QB SHUFFLE
SATURDAY MARCH 11, 2017
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ROMO SAYS GOODBYE TO DALLAS, TEXANS MOVE OSWEILER TO BROWNS, B1
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HOUSE PUBLIC EDUCATION
BOND PROJECTS
School leaders ask to keep state aid program
Plans for student union building at LCC South shrink
Bill would boost school funding for most districts By Aliyya Swaby TH E TEXAS TRI BUNE
School officials whose districts would lose money under a Texas House plan to revamp the public school funding system, asked legislators Tuesday to ensure there are as few "losers" as possible. They were among dozens who testified at a House Public Education Committee hearing
cation system, boosting on House Bill 21. State funding for almost every Rep. Dan Huberty, the school district in the Houston Republican state although a few who chairs the commitwould be left out. tee, pitched the legislaIt also wouldn't renew tion Monday as a prelimthe soon-expiring Addiinary overhaul of a Huberty tional State Aid for Tax school finance system Reduction, or ASATR, the Texas Supreme program that awards suppleCourt upheld last year but said mental state funds to more than was in dire need of reform. 150 districts to offset a decadeThe bill would inject about old property tax cut — a major $1.6 billion into the public edu-
concern for education officials who depend on the funding. A provision in the bill that would award some grant money to make up for the loss isn't enough, they told the committee Tuesday. "My districts are going to lose," said Mike Motheral, executive director of the Texas Small Rural School Finance Coalition. He said he represents School continues on A10
Enrollment did not increase as projected By Judith Rayo LAREDO MORNING TIME S
45TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR KICKS OFF
Courtesy of Facebook
Zapata County Fair’s 2017 Royalty, Triana Isabel Gonzalez, 1st Runner-Up, and Clarissa Yvette Garcia, Queen, enjoy the rides at the annual event.
LCC officials have decided to decrease the size of the new student union building at the South Campus. The decision was made due to student enrollment not increasing by as much as initially projected. Comprised of students from Zapata and other neighboring counties, Laredo Community College plans to build the student union building at the South Campus as part of the $100 million bond that voters approved in May 2014. The project was previously placed on hold pending additional direction. LCC trustee Cynthia Mares said officials will reduce the square footage in half. She could not say how big the building will now be. Mares said the decrease comes after officials projected a bigger jump in student enrollment. The college saw a peak in enrollment in fall 2011, when about 10,050 students were registered. Enrollment then decreased for three consecutive years. The college reported an enrollment of 8,307 in fall 2014. It then jumped to 8,749 in fall 2015 and to 9,176 in fall 2016. Mares said with the leftover savings from the student union building, LCC will consider renovating the Maravillo Gymnasium and the student dormitory. She said the following bond-funded projects will move forward: the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center, the oil and gas institute, the De La Garza building, signage and marquees and the health science center. The projects were on hold pending additional direction.
LAREDO ENERGY ARENA
Los Lonely Boys to perform at Empty Bowls XI event S P ECIAL T O T HE T I ME S
After 10 years of classic rock and rhythm and blues, the South Texas Food Bank board that serves Zapata decided to change the sound of their staple fundraiser event, Empty Bowls XI, which will take place at the Laredo Energy Arena Friday, Aug. 18. This year’s band will be Los Lonely Boys. The announcement was made Wednesday at the LEA by the South Texas Food Bank
Board President Erasmo Villarreal and Empty Bowls Committee chairs Leslie Benavides and Kevin Romo. Empty Bowls has aimed to create awareness about the realities of hunger and to celebrate the generosity of those individuals, businesses and organizations that have impacted the food bank’s mission of feeding the hungry in South Texas. “We wanted to change things Event continues on A10
Cuate Santos / Laredo Morning Times
Directors and administrators of the South Texas Food Bank participated in a press conference Wednesday at the Laredo Energy Arena where they announced that " The Lonely Boys" as the entertainment for Empty Bowls XI set for Friday, August 18, at the LEA.