Infomaniacs: February 20, 2018 (8:00am)

Bryan ISD School Board Discusses But Does Not Take Action On The Superintendent’s Request For A New Demographer’s Study

Bryan ISD school board members discuss but do not take action on the superintendent’s request to conduct a new demographic study. At Monday’s board meeting (January 13), newly elected member David Stennis was the first to question what the district was getting for almost $57,000 dollars when there is data that is available to the public. Superintendent Ginger Carrabine said the latest demographer’s study showed Bryan ISD had enough facilities to accommodate students through the year 2031. Carrabine also said she wants the demographer’s information to plan for the impact of school vouchers and the possibility of proposed economic development projects bringing more families to the district. Board member Leo Gonzalez wanted to wait for the demographer to start its work until final decisions are made on proposed economic development projects inside the district and state lawmakers taking action on school vouchers. Board member Joel Bryan said was ready to proceed with the demographer’s study. The request will be considered again at the Bryan ISD board’s next meeting. Click HERE to read and download the demographer’s proposal that was presented at the January 13, 2025 Bryan ISD board meeting. Click HERE to read and download the demographer’s study process document that was presented at the January 13, 2025 Bryan ISD board meeting. Click below to hear comments from the January 13, 2025 Bryan ISD board meeting.  

College Station Police Department Adds A Third K-9 Team

The College Station police department has a third K-9 team. Officer David Simmons says Garo and his partner recently hit the streets after four months of training. Garo, who is a two year old Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd mix, joins Ciro and Rico. The K-9 officers assist with article searches, narcotics detection, tracking, and criminal apprehension. Click below to hear officer David Simmons visit with WTAW’s Bill Oliver. Listen to “College Station police department adds a third K-9 team” on Spreaker.

Governor Abbott Was Ready To Fire Texas A&M’s President

Governor Greg Abbott was ready to fire Texas A&M president Mark Welsh. That’s according to a post on the governor’s personal X/Twitter page. Abbott was responding to other social media that revealed permission had been given for A&M employees to participate in a conference that violated the state’s anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) law, also known as SB-17, that was enacted two years ago. Abbott posted “It’s against Texas law and violates the US Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone.” A university spokeswoman told WTAW News “The president does not approve what conferences employees across campus go to.” Welsh sent an e-mail to employees at A&M’s Mays business school after learning of the governor’s social media post. Welsh wrote that the university “will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference”. Welsh said “This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB-17”. The e-mail, sent to WTAW News by the university, said: “Earlier this evening I released the following statement on social media in response to criticism we received for approving folks to attend and present at a doctoral recruiting conference that limited attendees (potential doctoral students) by race and other factors:” “Texas A&M does not support any organization, conference, process or activity that excludes people based on race, creed, gender, age or any other discriminating factor. The intent of SB-17 is very clear in that regard. We will continue to honor both the letter and the intent of the law.” “While the proper process for reviewing and approving attendance at such events was followed, I don’t believe we fully considered the spirit of our state law in making the initial decision to participate. This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB-17, and, as a result, we will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference. Texas A&M faculty and staff attend hundreds, if not thousands, of conferences and other events during the course of each academic year. We need to be sure that attendance at those events is aligned with the very clear guidance we’ve been given by our governing bodies.”