2023
READERS’ CHOICE
Chess Fest at Sugar Land Town Square - Page 3
65 713.370.3600 $
WEDNESDAY • APRIL 17, 2024
KelseySeybold opens expanded, renamed Fort Bend Campus Community Reports Kelsey-Seybold Clinic on Monday officially opened its expanded Fort Bend Medical and Diagnostic Center, which includes a renovation of the existing building and a second, 135,000-square-foot building. The renovation and new construction expands current specialty care services, adding a cancer center, shelled space for a future ambulatory surgery center (ASC), and enough space between the two buildings for a total of 75 practicing providers. With the completion of the expansion, Fort Bend Medical and Diagnostic Center has been renamed Kelsey-Seybold Clinic – Fort Bend Campus. “We’re incredibly excited to
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 49 • No. 16 • $1.00
.00
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
UH Sugar Land celebrates 30 years with continued growth By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Three decades ago, the University of Houston System made its first foothold in Fort Bend County by offering classes to about 100 UH-Victoria students at the Wharton County Junior College CentraPlex, a converted strip center on Julie Rogers Drive in Sugar Land. Now, UH Sugar Land is officially celebrating 30 years in Fort Bend on a massive campus that is growing by the minute. “The story goes that my predecessor was driving
from Victoria to the main campus and saw a sign that said Wharton County Junior College with an arrow,” said Jay Neal, UH associate vice president for academic affairs and COO of the Sugar Land campus, in his office last week. “So he went to the meeting at the main campus and on his way back he just poked his head in and said, ‘Hey, what do you guys have going on here? Do you have room for something room for something else?’” Ultimately, the program expanded to include classes from each of the UH System’s component universities - the
Jay Neal, UH associate vice president for academic affairs and COO of UH Sugar Land, says the campus is poised for even more growth. Photo by Ken Fountain
main campus, Victoria, and Clear Lake - as part of a systemwide push to decentralize the system’s offerings. Originally, the program offered “anything and everything” said Neal, who was then a professor of food service industry classes at the Hilton College, the renowned hospitality industry college at the UH main campus. A Hilton College graduate himself (with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, with a Ph.D. from Texas A&M), he taught food safety and other courses at the Wharton satellite. At the time, Neal said, there was growing demand
in the Fort Bend region for more opportunities for higher education that were closer to home. But there was one big problem. “If you follow the history of the university, or any university, nobody has land,” Neal said. But William Hobby, a former Texas lieutenant governor who later became chancellor of the UH System, became aware of a 270-acre property that belonged to the Texas Department of Transportation. Through a little bit of political maneuvering, Tx-
SEE GROWTH PAGE 2
Check this out See more photos from the event - Page 3
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic has officially opened the expanded Fort Bend Medical and Diagnostic Center, now named Kelsey-Seybold Clinic – Fort Bend Campus. Courtesy KelseySeybold
offer even more personalized care to our patients, right in their own community,” Tony Lin, M.D., chairman and CEO of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said in a news release. “With cancer services, advanced diagnostics, specialized care, and plans for additional surgical options, we’re making it easier than ever for individuals and families to access the care they need, where and when they need it most.” The new cancer center offers a full complement of cancer services, including diagnostic and treatment options, infusion therapy and radiation oncology. The ASC, with plans to be operational in 2025, will expand access to surgical care in Fort Bend County and Southwest Harris County with four operating rooms, three endoscopy suites and one procedure room to support interventional pain management and interventional radiology services. “By bringing top-tier specialty care right to the doorstep of Fort Bend and Harris County residents and professionals, our Fort Bend Campus will significantly shorten the distance between patients and essential health care services,” Kenneth Janis, M.H.A./M.B.A., chief operating officer of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said. “With this new facility, we’re limiting the need for trips to the medical center, ensuring that patients in this vibrant community have swift access to the care they deserve. We are thrilled that Fort Bend Campus is opening its doors to serve the community with the compassionate excellence our team is known for.” The original building and the new building are connected
SEE EXPAND PAGE 2
Caleb Cara, 6, makes a move against his twin brother Luke in a game during the Chess Fest at Sugar Land Town Square on Saturday. Photo by Ken Fountain
FBISD board delays library book policy reconsideration until summer By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
After a long and often heated discussion, a majority of the Fort Bend ISD board of trustees voted last week to put off discussion of examining the district’s library content policy until the summer, handing a defeat to Position 7 trustee and board secretary David Hamilton, who in recent weeks had made the policy his signature issue. Hamilton, one of the board’s most conservative members and chair of its three-member policy committee, had wanted the board to approve revisions to the current library policy in the wake of HB 900, passed last year by the Texas Legislature, which requires public school districts to ensure that there is no content that is not “educationally suitable” on their library shelves. The law gives districts until January 2025 to make full accountings of all of their library content.
The Fort Bend ISD board of trustees on Monday delayed reconsideration of the district’s policy on library materials. Here they are seen during a March agenda review meeting. Photo by Ken Fountain
The current policy, which had been crafted after about a year of discussions among board members and district staff, was approved last year by a unanimous board. It provides for books that are challenged to be reviewed by a committee comprised of district staff (including librarians) and community members, before being re-
moved, and also includes an appeal process. District parents who want to track and or limit what their children check out from libraries can opt to receive electronic notifications. Hamilton’s revisions, which were drafted by Jonathan Brush, the board’s outside legal counsel. would have eliminated the committee pro-
cess and put sole discretion over which library materials could be removed in the hands of the superintendent. The contentious discussion among board members followed a public comment period, in which several people spoke on behalf of school librarians and books generally. Shannon Woods, a librarian at Quail Valley Middle School, began her remarks by noting that school librarians are all professionally degreed educators. “Part of the reason I am proud to be a FBISD librarian is who I stand with. We want nothing more than to help our students leave our schools better humans,” Woods said. “Of course, we are the storage place of stories, curating book collections that are age-appropriate for our schools and as multifaceted as the many communities we serve,” Woods said. “Mostly, we help students. We help them find themselves in stories so they don’t feel
alone. We strengthen their confidences by showing them what they can do instead of what they can’t. And we give them resources for tough questions, shoulders to cry on, and sometimes a quiet place with furniture for sleeping after spending all night caring for a sick parent,” she said. “The best part of any library is because y’all means all. All people are accepted in our libraries,” she said. Eva Morris, 15, a freshman at Ridge Point High School, said that she had long been a patron of her school libraries. In the past year, she said, she has struggled with her mental health. “However, books did not play a role in contributing to my struggle. If anything, the books helped. In some of the books [discussed], I can see glimpses of myself. These books have allowed me selfreflection, a view of what I
SEE POLICY PAGE 2