COUNTY & SCHOOLS
News from Katy ISD, Harris County & Fort Bend County
QUOTE OF NOTE “FIREARM VIOLENCE CAN BE PREVENTED. ... WE CAN PROTECT OURSELVES. AND MAINLY, WE CAN PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.” KIM OGG, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY NUMBER TO KNOW emergency opened in Fort Bend County $9.3M MEETING HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY Following the resignation of current Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria, the Harris County Election Commission tasked an executive search rm, Recruiting Source International, with a national search to ll the Harris County elections administrator position by June 30. County o cials said Recruiting Source International is in the process of interviewing candidates. During an April 19 meeting of the commission, the members voted to accept Longoria’s resignation, e ective July 1, and appoint operations facility either a permanent or temporary elections administrator by June 30. HARRIS COUNTY Commissioners in Harris County approved an interlocal agreement with The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston to study local e orts to reduce opioid overdoses May 24. Commissioners unanimously approved the agreement, which will receive a maximum backing of $306,841. UTHealth Assistant Professor J. Michael Wilkerson will lead the evaluation. The agreement will last until Aug. 31, unless terminated earlier. Katy ISD board of trustees will meet at 5 p.m. on June 27 at 6301 S. Stadium Lane, Katy. 281-396-6000. www.katyisd.org Harris County Commissioners Court usually meets Tuesday mornings twice a month. The next meeting is June 28 at 1001 Preston Ave., Ste. 934, Houston. 713-755-5000. www.harriscountytx.gov Fort Bend County Commissioners Court meets at 1 p.m. the rst, second and fourth Tuesdays each month. The next meeting is June 28 at 401 Jackson St., Richmond. 281- 342-3411.www.fortbendcountytx.gov MEETINGS WE COVER
Katy ISD trustees approve 5% teacher pay raise
FIRST YEAR TEACHER PAY
BY LAURA ROBB
KATY ISD Teachers in Katy ISD will see a raise in the 2022-23 school year after the board of trustees unanimously approved midpoint pay grade increases of 5% for all class- room teachers and hourly employees as well as a 3% raise for other district sta for the upcoming 2022-23 school year at a May 26 special meeting. Classroom teachers will see an increase of $3,600 annually, while the starting pay for a new teacher will be $60,700. The vote comes after the item was tabled at a May 16 meeting due to the board wanting more details on how to exceed the recommended teacher pay increase of 3%. At the meeting, Brian Schuss, KISD’s chief human resources o cer, recommended a 3% general pay increase to maintain market position, which is currently 3% behind in compensation compared to neighboring districts. However, that 3% raise would have brought KISD to the 2021-22 school year market median—not accounting for the increases districts implement for the 2022-23 school year.
For the 2021-22 school year, Katy ISD’s rst-year teacher pay was below other local districts.
Galena Park ISD: $60,850 Alief ISD: $59,700
Lamar CISD: $59,500
Spring Branch ISD: $59,000 Pearland ISD: $59,000 Cy-Fair ISD: $58,500 Fort Bend ISD: $58,500
Aldine ISD: $58,000 Klein ISD: $57,800 Spring ISD: $57,425 Katy ISD: $57,365 Houston ISD: $56,869
SOURCES: LAMAR CISD, TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
County emergency operations hub opens
O cials advocate for safe rearm storage
BY RACHEL CARLTON
secure their guns at what Ogg says is a critical time. “It’s important as parents that we recognize the necessity to ensure our kids’ safeties not just in our own home, but with others’ in other people’s homes and cars,” Ogg said. The billboards were donated by Clear Channel Outdoor and are already live with some funding coming from district attorney’s o ce criminal forfeiture revenues.
HARRIS COUNTY District Attorney Kim Ogg kicked o National Gun Violence Awareness Week and Wear Orange Weekend in Harris County by introducing a billboard campaign promoting the safe storage of rearms at the site of a digital billboard June 3. Twenty- ve billboards—with messaging in both English and Spanish—will encourage residents to
BY HUNTER MARROW
FORT BEND COUNTY The new Fort Bend County Emergency Oper- ations Center opened June 3. The $9.3 million, two-story emergency operations center is located at 307 Fort St., Richmond. It consolidated o ces and com- munications spaces to improve the county’s emergency response. It also features information and audio-visual technology, training and media rooms, and administrative space.
2,800 guns More than were stolen from vehicles in Houston in 2020. 3,700 guns Almost were stolen from vehicles in Houston in 2021. 4,000 guns will Trends from HPD's data suggest over be stolen in 2022.
FIREARM FIGURES
Larry Satterwhite, executive assistant chief of the Houston Police Department, said the public can prevent gun violence by securing their rearms. He emphasized investing in gun safes for vehicles and removing stickers that could suggest a gun is inside the vehicle.
RICHMOND PKWY.
90
N
SOURCE: HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Fort Bend County continues work on $12.2M north library in Fulshear
BY ASIA ARMOUR
Plans for the 41,500-square-foot, multistoried project began in July 2021. The $12.2 million library is set to be completed by mid-2023, county o cials said. James Knight, the county’s director of facilities, said in an email the only other library in Fulshear is the Bob Lutts Fulshear/Simonton branch,
which was built in 1998 and is one of the county’s smaller libraries. “With the signi cant growth in the area, we decided it was time to replace the library with a much larger one,” Knight said in an email. The library was funded by a 2015 bond, while the Ginter Family Invest- ments group donated the land.
FORT BEND COUNTY On June 7, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court approved a $1.05 million monthly payment to con- tinue constructing a new north library in Fulshear, located north of FM 1093 between Lamar CISD’s Fulshear High School and Cross Creek Ranch.
15
KATY EDITION • JUNE 2022
Powered by FlippingBook