Morgan Wheatly

By Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune

A state representative who has passed legislation aimed at reeling in Texas’ standardized testing regime is calling on the state to ditch required STAAR exams while it “tries to iron out STAAR’s many kinks.”

State Rep. Jason Isaac’s proposal comes the week after the Texas Education Agency announced it was penalizing the New Jersey-based company that develops and administers the controversial exams more than $20 million over problems that surfaced during springtime testing — including computer glitches that caused students to lose answers. It is the first year Educational Testing Services has overseen STAAR administration after the state scrapped the bulk of its longtime contract with London-based Pearson Education.

“Flawed testing practices threaten the State of Texas’ ability to fulfill our education system’s goals — and our children’s futures,” Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, said in a statement Monday. “The litany of errors being uncovered about STAAR is simply a disservice to our students, hard-working teachers, and families.”

While the state works with ETS to resolve the issues, Isaac suggested “schools be given the freedom to choose from a variety of nationally normed standardized tests.”

“School districts should not be hampered by an inefficient and ineffective system,” Isaac said. “Adding a dose of free-market philosophy to education by allowing a variety of standardized test options can only drive down costs and improve quality.”

Isaac told The Texas Tribune he will file legislation next year that would allow school districts to use something like the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills instead of STAAR. He filed a similar bill in 2013.

Last year, Isaac co-authored a bill that passed overwhelmingly requiring that 85 percent of elementary and middle school students be able to complete STAAR exams within two or three hours (two hours for third through fifth grade; three hours for sixth through eighth grade.) House Bill 743 took effect last June.

A group of parents is suing the education agency, alleging it did not comply with the law this year.

“I hope my colleagues will join me when the 85th Legislative Session convenes in seeking transformational changes that will ensure that testing is a benefit, not a burden, to Texas’ students, teachers, and families,” Isaac said.

The legislative session begins in January.

Education and the rising cost of health care insurance were leading topics on citizens’ minds last Friday when State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) and State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) held a town hall meeting at Clarendon College’s Bairfield Activity Center.

Seliger opened the forum with an overview of the upcoming legislative session, which will begin next January with legislators dealing with a decline in oil, gas, and sales tax revenues.

“We’re telling people not to ask for more money, although there are areas of exception,” Seliger said, noting that lawmakers would be looking to put more money into public education and the department of transportation.

Seliger also praised the work of community colleges for doing an “exceptional job” of preparing people for higher degrees and for the workforce.

King agreed with the senator that education would be a main topic in Austin next year.

“There’s probably never enough money for education,” King said. “I’m just not sure where the money is going to come from.”

King said that transportation is important to him as well, especially since a recent federal regulation resulted in the closure of several state commercial drivers’ license offices that did not meet national guidelines. The representative said he supports more money for TxDOT but wants to make sure the CDL office in Pampa re-opens.

With the floor opened for questions, Clarendon fourth grader Benjamin Estlack asked Seliger about the STAAR test.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just let our teachers grade us?” Estlack asked.

Seliger replied that teachers are the ones who come up with the test questions for the state exam.

Estlack then commented on the stress placed on students taking the STAAR test, and Seliger said students should feel no more stress than taking any other test.

Hedley ISD Superintendent Colby Waldrop discussed the issue of rising health insurance costs resulting in less and less take-home pay for teachers. Seliger talked about the forces driving up the price of health care and raised the possibility of regulating health care like a utility. To Waldrop’s point specifically, the senator said the only solution would be to raise the base allotment to schools so they can raise teacher salaries.

Clarendon ISD teacher Brittany Monds also voiced her concern with her health insurance costs and her paycheck and asked why she should vote for King and Seliger. The senator said that he and King had done more for education than anybody and said the state does not set local teachers’ salaries and that responsibility rests with local districts.

