Landowners awarded $3,000,000
DSISD hires interim superintendent
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Tiger VB sweeps Hays in 3
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News-Dispatch Volume XXXIX No. 45
Serving Western Hays County, Texas since 1982
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75¢
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Dripping Springs seeks funds for sidewalk along 290 BY CAMELIA JUAREZ
Worries are growing among community memAn application aimed at bers who oppose the city’s obtaining grant funding plan to apply for the Safe for a proposed sideRoutes to School (SRTS) walk that could connect grant, citing a sidewalk on Dripping Springs High to busy roadways is a danDripping Springs Middle gerous proposition. School was given the The Dripping Springs green light by city leaders City Council Aug. 13 earlier this month. approved a resolution in
support of applying for SRTS funding for the project, which would call for a 10-foot sidewalk from Roger Hanks Parkway at Dripping Springs High to the U.S. 290 intersection. The proposal also calls for a 5-foot sidewalk along old U.S. Highway 290 to Meadow Oaks
Driftwood lawmaker joins call for gun reform special session
“There are no sidewalks in that area, minimal safety infrastructure. We know kids are already walking that path to get to school. We want to help students be safer while using their current route.”
Drive, with a signaled pedestrian crossing U.S. 290 at Meadow Oaks Drive connection to more sidewalk on the east side of U.S. 290 near Dripping Springs Middle School. The SRTS grant, provided by the Texas Depart-
290 SIDEWALK, 6
–Jason Lutz, Dripping Springs City Planner
First day memories
GUN REFORM, 6
County polling places being revised BY CAMELIA JUAREZ A fight is on when it comes to which end of the county will get new polling locations and which will be cut back. A public discussion was held about future voting poll locations nearly five days before jurisdictions are required to turn in their list of polling locations to the court. The voting locations discussed are for the Nov. 5 general election, including constitutional amendments, and also Buda and Kyle city elections. Residents and college students spoke up about
BY MOSES LEOS III A Driftwood-area lawmaker is joining a handful of state legislators asking Texas’ top elected official to call a special session to talk gun reform. While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott quashed the request for now, State Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) hopes to generate some discussion on the topic, perhaps even reform, sooner rather than later. Calls for Abbott to call a special session comes weeks after a Plano man entered an El Paso Walmart Aug. 3 and killed 22 people, all of them Latino, under the premise of preventing an “invasion” of migrants. Lawmakers that had called for a special session include Zwiener, State Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) and State Rep. Gina Hinajosa (D-Austin), according to a Texas Tribune report. However, Abbott said during a town hall in Tyler that a special session wasn’t needed for action to take place, per the Texas Tribune’s report. Abbott plans to host a domestic terrorism task force Aug. 30. Zwiener said lawmakers cannot wait until the next legislative session in 2021
Where will you vote?
PHOTO BY CAMELIA JUAREZ
Smiles, and perhaps a tear or two, were shed Tuesday as Dripping Springs ISD welcomed students back to class for the first day of the 2019-20 school year. See more photos, page 4.
Developers bringing new trails, parks and cash to improve parks BY CAMELIA JUAREZ Dripping Springs city leaders are contemplating proposals from a handful of developers who could provide for a trail, turn a private park into a public park and provide cash for future parks improvements. On Tuesday, the Dripping Springs City Council was slated to take up agreements with the Driftwood
Developers could surpass a city requirement of contributing an acre of parkland for every 25 single family homes built for public use by offering cash-in-lieu to keep property private. Golf and Ranch Club, the Grotto and Bunker Ranch housing developments. Jason Lutz, Drip-
ping Springs Planning Director, said developers could surpass a city requirement of contributing an acre of park-
land for every 25 single family homes built for public use by offering cash-in-lieu to keep property private. The Driftwood Golf and Ranch Club, located along FM 967 in Dripping Springs’ Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) will provide a $49,152.41 cash-in-lieu payment because they are planning a private
IMPROVED PARKS, 3
Dripping Springs, Wimberley ISDs earn As BY MOSES LEOS III Despite a drop in scores at a handful of campuses, Dripping Springs ISD maintained an overall A grade in the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) 2018-19 A-F Accountability ratings. Those ratings, released Aug. 15, showed DSISD scored an overall 91 – which was down a point from the 92 in 2017-18 – across the three domains used by the TEA to measure campus accountability. Domains include student achievement, which factors include State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results, college and career
Domains include student achievement, which factors include State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results, college and career readiness of students and graduation rate, as well as academic growth of students on STAAR exams and performance relative to similar districts or campuses. readiness of students and graduation rate, as well as academic growth of students on STAAR exams and performance relative to similar districts or campuses. The accountability ratings also measure how different popula-
tions of students are performing in the district. Per the results, DSISD experienced a four-point drop in both the school progress and closing the gap domains. The latter criterion went from a 91 in 2017-18 to an 87 in
2018-19. Individual DSISD campuses also saw a decrease in grade scores as well. Only two campuses, Dripping Springs High and Sycamore Springs Middle School, earned an A from the TEA. In 2017-18, four DSISD campuses scored a grade equivalent to an A. The 201819 result was the first time the TEA issued a formal letter grade to individual campuses. Prior to the change, campuses were designated as Met Standard, Met Alternative Standard or Improvement Required.
DISTRICTS EARN As, 2
VOTING LOCATIONS, 3
Scootertruck wreck leaves one dead STAFF REPORT Authorities have identified a San Marcos woman as the victim in an Aug. 18 wreck on Post Road involving a motorized scooter and a vehicle driven by an off-duty Hays County Constable. According to a Department of Public Safety preliminary report, authorities were dispatched at around 7 p.m. Sunday to a fatal auto-pedestrian incident along Post Road roughly 1.5 north of San Marcos. Per a preliminary investigation, a woman, identified as Sarah Marie Gee, 31, was operating a motorized scooter going north on Post Road when she crossed the double center line into southbound traffic. Gee’s scooter then struck a 1998 flatbed trailer that was being hauled by a Dodge Ram pickup operated by David Peterson, 64, of San Marcos. Peterson is the Hays County Pct. 1 Constable but was not on duty at the time of the incident. Gee was pronounced dead at the scene by Hays County Pct. 1.1 Justice of the Peace Maggie Moreno, who ordered an autopsy. This story is developing. DPS officials are still investigating.