Real Estate Photographer in Leander, TX

The district said it reinstated 36 of the 40 books it pulled from classrooms with "revisions to curriculum materials."

AUSTIN, Texas — A Central Texas school district is returning dozens of books to classroom shelves after pulling them for review last month to ensure they comply with a new state law.

Leander ISD decided to temporarily pause and review the 40 books because of Senate Bill 12, which went into effect on Sept. 1.

SB 12, which supporters dubbed the Parental Bill of Rights, aims to give parents more authority over their children’s curriculum and extracurricular activities. It bans Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the more than 1,200 K-12 public school districts across Texas. It also bans teaching gender identity and sexual orientation while requiring parents to opt their children into sex education.

The district said it temporarily paused the instructional use of the books in middle and high school out of an abundance of caution. For middle school students, the district put books like "Les Misérables" and "The Devil's Arithmetic" on hold, and for high school students, the district flagged books like "The House on Mango Street," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass."

Mary Elizabeth Castle, the director of government relations for the conservative group Texas Values, which supported SB 12, said she believes, in some ways, the district overcorrected.

“Some of these books or classics. They actually help us understand a positive message of our country and how we can come together and correct wrongs and work together,” Castle said. “'Les Misérables' is about the French Revolution, which actually inspires the American Revolution.”

After evaluation, the district said it reinstated 36 of the books “for classroom use with revisions to curriculum materials.”

Four of the books are still temporarily paused for instructional use due to what the district calls “unresolved concerns related to SB12 requirements.” Those four books are "Stamped," "Melissa," "Gracefully Grayson" and "The 57 Bus." The district said its goal is to “provide clarity and to resolve this situation” as soon as possible.

Castle said the books talk about sexual orientation, gender identity and other topics she does not believe belong in the classroom.

“These types of books clearly should be left out of the curriculum and are exactly what Senate Bill 12 is about,” Castle said. “If schools can just clearly look at the heart of the text of Senate Bill 12, then that should serve as guidance on what should be included and what should be excluded.”

Throughout the process of pulling the books for review, a Leander ISD spokesperson told KVUE that students were still able to check out some of these books from the library.

“Throughout this process, there has been no impact on library access or overall student access to literature for independent reading,” the district told KVUE in a statement. “In Leander ISD, we have a strong desire to share a wide variety of literature to students while ensuring our staff provides learning that complies with the new law.”

The district stated that it developed a screening rubric based on SB12 to evaluate more than 300 titles and determine the level of risk associated with violating SB12. However, district leaders made the final decision.

“District administrators made the decision to temporarily pause certain titles after a thorough manual review of both the content and the context in which each book was used in the curriculum,” a district spokesperson said.

Carolyn Foote, a retired librarian and English teacher, said it is a relief to have many of the books back, but it should never have happened in the first place.

“What I really hope is that district administrators around Central Texas think carefully, read the laws carefully, and carefully adhere to the letter of the law, which is not meant to remove valid instructional materials from student access,” Foote said.

Foote said she is concerned that the pause on certain books sent a bad message to students.

“It sends a message to students that stories about their lives don't belong, which means that they don't belong, that their family doesn't belong, even in their classroom,” Foote said. “That's a terrible message to send to high school students, who are already struggling with their own identities and belongings, and reading is a place where we learn to understand one another better and have empathy for others, but also a place where we can see ourselves.”

Foote said these are stories kids should be reading, and she is urging districts across the state to slow down.

“We really hope that districts slow down and be reflective about how they're implementing all these new bills,” she said. “We know districts want to get it right, but you don't want to get it right by getting it wrong for students.”

This week marks Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of literature that has drawn the ire of governments worldwide.

The American Library Association puts on the weeklong event every year to highlight the importance of protecting the right to read freely, no matter what the content is.

“I think that now it's scarier than ever, because even more books are being banned,” Half Price Books President Kathy Doyle Thomas said. “If you go to any one of our stores, we have displays set up of books.”

Pen America reported that 6,870 book bans were enacted last school year in 23 states and 87 public school districts.

“We sell all kinds of books. We carry 'Harry Potter.' We carry the library books that have been banned, but we also carry books on how to build a bomb,” Thomas said. “We have to, and if you're supporting freedom of speech, you have to carry all books.”

