Kerrville - In the News. . .
The following is reprinted with permission from the Kerrville Daily Times and writer, Alison Beshur.
Area schools make Texas Monthly best list
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Four Kerrville-area schools were named in this year´s Texas Monthly list of the top public schools in the state.
Three schools - Fred H. Tally and Nimitz elementary schools and Ingram Middle School - were recognized in one of five categories: reading, writing, math, science and social studies. One school - Starkey Elementary -
was recognized in two subject areas: math and science.
Last year, Tally and Starkey were the only area schools recognized. Each of those schools was highlighted in only one area of achievement.
The list of "higher-performing schools" was created by the National Center for Educational Accountability. The educational nonprofit analyzed three years of scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, according to an online version of Texas Monthly.
Elementary schools were evaluated by comparing them with other schools around the state. Middle schools and high schools were recognized for their improved scores.
Despite the recognition, these area schools still have "gaps in opportunity." In the areas where these schools were recognized, top comparable schools scored better.
At Ingram Middle School, more than 56 percent of the schools reached the NCEA´s standard of college and career readiness benchmark. At comparable top schools in Texas, nearly 62 percent of students reached the mark, according to NCEA.
That also was the case at Tally, where 50 percent of third-graders, 69 percent of fourth-graders and 63 percent of fifth-graders reached the standard in math. At comparable top schools, 65 percent of third-graders, 74 percent of fourth-graders and 80 percent of fifth-graders reached the benchmark.
At Nimitz, 63 percent of third-graders, 49 percent of fourth-graders and 42 percent of fifth-graders reached the reading mark. At the state´s best schools, 67 percent of third-graders, 60 percent of fourth-graders and 53 percent of fifth-graders reached the mark.
At Starkey, 53 percent of fifth-graders reached the science benchmark, but 74 percent achieved that standard at the state´s best comparable schools.
In math, the gap was not as wide for third- and fourth-graders. Nearly 57 percent of Starkey third-graders achieved the benchmark, while 65 percent of those at the state´s best reached the same standard. In fourth grade, 63 percent of Starkey students reached the mark, while 73 percent of students at the best Texas schools achieved the standard.
About 54 percent of Starkey fifth-graders reached the NCEA´s levels of achievement, while nearly 82 percent of fifth-graders at the state´s best reached the mark.
The following is reprinted with permission from the Kerrville Daily Times and writer,
Gerard MacCrossan.
County's population expected to grow more
By Gerard MacCrossan
The Daily Times
Published January 27, 2006
Kerr County´s official 150th birthday has come and gone. As it reached its sesquicentennial, the county´s population jumped to more than 45,000.
State demographer Steve Murdoch of the University of Texas at San Antonio´s Institute for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research said the most aggressive projections are very likely to be borne out in Kerr County over the next 35 years. If it pans out, Kerr County´s population will reach 59,630 by 2025 and fluctuate up and down to almost 61,000 in the decades following that.
"It´s a Hill Country phenomenon, and Kerr County is at the forefront," Murdoch said Wednesday. "With the aging of the population and impending retirement of the baby boomers, such growth (from retirees´ relocation) is expected to be a major growth. The Hill Country is the area for retirement-related growth in Texas."
With increased population, Kerr County will have to broach issues of change, including additional cultural elements expected by the new residents who often have moved from metropolitan areas, he said.
"New people are not without expectations," he said. "They want service like in the urban areas."
The perception of Kerr County´s population growth is a predominance of retirees. The 2000 census bears out the area´s reputation as a retirement-friendly area - 24.9 percent of the population is older than 65, as compared to 9.9 percent statewide and 12.3 percent of the nation. The higher number of over-65s contrasts with the county´s lower number of young people - 22.7 percent younger than 18 - than either the state (28.2 percent) or nation ( 25.7 percent) as a whole.
Recognized destination
State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran said the retiree influx has changed in the last few years, with Kerr County and its neighbors becoming recognized nationally as a destination to visit and live. The area now competes with recognized retirement communities in places such as Las Vegas, New Mexico and Colorado, he said.
Like many, Hilderbran said he believes economic development efforts are playing a major part in how Kerr County will succeed going into the future.
"We´ve got resources in terms of manpower and leadership," he said. "Once you reach a certain point of the census - 50,000 - it tends to trigger bigger stores coming in, such as Lowe´s."
Some retailers have recognized where Kerr County and similar areas are headed and are positioning themselves already.
Supporting future development
Builder Mike Lowe, president of Kerr Economic Development Foundation, said the proactive change in that organization´s work, including the addition of Guy Overby as a full-time director, is important to Kerr County growing successfully.
"The one thing KEDF needs to concentrate on is manufacturing and light industrial," he said. "We´ve got to build that sector. That´s what´s going to provide the jobs for one of the incomes for these families moving in."
According to Overby, KEDF during one year has gone from sending out five information packets per month to prospective companies looking to move into Kerr County to sending 25 packets.
"We are getting so many of them now that we feel we can land some of them," Lowe said. "The fact that there is a director who directs these inquiries to the right people ... I think it has got out in the business community."
Lowe said the Gateway Retail Development, which he is involved in, is a project that will happen and be a big factor in Kerrville, attracting younger people to work here.
"The gateway development will handle Kerrville´s retail needs for a decade," he said.
Health care´s role
Perhaps Kerrville´s single biggest employment sector is health care and related industries. Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital CEO Pat Murray said that provision has kept up with advances in medical technology and treatment.
"The county is positioned well on a lot of fronts," he said. "From a retail standpoint, the growth in sales tax revenue - that shows Kerrville´s position as a trade center - also applies to the medical community.
"The patient has much more control over their health than 50 years ago," Murray said. "A hospital 50 years ago is very different from today. The intensity of treatment is at a different level."
More treatment these days is handled on an outpatient basis, he said, both in physicians´ offices and at home.
"I think it´s going to be a very exciting future as we try to provide appropriate resources that make sense for our community," Murray said. "Even in next the 30 years, if we gain only 15,000 people, I would not see a huge increase in size of health care institutions."
The presence of three hospitals - SPMH, veterans facility and state mental hospital - which offer complementary service is a positive for Kerr County. Murray said it doesn´t provide any intense competition for the work force more than any other local employers in this area, where 3-percent unemployment is well below the state average.
The most positive changes for the future, Murray said, are the proposals to develop more affordable housing. It will be a change from the periods where working people haven´t had the opportunity to buy homes, because there haven´t been enough available.
Growth outside Kerrville
Kerr County´s smaller city - Ingram - isn´t being left behind with the county´s seemingly unquenchable construction boom. Councilman Ray Lynch, who also is Ingram Volunteer Fire Department Chief, said his community, which serves as the entrance to West Kerr County, has changed almost beyond recognition in his 53 years.
Lynch said although the amount of green space between Kerrville and Ingram almost has completely disappeared, he doesn´t see it getting swallowed up by Kerrville. The incorporated city of Ingram is ahead of the unincorporated east Kerr community of Center Point in developing a wastewater system. Bringing a sewer collection system to Ingram will be the key to a real boom for the city, he said.
The city of Ingram is becoming more citizen-oriented as more residents move in, he said. More residents are taking an interest in municipal affairs, although, he said, he wishes more would turn out to vote.
In his other role, the volunteer fire department is preparing for the area to expand. The subsidies provided by the city of Ingram and other agencies are being used to acquire bigger hoses, and a new pumper truck is being sought in the near future to increase the department´s capabilities.
