diehl

Benjamin Donahoe

Lyla Dusing

Landon Feeney

Annika Gillella

Addison Glenn

Viola Gosselin

Teresa Grant

Rachel Greebon

Kaitlyn Greene

Lukas Hrusovsky

Ava Huntsinger

Solomon Igharo

Sophie Jameson

Emily Jones

Thomas Krajecki

Emily Kuhn

Johns Kurian

Lucy LaBelle

William Lovelace

Anusha Manda

Madison McGinnis

Cian Metcalf

Emma Montgomery

Teagan Morris

Cash Nelson

Everett Newman

Sophia Nuernberger

Grace O'Dell

Penelope Orsak

Campbell Owenson

Jaden Patterson

Zoe Perez

Ann Pettit

Garrett Riley

August Robichaux

Isabella Rogers

Jackson Saafir

Jackson Sahl

Margaux Smith

Deacon Speirs

Henry Staker

Abigail Stanaland

Piper Suess

Sarys Tracy

Daniel Vise

Oliver Willis

AP Scholar

Amani Ahmed

Steven Allen

Harper Allsbrook

Anna Ardolino

Ainsley Ash

Ingram Bale

Noah Beers

Abbie Bergman

Audrey Billiot

Christina Burmeister

Finn Campbell

Audrey Chapo

Skyler Clark

Lucy Clarno

Kirsten Clendennen

Chase Crowley

Kira Davis

Clinton De Los Santos

Sofia DePalma

Ireland Dowling

Oakley Eisenberg

Lorelei Gamble

Dylan Green

Tatum Green

Leia Grenat

Rory Grenat

Bella Hajari

Cade Hancock

Truman Heaston

Jacob Henderson

Brandon Hendricks

Madeline Hovatter

Savannah Huff

Faith Hyde

Arjun Iyer

Olivia Jaffe-Taylor

Ian Jensen

Veronica Johnson

Samantha Jones

Charles Julian

Ariana Kelley

Carina King

Emery Laielli

Jessica Liu

Carys Lloyd

Jack Magnani

Sophia Mahoney

Willa Manske

Advay Marwah

Luca Mattioda

Brooke Mauzerall

Jonah Mazziotti

Stella Mazziotti

Keira McAlester

Addison McDaniel

Aiden McEvoy

Jack Miller

Gabriella Mulder

Diego Munoz Ramirez

Jason Murphy

Anthony Nesheiwat

Duykien Nguyen

Lily Nobles

Reagan Nolan

Bellah Norton

Kylin Norton

Lucas Patent

Connor Patten

Emma Phillips

Kailey Pirc

Jackson Prom

Sufiya Rahman

McKenna Riley

Morgan Riley

Diego Rios

Davin Rivera-Smith

Jastin Rivera-Smith

Anika Sagudam

Lauren Sampson

Jonathan Schelling

Arabella Shirley

Coehn Stokes

Sirah Surapaneni

Emilia Swannack

Sofia Taylor

Riddhi Thorat

Michael Tullos

James Wattles

Savannah Welty

Honor White

Harper Whitenight

Hannah Wingrin

Robert Wisham

Harrison Woolard

Noah Wuollet

Hania Yeargan

SAN MARCOS — Imagine this: Alex shows a fake video of a woman getting slapped to his friend group, including a couple, Benji and Jess. Everyone laughs and makes jokes like, “She had it coming.” Alex and this group are unaware that their friend, Benji, has been abusing Jess in private. After watching the video and hearing their friends laugh, Benji feels justified in abusing Jess, repeating to her, “You had this coming”.

Jess has wanted to tell someone about Benji abusing her, but after hearing their friends laugh and make jokes about the physical violence in the video, she feels less safe with them and questions her experience. Jess doesn’t ask for help.

Imagine it differently: Alex shows a fake video of a woman getting slapped to this friend group. His friends don’t laugh. One friend says violence against women isn’t funny, that no one deserves to be abused and others agree. Because of how their friends react to the video, Benji feels less justified in his abusive behavior towards Jess. Since their friends spoke up for survivors and against abuse, Jess feels safe enough to ask for help.

