Home Care In Fair Play, SC

March 29, 2023 524 PM

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MARFA — Last week, Marfa High School students traveled around the state to represent the Marfa Shorthorns in state one-act play and science fair competitions.

The UIL bi-district one-act play competition took place last Wednesday. Marfa ISD placed as an alternate play, meaning if Rankin, Iran and Buena Vista ISDs cannot make it to state, Marfa will be able to advance. However, students still received a number of awards. Francisco Rosas received an all-star crew award, Lesly Torres received an all-star cast award and Luis Solis and Ummi Chanez received honorable mention all-star cast awards.

The troupe will perform “After Hours” by Kevin Stone for the Marfa community at the Crowley Theatre on April 19.

At the state science fair held at the Texas A&M campus in college station, students Jack Marquez, Samuel Salgado, Dimetrey Stewart and Juan Bautista presented their projects and spoke with judges. While none of the young scientists advanced to the national science fair competition, ISEF, this year, teacher Elizabeth Donaldson said their work stood out and paid off.

“Our teams did not advance this year to ISEF, but I am still super proud of these students,” said Donaldson. “They worked hard and had amazing projects.”

In a school board meeting Monday, High School Principal Luane Porter praised the hard work of the students and teachers for their high level projects that allowed them to advance to regional and state competitions.

“What I think is even more spectacular for our small district is the number of kids that have qualified for something at state. I don’t think you can look at too many schools in the area that are taking as many kids to state as what we are,” said Porter. “We’re taking them in science fair, we’re taking them in the art-based competition, we’re taking them in athletics. I think it’s a great way to speak about the accomplishments of our district.”

Porter also noted she was thankful for teachers who were spending extra time with the kids in order to ensure they were participating in extracurricular activities, which helps their development into well-balanced young adults.

“Research shows the more that we can keep them involved, the better their chances of graduation, and they become a better, more well-rounded person, whether they go straight into the workforce, technical school or college,” said Porter.

There’s likely to be some closure soon in the competitive balance debate in South Carolina for high school athletics.

The S.C. High School League’s executive committee is expected to vote Wednesday on which model to approve in an effort to help level the playing field for high school athletics in the state. That decision will come in an era where charter and private schools are having greater success in sports in the smallest S.C. classifications, a development that has fueled fair play and competition concerns from traditional schools.

The SCHSL executive committee listened to six different proposals on the matter last week. Those ideas were trimmed down from 12 discussed by the league’s competitive balance committee that met over the past two months.

According to sources close to the situation, the two proposals that have most traction are (1) an out-of-zone multiplier and (2) a multi-factors reclassification model.

If a plan gets approved Wednesday, it will go into effect for the 2024-25 school year. It will also factor into the biannual realignment process that’ll wrap up soon and take effect for the 2024-26 school year.

Realignment happens in South Carolina every two years and is historically the league’s primary way to level the competitive playing field among schools. The process can move teams up or down in classification based on enrollment changes.

The SCHSL’s 2024-26 realignment plan will go to member schools in December. Schools then have until January to submit any appeals. A finalized realignment will be completed sometime in January.

“If we have a proposal that is legal and we should pursue, that will give the realignment committee a better idea to go forward with realignment,” SCHSL executive committee chairman Jason Warren said at last week’s meeting.

About the two plans believed to have the most support:

? In the out-of-zone multiplier plan, SCHSL staff would use the 45-day enrollment data for students in grades 9-11 to order to rank schools from largest to smallest. The league staff would add a multiplier of three for each student who lives outside of that school’s assigned attendance zone.

Based on the discussions from last week’s meeting, the multiplier would get capped or have a ceiling at 1,300 (which is in roughly the middle of the Class 4A). There was sentiment expressed during last week’s executive committee meeting that leaders don’t want schools moving up more than two classifications.

An out-of-zone multiplier would apply to all schools, not just the league’s charter and private members.

? The multi-factors proposal would be based on a formula using scores from four different elements: school enrollment and location (ie, near a big city), as well as poverty level of the student population and an out-of-attendance score.

