SUPERINTENDENT ADRESSES SCHOOL BOARD ABOUT CAMPUS SAFETY
With the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School last week, campus safety was on the minds of many of those attending Monday evening’s Brenham School Board meeting. Superintendent Dr. Walter Jackson said that Brenham, like every school community in our nation, bears the weight and tremendous responsibility of protecting our students and staff from such acts of violence. Jackson read a prepared statement on the issue in which he outlined some of the things Brenham ISD is investigating to increase campus safety:
Board President Natalie Lange suggested that a taskforce of community leaders, parents and law enforcement officials be assembled and look into what could be implemented before the next school year. Jackson agreed and said he would begin immediately and get back with the board members with an update soon. Full statement from Dr. Walter Jackson: Brenham ISD Safety Protocols
In other action, the trustees approved designating the “design-build” concept for energy savings projects for the district and requesting qualifications from firms who could provide those services. Assistant Superintendent Paul Achenbeck said the goal is to locate a firm that could help the district secure low interest loans from the state of Texas that would be paid back from the energy savings from the new equipment. He said that preliminary surveys of the campuses have identified areas where energy savings could occur including lighting, heating and cooling, and system controls.
Mark Strauss, Director of Accountability, Assessment, and Professional Development gave the board an update on the STARR testing problems from last week. Strauss says that according to online test provider EPS, problems occurred with their servers:
Strauss said that the TEA allowed extra time for students to complete the test but declined to allow students to completely retake the online exams.
Director of Career and Technology Education Cody Stelter updated the trustees on the STEAM Academy. The program began the year as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) but Art is now included to give students a creative outlet also. Stelter said the program will be implemented at all three elementary schools beginning next year on the 2nd grade level. Every student in the 2nd grade will be exposed to the program and it is planned to be expanded to higher grades in future years. He added that STEAM related jobs are the fastest growing part of the job market.
Trustees voted to keep their board officers the same for the upcoming year with Natalie Lange as President, Melvin Ehlert as Vice President and Susan Jenkins as Secretary.
The board presented this month’s “You Make a Difference” award to the five local business who supported this years “Cub Talks” leadership program, Bank of Brenham, Blue Bell Creameries, Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union, Brenham National Bank and Brenham Wholesale. They also accepted a $75,000 donation from David and Ann Andras for the library at the Early Childhood Learning Center. The donation is in honor of their daughter-in-law Darcee, and in memory of her mother, Deb Tackett, who served as librarian at Brenham Middle School for many years.
