Cumby Robotics Teams are World-Ranked!
Cumby ISD Robotics Teams 6834A and 6834Z competed in Houston, Texas on Saturday January 7, 2017 and qualified for the National Championship to be held in Iowa in April. Teams A and Z teamed up to win the Tournament Championship. Team A took the Excellence Award and placed Second in Robot Skills. Team Z received the Judges Award and placed First in Robot Skills. Both teams will compete in Richardson on January 14. Both teams are currently ranked among the top 50 in the world which will allow them to compete in the Vex World Championship in April, which will be televised on ESPN. Sponsors are being sought to help offset the cost of attending State, National and World competitions. Contact Cumby ISD coaches Lee Gifford or Jennifer Dracos if you are interesting in sponsoring, at 903-994-2260.
TEAM A MEMBERS are: Ken Chapin, Hunter Milam, Presley Clampitt, Kadden Cota, Caden Phillips and Lacy Jacobs.
TEAM Z MEMBERS are: Larek Walker, Will Chapin, Jesslin Bond and Hannah Jarvis.
COACHES are Nick Walker and Lee Gifford.
Fort Worth Stock Show Pass Giveaway
Want a One Day Pass to the Fort Worth Stock Show? Listen to Afternoon Drive 4 – 6 PM Thursday January 12th, and Friday January 13th, 2017 to hear the winners. Like this post, and like KSST on Facebook to enter. Subject to availability.
Passes can be picked up at the KSST Studios during business hours.
Superintendents Press Conference Opposing A-F Grading System for Schools–Video Presentation
During the last legislative session in Texas, a law was passed requiring the Commissioner of Education to develop a system that would give every campus and district in the state a grade from A to F in five domains. As required by law, the commissioner has developed a system and prepared a report for the legislature that is a preliminary attempt to comply with the law. The report is unofficial and one possible method of assigning letter grades to each campus and district using only 4 of the 5 domains. The Texas Education Agency states that this report is a work in progress. The final criteria for rating schools will not be established until the summer of 2017 with the first set of grades to be released in August of 2018.
On December 8, 2016, the Texas Education Agency published the School Report Cards for every district in the state. The purpose of the report cards is to “inform parents and guardians about a campus’s individual characteristics and its academic performance.” Using the 2015-2016 data, every district in Hopkins and Delta County Met Standard and earned multiple distinctions. Mike Morath, Texas Commissioner of Education, stated “Earning one or more distinctions is noteworthy and should be a source of pride in a community.” Now, a different rating system using the very same data from 2015-2016 will be released using an A-F rating for all campuses and districts. Districts which met standard and earned distinctions may now receive letter grades of C or below.
This report could lead to very negative feelings among teachers and our communities. Our teachers work hard every day to educate all of our students in Hopkins and Delta County. With the student population becoming more diverse, teachers are asked to find new ways to reach students who are in poverty, as well as those who are limited English speakers. They have accepted every challenge and done an amazing job of meeting the changing standards that the legislature and the Texas Education Agency have set before them. Our teachers are to be commended.
After conducting our own analysis of the 2015-2016 data and looking at the School Report Cards published by TEA, we believe we are meeting the ideals and expectations of our communities in Hopkins and Delta County, and will continue to do so.”
The Superintendents of Hopkins and Delta County:
Shelly Slaughter Michael Lamb Steve Johnson Kay Handlin
Cumby ISD Sulphur Springs ISD Miller Grove ISD Como-Pickton CISD
Dustin Carr Darin Jolly David Stickels Denicia Hohenberger
Sulphur Bluff ISD North Hopkins ISD Saltillo ISD Cooper ISD
Video by Doug Haston, Channel 18 News
Castleberry, Jackson-Grant Sentenced Wednesday Afternoon
Wednesday afternoon in Eighth Judicial District Court, James Christopher Castleberry pled guilty to Delivery of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 More than 1-gram, less than 4-grams and was sentenced to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
James Christopher Castleberry
Castleberry will serve the first five years day-for-day before being eligible for paroled because the delivery was in a drug free zone. This is his second trip to the TDCJ. If he commits a felony in the future, he will be eligible to be sentenced to 25-years to life. Castleberry’s plea bargain was made in the face of five separate charges involving drugs and burglary of a building. His arrests involved in the charges occurred from March to September, 2016. His most recent arrest was in January and involved methamphetamine in a Cheetos bag.
