2024 RECAP: BRENHAM ISD SUPT. CLAY GILLENTINE
As 2024 comes to a close, KWHI is getting the thoughts of local officials on how this year shaped out and what may be on the horizon next year.
We begin with Brenham ISD Superintendent Clay Gillentine, who discussed some major happenings for the school district in 2024 and some of its plans in 2025.
Gillentine feels the district is riding into the new year with a “lot of momentum”, whether it be from the various successes of students in academics and extracurriculars, to the leadership at the campus and districtwide levels, to the backing of the community at large.
One positive mentioned during recent school board meetings is Brenham ISD surpassing expectations for enrollment and average daily attendance, something that Gillentine says goes a long way in supporting the school district.
A key emphasis in the transition from the previous school year to the current year was streamlining the number of employees in order to help reduce personnel costs. Through the downsizing, Gillentine applauds the teachers, administrators and staff for their efforts to keep operations running smoothly.
Moving into next year, what happens at the state capitol in Austin will be a key focus for Brenham ISD. Gillentine is hopeful that legislators are able to deliver increases in school funding.
Gillentine plans to continue expanding community partnerships recently put into place, like the ambassador program, Wellness Wednesday, and a green chord program where students can earn a green chord at graduation for the number of volunteer hours they have contributed.
Gillentine joined Brenham ISD in 2021 as assistant superintendent for administrative services. He was named the district’s acting superintendent in October 2023 and was officially hired as superintendent in March.
Brenham ISD needs to be cleaned out from the top. The school board members need to start paying attention to the teachers as they are who keeps this district floating and stop allowing these created spots from those that don’t step into schools. Teachers and other campus staff are doing multiple jobs and are not getting compensated. When campus administrators are taken to DAEP as the administrator, where is the central office staff that should be doing it instead? Clay Gillentine should not be in the position he is in; he is non-existent and does not answer questions in the best interest of teachers. Central office is padding their pockets and schedules while the teachers are slaves dealing with disrespect from students, parents, and more duties than they are getting paid to do! The community members of Brenham ISD need to open their eyes and see this district is in shambles financially due to the horrible stewardship of the central office–get in the schools if you want to know what is really happening. Teachers are leaving and going to other districts because they pay better even if they have to deal with the same dumpster fires. While central office is creating positions and spending more of the tax payers money on themselves, teachers are scraping by in this district and are frustrated. If you want to know the truth, ask a teacher in this district. Wake up, Brenham citizens, and see that your school district in central office is as crooked as the government. Stop allowing central office useless positions and hire teachers; and PAY teachers what they deserve. It’s time to trim the fat at the top.
Understand that anonymous posts in forums like this are not going to do squat to change class sizes, student discipline, and the lowering of the academic standards. You have to vote out the ones that enabled this mess locally.
The streamlining happened with the classroom teachers. Teachers were promised a few years ago small numbers and that lasted maybe one year. There are Elementary classes with over 20 students and Junior High classes with over 25 students. Why does the truth never come out? Students are not able to learn with that many students and the amount of time spent on discipline. Teachers walk out or resign and the positions are not being filled. Where are the numbers on teachers leaving? Where are the numbers of how long it has been since teachers have seen a real raise? When does Brenham get answers?
Employees are drowning in larger class sizes and little is being done about continuous behavioral issues in classrooms. Too many children in one room with little or no support is a huge issue. This will cause the loss of teachers via retirement and leaving to other districts with smaller class sizes and higher pay.
At this rate, a simple thank you is not enough for the dealing with the strenuous working conditions day after day. It’s a recipe for disaster that has been created by the continuous inconsistency in BISD for more than a decade. The flipping and flopping of upper administration combined with the school board that refuses to adopt a zero tolerance for all students who pose risks on the schools for behaviors puts not only teachers but students at risk. It’s the elephant in the room that no one is willing to address.
If the problems are not met head on and put out there, there will never be a solution. You can’t find solutions to all problems without openly identifying the issues and creating a plan of attack to resolve said problems.
Teachers are drowning not only due to student behavior and larger classes, but it’s also the tremendous amount of paperwork /documentation (for behavior, parent contact, SPED/504/ESL documentation, etc), and new curricula (3 core subjects this year). Task saturation has lead to drowning. You are correct, a simple thank-you isn’t going far enough.
In the last five years, there have been quite a few bad decisions regarding personnel, student accountability (behavior and grading), and finances. COVID and the state can no longer be used as scapegoats for the consequences of those decisions. If Brenham wants to rectify these problems, they have to take a long, hard look at themselves: they elected the board that rubber-stamped this mess. Election is in May.
It’s a bad situation for educators. You can lay blame squarely on the shoulders of ridiculous statutes that say basically that all impediments to education that children may have have to be overcome by the school district!
Understand it, BISD with a majority at risk population of kids, kids from single parent households (sorry single parents, a very small few of you somehow make it work but most can’t), abused kids, households overwhelmed with predatory practices our government allows and on and on and on, the district is legally mandated to make up for all that. It in no way shape or form can, although it pretends. Teachers, and its partly their fault, actually try to facilitate that nonsensical position, many times out of their own pocket, even providing their cell numbers to kids and parents.
Texas will implement school choice, the kids not wearing rose colored athletic glasses in poor performing schools like BISD that can leave will leave (because they have parents that actually care) and go to soon to be expanding private schools.
For schools like BISD to do better and beat out school vouchers, they have to shed themselves of the idea they are the replacement parent, turn in illegals and abusers to ICE and CPS as they are major drain on public ed and create smaller schools that are just about education where all dollars go to creating order and academic education only and everything else is provided by the parents or booster clubs. In a country that seems to prioritize everything except the health of its own citizens and creating more have nots than haves, you have to start triage on those that can be saved, are intelligent enough to know that that they want to be saved.
I’m curious as to what employees were streamlined to cut costs? It would be good to know. How many administrative positions were streamlined? It may be the number of administrators was reduced but it seems like we’re often seeing new positions created. I can be wrong but it would be nice to know where the streamlining actually happened. I hear about how overloaded teachers are.