There is an ongoing lawsuit challenging key aspects of Senate Bill 12 that is still working its way through the courts.

LEANDER, Texas (KXAN) — Scott Calame noticed the change in his local lake some weeks ago. The Leander resident walks the shores of Lakewood Park regularly. A popular neighborhood lake, its shores are lined with spots for fishing, boating and grilling.

“It’s shocking really. This park is kind of a crown jewel park for the city of Leander,” Calame said.

Scott noticed the water level dropping. Parts of the shore that were once underwater, now several feet from the water line. The city of Leander was told by the group that manages the lake, the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District (WCID), that the water would not drop any further and would reflow through rain and natural inflows.

The rain came, but now Calame says the water is lower than before.

Lakewood Park is located northeast of U.S. 183, south of Crystal Falls Parkway. The highlight of the park is the 40-acre pond on the south side of the park: Lake Lakewood.

After the July 4th floods, much of the park was underwater. In the month since then, the water has dropped lower and lower.

“It’s an absolutely beautiful day, perfect weather. And you would expect a lot of people out here, especially since school is out right now,” said Leander Mayor Pro Tem Na’cole Thompson.

On November 3, a press release from the WCID said that during maintenance in September, the WCID discovered “that an unauthorized manipulation to the intake structure kept the lake levels artificially higher than designed.”

The WCID said that the manipulation occurred sometime after 2018, when a video inspection showed the dam acting as intended. The WCID said the lake was four feet higher than it should be and they have “restored the lake’s designed flood capacity and its capacity to protect public safety by minimizing downstream flooding.”

“If they’re saying that this is where it should be. I simply don’t believe that,” Calame said.

“We’re in communication trying to figure out what the next steps needs to be,” Thompson said. “We’ve got to be advocates for what we need in our city and what we need in our parks.”

According to the city of Leander, the lake was designed for a maximum elevation of 877 feet and a minimum of 873 feet. The city said that until August 2025, the WCID had maintained an average daily water level at 877 feet. Levels dropped to 876 feet in September.

“I’ve been coming here for probably two or three years now, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen it like this,” said Michelle Schoen, a local who frequently walks the trails, back on Oct. 2.

At the time, water had receded from the shore several feet. The harbor used for fishing, usually surrounded by water, had a small amount of the lake beneath it.

“This whole bay area here is (usually) completely covered and there’s no mud, you wouldn’t be able to see any mud,” Michelle said.

According to the city, the WCID’s maintenance contractor was doing work on nearby dams and lowering the lake levels to control the water. However, the water at Lakeview Park dropped lower than planned.

The WCID manages 23 dams across Williamson County. All of the dams are older than fifty years old. The Lake Lakewood dam was built in 1962. It is the district’s largest water storage location.

Safety agency urges immediate action to ensure proper seat belt use on school buses

WASHINGTON (Oct. 28, 2025) – The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday issued urgent safety recommendations to the state of Texas, national school bus transportation associations and the Leander, Texas, Independent School District urging them to ensure the proper use of passenger lap and shoulder belts on school buses equipped with restraints.

The recommendations were issued as part of the ongoing investigation into an Aug.13 school bus crash in Leander. The school bus was equipped with passenger lap and shoulder belts and integrated five-point child-restraint harnesses, but few passengers were wearing them, investigators found. Video evidence showed that, of the 42 student passengers visible in the video (out of 46 onboard), only six were belted and four of those passengers were wearing only the lap portion of the lap and shoulder belt.

NTSB investigators concluded that the Leander school district did not take sufficient action to ensure passengers were properly belted. The NTSB urgently recommended that Leander schools implement enforceable policies and procedures ensuring every student and driver on school buses equipped with passenger seat belts is properly restrained by lap and shoulder belts or five-point harnesses on every trip.

Unlike other states, Texas code requires passengers on equipped school buses to wear seat belts. In today’s urgent report, the NTSB recommended to the state of Texas that it require implementation of enforceable policies and procedures for proper seat belt use on equipped school buses, including routine audits and mandatory driver instruction, to ensure compliance.

The NTSB recommended that the National Association for Pupil Transportation, the National School Transportation Association and the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services alert their members across the nation to the crash circumstances — including the lack of seat belt use by most passengers — and to promote enforceable seat belt policies designed to save lives and reduce injuries.