Donley County Judge John Howard asked the legislators about a possible new four percent cap on counties’ ability to raise taxes. The current cap is eight percent, and Howard said the amount of revenue Donley can raise under the current rule would not even cover the cost of placing one juvenile in a detention center.

King said the four percent idea is being driven by Harris County.

“It’s the same people who want vouchers to go to private schools,” King said. “I think there are enough rural Republicans to stop this.”

Energy is high this week on the Clarendon College campus with students beginning the fall semester this week and an administration looking forward to continuing a tradition of student success.

CC President Robert Riza set the tone for the semester last Thursday during All College Day as he listed statistics that make Clarendon stand out from other community colleges.

“Our average time to complete a degree is 2.3 years, the state average is 4.4,” Dr. Riza told CC faculty and staff. “Our average hours to a degree is 66, and the state average is 90. These figures make us number one in the state, and we’ve made that known in Austin.”

Riza said student success points have gone up for CC because the work of everyone at the college, and he also pointed to the college having a 10 percent increase in credentials earned as a sign of the dedication of its employees.

“Everyone’s job here matters,” Riza said.

Delivering a keynote address later in the morning, former Amarillo College president Paul Matney reinforced Riza’s message.

“There is an air of excitement as this semester starts,” Matney said, noting the success of CC students Wyatt Casper with the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association saddle bronc riding championship and Hosea Nelson and Michael Cruz, who were drafted by Major League Baseball teams, and the recent agreement with Texas Tech that will give CC students earning and Associates Degree in Nursing automatic admission to Tech’s nursing bachelor’s program.

“Student success is the heart and soul of this college,” Matney said. “It is the business of the business.”

Matney praised the accomplishments CC has achieved over the last couple of years, and reiterated the statistics that Riza listed earlier.

“A degree in an average of 2.3 years? Nobody does that,” Matney said. “Great things are happening at Clarendon College.”

Clarendon’s impressive statistics come in part from its innovative approach to developmental education in which students with remedial needs are immersed in traditional college classes with added tutorial help rather than having to spend multiple semesters in developmental classes.

The program began in the math department and has taken a system that previously got students ready for college-level math over a period of 2½ years and accelerated it to 16 weeks.

The method was pioneered by CC math instructors Linda Rowland and Dr. Jeremy Sain, and Riza recognized the pair last week for having won the “Texans Caring for Texans” award just days earlier in Canyon.

Riza also recognized CC Rodeo Coach Brett Franks and Enrollment Services Coordinator Martha Smith for going above and beyond their duties to make improvements to the college campus on their own time.

The president also recognized three employees for promotions Brad Vanden Boogaard as Dean of Student Affairs, Bryan Fuller as Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Ashlee Estlack as Chief of Staff.

Looking forward to the new academic year, Riza said CC will be focused on improving student services, will expand and co-mingle technical offerings where appropriate to better equip students for the workplace, and will continue to strengthen relationships with area school districts to provide greater opportunities for students, such as the recent expansion of the PEAK scholarship program at Clarendon ISD.

Two men were sentenced in separate cases when the 100th District Court met in Clarendon last Monday, August 15.

District Attorney Luke Inman prosecuted the cases for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding.

Eduardo Carrillo Vaquera, 36, from Amarillo pleaded true to allegations listed in the State’s Motion to Adjudicate and was sentenced to 12 years in the Institutional Division of TDCJ for the second degree felony offense of burglary of a habitation.

On September 4, 2012, Vaquera originally pleaded to the charges from the June 30, 2012, offense in Donley County.  The State filed the motion to adjudicate on June 6, 2016, alleging eight violations of community supervision.

Vaquera also pleaded true to allegations listed in the State’s Motion to Adjudicate and was sentenced to 10 years in the Institutional Division of TDCJ for the third degree felony offense of assault family violence.

On September 4, 2012, Vaquera originally pleaded to the charges from the May 28, 2012, offense in Donley County.  The State filed the motion to adjudicate on June 16, 2016, alleging eight violations of community supervision.

