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Glasscock County News
GCHS Again Receives ‘Exemplary’
Rating
Exemplary”
status from the Texas Education Agency for its low dropout rate and its
performance on the Spring, 2001 TAAS tests. The elementary school received
the slightly lower “Recognized” rating, and the district as a whole was rated
“Recognized”, both the same as last year. In
grades 7-12, reading scores were essentially unchanged from last year, with
99 percent of all students passing that test. Hispanic reading scores were
unchanged, with 96 percent passing. Reading scores for whites were unchanged
with 100 percent passing and economically disadvantaged scores were unchanged
at 96 percent. In math, scores for all students went up 15 points, to 99
percent passing. Math scores were up
five points for Hispanics, with 96 percent passing, and four points for
whites, with 100 percent passing. Math scores jumped 12 points for the
economically disadvantaged, to 96 percent passing. Ninety-five percent of all
students passed the writing test, up slightly from last year, but Hispanic
scores in writing rose over eight points to 94 percent passing. Reading
scores for whites declined over five points to almost 95 percent passing,
while the economically disadvantaged scores went up eight points to 95
percent passingFor the second year in a row, the local secondary school
(grades 7-12) has achieved the coveted “. Elementary School Scores In
the elementary school, reading scores for all students rose 2 points from
last year to 99 percent passing. Hispanic reading scores jumped almost seven
points to 100 percent passing, white scores were essentially unchanged at 98
percent passing, and the economically disadvantaged reading scores went up
three points to 96 percent passing. Math scores were the weakest part of the
elementary school’s tests, with 93 percent passing, down two points from last
year’s scores. Hispanic math scores fell more than 10 points to only 79
percent passing, white scores were up slightly and 100 percent passed, while
the economically disadvantaged fell more than three points to 83 percent
passing. Writing scores were very strong, with all students passing, an
increase of four points since last year. Both Hispanic and economically
disadvantaged writing scores jumped 10 points to 100 percent passing, while
white scores were unchanged with 100 percent passing. Highway
158 Widening to be Topic of Meeting The
Texas Department of Transportation will hold a meeting at the Ruth Cook
Auditorium in Garden City on Sept. 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. to discuss the
proposed widening of State Highway 158. The department plans to widen the
highway to a four-lane divided highway from the Midland/Glasscock County line
to the interchange with US 87 at Sterling City. The
meeting will consist of an informal gathering from 6:30 to 7 p.m. to
familiarize those in attendance with the project, and a formal presentation
will begin at 7 p.m. That presentation will be followed by a question and
answer session, ending around 8:30 p.m. Anyone interested in this project is
encouraged to attend this meeting. County Adopts Budget, Will Set Tax Rate
The
Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court adopted the final 2001-2002 budget
Sept. 10. The county projects revenues of $2.2 million and expenditures of
$2.5 million. On
Sept. 21, the court will set the tax rate, which is expected to be 41 cents
per $100 valuation. Last year’s rate was 51 cents. With valuations up $114 million from last year, the effective
tax rate, the rate required to raise the same monies as last year, is 38
cents per $100. The new rate is expected to raise $133,000 more revenue than
last year. On Aug. 20, the county court set the bond tax rate (community
center) at 5 cents per $100, unchanged from last year. Salary Increases Lower than Requested Sheriff Royce “Booger” Pruit and his two
deputies will each get a $1,500 raise, but not the $2,400 each Pruit had
requested. Each deputy will receive a salary of $27,600. Neither Pruit nor
the deputies received the $1,200 raises given most county employees last
