BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD OKs PAYMENT OF $3.6 MILLION IN STORM DAMAGE INVOICES
The Brenham School Board on Monday approved the payment of over $3.6 million in invoices for hail damage sustained at Brenham ISD campuses in the spring.
holds a Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students)
t-shirt that volunteers will be able to wear. Merkley
announced during Monday's Brenham School Board
meeting that the Watch D.O.G.S. program is coming
back to Brenham schools.
The two invoices come from Belfor Property Restoration for $3,341,508 and from Parsons Roofing for $324,515. The payments follow extensive repairs at the middle school and junior high after a spring hailstorm and heavy rainfall led to major roof and interior water damage.
Chief Financial Officer Darrell St. Clair said a majority of the invoices will be paid with funds received through the Texas Association of School Boards Risk Management Fund. The district will be responsible for $116,773 and will pay using its fund balance, but it will have the opportunity to reimburse itself, dependent on the outcome of Brenham ISD’s bond election.
Also at Monday’s meeting, trustees heard a safety and security update from Safety Coordinator Joseph Merkley, who announced the return of the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) program in Brenham ISD. Merkley said Watch D.O.G.S. is a family and community engagement educational initiative that provides positive male role models for students in schools, allows for extra eyes and ears for school safety incidents or bullying, and opens the doors for parents to be a greater part of their students’ lives.
Merkley said Watch D.O.G.S. volunteers will go through in-house training and the program’s official training. He said additional information will go out to parents later this week.
Additionally, trustees held a public hearing for the annual School FIRST financial accountability rating. The district’s 2024-25 rating, based off of financial data from the 2023-24 school year, is a 76, or “meets standard achievement.” St. Clair said the downgrade from the previous year’s score of 88 is mainly due to the reduction of available fund balance, and he expects the changes the district has made will bring next year’s score up.
In other business, the board approved the purchase of library books, received the annual bilingual/ESL program report, and accepted an in-kind donation from The Paint Warehouse in Brenham via Robbie Collins for Brenham ISD’s Fine Arts Departments. The donation is in excess of $4,000 in plaster dry mix and ready-use materials.