Adam Corey Duprey was convicted for the state jail felony offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle and sentenced to 12 months in the State Jail Division of TDCJ.

Duprey, age 28, from Dallas was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on June 23, 2016, by Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn. Duprey pleaded to an information filed by the State on August 5, 2016.

Another Donley County case was heard when the court met in Panhandle on August 9 where Kayla Denise Hobbs (a.k.a. Kayla Denise Camp) was convicted for the state jail felony offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle and sentenced to two years in the State Jail Division of TDCJ, but the sentence was probated for a period of five years.

Hobbs, 26, from Alvarado was arrested in Donley County for the offense that took place on June 23, 2016, by Sheriff Blackburn. Hobbs pleaded to an information filed by the State on August 5, 2016.

If Hobbs violates probation, she could face up to two years in the State Jail Division of the TDCJ.

Clarendon College Regents approved a $9.3 million budget during a called meeting Monday afternoon and managed to avoid making major cuts despite a six-figure decline in tax revenue in Gray County.

CC President Robert Riza said the college expects to lose about $161,000 in revenue from the neighboring county due to the drop in oil and gas values, but the president also said the budget for fiscal year 2017 is just about $59,000 less than the current budget and included cutbacks in both academics and athletics.

“I feel like we were able to handle it just fine,” Dr. Riza said, “and if we hadn’t said something, about 75 percent of our employees would have never known we had a budget cut.”

The Riza administration is not calling for any increases to tuition or fees, reflecting the president’s desire not to put the burden on students.

Regents did approve an increase in taxes for the college district, which is all of Donley County, adopting a rate of $0.230677 per $100 value compared to the current rate of $0.220802. The new rate increases taxes on a $100,000 by $9.88 per year.

Clarendon College also receives revenue from a five-cent maintenance tax for its campuses in Childress and Gray counties.

The college held two public hearings on the tax rate, and only had one citizen speak out about the tax rate. That person was in favor of the proposed rate and noted the tremendous return on investment Donley County receives from the college tax.

In other business, regents approved the college’s policy manual and student handbook and approved a bid for tax delinquent property at Howardwick. During last Thursday’s regular board meeting, the board discussed the budget and the policy manual. Also at that time, Riza informed the board that the president of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, Jacob Fraire, would be on campus that week to meet with Sen. Kel Seliger and attend Friday’s town hall meeting.

The Christ’s Kids Ministry building in downtown Clarendon has been successfully remodeled thanks in part to a grant from the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation. Steve Carter, who leads the Ministry, said the improvement project was made possible by the CEDC grant of $2,000.

“We probably wouldn’t have been able to do it,” Carter said. “We certainly never could have done the new dormers. It just looks so much better now.” The building at 416 S. Kearney was built in the 1950s, Carter said, and originally housed offices for the US Department of Agriculture. Christ’s Kids moved into the building in 2012, and the ministry purchased the location in December 2013.

CEDC President Terri Floyd presented the check to Carter Monday afternoon after the CEDC board approved the Ministry’s completion report last week. The project was driven by the need to replace building’s flat roof. Working with contractor Jim Shadle, the Ministry was able to replace the roof with new hipped roof, and CEDC funds went towards new dormers over the Kearney Street entrances, new paint and siding, and new exterior lighting. “It just looks so much better now,” Carter said.

Since the Façade Grant Program began in 2008, the CEDC has awarded $29,839.54 to property owners in Clarendon. The Façade Grant Program provides 50-50 matching grants, up to a maximum of $2,000 per project, which could be any of a wide variety of projects, such as a coat of paint, new signage, sidewalk improvements, or a complete rehabilitation of a storefront.

The program grants awards to eligible properties located in the city’s entire Central Business District and on the US 287 corridor. Property owners interested in Façade Grant funds must get approval from the CEDC board before beginning their projects.

For more information or to apply for a grant, stop by the Clarendon Visitor Center.