President John gonged the bell at 12:05 that brought us to our feet to start today’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Wichita Falls. David Hartman led us with a wonderful invocation – thank you Dave for your special words.
Arnold Oliver came to the podium to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and sing “The Band Played On”. Can anyone remember this song? Maybe Arnold spent too many long days with the highway department.
We were pleased to have several guests today: Cori, Glenn Tarter’s daughter; Dee Ann Martin, Noros Martin’s wife; and Cameron Turnquist, guest of Austin Green. Cameron will soon be a member of our Club. Thank you all for being at our meeting and we hope you will be asked to come back soon.
President John asked if there were any Sunshine Reports today. Austin Green mentioned his cousin Walter, a resident in Presbyterian Manor recently fell and broke his hip and is hospitalized in Wichita Falls. He is doing well, but please remember this gentleman in your prayers for a speedy recovery.
There were no announcements today. Several Rotarians stepped forward to deposit money for the Brag Bucket Colton Heinrich was carrying around. We are so proud to have so many Rotarians sharing with us about their friends, family and loved ones regarding special occasions in their lives.
Colton remained at the front and asked Austin Green to join him. Austin has completed his “new member” tasks and was presented his Rotary Blue Badge. Congratulations to you Austin and it is nice to have you as a member of our Club. We hope you will continue to enjoy your association with our Club and with Rotary.
Josh Phillips then came forward to introduce our program. We were pleased and honored to have our very own fellow Rotarian, Dr. Donny Lee, WFISD Superintendent as our speaker today. The interesting title of his presentation was “Honey We Shrunk the Kids”.
This presentation was highly informative and shows where WFISD has been in the past and where it is now. The school population is not what it was in the past. Some reasons for that are:
1. Recent widespread illnesses like COVID
2. Students can be home schooled.
3. More private schools in the area
Beginning in 1990, the WFISD population started declining in 2002, and enrollment was at its peak. Therefore, the school administration started looking for ways to help better balance the budget – less brick-and-mortar structures – less expense.
Fewer buildings and classrooms were not the needed as attendance declined. Less students meant less teachers, administrative personnel, and support staff were needed. Thus, saving the taxpayers money!
Yes, there have been some changes made (closing 2 high schools and several others) but this seems to be positive for our community and our young people attending WFISD.
Dr. Lee showed several photos of the two newest high schools. They look wonderful and are a great educational facility for our community. I wonder if it is too late to go back and renew my education skills. WFISD Graduate of 1959.
Thank you, Dr. Lee, for this exceptional, updated information about our Wichita Falls Independent School District! Thank you for being a valuable member of the Rotary Club of Wichita Falls.
We then closed the meeting at 1:00 with the 4 Way Test.