Dozens of Austin private schools are currently shut out of participating in Texas’ new school voucher program because of alleged ties to foreign governments or terrorist organizations.

Many private schools in Texas accredited by the nonprofit Cognia have been unable to apply to the state’s new voucher program, the Houston Chronicle reported this week. Of the almost 40 private schools in Austin that have only been accredited by the group, just one has been approved to participate in the new $1 billion education savings account program, the Statesman found. 

The discrepancy comes after Comptroller Kelly Hancock, who oversees the new voucher program, sought an opinion in mid-December from Attorney General Ken Paxton on whether some private schools could be prohibited from participating in the program over alleged ties to the Chinese government or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a nonprofit Gov. Greg Abbott has declared a terrorist group.

In his letter to Paxton, Hancock raised concerns about schools that he claimed hosted events organized by CAIR and schools that he said may be owned or linked to “an adviser to the Chinese communist government.” In both cases, the schools were accredited by Cognia, he wrote.

To be eligible, private schools must be accredited and in operation for at least two years. The schools also must administer a nationally norm-referenced test to students in third grade and above. Schools that provide virtual-only education can also apply.

The vouchers will provide students up to about $10,500 toward private school tuition per year, with students who receive special education services eligible for up to $30,000. Homeschooled students can receive up to $2,000 for tutoring, courses or materials. Vendors who provide these services must also receive approval from the comptroller’s office.

2026 PRO SWIM SERIES – AUSTIN

Thursday Finals Heat Sheet

Welcome to the 2nd finals session of the 2026 Pro Swim Series in Austin, and we are in for an exciting one tonight.

We will start the session with the event finals for the 200 IM and 50 freestyle, which swam their semifinals yesterday. World Record holders Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand hold the top times in both 200 IM events, which will be the first two events of the meet.

Simone Manuel and Maxime Grousset had the fastest semifinal times in the 50 freestyle and will each lead tonight’s event finals.

We will then move into the semifinals of the men’s and women’s 50 breaststroke where Skyler Smith and Van Mathias are the top seeds. Mathias is fresh off a Pro Swim Series record in the event, swimming 26.57 in prelims.

Charlotte Crush and Kieran Smith are the top seeds in the first typical event finals of the evening, though they aren’t far ahead of their competition with Teagan O’Dell coming in behind Crush and Marchand and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard sitting less than a second behind Smith.

The women’s 100 fly could be one of the most exciting events of the session with Regan Smith coming in as the top seed ahead of Summer McIntosh. On the men’s side, Caeleb Dressel earned the top time, about half-a-second ahead of Grousset.

The session will wrap up with the 400 freestyle finals where last night’s 1500 champion Katie Ledecky is the top women’s seed, 11 seconds ahead of Rylee Erisman, who is looking for a strong swim to match her electric 500 from Winter Juniors.

The men’s 400 free could be a close race with Daniel Wiffen leading Ilia Sibirtsev and Bobby Finke by just over a second. Ryan Erisman is also in the mix there, and is coming off a massive best time in last night’s 1500 freestyle.

WOMEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – Final

• World Record: 2:05.70 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2025)
• American Record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors (2009)
• US Open Record: 2:06.79 – Kate Douglass, USA (2024)
• PSS Record: 2:06.82 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2025)
• World Jr Record: 2:06.56 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2024)
• Pool Record: 2:08.51 – Madisyn Cox

Top 8 Finishers

1. Summer McIntosh (TXLA) — 2:08.48
2. Cyrielle Duhamel (FRA) — 2:13.73
3. Teagan O’Dell (CAL) — 2:14.06
4. Emma Weyant (GSC) — 2:14.23
5. Lindsay Looney (TXLA) — 2:17.86
6. Ava Chavez (CAL) — 2:18.86
7. Rowyn Wilber (CLOV) — 2:18.92
8. Maren Byrne (ALTO) — 2:19.05

Summer McIntosh swam to an easy victory in the women’s 200 IM, stopping the clock in 2:08.48 to come in more than five seconds ahead of the rest of the field and break Madisyn Cox’s pool record in the process.

