News

As the nation continues to shelter in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is urging Texans to shop online or practice strict social distancing measures for in-store purchases during the sales tax holiday for emergency preparation supplies. The primary intent of the law that established this holiday, which begins at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, and ends at midnight on Monday, April 27, is to help Texans prepare for events like hurricanes and turbulent spring storms.

A side-benefit of the Shelter in Place orders we’re currently living through is that families are seeing more time gathered around the dinner table than we have in the past three or four decades. It would benefit us to take advantage of this unusual blessing.

Forney ISD and the Fine Arts Department is excited to welcome Cody Newman as the new director of bands at Forney High School. Newman has served as the Poteet High School director of bands for the last 9 years, where he has earned the UIL Sweepstakes award each year, been a consistent qualifier to the UIL State Marching Contest, was a 2017 finalist in the Texas Music Educators Association Honor Band, and placed 5th overall in the 2017 UIL State Marching Championships.

Classes may be a little different these days with Forney ISD teachers working virtually with their students, but the District’s outstanding teachers are still working hard to make sure their students continue to get the education and attention they deserve.

For the sixth straight year, Forney ISD has been honored with the SupportMusic Merit Award from The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM).

In the midst of our current charge to socially distance ourselves and stay at home, many people feel lonely or are simply unable or too scared to go out, even for necessities. Jeremy Prather, Campus Pastor of Lake Pointe Forney, wants you to know that you don’t have to weather this storm alone.

This week Forney ISD took another step toward creating an in-house police department by hiring Joseph Sanders as the Director of Safety & Security. Sanders will transition to Chief of Police once the department creation process is completed with TCOLE.

Forney’s first-ever paid Fire Chief, Chief Rick Townsend, is retiring this month. His leadership has allowed the Forney Fire Department to evolve with the changing times in ways best suited to serve the continually growing population of our town.

*I have often been asked about this college, and here are some bits of information I have recently gleaned. They are correct to the best of my knowledge.*

At the second emergency City Council meeting to have been called for the City of Forney within the last week, Mayor Penn and the Council heard from Forney Police Chief Mica Lunt. At this March 23 meeting, the Chief strongly urged Council to consider adopting a Shelter in Place Order in light of the current rapid spread of COVID-19. As the rate of confirmed cases multiplies exponentially, local, state, and federal government race to put protective measures in place with hopes of slowing the coverage of the virus. Enacting a Shelter in Place Order will allow the City to assist in reducing the spread of the disease while still providing resources to aid in response to the pandemic.

During these unprecedented times in our nation and world, many are worried not only about the health impact of COVID-19, but also about the economic hardships this will present moving forward. Over the last two weeks, countless businesses and organizations have temporarily closed their doors to the public, and this trend continues under the directive of Texas Governor Greg Abbott who stated that businesses such as restaurants, bars, and cafes could no longer serve eat-in customers.