December 21, 2022 News-Dispatch

DSISD addresses 'C' rating

BY MEGAN WEHRING

DRIPPING SPRINGS

– Dripping Springs ISD received a “C” by the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST).

FIRST ensures that Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices and that they improve these practices, according to the Texas Education Agency. The system is designed to encourage Texas public schools to better manage their financial resources and provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes.

The reporting was originally mandated by Senate Bill 875 of the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999.

“There have been many changes to it over the years,” said Elaine Cogburn, deputy superintendent for finance and operations, during a public hearing on Dec. 12. “House Bill 5 of the 83rd Legislature married the FIRST and the solvency indicators together to become all under the FIRST rating.”

Cogburn said that requirements consist of preparing the FIRST Financial Management Report, which includes required disclosures, advertising a public meeting and hold-

ing a public meeting to discuss the rating.

While DSISD scored 98 points out of 100 on all indicators, it received a “C” (standard achievement/ meets standard) due to its failure to meet the requirements under Indicator 17, which asks: “Did the external independent auditor report that the AFR [annual financial report] was free of any instance(s) of material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting and compliance for local, state or federal funds?”

The district’s auditor’s report pointed out misstatements in various general ledger account balances including the failure to record retainage payable in the Capital Projects Fund. DSISD filed an appeal of the finding and

Monster truck show to hit dirt in Dripping Springs

BY MEGAN WEHRING

DRIPPING SPRINGS – The Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP) is bringing back a favorite for some: monster truck shows.

After much deliberation at its regular meeting on Dec. 6, the Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved a rental agreement for monster truck shows at the DSRP for Friday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 31, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Mayor Bill Foulds requested that the council bring the agenda item forward because in 2019, it was “fairly controversial” and he

did not want residents, primarily those who live in Harrison Hills and Founders Ridge, to be caught off guard.

Due to concerns about the projected high noise, Foulds questioned the decibel level of the trucks.

“You use a decibel reader [and] most of the time you check it at 100 feet away, that way you don’t get ambient noise,” said Ed Beckley, owner of Checkered Flag Promotions. “Remember that monster trucks don’t run all two hours, they probably run a total of eight minutes out of all of that. … Probably at about 100 feet, they

would run at about 110 decibels at the most.”

In 2019, city council only approved an afternoon event on Saturday, Oct. 26, rather than adding an evening show to the schedule. Mayor pro tem Taline Manassian said that she has some concerns about having an evening show this time around.

“Now we are talking about an evening event plus things on New Year’s Eve, which if it’s disruptive, is not going to be perceived well,” Manassian said. “It’s different when you have an event on a

Three minutes allotted for public comments

Dripping Springs ISD board responds to community

BY MEGAN WEHRING

DRIPPING SPRINGS – Last week, Dripping Springs ISD Board President Mary Jane Hetrick reminded the public that speakers are given three minutes during the public forum period of meetings.

“Because this has come up numerous times in recent months,” Hetrick said at the Dec. 12 board meeting, “we all checked with our legal counsel [and] our legal counsel didn’t just go by what they thought, they also did research and just to assure the public that the issue

of a three-minute time limit per person per meeting has been thoroughly vetted.”

According to the Texas Government Code, “a governmental body may adopt reasonable rules regarding the public's right to address the body under this section, including rules that limit the total amount of time that a member of the public may address the body on a given item.”

DSISD released a statement regarding public comments at meetings on Tuesday, Dec. 13. This is available on the district’s board of trustees website at www. dsisdtx.us.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Dripping Springs Ranch Park will host monster truck shows on Friday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 31, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The DSISD Board of Trustees held a workshop meeting on bond planning this afternoon, overviewing enrollment projections, portable locations and costs, longrange facility planning and construction schedules.

BY MEGAN WEHRING

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, as part of a “Plant Your Park” event, volunteers helped parks and recreation staff plant 32 trees in areas of Blue Regional Park, located at 100 Blue Hole Lane in Wimberley.

“Especially during the winter

freeze, we lost quite a few trees and over the last year with the drought, a few more,” said Bryce Burkhalter, natural resources and maintenance manager for Wimberley Parks and Recreation. “I wanted to essentially beef up our parking lot area. It’s the forward-facing area of the park where people part for swim reservations.”

Wimberley Parks and Recreation is partnering with TreeFolks to plant 600 tree

seedlings at Blue Hole on Jan. 21. This event is part of TreeFolks’ Central Texas Floodplain Reforestation Program, which restores riparian forest buffers in order to improve water quality, mitigate flooding, promote regional cooling and create wildlife habitat.

For those wanting to volunteer for any future events, visit www.cityofwimberley. com/320/Volunteer-GetInvolved.

