Swearing in of reelected and newly elected trustees led off the regular monthly meeting of the DeLeon ISD Board of Trustees on Monday, June 12. The oath of office was administered to Daylon Whitehurst and Larry Don Womack, reelected trustees and to Kellie Sparger the newly elected trustee from the May 13 election.

The Board then elected new officers to serve for the next year. Lisa Nowlin was elected by the Board to again serve as President, Larry Don Womack was elected to serve as Board Vice-President, and Kelly Dickey was elected to serve as Board Secretary. All were elected unanimously by the trustees present.

As a part of the Board’s consent agenda the monthly expenditures were approved. The Board was also given a detailed breakdown of the district’s current standing on federal expenditures. It was noted that the district would actually gain local monies by the efforts of the administration to insure that all federal monies were expended. The administration has worked to reexamine expenditures during the past year to insure that those expenditures that could be spent with federal funds are done so accordingly.

These efforts by the administration insure that local monies are reserved for other needs with federal monies being expended whenever possible. The administration explained that if certain federal monies are not spent by the district then they will be lost by the district. Dr. Randy Mohundro, Superintendent, noted, “If we do not spend these federal monies that the district qualifies for, then we will lose them. We don’t get to save them. It’s either use it or lose it.”

Deanna Downs, ESL Coordinator for the district, presented the annual ESL report to the Board. She noted that the number of students in the program is decreasing, due to students becoming more fluent in the English language. Students that were at Stage II status were increasing, illustrating the progress of students in the program.

The consent agenda also contained a Memorandum of Understanding with the Region XIV Education Service Center to participate in an employee benefits cooperative. Membership in the cooperative will allow employees to become part of a larger pool of other school employees in receiving benefits such as dental, vision, and life insurance products. The membership will also streamline the process of billing and offering products to employees in a timelier manner.

The consent agenda was approved unanimously as presented.

As a matter of action, the Board authorized Dr. Mohundro and Tami Henson to have access to the district’s safety deposit box. The box is used to secure legal documents for the district.

The issue of student drug testing was also revisited by the Board. The administration presented and recommended to the Board a new and more stringent student drug testing program. The policy as presented would test all students in grades 7-12 that participate in any extra-curricular activity. Previously the district’s policy had only called for the testing of high school athletes. The new policy will widen the net to allow more students to have a reason to say, “No”, to experimenting with illegal substances. The new policy will come into effect with the 2006-2007 school year.

The new drug testing policy will also require any student parking on school property to be in the drug testing program. It was also noted by the administration that the district’s jurisdiction extended 300 feet around all school property precluding any student from simply parking off campus to circumvent the policy.

Trustee Larry Don Womack asked, “Won’t this get just about everybody?” The administration noted that it had a goal of getting as many students into the program as possible. Schools across the state have adopted such policies that include as many students as possible into a drug testing program. The program will also have a new voluntary component to allow parents whose children do not qualify to participate in the program to become eligible. The Board adopted the new policy unanimously.

An additional policy issue was addressed by the Board with the Local Policy Update 77 which had been prescribed by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Policy Update Service. The service which the districts subscribes to, provides updates to the district policy manual on various intervals based on the actions of the state legislature and other changes in educational law and policies.

Update 77 covered requirements for Board training, the issue of conflicts of interest, teacher resignations, and the selection of textbooks by the district. The update was approved as recommended by TASB by the Board.

The Board was presented additional information concerning the status of the high school yearbook program. The administration presented information concerning the cost of the production of the yearbook annually. The yearbook cost approximately $13,000 for the annual to be assembled and to produce 150 copies. Each yearbook cost approximately $80.00 to produce. To help defray the cost, the yearbook staff solicits advertising from area business. A problem for the past several years is that advertising in the yearbook has dropped significantly.

The yearbook has also not profited from the revenue generated by school pictures sales. The sales, generally producing $2,000 in profit, will now be used to help defray the cost of the yearbook. The administration also noted that a renewed effort will also be placed on generating revenue through the sale of advertising to help defray the cost of the annual.

