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At the June 24 KISD Board meeting, a number of items were approved with perhaps the most important being the election of a new officers and raises for school district employees. All board members were present. There were no proclamations issued this month. ??The ?Reorganization of the School Board? with new members?John Hunt?and?Stewart Richardson?present, required the election of officers for one year terms. Nominated and elected, without opposition, were?Joe Taylor?as President,?Janet Adams?as Vice-President and?Rhonda Barnes?as Secretary. {{more}}
?Under ?Correspondence?, there was one letter written by a parent in support of the continuation of I-Zone. No copies provided. There were no public comments.?The ?Consent Agenda? included
- minutes from last month?s meeting;?
- last month’s financial statement;?
- bills payable;?
- a report of the Tax Assessor Collector;?
- a renewal agreement with Tarrant County for the collection of taxes for the school tax year 2013;?
- a 2012-13 budget amendment (for the renovation of James Arthur?s kitchen);?
- a 2013-14 Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program Memorandum (this would provide for the education of a KISD student at Tarrant County Juvenile Justice Center who has been expelled from the school district); and,
- bids for random purchase of fine arts equipment, library books, instructional/office equipment and supplies, janitorial supplies and equipment.
?All items under the consent agenda were passed after a brief discussion of funding for the renovation project at James Arthur. It was established that this was not an additional expense but one that would be covered from existing funds in the food service budget. Board member, Julie Green, wanted the budget amendment to reflect the source and Board Vice-President, Janet Adams, agreed – so approved.?Under ?New Business?,
- closed session to hear a Level III grievance from a parent;?
- reviewed a report submitted by Associate Superintendent, Rick Edwards, on grants awarded by the Kennedale Education Foundation this past spring (18 awards were given for a total of $19,068.88);?
- did not nominate anyone from the KISD Board to serve on the Texas Association of School Board but agreed to support the candidate(s) from Region 11;?
- Associate Superintendent Mark Biondi discussed the reasons for the renovation of the James Arthur Intermediate kitchen area which will almost the double the size, allowing for a larger walk-in refrigerator and freezer unit and allow space for additional preparation table (only space for one table now);?
- under the topic ?consider facility use agreement between Kennedale ISD and I-Zone?, it was announced that by Board policy this is an administration responsibility and there was no need for the Board to take action, it was also announced that the program was considering expanding into James Arthur Intermediate if there was enough interest; and,?
- approved a $1500 raised for teachers and librarians with a 3% for all other staff (administration, aides, maintenance, food service, etc;
In other business, the following new hires were announced.
- Michael Cagle ? Assistant Principal at Kennedale Jr. High School
- Delaney Elementary: Connie Dorosky ? 4th Grade Dual Language, Jacqulin Lopez ? Pre-K Teacher, Amber Young ? Kindergarten Teacher,
- Jr. High School: David Boubel ? Math Teacher, Ron Lackey ? History Teacher
- High School: George Griffin ? Science Teacher/Coach
(There was a brief discussion about where the new hires were coming from. Board member, Rhonda Barnes wanted to urge the principals to consider college certified teachers first over alternative certification candidates when hiring).?Under the ?Superintendent?s Report?, Mr. Dugger reported that enrollment was up over last year by 42 students. In 2012 the total enrollment on the last day of school was 3107 compared to this year of 3149. Campus enrollment on the last day of school:
- James Delaney Elementary ? 758;?
- Robert F Patterson Elementary ? 428;?
- James Arthur Intermediate ? 493;?
- Kennedale Junior High School ? 489: and,?
- Kennedale High School ? 939.
Board member, Julie Green, asked for a workshop to discuss the upcoming budget proposals and it was agreed that a workshop would be held at 6 p.m prior to the 7 p.m. regular meeting on July 18th. (All meetings are open to the public).?Superintendent Dugger shared a report on the district mandatory drug testing program. This year, out of 1005 students tested in the district, 5 students tested positive a total of 9 times. 2 students refused to be tested (which is an automatic positive according to our policy) a total of 8 times. ??Under Board Discussion ? there was a brief discussion of the Summer Leadership Institute Conference attended earlier by school board members and staff, no details were provided and new school board President Joe Taylor wanted to institute an annual review of the board operating procedures, code of ethics and goals. ?
