The Brownwood ISD (BISD) Board of Trustees met for a regular session meeting on Monday, October 5, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. The session was called to order by Board President, Michael Cloy. BISD Trustee, Roderick Jones gave the invocation and Board President, Michael Cloy, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
RECOGNITIONS
The following groups and individuals were recognized by BISD and were presented with certificates highlighting their achievements.
BISD Spotlight Teachers and Staff: The Brownwood ISD Spotlight recognizes members of the BISD faculty and staff who go the extra mile to ensure excellence in education for all our students. Spotlight recipients are chosen from peer nominations. October 2020 honorees were Coggin Intermediate School (CIS) teacher, Erica Templeton and East Elementary Secretary, Robin Crouch. Pictured (top) are BISD Trustee, Diane Thompson, Spotlight honoree, Erica Templeton, and CIS Principal, Stacy Loftin. Pictured (bottom) are BISD Trustee, Codie Smith, Spotlight honoree, Robin Crouch, and East Elementary Principal, Dee Dee Wright.
INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS
Brownwood ISD Deputy Superintendent, Liesa Land presented the Instructional Focus update. Land provided data from the past two years as reported by the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessment for K-6 th grade. Land noted that we are missing the End of Year (EOY) data from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and comparing the results from the past two years we have identified areas that need work, especially at the lower grade levels. Intervention specialists, tutors, instructional coaches, and teacher-leaders are working on each campus to help students where the results showed additional instruction might be needed.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
BISD Superintendent, Dr. Joe Young noted that the district applied and has been accepted into the Resilient School Support Program through Texas Education Agency (TEA). The program matches the district with a highly qualified district support organization and, in partnership with the regional Education Service Center, will help BISD continuously improve the remote learning programs during the school year.
Brownwood ISD is beginning a phased-in approach to the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), which was part of House Bill 3. TIA provides additional funding to districts with teachers designated as Recognized, Exemplary, or Master. Though TIA will not be fully implemented at BISD for another two years, phase one of the BISD approach will include discussions on creating a unified district plan for how the money will be utilized with the state requiring 90% be used as compensation at the applicable campus. An initial discussion regarding TIA will be brought to the Site-based Decision-Making Committee at the upcoming meeting scheduled for October 15, 2020.
Dr. Young will be meeting with the Superintendent Student Advisory Cabinet on Thursday, October 8. The group is made up of students from grades 6-12 and will meet to provide student input on various school-related topics.
With students continuing to move back to face-to-face learning, the district still has 498 enrolled in remote learning, down from 672 at the beginning of the year. Overall, BISD enrollment has increased, indicating students are not dropping out but are moving back into classroom instruction. Current grades and assessments indicate that BISD remote instruction programs need to improve, and though remote instruction remains an option, many students are learning more effectively face-to-face. With parents concerned about COVID-19 at school, BISD has been transparent with reporting each case, and continues working closely with the health department on contact tracing. The number of students and staff being quarantined has dropped significantly due to the effective use of social distancing, masks, and other preventative measures, and no confirmed student cases were traced back to transmission at school.
DISCUSSION & ACTION ITEMS DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
Nursing Report: The report provided by BISD Director of Nurses, Helen Lacy, contained nursing assignments for the 2020-2021 year and information regarding the first 22 reported cases of COVID-19 on Brownwood ISD campuses including the number of staff and students that were sent home as close contacts.
Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC): Future meeting dates for SHAC were provided along with updated areas of discussion including school safety, and membership. As required, a yearly review of the wellness policy was completed and passed through the committee without any suggested changes. It was noted that Danielle Howard would be added as a co-chair for the committee.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Program: Dr. Young provided an ESL program overview. The program provides appropriate planned instruction to identified students that are linguistically and culturally diverse. BISD currently has ESL students that speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino, Bengali, Chinese, Albanian and English. BISD now employs a total of 56 ESL certified teachers. Director of Special Programs, Heidi Gardner, provided a report with a breakdown of ESL students and teachers per campus.
Mental Health Initiative Update: Mental Health Specialist, Danielle Howard provided a report regarding the district’s mental health initiative. As recipients of the HELP grant, and through the support of BISD funding, BISD was able to add 3 school counseling interns this year, and a fulltime special education counselor, increasing the student-to-school counselor ratio to 265:1, and doubling the availability of counseling to BISD special education students. BISD has expanded the multi-tiered pyramid of interventions to include a mental health counseling component and developed a system of referral. While concerns regarding COVID continue to arise, the Comprehensive Counseling, Mental, and Behavioral Health Team have worked together with teachers and families to address needs and mental health concerns as they arise, and pursue safe and secure outcomes. The team also plans to increase parent and community outreach.
Quarterly Investment Report: A Quarterly Investment Summary and Tax Assessor-Collector’s Report for August 2020 were provided to the board for review.
ANNOUNCE BOARD MEMBER CONTINUING EDUCATION HOURS
Board President, Michael Cloy reported that all BISD Board of Trustees members met or exceeded the yearly required continuing education hours for 2020.
SHAC APPOINTMENTS FOR 2020-2021
The board was made aware of an update to the SHAC committee to include Danielle Howard as a co-chair. Due to the change, the item was separated from the Consent Agenda to add an amendment. Trustee, Codie Smith made a motion to accept SHAC appointments for 2020-2021 with the amendment adding Danielle Howard as Co-Chair of the committee. The motion was seconded by Trustee Jones. The motion passed unanimously.
CONSENT AGENDA
The following items were listed for consideration on the Consent Agenda.
1. T-TESS Appraiser Update
2. Minutes from September 14, 2020 Board Meeting Trustee Diane Thompson moved that the Consent Agenda be approved as presented, with Trustee Jones seconding the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
No executive session was held during the meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The following announcements were made for upcoming events:
• School Holiday – October 12, 2020
• Site-Based Decision-Making Committee Meeting – October 15, 2020 – 4:00 p.m.
• Region 15 Superintendent Virtual Conference – October 19-21, 2020
• Pink-Out Day & Game vs. Alvarado – October 23, 2020
• Next Board Meeting – November 9, 2020
The meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.