McIntosh was out in 27.44, claiming the lead at the very start as the only swimmer under 28 seconds on the opening 50. She split 31.82 on the backstroke, the fastest in the field by more than two seconds. Nobody else was even under 34 seconds.

The breaststroke leg saw McIntosh touch in 38.65 before she came home in 30.57 on the freestyle, locking up the top spot and the fastest split on all four 50s.

France’s Cyrielle Duhamel finished 2nd after sitting in 3rd for most of the race. She was out behind Teagan O’Dell, splitting 28.52/34.27/39.47 on the first 3 50s, but her final 50 of 31.47 was more than a second faster than O’Dell and moved her into the silver medal position.

O’Dell was 28.42/34.17/38.97/32.50 to finish 3rd in 2:14.06, three seconds off her lifetime best 2:11.24 from July.

Emma Weyant finished 4th in 2:14.23, another new personal best, dropping from the 2:14.74 she swam in the semifinal

MEN’S 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – Final

• World Record: 1:52.69 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2025)
• American Record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte (2011)
• US Open Record: 1:54.43 – Ryan Lochte, USA (2010)
• PSS Record: 1:55.68 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
• World Jr Record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos, HUN (2021)
• Pool Record: 1:55.50 — Hubert Kos

Top 8 Finishers

1. Leon Marchand (TXLA) — 1:57.65
2. Carson Foster (NYAC) — 1:58.96
3. Kieran Smith (RAC) — 1:59.86
4. Grant Sanders (UN-FL) — 2:01.93
5. Gerhardt Hoover (CS) — 2:05.80
6. Cullen Kahl (MAC) — 2:06.18
7. Ethan Heasley (HEAT) — 2:07.57
8. Rafael Arizpe Arriaga (IM) — 2:07.69

Leon Marchand picked up the win in the men’s 200 IM final, touching in 1:57.65 to earn the top time by more than a second.

Marchand was the fastest on the first three 50s, splitting 24.97/29.79 and 33.57 on the fly/back and breaststroke splits, and his freestyle leg of 29.32 was 3rd behind Carson Foster and Kieran Smith.

Texas teammate Carson Foster finished 2nd in 1:58.96, a little more than three seconds off his lifetime best 1:55.65 from the 2024 Olympic Trials. Foster was 2nd through the entire race, splitting 25.48 on the opening 50 to get out just ahead of Kieran Smith. He was 30.03 on the backstroke and 34.50 on the breaststroke to put himself comfortably in the 2nd place position. He brought the race home in 28.95, the fastest freestyle leg in the field for the silver medal.

Kieran Smith was 3rd in 1:59.86 after splitting 25.60/30.01/35.16/29.09 to also come home faster than Marchand on the final 50. His final time was about three seconds off his best 1:56.97, also from the 2024 Olympic Trials.

If “Keep Austin weird” is the city’s mantra, does that apply to homes too? 

Zillow Gone Wild — the popular social media brand that showcases outrageous real estate listings — recently featured an Austin home so bold it dubbed the city the “Zillow Gone Wild Maximalist Capital of the World.”

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home at 2900 Palmella Court, just off Lake Travis, is currently listed for $899,000, according to the real estate listing — down from $975,000 last week. The nearly 4,000-square-foot property leans hard into maximalist design, with vibrant colors, bold patterns and statement décor throughout.

If salmon-pink walls or floral-print wallpaper is your thing, maybe this is the home for you.

Commenters had mixed opinions on the home:

“I don’t know what I’m more upset about. The salmon walls or no shower door 😩,” said one commenter.

“The ability to get literally every single choice wrong is admirable,” said another.

But the house had some fans, too. One person wrote, “They picked a theme, and as far as I can tell, they stuck with it. It’s got a lot of personality, and I like it.” Another wrote, “Barbie in her Miami Vice era. I absolutely love it!”

Zillow Gone Wild was launched during the pandemic by Samir Mezrahi, who began sharing eye-catching real estate listings on Facebook. The account quickly gained a following across social platforms and later expanded into an HGTV series featuring tours of unusual properties. According to Deadline, “Zillow Gone Wild” has been picked up for a third season with Jack McBrayer set to return as host for the new 16-episode season.