Corie Jackson-Grant
Also in court Wednesday afternoon, Corie Jackson-Grant pled guilty to theft of a firearm and was a sentenced to six months state jail time. Jackson-Grant, 20, was facing three state jail felony charges including unauthorized use of a vehicle and two thefts of firearm charges.
Winnsboro Police Report January 2-8, 2017
Two arrests, 124 calls for service, 27 citations, 32 warnings, and no accidents complete the January 2-8, 2017 Winnsboro Police Department report.
On Sunday, January 8, James Swann, 33, of Winnsboro was arrested for driving while license invalid with previous convictions.
On Thursday, January 5, Jason Bearden, 38, of Winnsboro, was arrested on a Wood County warrant.
Area School Superintendents Think A-F Grading System for Schools Unfair
(Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 with additional information to follow Thursday, January 12, 2017)
Superintendents of Hopkins County and Delta County Schools stated their opposition to the A-F grading system implemented Tuesday in Texas. The superintendents conducted a press conference Tuesday afternoon in the board room at the SSISD Administration Building. Superintendent of Sulphur Springs Schools Michael Lamb said they did not want to sound like complainers but in order to be fair, the superintendents do not feel the new system is fair and that it misses the boat of what the schools are trying to accomplish in sharing information about our schools.
The formal statement said:
During the last legislative session in Texas, a law was passed requiring the Commissioner of Education to develop a system that would give every campus and district in the state a grade from A to F in five domains. As required by law, the commissioner has developed a system and prepared a report for the legislature that is a preliminary attempt to comply with the law. The report is unofficial and one possible method of assigning letter grades to each campus and district using only 4 of the 5 domains. The Texas Education Agency states that this report is a work in progress. The final criteria for rating schools will not be established until the summer of 2017 with the first set of grades to be released in August of 2018.
On December 8, 2016, the Texas Education Agency published the School Report Cards for every district in the state. The purpose of the report cards is to “inform parents and guardians about a campus’s individual characteristics and its academic performance.” Using the 2015-2016 data, every district in Hopkins and Delta County Met Standard and earned multiple distinctions. Mike Morath, Texas Commissioner of Education, stated “Earning one or more distinctions is noteworthy and should be a source of pride in a community.” Now, a different rating system using the very same data from 2015-2016 will be released using an A-F rating for all campuses and districts. Districts which met standard and earned distinctions may now receive letter grades of C or below.
This report could lead to very negative feelings among teachers and our communities. Our teachers work hard every day to educate all of our students in Hopkins and Delta County. With the student population becoming more diverse, teachers are asked to find new ways to reach students who are in poverty, as well as those who are limited English speakers. They have accepted every challenge and done an amazing job of meeting the changing standards that the legislature and the Texas Education Agency have set before them. Our teachers are to be commended.
After conducting our own analysis of the 2015-2016 data and looking at the School Report Cards published by TEA, we believe we are meeting the ideals and expectations of our communities in Hopkins and Delta County, and will continue to do so.”
The Superintendents of Hopkins and Delta County:
Shelly Slaughter Michael Lamb Steve Johnson Kay Handlin
Cumby ISD Sulphur Springs ISD Miller Grove ISD Como-Pickton CISD
Dustin Carr Darin Jolly David Stickels Denicia Hohenberger
Sulphur Bluff ISD North Hopkins ISD Saltillo ISD Cooper ISD
The report is called a work in progress with the first set of grades to be issued in 2018. The report card is intended to provide information to parents and the public of the local schools standing. Lamb stated that the A-F rating would place schools in a poor light. He stated schools that meet standards would only rate a C. He noted that if a school is at 80% and the standard is 78%, then the school would receive a B. The school district will eventually receive a grade based on the grade point average of all campuses in the district.
Lamb stated each superintendent does not expect to live in the new system. They think the system will either be changed or the state will revert to the previous system of rating schools. Lamb is concerned that as doctors, manufactures, and others seek to move to Hopkins County and the area they ask about the schools and its ratings. He did note that often the individuals are looking to what is offered that would affect their child specifically and does not use the standards as a measure.
The superintendents stated as lower socio-economic schools and those with more ethnic diversity will affect the schools rating heavily.
Ewton Sentenced to 15 Years For Theft
William Pearce Ewton, 44, was sentenced to 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as the result of a plea bargain agreement Wednesday morning in Eighth Judicial Court. Ewton plead guilty to theft more than $30,000, less than $150,000.
