The proposed idea of Houston High School owning a student-run farm as curriculum in the agriculture department is moving forward after a public forum March 19 in the school’s cafeteria.
HHS agriculture teacher and FFA adviser Josh Roehrs said the meeting was attended by a cross section of the community that included members of the Texas County Fair Board and ag department advisory committee, as well as past, present and prospective school board members, representatives of various organizations and government agencies and other interested area residents.
“It was all positive, and everyone was very excited about it,” Roehrs said. “It was mainly folks who wanted to see what they could do to help. There were a few questions that came up, but it was nothing we hadn’t already thought about and isn’t already being ironed out.
“I was pleasantly surprised and I think it was a great turnout for the first meeting. I’m surprised at how folks have come out of the woodwork and offered help.”
Discussion at the meeting included possible school farm locations.
“There were suggestions of where we might buy land from people who don’t necessarily have any listed for sale right now,” Roehrs said. “And several people from different organizations said would like to help here and there if they could, and a couple folks who said they worked for government entities said there were some grants out there that we could possibly be in line for.
“A lot of things came out, and that’s what we were looking for.”
Ideally, the school farm would be located within close proximity to the vocational-agricultural building on the west side of HHS.
“Some land we’re looking at and that people suggested is pretty close,” Roehrs said. “The closer to the school the better – if we could walk across the street, that would be excellent – but a short bus ride is doable.”
Houston Schools Superintendent Scott Dill said he and HHS Principal Charlie Malam have had several discussions with Roehrs and are now focusing on how the farm would actually fit into every-day life at the school.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the community and that’s reflected within the school district and school board as well,” Dill said. “Mr. Malam and I have talked to Mr. Roehrs, and our concerns at this point are less financial than the logistics of the whole thing, like instructional hours, ensuring students have good access to the rest of their schedule and whether additional personnel will be necessary. With regard to the acquisition of land, I think we’re going to be able to move forward on that – hopefully within the next year or two at the latest – but the larger side is making it work within our school system.
“We want this to augment and supplement what we already do, not supplant.”
Roehrs said a second public meeting would soon be scheduled, and that he will speak to the school board again about the school farm proposal at the April 14 meeting.
“Mr. Dill wants me to talk to the board about how curriculum will line out with it,” he said. “After I field some questions from them, I’ll try to schedule another pubic meeting after that.”
Roehrs said he hopes to have land purchased in time for the 2015-’16 school year.
“There’s nothing set in stone yet, but we’re looking at acquiring some land before the first of the school year,” he said. “Naturally, it still has to all be approved by the board, but that’s what we’d like to do and that’s my personal goal. It won’t yet be fully incorporated into the curriculum – because the class schedule is already set for next year – but we would begin working on things and see about getting it into the curriculum in the 2016-’17 school year.”
Obviously, one of the main concerns about getting the school farm started is funding.
“It always boils down to finances – and rightfully so,” Roehrs said. “We need to make sure this is something we can support and will be sustainable over the years. The initial start-up cost is one thing, but keeping it going can sometimes be the pickle. We have to make sure we have all of our eggs in the basket before we go to market.”
Dill said the next step is to make sure the school board is behind the idea.
“We’ll talk to the board and make sure they’re OK with us at least investigating options in terms of acquisition of property,” he said. “They will obviously have the final say-so on anything we do, and they control the purse strings as well.”
Roehrs said he is proceeding as if the school farm will soon become reality.
“It’s definitely moving forward,” he said. “Mr. Dill is pretty confident the board will approve it, and he’s excited about it. At this point in time we just want folks to spread the word and talk about it. There are a lot of people who understand how important the ag industry is to Texas County and Houston, but there are some people who really don’t. I’m hoping to get with the USDA people and put together some hard numbers to illustrate the impact the ag industry has here.
“If ag would wither away, that would impact everyone in this county and I want people to fully understand how important it is, not only for the county, but for their business as well.”
We’ll talk to the board and make sure they’re OK with us at least investigating options in terms of acquisition of property. They will obviously have the final say-so on anything we do, and they control the purse strings as well.”