year. Although Pruit requested raises of $1,200 each for the two clerks in
his department, the court chose to leave those, and the constable’s salary,
unchanged. The two clerks had gotten raises of $1,200 each in last year’s budget. Two $1,200 jailer’s jobs are
funded; those are held by Tish Burnett and LeRoy Hoelscher. Steve
Sturtz had requested a $3,800 raise for his secretary, Karen Cox, but the
court approved only $1,200, taking her salary to $20,400. The
budget for the county’s roadwork is $78,000 above last year’s figure. The increases from last year were in
equipment, with $100,000 budgeted, up $25,000; repairs, supplies and upkeep
set at $100,000, up $10,000; machine hire or rent $15,000, up $10,000; fuels
and oils $76,000, up $6,000; barn and yard maintenance $10,000, up $1,500 and
road building materials $100,000, up $25,000. Seal coating and paving are
budgeted at $200,000, unchanged from last year. The budget for the Garden City
Water System totals $52,777 on expected revenues of $53,950. Protest of T-Yield Changes Also
on Aug. 23, the commissioner’s court went into an emergency meeting and
adopted a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s regional Risk
Management Agency. The letter protested RMA’s recent proposed lowering of
transitional (T) yields for both irrigated and non-irrigated cotton. In
other action, the commissioners chose the Texas Association of Counties
Insurance Plan 1200 for employee medical coverage, and decided to do without
a separate insurance agent, instead having County Treasurer Alan Dierschke
handle insurance problems. An agent would cost an additional five percent of
the county’s premiums. On
Sept. 10, the court discussed the possibility of a policy regarding wild
animals kept as pets in the county, but took no action. Steve Sturtz said
some counties and cities now require that people obtain a permit in order to
legally keep these animals. He said such policies make both officials and
neighbors aware if wild animals are kept in the area. The court may revisit
the matter. The
court also discussed raising the amount of money the county pays for water it
uses on roads, which has not been raised since 1991, according to Dierschke.
They may also decide to adjust various fees they charge for such services as
dozer or maintainer work, hauling, etc. No action was taken, but the matter
of increases may be taken up in the future. GGCD Employees Get Raises Glasscock
Groundwater Conservation District Manager Rick Harston and Secretary Donna
Donica each got five percent salary increases Aug. 28. Director Zane Eoff called the raises,
“Kind of an inflation-type raise, and they both do a good job.” After the raises, Harston will be making
$33,075 and Donica $20,528. The
District’s Board of Directors, with Dennis Seidenberger and Mike Hughes
absent, also voted to propose, and the full board on Sept. 11 adopted, a tax
rate of .027 per $100 valuation, just below the rollback figure. The
effective rate was .025; last year’s rate was .033 on lower valuations. The
new proposed budget anticipates revenues of $125,565 and expenditures of
$127,691, with the shortage to be taken from reserves. Harston’s figures show the district has
$148,000 in two certificates of deposit. Harston reported on the district’s weather
modification project (operated in conjunction with West Texas Weather
Modification Association), and said there is a possibility of getting a cloud
seeding plane stationed at a private airport south of Midland. GGCD
Director Larry Wheat asked if Glasscock County is getting any more respect
from WTWMA now, and whether they are seeding clouds over Glasscock County.
Harston answered ”I think so” to the first question and “Yes” to the second.
Harston said some clouds that look promising can’ t be seeded. He said, for
example, a cloud’s base has to be 500 feet above the tallest structure in the
area before the cloud can be seeded. Wheat said, “Since we are paying into
the project, we should be getting something out of it.”
School Approves Budget, Sets Tax Rate On
Aug. 27, the GCISD School Board set a tax rate of $1.30 per $100 valuation.
