San Jacinto County News

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Several of Shepherd ISD’s FFA members took the microphone during the Student Recognition portion to congratulate students on their summer achievements through the program. (Photo by Emily Kubisch-Sabrsula )

By Emily Kubisch-Sabrsula
SJNT staff writer

SHEPHERD — Holding its first completely in-person board meeting since the pandemic began last year, the Shepherd School Board met for a final summer round-up in preparation for the upcoming school year to discuss plans for the growing district.

The district boasts 100 percent online enrollment this year, which added 1,031 new students.

With school slated to start back up on Aug. 11, Dr. Jason Hewitt will resume the State of Shepherd Facebook Live programs. The July program took place after going to press, but upcoming live streams will be announced via the Shepherd ISD Facebook page. 

Parents, guardians, and community members will be able to ask questions and receive live updates about changes across the district.

Cabinet reports

Taking the microphone during the cabinet report, Superintendent Jason Hewitt gave a short comparison report of SISD to Region 6 as well as other area schools like Coldspring and Livingston, finding that while Shepherd was on par in subjects like history and even algebra, students were on average 20 points down in other areas. 

The school did not receive an accountability rating last year due to COVID policies, but was given a C rating during the 2018-2019 school year.

During that same school year, the district had 336 employees, a number that has been slowly shrinking since Hewitt’s start in the district, with 318 teachers and staff slated to be employed this year. The steady decline has been due to positions getting absorbed into other roles in order to help the district maintain a balanced budget, which is currently does. 

This change has also made available the means to include new positions like a district librarian. This comes despite still having several positions open across campuses due to a nationwide teacher shortage. A copy of the budget will be posted online for public viewing.

Safe Return Plan

While a draft of the final Safe Return Plan is still in works for how to take on the upcoming school year, Shepherd ISD will model theirs off a similar plan from Conroe ISD on how to return to the classroom for the fall following a year’s worth of pandemic protocol. 

Administrators from CISD met with region service directors to come up with a written plan to interpret TEA and the CDC’s guidelines. 

TEA is asking those who test positive to report it to the school nurse who is required to then alert TEA as well as local health authorities. But otherwise, with little guidance from the Texas Education Agency, as well as Gov. Greg Abbott taking away the ability for local governments to set their own COVID mandates, Shepherd ISD will continue to encourage students and staff to pre-screen prior to coming onto campus. 

Those who are sick or come into contact with someone believed to be sick will be asked to quarantine, but are not required to, as contact tracing will also not be continued. Individuals will not be sent home for displaying covid symptoms unless they have a fever of 100 degrees or higher, similar to how to school currently handles flu cases. 

Those who do choose to stay home or quarantine will not be held harmless, meaning staff will have to use sick days and students will be marked as absent.

With TEA and current legislation opting not to continue funding virtual learning, students who wish to continue online will need to withdraw from the district and find a new method of schooling.

The COVID Vaccine will not be made mandatory into Texas’ Minimum State Requirements for Students Grades K-12, and while the school no longer will offer testing, talk of including the COVID vaccine at already existing community flu shot clinics could be possible in the future.

The school will also no longer enforce social distancing, but will continue to encourage community members to wash their hands and remain vigilant in the event of a surge, with current focus on watching the spread of the Delta variant. 

A final copy of the guidelines will be available on the district’s website.

The next SISD board meeting will the held at 6 p.m. Aug. 19 in the Administration Building in front of the Middle School. For more information on past and future meetings, please visit the shepherdisd.net and look under the “District Information” tab. 

To submit public comment to the board, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 12:00 pm the day of the meeting. For a full list of upcoming events, visit https://www.shepherdisd.net/apps/events/.

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Anderson

By Tony Farkas
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COLDSPRING — A 36-year-old Houston resident was arrested Friday after a lengthy standoff in the 200 block of West Cedar Avenue in Coldspring

Christopher Edward Anderson, 36, is facing a charge of murder in the July 20 shooting death of Tonya Davis, 44.

