NEWS
Governor Abbott expands third Special Session agenda
“Working with Speaker Phelan and his House leadership team, the Speaker and I reached an agreement on school choice for Texas families, and I am expanding the agenda for Special Session #3,” said Governor Abbott. “The legislation will create an Education Savings Accounts program with universal eligibility for all Texas schoolchildren and will be entirely voluntary for families and schools to participate. Participating students will be eligible for approximately $10,400 per year in their Education Savings Account, administered by an education organization overseen by the Texas Comptroller on behalf of the parents and students participating in the program. We will also provide billions more in public education funding to boost Texas’ top-notch public school system, including teacher pay raises, while staying within the constitutional spending limit. This bill will codify recommendations made by the Teacher Vacancy Task Force, the Commission on Virtual Education, and the Commission on Special Education Funding. Importantly, the STAAR Test will be phased out to be replaced with an improved assessment system.
AUSTIN – Governor Greg Abbott today issued a proclamation expanding the Special Session #3 agenda for universal school choice to include additional school finance, such as teacher pay raises, school safety, and special education. The expanded special session agenda follows productive discussions with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dade Phelan.
This is the next step in the legislative process to deliver school choice to Texas parents and students who deserve the freedom to choose the education that best fits their learning needs. I look forward to working with both chambers of the Texas Legislature on getting this legislation to my desk to sign into law.”
Key aspects of the legislation to expand school choice in Texas include:
- Universal eligibility for all K-12 schoolchildren in Texas.
- Voluntary participation – parents, students, and schools choose whether they want to participate.
- Students will receive approximately $10,400 per year in their Education Savings Accounts.
- Phases out the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Test.
- Students participating in the program will have the option of taking a norm-referenced test or STAAR test to ensure the program achieves good educational outcomes.
- Billions more in funding for Texas public schools for the biennium, including teacher pay raises and school safety.
A major crash on East Wise in front of the Second Monday parking on July 11 shut down traffic for several hours in the morning and sent two people to the Bowie emergency room.
The accident occurred at 9:53 a.m. Thursday at 1616 E. Wise involving a large sign installation truck and an SUV.
Briana Rollison, Bowie, was driving a 2001 Ford Expedition east in the 1600 block of E. Wise and the large truck from Turner Signs System of Richland Hills was traveling west on East Wise driven by Joshua Thompson.
The preliminary accident report states Thompson lost control of the vehicle crossing the double yellow line striking the SUV in front of the Parker Properties and Farm Services Building. The SUV was knocked into the ditch and later made it back on the roadway.
The truck rolled on the passenger side and slid about 50-100 feet west of the incident location. Skid marks from the truck were observed to start approximately 300-350 feet east of the crash location.
See the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie City Councilors this week got their first look at the 2024-25 proposed budget seeing a balanced plan with a total operational budget of $23,296,885 in expenses, which is a little more than $1.4 million above the previous year’s budget.
Mayor Gaylynn Burris said Monday night the budget looks “eerily familiar” to last year, despite adding a few equipment purchases. City Manager Bert Cunningham said he had already slashed more than $300,000 from the department requests in order to get a balanced budget.
The utility fund is balanced with expenses of $12,595,995 and revenues projected at $12,601,000. In the general fund revenues are projected at $10,705,568 with expenses at $10,700,890. Total budget expenses are $23,296,885 and overall revenue projected at $23,306,568. Cunningham said it leaves a small margin to set forth a balanced budget.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo: New chip and seal was laid on Elba and Lamb this week repairing well-worn roads near the Nelson/Mill drainage project. (Photo by Barbara Green)
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Few additional details have been released in connection with the Tuesday theft arrest of 97th District Attorney Casey Hall, and in a statement to the media the DA called the allegations “unfounded.”
The Montague County Grand Jury issued an indictment for Hall following the presentation of evidence in the case Monday by Assistant Attorney General Matthew Shawhan. The indictment is the result of an investigation initiated by county officials.
The indictment is for theft of property $2,500-$30,000 in value. Sheriff Marshall Thomas served the arrest warrant Tuesday afternoon. Justice of the Peace Two Jack Pigg arraigned Hall at the jail after her arrest at 2:33 p.m. She was released on $5,000 bond, which was set by retired District Judge Jack McGaughey on Monday.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
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