School Board Briefs
Enrollment ‘consistent’ Enrollment as of November 30 was 721 with an average daily attendance through November of 657 students. The state calculates the District’s funding based on average daily enrollment. Dr. Roach said enrollment was “running pretty static.
“We will pick up some students here and there but it’s running pretty consistent now,” he said.
Security plan under way
Dr.Roach brought the Board up to date on the protocols and contacts for the Emergency Operations Plan. The District is still in planning stages on its participation in the Texas Guardian Program, which trains and evaluates educators to carry defensive handguns on campus.
Ballpark construction
Dr. Roach also reviewed the status of the ballpark construction, informing the Board that the District has completed and paid for a water line right-of-way that will bring discharged unused water from Tower Extrusions to irrigate the baseball complex.
The District will complete the softball press box by the end of January and plumbing the water tank so that the groundskeepers can use City water or water from the tank to irrigate the fields.
OISD also will install netting on the dugout to finally complete the project, which began in 2022. All should be completed by the time baseball practice begins in early February.
Delayed bus deliveries
The District is still waiting on the delivery of two activity buses because of supply chain issues with the manufacturers, but expects to take delivery of one bus this summer and the second at the start of the 2024-25 school year, Dr. Roach said.
Flexibility for counselors
The Trustees approved a request by administrators to amend the District of Innovation Plan regarding the school counselors’ responsibilities. This allowed the District to allocate the counselors’ time to ease state- and federally mandated paperwork, Dr. Roach said. “Let the counselors decide how much to spend on counseling, classroom activities, testing, that type of thing,” he said. “That takes a huge load of bureaucracy off my counselors.”
Board approves land sale
The school trustees also approved the purchase of two foreclosed lots by Brenda Pratt and Michael and Amanda Pace.
The school board must approve the City’s sales of foreclosed lots because it is owed a portion of the back taxes. The sales also must be approved by the Young County Commissioners Court.