BURTON SCHOOL BOARD EXTENDS STAFF CONTRACTS
The Burton School Board extended the contracts of several staff members at its meeting Monday night.
After reconvening from executive session, the board announced it would give contract extensions to Athletic Director Jason Hodde, High School and Elementary Principals Matthew Wamble and Melinda Fuchs, Student Services Director James Little, and Special Services Cooperative Director Kristi Hess.
The contracts of Hodde, Wamble, and Fuchs were all extended through 2021, while Little and Hess were extended through 2020.
The board also discussed several safety and security measures in executive session. Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy said a lot of the things being considered for the district would be costly, and would not be able to be included in the current budget set.
Dr. Kennedy said the district thought it was important to put in security cameras outside on the bus ramp and by student parking, which will also scan by the baseball field. She said there are currently no cameras in front of the elementary and junior high schools, and that these are some of the priority areas for camera placement.
The board also approved adding a compensation policy for leave and absence, and setting up a sick leave pool where employees can voluntarily donate sick days. Dr. Kennedy said she will send out a memo to all staff members letting them know what criteria need to be met in order to be eligible to receive days. Board President Demetrius Colvin said he is a “firm believer of helping those that are in need”.
During Fuch’s monthly report, she said teachers have been working hard to strengthen their lesson plans to better meet student needs. She said the school is moving with a different plan with assessing student performance, going back to assessments every six weeks.
Wamble stated in his report that he is continuing to look at new class offerings for junior high and high school students. He said he is looking at extra electives for junior high, and more CTE and advanced courses for high school.
Dr. Kennedy mentioned in her report that the Boys and Girls Club is looking for a place in the school district to call its own, as it has experienced a lot of growth. She said they are exploring different options, such as getting donations for a standalone building, or using a site in the community.
Dr. Kennedy also said she is trying to set up a time to talk with GeoSouthern, to potentially set up a better partnership with them in order to make use of donations, funding, and other support available.
The board also approved the Washington County Appraisal District audit, as well as a joint election agreement with Blinn College. The audit presented came in $39,275 under budget, with no findings.
Congratulations to all the Administrators on receiving two year contracts! Hopefully the votes were unanimous. Credit to Mr. Colvin for his leadership at the last two Board meetings. The Turmoil that has marked the last year could subside if the Board conducts their business without acrimony.
Pleased to hear the new principal is considering additional CTE and advanced classes for the high school students. CTE classes bring in additional state funds to the district. I encourage him to solicit input from Mrs. Hodde and the new Ag teacher. Setting up a meeting with Blinn officials to discuss expanding the number of CTE classes that can be for college credit would be a great advantage for the students and parents. The students could get up to twelve college hours of CTE credits taken while in HS. At present students can pursue welding and vet tech or some computer classes that will go towards nursing or health careers. With some innovative curriculum the opportunities could be expanded. The benefit to the parent is the classes taken for college credit while enrolled in HS saves them lots of money.
The same can be said for advanced classes. If the HS staff has a Masters in their field, they can teach classes for college credit. Examples could include American History, Government, Economics, English 3 and 4, some science classes and math classes. One way to encourage teachers to get their masters is to pay teachers with a Master’s degree more.
Teachers can get a Master’s online in about a year or two. They can take most of the classes over two summers. To help them pay for the cost of getting the Masters, the district could incentivize it. Pay the teachers an extra $600 a year for getting 18 hours towards a degree plan on a Master’s in their teaching field. Bump it to $1200 a year upon completion of the degree plan. The teachers would have to get a degree plan from an accredited university in a specialized field from a list approved by the Board. The areas of concentration would include English, Math, Science, History, Foreign language, and CTE areas.
Another idea would be to consider inter local agreements with Round Top or Brenham to allow our students to join at one HS campus to increase class size. By getting class size around 20 students the district can afford the cost of a teacher. Another idea would be to hire retired or adjunct teachers with the Master’s and certification for 1-3 classes a day or block schedules of two hours a day.
For Boy’s and Girl’s Club, if they could purchase a site, perhaps the district would consider an inter-local agreement to transfer the temporary buildings, if they are still available, to the Club. The cost of moving and setting up those buildings at a new site would be less than building new. I understand FEMA is selling several of the portable homes left over from housing hurricane visit s. They are auctioning them online. They are stored at the Hearne airport. Perhaps a couple of them could be purchased and set up on property nearby.