Filing ends at 5:00 pm on February 14, 2025 at the City of Lytle office, 14916 Main St. Positions expiring May 1 are: Districts 1, 2 and 3 currently being held by Aldermen Aguirre (1), Hughes (2) and Emery (3). Filings so far for a place on the ballot are Richard Hughes for District 2 and David Emery for District 3, as of Tuesday morning, Feb. 4. The City of Lytle operates with a Mayor-Council form of government. The council consists of five Aldermen that each serve a single member district. The City Council’s primary duty is policy making. The council identifies the needs of the city’s residents and provides programs to meet the changing requirements of the community and measure the effectiveness of ongoing services in the city. See qualifications for becoming a Council member at lytletx.org. Currently serving are : Ruben Gonzalez-Mayor; Miguel Aguirre-Alderman, District 1; Richard Hughes-Alderman, District 2; David Emery-Alderman, District 3; Michael Rodriguez- Alderman, District 4; and Matthew Martinez- Alderman, District 5.
Nine more days to file for City of Devine council February 14 deadline The City of Devine will be calling for a mayoral and city alderman election to be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Positions currently held by Butch Cook, Mayor and Michael Hernandez (District 2) and Debbie Randall (District 5) are expiring. Filing so far are: Butch Cook for Mayor, Hal Lance, Jr. for District 5 and Michael Hernandez for District 2. Deadline to file for a position is Friday, February 14th by 5:00 p.m. at city hall. All voters can vote in the mayoral election. You have to live in the district you want to run for. And you must live in the district to vote on a district race.
Feb. 14 deadline to file for Devine ISD trustee election Devine ISD will be calling for a school board election for District 2 and the two At-Large positions to be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Positions currently held by Carl Brown (District 2), Renee Frieda (At-Large) and Chris Davis (At-Large) are expiring. So far only Chris Davis has filed for election, At-Large position, and Carl Brown (District 2). Deadline to file for a position is Friday, February 14th by 5:00 p.m. at the Superintendent’s Office.
Alvin L. Mann III, a junior at Devine High School, placed 3rd at the AG Mechanics Metal Welding Competition in Laredo, Texas on January 3rd. Pictured are his friend Robert Matthew Pequino, Alvin L. Mann III and Orlando Nava, instructor.
Devine High School FFA Advisors Adrianna Segura and Chad Saunders congratulate Harper Parson on his American FFA Degree.
Harper C. Parson, class of 2023 Devine High School Salutatorian is the first Devine FFA member in over a decade to earn the coveted American FFA Degree; Harper has set a new standard of excellence within his chapter and community obtaining the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization. The gold standard. The American FFA Degree shows an FFA member’s dedication to his or her chapter and state FFA association. It demonstrates the effort FFA members apply toward their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career. American FFA Degree recipients show promise for the future and have gone above and beyond to achieve excellence. Harper is currently a member of Texas A&M University class of 2027. He is pursuing a Bachelors of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in Agricultural Economics and Political Science with the ultimate goal of becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. While attending college he competes with Fightin’ Texas Aggies Meat Judging Team ‘25 (FTAMJ ‘25), is a TAMU Animal Science Ambassador and was recently named the…
The One Act Play Cast and Crew all did a great job!
On Saturday, December 14 the Devine Middle School One Act Play cast and crew performed “The Great Pandemonium” by Pat Cook in Carrizo Springs for the District One Act Play contest competition. They brought home first place for the second year in a row, as well as a slew of other acting and crew awards. Best Actor- Nolan Beaty Honorable Mention Cast- Isabella Duron and Annie Dugosh All Star Cast- Dakota Nighswander, Madelynn Mitchell, Cole Maxwell, and Griffin Blouin Best Crew Member- Riley Hennessy Best Tech Crew
By Anton Riecher A reexamination of the controversial four-day school week proposal is anticipated for the Jan. 20 Devine ISD school board meeting, school board president Nancy Pepper announced during the board’s regular meeting Monday. “At that time we will consider all options and make a decision on how we will move forward,” Pepper said. “Please know that the board is committed to doing what is best for both students and staff as we deliberate on this important issue.” Pepper abstained from casting a tie-breaking vote at the school board’s Dec. 4 special session on the issue. “I chose to abstain because the board is currently divided on this issue with varying opinions about its potential benefits and challenges,” Pepper said Monday. “I felt it was important to strive for full board support before moving forward with such a significant decision.” Trustees Chris Davis, Carl Brown and Henry Moreno voted in support of the shorter school week with Davis offering the motion. Renee Frieda, Keri James and Alixana Buvinghausen opposed the measure. Nearly 800 school districts nationally have shifted to the shorter week, principally as a means of recruiting teachers, saving money and boosting student attendance. Research varies on whether the reduced week translates into academic progress for students. Speakers both pro and con took advantage of the public comments portion of the Monday night agenda to make