That Hundley is the speaker is a special affront to Abilene activist Claudie Royals, who readily admits he's never attended the luncheon even though he was once an honoree. Hundley's a good man. We've been together on a number of issues through the years. But to have him as the guest speaker at an event honoring the memory of Dr. King is a slap in the face to me. Royals said the problem is the school district doesn't recognize the holiday as such.
Students have the day off, but it is scheduled as a teacher work day.
The schools are the last ones to recognize the holiday. The county was first, the city followed after a few years. I went before the school board in 1995 and Hundley was totally against it. Now he's the speaker for Dr. King's day. Hundley said when the school district makes up its yearly calendar, it tries to delay the start of school as long as possible and break for the summer as soon as possible.