Archives for August 2018

The “report cards” are out and Clarendon and Hedley public schools both met the state’s goals during standardized testing this spring, according to information released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) last week.

Hedley received an overall score of 92 out of 100, but was not given the privilege of claiming an A grade by the state. Clarendon schools received a B rating with an overall score of 84 out of 100.

Hedley officials say their school is only reported as having “met standard” without a letter grade because they operate as one campus, where the state recognizes Clarendon has being three campuses – elementary, junior high, and high school. The state will change that next year and small schools will get a letter grade.

“We did very well, but we can’t say we’re an A-rated school this year,” Hedley Principal Garrett Bains said. “We just have to keep it up so next year we can claim it.”

Three components make up the state’s grading system: Student Achievement, which is mostly scores on the spring STAAR tests; School Progress, which involves how students are performing over time; and Closing the Gaps, which concerns how different ethnic and economic populations are performing.

Hedley scored 89 out of 100 for Student Achievement, an 87 out of 100 for School Progress, and 100 out of 100 for Closing the Gaps. The school also earned three distinctions for Mathematics, Comparative Closing the Gaps (where it was ranked first when compared with 41 other schools), and Post Secondary Readiness.

“I give every bit of credit for this to the teachers,” Hedley Interim Superintendent Terry Stevens said. “They are the ones who did this. We have a great staff, and the individualized attention we can give is an advantage of being a small school.”

Stevens also said that the accountability system is still a snapshot of how kids do on one test on one day of the year.

Clarendon CISD received an 84 overall as a district, with Clarendon High School getting an 85, Clarendon Junior High getting a 75, and Clarendon Elementary getting a 90.

“I think everyone wants an A, because it’s the highest you can get, but the accountability system as it currently exists is not an accurate measure of all the hard work our students and teachers put into everything they did this last school year,” Superintendent Mike Norrell said. “It is essentially an analysis on a once-a-year standardized test and only once slice of the very large pie we call public education.”

Norrell also addressed the complexity of the state’s accountability system.

“For something that was supposed to be as simple as A,B,C it is very complex… and based on the three domains of Student Achievement, Student Progress & Growth, and Closing the Gaps (that is scored with the variables of socioeconomic differences, race, language barriers, and special education) with 70% of the score from the higher of Domains I or II, then 30% from Domain III,” he said.

Clarendon High School’s score was broken down as 84 for Student Performance, 83 for School Progress, and 87 for Closing the Gaps. CHS received three distinctions for Academic Achievement in Social Studies, Comparative Growth where it tied for ninth when compared to 40 other schools, and Comparative Closing the Gaps where it tied for third with 40 other similar schools.

Clarendon Junior High’s scores were made up of 78 for Student Performance, 79 for School Progress, and 66 for Closing the Gaps.
Clarendon Elementary received an 83 for Student Achievement, 89 for School Progress, and 92 for Closing the Gap. The elementary school also received six distinctions, which the most it could have possibly received. Those included Academic Achievements in Mathematics, Science, and English Language Arts / Reading; Comparative Academic Growth, in which it tied for first out of 40 similar schools; Comparative Closing the Gaps, in which it tied for second; and Post Secondary Readiness.

“We are proud of our students and teachers who took their preparations seriously and we want to set up all of our students for success,” Norrell said, “however, there were many accomplishments and learning experiences last year that don’t figure into the A-F rating that the state calculates at the direction of our state legislature.”

Clarendon and Hedley officials both said the accountability system allows schools to see where they are and identify areas that need improvement.

“We will celebrate the successes, evaluate and analyze where we can improve to give all of our students opportunities to be their very best and perform at a high level, but not only on the STAAR and End of Course but everything in which they participate,” Norrell said. “Clarendon CISD is a school that our students, staff, parents, and community can be very proud of. It represents what can happen when all are working to do what is best for kids.”

Clarendon Family Medical Center this week is formally announcing that Kathryn Broussard has joined their staff as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

Broussard grew up in DeQuincy, Louisiana, graduating from high school there before embarking on her climb up the career ladder as a nurse.

Becoming the first member of her family to graduate from college, Broussard started as a Vocational Nurse then worked her way up to a Registered Nurse, earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, and then graduated with her Master’s to become a nurse practitioner.
A nurse practitioner is similar to a Physician’s Assistant, Broussard says, with the main difference being the path of education.

“I just always wanted to be a nurse and help people,” she said.

Broussard gained 17 years of experience including time as an emergency room nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont. She then worked at an urgent care center but was looking for something different when a job recruiter contacted her about a position in Clarendon late last year.

The Texas Panhandle is familiar territory to Broussard. Her husband, Gabe, is a graduate of West Texas High School in Stinnett and has family in Fritch, Borger, and Panhandle.

Dr. John Howard interviewed Broussard by phone and later Facetime in January, and she started working at the clinic in February, she said.