their views known. Teacher Emily Sadler argued that faculty is “overwhelmed, overworked, over stressed and what feels like unappreciated.” “Teachers are going to school early, staying late, going to their classrooms on the weekends or taking work home,” Sadler said. “When teachers do this it takes time away from our own families because we’re taking care of other people’s children who we love just as much.” Moving to a shorter school week would help “relieve some stress,” she said. Teacher Melissa Gutierrez noted that 108 school districts in Texas have switched to the four-day schedule with another 15 districts adopting a hybrid schedule that utilizes the shorter schedule for at least a portion of the school year. “As of last August only one Texas school had made the transition back to a five-day week,” Gutierrez said. Teacher Rhonda Shelton told the board that districts adopting the four-day week report have reported improvements in morale among its educators. “Right now morale is low,” she said. “A reduction in teacher turnover is a critical benefit at a time when retaining quality eductors is more important than ever.” Teacher Kari Davis said she was also speaking as a parent with children attending Devine ISD. “I want to stay here as a teacher,” she said. “I want my kids to be proud of being here. We need to keep the good solid teachers. They have several places they can go in this close area that would give them a different workload with a four-day work week.” In other business, architect Bob Shelton updated the board on progress on capital improvement projects included in an $11.255 million bond issue approved by voters in 2023. “In early October we did our final design reviews with the staff members at each campus,” Shelton said. All construction bids for the various campuses are due by Jan. 16. “At that point we will know the true project costs,” Shelton said.
Devine Lion’s Club President Lewis Stroud and DHS Principal Juan Gonzalez with students of the month Logan Davis and Oakley Malone. The Devine Lion’s Club meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at Triple C. Contact Lewis Stroud if you would like to join.
Devine High School students Oakley Malone and Logan Davis were honored as Students of the Month at a recent Devine Lions Club meeting. Both are seniors at DHS. Oakley Malone Oakley has participated and excelled in Devine’s athletic and band programs all four years. She started out being on the Varsity tennis team as a freshman, and has now officially been given the title of the girls captain for her senior year. Her sophomore year she moved up to Varsity and was a part of the starting five. Devine’s basketball program has been very successful and now since there are 7 seniors, we’re having a fund and goofy season, honoring our favorite guy, Coach J. For community involvement she recently was inducted into NHS, where she will serve community service hours. Outside of school, she owns her own business of permanent jewelry, which she started this past May and greatly enjoyed. “Although I haven’t decided what college I want to commit to, I have an idea of what I would like to do in my future. I’d like to major in communications and get a four year bachelor’s degree. Then, I want to get my future degree in Technical Writing, preferably within a medical or scientific study. In between my studies I would also like to further my business, whether it’s moving it to an online business or doing annual pop-ups,” said Malone She is the daughter of Megan Martinez. Logan Davis Logan is ranked number four in the senior class. He is a member of NHS, student council, Youth Alive and FFA. He has also been a student trainer for three years and head trainer for two of those. “I will be attending A&M University in the Fall of 2025, to study Kinesiology. After I graduate, I plan to become an Athletic Trainer and eventually go to PT school and open my own clinic,” Davis said. He is the son of Chris and Kari Davis.
Ms. Madison Pike is pictured with 8th graders Collier Paige and Urijah Thompson, whose project was to clean up Devine.
Devine eighth graders Collier Paige and Urijah Thompson are set on cleaning up Devine for their FCCLA project this year. On November 13th the duo held a trash clean-up for the FCCLA chapter at the road leading to our local Walmart. Paige stated, “This road always has trash along it and looks terrible. I thought it should be the first place we started with our project.” FCCLA members, advisor Linsey Outlaw and another parent volunteer helped to clean up four large bags of trash. Paige and Thompson next set out to teach Devine’s younger students about the importance of not littering and why recycling is important. On December 11th, the DMS students presented to 81 third and fourth graders in Ms. Pike’s Science class. The boys created a slideshow with facts about pollution and some effects that it has on our planet, the different types of pollution, and asked the younger students where they see this locally and beyond. Paige and Thompson reached out to Don’t Mess with Texas for help with their speech. They utilized educational materials on the site for this presentation. To get the third and fourth graders thinking about how they could help with this problem, the boys asked them to create posters about littering on the intermediate campus. These were put up around the school by Ms. Pike to remind all the students to clean up any litter they see and to keep Devine Intermediate looking beautiful!
Devine Lion’s Club recognizes Students of the Month for November. Pictured are: Kellen Nixon, Juan Gonzales, student Tate Wisenbaker, Lewis Stroud, and student Savannah Parker, and Bill Herring.
