Tuesday, April 23, 2024
"Face Mask" by shibuya246 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
The Gatesville ISD School Board held a special meeting on Aug. 30. Several topics were discussed during the meeting. The highlights include:
COVID AND MASKS
GISD Superintendent Dr. Barrett Pollard informed the board that as of their meeting time, a total of 99 staff members and students had active cases of COVID-19. He said the highest previous count had been 120.
Pollard also said that an additional 250 students were quarantined due to very close contact with another positive person. Pollard also mentioned that COVID testing at Coryell Health is at record numbers, while they are also seeing record numbers of COVID-related patients.
“Dr. Diedra Wuenschel, our local health authority, has asked for the school and community’s help in combatting this virus,” said Pollard. He went on to mention that there were many negative unintended consequences from school closures and remote learning and now the school views those options as a very last resort.
“However, we would consider ‘strongly recommending’ a mask for our students and staff for the month of September. Then we could re-evaluate the situation at the end of the month. Again, we would not mandate masks, but we would strongly recommend the wearing of masks for all age groups of students, not just those 10 and up,” said Pollard.
He also mentioned that with the Delta variant of COVID, younger students are impacted just as much as the older students by the virus.
“By strongly recommending masks versus a mandate, there would be no responsibility by school staff to ‘police’ mask wearing. We would hope that most students and staff would do their part recognizing that the mask is meant to help slow the spread and in turn help our students, community and local hospital,” said Pollard. He then made the recommendation to the School Board that GISD “strongly recommend” (not mandate) mask wearing for its students (all ages) and staff during the month of September to help slow the spread of Covid-19. The Board agreed. A motion was made and carried with a unanimous vote.
NAME CHANGE/WAIVER
GISD Assistant Superintendent of Academics Shane Webb spoke to the Board about the Pre-AP course designation name change. He said the GISD courses formerly designated as “Pre-AP” will not be identified as “Honors” courses.
“What was known as Pre-AP English 1 in high school will now be known as Honors English 1,” said Webb. He said the courses will continue to prepare students for Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Credit and OnRamps courses. According to Webb, the change in terminology follows the College Board’s decision that districts that wish to continue using the trademarked designation “Pre-AP” in course titles would be required to purchase and implement the College Board’s Pre-AP curriculum and this requirement would cost the district approximately $3,000 per class each year. Webb said that if GISD continued to call it Pre-AP, the cost could exceed $18,000 annually. Webb concluded by telling the Board “We are confident that we can successfully maintain the integrity of our programs in a fiscally responsible manner with purchasing the College Board’s program.”
On a different topic, Webb addressed the Board on the number of foreign exchange students allowed at GHS. Webb said that Gatesville High School is requesting that the number of foreign exchange students admitted to the district be limited to five.
Three reasons were given for this change being necessary: financial or staffing hardship for the district; maintaining the district’s ability to provide high quality educational services for the domestic students, requiring domestic students to compete with foreign exchange students for educational resources. Webb then recommended that the Board approve the waiver and limit the number of foreign exchange students admitted to the district to five per year. The Board agreed and the motion carried.
PROPERTY EXCHANGE
Pollard spoke to the Board about the proposed property exchange with Andy Lella for the former Hillside Nursing Home. The nursing home was gifted to the school district in 2016 and was used for storage during the high school renovation, but it is quickly deteriorating.
Lella has expressed re-occurring interest in the property and proposed swapping a residence he owns at 2534 E. Main Street. The back of the lot adjoins the automotive classroom of GHS.
“We have asked that Mr. Lella demolish the house that currently sits on 2534 East Main before we swap properties. The City Council has already approved the first reading to have the former nursing home designated as ‘commercial business’ as opposed to its current designation as a ‘community property,’” said Pollard. It was also stated that Mr. Lella had agreed to pay all the title, survey and filing costs. Pollard recommended that the Board approve the land swap contract with Mr. Lella as presented. The Board agreed and the motion carried.
REQUEST FOR
NEW EMPLOYEES
The Board was informed of the need for new employees. Pollard said that due to the sheer increase in square footage at the high school, a new custodian will be needed. He also mentioned the need of a new para-professional staff member for the Chief Financial Officer’s office to deal with the increase of paperwork from the Department of Agriculture.
Finally, Pollard mentioned that the school’s new food service partner, Southwest Foods, conducted a labor hour survey and identified a need for two additional cafeteria staff members at the high school and one substitute cafeteria worker at the Intermediate School. It was also mentioned that one of the new staff members at the high school cafeteria needs to be bilingual. Pollard recommended that the Board approve the personnel additions. The Board agreed and the motion carried.