The out-of-zone multiplier would be easier to calculate and explain, according to those familiar with the decision-making process. While the multi-factors proposal has a lot of merit, there are a lot of moving parts that would make it more difficult to manage.

There’s also a chance that no plan gets approved Wednesday. But based on how much traction this topic has had over the last few months — and with the upcoming realignment nearing its deadline — it seems unlikely that the competitive balance issue gets tabled for the next year or so.

“I’m not going to be in favor with the status quo,” SCHSL committee member JR Green said at last week’s meeting. “... If we are going to make adjustments, just get the fact that there will be consequences.”

The league’s subcommittee is one of three similar efforts currently dealing with the hot-button issue of competitive balance among South Carolina high school athletics.

All of those efforts have at least some intent of discussing solutions for concerns about imbalance and competition in the state’s Class A and 2A classifications, where charter and private schools have had an arguably disproportionate amount of success in winning state championships in recent years.

This fall, private or charter schools won state titles in Class A and 2A girls volleyball, Class A and 2A girls tennis, Class A and 2A boys cross country and Class A, 4A girls cross country, Class 3A boys and girls swimming, and Class 4A boys volleyball, which was a championship sanctioned sport for the first time with just two classifications.

In addition to the competitive balance items, other items that will be discussed Wednesday include Mountain View Prep applying for membership into the SCHSL. Mountain View Prep is a charter school that will officially open for the the 2024-25 school year.

Mountain View will have a sports focus similar to Gray Collegiate and Oceanside Collegiate, two of the most successful charter schools that compete in Class 2A in state athletics competition.

As of the last realignment for 2022-23, there were 15 charter schools and four privates that were SCHSL members, with at least three more charters approved or seeking membership since then.

This story was originally published November 14, 2023, 1:51 PM.

"When the Government decides to introduce fair play by way of auction facilitating all eligible persons to contest on equal terms, certainly one cannot contend that he is entitled for a lease merely on the basis of a pending application. The right being not legal, apart from being non-existent, it can certainly not be enforceable," the bench said.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for auctioning 50,000 mines in Rajasthan by setting aside the 2013 verdict of the high court that the leases be granted on the basis of the earlier first come-first serve policy (FCFS). A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and M M Sundresh took note of the submissions of senior advocate Manish Singhvi, appearing for the state government, that the administration was entitled to change the auction policy and the applicants have no vested right to get the lease on the basis of FCFS policy.

"It is far too settled that there is no right vested over an application made which is pending seeking lease of a Government land or over the minerals beneath the soil in any type of land over which the Government has a vested right and regulatory control.

"In other words, a mere filing of an application ipso facto (by that very fact or act) does not create any right. The power of the Government to amend, being an independent one, pending applications do not come in the way," the judgement said.

The apex court said for a right to be vested, there has to be a statutory recognition.

"Such a right has to accrue and any decision will have to create the resultant injury. When a decision is taken by a competent authority in public interest by evolving a better process such as auction, a right, if any, to an applicant seeking lease over a Government land evaporates on its own. An applicant cannot have an exclusive right in seeking a grant of license of a mineral unless facilitated accordingly by a statute," the bench said.

It said the argument of legitimate expectation is a weak and sober right as ordained by a statute.

"When the Government decides to introduce fair play by way of auction facilitating all eligible persons to contest on equal terms, certainly one cannot contend that he is entitled for a lease merely on the basis of a pending application. The right being not legal, apart from being non-existent, it can certainly not be enforceable," the bench said.

Since Independence, the Rajasthan government was allotting mining leases on the basis of FCFS policy.

In 2013, the state government came out with a policy to grant lease on the basis of auction which was challenged by various miners in the Rajasthan High Court which had annulled it.

The state government came in appeal in the apex court in 2013.

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FAIR PLAY, S.C. —

An Upstate farm animal is teaching its owners that life is precious, love is blind and disabilities can be overcome.

Just list this story under "News We Love."