His story was an interesting one. When a tractor almost hit a vehicle on Spur 71, Hopkins County Deputies were called. Upon arriving near the scene of the near accident, the deputy found a tractor parked in the middle of the roadway. Ewton, 44, of Sulphur Springs was attempting to drive the tractor. The Deputy stated that it was obvious Ewton was under the influence of something.
The deputy invited Sulphur Springs Police to assist. It was found that Ewton was too intoxicated to tell where he got the tractor and to whom it belonged. A search of the tractor well found two sets of golf clubs, six fishing poles, and a tackle box. The items had been stolen in the Peerless area from two different locations. The tractor had also been stolen.
Local Woman Told Officer Meth Was in Her Purse
Stopped for a traffic violation at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday at the 124 mile-marker eastbound on I-30, Ashley Nicole Bruce told the Sulphur Springs Police officer that she had methamphetamine in her purse.
Bruce is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 less than 1-gram (a state jail felony) and is being held on a $10,000 bond.
Hopkins County Bond Rating Upgraded As County’s Financial Position Improves
Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded from A2 to A1 Hopkins County, TX’s General Obligation Limited Tax Bonds. The rating action affects $18.3 million in rated debt. The upgrade reflects the county’s improved financial position and the stable outlook for the county’s financial position based on healthy revenue levels.
The rating incorporates the stability of the county’s moderately-sized agricultural tax base, below average wealth metrics, and above average debt burden. Among credit strengths are a healthy financial position with increased reserve levels, conservative budgeting, and the stable tax base. Challenges to the budget include only the average wealth metrics and the debt burden. The rating could be upgraded if a significant tax base expansion and diversification along with improved wealth indices should occur. However, if the county sees a significant structural imbalance and narrowing of reserves, the rating could be downgraded.
County Judge Robert Newsom told KSST News that a representative of Moody’s thought it time to upgrade the rating based on the fiscal conservative policies the county has utilized over the past few years and that debt and reserves are in good shape. Noting that when the rating fell during the 2008 recession, as did the ratings across the country, the county had laid off employees and taken other steps necessary to continue the fiscal conservatism. Newsom stated the county has built on that conservatism and has recovered well from the time of the recession.
Moody’s expects the county’s tax base to continue moderate growth over the near-term based on the development and expansion at local employers. As a county seat and accounts for about half of the tax base, the economic rating of the City of Sulphur Springs (A1) also assisted in the rate increase. The diversifying, albeit slow, through a growing industrial presence was also a factor. Also factoring into the considerations are the ten top taxpayers making up 15.5% of total assessed values in fiscal year 2016. The fact that these top taxpayers include several food processors was a strong factor. A diverse tax base consisting of 27.1% acreage, 20.9% single family residential, 17.2% farm and ranch, and 12.4% commercial and industrial property was a factor in the steady growth for the county. The county’s $1.7 billion full value growth has been an average of 2.8% annually over the past five years but increased 4.1% in fiscal 2016.
County officials reported the addition of 75 new single family homes and several small businesses within the county which contribute to the 2017 tax base. An addition of 150 new jobs at newly opened Plant Process Fabrication, a manufacturing plant that produces products for renewable fuel products was also a plus. Low unemployment rate, lower than the state and national average, for Hopkins County also was a factor.
With the county’s cash and investment position historically strong and stable and expected to remain so, it is also expected the county’s debt burden will decline steadily. The county’s overall debt burden is 5.7% reflecting the overlapping obligations of the City of Sulphur Springs and the Sulphur Springs Independent School District (A1).
Will it Hold?
Equipment testing for Sulphur Springs Fire Department came Wednesday January 11th, 2017. Ladders and trucks were
Sulphur Springs Fireman J. Stonaker
examined by technicians who specialize in this type of inspection.
Tests include a #500 weight lowered onto ladders to simulate the weight of an equipt fireman and a fire victim. A permanent deviation of more than 0.5 inch mean a trip to the recycle bin. A Port-A-Power is applied to the hooks at the top of the ladders to check for heat fatigue. Heat degrades the alloys used in the ladders so thermal sensing labels are read and re-applied.
The entire Sulphur Springs Fire Fighting Fleet will be tested and inspected. Emergency vehicles will be moving between the two fire stations throughout the day.
