Roger Estlack

Fourteen Panhandle non-profits received a total of $107,100 from the Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) Community Investment Fund at a ceremony August 24 at the John C. Drummond Center at the Pantex Plant.

Among this year’s recipients was The Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center, which is headquartered in Amarillo with a branch location in Clarendon.

The Bridge received $5,000 to support technology upgrades. Executive Director Shelly Bohannon said the fund, in part, will help improve communications between the Amarillo office and its satellite locations around the Panhandle.

Now in its seventh year, the CNS Community Investment Fund has awarded a cumulative $1.07 million in grants to 64 nonprofits in the Texas Panhandle.
The Community Investment Fund is a partnership between CNS, the managing and operating contractor of the Pantex Plant, and the Amarillo Area Foundation.

“Pantex is invested in our community, and our partnership with the Amarillo Area Foundation supports local growth and development,” said Pantex Community Investment Advisory Committee Chair Ryan Johnston. “This year marks a significant milestone in giving from CNS, and we are pleased to announce new grants to 14 nonprofits that provide wonderful support to our community.”

“This support means that the variety of nonprofits that serve residents in the priority target areas of basic needs of food, clothing and shelter; children, youth and families; community development; education; and health and wellness are improving our community holistically with CNS funding,” said Sarah Griffin, Amarillo Area Foundation Grants Program Officer. “Over $1 million in grant distributions demonstrates a sincere care for the people who are living, working, and serving in this often-underserved area of our great state of Texas.”

Other recipients this year were: the Eveline’s Sunshine Cottage – $10,000 to support the ESC Program equipping at-risk women through basic needs and education; Faith City Mission – $7,600 to provide for basic needs for the homeless; Martha’s Home – $10,000 to support the Present Needs Future Success Program with basic needs and education for clients; Ronald McDonald House Charities of Amarillo – $8,500 to support the Share a Night Program; the Downtown Women’s Center – $10,000 to support the DWC’s Recovery Program; High Plains Food Bank – $7,500 to support Kids Café; Amarillo Area CASA – $10,000 for travel support for visiting foster children; Cactus Cares Foundation – $5,000 to support the P.O.W.E.R. Program (Protein Outreach with Educational Resources); Make-A-Wish North Texas – $5,500 to provide for wish granting in the Texas Panhandle; Guyon Saunders Resource Center – $10,000 to provide for the Helping the Homeless Program; Texas Ramp Project – $5,500 to support the Amarillo Ramp Project; Family Support Services – $10,000 to support the Overcoming Barriers Program; and Pampa’s Tribute to Woody Guthrie – $2,500 for an updated sound system.

CNS first met with the Amarillo Area Foundation in 2014 to create an innovative and effective method for contributing to the community in a way that would also better engage Pantex employees. Continued conversations led to creation of the Pantex Community Investment Fund in 2015.

“We are honored to be part of the Panhandle community and, as we pass $1 million in giving since the Community Investment Fund began, we are proud of the many ways the fund has made a difference in the lives of our neighbors thanks to the hard work of our non-profit partners,” said Jason Bohne, CNS senior director of Communications.

“Community contributions of this magnitude have a tremendous ripple effect in the lives of countless Texas Panhandle residents,” Griffin said.

“We are truly grateful for this partnership as this combined effort is what leads to change and community improvement.”

Pantex employees who serve on the Community Investment Fund committee are chosen to serve two-year terms to represent their colleagues. Eleven employees participated in 2022.

“By far, my favorite part about the Amarillo Area Foundation’s partnership with CNS was working with the Pantex employees on the Grant Advisory Committee and its leadership,” Griffin said.

“Each year, the committee does a thorough and thoughtful job as they recommend funding nonprofits who are benefiting the Texas Panhandle community.”

Clarendon and Hedley schools have beefed up security measures this year as state officials step up pressure in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting May 24, which killed 19 students and two teachers.

Superintendent Jarod Bellar said while most things haven’t changed at Clarendon CISD, the school has made a few changes and is being more vigilant about campus access.

“Your heart goes out to the people in Uvalde for the tragedy they are having to deal with,” Bellar said. “I feel like some of the stuff coming from Austin is knee jerk reaction but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Some parents have already noticed changes in the way students are picked up and dropped off in the elementary school, particularly classes in the school’s D-Wing. Bellar said those changes were implemented because of how that building is isolated from the main campus.

“We’re just trying to limit access, and we want parents to understand that we’re just trying to take care of their kids,” he said. “Our first responsibility is to take care of those students and staff within our walls.”

Clarendon officials are considering putting phones in all classrooms so teachers will have better access to communications in the event of an emergency. Bellar said the proposed phone system would also be tied into the bell system and could be used for alerts such as severe weather developments.

Parents at this time are also not being allowed to eat with their children in the cafeteria, but Bellar said he hopes to relax that rule as the year progresses.

“I don’t want to be impersonal, but I do want safety to be first and foremost,” he said.

The state performs safety audits of schools every three years; and although Clarendon is not up for a full audit, it has already had some mini-audits and an intruder audit will be coming later this year.