The Broussards have three kids – Anna, 17; Madison, 14; and Gannon, 12. The two youngest kids live with Broussard in Clarendon. Anna lives is still with her father in Orange while she finishes her senior year, and then they will be moving here as well. Anna plans to attend Clarendon College to get her basic education.

“The situation has been quite an adjustment, but it’s working out,” she said.

Broussard is pleased with her move and her new job and says the community has been welcoming.

“I like it here. It’s amazing how nice everyone is,” she said. “It’s such a big difference from where I’m from how respectful everyone is.”

Broussard says her kids have already made friends in the community, and her husband is going to be able to continue his present job as a designer for a construction company by working from home in Clarendon.

Broussard is now seeing patients full time.

Shekinta Ministries continues to operate in Clarendon but the direction of one of its facilities remains up in the air as its founder looks for a direction he says might be “more palatable” to local citizens.

The ministry, which operates “alternative housing” for parolees, drew public attention two weeks ago when seven registered sex offenders were listed in public notices as living at a house on Gorst Street.

Within a few days, most of those offenders were moved out of Clarendon due to what Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn was told was a “technical error.”

Shekinta founder and president David A. Hurlbrink told the Enterprise last Wednesday that he didn’t apply properly for the Gorst Street location.

“There is an application process to go through,” Hurlbrink said, “and I apparently inadvertently violated that process. I wasn’t’ successful in getting the Gorst location approved.”

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice says Shekinta Ministries rents to parole clients as it is an Alternate Housing Resource for the client population with an approved facility at 218 N. Sully St. that can house up to seven paroled offenders.

Hurlbrink told the Enterprise that a White Street address mentioned in last week’s article is actually his personal residence and office.

Hurlbrink says he understands the public’s concern about having registered sex offenders move into the community, but he says he feels it’s his calling to help those men.

“I completely get where everyone is coming from,” he said. “Those are today’s modern lepers. No one wants to do anything with them. I’ve been called to put together an immersion program for them.”

That program includes getting the men employed and teaching them life skills such as cooking and balancing a checkbook.

“I want to serve the community not harm community,” he said. “The last thing I want is people scared.”

Hurlbrink says he previously served in the military and eventually moved to Texas.

“Things fell apart for me,” he said. “I started seeking the Lord. I wasn’t doing what He told me to do. He allowed things to blow up then came together. This whole thing is me trying to give back.”

Shekinta Ministries was founded in August 2014, he said. The name means “the Lord’s presence.”

“Without spirit we can’t affect transformation and that’s what this program is designed to do,” Hurlbrink said. “Take guys with a basic understanding of God and immerse them in God’s word.”

Hurlbrink said he moved to Clarendon in March 2017 and purchased the Sully Street location when he starting receiving his VA pension.

He says he would like parents and the public to know that he understands their concerns.

“I would say to them that we have put these men under GPS supervision,” he said. “I was continually in touch with parole office. They were required to register everywhere. They were tightly regulated and supervised. Last thing I want is an offense in my community. I understand the fear but I have to push through the fear.

“I believe these are godly men who truly want a fresh start. As long as they were willing to put in the work, I felt obligated to give them the chance.”

Hurlbrink says he has been reconsidering the direction of his ministry especially in regards to the Gorst Street property.

“I knew resistance would be there, but I thought we could show the community through the fruits of our ministry,” he said. “We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the Lord. I believe Jesus paid for those sins no matter how horrific.”

Hurlbrink hasn’t decided whether to pursue reapplying for the Gorst house to serve the same type of offenders. This week he told the Enterprise that he is considering opening it up to serve veterans in some way.

“Maybe that would be more palatable,” he said

Hurlbrink apologizes for the disruption Shekinta has caused to Clarendon.

“I love my community, and I’m sorry for any fear that has gone around. That’s the last thing I wanted. Shekinta is here to be of service in any way that I possibly can.”

Meanwhile, Sheriff Butch Blackburn is not letting up on his warning about having offenders residing in the community. He says that while seven offenders left Clarendon, another man moved to town who has completed his supervision by the state.

“I would just urge citizens to know who they are hiring and be aware of what’s going on and keep an eye on their kids,” Sheriff Blackburn said.

The City of Clarendon saw its seventh straight month of growth in sales tax revenue when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed August allocations last week.

Clarendon received $39,835.05 for the month which is up 3.29 percent over the same period one year ago.
The city is now running 8.44 percent ahead for the calendar year-to-date with sales tax revenues totaling $278,639.83.

Howardwick’s sales tax income was also up with an increase of 6.55 percent for the month at $889.28. The lakeside city is up 16.36 percent for the year at $8,253.35.

Hedley had an increase of 204.03 percent with revenue of $1,935.53, bringing that city’s total to date up 102.58 percent at $8,934.40.

Statewide, Hegar delivered $842.7 million in local sales tax allocations for August, 8.2 percent more than in August 2017.

These allocations are based on sales made in June by businesses that report tax monthly, and sales made in April, May and June by quarterly filers.