BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD DISCUSS SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR, SPACING IN CLASSROOMS

  

The Brenham School Board met virtually Monday evening to discuss how COVID-19 could affect the upcoming school year calendar and how classrooms may not be built to accommodate social distancing measures for full classes.

Trustees approved the 2020-21 instructional calendar in January, but districts now are having to readdress their schedules to consider the impact the coronavirus may have on classes in the fall and spring.  Brenham ISD Interim Superintendent Huey Kinchen said the district needs to be prepared to transition seamlessly to remote learning should it need to close its doors again due to COVID-19, but added the curriculum and instruction department has been hard at work to make sure teachers are ready in that instance.

Kinchen said flexibility is a key word to keep in mind when making any possible changes to the calendar, which has classes starting on August 19^th and ending on May 27^th.  While he said he believes it is still too early to make revisions to the calendar, he also recommended that the district add an extra two weeks of school for if schools were to be shut down again.

Kinchen also discussed the capacity of the district’s classrooms, saying many of them are not big enough to hold a full class while still maintaining social distancing.  After conducting a walkthrough of Brenham Elementary, Brenham Junior High, and Brenham High School with Assistant Superintendent Paul Aschenbeck, the two found that elementary classrooms can hold 13-15 students with social distancing in place, while the junior high and high school classrooms can fit 15-16.  However, the average class size, according to Kinchen, is 22 students for elementary school and 24-28 for high school.  In addition, he said the district’s busses would be running “all day” with the district’s current calendar, potentially creating a transportation problem.

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Brandi Hendrix said the Jump Start program using blended at-home and on-campus instruction, which is currently being piloted in summer school, could be implemented during the regular school year to alleviate classroom and transportation concerns.

The board also received a budget update from Business and Finance Director Kim Weatherby, who said pay increases are needed for teachers, librarians, nurses, and counselors, but this year’s budget is being built very conservatively and will not have the additional revenues to dedicate to large pay increases this year.  However, she said changes do need to be made to current employee salaries, otherwise new district employees would end up making more per year than returning staff members with the same amount of experience.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board unanimously approved the hiring of Veronica Johannsen as the district’s new director of communication and special projects.  Johannsen previously served the San Antonio community as communications director for the Office of Councilman Manny Pelaez and the communication specialist at the Alamo Area Council of Governments.

Johannsen began her career nearly ten years ago in journalism, working as a bilingual broadcast journalist and covering stories out of the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio on a local and national level.  She is replacing Jessica Johnston, who has taken a position in the private sector.  Johannsen will begin her work in Brenham ISD July 6^th.

The board also selected board president Natalie Lange and board secretary Susan Jenkins as the district’s respective delegate and alternate for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) conference this fall.