Last year’s rate was also $1.30, but on $114 million less in property
valuations. Estimated revenues are $6.3 million, an increase of $1.3 million
over last year’s revenues; planned expenditures are $6.2 million. The school will end this fiscal year with
$723,000 in its fund balance. Its total reserves are $ 2.7 million. Salaries
and benefits make up 40 percent of the total budget, according to
Superintendent Steve Long. Instruction takes 11 percent, extra-curricular
activities 1 percent, maintenance 5 percent, transportation 2 percent and
WADA payments (monies sent out-of-district) take a whopping 41 percent of the
total budget. Long’s
salary for the coming year will be $67,000, Secondary Principal Faith Scott
will make $55,310, Elementary Principal Brad Jones will be paid $50,000,
school counselor Doug Conner will make $51,054, bookkeeper Kathy Wheat
makes $35,251, high school secretary
Dinette Barton will make $24,586, while elementary secretary Reann McKinnon
will be paid $30,717. Some
other budget items of interest include $9,360 for contract nursing, $47,000
for bus drivers, $165,000 for maintenance salaries, $69,000 in cafeteria
salaries, $78,000 in labor, fuel and supplies for transportation, $70,000 for
vehicles, $38,000 for coaching stipends, $4,000 for a band stipend, and
$9,000 in UIL stipends. Athletic supplies are budgeted at $11,000 for
football, $6,000 for basketball, $3,000 each for track and tennis, $1,000 for
cross-country, $1,000 for power lifting and athletic equipment has a budget
of $4,500. UIL has a supplies budget of $5,000. Building improvements are
budgeted at $25,000, and building purchase/construction gets another $35,000. According
to Long, the school will receive $155,000 in federal monies, four percent of
its revenues. These funds will be used in salaries, in-service, technical
assistance, curriculum and student activities. State funding of $113,000
amounts to two percent of revenues, and local funds of $5.7 million provide
94 percent of the school’s revenues. Long
points with pride to a lengthy list of maintenance projects completed at the
school during the past year. They include extensive painting inside and
outside school buildings and housing, office renovations, new carpeting in
school hallways and several houses, new plumbing in the high school, new
roofs on four houses and the main building, some new air conditioning units
in the high school and in some houses as well as paving on a south parking
lot and west and north of the elementary school. Homecoming
Festivities Set September
21 and 22 will mark Bearkat Homecoming 2001. The Class of 1951 is celebrating
its fiftieth anniversary, and the Class of 1981 will mark its twentieth. All
classes that end in the numeral 1 will be honored. All exes, families and
friends are invited. Activities
will begin on Friday, when the junior class will serve hamburgers from 5:30
to 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at a cost of $5 per plate. The library will be
open for visiting exes after 7 o’clock. The Homecoming Queen, Mr. Bearkat,
Band Sweetheart and Escort will be announced at ceremonies beginning at 7:30
p.m. and the Bearkats will play Irion County (Mertzon) at 8 o’clock. On
Saturday, the annual exes get-together will begin at 10 a.m. in the school
cafeteria. Lunch will be catered by Al’s & Son Bar-B-Q, with a per-plate
cost of $9. Please RSVP no later than Sept. 15 if you plan to eat lunch,
since an accurate head count is necessary for the caterer. Call Wanda
Wilkerson Moore 354-2439, Bonnie Cox Bednar 397-2221, Emma Cline Schafer
354-2227, send e-mail to gcnews201@aol.com or notify Moore by mail at 2181 CR
220, Garden City, TX 79739 to make reservations. Sheriff Pruit
Wins Law Enforcement Award Glasscock
County Sheriff Royce “Booger” Pruit was awarded the Tom Tellepsen Award, a
highlight of the Annual Banquet of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas in
Corpus Christi in July. The
award is named in honor of the late Tom Tellepsen, a native of Norway, who
became a staunch and patriotic American. The Tellepsen Foundation, to honor
his lifelong support of law enforcement, provides this award. Since the
award’s beginning in 1975, the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, through its
officers and board of directors, has selected an outstanding individual in
law enforcement as the recipient. The award consists of a presentation of
$1,500 and a plaque by a member of the Tellepsen family in behalf of the
Foundation. The
award’s selection criteria recognize outstanding contributions to the
advancement of law enforcement and criminal justice and honors more than
ability and performance. The recipient, who must possess these qualities,
must additionally have demonstrated the human element that engraves his name
in the hearts of all the law enforcement community, a genuine love of the
profession. Tom
Tellepsen II said, in a letter to Pruit, “ . . .I had a chance to read all
the nomination letters on your behalf. Your career has been superlative and
quite fascinating. You have exhibited all the fine qualities of your
profession in addition to leaving your positive influence on the community of
Glasscock County for the past several decades . . .. You have honored the Tom
Tellepsen Award by your selfless deeds and kind heart over the past forty
years.” In The Spotlight • GCHS achieved the
highest status of “Exemplary”
from the Texas Education Agency in Spring, 2001 TAAS testing. The elementary
school was awarded the slightly lower “Recognized” level, and the district
achieved “Recognized” as well. (See story, p.1) • Sheriff Royce “Booger”
Pruit was awarded the
prestigious Tom Tellepsen Award in July at the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas
convention in Corpus Christi. (See story above) • Curtis Eggemeyer was selected as the Big Spring Herald’s Prep Player of the
Week for the week ending Sept. 7. The
Herald said, “Eggemeyer led his
Bearkats to a rare 21-16 win over rival Forsan…rushing for three touchdowns
and 242 yards on 29 carries. He accounted for most of the Bearkats’ 295
rushing yards and all of their touchdowns, had also played defensive end,
making several tackles behind the line of scrimmage.” •
First grader Bianca Montes,
daughter of Cristina and Jesus Montes, was selected the K-3 Student of the
Month for September. From grades 4-6, fifth grader Sydney Halfmann, daughter of Mark and Terry Halfmann, was
selected. Seventh grader Cade Halfmann, son of Kim and Larry
Halfmann, was chosen the Student of the Month from the junior high, and Chelsea Schwartz, eleventh grade
daughter of Floyd and Martha Schwartz, was chosen from the high school. • Several local youth have recently
received 4-H honors. Darren Hillger
and Lori Hoelscher received top district honors as Outstanding Senior Boy
and Outstanding Senior Girl at the 4-H Gold Star Banquet in Ft. Stockton.
