Lake Highlands People (Newspaper) - June 30, 2006, Dallas, Texas REAL ESTATE South of the border real estate risks FRIDAY JUNE so 2006 District Seeks New Leader Kieker serves in interim plans to apply By Sarah P Henry Staff Writer The Richardson school dis has named Patti Kieker interim superintendent upon the resignation of cur rent Superintendent Jim Nelson this week and the district has set the ball rolling on a nationwide search for a permanent replacement through Harold Webb Associates an educational executive search firm based in Austin Kieker currently the deputy superintendent takes over the job with knowledge of its responsi after serving as see on to Nelson Through Harold Webb Associates a profile describing the ideal candi date for district superin tendent will be developed and Kieker said if she believes she fits that profile she plans to apply for the position The bottom line is I love this district and the com munity she said I have a strong commitment to the children and families of this community I feel like it would be quite an honor to lead this district While serving as interim superintendent Kieker said she plans to focus on chil dren in kindergarten through second grade to be sure theyre receiving a solid foundation in reading and mathematics She also said the district is working to reduce the performance disparity among student groups at the junior high and high school level We want to make sure we can close the achievement gap between our Anglo stu dents and our other stu dents Kieker said We want to raise the student performance for all of our kids Kieker has worked in the Richardson school district for 32 years She started out as a special education teacher at Westwood Junior High and Big Springs Elementary to be named deputy superintendent in 2004 Karen Ellis school board vice president and chair of the search committee for Nelsons successor said the search for such a high pro file position usually takes three to five months Board Sec SCHOOL Page a 00104 WEEKEND Its a bird its a plane IB VOL STAR PHOTO ERICKSON Down in Flames WRIGHT AMENDMENT Mayors Airport Deal Not Done Congress to take time amend local solution to Wright Staff Writer On June 15 Dallas Fort Worth American Airlines and Southwest Airlines reached a joint agreement to repeal the 1979 federal law that restricts flights at Love Field ending decades of feuding between American the nations largest airline and Southwest the most successful The focus now turns to Congress which has the power to overturn the Wright Amendment and pass federal legislation that supports the local agreement But Rep Jeb said that is a distant possibility Although Hensarling said he respected the efforts of local leaders to bring everyone on board that doesnt mean the federal legislature will pick up the compromise verbatim There is a low probability that what comes out will look like the compromise he said Hensarling along with Rep Sam Johnson intro legislation in 2005 that called for the immediate repeal of the Wright Amendment He is still concerned that period for full repeal of Wright set by the compromise is not a good deal for the I have a lot of respect for the compromise but respect is not full embrace he said Eight years is still a very long time Jeb Hensarling For Hensarling the main concern is that the solution lowers North Texas airfares The local compromise proposes imme diate which means that airlines can sell tick ets for layover flights from Love Field to destinations outside of the Wright restrictions However before he signs off on federal legislation Hensarling said he needs to be sure that provision will bring down costs for travelers North Texans pay onethird See Gayden Departs LH Football Coach ends stint to be Abilene ISD athletic director By Scott Faml Staff Writer Backed by the Wildcat Wall of Fame and surrounded by more than a hundred supporters Lake Highlands school officials pre sented Jerry Gayden athletic director and head football coach with a few gifts and plenty of praise at a farewell reception Sunday A summation of several speeches given would be that you cant speil Gayden without an L and an H Gayden announced his resig nation May 22 to take the ath director position for the Abilene ISD He leaves after a coaching career that saw him rise from the jun ior high ranks to area athletic Texas where Jerry is the new Abilene ISD athletic director He leaves career at Lake Highlands Junior High and coordinator He has been ath High School in 1968 and director and head football McMurry College in 1972 He where Gayden 55 is an Abilene native graduating from Abilene See GAYDEN Page WEEKEND UI think she is an exacting highly disciplined demanding ambitious person who doesnt necessarily take the time for all the nice social lubricants that help make graceful and f on playing fashion editor Miranda Priestly in Economic Gateway Opens to Vickery Meadows LH Park Lane groundbreaking to bring residential retail office space An architect mode of the new Park Lane development was on display for the groundbreaking Friday By Bruce Felps Staff Writer Ceremonial gold shovels glinted in the sunlight and smiles flashed among the assembled development officials and city dignitaries who at the groundbreaking event that marked the start of construc tion on the com plex at Park Lane near the DART station The new Park Lane devel by Greenville Avenue to the east Blackwell Street to the south Park Lane to the north and Central Expressway to the west will likely total more than 1 million square feet of space on 33 acres The developers Harvest Partners staged the ground breaking June 23 to intro duce Whole Foods as the grocery anchor of the million complex The event also served as the unveiling of Valencia Group as the hotel anchor which will have a facility and The Sports as the sports and fitness center anchor tenant which will occupy 70000 square feet The city of Dallas granted tax increment financing dis status to Harvest Partners The complex is estimated to generate more than million of new tax revenue for the city in terms of infrastructure improve ments in and around the development Harvest Partners also worked in tan dem with the Vickery Meadow Improvement District and will contribute million toward housing to be built in the area Karl the citys director of economic devel characterized the Park Lane development as a turning point in upgrading the area while maintaining residential space for lower income families LANE Page Piano Coordinator New LH Coach Familiarity with school district an asset for new Wildcats football coach By Scott Staff Writer Scott Smith knows plenty about Lake Highlands from his coaching tenure at Piano Senior High School He knows plenty about the rest of the ath district too which made him a prime candidate for the vacant Wildcats head football coach position A search committee com posed of Richardson ISO and Lake Highlands par ents selected Smith as the schools new athletic nator and football coach over the weekend Smith who served as Pianos defensive coordinator the past seven years accepted the position and attended the orien tation Tuesday He met with the Lake Highlands coaches Wednesday and hoped to meet WEATHER Partly team members during the week around the school Lake Highlands is one of the premier coaching jobs in Texas To be considered for the job and then to be chosen for it is a deep honor Smith said Im going to do my best to continue the tradition thats here Smith replaces Jerry Gayden who served at for 34 years the last 11 as head football coach and athletic coordinator administrators selected 12 finalists from the pool of more than 60 appli cants Three Lake Highlands parents Kevin Rabe Bryan McCrory and Willie Jefferson then consulted with the staff and Principal Dr Bob Iden to See COACH Page I Mostly Sumy Party
