Snyder schools and Snyder Cemetery in the August headlines

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Among the biggest stories of August 2019 in the Snyder Daily News were online math classes for Snyder High School, the Texas Education Agency’s accountability grading for local schools, unrest about the removal of personal items from grave sites at Snyder Cemetery and an increased number of 911 hang-up calls.
Snyder ISD did not have a problem attracting certified teachers this year. 
Attracting certified math teachers, however, was a headache.
Like many school districts in Texas, Snyder had trouble finding certified math teachers and, in response, contracted with other agencies to provide online instruction.
“A lot of districts across the state are suffering from shortages in certified math teachers,” Snyder ISD Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Rachael McClain said. “We’re just not seeing a lot of math teachers coming out of college to teach, and it takes time to certify them to teach math. We have certified teachers. They’re just not certified to teach math.”
While the online instruction gave Snyder students greater flexibility in their daily schedule, it was not an option the school district would have chosen if they could have provided on-site math teachers. 
In August, Snyder, Ira and Hermleigh ISDs received their grades from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
District-wide, Snyder received a C rating. Campus-level grades were a B for Snyder Primary School, a C rating for Snyder Intermediate School, which also won a distinction award in math, F at the junior high school and a C for Snyder High School.
Ira ISD officials were happy with the letter grade the district received from the TEA. 
Ira, which has received an A rating from TEA since the letter grade rating system was instituted, kept the streak going this year, Superintendent Brian Patterson said.
Hermleigh ISD received a C grade from TEA and were rated as a C in all three domains the agency examined — student achievement, school progress and closing the gap.
A group of area residents was upset and searching for answers after learning that personal items were removed from grave sites at Snyder Cemetery during a clean-up by the Snyder Cemetery Association (SCA).
Flowers, family mementos and other keepsakes were removed from graves without advance notice from the cemetery association, the people said.
SCA President Troy Botts said that crews removed plastic flowers and some broken items, including masonry, that interfered with proper maintenance of the cemetery. He said the clean-up was in response to numerous complaints about the overall condition of the cemetery.
Botts readily admitted that mistakes were made and said that the SCA should have done a better job of informing the public.
The number of 911 hang-ups received by Scurry County telecommunicators practically exploded during the summer, but especially in August, officials said.
By the third week in August, 154 hang-ups had been reported, said telecommunicator Savannah Jeffrey. 
She estimated that about 90 percent of calls received over the 911 network were accidental.
There are a number of possible explanations for the increased number of hang-ups, she said.
“We believe about a third of them are probably kids playing on the phone,” Jeffrey said. “All phones are equipped to dial 911, whether they’re connected to an active network or not.”
The vast majority of hang-ups, however, are accidental, officials said.
“They’re not intentional,” Jeffrey said. “A lot of people have these new phones that will automatically dial 911 under certain circumstances, and we’ve had a lot of calls inadvertently come in from smart watches.”