Police reports indicate that early on July 20, police were called to an apartment complex on Ella Boulevard in Houston, after being called by the teenaged son of the victim. Davis suffered at least one gunshot wound, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Forced entry was found at the scene; Anderson and Davis had been in a relationship and recently separated, the report states.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators processed the scene, and an arrest warrant was issued for Anderson.

Reports indicate Anderson went to his parents’ home in Coldspring, and HCSO deputies with the homicide unit, the warrants unit, as well as the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers, went to the home on Friday attempting to serve the arrest warrant.

Anderson reportedly barricaded himself into the home and refused to respond to commands, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office SWAT team responded, who were able to safely remove the parents from the home prior to attempting to arrest Anderson.

The HCSO SWAT team was able to arrest Christopher Anderson without incident after about four hours.

Anderson was extradited to Harris County on Monday, and was booked into the Harris County Jail, where he currently is being held on a $1 million bond..

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The Dixie Youth Ballpark in Coldspring is looking forward to sprucing up the area. (Photo by Emily Kubisch-Sabrsula)

By Tony Farkas
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COLDSPRING — The Coldspring City Council, looking to clean up derelict and unkempt properties within the city, is strengthening its rules as well as its enforcement.

The city had originally demanded the property owners at 210 Slade St. and two pieces of property in the Park Place addition clean up their properties; however, the demand was made through an ordinance which only dealt with substandard structures.

The city is now looking to create an ordinance that would be more appropriate, including dealing with junk storage, leaky exterior pipes, certain types of waste discharge, and grass and tree growth, as well as other issues.

The ordinance, which was discussed at the city’s regular meeting on July 19, also would ban the accumulation of abandoned or derelict vehicles, unless it’s for a business such as a scrap yard.

The ordinance also states that if a property owner is notified, they have 10 days to clean up the property; after that, the owner could be subject to a $500 fine per day, and each day would be deemed a separate offense.

The city also could do the work, and charge the property owner as well as place a lien on the property.

The city took no action.

In a separate matter, the city heard an update on the recently completed baseball/softball season held at the city facilities.

Kraig Erwin, president of the Dixie League baseball/softball association, told the council the organization was now debt-free, and even had a surplus of $6,364.29 in the bank.

Three boys teams and a girls team were able to advance to state tournaments, but did not bring home any titles.

The city also gave its blessing to seek specifications for upgrading lighting and installing a security fence at the park, but delayed approval of the construction of a new bathroom/concession stand facility at the park.

In other business, the city:

• approved an ordinance banning personal helicopters from landing within the city limits;
• approved the monthly payment to Inframark for $4,376.93, as well as a new contract with Inframark for maintenance and operation of the city water and wastewater systems, at a cost of $4,700 per month;
• discussed the completion of the 2016 audit. Mayor Pro Tem John Benestante said the audit will have some findings; and
• approved entering into an interlocal agreement with the city water office for billing of services.

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By Tony Farkas
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CLEVELAND — A proposed landfill in the southwest part of San Jacinto County, opposed by area residents, is now being panned by neighboring counties.

On June 21, the Cleveland City Council, at its regular meeting, unanimously approved a resolution opposing an application by Peach Creek Co. for a landfill seven miles northwest of the intersection of Highway 59 and State Highway 105.

While the intersection is within the Cleveland city limits, the landfill would be located in San Jacinto County.

Area residents have attended several meetings of the San Jacinto County Commissioners’ Court in protest of the landfill over the last several months. Among the complaints registered include the possibility of contamination of ground and surface water, as well as access roads not included in the permit application.

According to the resolution, the Cleveland City Council will oppose the application because the city is directly downstream from the landfill site.

The City Council believes it is inevitable the landfill will leak, which will lead to soil contamination in the area and pollution to nearby streams, rivers and tributaries, the resolution states.

The resolution states the city “strongly” opposes any approval by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and will send a copy of the resolution directly to the TCEQ as well as state representatives and senators.

Information about the landfill permit can be found at https://www15.tceq.texas.gov/crpub/index.cfm?fuseaction=regent.showSingleRN&re_id=407344062019241.