Morgan Wheatly

By Ashlee Estlack, Clarendon College

The cost of a college education is now even more affordable for Clarendon High School students thanks to the expansion of the PEAK Scholarship program.

As part of a pilot program, the PEAK will now pay for current Clarendon High School students to take dual credit courses through Clarendon College.

The PEAK was originally designed to provide two years of “last-dollar scholarship” for CHS graduates to attend CC, but a $60,000 commitment by the Clarendon College Foundation has broadened the program to cover dual credit courses.

Starting this fall, the PEAK will fully fund the first three face-to-face hours of dual credit courses per semester for eligible high school students.

“The Clarendon College Foundation is pleased to be able to broaden this opportunity for Clarendon High School students through the PEAK Scholarship Fund,” Clarendon College Foundation President Walt Knorpp said.  “We hope that this pilot program paves the way for even better things to come that will make college even more affordable for students in Donley County.”

Clarendon College President Dr. Robert Riza says this is exciting news for the students of Clarendon High School and their parents.

“Clarendon College has long been an affordable route to higher education, but now, with the help of the College Foundation and the school administration, the PEAK will potentially benefit every student at CHS,” Riza said.  “Every dual credit class paid for by this fund is one step closer to a college degree without mom or dad having to foot the bill.”

Clarendon CISD Superintendent Mike Norrell echoed Riza’s comments on the cost savings to students.

“This partnership sends a message that post-secondary education is important enough to use our limited resources on.” Norrell said. “Additionally, this partnership works to give all of our students an opportunity to succeed and earn college hours without accumulating the crippling student debt that is plaguing many of our country’s graduates.  We are proud to make an investment in all of our students and work with Clarendon College and its Foundation toward this purpose.”

In addition to the PEAK Scholarship, Donley County students benefit from a tuition cap instituted last year by Clarendon College.  For dual credit students, the College picks up the tab for anything above and beyond the first three hours of tuition and fees, and for full-time students, tuition and fees are capped at the first 12 hours.

“This pilot program, combined with our tuition cap for Donley County students, represents an enormous savings for local students,” Riza said. “Local partnerships such as this one offer great opportunities our rural students and can put a college education within their grasp.”

The PEAK Scholarship is funded through annual fundraisers conducted by Clarendon ISD students and organizations, and through donations from individuals and businesses.

For more information on the PEAK or to donate to this fund, visit ClarendonCollege.edu/PEAK.

Clarendon and Hedley schools met the state’s expectations during standardized testing this spring, according to information released by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) last week.

The state released the 2016 state accountability ratings for more than 1,200 school districts and charters, as well as more than 8,600 campuses statewide.

The ratings reveal that approximately 94 percent of school districts and charters across Texas have achieved the rating of Met Standard, including Clarendon and Hedley ISDs.

Clarendon exceeded the state’s target scores in all indices as a district as whole as well as on its high school, junior high, and elementary campuses.

In the Student Achievement Index with a target score of 60, CISD scored 80, CHS received an 81, CJH was a 77, and Clarendon Elementary earned an 81.

“We’re always glad to meet state standards,” CISD Superintendent Mike Norrell said. “We always want to do the best we can, and this reflects the hard work of our staff and students.”

Hedley ISD is scored as a whole instead of by campuses, and that school received a score of 84 in Student Achievement.

“With all the challenges the state keeps throwing at us, we’re very happy to meet standard and do so well,” HISD Superintendent Colby Waldrop said. “We’re just proud of how hard our students and faculty worked to keep us at a high standard.”

Districts, campuses, and charters receive one of three ratings under the accountability system: Met Standard, Met Alternative Standard, or Improvement Required. The 2016 ratings are based on a system that uses a range of indicators to provide greater detail about the performance of a district or charter and individual campuses throughout the state.

Campuses that receive an accountability rating of Met Standard are also eligible for distinction designations. Distinction designations are awarded to campuses based on achievement on performance indicators compared to a group of 40 campuses of similar type, size and student demographics. Distinction designations will be publicly released by Sept. 16.

For the 2015-2016 school year, the number of campuses achieving a rating of Met Standard or Met Alternative Standard increased compared to the previous years, while the number of campuses receiving a rating of Improvement Required decreased.

To view the 2016 state accountability ratings for districts, charters and campuses, visit the Texas Education Agency website at http://tea.texas.gov/2016Accountability.aspx.

Donley County’s proposed budget raises taxes slightly but allows for a modest increase in salaries and restores some funding to the Burton Memorial Library.

The county’s total tax rate – ad valorem, special, and debt rate combined – will go from $0.657406 to $0.673110 and will raise the annual tax on a home valued at $100,000 by $15.70.

The $2.4 million budget proposed by commissioners is about $202,000 higher than the current budget, but nearly half of that increased spending is covered by a grant from the governor’s office, which will provide more than $99,000 for highway safety enforcement… essentially covering the cost of employing and equipping one deputy.

County Judge John Howard said the fiscal year 2016 budget also benefits from a health insurance premium rebate of $39,401 that was the result of the county’s claims experience.

“The actual tax increase will cost the average taxpayer less than one cent per day, but we were able to do a lot with that,” Howard said.

The added tax revenue will bring in $21,700 to county coffers, but the insurance rebate and the benefit of the grant gave the county the opportunity to give full time county employees at $100 a month raise and a $50 per month raise to part time employees working 20 hours. Those raises will cost the county $51,278 for the year.

This budget also reflects a two percent increase in health insurance premiums on the expense side, and a $10,000 decrease in anticipated revenue from vehicle registrations on the income side due to the county getting less money from registrations when people renew those online.

Budget conditions being more favorable this year also allowed the county to partially reverse cuts it made last year in its support for the Burton Memorial Library, restoring $5,000 out of the $8,000 reduction and bringing county support for the library to $30,000.

Looking ahead, Howard said the county hopes to do more to improve salaries and build operating reserves in fiscal year 2018 as payments being coming in from the Salt Fork wind farm.

Public tax hearings for the county will be held September 2 and September 6. Both meetings will be held at 9 a.m.

Clarendon’s sales tax revenue surged ahead when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar made his monthly allocations last week.

The city’s sales tax figure of $43,444.47 for the month represented an increase of 10.85 percent over the same period last year.

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.

Clarendon has struggled with its sales tax revenues this year, and the new figure brings the city’s calendar year-to-date figure up a little better than even at $261.983.15, an increase of 0.24 percent.

Hedley’s revenue for the month is up 32.43 percent at $878.48, and year-to-date revenue is up 20.42 percent at $4,985.59.

Howardwick remains behind for the year, down 7.14 percent at $8,081.96 and fell 24.62 percent this month for an allocation of $866.86.

Statewide, Hegar sent cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $769.3 million in local sales tax allocations for August, 1.2 percent more than in August 2015.

“The cities of San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano and Irving saw noticeable increases in sales tax allocations,” Hegar said. “Energy-centric cities, such as Houston and Midland, continue to see decreases.”