2023
READERS’ CHOICE
On the record with Richmond’s Buzz Vinyls - Page 3
281.690.4200 WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 6, 2023
Former kindergarten teacher sentenced to 10 years for indecency with a child Staff Reports A Fort Bend County jury on November 16 convicted a former Lamar CISD kindergarten teacher of indecency with a child by contact and by exposure involving one of his students.
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 48 • No. 62 • $1.00
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FBISD board oust Whitbeck in forced retirement By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
In what proved to a wild finish to an otherwise dry meeting, a majority of the Fort Bend ISD board voted to approve a forced retirement of Superintendent Christie Whitbeck after just over two years at the helm of the district. The vote came after an executive session to discuss Whitbeck’s retirement following a meeting that largely involved presentations about new school building designs and academic programs. But the meeting had begun with comments from several community members who had heard reports of Whitbeck’s pending retirement.
Most of the comments were highly supportive of her. Reasons for the pending retirement were not disclosed before the meeting, but there had been evidence of dissent between Whitbeck and some members of the board going back at least to the November voter-approved tax rate election, which passed easily. Before the election, board president Judy Dae, who took that role earlier this year, penned an op-ed questioning an incentive program the district had put in place asking teachers to encourage their parents to go to the polls, without specifically asking them to cast a particular vote in the VATRE election. That
Christie Whitbeck, superintendent of Fort Bend ISD since September 2021, was ousted by the district’s board in a forced retirement on Monday. Photo by Ken Fountain
election was called just a year after a previous VATRE failed. After Position 6 trustee and board secretary David Hamilton made a motion to accept the resignation,
seconded by Position 5 trustee Sonya Jones, Position 6 member Kristin Davison Malone launched into an emotional defense of Whitbeck, touting her accomplishments since taking the helm. Malone noted that after voters in May overwhelmingly approved a $1.26 billion bond referendum, the largest in the district’s history, the board gave Whitbeck a glowing evaluation, extended her contract by two years to 2026, and gave her a 2 percent salary raise. Malone, who served as board president before Dae, said she had seen a marked improvement in the culture of the district since Whitbeck came aboard, and
that the district was primed for even greater academic success ahead. The district, which saw a marked drop in enrollment in the wake of the COVID pandemic, this year saw its enrollment surpass 80,000 students, making it the sixth largest in the state. “So why is this happening? I’ll tell you why,” Malone said to the audience, which had dwindled since the beginning of the meeting. She said the forced retirement stemmed from “personality conflicts” between Whitbeck and Dae, Hamilton, “and perhaps one other member” whom she didn’t name.
SEE RETIREMENT PAGE 2
‘Tis the Season See Page 8 - for more photos from the holiday events
Former Lamar CISD kindergarten teacher Troi Phillip Moore, 47, received 10 years in prison on two counts of indecency with a child involving a former student. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
Troi Phillip Moore, 47, agreed to a 10-year sentence in years state prison on each case with the sentences to be served consecutively and waived his right to an appeal, according to a news release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Evidence presented by prosecutors Alycia Curtis and Craig Priesmeyer revealed that while working in 2021 as a kindergarten teacher at Tamarron Elementary, Moore engaged in sexual contact with one of his six-year-old male students. The jury heard evidence that the defendant, a teacher for more than 20 years, isolated the child in the classroom and sexually abused him. Jurors deliberated approximately two hours before returning verdicts of guilty. “This case is truly a parent’s worst nightmare as school should be a safe place to send our children,” lead prosecutor Alycia Curtis said in the release. “Thankfully, the victim’s parents took immediate steps to keep their son safe by reporting Moore to both the school and law enforcement. The victim showed incredible bravery by not only telling his parents what happened to him in the classroom but by facing Moore in court.” During trial, the jury heard from the now 8-yearold child, who recounted the sexual abuse in front of his former teacher. “I applaud the jury for holding the defendant accountable for his despicable behavior,” District Attorney Brian Middleton said. “And what is effectively a 20-year prison sentence keeps all of our children safer here. I thank the survivor for being so brave and for helping us get justice in this case.”
SEE INDECENCY PAGE 2
Bola Inyang, of Fulshear, enjoys a “ride” atop Rudolph during the Christmas Tree lighting event at Sugar Land Town Square on Friday. Photo by Ken Fountain
New SPARK Park dedicated at FBISD’s Parks Elementary Staff Reports On December 1, a SPARK Park that opened in October at Fort Bend ISD’s Rosa Parks Elementary School was officially dedicated during a program that included students, district leaders, staff, community partners and SPARK Park leaders, according to news release from the district. “Before SPARK came to this campus there was only one park here at Rosa Parks elementary,” Superintendent Dr. Christie Whitbeck said. “We are extremely grateful to get a second green space for our families to enjoy, and this park also includes play equipment for our special needs students.” Principal Anitra Wilson
said the idea for adding the park originated a couple years ago when a student approached her one day and said, “’We need a new playground. When all the grade levels are outside, it’s like we are piled on top of each other.’” That student was Adiyonah Burnham who attended the dedication program with her mother and received a certificate of recognition along with key staff members and community partners who made the park a reality. “Everyone here that helped, I think y’all are great,” she said. SPARK Park Executive Director Kathleen Ownby said recreational areas like the new one at Parks Elementary are intended to eliminate “park deserts” in
Officials hold the official dedication of a new PARK Park at Fort Bend ISD’s Rosa Parks Elementary School. Courtesy Fort Bend ISD
communities that have no green spaces or playground areas. FBISD Board President Judy Dae told the audience
she personally relates to the need for park spaces and recounted growing up in China where access to parks was so rare that her first-ever visit
to one included throngs of children who had to wait in a long line only to be granted a maximum of one minute on a swing. “The second I flew into the air on the swing it was a magical moment for me,” Dae said. “To this day, whenever I pass by a playground, I want to get on a swing.” The dedication of the Rosa Parks SPARK Park fell on the 68th anniversary of the day in 1995 when civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, a Black woman -- whom the school is named after-- refused to sit in the back of a bus in Montgomery, Ala. during a nationwide campaign for racial equality. Her action led to a boycott of the Montgomery bus system which helped overturn the discriminatory policy.