The DeLeon ISD Board of Trustees met June 11 for their regular monthly meeting with an agenda that included several important issues.

Following the administration of the oath of office to new Board member Brad Sanders and returning Board member Becky Golden, the Board then elected officers for the coming year with Lisa Nowlin elected as Board President, Larry Don Womack elected as Vice-President, and Kelly Dickey as Secretary.

The consent agenda was reviewed by the administration with the Board. It was noted that overall attendance for the school year was up by 4.183% over the previous year, which would allow the district to receive additional state funding due to the increase in student enrollment and attendance.

The dispersal of the Texas Educator Excellence Grant was reviewed by the Board. The grant that was received by Perkins Middle School provided incentive pay to those teachers on that campus, as well as other staff members assigned to that campus. No word has been received from the state in regards to the availability of the funds for next school year nor if any other campuses will be eligible. The board was informed that it would be possible that next year the other campuses in the district could be eligible or that no campuses could be eligible with the decision being based by the state on set criteria.

The 2007 TAKS scores were also reviewed by the Board. Overall test scores are up for the district with improvement being seen in the area of math and reading across the district.

The consent agenda was approved as presented with one correction noted in the Board’s minutes for the May 15th meeting.

The Board then reviewed the bids that had been received for depository services for 2007-2009. Two bids were received from local financial institutions, F&M Bank and First National Bank. While both bids included banking services at no charge to the district, the differences in the bids were noted in the areas of time deposits and the interest to be paid to the district on its checking account.

Following the review and discussion, the Board accepted the bid of F&M Bank for depository services on a vote of 5-0-1 with Larry Don Womack abstaining from the discussion and the vote.

Delegates to the 2007 Texas Association of School Board state convention were selected with Larry Don Womack chosen as the district’s delegate and Dr. Brandon Gilmore serving as the alternate. The convention will be held September 28-30 in Dallas.

Local Policy Update 80 was adopted by the Board as recommended by the TASB Policy Service division. One change that was made to the update included adding a provision that will lower the number of credits required to graduate to the state-minimum for the students that will participate in the district’s future credit recovery program.

The credit recovery program will be made available in the 2007-08 school year to those students who have fallen behind in earning credits while in high school and are at risk of dropping out of school entirely. The new program will allow students to earn credits at an accelerated rate, thus increasing the likelihood of them graduating.

The new program will be limited in the number of students that can participate in it, with students being required to apply for the program. Where students in the past have sought such programs in charter schools in the area, the new credit recovery program will allow them to remain in school in DeLeon and finish their education.

School facilities were next on the Board’s agenda. The administration presented a list of possible alternatives for the district to consider following the defeat of the May 12 bond issue. Included in the list was to resubmit the proposal to the voters in either November or May. It was also discussed to submit a new proposal to the voters that would call for just a high school or to allow separate issues to be voted on by the voters of the district. It was noted that the Board would need to make a decision by August if an election for November was to be called.

The Board then entered into Closed Session for the purpose of discussing the possibility of acquiring real property and to discuss personnel recommendations being made by the administration.

Upon returning from Closed Session the Board authorized the superintendent to represent the district in possible real estate transactions being considered by the district.

The Board then discussed recommendations by the administration for facility improvements and necessary budget amendments for them to be carried out. The Board approved funds to remodel the existing middle school annex building into two classroom buildings, including the installation of new heating and air conditioning.

Also approved were funds to install concrete sidewalks on the home side of the football field from the ticket booth to other sidewalks and sidewalks to the concession stand for the home side. Renovations will also be made to both press boxes.

It was noted that the district’s budget allowed for projects to be done within the current budget and no funds would be needed from the district’s fund balance. A budget amendment in the amount of $55,000 was approved for all of the projects as recommended.

As the Board’s final action of the meeting, the Superintendent’s recommendation to employ the following individuals was approved by the Board.

The following individuals were hired for the 2007-08 school year on one-year probationary contracts: Jimmie Cearley, DeLeon High School Principal; Shelly Stone, middle school math; Dustin Altmiller, high school math/boy’s coach; Kevin Bartley, high school science/boy’s coach; Kallie Hare, elementary teacher; Jennifer Rucker, credit recovery; Alexis Bone, Comanche Coop speech therapist.