BY MEGAN WEHRING

DRIPPING SPRINGS – A local school was recognized for its counseling program.

For the third consecutive year, Rooster Springs Elementary and counselors Karey Carroll and Kimberlee Guerrero have garnered the prestigious CREST (Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas) award by the Texas School Counselor Association (TSCA) for the 2022-23 school year.

“Everything is made easier and more possible when you have leadership support,” said Tisha Kolek, director

of counseling and health services. “I think that’s true for this campus here … Not to take anything from our other campuses; they all have wonderful comprehensive school counseling programs. It’s optional to put all of that into a packet and submit it for state recognition.”

CREST is a continuous improvement program that gives school counselors an opportunity to demonstrate effective communication and a commitment to obtaining results. It helps counselors evaluate their counseling programs, promote their

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Bryce Burkhalter plants a tree at the “Plant Your Park” event.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

From left, Rooster Springs Elementary Principal Steve Novickas and counselors Karey Carroll and Kimberlee Guerrero.

Letters from North Hays County

Rosie Sony

Rosie Ambriz Sony joined our heavenly Father on Nov. 26 at her home in Wimberley, Texas at the age of 82. She was at peace in the final week surrounded by her son and daughter-in-law, her 3 granddaughters and 5 greatgrandchildren.

Rosie, born Jan. 29, 1940, was beloved by her large family and many

friends. Rosie was loving, spunky, courageous and intentionally connected to those she treasured. She loved many things: gardening, sewing, crocheting, but without a doubt, her greatest treasure was her grandchildren & greatgrandchildren.

We celebrate her place in Heaven with mass on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 12 p.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Wimberley, TX. Reception to follow.

random Saturday in October. But to have something like this on a holiday where people are at home doing things that if it is troubling … I wish we would have seen this sooner because I can imagine there are neighbors who are not tracking our agendas in the middle of December and may not be aware that they need to voice concerns.”

Council member Geoffrey Tahuahua said that if the event was going to be held in an outdoor area, he would be even more concerned about the sound. But he would like to see city staff collect some data and

information about the sound levels for future events.

Foulds said that there were several discussions the council had back in 2019 including the company scraping the arena to put in its dirt to make the event happen and the liability of the trucks.

“They will be using our footing and if they need to bring in any additional [dirt], it will be from our dirt supplier so it is the right ratio [and] our footing stays the same,” DSRP Manager Emily Nelson said in reference to the dirt situation for this year’s event.

Foulds added that, following

the 2019 event, he spoke with a Harrison Hills resident who had no issues with the traffic or people, but the resident said he was “glad it’s over early.”

“But the neighbors who generally complain about the rodeo, quinceañeras, about this and that, I did not get any phone calls from them other than one neighbor who was complaining about the lighting,” Foulds said. “He is always complaining about the lighting of the DSRP.”

For more information about the event and ticket details, visit www.nolimitsmonstertrucks. com/event-details-drippingspring/.

programs to stakeholders in their district, demonstrate the effectiveness of their guidance and counseling programs through empirical means and implement the Texas and national models for school counseling programs.

CREST looks at the counseling program in five categories:

• Introduction to the School and the Role of the Professional School Counselor

• Program Implementation Cycle

• Foundational Components

• Four Service Delivery Components

• Program Curriculum

Each counseling team prepares an online submission that highlights the five categories and communicates what the counseling program is doing to help students succeed. Each submission is evaluated and scored by members of the TSCA CREST evaluation team comprised of Texas school counselors.

RATING, from Page 1

rating with TEA, but it was denied on Nov. 4.

Two points were lost on Indicator 12, which asks if the debt per $100 of assessed property value ratio was sufficient to support future debt repayments. To earn the maximum 10 points, a district's ratio of debt per $100 of assessed property value must be under 4.0, while DSISD’s ratio of debt was 4.6388.

“Regardless of the rating, the district is financially strong,” Cogburn said. “We ended the 2021-22 year with a fund balance of $47 million, which is over seven months of operating costs. The audit did not find any questioned costs or findings regarding dayto-day operations. Our current business office staff is strong and making positive changes.”

Neighboring districts Hays CISD and Austin ISD both received an “A” (superior achievement) rating

this year, which is based on FY 2020-21 data.

Cogburn said the district anticipates losing some points on Indicator 18 for the upcoming 2022-23 rating. Indicator 18 asks if the external independent auditor indicated the AFR was free of any instance(s) of material noncompliance for grants, contracts and laws related to local, state or federal funds.

“The 2022-23 rating will be based on the 2021-22 financial audit.

