Education
BY HANNAH NORTON & SIERRA MARTIN
BY AMANDA CUTSHALL
Nightly road closure, delays continue near Burleson Crossing
CTE students to intern with Walgreens Bastrop ISD students will have the oppor- tunity to receive their pharmacy technician certications by interning with Walgreens. A closer look On Nov. 19, the board of trustees approved a three-year partnership agreement with the pharmacy chain. This school year, 12 students are anticipated to participate. In the 2025-26 school year, the program is expected to double and add 10 additional students in subsequent years.
SBOE requests oversight of public school library book ratings Members of the Texas State Board of Educa- tion said Nov. 21 that they wanted the power to determine what books are appropriate for public school students. In a set of legislative recommendations, the board asked Texas legislators to pass a law next year allowing it to review and rate school library books. Texas’ 89th legislative session begins Jan. 14. What you need to know The majority-Republican SBOE voted Nov. 22 to formally request the change from lawmakers. Giving the board control of the book rating process would alleviate the burden on school districts and resolve a legal challenge to a 2023 state law, members said.
“At the end of the day, the local school boards still have to have a local policy based on those ratings. So it does not really take local control away, but it does get something o of the plate of local school boards.” TOM MAYNARD, REPUBLICAN STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT 10 REPRESENTATIVE
Trac delays will continue near Burleson Crossing shopping center, with roadwork resuming on Jan. 6. Contractors had previously wrapped up pipeline work on Dec. 4; however, the lines failed when testing began. Two-minute impact A portion of FM 969, between SH 71 and Blakey Lane, will be closed nightly between 8 p.m.-5 a.m. while utility contractors work in the area until Jan. 27. Detours will once again be set up along Edward Burleson Lane and Du Drive. Some context Workers will be connecting areas north of SH 71 to the new wastewater treatment plant that came online in May. The biggest area to be connected so far is around Hyperloop Plaza—home to several companies owned by Elon Musk.
Closed
Detours
EDWARD BURLESON LANE
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BLAKEY LANE
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Texas is blocked from fully enforcing House Bill 900, a 2023 state law that would have required book vendors to rate books for sexual content before selling them to schools. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the law in January 2024, siding with booksellers who said HB 900 violated their freedom of speech. A portion of the law that updated library collec- tion standards for schools remains in eect. Transferring rating authority to the SBOE would likely end the court case, according to Chris Maska, deputy general counsel for the Texas Education Agency.
HUNTERS CROSSING BLVD.
BEAR HUNTER DR.
304
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In September, Bastrop city and county ocials conrmed with Community Impact that infra- structure updates are needed to accommodate the addition of Musk’s social media company X—formerly known as Twitter. The relocation of X will mark the fth Bastrop-based company owned by Musk.
Walgreens locations
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BASTROP STATE PARK
150
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Workers are laying a pipeline to connect areas north of SH 71 to the new wastewater treatment plant.
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AMANDA CUTSHALLCOMMUNITY IMPACT
BASTROP 739 State Hwy 71 (512) 308-0250
ELGIN 1100 US-290 (512) 285-2741
GIDDINGS 1920 E Austin St (979) 212-4031
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