By Sam Waller
Albany’s Riley Reames enjoyed being part of the Texas Brigade program so much last year that she signed up for one of the other camps this year.
After attending the Ranch Brigade camp at Santa Anna in 2021, Reames attended the Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade camp June 10-14 at Wood Ranch at Rising Star.
“We were there for five days and did so much,” Reames said. “It was a lot packed into a little amount of time.
By Sam Waller
The Moran Independent School District received a grade of C from the Texas Education Agency, holding steady from the last ratings handed out in 2019.
The TEA assesses grades of A through F for accountability for districts and campuses throughout the state. The ratings were not issued the last two years because of COVID-related disruptions.
Moran principal Jo Hise said the district is taking steps to improve its rating.
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Texas Education Agency issued grades on Friday as part of the Texas A-F accountability ratings for districts and campuses in the state, with Albany ISD receiving a B.
This was the first time that the rating system has been used since 2019 due to two years of COVID-related disruptions.
The local district received an overall grade of B based on a score of 85 for the 2021-22 school year. The district had received a B when ratings were given for the 2018-19 school year.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany ISD was again expecting just over 500 students with the start of the new school year Wednesday (yesterday), indicating that beginning enrollment has been steady for the past three years.
Following “Meet the Teacher” sessions at both Nancy Smith Elementary and the Albany Junior/Senior High campuses on Monday evening, local administrators were looking for a total of 501 total students to show up for classes yesterday for the first day of school.
The same exact count of 501 students was reported last year.
By Melinda L. Lucas
During a regular session on Monday, Aug. 15, Albany ISD’s board of trustees set a date for a special meeting to adopt the 2022-2023 budget and tax rate, planning an early morning meeting on Aug. 31, the last day that the budget can be adopted according to state law.
The board also reviewed recently released state school ratings, with director of student services Leigh Lowe explaining the information, which is detailed in a separate article.
FIRST Rating
By Melinda L. Lucas
Progress has been reported in solving a series of car burglaries that occurred earlier this month, and the same thieves have apparently hit several other communities, according to Shackelford County deputy Jason Price, who is investigating along with police chief Mike House.
Officers are working with law enforcement in at least five other areas, including towns in Jones, Taylor, Callahan, and Haskell counties, Price said.
By Melinda L. Lucas
An Albany woman was killed last Saturday afternoon in a single vehicle roll-over on U.S. Hwy. 283 11 miles north of Albany.
According to a preliminary report by DPS media communications officer Sgt. Marc Couch, Robin Detrick Morrison, 51, of Albany, was pronounced dead at the scene by Shackelford County judge Robert Skelton.
DPS trooper Gilbert Valdez of Abilene North, assisted by trooper Joseph Osborne of Haskell, investigated the accident, which was reported by a witness at 1:02 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.
By Melinda L. Lucas
After approving his retainer at last month’s meeting of the Shackelford County Hospital District board meeting, the directors met their new legal counsel on Monday, Aug. 15 at their regular monthly session.
They also set a date to work on the budget and discuss tax rate calculations, which should be available by the end of this week. The special session will be held at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 24.
New Attorney
By Melinda L. Lucas
Shackelford County commissioners have yet to see tax rate calculations so they can finalize their budget, but because county-wide values are up, they are optimistic about being able to offer a three to five percent across-the-board increase in employee salaries.
They saw new numbers at their Aug. 17 session showing the five percent increase, but no action was taken.
By Melinda L. Lucas
A special meeting of the Albany city council was set for next Tuesday, Aug. 23 to discuss and possibly propose a tax rate for the upcoming tax year.
Mayor Susan Montgomery said that making a decision next week would give the city time to post any required notices prior to the regular meeting on Sept. 12, when she hopes the new tax rate will be adopted.
The council has not discussed tax rates because those calculations were not yet available.
The city’s fiscal year ends in March, so their budget has already been decided.
