The Board of Trustees of the Blanco Independent School District convened for the regular August meeting on Monday, August 12. With the entire board present, the meeting began with the approval of the consent agenda.
The Superintendent’s Report began with the announcement of BISD’s accountability rating for 2019. The district scored a 94, the first “A” for the district in three years since TEA started awarding districts letter grades.
Superintendent Rosenbaum continued with his report stating that it has been established that the fifth grade will need a fourth teacher because enrollment jumped from 68 students to 80 students in one week.
He said that district enrollment is trending upward, BHS currently has 367 students enrolled for the upcoming school year and BES saw 24 enrollees in one day. However, enrollment numbers are subject to change dramatically until Labor Day when the numbers tend to settle. Presently, the district enrollment will position the district in the ranks with bigger 3A schools.
Some changes to be expected in Parent/Student Handbook include an entire section related to sex trafficking and sexual abuse including warning signs and resources for parent if they should suspect their child is prey to traffickers.
The new handbook has a new section relating to the use and procedures of the metal detectors. BISD currently doesn’t have any but Superintendent Rosenbaum mentioned the possibility of purchasing a handheld detector in the future. To coincide with the Parent/Teacher Handbook is the revision of the Student Conduct Code. The district attorneys provided a suggested updated template of the Student Conduct Code in lieu of being solely responsible of the changes made during the legislative session.
The main changes are the definition of the district’s scope of authority including on and off-campus scenarios that could include cyber bullying or even the off-campus retaliation to a staff member by a student. The Code of Conduct also covers discretionary and mandatory offenses that would lead to Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP), In School Suspension (ISS) and even Expulsion.
“I go over the big items of this during class orientation, at the same time I go over the drug test orientation,” BHS Principal St. Clair said. “There will be two grades on Thursday, August 22 and the other two grades on Friday, August 23.”
“Do we have the option to reject transfer students due to their disciplinary record?” Chad Meyer asked.
Superintendent Rosenbaum and St. Clair both assured board members that transfer students are fully vetted before being allowed in BISD. The district will reject a transfer for their disciplinary record and if a student who was currently in DAEP moved into the district they would finish their punishment before being allowed to join the general campuses.
Board members then reviewed the changes to BISD Local Policy due to TASB update 113. The legal policy will not go into effect until October.
Several small changes to the wording of the existing policies were made but the bulk of the changes made to the local policy were made.
Special Education Director Kathryn Rutherford gave an overview of the Special Education Video and Audio Monitoring section. She explained that a parent of a student receiving special education now can request cameras to be placed. The request must be made in writing and will only be granted if the student remains in a self-containing room.
The policy also states that no videoing will be allowed in any venue where changing services such as diapering may be offered but audio is permitted.
She went on to explain that if video is requested then the camera must record for the entire day that school is in session although the video can only be released in limited circumstances by law.
Action items requiring board approval included the increase in lunch prices for the upcoming year. Kindergarten through fifth grade will now be charged $2.85 for their lunch and sixth through 12th grades will be charged $3.10. Adult meals and breakfast remained the same prices as last year.
The board approved the increase to support the cost of school lunch that allow every student the opportunity to a healthy meal. Business Manager Matt Streger suggested that the district is continuing to research other options.
Next was the approval of the 2019-2020 employee compensation plan.
The highlights of the compensation plan include providing veteran teacher, as defined under House Bill 3 as teacher with five or more years’ experience, with a three percent raise. All other staff will receive a two percent raise. Staff will also receive a mid-year payment considered part of the compensation structure and the district plans to increase health insurance premiums by $50 per month per enrolled employee.
The market is defined as other 3A districts and schools within driving distance from Blanco.
The board then approved the sale of a 1998 19-passenger handicapped-equipped school bus for $837. Rosenbaum described the bus as questionable and something the district didn’t feel safe having students ride.
They then approved the purchase of a white Chevy 14-passenger activity bus for $59,765. This bus will replace the use of a full-sized 50-plus passenger bus for few students and it will also replace the need for two Suburbans and two drivers for few students.
Rosenbaum explained that as long as the small bus is not white, a CDL license is not required to drive it and makes it the perfect bus for smaller groups like FFA, cheerleaders, golf and other small extracurricular groups.
The final order of business was to approve Markel Insurance Company for the district’s property and casualty insurance. The district reviewed several quotes and decided on Markel because though their premiums were $10,000 higher than other bids the deductible was lower than competitors by $150,000.
