District to repave west stadium parking lot
The Sulphur Springs ISD school board met Monday to discuss consent agenda items, administrative reports, TASB policy updates, ESSER II funding, proposals from vendors, the quarterly investment report, budget amendments and bids that were received from East Texas Landscaping and Fencing as well as 5W Contracting.
The board also discussed the ESSER III funding being used for a retention and recruitment stipend, an update to the local student transfer policy and proving UIL participation opportunities for home school students. During executive session, the board discussed and approved 23 resignations, 42 new hires and 13 personnel transferred within the district.
No members of the public wished to address the board. Consent agenda items were approved without discussion.
Superintendent Micheal Lamb presented the updates to the TASB policy 117.
Lamb shared that Assistant Superintendent Josh Williams had told him that the policy is fairly routine and typical. There are 26 legal policies that the board has no say in.
“Williams sent these out and gave everyone the opportunity to discuss if need be, what I’m seeing is it’s just a change of language,” Lamb stated. “I’m sure leave is going to different after COVID. This is just information at this point, to be voted on at a later date.”
Lamb then presented the ESSER II program, sharing that TEA guidance on the ESSER III Fund application process states that public notice for all federal grant applications must be shared before the district submits an application to TEA. To meet this requirement, SSISD provided a summary of their application and plan for use of the funds an an information item during the meeting.
The Sulphur Springs school district plans to apply for the entirety of its allocation of $7,984,629 of the $11.2 billion appropriated to the state of Texas under the American Rescue Plan Act through the ESSER III fund.
SSISD also plans to apply for its allocation of the ESSER II fund, $3,555,269 of the $5.5 billion under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.
Lamb shared that as long as the cost is reasonable and necessary, the LEA justifies the use of funds with the intent to address the impact COVID-19 had, and continues to have on schools.
The board has determined that in accordance with DEAA local policy, the administration recommends that a portion of the ESSER III funding be used for recruitment and retention stipends to be paid to all regular full or part time SSISD employees.
Such use meets all ESSER III requirements for allocation; being reasonable and necessary, meets the intent of the ESSER statue to address the impact of COVID 19 on schools, and is an allowable activity to maintain the operation and continuity services in the LEA.
With this compensation plan, employees would receive a one time stipend of a grossed up $1,000 in October 2021.
The stipend is a retention stipend for employees who have served before the 2021-2022 school year and a recruitment stipend for employees new to the district.
To be eligible, an employers must be employed as of the date of payment. Employees leaving the district before the payment date or those hired after the date will not be eligible.
Lamb said "the stipend for year two and three, it's in the plan, so if a teacher stays all three years, they will receive $3,000.”
Approximate cost is $750,000 of the ESSER III funding and is conditioned upon the receipts of ESSER III funding and the Texas Education Agency’s approval of such.
Administration plans to propose the same stipend for October of 2022 and 2023.
Sherry McGraw shared that notices were published Wednesday May 12, and again on Wednesday May 19, for seven product and service categories.
Letters were also mailed to over 900 vendors, most of them being current vendors, as well as listing the RFP, request for proposals, on the district website.
The school received multiple responses on any purchase in each of the following categories: athletic supplies, classroom and office supplies, classroom and office equipment, maintenance supplies and equipment, transportation supplies and equipment, printing services, kitchen equipment parts and repair, and non-specified category.
The boards intent is to comply with board policy CH (legal), as well as EDGAR and TEA regulations, while still allowing as many vendors as possible the opportunity to serve the district.
McGraw recommended that the board accept all RFP’s that were received by the deadline of June 17, for one-year contracts beginning Aug. 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022, with the option of two-year extensions.
McGraw shared that the district had also received vendor packets from companies that provide products or service in other categories where spending is less than $50,000 per year.
There are no deadlines for these vendors and they will be approved as they are received, pending receipt of required forms.
Dan Froneberger, head of the Plant Operations office, received a proposal from a previously contracted company for the lawn care proposal for school district grounds.
Froneberger shared that East Texas Landscaping and Fencing submitted a bid for $99,600 for a two-year contract starting August 2021 through August 2023, with the option to extend to 2024.
A bid for $68,000 was also received from 5W contracting for maintenance needed at the west parking lot of Prim Stadium from Buford circle to Houston Street.
The parking lot will be cleaned, sealed, and re-striped to add 20 to 30 parking lots.
The board then voted on changes to the inter-district transfer policy.
The previous policy stated that “the district shall not accept any nonresident students who wish to transfer into the district from another district. Exceptions to this policy are: 1. Children of nonresident full time district employees, 2. A currently enrolled high school student who has been legally enrolled as a resident high school student in the district for at least one complete school year or 3. A sibling of a currently enrolled transfer student”
Lamb shared that the board wants to strike the word high school from the policy because he feels it has an unfair effect on elementary or middle school students that have been enrolled in the district for a year or even less being forced to transfer schools. This way if a student moves out of district, the change to the policy will allow the students to stay in the school.
“If high school students qualify and are allowed to stay, I feel that younger students should be allowed to stay too,” Lamb said.
Next the board discussed allowing home school students to participate in UIL activities through the school district.
Lamb called this the ‘Tim Tebow rule’ because Tim Tebow was allowed to play sports as a home school student and went on to become an NFL player.
Legislation decided that home school students should be allowed the opportunity to participate in UIL activities but the final decision was left up to each district to allow or deny the student at their discretion.
“There are still a lot of questions that haven’t really been answered yet by the state. This was a highly controversial topic for years, a lot of people expressed fear of things that may or may not happen,” Lamb shared. “For whatever reason everyone’s first reaction was to say ‘no, this is a bad idea’, but after sitting and talking about it with other school superintendents, the question became ‘well, why not?’"
There are criteria that these students would have to meet. For example they have to live in the school district where they wish to participate in UIL activities but other criteria remain vague.