CITY& SCHOOL
News fromMissouri City, Sugar Land & Fort Bend ISD
QUOTEOFNOTE “THE EXHIBITWILL PROVIDE USWITH AN ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR STUDENTS.” CHASSIDY OLAINU ALADE, FBISD’S COMMUNITY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR NUMBER TOKNOW The cost of the design contract for the second phase of the Sugar Land 95 project, including an outdoor learning environment and revitalized cemetery at the original site $170,000 MEETING HIGHLIGHTS SUGAR LAND On Jan. 18, Sugar Land City Council approved purchasing two Pierce Custom Impel Pumper Fire Engines. The $1.57 million in funding will come from Sugar Land’s 2019 GO Bond, replacing two 2003 Crimson Pumpers. O cials said they will not receive the trucks for about 18 months due to supply chain issues. FORTBEND ISD Five districts, including Fort Bend ISD, has received a $20,000 technology donation and new blue light screen lters. UnitedHealthcare donated the funds, while Eyesafe—which makes products to protect against blue light from digital devices—donated the lters, per the announcement. SUGAR LAND Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 2 agreed to plant 66 native trees and remove 40 trees in poor condition at First Colony Park during its Ditch A widening project. The project will be funded by a $72,000 donation from LID No. 2, which was approved at a Feb. 1 meeting. Sugar Land City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at 2700 Town Center Blvd. N., Sugar Land. Meetings are livestreamed and in MEETINGSWE COVER Missouri City City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 21 at 1522 Texas Parkway, Missouri City. Meetings are livestreamed and in person. 281-403-8500. www.missouricitytx.gov Fort Bend ISD board of trustees will meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at 16431 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land. Meetings are livestreamed and in person. 281-275-2900. www.sugarlandtx.gov
FBISD to open Sugar Land 95 exhibit this spring
BY HUNTER MARROW
FORTBEND ISD An educational exhibit detailing the story of the Sugar Land 95 is slated to open this spring through Fort Bend ISD, according to an announcement at the district’s Jan. 10 meeting. The exhibit will serve as the rst phase of the district’s Sugar Land 95 Memorialization Project, designed to honor and memorialize 95 individuals who are believed to be con- victs who died at the Bullhead Convict Labor Camp during Texas’ convict labor leasing program, which was established after the Civil War and is seen as an extension of slavery. The James Reese Career and Technical Center, where the exhibit will be displayed, is located at the site where the remains of those individuals were found in 2018 when the career and technical education center was being built. Two museum-quality exhibits will be on display at the Reese Center, including one case highlighting the history of convict leasing as it existed in Texas, said Chassidy Olainu-Alade, the district’s community and civic engage- ment coordinator. The other case focuses primarily on the discovery, scienti c research and forensics conducted by researchers to provide an accurate account of what occurred
6
90
UNIVERSITY BLVD.
N
The exhibit, when opened, will serve as the rst phase of the district’s Sugar Land 95 Memorialization Project.
COURTESY FORT BEND ISD
on the property, she said. Guided tours by reservation will be available once the exhibit is open, though an opening date is not yet set due to the pandemic, Olainu-Alade said. The second phase of the project—an outdoor learning environment and revitalized cemetery at the original site— will be home to a memorial site where visitors can come and learn, Olainu-Alade said. That phase was approved through a $170,000 design contract by FBISD Nov. 15. The contractor for phase two, Boston-based nonpro t MASS Design Group, will be in FBISD as early as March for a 10-week community engagement process.
Sugar LandTown Squareunveilsmurals
FBISDapproves 2022 23 calendar
BY HUNTER MARROW
BY HUNTER MARROW
SUGARLAND The 1.4 million- square-foot mixed-use development at the intersection of Hwy. 59 and Hwy. 6 known as Sugar Land Town Square now has two newmural series. Located in the district’s Lone Star Garage, the rst mural, titled “Sugar Rush,” pays homage to the area’s sugary roots, depicting a spice rack stacked with candy jars, according to a Jan. 11 announcement. The muralist, Anat Ronen, designed the piece, which spans three panels. Joining Ronen are artists who
FORTBEND ISD With instruction days set to begin Aug. 10 and end May 25, 2023, the Fort Bend ISD board of trustees approved the 2022-23 school calendar. At its Jan. 24 meeting, o cials approved the 175-school day calen- dar, which maintains a traditional structure, including a weeklong Thanksgiving break, a two-week winter break and a weeklong spring break. The rst semester ends before winter break, and the school year ends before Memorial Day.
Two newmural series can be seen at Sugar Land Town Square.
COURTESY MICHAEL ANTHONY
helped create a second seven-mural series in the Texas Garage, including Mark Deleon, Luisa Duarte, Tatiana Escallon, Veronica Ibarguengoitia, Vanessa Rojas and Carrie Swim. That series was curated by Sugar Land- based nonpro t Art Museum TX, according to the announcement.
Fort Bend ISDnames newsta
superintendent and Kwabena Mensah as chief of schools. “One of the priorities the board and I set when I began my tenure as superintendent a little over 100 days ago was to complete leadership organizational adjustments that ensure the district operates as e ciently, productively and e ectively as possible for the bene t of students, sta and taxpayers,” Whitbeck said. Johnson comes to the new position having already been with the district since 2011, having previously served as executive director of talent experience, according to a Jan. 24 news release. Martinez worked as chief academic o cer; chief of sta and strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation; principal; assistant principal and teacher during her 30 years at the district.
BY HUNTER MARROW
FORT BEND ISD Two executive leadership team posi- tions at Fort Bend ISD have been lled. Glenda Johnson was tapped as the district’s new chief of human resources at a Jan. 24 meeting, while Beth Martinez was named deputy superintendent. Johnson succeeds Gwen Touchet, who left the position in August, while Martinez’s new role serves as a reassignment designed to allow her to oversee all academic and campus programming, Superintendent Christie Whitbeck said. The two enter their new roles on an executive leadership team that recently named Steve Bassett as its other deputy
person. 281-634-1000. www.fortbendisd.com
11
SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022
Powered by FlippingBook