Trinity County News - Breakout

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By Tony Farkas
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TRINITY — The Trinity ISD Board of Trustees discussed changes to its discipline matrix to make things stricter, while shoring up policies in the Student

Code of Conduct.
At its regular meeting on July 25, changes including removing warnings and detention were discussed. Superintendent John Kaufman said that instead, the district will move to in-school suspension instead of warnings on first offenses.

Cutting class and leaving the campus without permission previously meant one day of detention, now it will be one day of ISS.

Kaufman told board members that in the last school year, there were some incidents that were serious enough to justify strengthening its discipline.
“We’re going to be quite a bit stricter on first and second offenses,” he said. “Hopefully it will eliminate some problems.”

However, board members Ricky Hortman and Elaine King wanted the current policies to form a basis of comparison. The board ultimately tabled the matter until its special meeting on Aug. 1.

In a related matter, the board also tabled revisions to the Student Code of Conduct for the same reasons, which was to get copies of current policy to make comparisons.

The matter also will be taken up at its Aug. 1 meeting.

In other business, the board:

•approved all financial statements; and

  •discussed safety measures, including having all building in the district re-keyed.

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Crews attempt to stem a leak in a broken water line. Courtesy photo

TCNS staff

TRINITY — City employees fought a pipe break that occurred while contractors were attempting to connect water mains from Trinity River Authority with Trinity city lines on Thursday.

City Manager Steven Jones said the main water line from TRA broke, affecting the city’s ability to keep the downtown water tower full.

Residents in the Milltown, downtown and Mulbery Street areas saw pressure drops and service loss, and were asked conserve water.

After waiting for delivery of a valve from Katy, the break was repaired at 2 a.m. Friday.

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By Tony Farkas
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GROVETON — Trinity County Commissioners OK’d a pay raise for a county deputy sheriff but stayed in line with the salary schedule put into place last year.

At its regular meeting on July 26, the court discussed the raise request, which became contested over claims that the county was paying female deputies less than male deputies at the same level.

At the last meeting, Sheriff Woody Wallace sought equity in pay; however, the court maintained the difference was based on tenure, not on gender.

After delaying the matter for research, Commissioner Tommy Park said the deputy’s pay was an oversight, not being

corrected when the new salary matrix was put into place.
Commissioner Neal Smith, who objected to requests being made at the same time every year that deviate from the salary schedule, then questioned how many other salaries were inadvertently missed.

Commissioner Steven Truss said he put in a request as well because a road employee of his compared salaries with an employee in Smith’s precinct, and the disparity was questioned.

In other business, the court:

•approved election judges for the Nov. 8 general election;

•approved a contract with Westwood Shores MUD and its election administrator for a concurrent election on Nov. 8;

•approve a contract with Apple Springs ISD and its election administrator for a concurrent election on Nov. 8;

•approved a $20,000 bond for County Clerk Shasta Bergman;

•approved six budget amendments to move funds to make payments;

•approved a donation of dirt from Mark Brown to Precinct 4 Commissioner Steven Truss;

•approved renaming Little Kickapoo Road to Redden Road;

•approved bids for tax resale properties;

•discussed the combined disposition completeness report for the county’s criminal justice system; and

•discuss some budget requests from each department ahead of budget discussions.

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Homecoming sponsored by the Groveton Ex-Student’s Association will be held on Oct. 21-22. This year is a big homecoming year in which we will induct new honorees in to the Groveton Ex-Student’s Hall of Fame. It is time to ask you to consider nominating a Groveton graduate, community person, or a teacher/staff member who has distinguished themselves and is worthy of this honor.

You will find a more detailed description of the process at our websites. After we receive nominations, a committee will review the nominations and make selections for the new inductees.

Please go to the website and email us your nominations (info on website) or mail to our address, P.O. Box 70, Groveton, TX 75845.

We have added a website through the school district that includes the criteria for selection, the nomination process, and the nomination form. There is also a list of all inductees in the Groveton Ex-Student’s Hall of Fame from its inception in 1976 through 2018.

The deadline for nominations is July 31, 2022. The web address is www.grovetonisd.net/app/pages/ex-students or go to grovetonisd.net. From that website you will click ‘Community’ then ‘Ex-Student’s Association’.

Please call me if you have any questions and I’ll help you complete the nomination form. My phone number is (936) 537-1969 or you can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Jo Ann Anderson Beken is president of the Groveton Ex-Students Association.