![Senior Jett Mckinney stores all the clothes in his own room, with half of it stored in his closet along with his personal clothes, and the rest taking up space in his room.
“There’s been times [when] there’s so much clothing stored here and it gets overwhelming, so I end up having to sleep somewhere else in the house,” Mckinney said.](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DSC_0951-1200x800.jpg)
![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Leander ISD Superintendent Dr. Bruce Gearing was announced as one of four finalists for the superintendent search at Conway Public Schools in Arkansas Friday afternoon, catching some board members off guard, according to a release by the district.
“While this announcement came as a surprise to the Board, we want to assure our community that the Board remains dedicated and focused on our purpose — serving students, supporting staff and continuing the important work happening across our classrooms and campuses every day,” the district said in a release Friday. “The Board of Trustees will continue to ensure stability, transparency and progress for our district regardless of any outcome.”
The news came amid an ongoing budget crisis in school districts across Texas, including LISD. After six years with no funding increases from the Texas legislature, LISD is facing a $22.8 million budget deficit in 2026-27, a $29.3 million shortfall in 2027-28 and a $32.3 million shortfall in 2028-29.
“The district has been a great steward of taxpayer dollars over many years,” Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D. said in an interview on the Wolfcast in April. “[But], in our current year budget, we’re running a large deficit, much larger than we’d like. We cannot continue to spend out of our savings account year after year, and remain financially solvent. There are some big challenges coming our way, and those challenges will likely get bigger as we go forward, but the job that we do, helping our students prepare themselves for that future, whatever that holds, is what is becoming critical.”
The school board has recently been considering the closure and consolidation of multiple low-enrollment schools including Cypress, Faubion and Steiner Ranch elementary schools, as a cost-saving measure that has faced severe backlash from the local community.
“We believe that every child deserves the stability, resources and connections that only a thriving local school can provide,” said Save Cypress, a community-led initiative dedicated to combatting the proposal. “By working together, we can ensure that Cypress continues to serve as the heart of our community for generations to come.”
Gearing was hired as the LISD superintendent in August 2019, beginning his duties on Sept. 3, 2019. Gearing previously served as superintendent of Dripping Springs ISD for seven years. He replaced Dan Troxell, who left the district in July 2019.
“I am extremely excited to join the outstanding teachers, staff and community in Leander ISD,” Gearing said at the time of the hiring. “I look forward to building relationships with our life changers throughout the year, celebrating our many successes, and learning along the way for the benefit of children.”
