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Clements HS principal arrested for solicitation of prostitution By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Clements High School Principal Brian Shillingburg was arrested December 11 by the Fort Bend County Sheriff ’s Office and charged with solicitation of prostitution/other payor, one of 16 people arrested in a sting operation, according to the sheriff ’s office. Shillingburg remains free on a $5,000 bond. His arraignment has been set for January 24 at 1 p.m. in the 458th District Court, according to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s office.
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Fort Bend ISD names Marc Smith as new superintendent By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
In a specially called meeting Friday morning, the Fort Bend ISD board unanimously approved Marc Smith, currently the superintendent of Duncanville ISD in the Dallas area, as its new superintendent, replacing Christie Whitbeck, who departed December 11 following a contentious week among the board. According to the district’s announcement on its website, Texas state law requires school districts to implement a 21-day waiting period before an official
contract is offered. Smith is scheduled to sign his contract on January 8. And even though Smith, who formerly served Fort Bend ISD as executive principal and assistant superintendent from 20072012, drew unanimous praise from all board members, the tensions that have come into the open in the wake of Whitbeck’s sudden departure after just over two years were still on full display. Position 6 member Kristen Davis Malone, Whitbeck’s most vocal defender on the board, said she was shut out of the process of Smith’s selection as lone finalist for the district’s top administrator.
Marc Smith, currently superintendent of Duncanville ISD, was named Friday as the new superintendent of Fort Bend ISD. Courtesy Fort Bend ISD
Even so, Malone said that although she only learned that Smith was the lone finalist and was able to interview him during a
more than hour-long closed earned his bachelor’s degree session during Friday’s in Human Performance meeting, she was very im- from Texas Southern Unipressed with his credentials versity. He also completed and his answers to her ques- the Urban Superintendent tions, and that she would Academy at Harvard Unifully support him. versity, according to the Smith became super- profile. “I want to say thank you intendent at Duncanville ISD in April 2016, accord- so much for putting your ing to his profile on that confidence, faith, and trust district’s website. Before in me,” Smith told the board that, he served as super- in brief comments after intendent of Marshall ISD the unanimous vote. “Fort from 2012-2016. According Bend ISD has played such to his profile, he earned a a fundamental role in my doctorate degree in Admin- development as a leader istration and Supervision and my journey as a sufrom the University of perintendent in a couple of Houston and a master’s de- other districts now.” gree in Administration and Supervision from Prairie View A&M University. He SEE SUPERINTENDENT PAGE 2
TSTC students meet industry reps in employment event Staff Reports
Clements High School Principal Brian Shillingburg, 43, has been arrested by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office and charged with solicitation of prostitution. Courtesy Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office
“We are committed to ensuring there is no disruption to instruction and a smooth administrative transition,” Fort Bend ISD said in a written statement. Clements High School, one of the largest in the district, serves the First Colony and Telfair areas of Sugar Land. According to Shillingburg’s profile page of the Clements High School website, he has worked in public education for more than two decades. He received a bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Mary Harin Baylor, and went on to teach in kindergarten and fourth grades and as an elementary instructional coach, according to the profile. In 2012, he received an M.E. degree in administration from Sam Houston State University. He served in Spring Branch ISD as an assistant principal at Landrum Middle School for four years, then as principal at James Bowie Middle School for six years. He was named principal at Clements in July 2022. According to the Sheriff ’s Office, investigators with the Fort Bend County Sheriff ’s Office, along with other officers in the regional Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, conducted a “proactive undercover buyer operation” on December 11 and 12. “The goal of the operation was to identify and arrest sex buyers in order to reduce the demand for
SEE ARRESTED PAGE 2
Electrical Power and Control students at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus met with representatives from Titan Quality Power Services during a recent employer spotlight event. Courtesy Texas State Technical College
Representatives from La Porte-based Titan Quality Power Services visited with some Texas State Technical College Electrical Power and Controls students during an employer spotlight at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus in Rosenberg on December 6. The students are nearing their final semester of the program, according to a TSTC news release. The representatives highlighted the benefits of working at their company, covering topics such as pay, schedules, day-to-day activities, and workload. The students asked questions throughout the presentation and talked with the representatives one-on-one afterward. The representatives also toured the classrooms and saw the equipment available to students in the Electrical Power and Controls program. Peter Tucker, a technician for Titan Quality Power Services, said the company is one of the best places he has ever worked. “We are relatively small,” Tucker said in the release. “We are a tight-knit group,
and we have a great culture here.” Tom DeMarco, the South Texas regional branch manager at Titan Quality Power Services, said one of the biggest focuses of the company is quality. Employees’ main job at the company is to put together pieces of transformers, wire everything up, and test to make sure everything is working properly. “We are concerned about quality,” he said. “We aren’t trying to do a sloppy job. We want to give our customers the best.” Connecting that drive for quality to the students, DeMarco said TSTC was where he had done a lot of hiring in the past and TSTC graduates are some of the best-educated and most qualified to enter the workforce. “I can’t imagine any of you struggling to find jobs when you graduate from here,” DeMarco told the students. “We, for one, are really looking for people. We can’t hire fast enough.” TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Power and Controls at its Abilene, Fort Bend County, North Texas and Waco campuses.
Sugar Land council approves development agreement in Thompsons area Staff Reports Representatives from La Porte-based Titan Quality Power Services visited with some Texas State Technical College Electrical Power and Controls students during an employer spotlight at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus in Rosenberg on December 6. The students are nearing their final semester of the program, according to a TSTC news release. The representatives highlighted the benefits of working at their company, covering topics such as pay, schedules, day-to-day activities, and workload. The students asked questions throughout the presentation and talked
with the representatives one-on-one afterward. The representatives also toured the classrooms and saw the equipment available to students in the Electrical Power and Controls program. Peter Tucker, a technician for Titan Quality Power Services, said the company is one of the best places he has ever worked. “We are relatively small,” Tucker said in the release. “We are a tight-knit group, and we have a great culture here.” Tom DeMarco, the South Texas regional branch manager at Titan Quality Power Services, said one of the biggest focuses of the company is quality. Employees’ main job at the company is to put
together pieces of transformers, wire everything up, and test to make sure everything is working properly. “We are concerned about quality,” he said. “We aren’t trying to do a sloppy job. We want to give our customers the best.” Connecting that drive for quality to the students, DeMarco said TSTC was where he had done a lot of hiring in the past and TSTC graduates are some of the best-educated and most qualified to enter the workforce. “I can’t imagine any of you struggling to find jobs when you graduate from here,” DeMarco told the students. “We, for one, are really looking for people. We can’t hire fast enough.”
Sugar Land City Council recently approved a development agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, LP, for a proposed development in the city’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). Photo by Ken Fountain
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Electrical Power and Con-
trols at its Abilene, Fort Bend County, North Texas and Waco campuses.