A Regular Board Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Denver City Independent School District was held on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, beginning at 6:15 PM. Because of the COVID-19 this meeting was held via Zoom with all board members in their individual homes and Superintendent Gary Davis conducting the meeting from his office located at 501 Mustang Ave. Denver City, TX.
Those members in attendance via Zoom included Brad Woosley, David Mitchell, Jess Roberts, Danny Escalante, Edgar Salazar, Russell Dial and Cody Williams.
Davis called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM and lead the Pledge to the United States Flag and the Pledge to the Texas Flag.
The only public discussion was informing those people wanting to see the board meeting how to key into Zoom software.
After the minutes from the previous meeting were approved the following information items were presented for perusal of the Board: Financial Report, Investments, Un-reconciled Cash Position Report, Recapture Report, Enrollment Report, Excalibur Report, and Utilities Report.
Davis started the new business by announcing there will be no summer recreation program this summer because of the coronavirus.
This was followed with Davis recognizing Kendra Duncan and Clinton Bowman for the Media Honor Roll for their fair and unbiased reporting on all school board meetings as well as other school related activities.
Business Manager LaChrisa Raines updated the board on changes in the Investment Policy for school year 2020-2021.
Davis also informed the board that Governor Greg Abbott has canceled all schools in Texas for the remainder of the year. This also was the case for all Spring UIL athletic events. At this time schools should be opened back up by the August date assuming COVID-19 is not an issue at that time.
When asked how the Distance Learning was going in place of the actual school attendance Davis noted the program was going good in the lower grades but was not so good in the higher grades. He explained how each student in the district has access to their individual classes where they can receive daily instructions and assignments through Zoom.
The board also unanimously approved a motion for COVID-19 Appraisal Waiver.
The board unanimously approved all the new hires in the district. This included Bailee Burkett, Melissa Rice, and Zachary Barron at the junior high and Regina Cummings at the high school.
The board also unanimously approved the Resignations/Retirements of Ashlee Madison and Diana Chaves and the Reassignments of Katie Huse to Kelley Elementary, Krystal Woosley to the high school, and Lizeth Lopez to the Dodson Primary.
When the board addressed the professional contracts of all teachers in the system board member Edgar Salazar noted he didn’t feel comfortable discussing this item since the meeting was being seen live over Zoom and he wanted to table it. Board Member David Mitchell then asked what was needed to be discussed, all the supervisors from each campus had recommended the rehiring of all Professional teachers and that any concerns should have been discussed during that Executive Session. Mitchell then made a motion to act on the Professional contracts, but his motion failed by a 4-3 vote.
The board then conducted a special meeting on Friday, April 17 in the high school auditorium. As a result of this special meeting all Professional contracts were renewed. The Press did not receive any additional information concerning Salazar’s concerns.
The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 18 starting at 6:15.