Changing the story: How language is used in everyday lives has a significant impact on others, whether individuals are aware of it or not. When intervention is done, pointing out when something is wrong and choosing not to laugh along or make jokes about violence and harmful language can be the change from hurting others to helping.

If community members suspect that someone may need help with an abusive relationship, they can call HCWC’s 24-hour HELPline at 512-396-4357 to talk to advocates and learn more about advocacy, counseling and group therapy options for survivors.    

Community members may come and go at any time during the event to review exhibits, maps and project materials and speak directly with members of the project team.

In addition to updates on the current phase of development, the open house will provide an overview of the Sawyer Ranch Road Pedestrian Walkway and Widening projects. The project team will also share information about nearby transportation improvement projects.

“As Hays County continues to grow, we must ensure that our transportation infrastructure keeps pace with the needs of the community,” said Precinct 4 commissioner Walt Smith. “With the expansion and construction of multiple schools and homes on the Sawyer Ranch corridor, the county wants to be as proactive as possible to ensure the safety of our families and students and this is an important step in that process.”

Those unable to attend in person may review the meeting materials and submit comments online at www.hayscoroads.com from Oct. 20 through Nov. 4.

The improvements are part of a broader effort to enhance safety, mobility and connectivity. As projects move through planning, design, right-of-way acquisition, utility coordination and construction, the county is committed to keeping residents informed and engaged through public meetings, project updates and ongoing opportunities for community input, according to a news release.

For more information about the projects, visit www.hayscoroads.com or contact the engagement team at 512-649-0601 or at hello@hayscoroads.com.

Founded in 2015, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit connects Dripping Springs ISD students, families, employees and community members with essential resources, financial assistance and compassionate support. From helping families facing unexpected hardships with groceries, utilities and emergency expenses to providing holiday gifts through its beloved Tiger Santa program, Springs of Hope works year-round to support neighbors in need.

Working closely with DSISD school counselors, Springs of Hope helps identify students and families facing financial hardships and connects them with the assistance and resources they need.

Over the past decade, the organization has assisted more than 1,000 individuals and families, provided over $1 million in financial assistance and charitable support and partnered with more than 100 community organizations.

“Our new name reflects something we’ve always believed: hope grows when a community comes together,” said Lisa Little, president of Springs of Hope. “Behind every request for assistance is a real person, a family or a child who needs someone in their corner. We’re here to remind them they’re not alone and everyone in our community has the power to make a difference.”

Signature initiatives include Tiger Santa, which provided holiday gifts to 184 individuals across 67 families in 2025, and the annual online silent auction, which brings together local businesses, donors and supporters to raise funds for year-round assistance.

Springs of Hope welcomes volunteers, donations, business sponsorships and community partnerships to help expand its impact.

The mission remains the same. The name is new. The opportunities to make a difference are endless.

To learn more or get involved, visit www.SpringsOfHopeDS.org.

The free event is open to Dripping Springs-area residents and local businesses and will provide secure, on-site shredding for old tax documents, financial records, outdated files and other paperwork containing personal or sensitive information.

A professional shred truck will be on site at the Keller Williams parking lot behind McDonald’s in downtown Dripping Springs, 333 E. US 290, Building 3, Suite 300.

Community members are welcome to bring any amount. However, organizers encourage participants to arrive early, as shredding will be available only until the truck reaches capacity.

“Shred Day is one of those simple ways we can provide something genuinely useful to our neighbors and local businesses,” said Michelle Lewis, DS Elite administrator. “We live here, we work here and we believe being part of this community means finding meaningful ways to give back. We love seeing people come out each year and take advantage of this free service.”

In addition to helping clear household and business clutter, securely shredding documents can help protect sensitive personal, financial and business information that should not simply be placed in the trash or recycling bin.

Dripping Springs Elite Real Estate Professionals is a group of leading local real estate professionals who work across brokerages, while sharing a commitment to professional excellence and service to the Dripping Springs community. Throughout the year, the organization supports local nonprofits, hosts community events and looks for opportunities to give back to the people and organizations that make Dripping Springs home.

For more information, visit www.drippingspringselite.com.