Bellar said someone with TEA will come and test the school’s security in a non-threatening way; and if they can get in, they will see how school personnel react to a stranger in the building.

Bellar himself is checking exterior doors daily and other personnel are checking exterior access points throughout the day.

In Hedley, Superintendent Garrett Bains said officials are doing more of what was being done already and paying close attention to access to the campus.
Bains said school officials are also looking at installing “auto lock” doors throughout campus that are already in Clarendon.

“Right now everybody in the state is trying to beef up security during a supply shortage,” Bains said.

Hedley is due for its three-year safety audit this year, and both superintendents expect the Texas Legislature to make more security requirements next year.

The Hedley School made the state’s ‘A’ list last week when the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released 2022 A–F accountability ratings for districts and campuses.

The state accountability rating was the first to be issued since 2019 due to two years of COVID-related pauses.

Hedley improved their rating from a high B in 2019 to an overall score of 95 this year, and Clarendon CISD maintained the B it received three years ago.

Hedley Superintendent Garrett Bains said the school received an A rating in every domain, including Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps.

“The kids and teachers did an awesome job, and we are very proud of them,” Bains said.

Hedley also received Distinction Designations in six categories – English, Language Arts & Reading (ELAR), Math, Science, Social Studies, Top 25 Comparison in Closing the Gaps, and Top 25 Comparison Post Secondary Readiness.

As a smaller school, Hedley received one rating for its entire district. Clarendon schools received a district rating as well as individual ratings for each campus.

Clarendon CISD received an overall 84 with B ratings in Student Achievement and School Progress and a C in Closing the Gaps. Clarendon High School also had an overall B with B ratings in Student Achievement and School Progress and a C in Closing the Gaps. Clarendon Junior High had a overall high B with an 89 and B ratings in Student Achievement and School Progress and an A in Closing the Gaps. Clarendon Elementary received an overall C and C ratings in all categories.

Clarendon Superintendent Jarod Bellar said he was proud of what the students have done in terms of accountability and said the state is constantly modifying its standards.

“It’s an ever-changing system,” Bellar said. “When they come out with the rules, we have to adjust – sometimes on the fly.”

Bellar also said last year’s fourth graders had never tested before due to COVID, and he said he believed the pandemic had definitely had an impact on the scores.

“This is the most normal year we’ve had since I’ve been here, and now we’re being inundated with safety requirements,” Bellar said.

Going forward both Bellar and Bains said their schools would look at areas for improvement and ways to boost students ahead of next spring’s state tests.

Statewide, 1,195 districts and 8,451 campuses were rated this year, with returns showing promising signs of progress in Texas’ efforts to catch students up academically. Driven by significant gains in student academic growth, 2022 saw 25 percent of districts and 33 percent of campuses improve their letter grade from 2019. Eighteen percent of high-poverty campuses in Texas were rated an A, continuing to prove that demographics do not equal destiny.

“These results show our state’s significant investment in the post-pandemic academic recovery of Texas public school students is bearing fruit,” said Texas Education Commissioner, Mike Morath. “I’m grateful for the driving force behind this year’s success: our teachers and local school leaders. Statewide policy in Texas continues to remain focused on meeting the needs of students, with an accountability system that supports high expectations, robust tutoring supports, rigorous curricular resources, and an investment in evidence-based training for our teachers.”

Established by House Bill 22 during the 85th Texas Legislature, the A–F accountability system provides educators, parents, and communities with a transparent view of the academic performance of Texas public schools based on three domains: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps.

This year, to align with Senate Bill 1365, districts and campuses received an A, B or C rating or were assigned a label of Not Rated: Senate Bill 1365, both overall and in each domain. This Not Rated: Senate Bill 1365 label was applied when the domain or overall scaled score for a district or campus was less than 70. 42 districts and 564 campuses received this label.

To view the 2022 ratings for schools, visit TXschools.gov.

Jeremy Matthew Blackwell, 36, from Clarendon, was sentenced to 21 years in prison August 17 after he pleaded guilty to the first degree felony offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding with the court sitting in Memphis.

“At the time of the plea, this defendant had a couple of other pending indictments in Donley County,” said Inman. “This plea prevents our victims from having to relive the traumatic events of the crimes at a trial, saves Donley County taxpayers the expense of a trial, and puts Blackwell in prison for a couple of decades.”

Blackwell was arrested in Donley County by Sheriff Charles “Butch” Blackburn on March 28, 2022. Blackwell was later indicted by the Donley County Grand Jury on August 15, 2022. Blackwell was also ordered to pay $290 in court costs.

“Blackwell has been nothing but a thorn in the side of the Donley County community for years,” said Caudle following the hearing. “He will not be missed.”

Under Texas law, the nature of Blackwell’s crime means that he must serve fifty percent of the 21-year sentence before even becoming eligible for parole.

The Clarendon Aquatic Center will hold a late-night Bronco Splash this Friday, August 19, following the football scrimmage with Childress. The center will be open from 8 p.m. to midnight, and the price of admission will be lowered to just $2 per person for that event.