BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD HEARS TENTATIVE DATE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR GRADUATION, INSTRUCTIONAL CHANGES

  

The Brenham School Board received several updates on the school district’s plans for the remainder of the school year at its virtual meeting Monday evening.

Trustees heard updates from staff on upcoming changes to instruction, meal services, and end-of-year celebrations.

For year-end events, the district has proposed prom will take place on Saturday, May 30^th, with a location and time to be determined.   The Brenham High School Scholarship Ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2^nd at the Brenham High School Auditorium at 7 p.m., while graduation is scheduled for Saturday, June 6^th at 8 p.m. at Cub Stadium.  These dates and times are subject to change in accordance with recommendations from state and local health officials.

Brenham High School Principal Joe Chandler said he reached out to seniors via Twitter Monday, asking them their opinions of these dates through a survey.  He said it is the goal of the high school and the district to have graduation any way possible, preferably live, but virtual options are available.  Superintendent Dr. Walter Jackson said the district will also make sure eighth graders are recognized for their achievements.

Sarah Cook, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability, said the district has created a temporary grading guidelines revision that will take students through the rest of the school year.  She said, while teachers have been providing feedback to students on all work submitted to them up through this point, grading will begin with the packets that will be distributed Thursday and continue through May 15^th.  She said the district distributed slightly over 2,500 packets to students on April 9^th, and expects that this round of packet distribution will exceed 3,000 packets.

Cook said the district is making arrangements to where assignments can continue to be turned in virtually, or through a campus drop-off system.  She said principals are working to put the drop-off system together for the next packet distribution, and will communicate details about the system at a later date.

Cook said May 15^th is the deadline for students to turn in their work, in order to give teachers time to get grades into the system.  Board President Natalie Lange said the district will rely on the teachers to make the grading decisions most appropriate for their students, whether they choose an Excellent-Satisfactory-Needs Work-Unsatisfactory grading scale or a Complete/Incomplete format.  Cook pointed out that there will not be any final exams for the spring semester.

Child Nutrition Services Director Sandra Baxter reminded the board that the district will resume its modified meal service tomorrow (Wednesday), providing boxes of shelf-stable food.  Food boxes containing five breakfasts and five lunches worth of food per child will be distributed every Wednesday at Brenham High School from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Baxter said the district’s daily meal service, which ran from March 16^th to April 7^th, served 22,977 breakfasts and lunches across three delivery sites, with an average daily provision of meals for about 800 district students.  Starting with tomorrow’s meal service plan, the district will provide 1,000 meal boxes across the two sites.

Baxter said the district currently has 2,991 students on its free and reduced price meals program, with the previous meal service model reaching about 800 students a day.  The weekly box meals will reach 1,000 students a week if all the boxes are picked up, but it would still not reach all students in need.

Baxter said the district has applied and met the thresholds for a program called Emergency Meals 2 U, which would allow it to connect to a greater number of students and provide them free meals.  The program, according to Baxter, would enroll any of the district’s students who want food to be delivered to their home.  She said program representatives will contact her when they are ready to initiate the rollout of the program, but an exact date has not been provided to her.

Dr. Jackson in his report to the board said that, while schools may be closed through the rest of the year, learning in Brenham ISD “has not ceased”.  He said he has convened a team of leaders that will continue to advise him as the district works to strengthen the educational opportunities for all students.  He said the district is also exploring additional ways to get students connected at home, and is committed to providing learning, growth, and development opportunities for them while facilities are closed.

Board Vice President Melvin Ehlert thanked parents for the work they are doing at home to teach students, saying they are having to do quite a bit more than they previously had to.  He said parents need to be recognized for their efforts in keeping students engaged at home.