The following article by William T. Field is from The Handbook of Texas, Volume 3, Eldon Stephen Branda, editor, The Texas Historical Association, Austin, 1976, pages 330-331.


3D Model at State School exhibit at Gatesville Museum

Gatesville State School for Boys.
The Gatesville State School for Boys was placed under the administration of the Texas Youth Council by the Fifty-fifth Legislature. An extensive program was initiated by the council to transform the old school into six separate training units or schools, including a security-treatment institution and five open-type schools. The proposed program became a reality in April, 1963, with the completion of the Hackberry School.
The general superintendent directed the five open type schools, which provided benefits from specialized programs of classification, care, treatment, and discipline. Each school was in turn directed by an assistant superintendent, aided by a principal and teachers of the academic and vocational school and by a professional counseling staff.
The Valley School was a training unit for 160 young males. It was situated three-quarters of a mile south of the old Main Campus. The school had its own dormitories, recreational facilities, kitchen and dining facilities, academic school, vocational workshops, and playgrounds. It enabled younger, lesser offenders to be separated completely from older offenders.
The Hackberry School, a training unit for 240 younger males, was situated three-quarters of a mile southeast of the old Main Campus. The school possessed all necessary facilities, including living, academic, recreational, and vocational accommodations. Its emphasis centered on the classification and treatment of younger males.
The Terrace School, one-half mile east of the old Main Campus, provided for the separation and classification of 240 youngsters of intermediate age and background.
The Riverside School was composed of two training units. One had complete facilities for living and recreation and for the academic and vocational training of 160 younger Negro offenders. The other was created by renovating and remodeling existing housing and training facilities. The latter unit accommodated 160 older Negro males.
The Hilltop School, formerly the Main Campus, provided facilities for classification and treatment of 250 young male offenders less sophisticated in delinquent activities than those housed in Mountain View School. The overall daily population averaged for all five units of the Gatesville School in 1969 was about 1,830.

Some things never change at TYC/TJJD except the name

A survey of kids posted at the Grits for Breakfast blog said85% of youth housed at the Giddings State School have been in a fight since they arrived. Giddings State School went from a boys home in the 70’s to become TYC’s secure facility when Gatesville closed. The “Mountain View” boys were moved to occupy the closed Hackberry School in the summer of 1975 and in 1979 were moved to Giddings.

The article goes on to note that the biggest concerns among the kids besides getting into a fight are negative interactions with staff.  Staff has negative attitudes towards the kids, there’s shocking news! Weren’t these the same root issues that culminated in Morales verse Turman and the reshuffling of inventory at the states Gatesville facility?

It was the inventory shuffling done by the state of Texas that has allowed the people of Gatesville to continue to profit from the misery of others.  Only now Gatesville’s shadenfreude, its business as usual inventory is women instead of boys. The TYC staff has been bitter ever since the federal government told them they couldn’t beat a state boy any longer. This bitterness is part of the TYC/TJJD ingrained culture like covering up abuses.

The article closes noting that the survey was a wake up call to leadership. You would think that if the leadership hasn’t been “woke up” to this news by now they must be in a coma.