Darren is the son of Andrea and Scott Hillger, and Lori is the daughter of
Karla and Tommy Hoelscher. Darren
also received the J.T. Rutherford Award, which is given to the top 4-H boy
and girl in District 6 for participation in 4-H projects, leadership and
citizenship. Angela Schraeder and Ashley Hirt were Gold Star nominees in Glasscock County and Keith Batla was Glasscock County’s
Outstanding Senior Boy. Community
Calendar Still Needs Input The
county’s online calendar, which will be active Sept. 15, still needs
countywide input. The calendar can be found on the county web page at http://www.glasscockcountytx.com,
and will attempt to list all activities, such as meetings and various events
of interest in the county. In
order to be useful to everyone, the calendar must contain current, accurate
information from every group and
organization in the county, such as the school, government entities,
churches and all the various clubs and organizations. Each group ideally
should designate a person to be responsible for regularly submitting the
group’s information to the extension office, where the calendar will be
updated. As
soon as possible, please send your schedule of events for the next six months
or longer to the extension office at P.O. Box 299, or e-mail it to: Glasscock-TX@tamu.edu Briefly
•
Local repair of windshield
chips and cracks is now available.
Roy Follis in St. Lawrence
provides mobile service, or you can go by 1070 CR Coop. Call 397-2468 for
more information. • Trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. in the case of
Veronica Schroyer vs. Glasscock County, according to County Judge Wilburn
Bednar. It will be held at the federal district courthouse at 33 E. Twohig in
San Angelo. •
Golden Bearkat passes allow
senior citizens into local athletic events free of charge. Superintendent
Steve Long says last year’s passes are still good, but if you need a new one,
or never had one last year, come by the school administrative office. •
Note: Last month, the
registration form for receiving the Glasscock County News online was not
working properly. If you sent a registration during that time, please re-send
it via e-mail to: gcnews201@aol.com • Jo
Ann Turner reports that The Crisis
Closet, which has been operated by the Baptist Association in Big Spring,
is closing. Although they will be unable to accept more donations, all items
previously donated will be distributed through other agencies. Director
LaVerne Hull thanks those in Glasscock County who have supported the
organization for the past three years. Court Again Denies Constable’s Increase
Meeting
in regular session Sept. 10, the Glasscock County commissioners unanimously
voted to deny a salary increase for Leroy Hoelscher, county constable. The
court had earlier decided against an increase, and the matter was then taken
to the county’s grievance committee Sept. 7. The
grievance committee, with nine voting members, voted by secret ballot six in
favor of a raise and three opposed. The committee then voted on an amount for
the increase: three voted for $1,200
per year, two voted for $600, one voted for $300, one voted for $12, and two
voted for no increase. According
to County Clerk Rebecca Batla, since there were six votes for the increase, the
committee recommended the increase to the county commissioners’ court, which
could choose to follow the recommendation or not. Batla said if the vote for
the raise had been unanimous, the raise would have been given without the
court’s consent, and if the votes for the raise had been fewer than six, no
recommendation would have been sent to the court. The
county court formed the grievance committee, which is required by state law,
on Aug. 23. Its purpose is to hear employee grievances which have not been
settled by the employee’s supervisor(s). By law, the committee consists of
the county judge (non-voting member), county clerk, county treasurer, county
sheriff, county attorney and 5 members chosen by drawing names from the grand
jury pool. The five whose names were drawn and who agreed to serve are: Leon
Halfmann, Ed Plagens, Rebecca Moore, Wendell Halfmann and Zane Eoff. Maintenance Job Filled, Car Auction Set The
Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court met in special session Sept. 4 and
after a lengthy closed session, voted unanimously to hire Douglas Plagens as
the building maintenance and grounds-keeping person. County Judge Wilburn
Bednar said nine people had applied for the job. The
court also voted to put three used cars up for bids. The cars, all Ford Crown
Victorias which were once part of the sheriff’s department fleet, are a 1996
model with 116,000 miles, a 1997 with 173,000 miles and a1998 with 121,000
miles. They are parked north of the courthouse by the scout hut. Sealed bids
for the cars must be in the county judge’s office by Sept. 27 at 11:30 a.m.
