BURTON SCHOOL BOARD EXTENDS PRINCIPAL, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR CONTRACTS
The Burton School Board moved to extend the contracts of several Burton ISD administrators at its meeting Monday.
Trustees agreed to extend the contract of High School Principal Micah Goebel through June 30, 2025, and the contracts of Elementary School Principal Melinda Fuchs and Athletic Director Jason Hodde through June 30, 2026. No salary changes were part of the action.
After the board’s vote, it went into executive session to discuss the contract of Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy. According to Dr. Kennedy, no action was taken on the matter.
During a report on the school bond project, DSA Construction Management Project Manager Stad Tomlinson said crews have been trying to accomplish whatever work they can over the past month, but the large amount of rainfall made that difficult.
Tomlinson said Boothe Construction has been focusing on running water and sewer lines connecting the Ag building to the new system and installing the underground lines servicing the new high school. On the field, Hellas Construction has installed the vast majority of turf and cut in the field markings and ISD logos. They are waiting for the ground to be dry enough for equipment to drive across in order to install the track.
On the financial side, Tomlinson’s snapshot report dated February 8th shows the total amended project budget at $44 million. He said budget numbers will go up and down until the project is finalized, but they are waiting on change orders to bring that number down.
In other business, the board approved an order of a school board election for the positions held by David Warner, Sr. and Brian Hinze on May 4th, as well as a joint election contract with the City of Burton. This Friday is the last day to register as a candidate on the ballot. Early voting will take place April 22-30 at the Washington County Courthouse Annex, with voting on Election Day to take place at the Burton Community Center.
The board also approved an adjustment to the 2023-24 school calendar student minutes due to last month’s inclement weather.
Dr. Kennedy’s enrollment report stated there are 579 students currently enrolled, including 359 at the elementary school and 220 at the secondary school.
Also at Monday’s meeting, trustees recognized students in the Burton Beta Club, which recently took home several accolades from the state competition and will be sending some students to nationals this summer in Savannah, Georgia.
By “Change Order” it means cutting something out of the original bond to adjust the budget! Not at all thing we voted for. We’re not pleased with what’s being done with our tax dollars.
I have never seen a school where none of the adults are ever held accountable. The administration always has an excuse but are very quick to hold a child accountable. This bond project is a huge disaster and really needs to be looked into a lot closer on who is being hired and there actual experience.
So, one month of rain is the issue with things taking time??? I call “Bull Corn”! Just another excuse after excuse. It’s getting old. This is a discredit to the children of this school! Kids are missing out on Ag projects in the shop, the baseball field is a wreck from football using it (by the way who let that happen? The AD? You owe these kids a better baseball field. One of many questionable decisions. Let’s destroy something and hope we can fix it? Not a great idea at all..)
Let’s face it, high school age kids won’t get to see a new classroom ever! Most of the people that voted for this bond had kids in JR High at the time.
Two generators were used to power the Ag building for weeks/months, I’m certain that wasn’t in the bond! I’d also like to see the air monitoring records that were done to make sure no Carbon Monoxide was getting into the shop and classrooms from the exhaust! I’ll wait… Not to mention the raw sewage in the toilets in the Ag shop for the same amount of time, that’s not right. No one cleaned it up! The administration is hardly taking care of the taxpayers investment. This falls on the board for accountability! This is poor planning!
It’s obvious to this taxpayer that the administration, and board, are running up a much larger bill! But hey, we got a new football field for 30-40 students to use next year! Well maybe. Oh well, they’re trying….. Right? This is what we voted for!???
Other schools passed bonds at the same time we did and are nearing completion. (Mumford for one example. Located in a flat, farming area near the river bottom.)
It’s time for a change and time to get moving!
I for one am done with hearing excuses. The bills just keep adding up and students are doing without! That’s not what we voted for! Where’s the accountability? It’s obvious the board is running out the time on the Superintendents last contract. You better have someone ready to step up! These kids need it! The taxpayers require it!
This school needs someone to be a leader! Burton ISD needs to do better. Maybe it’s time to get on the board and make some changes!
I totally agree with everything you stated. this is getting crazy. My kids will not see the new building, and that’s very disappointing.