We anticipate losing all 10 points on Indicator 18, so that would start us at a 90 and then if we score eight points on the other, we are potentially looking at an 88 for next year’s rating.”

The public can view the report in the Dec. 12 board meeting agenda.

The DSISD board is slated to meet again on Jan. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Office Board Room, located at 510 W. Mercer St.

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

Faith Assembly of God 1030 Main St., Buda

BAPTIST

First Baptist Church-Buda 104 San Marcos St., Buda

First Baptist Church-Kyle 300 W. Center St., Kyle

Hays Hills Baptist Church 1401 FM 1626, Buda

Sledge Chapel Missionary Baptist Church 709 Sewell, Kyle

Southeast Baptist Church 5020 Turnersville Rd., Creedmoor

Manchaca Baptist Church Lowden Lane & FM 1626

Immanuel Baptist Church 4000 E. FM 150, 4 miles east of Kyle

Center Union Baptist Church Goforth Rd., Buda

Primera Mision Bautista Mexicana Kyle

Baptist Church of Driftwood 13540 FM 150 W.

CATHOLIC

Santa Cruz Catholic Church 1100 Main Street, Buda

St. Anthony Marie Claret Church 801 N. Burleson, Kyle

St. Michael’s Catholic Church S. Old Spanish Trail, Uhland

CHRISTIAN

New Life Christian Church 2315 FM 967, Buda

Iglesia Israelita Casa de Dios 816 Green Pastures Dr., Kyle

CHURCH OF CHRIST

Buda-Kyle Church of Christ 3.5 miles south of Buda on FM 2770

Southern Hills Church of Christ 3740 FM 967, Buda

EPISCOPAL

St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church 725 RR 967, Buda

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church RR 3237 (Wimberley Rd.), Kyle St. Alban’s Episcopal Church 11819 IH-35 South

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses FM 2770, Kyle

Jehovah’s Witnesses South 10802 Manchaca Rd., Manchaca

LUTHERAN

Living Word Lutheran ELCA 2315 FM 967, Buda

Redeeming Grace Lutheran LCMS FM 1626 & Manchaca Rd., Manchaca

Resurrection Church,

METHODIST

BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN

ARLINGTON — The Wimberley Texans (15-1) concluded their football season in second after losing to the Carthage Bulldogs (160) at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium in the 4A-II State Championship on Dec. 16 at 11 a.m.

Fumbles, turnovers and a lethal Carthage passing game stifled the Texans all morning long.

“You’re gonna have to play really good against a good team like that,” Wimberley head coach

Doug Warren said.

A Texan fumble during the first quarter led Carthage senior wide receiver Noah Paddie to score off a 50-yard touchdown pass and the extra point was good, which put the Bulldogs on the board 7-0.

The same thing happened in the second quarter when Carthage senior running back Zsemad Williams recovered a fumble. After the fumble, Carthage senior quarterback Connor Cuff threw a 16yard touchdown pass to Allen Campos. The

PAT was good and the Bulldogs remained ahead 28-0.

Then, with two minutes left in the first half, Wimberley turned the ball over on downs ensuing another Carthage touchdown by Paddie and the PAT was good. The Bulldogs extended their lead 35-0 to put away the game by halftime.

Despite the loss, Warren said he is “super proud” of his team and their growth.

“We’re one of the two left standing and that’s a great accomplishment for any team,” he said. “Those kiddos took me on the ride of my life. I’ve been coaching this sport for 34 years and this is one of the most unique teams I’ve ever been around. There’s no superstars, there’s no guys that really want the attention on them, they just love football, they love playing the game, they love coming to work out every day and it’s been a joy,” Warren said.

Wimberley quarterback Lane Patek said he couldn’t have asked for a better season.

“It didn’t end the way that we wanted, but I had so much fun playing with my brothers,” Patek said.

Warren said Wimberley fans can expect more of the same next season.

“The standards for this program don’t change. The Wimberley Texans will be around for a long time.”

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK

It was a somber celebration after a 42-0 loss to Carthage (16-0) as Wimberley (15-1) senior Kaeden Coltharp holds up the UIL State Football Championship runner-up trophy in Class 4A Division II last Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK

Tru Couch, a senior who had five catches for 93 yards against Carthage, sprints along the Wimberley sideline on a 40-yard pass reception from quarterback Cody Stoever.

PHOTO BY WAYLAND D. CLARK

Senior Johnny Ball (No. 25) gets a block from teammate Kaedon Gonce (No. 52) early in the first quarter against Carthage. Ball, who had 97 yards rushing in the game, has unofficially rushed for 1,399 yards on the season, averaging 9.2 yards per carry, scored 20 rushing touchdowns and had five games where he rushed for 100-plus yards.