Marble Falls High School is offering a full slate of summer sports camps for students across multiple grade levels, giving families opportunities to stay active and develop skills in a range of athletics. Costs apply.
To learn more about these opportunities and register for them, visit here.
May 15 – Football Friday Night Lights
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. (registration 5:30 p.m.)
Kindergarten – 6th graders
June 1 to July 24 – Strength and Conditioning (Mon–Thur)
No camp June 29 to July 2
7:00 – 9:00 a.m. for 9th – 12th football, boys Olympic sports, 7th – 12th girls
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The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office has cleared two Granite Shoals officials of any wrongdoing following a months-long investigation into accusations from the city’s former finance director of misuse and misappropriation of municipal funds.
The original accusations came from ex-finance director Kevin Rule, who was fired in January of this year. He alleged in December 2025 that City Manager Sarah Novo and Assistant City Manager/Fire Chief Tim Campbell were involved in an unapproved city manager pay increase, fraudulent fire department equipment purchases and travel reimbursements, other improper spending, and funding shortfalls.
Granite Shoals City Council voted in December to send the matter to the BCSO for an investigation rather than hire an outside firm.
According to the BCSO, the agency found no wrongdoing and the local District Attorney’s Office declined to pursue charges following the results of the investigation.
A letter issued to Campbell and Novo from BCSO Captain Thomas Dillard on Monday, April 20, read:
“As you are aware, this agency undertook an investigation into allegations that you misused or misappropriated funds and/or tampered with a government record. Our investigation, under case number BC26-0004, found no substantive basis for those allegations.
“Out of an abundance of caution, given that these allegations involve a matter of the public’s trust, we submitted the case to the 33rd/424th District Attorney’s Office for review on February 26, 2026.
“On April 17, 2026, we received a letter from the District Attorney’s Office under their case number DA-26-00139. That letter specified that their office was declining the charge(s).”
“With that determination, we consider this matter closed. Thank you for your cooperation with this investigation.”
Rule declined to comment on the investigation’s results.
Rule was hired in May 2024 after the finance director position had been vacant for nearly two years. He was terminated Jan. 14, the day he was scheduled to return from a mutually agreed paid administrative leave that began Dec. 22. Account specialist Debbie Jennings was terminated Dec. 23. Both positions remain vacant, according to the city’s website.
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News stories, staff photos, and other online content are copyrighted property of Victory Media. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without the express written consent of the publisher.
Below is the weekly schedule of sporting events for Burnet High School for the week of April 20-26. Tournaments are all-day events unless otherwise noted.
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Cottonwood Shores is repairing two problematic streets through a partnership with Burnet County.
Work is expected to begin in May or June under the city’s annual interlocal agreement with Burnet County, approved at the April 16 council meeting, which provides about $15,000 in labor and equipment to Cottonwood Shores at no cost. The city will contribute roughly $35,000 for materials, including oil, chip rock, and striping.
The projects will focus on Fir Lane and Dogwood Lane, where officials aim to improve road conditions and safety.
On the 700 block of Dogwood Lane, crews will address a “blind hill” by widening about 400 feet of roadway on either side of the hill to allow safer two-way traffic. The project also includes reshaping roughly 1,500 linear feet of ditches to improve drainage. The roadway will then be chip sealed and striped with a double center line and reflectors after improvements are complete.
On the 800 block of Fir Lane, crews will rebuild the base along the final 220 feet to Lakeview Drive and add ribbon curbing and drainage improvements ahead of chip sealing by Burnet County.
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The Mustangs are poised for a knockout performance in the 2026 UIL One Act Play regional competition on Friday, April 24, but the troupe has a special send-off performance planned for the Marble Falls community on Tuesday, April 21.
The Marble Falls High School theatre program will perform its rendition of “The Collective,” by Jean Betts, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, at the MFHS Auditorium, 2101 Mustang Drive. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. All proceeds will benefit the theatre program. Tickets can be purchased online at this link or with exact cash at the door.
Lobby doors open at 6:30 p.m., house doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the play runs about 40 minutes total.
“We’d love for you to come experience this incredible production—but just as importantly, performing in front of a live audience helps our students grow and learn in ways rehearsal alone can’t replicate as we prepare for a potential fourth consecutive trip to the UIL State One-Act Play Contest in Austin,” reads an invitation to the event from Marble Falls High School Theatre.
The MFHS theatre program has been on fire in recent years. This will be the team’s ninth consecutive appearance at regionals, and tenth straight year making it into the playoffs. The Mustangs took home silver at state in 2025 for their performance of “Moby Dick-Rehearsed.”
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A Spicewood man was reportedly killed in a traffic accident on the morning of Friday, April 17, in Marble Falls.
According to a media release issued by the Marble Falls Police Department on Friday afternoon, 80-year-old Mark Schultz of Spicewood was killed when a pickup truck struck his vehicle as he attempted to make a left-hand turn on to RR 1431 from Avenue L.
This map shows the general location of the deadly traffic collision that occurred on the morning of Friday, April 17, on RR 1431 in Marble Falls. Google Maps
First responders were toned out to the accident at around 9:45 a.m. on Friday. Schultz was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver of the truck was reportedly unharmed.
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Collier Materials Inc. is closing up shop at its sand mining facility just outside of Llano. The aggregate mining company had been at its location for 10 years, but recently declined to renew a contract with the city of Llano for sand extraction from the nearby Llano River.
Collier declined to provide a comment on the matter, but Llano City Manager Finley deGraffenried confirmed that the company was pulling out and that it had rejected a contract to continue its mining operations in the river from its site at 1490 Texas 29, just outside of Llano city limits.
“We put together a contract for them to look at,” he told DailyTrib. “We were working through December (2025) with them.”
