BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS ‘FRONTLINE WORKERS’ RESOLUTION, 2021-22 CALENDAR

  

The Brenham School Board adopted a resolution asking Governor Greg Abbott to give higher priority to school district personnel in COVID-19 vaccine distributions at its meeting Tuesday.

The resolution asks the Governor to include school personnel in the official Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel’s definition of frontline workers, allowing them quicker access to vaccinations.

Superintendent Dr. Tylor Chaplin said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently has teachers and educators in Phase 1B of vaccine distributions, but the Texas Department of State Health Services has them lower than the second phase.  He said teachers are putting themselves at risk every single day, and feels their efforts should be supported.

Board President Natalie Lange said the board would “wholeheartedly endorse this,” with Board Secretary Susan Jenkins adding that of the people who are with children all day long, educators are “at the top of that list” and are in a “frontline occupation.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board adopted the academic calendar for the 2021-22 school year.  The calendar was formed after staff and community members provided input on a survey that received 1,162 responses.

The approved calendar has a school start date for all Brenham ISD students on Wednesday, August 18th.  Students will have a full week off for Thanksgiving, and will have off starting December 20th for the winter break before returning to class on January 5, 2022.  Spring Break is scheduled from March 14-18, 2022, with the last day of school on Friday, May 27th.

Several teacher planning days are scheduled on the new calendar, and will be considered student holidays.  They are set for August 16th, October 11th, November 1st, January 4th, February 21st, and April 19th.

Click here to view the 2021-2022 instructional calendar.

Also on Tuesday, the board:

  • Recognized Heather Kaldis as the state winner of the VFW Smart/Maher National Citizenship Education Teacher Program. Kaldis is a fourth grade English Language Arts teacher at Brenham Elementary School.
  • Heard a facility assessment report from Grady Slaydon of the Texas Association of School Boards. Slaydon said there are several issues at the junior high school that need to be addressed, including the foundation, roofing, and accessibility for the main building; parking; site fencing; mechanical systems including electrical, plumbing and HVAC; floor damage; restrooms and locker rooms; the auditorium and gymnasium; the English room and science building; the tax office; and general safety and security.  Chaplin said he and district leaders will look to move forward within the next few weeks to formulate a long-term plan to solve those issues, and expects the board will discuss them at its meeting February 1st.
  • Heard a financial report from Business and Finance Director Kim Weatherby. Weatherby said the school district is expecting that there will be a second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding.  She said the amount for the district could receive as much as $3.2 million, but cautioned that the funding will likely be used the way it was in the first round last summer, in that it is used to reimburse the state’s budget costs.
  • Approved the purchase of four new school buses for $320,994. Assistant Superintendent of Operations Paul Aschenbeck said two of the buses are the traditional 77-passenger buses, while the others are 14-passenger buses.  One of the 14-passenger buses will be equipped with a wheelchair lift.  Aschenbeck said the two larger buses will be put into the district’s activity fleet, giving a total of five activity buses that are used to go out of town for extracurricular activities.  The two smaller buses will be used for the district’s two routes that carry special needs children to Bryan and Houston each day.  The buses will be purchased through Longhorn Bus Sales.
  • Approved the purchase of a replacement chiller at Brenham High School. The purchase will not exceed $250,000.
  • Held a public hearing on the 2019-20 Texas Academic Performance Report.
  • Approved the district’s early literacy and math goals.
  • Approved the district’s 2019-20 financial audit as performed by Belt Harris Pechacek.
Heather Kaldis (front, left) is recognized by VFW Post 7104 Commander Ben Seeker (front, right) and the Brenham School Board as the state winner of the VFW Smart/Maher National Citizenship Education Teacher Program. Kaldis is a fourth grade English Language Arts teacher at Brenham Elementary School.
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