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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 47 • No. 46 • $1.00
New initiative to increase police in schools By Matt deGrood
Fagan in a press conference last week asked for county law enforcement agencies to join him in dispatching officers to check on local schools whenever they are awaiting a call for service – an idea, Fagan told the Fort Bend Star, that he’s had for months. “I’m trying to be proactive and stop these
MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Police officers and sheriff’s deputies might be more common sights at county schools after Sheriff Eric Fagan announced a new initiative meant to reduce the risk of school shootings ahead of the new school year.
Fagan
before it happens,” Fagan said in an interview with the Star. Potential shooters are looking for soft targets and seeing law enforcement at a campus might help deter some of them, Fagan argues. The issue of how to tamp down on school shootings has become a topic of renewed conversations after a gunman
shot and killed 19 elementary schoolchildren and two teachers and injured another 17 people in Uvalde, according to a Texas Tribune article. Fort Bend ISD, for instance, announced late last month that it had implemented several new security measures
SEE POLICE PAGE 7
Unprecedented times
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2022
READERS’ CHOICE WINNERS ANNOUNCED 8/24/22
Big revenue expected for EpiCenter project By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
In voting to spend more than $26.78 million to cover EpiCenter’s operating expenses during its first years of existence, county commissioners said the $120 million project would ultimately be a boon to Fort Bend County. “This will be an asset to Fort Bend County,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales said, following a 4-0 vote. “It will cover itself.” But what are those benefits? And how are county leaders paying for the project? Several months before commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to begin the project, developers in November 2020 unveiled project details that included a description of how the county could pursue the project and how much money they thought the facility might bring in. Between sports and events rentals, advertising and sponsorship agreements, parking and more, the county might expect to make about $3.65 million from the facility starting in the first year, according to a pre-
SEE EPICENTER PAGE 7
Fort Bend ISD students sit and listen to a teacher during a lesson. Local students said pandemic-learning brough a mix of overall testing and scoring results. (Staff file photo by Landan Kuhlmann)
Area students report mixed bag during pandemic learning By Benjamin Who BENJAMINWHO@GMAIL.COM
Lower test scores, overwhelming feelings of isolation and national uproar over the content that makes its way into classrooms — the national narrative about being a student during the coronavirus pandemic resembles a nightmarish scene. But nearly three years after Covid-19 first sent shockwaves through America’s educational system, students across Fort Bend County painted a more
measured picture of the state of education in 2022. “I certainly felt both negative and positive impacts,” said Danny Vilson, a rising senior at Elkins High School. “But the impacts certainly weren’t all bad.” While many questions still surround the future of schools across the area, some effects of the pervasive interruptions are beginning to crystalize. Texas STAAR test data from 2021 showed a 16 percent increase from 2019 in the number of third through eighth-grade students who did not meet
the grade level standards in math, according to the Texas Educational Agency, or TEA. The same report revealed that schools where less than 25 percent of students learned remotely achieved higher STAAR scores than schools with higher rates of virtual learning. As the pandemic eased and students returned to more stable conditions, testing scores saw notable improvements, according to data from 2022. However, experts still worry that pandemic-induced learning disruptions may leave
long-lasting impacts on students’ academic performance and social lives. The Fort Bend Star spoke with local students to better understand how Covid-19 affected their learning during the past year. Edward Kang, a rising seventh grader who lives in Riverstone, said his school switched intermittently between in-person and virtual schooling throughout the year, but called these changes generally "neutral." "Adapting to a different learning environment was quite difficult because I had
zero experience with online learning," he said. "But I personally got used to it quickly, and found it rather beneficial to my learning." Levi George, who attends KIPP Shine Prep as a rising third grader, said that while his school never transitioned to remote learning last year, safety policies created some isolation, even in-person. "We did have to stay away from our friends a lot," George said. "Some-
SEE LEARNING PAGE 7
Sugar Land to begin work on park improvement project By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Crews will soon begin work on a $1.06 million project to bring more improvements to Brazos River Park, according to the city of Sugar Land. Work is set to begin later this month on the six-month project, which will see crews construct a pavilion, more trails and
landscaping, according to a news release. “This project delivers on what our community told us is important,” said Joe Chesser, director of parks for the city of Sugar Land. Plans for the project have been around ever since Sugar Land voters in 2013 approved two of three bond referendums for parks totaling $31.5 million, according to a Houston Chronicle article from the time.
As part of those propositions, city leaders planned to develop about 128 acres of park along the Brazos River with a nearby festival site and a connecting network of about 10 miles of trails, according to the city. But the final phase of the Brazos River Park improvements didn’t happen on schedule because of coronavirus pandemic-related Crews are set to begin work in Sugar Land on the $1.06 economic constraints, ac- million Brazos Park improvement project later this cording to the city. month, according to the city. (Photo by Matt deGrood)
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