Your Daily Guide

‘The Golden Girls’ Pop-Up Headed to Austin

If you’ve ever wanted to live in the “The Golden Girls” universe, your chance is coming up. A replica of the show’s set will be available to dine in at Wanderlust Wine Co. starting Aug. 20. [CultureMap Austin]

Ban on Austin Lakes Extended

A ban on the use of paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, motorized surfboards, wet bikes, and other personal and commercial watercraft is in effect on Lady Bird Lake, the Colorado River beneath Longhorn Dam and Lake Austin from Mansfield Dam to Tom Miller Dam until 5 p.m. The ban follows flooding in the Hill Country. [City of Austin]

Hot Luck Fest’s Chef Lineup Is Out

Chefs from Birdie’s, Nixta Taqueria, Lao’d Bar, Este, Canje, and more are on the lineup for Hot Luck Festival in October. Tickets for the event are now on sale and start at $100 for people 20 and younger and $349 for 21+. [Southern Living]

City Concerned Over Nonprofit Audit

Mayor Kirk Watson and several city council members are concerned after an audit found nonprofit organizations that have contracts with the city missed nearly half of their performance targets. The organizations were still paid in full. The audit of 25 contracts comes as the city is looking for ways to cut spending in its 2026-27 budget. [Austin American-Statesman]

More than 1,300 students living within the Austin Independent School District’s boundaries have received education savings accounts, or Texas Education Freedom Accounts, ahead of the upcoming school year.

Texas lawmakers created the accounts, totalling $1 billion, in 2025 to give families taxpayer money to help pay for private school or homeschooling.

Here’s the latest on what it could mean for AISD:

Nearly 5,000 Austinites Applied

According to data from the Texas Comptroller, 4,896 students living within AISD’s boundaries applied for the program. The state has awarded funding to 1,334 of those applicants, so far.

Travis Pillow, a spokesperson for the TEFA program, said roughly 30% of the awardees were enrolled in public school during the 2024-25 school year. The remaining recipients were either too young to enroll in school, previously attended a private school, or were homeschooled.

More than 200 private schools in the Austin area are approved to accept TEFA funds. There’s about 2,700 participating private schools statewide. You can search for eligible schools here.

More Students Could Get Vouchers This Year

Most families, who had already been selected for the TEFA program, had until July 15 to select a private school at which to use the money. Families that missed the deadline forfeited the funding, which will now be redirected to students on the program’s waitlist.

Pillow said families currently on the waitlist will find out by the end of the month if they’re going to receive TEFA funding.

“We are looking forward to that and getting that funding in those families’ hands as soon as possible so that they can start making their tuition payments, buying their textbooks, and other things they need to do to prepare for the upcoming school year,” Pillow said.

At this point, the state has approved applications for more than 100,000 education savings accounts.

What This Means for AISD

Any students AISD loses as a result of the TEFA program spells more trouble for the cash-strapped district. The state’s school voucher program is launching as the district continues to struggle with declining enrollment. Fewer students means less state funding. Last year alone, more than 3,000 students left AISD.

An AISD spokesperson said the district ended the 2025-26 school year with 69,382 students. AISD’s budget for the upcoming school year was made based on the projection that student enrollment will likely drop to 68,188 students.

“Taking into consideration the rollout of the state’s new Education Freedom Accounts and factoring a potential decline into our multi-year planning is the only fiscally responsible approach to protecting district resources, ensuring stability, and building back our fund balance amidst ongoing state funding challenges,” the spokesperson told City Cast Austin.

The budget the AISD school board adopted last month includes $205 million in cuts. The backdrop for the district’s funding and enrollment challenges is the ongoing possibility of state intervention due to low accountability ratings for three campuses.