District to offer new CTE courses for 2020-21 year

The Sulphur Springs ISD Board of Trustees met Monday for a regular meeting of the Sulphur Springs ISD school board was held Monday.

Lisa Robinson provided a report on the educational performance of the district's bilingual/ESL program for 2018-2019 school year.

Assistant superintendent Josh Williams presented the Texas Association of School Boards Localized Manual Update 114. These updates will be presented for approval and adoption at the next regular meeting in January.

Changes include:

N Under existing law, the notice of an emergency meeting or supplemental notice of an emergency addition to the agenda of a previously posted notice is sufficient if it is posted for at least two hours before the meeting is convened. This bill reduces the two-hour requirement to one hour. At the emergency meeting, the governmental body may not deliberate or act on a matter unrelated to responding to the emergency or urgent public necessity unless the agenda item was previously listed on a proper 72-hour meeting notice before the supplemental notice was posted; SB492

N A governmental body, including a school board, must allow each member of the public who desires to address the body regarding an item on an agenda for an open meeting to address the body regarding the item at the meeting before or during the body’s consideration of the item. A governmental body may adopt reasonable rules regarding the public’s right to address the body, including rules that limit the total amount of time that a member of the public may address the body on a given agenda item. If a governmental body does not use simultaneous translation equipment in a manner that allows the body to hear the translated public testimony simultaneously, and adopts reasonable rules concerning the public’s right to address the body, then any rule limiting the amount of time for a member of the public to address the governmental body must provide at least twice the amount of time for non-English speakers who need a translator to ensure the same opportunities to speak. A governmental body may not prohibit public criticism of the governmental body, including criticism of any act, omission, policy, procedure, program or service. This prohibition does not apply to public criticism that is otherwise prohibited by law.; HB2840

N A school district may use unspent bond proceeds only for the specific purposes for which the bonds were authorized or to retire the bonds, unless the specific purposes are accomplished or abandoned and at a public meeting held for the purpose of considering the use of the unspent bond proceeds, the board approves in separate votes) using the proceeds for a purpose other than to retire the bonds; and  using the proceeds for a new specified purpose. Notice of the public meeting must include a statement that the board will consider the use of unspent bond proceeds for a purpose other than the specific purposes for which the bonds were authorized. The meeting must provide the public an opportunity to address the board on the question of using the unspent proceeds for other purposes; HB440

N School district peace officers, SROs, and security personnel (officers) must perform law enforcement duties, and districts may not assign officers routine student discipline, school administrative tasks, or contact with students unrelated to the officers’ law enforcement duties; SB1707

Assistant superintendents Kristin Monk and Josh Williams presented elementary and secondary campus highlights, which included:

N Douglass ECLC—Five new students have enrolled. The Rotary Club will host a Christmas party for ECLC students;

N Bowie and Travis Primary second graders are preparing to host PTO presentations;

N Barbara Bush Primary hosted a Math and Literacy Night last month. They gave away 50 backpacks filled with activities and items to help at home with phonics, reading and math fluency;

N Lamar Primary received two Education Foundation grants. One grant will cover the purchase of a Math Alive! Promethean board animation program that teaches numbers, shapes, addition, subtraction, sorting, measurement, number comparison and graphing. The campus already uses Letters Alive!, a companion program that teaches early literacy skills;

N Travis Primary—The campus received a grant from the Education Foundation that will provide the installation of an Inchy Bookworm vending machine. Students will receive tokens for good behavior and academic achievements to purchase a book of their choice.

The board also received the Head Start Director’s Report for November.

Along with routine matters, the board approved the Quarterly Investment Report for the three months ended Nov. 30, the Comprehensive Annual Report on Investment Activity for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31 and an annual review of investment policy and strategy.

The district also received its annual financial and compliance report for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, by Rutherford, Taylor and Company, P.C. The district received an “unmodified” opinion, which is the best that can be received.

Trustees approved two new “Innovative Courses,” approved by TEA with designated TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills), for two different CTE programs of study to be offered beginning with the 2020-2021 school year — advanced floral design for juniors in the Plant Science program, and an Emergency Medical Technician Basic course will be offered in the Emergency Services course of study.

Trustees passed Resolution 5-19, electing Mike Horne to serve on the Hopkins County Appraisal District Board of Directors for the term beginning Jan. 1, 2020 and ending Dec. 31, 2021. Horne currently serves on the board and will be re-appointed when his current term expires Dec. 31.

The board entered executive session at 12:12 p.m. to discuss personnel matters.Resignations include:

Morgan Nutt – grade 2 teacher, Travis Primary

Natalie Johnson – Spanish teacher, high school

Kellie Noles – Connections teacher, high school

Desiree Pharis – Technical theater teacher, high school

New hires include:

Tabitha Barker – purchasing clerk, administration building

Tiffany Yarbrough – payroll coordinator, administration building

Kimberly Noe — special education aide, Barbara Bush Primary

Carlos Ramirez — Spanish teacher, high school

Personnel changes include:

Maria Sofia Sosa – was Title I aide, Travis Primary; will be grade 2 teacher, Travis Primary.