Collier reportedly began its exit from its Llano site in recent weeks.
deGraffenried explained that Collier had been contracted with the city to remove sand from the Llano River. Collier paid the city to extract the sand, which it sold as part of its business. Llano benefited doubly from the exchange, as the sand removal helped maximize water storage in Town Lake and Robinson Park.
Collier had been operating under a 10-year contract, originally approved by Llano City Council in April 2015. Prior to Collier’s arrival, the city of Llano periodically paid to have sand removed from the river. Its last payment was to Chanas Aggregates to dredge out 40,000 tons of material for $50,000 over a one-year period.
deGraffenried said that sand dredging would likely still be needed moving forward and that Llano City Council would likely hold a special meeting next week – the week of Monday, April 20 – to discuss the matter.
Collier did not provide a comment on what would be done with its sand mine moving forward.
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A $135 million bond addressing key campus changes and maintenance throughout the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District will be voted on by the community in the coming weeks with early voting from April 20-28, and Election Day on May 2.
If passed by voters, the bond package is planned to include the full demolition and rebuilding of Burnet Middle School, classroom additions at RJ Richey Elementary, and various maintenance projects throughout the district.
See a sample ballot for the election at this link.
See a list of polling locations, dates, and times for early voting and Election Day at this link.
BCISD Superintendent Dr. Aaron Peña shared this statement with DailyTrib as a message to the community ahead of the early voting period:
“Early voting is an important part of the process, and we encourage everyone to stay informed and not assume an outcome. Make a plan to participate,” Dr. Peña said.
Bond effects on tax rates
BCISD officials have reiterated that the bond would not cause a tax increase if passed, despite Texas Senate Bill 2205 requiring the ballot to read “This is a property tax increase.”
In Texas school financing, a school district’s overall tax rate is divided between the M&O rate (maintenance and operations) and the I&S rate (interest and sinking). The M&O rate can only be used to fund day-to-day operations, like salaries and utilities. The I&S rate can only be used to pay down debt. By design, school districts take out voter-approved bonds to accomplish major infrastructure projects, like those proposed by BCISD in this upcoming election, which are then paid down using the funds levied from the I&S rate.
The current total BCISD property tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year is $0.8710 per $100 property valuation. Of that total rate, $0.6760 is dedicated to the M&O rate and $0.195 is dedicated to the I&S rate.
Of note, BCISD voters passed a $52 million bond in May 2021 that the district promised would not increase the tax rate. Since then, the M&O tax rate has actually decreased from $0.951 to $0.676, and the I&S tax rate has stayed the same.
Property values, however, will likely continue to increase, and thus voters may see an increase in the amount of property taxes they pay year over year.
The bond breakdown
BCISD’s proposed $135 million bond will be split into two propositions on the May 2 ballot: Proposition A and B.
Proposition A, roughly $133 million, allows for funds to be used on general facilities, modernization, deferred maintenance, and land acquisition.
Proposition B, roughly $2 million, allows for funds to be used on district-wide technology upgrades.
Bond projects would be phased to allow for the least amount of academic disruptions during the school year. This phased approach is planned to include completing the new Burnet Middle School prior to deconstruction of the current campus.
Various maintenance projects and the design of the new Burnet Middle School would begin immediately after approval. The timeline for the new middle school is unknown, but is likely to be a multi-year project.
BCISD previously included an at-a-glance look at the planned projects in a press release for the bond. The projects listed are:
Burnet Middle School – Campus overhaul, new academic facility, and renovations
New academic building and performance space designed for 900 students, with capacity to expand to 1,200 students in the future
Classrooms and collaborative learning spaces
Science labs and elective spaces
Library/media center
Cafeteria and kitchen
Special education spaces
Renovation of existing fine arts and athletics spaces
RJ Richey Elementary – Campus improvements
Redesigned interior spaces to improve capacity and flow
New academic classrooms built within existing cafeteria and courtyard space
Conversion of interior gym into a cafetorium and kitchen
Dedicated art and music rooms
Right-sized special education spaces
Increases student capacity to better match the district’s other elementary schools and delay the need for an additional new elementary campus
Deferred maintenance at campuses
Roof replacement
Electrical system upgrades
HVAC replacements
Replacement of selected interior finishes
Building protection system upgrades
Conversion to energy-efficient LED lighting
Bertram Elementary School
New secure front entry to improve safety and controlled access
Districtwide needs and future planning
Replacement of aging buses to support safe and reliable transportation
Refresh of student technology devices used for instruction and assessments (Proposition B)
Purchase of land for a future elementary school and a future middle school near Bertram
Key questions about the bond
Note: These questions and answers are as listed on BCISD’s bond FAQ website, which can be found here.
Why does the district need a bond?
Many district facilities are aging and need updates to building systems, safety features, and learning spaces. A bond allows the district to address long-term facility needs that cannot be paid for through the regular operating budget.
What happens if the bond does not pass?
If the bond does not pass, the district will continue operating its current facilities and will address only the most urgent repairs as funding allows.
Major renovations, system replacements, and new facilities would be delayed. In some cases, addressing critical needs without bond funding would require using operating dollars, which could reduce flexibility in the budget for staff compensation, programs, and other district priorities.
Why not pay for these projects with the regular budget?
State law limits how Maintenance & Operations (M&O) funds can be used. M&O dollars are intended for day-to-day expenses such as teacher salaries, staff pay, utilities, transportation, and instructional programs.
Why not just renovate the existing middle school?
The committee reviewed renovation and replacement options. Many of the existing buildings date back to the 1970s and were not designed for today’s safety requirements, instructional practices, or technology needs, and they require significant system replacements. The committee determined that new construction would better address long-term needs. This includes balancing a new academic building with renovation of existing fine arts and athletics facilities to create learning spaces that meet today’s educational standards while remaining cost-conscious.
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