The mailing address is P.O. Box 67, Garden City, TX 79739. The county court will meet Sept. 28 at 9
a.m. to review the bids. The county court reserves the right to accept or
reject any and all bids. At
Bednar’s suggestion, the court discussed setting load limits for county
roads, but took no action. The court was concerned that trucks with very
heavy loads are damaging county roads. St. Lawrence
Fall Festival Oct.7 The
annual St. Lawrence Fall Festival will be held on Sunday, Oct. 7 on the
church grounds. The barbeque brisket lunch with all the trimmings will be
served from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Meal tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for
children. Sausage sandwiches, dessert and tea will be served from 5 to 6:30
p.m. Uncooked German sausage will be sold for $4 per pound beginning at 10
a.m. Game
booths will open at 10:30 a.m. and bingo will be played from 12 noon until 4
p.m. The auction will begin at 2 p.m. Raffle prizes include a handmade,
queen-size quilt, a rifle, a Las Vegas vacation and a television set. The
dance, featuring DJ Michael Peterson, will be from 7 until 11 p.m. and will
cost $5 per person. For more information, contact Martha Schwartz, publicity
chairman, at 915/397-2268.
Local
Conservation Group to Elect Director The
Board of Directors of the Glasscock County Soil and Water Conservation
District #251 will hold an election Saturday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. in the St. Lawrence CCD
building. Those present will nominate candidates and elect someone to fill
the director’s position in sub-division #5 for a four-year term. The post is
now held by Mike Batla, whose term is expiring. Anyone
who lives within Glasscock County is eligible to nominate and to vote in this
election, according to Shirley Braden. Candidates
must own land in sub-division #5, which is that part of the county south of
Highway 158 and east of Highway 33, and must be actively engaged in farming
or animal husbandry. In
addition to Batla, other current GCSWCD board members are: Jerline Frysak
(chairman), Alan Jansa, Lawrence Jost and Hubert Frerich. From the Schoolhouse
• Report Card Night will be held Oct. 1 at the school from
4 to 8 p.m. Parents will pick up report cards in the teacher’s room where the
student has the lowest grade. The elementary school PTO will host a spaghetti
supper. • GCHS
Student Council officers for
2001-2002 are: President, Chelsea Schwartz; Vice-president, Alicia Frysak;
Secretary, Jessica Hoch; Treasurer, Kim Webb; Reporter, Keith Batla;
Historian, Stephanie Scott; Parliamentarian, Leslie Jansa and
Sergeant-at-Arms, Kaycee Schniers. Advisors are Rebecca Moore and Lynette
Jansa. About This Publication The next issue will be Oct. 10. The deadline for
that issue is Oct. 8. The Glasscock
County News is published by Joe Melanie Calverley, P. O. Box 98, Garden
City, TX, 79739. Phone or Fax:
915/354-2221; e-mail: gcnews201@aol.com. Website: http://wscope.com/glasscock/ |
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