The Board was provided an in-depth look at the current issues concerning the district’s facilities, particularly the district’s high school campus. The Board was updated on the progress of the current insurance claim the district had as a result of the May hailstorm. The district has retained the services of Global Roof Consultants to aid the district in settling the claim. Global will be in the district on Tuesday, June 13 to survey the damage and develop a status report to be used in negotiating a settlement with the insurance company. Global will also assist the district in preparing any specifications needed for bidding the roofing work that will be needed.

The Board also reviewed bids received for possible renovations at the high school. A bid of $62,931 was received from Dean Hagler of Abilene for a major repainting of the high school on both the interior and exterior of the facility. Callaway’s Carpets of Abilene submitted a bid of $41,275 to complete reflooring in the high school. The Board opted to take no action on either bid until a decision can be received on the roofing claim that the district has and its cost implications.

The administration presented the Board with a preliminary Facility Status Report on the high school campus. The report presented the Board with the current code standards and state facility requirements for public educational facilities. The Texas Education Agency, effective January 1, 2004, established guidelines that schools must meet to determine if their facilities meet state standards and to use those standards for any new facilities that might be constructed. The standards include minimum square footage for classrooms, labs, and libraries. The standards also require districts to include adequate infrastructure for technology and communication systems in facilities. The standards also require districts to meet all handicapped facility standards that have been established at both state and national level.

The report presented to the Board summarized the present facility status with the current realities that the district currently faces.

The first reality presented concerned the square footage of classrooms and other areas utilized for student instruction. The district is now faced with classrooms that are too small by state standards to accommodate the number students that are often placed in them. Classrooms at the high school range in size from 434 sq. ft. to 574 sq. ft. while the state standard calls for 700 sq. ft. The undersized rooms mean that some classrooms can only accommodate 15 students under state standards.

In connection with this reality, the current science labs do not meet state standards by approximately 270 sq. ft. Due to the increased amount of science instruction required by the state, the need for increased instructional space for science becomes increasingly important to the district.

Technology is also a reality that must be addressed by the district. The current facility cannot accommodate any additional computers in classrooms due to the electrical load required. Classrooms are precluded from having additional computers due to the space issue.

The current computer lab is inadequate when considering the space requirements and the current configuration. The current lab was originally a typing room and has power poles scattered throughout making instruction difficult. The lab also houses all hub and switches for the campus network requiring heating and air conditioning to run continuously. It was noted that heating and cooling such a large space was inefficient.

Energy and the current state of the campuses mechanical state was another reality addressed. The campus is served with wall pack units that are not energy efficient and extremely expensive to operate. The units are also not controlled by any energy management system to allow the district to realize cost savings through decreased energy consumption.

Accessibility and building life span were the final realities presented in the report. The current high school is not handicapped accessible in many areas including the cafetorium, restrooms, and counters throughout the building.

The lifespan for a commercial building that is used to the extent which a public school is used is approximately 50 years. The original high school building is over 50 years and the second addition is nearing the same point.

The report noted that while no formal opinion could be given on the structural soundness of the facility, however, based on information provided by architects and engineers that had surveyed the structure, issues did exist.

The possible cost of replacing the existing structure was discussed in the report. The cost of a new high school would be approximately $4 million. The report also noted that the reality of construction cost was that they were only increasing and the cost would never be less than what existed today.

The Board then asked Dr. Mohundro what would the next step should be in dealing with the realities that the district faced concerning the high school campus. It was recommended that the Board form a facility committee to examine issue and develop possible solutions to the problems being faced by the district. The committee would be composed of citizens from throughout the district to examine the problem and then report back to the Board with how to solve the problem.

The Board agreed to submit names to the administration to begin the process of forming the committee and formally constitute the committee at the next regular Board meeting in July.

The Board was then presented a report on the current state of the district’s vocational program. Joseph Simmons presented the board with an overview of the program and the new tracks that would now be offered to students. The Board agreed that there was a need for the staffing to accomplish the program. The new program will be in effect for the 2006-2007 school year.

As matters of personnel, the Board approved the recommendation of the administration to hire Becky Pair, secondary math, and Dosha Butler, elementary reading, as teachers for the coming school year.

The Board was also briefed on a new vocabulary program to be implemented at the high school for the coming school year.

The Board’s next regular meeting will be July 6.