March 6, 2012

The Granbury ISD Board of Trustees met for its regular monthly meeting on March 5, 2012, and approved contract extensions for teachers and other campus professionals for the 2012-13 school year.

The board extended contracts for teachers, diagnosticians, counselors, speech therapists, librarians, nurses, and other professional employees.  Employees on probationary contracts will be considered in April.  In other personnel action, board members also received notification of three employees retiring and resigning at the end of the school year.

Trustees heard a presentation from superintendent Ron Mayfield and Touchdown Club president Susan May to replace the scoreboard and to improve the entrance and other facilities at Pirate Stadium.  Improvements include wrought iron fencing and stone columns at the entrance as well as renovations to the awning, ticket booth, and restrooms.  These projects will be done in partnership with the football program booster club, which has been soliciting commitments for private donations.  First National Bank of Granbury, which has been the long-time supporter of GISD athletic scoreboards, has agreed to be an anchor sponsor for this project.  The board agreed to move forward, with the boosters to return with more details at a future meeting.

Board members dedicated $200,000 of local funds to finance summer school programs.  The money would be a portion of a total $325,000 to fund the summer programs for elementary and secondary students in June and July, and transportation expenses would also be financed by this money.  The program would include for student needing to pass portions of state TAKS exams as well as student needing to recover high school credits toward their graduation plans.

Also in academics, trustees suspended portions of local district policy regarding end-of-course exams.  This follows the decision of Texas Education Agency commissioner Robert Scott to give school districts the ability to defer implementation of the statutory provision that requires performance on an end-of-course assessment to count as 15 percent of a student’s final course grade.  The policy suspension is only for the 2011-12 school year.

Regarding high stakes, standardized testing of Texas public school students, trustees adopted a resolution calling “on the Texas Legislature to reexamine the public school accountability system in Texas and to develop a system that encompasses multiple assessments, reflects greater validity, uses more cost efficient sampling techniques and other external evaluation arrangements, and more accurately reflects what students know, appreciate and can do in terms of the rigorous standards essential to their success, enhances the role of teachers as designers, guides to instruction and leaders, and nurtures the sense of inquiry and love of learning in all students.”

The board determined that an application by High Point Academy, a charter school in Fort Worth, to establish or expand a campus will have an adverse effect on GISD.  The board’s determination will be forwarded to TEA.

Board members nominated the Hood County News and KPIR Radio for the Media Honor Roll of the Texas Association of School Boards.  The honor roll recognizes representatives in print, radio, television, and electronic media who:  make the effort to get to know the superintendent, board president, and district’s mission and goals; report school news in a manner that is fair, accurate, and balanced; give a high-profile position to good news about schools; visit the schools; and maintain a policy of no surprises by sharing information with school representatives.

The board also heard other reports:

• Technology director Amy Wood reported on recent purchases of commonly requested technology items.
• Financial reports for January 2012 were reviewed by executive director of finance Sharay Boynton.
• Mayfield reported that the school district had received pre-clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice for the move of school trustee elections from May to November beginning in 2012.

In addition to approving budget amendments as well as minutes from the last regular meeting and a recent special meeting, purchases and renewals approved were technology items; HVAC supplies and equipment; instructional supplies; library books, class sets, reference materials, and video media; and athletic supplies for fall sports.  Trustees also agreed to purchase two school buses and custodial equipment.  Also approved were contracts with the Region XI education service center for training programs and technology services.

Budget amendments included several donations:  a kiln for Granbury High School art classes by a community member; $8,485 from the Emma Roberson PTO to purchase additional technology equipment; an iPad and associated supplies by a community member to Oak Woods School; $5,603 from the Mambrino PTO to fund additional student travel; and $556 from the Lady Pirate Golf booster club to fund team travel.

In other action, trustees approved the sale of a property in River Country Acres to Dan Coates.  The lot had been on the Hood County Appraisal District’s resale auction in 2011 because ownership had reverted back to GISD and Hood County for non-payment of property taxes.  The property did not sell during the auction because prospective buyers did not satisfy the minimum bid.  Coates’s offer was for the appraised value of $1,000.  The property will now return to the tax rolls, and the value may increase following development.