City of Cedar Hill and Cedar Hill Independent School District leaders told a joint workshop that a new level of intentional collaboration is producing tangible projects and closer safety coordination.

City Manager Melissa (presenting the city update) said the council’s strategic plan directs visible support for CHISD and urged continued joint action. "Continue strengthening the relationship with CHISD, including visibly showing support for the ISD," Melissa said, listing public safety and economic development among the city’s top priorities.

District leadership echoed that framing. The district superintendent, who described her first months on the job, said the district’s priorities center on student growth: "Every student, every time, all the time," she said, and noted the district is setting five‑year growth goals in reading, math and college‑and‑career readiness.

Officials described multiple projects undertaken or planned through the partnership. City staff reviewed a recently approved Midtown zoning exercise intended to spur a walkable commercial core and said an approved plan for a 300‑unit luxury multifamily development is intended to bring additional foot traffic to the adjacent Hillside Village mall. The city also described an action plan for historic downtown that council members said will focus on staged street and streetscape improvements rather than new vision studies.

Speakers discussed Balcones Ranch, a master‑planned community on roughly 300 acres, and a TxDOT‑led Lakeridge interchange project that officials said was accelerated for delivery in 2026. The project’s cost was discussed using two figures in the workshop — $160,000,000 and $168,000,000 — which city staff said were estimates discussed during presentation and local remarks. Officials said the Lakeridge interchange and the planned Loop 9 corridor will open additional land to development in southeast Cedar Hill.

On parks and facilities, the city said it expects to develop a nearly 4‑acre dog park under a long‑term lease with a local church and estimated a 2026 grand opening. The old library building is planned for renovation as a fire‑department headquarters with nonprofit co‑working offices; leases for nonprofit tenants are being finalized.

School bond work and career pathway programs were also highlighted. The superintendent and trustees noted bond projects already completed — including playgrounds and renovations — and previewed the High Point Elementary Fine Arts Academy scheduled to open next fall. The district described a school‑based fire academy that has enrolled multiple students and could feed local firefighter recruitment.

Public safety cooperation was a central, concrete outcome of the joint work. Director of public safety and Chief of Police Hila Reyes described an updated memorandum of understanding between the city and the district that increases city funding for school crossing guards, clarifies notification and investigative roles for reports of educator misconduct, and — importantly — provides police with real‑time access to school camera feeds during emergencies. "We are now going to be able to do that," Reyes said of camera access, adding the change will act as a force multiplier in emergency response. Police and district staff also described a recent joint active‑shooter exercise and planned tabletop reunification drills.

Officials repeatedly framed the relationship as "interconnectedness" or a deliberate partnership rather than two separate institutions. Multiple trustees and council members used analogies of marriage and partnerships to describe a new practice of meeting stakeholders together, coordinating events (from football games to community festivals), and aligning communications and procurement where feasible. Several participants urged that the work be taken off the leaders’ table and embedded in staff operations so it survives leadership turnover.

Next steps from the workshop included a short survey the facilitator will circulate, an executive summary to be distributed to participants, and continued joint sessions. The facilitator said she would send an executive summary and asked for survey responses in about a week. The meeting concluded with an adjournment.

What happens next: city and district staff will follow up on specific project timelines and lease terms; the facilitator will send a survey and an executive summary; participants said they expect the next round of work and accountability measures to be discussed at future joint meetings.