The NTSB issues urgent recommendations to address immediate, critical issues that threaten lives or property. The NTSB does not need to wait until the end of investigations to issue recommendations. Recipients have 30 days to respond.

Read the full recommendation report at NTSB.gov.

To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).

Mayor Pro Tem Na'Cole Thompson will step into the role on an interim basis on Oct. 16 until a special election is called.

LEANDER, Texas — The city of Leander will soon start searching for a new mayor, after current Mayor Christine DeLisle announced last week that she would be stepping down from the role mid-term.

During a city council meeting on Sept. 18, DeLisle said she and her family made the decision to relocate.

"I'm sad to not see a lot of our projects through to fruition, but it is 100% the right choice," DeLisle said.

DeLisle, a council member for three years before being elected mayor in 2021, then re-elected in 2024, was set to serve until May 2027. Mayor Pro Tem Na'Cole Thompson will be stepping into the interim role on Oct. 16, until the city calls a special election for mayor.

During DeLisle's time on the dais, Thompson said she was a leader in water infrastructure, adding a full-time conservation specialist; supporting economic development in the area, and adding more parks.

"We're making progress with infrastructure, we're making progress with water, we're making progress with entertainment," Thompson said. "I'm excited to be able to be at the helm when Christine steps away to just continue that forward progress."

Thompson moved to Leander back in 2007 and said since then, the city's population has increased about 10 times in size.

"I've seen Leander grow from 10[,000] to 15,000 [in] population, and now we're knocking on the door of 100,000," Thompson said.

Thompson said many people have been moving to the area for the school district and more affordable housing. Her hope is that as more people keep moving in, they keep developing everything residents need.

"We don't want our residents to always have to lave and go out of the city to go to work, to buy food, to have entertainment, and so we're trying to create a place for that to happen right here in Leander," Thompson said.

Thompson said the next mayor will need to be a strong leader who's focused on development, small businesses, water and parks.

In Leander, council members and the mayor role are still volunteer, unpaid positions, so many of them have other full-time jobs. Thompson said as the city continues to grow, that could be the one thing holding them back from retaining quality leaders.

"We want them to represent so many different interests, and we want them to spend so much time in the community," Thompson said. "It becomes difficult to balance that if you're running a business, have a job, have a family, and then you're taking 10 or 15 hours a week doing council responsibilities."

She said she hopes the city adds compensation to these roles in the future, so they can bring in leaders who are able to dedicate themselves fully to the role.

"That's going to be important as the city continues to grow and move forward, that we do something like that," Thompson said.

Once DeLisle formally files her resignation request, the city will have 120 days to call a special election, which will fill the mayor's seat for the remainder of her term.

KVUE asked Thompson if she herself would run for mayor. She said as of right now, she is just focusing on her role as Mayor Pro Tem.

Christine DeLisle has served as Leander's mayor since May 2021.

LEANDER, Texas — Leander mayor Christine DeLisle announced during the Sept. 18 city council meeting that she will step away from her position, effective Oct. 16.

DeLisle said she and her family have made the “difficult decision to relocate" after she served as mayor since May 2021 and previously represented District 4 on the Leander City Council for three years. Her current term was set to expire in May 2027.

“I’ve been reflecting a lot on why I’ve been up there — what I was elected to do,” DeLisle said. “At first, I vowed to bring more commercial development to the city, and then I wanted to bring more function and just get things kind of straightened out.”

DeLisle highlighted several milestones during her time in office, noting that key city positions and services now exist that weren’t in place five years ago. She credited the city’s growth to a more strategic approach and a willingness to invest in long-term infrastructure and amenities.

“We’ve become a powerhouse, looking at our budgets,” she said. “In 2018, when I got here, we were bringing in $5.16 million in sales tax. This year, it’s estimated we’ll be just under $12 million.”

She also pointed to achievements such as expanding recreational offering (including girls’ softball), opening a new recreation center, hiring a conservation specialist and increasing capacity to support future growth.

DeLisle has not formally resigned her position but said she plans to serve until the council meeting on Oct. 16. Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Thompson will assume mayoral duties following her departure.

“I intend to serve every day to the best of my ability until the end of our meeting on October 16,” DeLisle said. “I want to make clear that I’m not running for any office, nor am I running from anything.”

DeLisle expressed pride in her contributions to Leander and optimism about the city's future.