DHS Student of the Month: Savannah Parker School and Community Involvement: My involvement in school and the community is a huge part of my life. I stay active by playing sports, which not only keeps me fit but also teaches me teamwork and discipline. My time in the FFA gave me a chance to develop my skills of leadership and learn more about agriculture, which is really important to me. I volunteer whenever I can, either helping out at events or participating in community service projects. These experiences have helped me build strong connections and make a positive impact within my community. Future Plans In the future I plan to take flight classes and acquire my private pilot’s license. Once I have my license, I aim to work for a company like UPS or Amazon, delivering packages. This career path excites me because it combines my passion for aviation with the opportunity to play a crucial role in logistics and delivery services. I’m looking forward to the adventure and responsibility that comes with being a pilot.
Devine seventh grader Kamden Paige is setting a goal to help our local Devine Animal Control shelter this year for his FCCLA project titled, “Give a Pet a Home”. Last week, he organized a donation drive at Devine Middle School for the most needed items the shelter is in need of. To generate interest, he was given permission by Mrs. Darnell to offer an incentive for the grade level that donated the most items. At the end of the week, the drive garnered 127 items and the 7th and 8th graders tied! Paige donated the items on Monday, November 25th. He has also created a board that is placed at Triple C Steakhouse in Devine with pictures and biographies of available pets for adoption. Paige plans to update it every other week, as required, to keep it current for those looking to add a pet to their family. When asked why he chose this for his project, he stated, “Because I wanted to help animals get adopted. I’m an animal lover and want them all to have a home.”
By Anton Riecher With a decision required by Dec. 5, the Devine school board tabled action on moving to a four-day school week for the 2025-2026 school calendar with plans for a called meeting in the near future. In the face of opposition from board member Renee Frieda and a quorum of only five members present for the Monday meeting, the board opted to table action until a full board could be present. Frieda cited a lack of research on the impact on families with both parents working for her opposition. She and others also expressed concern about how the change in schedule might affect the learning routine for kindergarten and elementary students.
“I still don’t think we did our due diligence with the people who I think are the most negatively impacted,” she said. However, a motion by Frieda to stick with a five-day school week for the coming school year died for lack of a second. More than 2,100 public schools in 25 states have switched to a four-day school week, often in hopes of recruiting teachers, saving money and boosting attendance, researchers estimate. Rural schools facing significant teacher shortages have led the trend, choosing to take off Mondays and Fridays to give employees and students a three-day weekend. To make up for the lost day of instruction, school officials typically tack time onto the remaining four days. District Superintendent Todd Grandjean recommended moving to the four-day schedule, citing the need to attract and retain qualified teaching talent as the primary advantage. “What we came down to was, in the end, it is a focus on attracting highly qualified talent and retaining the teachers that we have,” Grandjean said. “That in itself will have a positive impact on our students.” Consequences with regard to students remain largely undetermined, he said. “In the beginning, student performance, student attendance and student success were looked at,” Grandjean said. “We were unable to determine whether or not that had a positive or negative growth cycle.” The district has focused on the La Vernia and Bandera school districts in its research on implementing a four-day week. “My recommendation is to approve the four-day work week and then for you to ask us (staff) to prepare a 2025-2026 proposed academic calendar,” Grandjean said. Frieda countered that the board is sworn to make decisions “on the basis of what is in the best interest of the kids, not parents or teachers.” “While I can see that attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers absolutely benefits kids, at the core, this is an experiment that we don’t yet know the impact it would have on the kids,” she said. Some of the most important components of early education is consistency and routine, Frieda said. “When you’re teaching fundamentals to kids and they have three-day breaks instead of two-day breaks what kind of loss to we have as far as consistency,” she said. She also expressed concern that a longer school day for younger students might mean instruction time sacrificed to facilitate more athletics and nap periods. Responding to a question from the audience about whether the problems for parents and their work schedules board president Nancy Pepper said that district moving to a four-day week often compensate with special programs. Unfortunately, those districts report that over time participation in those programs drop to near zero, she said. Frieda said she grew up in a low-income family with five children and that “it would have been very problematic for my parents had they not been in school five days a week.” “I’m raising my kids not in a low-income family and it would have been very problematic for me to determine how we would handle childcare when my child was younger,” she said. The only solution available would have been to move the child to a different school district, Frieda said. Other members of the board said that the need to attract qualified teachers remained a powerful incentive to move to the four-day week. “We have core positions that we can’t fill where people are going to the districts around us with four-day weeks even though our pay is right up there with those,” board member Chris Davis said. Pepper said that of the two missing board members – Carl Brown and Henry Moreno – one indicated support for moving to the reduced week for staffing reasons while the other remains uncommitted. No date was set for the special meeting needed to decide the issue.
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