Dee Prince, of Fair Play, in Oconee County, sent photos of a "very tame red Angus heifer" to uLocal, and some at WYFF News 4 wondered if there was a story behind the sweetness.

One of the photos taken on her farm showed Prince kissing the cow on the face, while another showed her son laying on top of the animal.

MORE HEADLINES:

We talked to Prince by phone.

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Prince said she named the cow Faith after the Bible verse, "Walk by faith, not by sight."

Faith was born blind due to a Vitamin A deficiency in utero, the veterinarian told Prince.

The animal started out as a local farmer's 4-H project at just a week old and was supposed to be put down after that, according to Prince.

"But I just fell in love with her and asked the farmer if we could buy her," Prince said. "He thought about it for a while, then sold her to me for $20 and she's been a part of the family ever since."

"They told me she would never walk a straight line or live very long, but here she is--three years old and she knows every inch of our pasture," Prince said.

It wasn't easy raising a blind cow, Prince said. "It took lots of care, love and bananas," to help tame her, she said.

Because of her blindness, Prince bottle-fed Faith until she was 2 since she didn't know how to find the feed trough.

Prince also bought her a halter, a collar-like harness that fits around the animal's face, head and neck.

"I would hook the halter strap to my belt and take daily walks around the pasture," she said. In time, Faith memorized the lay of the land, Prince said.

"I love to be with her - I don't know what I'd do without her," Prince said.

As the photos show, Faith is a loving friend to the family, which includes her four children: Kynleigh, 8; Tessa, 11; Kian, 12: Grace, 15.

"She has taught us all that her disability does not hold her down," Prince said.

She says she spreads that word to everyone who stops by the farm to see her.

"It's a valuable lesson for everyone."

If you have inspiring, cute, cool or breaking news video or photos to share, upload them to uLocal here, or become a member of our uLocal Carolinas Facebook group today.

FAIR PLAY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) -An old school building at the heart of a small town is stuck in limbo.

The former Fair Play Elementary School is now dilapidated and filled with asbestos. A viewer asked FOX Carolina News why it hasn’t been torn down yet.

We got the answer and why there’s hope things could change soon.

While the property was once owned by the Oconee County School District, it’s since been handed to the Fair Oak Youth Center. Current president Chad Overholt said the building is now, “one of the worst eyesores in Oconee County.”

“It’s almost too scary to even walk through the buildings,” Overholt said. “You’ll step on needles, step on drug paraphernalia. It’s kind of a magnet for just all the bad stuff that can happen to Fair Play.”

FOYC’s original vision for the property was completely different, with plans to utilize the space as a community center or more green space.

They were able to renovate the old ball fields across the street, but the former school has proven to be a major problem.

“As a volunteer that spends a lot of hours down here, it’s heartbreaking,” Overholt said.

Because the building is filled with asbestos and fuel tanks are in the ground, Overholt said they’ve received estimates that demolition will cost $500,000. That’s a cost they can’t cover with their $30,000 budget from the county.

“Like a lot of things money is definitely one of the issues,” he said.

Back in 2019, plans were in the works for the Fair Play Fire Department to take over the spot, tear down the building and put up a new fire station in its spot.

But while that was being discussed, the FOYC’s baseball program took off. Now the land around the old school has turned into impromptu parking whenever there’s a game.

Overholt said they’ll have more than 100 cars packed in the property.

“We really have nowhere to go except if we would expand on this property right here that the school sits on,” he said.

While FOYC works out how much of the land they need. the deal with the fire department is off the table.

“We feel like we need a very clear plan as to how to move forward because we expect nothing but growth in these programs,” FOYC director Parker Stuart said.

The Fair Play fire chief told FOX Carolina he’s hopeful they’ll be able to work out a deal.

But in the meantime, Overholt wants to move forward with demolition.

He said this month they are beginning the process of applying for grant funding to help cover the cost.

″We are working really hard to try to cover all the angles we can to try to find a way to get these buildings down,” Overholt said.

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