The Board of Trustees of the DeLeon ISD met for their regular monthly meeting on April 19.

The meeting included an in-depth report by the district’s ReadRight department. The entire department participated in the overview of the program that has been used in the district for the past three years.
ReadRight is a reading intervention program that attempts to help students improve their reading through a process of retraining the neuron processes used in the skill of reading.

The program has struggled in the past, and this year was designated as a critical year. Three new additions to the ReadRight staff were required to receive training and receive their credentials from the ReadRight program.

The staff covered the overall premise of ReadRight and then discussed the implementation of the program as required for accreditation. The district has in the past month received Model Program status, meaning that the DeLeon ReadRight program has been listed as a demonstration site for other schools interested in the program.

Following the presentation, those staff members who had received the required training and achieved certified status were recognized. They were Dosha Butler and Penni Mohundro. Adele Canterbury was recognized as being certified as a trainer for the program.

The goal for the coming school year is for the program to be expanded at both the elementary and secondary level to help even more students improve their reading ability.

Following the approval of the monthly consent agenda, the Board was presented with the administration’s recommendation for the 2007-08 school calendar. The coming school year’s calendar is the first to be required to meet the state’s mandate that the first day of instruction for students be no earlier than the fourth Monday in August. Following this state mandate, the calendar as presented and adopted by the Board, calls for the first day for students to be August 27. Students will see the traditional holidays included on the calendar, including two weeks at the end of the semester, and a week-long spring break in March. The last day of school for students will be Friday, May 30, 2008, with graduation taking place on Saturday, May 31, 2008. The Board adopted the calendar as presented.

Next, the Board heard recommendations for the adoption of new textbooks for the 2007-08 school year. Gloria Hodges, district textbook coordinator, explained the process used to select the recommended titles that included reviewing the proposed texts in relation to the state curriculum. Math textbooks for the secondary level were the only books up for adoption for the coming school year.

The Board heard comments from Leisa Nowlin, middle school math teacher, who discussed the importance of selecting the right text, but who also emphasized that it is ultimately the individual teacher’s responsibility to make sure that all of the state curriculum has been taught to each student.

The Board accepted the recommendation of the teaching staff and the administration and adopted the math texts, as presented, unanimously.

Following a brief closed session for the purpose of personnel discussion, the administration recommended one year probationary contracts for Brad Janek and Jody Janek. Brad Janek will serve as a high school social studies teacher and head boys basketball coach for DeLeon High School. Jody Janek will serve as an elementary teacher for DeLeon Elementary School. The Janeks come to DeLeon after having served in the Maypearl system and the Alvarado system. The Janeks have three elementary age children. The Board approved the employment contracts as presented.

As matters of discussion, the Board reviewed the upcoming schedule of public meetings concerning the 2007 Bond Issue. Meetings hosted by the Board are as follows:

Thursday, April 26, 7 p.m. at the DHS Cafetorium

Monday, April 30, 7 p.m., Desdemona Community Center

Tuesday, May 8, 7 p.m., DHS Cafetorium.

All meetings will include a presentation that will provide an overview of the bond proposal and then questions will be taken from the floor. The public is invited and encouraged to attend one of the three meetings.

In other matters of discussion, the Board reviewed the upcoming schedule of meetings for the month of May and the upcoming summer months and Board training opportunities that have been scheduled for the Board to attend.