Gov. George Bush appointed San Angelo businessman Pierce Miller and reappointed Judge Mary Bacon to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice this spring. 

Bacon was reappointed to her unexpired term after a Texas Supreme Court ruling was issued which permitted a member of the judiciary to serve on the Board. She is currently a visiting judge in Harris County. She previously was appointed Associate Judge of the 24th (Family) District Court in 1981 and also served on the Juvenile Board for many years. Appointed to the bench of the 338th (Criminal) District Court in 1983, Bacon was returned to that position for four elections until she retired in 1998. She is chair of the Board’s Community Justice Assistance, Parole and State Jail Divisions Committee.

Miller was apppointed to former Chairman Allan Polunsky’s unexpired term. He is managing partner of VIP Livestock Co., a family partnership with ranching interest in Crockett County. He is also president of Moleo Gas Corp. and chairman of the National Sheep Industry Improvement Center, a USDA-appointed board.

He has served in several state and national ranching and agricultural organizations, including the Texas Food & Fiber Commission, the Texas Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initiatives, and the American Sheep Industry Association. He was also active in banking in San Angelo and Fort Worth, holding a degree from the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking, Southern Methodist University. 

As a member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Miller serves on the Support Operations Committee.

Judge Mary Bacon is sworn in as a member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice by Board Chairman A. M. "Mac" Stringfellow during the recent Huntsville meeting.
 
 

Pierce Miller

Successful toy project to expand to more cities for holidays 2000

Plans are underway to expand a successful toymaking project that allows TDCJ offenders to make Christmas toys for needy children. A partnership between TDCJ, TCI, WSD, the Salvation Army and supporting businesses made this 1999 joint project a reality at the suggestion of Carole Young, vice chair of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.

Last year wooden toys were cut and assembled through a WSD short course at the Ellis Unit furniture factory. TCI transported the toys to the Hutchins State Jail where volunteer offenders painted them. The Salvation Army picked the toys up from Hutchins and distributed them to children of offenders in the Dallas area.

The program will be expanded this year to include Houston and San Antonio, with additional units selected to participate in the project. 

Units selected were based on geographic location and the location of TCI furniture factories, WSD mill and cabinetmaking programs, and WSD painting and decorating classes. Donations of materials are being sought from free world businesses and merchants. 

Wooden toy construction will involve WSD students at the Beto, Lewis and Ramsey I units, while toy painting will be done by Windham students at the Hutchins and Woodman state jails and at the Estelle Unit. The Salvation Army will pick up finished toys and distribute them to needy children in the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio areas.

A Texas House Select Committee on the Windham School District has been established by Rep. Patrick Haggerty, chairman of the Committee on Corrections to study WSD programs and issues. Rep. David Lengefeld (D-Hamilton) has been appointed committee chairman. Other members are Rep. Ray Allen (R-Grand Prairie), Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. (D-Houston), Rep. Dan Ellis (D-Livingston), Rep. Pat Haggerty (R-El Paso) and Rep. Todd Staples (R-Palestine).

The first meeting of the Select Committee was held in February, with Dr. Tony Fabelo, executive director of the Criminal Justice Policy Council, presenting an overview of WSD. The committee also heard testimony from TDCJ Executive Director Wayne Scott, Burt Ellison of the Texas Workforce Commission, and Joe Wisnoski, coordinator of School Finance and Fiscal Analysis for the Texas Education Agency.

Fabelo’s report was first in a series developed as the Criminal Justice Policy Council conducts an evaluation of WSD mandated by the Legislature. Future reports will be issued examining whether an increase in educational achievement in prison helps reduce recidivism and whether offenders get jobs after their release in occupations related to training provided by WSD.

The Select Committee also met in April in Gatesville to tour WSD facilities at the Murray Unit and to hear a report by Fabelo concerning the number of offenders who increase academic achievement during incarceration. About 20 people participated in the tour, speaking to students and teachers about the programs. The female offenders praised their teachers and described the positive changes being made in their lives as a result of the education classes.

During the hearing, committee members heard Fabelo’s report on educational achievement of offenders in WSD programs. He said the Council’s study involved 32,020 offenders released during the fiscal year 1997-98. The study measured the educational gain of offenders during incarceration by looking at increases in their educational achievement (EA) scores. The study also examined the attainment of specific educational goals such as progressing from nonreader to reader.

"Given policy context and operational constraints, the WSD performs well in key educational indicators," Fabelo said. "Windham selects offenders with the greatest need for participation — and does a good job of this."

The study also said Windham students gained an average of 1.5 grade levels during their incarceration. The average hours of participation for offenders in educational programs were 604 hours. Nonreaders advanced an average of 1.5 grade levels in 984 hours, while functionally illiterate offenders advanced 1.7 grade levels in 755 hours.

"Looking at the hours within which Windham has to work — and the difficulty of this population — my judgment is that they have done a fairly good job," Fabelo said.

Additional committee meetings are scheduled for June 20 and Aug. 29.

Tony Fabelo

DaimlerChrysler Training Centers have been training WSD instructors in technological advances in the automotive and diesel industry. Instructors received updated Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) training in areas such as brakes, steering and suspension, fuel injection, electrical diagnosis, and others. While most classes were held in Houston or Dallas, others were conducted in San Antonio, Harlingen and Midland.

"Windham’s goal is to bring the best training to its students," said Jerry Bernhardt, director of WSD’s Career and Technology Education (CTE) programs. "To accomplish this, WSD must find appropriate industry training for its instructors. We appreciate the assistance of DaimlerChrysler in providing the technician training at no charge to WSD. This is the same training that DaimlerChrysler dealer technicians receive throughout Texas."

"Information from this class will greatly enhance Windham’s auto transmission program," said instructor Luke Ward of the Boyd Unit. "This will help put our students on the leading edge of this industry."

"The training was excellent," instructor Jose Cruz said. "I gained a lot of knowledge and service skills that will be useful — not only for me, but also for the students I am teaching in the prison system."

Industry training at the DaimlerChrysler Center in Houston includes (far left) WSD instructor Craig Stanzel of the Ramsey I Unit. Stanzel and other Windham teachers joined industry technicians and mechanics in this training.