The Brownfield ISD Board of Trustees met Monday night July 31, 2023, in a regularly scheduled meeting and didn’t take long to find out some new information under the superintendent’s report. However, before the big news, the Board heard from one of BISD’s Ag teachers and FFA Sponsor Reagan Stuart.
Mr. Stuart told the Board that the Brownfield FFA Chapter had a great time and was successful at this year’s Texas State FFA Convention. According to Mr. Stuart, five FFA student received their Lone Star Degrees and it’s the highest degree that can be accomplished in Texas FFA. “It takes three years to get and they got to be involved in leadership development, career development, which is the judging side of it, and an SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience) which is stock showing or a job in agriculture. They also have to show a $500 profit within those three years,” said Mr. Stuart. The five students who received the Lone Star Degree were Jordan Disnger, Joslin Garza, Haylee Williams, Jessica Melendez, and Dillon Martinez.
Mr. Stuart also presented School Board President Geoff Cooper with a plaque to honor him with an Honorary Lone Star Degree. Mr. Stuart told the Board about Cooper, “we were also fortunate enough as a chapter… we get to, if we choose to, we have a State Honorary Lone Star Degree and this person goes beyond the call supporting not only our chapter but the community and is very heavily involved.” Mr. Stuart mentioned to the Board that there were 12 recipients in the area, and 100 in the state to receive this Honorary Lone Star Degree.
Moving on, Superintendent Chris Smith asked T & T Earth Movers to give an update on the demolishing of the old middle school and the parking lot at Cub Stadium. Terry I. Suarez told the Board, “When we bid the middle school it was a 120-day schedule and this Saturday (Aug. 5, 2023) will be two months since we started that project, so… I honestly know it looks slow, but we’ve had few changes which were to add the gyms and auditorium. That was not a part of the original scope. From there we are contracted to do improvements to the parking lot (at Cub Stadium). Originally when that project was bid, we were b basically going to tear down, load the trucks up, and take it to the landfill. With some of the changes made, we are actually going through and sift through the rock, brick, and mortar.” Suarez also noted that the rock, brick, and mortar has been screened five times so that when it is laid at Cub Stadium, vehicles will not get flats. He also reiterated that they are on schedule.
Next, Cooper asked Mr. Smith about the Cosmetology program. Mr. Smith told the Board that BISD is finishing the program for those students who entered into it in the 2022/2023 school year. Mr. Smith said, “We are finishing the students who were in the program last year. They have earned hours at the start of the process… so we are finishing those students and we not starting any new students.”
Secretary Cat Gonzales asked Mr. Smith, “Are we planning on getting that program back if we can, or are we doing away with it.?”
Mr. Smith responded, “It’s going to be sunset… the numbers weren’t there, it’s not on the pathway, it’s a very expensive program. We had one student pass the test.”
Gonzales asked, “With all that new stuff we put in there, what’s going to end up with it?
Mr. Smith said, “We are going to try to sell it to a district that does have the program.” He went on to say, “When we designed the new school… number one, we built it off of the programs we had in place. Number two, cosmetology was still one of the programs recognized by TEA (Texas Education Agency). Enrollment has not been great for a number of years and completion has been even lower.”
Cooper asked Smith, “Why did TEA pull that?”
Mr. Smith said, “Because it’s not considered a program that has a high need and high earnings. Those two components have to be present in order for TEA to recognize it.”
Cooper then asked, “So we are replacing it with nursing?”
Mr. Smith said, “We are in negotiations to offer a full-fledged nursing program.”
Cooper asked, “So will that start this year?
Mr. Smith said, “We will start either a nursing program next year (2024/2025) or a certified medical assistant program”
The Board then moved on to the financials. According to CFO Paul Coronado, 86% of the total revenue has been brought in. 112% of the local revenue has come in and 75% of the state and federal revenue has come in. 88% of the budget has been expended and the project fund balance is $8,497,975.00
Every year BISD adopts a new and updated Student Code of Conduct, Student Handbook and Employee Handbook for use during the school year. Each year the district receives updated documents with legal and required updates from the state. The district adds local components and implements them during the school year. Both the Student Code of Conduct and Handbook and Employee Handbook were approved as presented.
The Board heard from Assistant Superintendent Melissa about the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) appraisers and the calendar of the T-TESS observations. T-TESS makes efforts to capture the whole structure of teaching. There is the idea that constant feedback circling between teachers and students, and gauging the effectiveness of teachers requires a consistent focus on how students respond to their teacher’s instructional practices. T-TESS focuses on teachers and students rather than separating them into separate domains. T-TESS is a process that seeks to develop improvement, and the process itself best leads to that outcome when appraisers and teachers focus on evidence-based feedback and professional development decisions based on that feedback through ongoing dialogue and collaboration. BISD T-TESS Appraisers are:
- Brownfield High School – Dr. Gionett Cooper & Nancy Moore
- Brownfield Middle School – Art Ontiveros & Ashley Venable
- Oak Grove Elementary – Vicki Hathaway, Hayley Ontiveros, & Robert Urrutia
- Colonial Heights – Kristen Webb
- Brownfield Education Center – Chris Edwards
- Independent Appraiser – Melissa Vera
The Board moved on to adopt the 2023-2024 B.I.S.D. Compensation Manual as presented with a 2% increase. The new teacher salary is posted below:
The Board moved to it’s final item of business. The playground located on the south side of Colonial Heights is in need of repair and maintenance. Several slides will be repaired and the pour-in-place floor needs to be replaced. In addition, the canopies in the Middle School courtyard will be replaced by the same company. The Board approved the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) repair price of $105,000 for Playground Equipment Repair and Canopy Replacement.
The Board adjourned and Trustee Randy Anthony was absent.
