2023
READERS’ CHOICE
Space Cowboys sweep series against El Paso - Page 8
GET SEEN CALL 713-371-3600
ADVERTISE HERE! WEDNESDAY • JULY 24, 2024
Public's help sought in decadesold cold case Staff Reports Investigators with the cold case team of the the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office are asking the public’s assistance in a decades-old cold-case investigation. On July 10, investigators exhumed human remains from a Richmond cemetery in hopes of using recent advances in forensic biology and forensic DNA analysis to help solve the case, the office said in a press release. ‘We are hopeful that these new technological advancements will provide fresh leads and bring closure to this long-standing investigation,” the office said in a news release.
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 49 • No. 30 • $1.00
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
2024 Travis HS grad receives $46,000 in FFA scholarships Community Reports Travis High School 2024 graduate Gabrielle Ridings recently received a total of $46,000 in scholarships from the Texas Future Farmers of America Organization and other FFA-related groups and has earned the distinction of being the highest-ranking FBISD FFA member in the district’s history, according to a story on the
district’s website. Ridings received a $20,000 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Scholarship during the 96th annual Texas FFA State Convention in Houston in early July. She is one of only 140 seniors across the entire state who received the award, which ranged from $500 to $20,000. Scholarships are awarded to deserving members
based on academic and FFA achievements and interview performance. Ridings’s achievements also include a $20,000 Exhibitor Scholarship from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a $5,000 scholarship from the Fort Bend County Fair, and a $1,000 scholarship from the Travis FFA Booster Club Alumni Organization.
Gabrielle Ridings, a 2924 graduate of Travis High School, recently received $46,000 in scholarships from the Texas Future Farmers of America Organization and affiliated groups. Courtesy Fort Bend ISD
FBISD unanimously approves new student code of conduct
An investigator with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office watches as remains in a 1964 cold case are exhumed from a Richmond cemetery. Courtesy Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office
According to the office, the case dates back to June 1964, when the victim’s remains were discovered off FM 359 near the Jones Creek bridge in Fort Bend County. The victim, a dark-haired white male, approximately 6 feet tall, around 50 years of age, and weighing 180-185 pounds, was found decapitated, with his hands and legs amputated. His body had been left in a ditch around June 11, 1964. Despite extensive efforts, authorities were unable to identify the victim or apprehend those responsible, according to the release. The victim had a broken rib, but no identifying marks. For 20 years, the remains were held at the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office. In 1984, the victim was buried at San Gabriel Cemetery in Richmond. Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to contact the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office at 281-341-4665, option 1 or Cold Case Detective Scott Minyard at 281-3414651. “With the significant advancements in forensic biology and DNA analysis, we hope to uncover new information that was previously unattainable,” Sheriff Eric Fagan said in the release. “Our goal is to bring justice to the victim and provide answers to any surviving family members.”
The Fort Bend ISD board on Monday unanimously approved a new student code of conduct for the upcoming school year. File photo by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
The Fort Bend ISD board of trustees on Monday unanimously approved a Student Code of Conduct for the 2024-2025 school year. It was a marked contrast to last year, when the board failed over three attempts to pass an updated code and instead went with reupping the previous year’s. Even so, Monday’s unanimous vote didn’t go off without some dissension. Last year, the thenboard three times rejected a code of conduct put forward three times by the administration of former Superintendent Christie Whitbeck. Some trustees said they felt that the code was put forward top close to the start of the school year without adequate input from the board. Some of the more conservative members of the board also balked at the concept of “restorative justice” that was embedded in the proposed code. That concept, which has gained traction in school districts across the country in recent years, places more emphasis on less-punitive measures in trying to improve student conduct. In June, the administration of Superintendent Marc Smith, who took the helm of the district in January, brought forth a new code of conduct in June, much to the expressed
delight of several board members who said they’d felt unduly pressured in last year’s vote on the code. But at Monday’s meeting, which was held at the James Reese Career and Technical Center because of damages to the district’s administration building from Hurricane Beryl, one point of contention among board members was whether any campuses were using “Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports,” or PBIS. According to the website of the national Center on PBIS, the concept is “is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives.” Position 7 Trustee and board secretary David Hamilton led off Monday’s discussion by saying that the district was not serving students well by “going along with a national agenda to lower standards and remove negative consequences from the equation.” Hamilton said he was excited that Smith was starting his first full school year as superintendent of
Fort Bend ISD. “We need to have rules that the students clearly understand and when necessary, we need to change the rules, as we did last year,” he said. “But when there’s an enforcement component, we need to fairly and consistently enforce (those standards).” Position 5 trustee Sonya Jones said that she had no qualms about the administration’s proposed code of conduct. But Jones, who herself is an educator, did raise some pointed questions about whether there were any district campuses that employed PBIS in their student disciplinary programs. “What’s going on with PBIS training? Because there is some PBIS training going on in the district,” she said. without specifying what her objections to the training might be. A staff member said that the district was bound by state law to include some components in its programs to make sure schools are using best practices to address campus behavioral expectations and that students and parents understand what those expectations are. The staff member said she didn’t know how those practices were directly stated within campus development plans, but that PBIS was one of the recommended methods. Position 4 Trustee Shirly Rose-Gilliam, also an educator and a former school
principal, said she hoped the board needed to have conversations that didn’t potentially make district employees fearful. “My understanding is that if a principal wants to do PBIS on their campus, they can do that. It’s not taboo or anything, because that is what works for that campus,” she said. She said she hoped the board work work together to avoid the turmoil that the code of conduct engendered the previous school year. “Let’s take a deep breath and see what actually works on campuses before we decide we’re just not going to do that because this is what we heard from someone,” she said. Position 1 Trustee Angie Hanan said that the proposed code of conduct was much more streamlined and understandable to the general public, especially parents, than the previous version. “It’s a new day for the board, and I support this as written.” Position 2 Trustee Adam Schoof said that he objected to the PBIS concept is not aligned with the “American judicial system.” “I think implementing a policy that is more in line with the American judicial system is more beneficial because kids, when they turn 18, they’re somewhat used to the way things are as an adult. PBIS is basically the opposite of the American judicial system,” he said.
Position 6 Trustee and Board President Kristin Tassin, who before being elected earlier this year had previously served as both trustee and president noted that PBIS was originally included in the code at her own instigation. “The reason that I put that in the student code of conduct at the time is that we are required by law to implement PBIS for students who receive special education services,” said Tassin, an attorney who has often spoken publicly about the fact that one of her children received such services. “We are not a judicial or a justice system, we are an educational system,” Tassin said. “And PBIS works, and that does not mean that we negate consequences.” “I think PBIS gets a bad rap because it is misunderstood. The reason that it is required by state law is that it works,” she said, adding that there is research showing that it is particularly effective for students with developmental disabilities. “We need to not be tying the hands of our principals and our teachers from being able to implement things that do work,” Tassin said. But that didn’t mean that principals should not be able to impose consequences for bad behavior, she added. When the measure came up to a vote, trustees unanimously approved the proposed code of conduct.