Community Members Speak Out at School Board Meeting

State-bound Alto Sax Quartet, Nick Gentry, Victoria Lopez, Cody Holubec, and Alan Hinojosa receive Board Recognition. Not pictured but also going to State are Class 1 Trumpet Trio, Stephanie Schirmer, Beth Gonzales, and Trevor Dragon.

A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Skidmore-Tynan ISD was held March 6, 2006. Two community members spoke in the Public Forum portion of the meeting.

Daren Wilder, speaking on behalf of a group of parents of transfer students, asked the board to reconsider the recent non-renewal of administration contracts. “As representatives of the school district, surely you must want what is in the best interests of the district. Up until this point, you have built one of the best school districts in Texas. Please reconsider your actions with respect to the administrative contracts before it is too late and the district loses the excellent administrative staff that is currently in place. Our children’s education is too important to jeopardize taking a step backwards.”

Amanda Colmenero, also speaking in Public Forum, expressed her disappointment that a letter originally published in the “Superintendent’s Corner” of the Skidmore Signal was sent home with her child. Mrs. Colmenero took exception specifically to a portion of the letter in which Dr. Belmarez praised his administrative staff and expressed his wish that students “mature to have the same qualities and the character” of those administrators. “I don’t want kids to be like the administrators. I want them to be the way I want them to be, the way we raised them in our homes with the same morals and standards. I was offended because I felt that you felt we were not doing a good job as parents.” Dr. Belmarez later stated that the letter had not been sent out at his direction.

Action items before the board included:

Consideration and Possible Approval of Employment Contracts for Teachers, Counselors, Nurse, Librarian, and Diagnostician. This item was approved.

Consideration and Possible Approval of the Supplemental Duty Pay Schedule for the 2006-07 School Year. This item was approved.

Consideration and Possible Action on Employee Grievance: Mrs. Diana Trevino (Mr. Rick Olivares). Dr. Belmarez earlier requested this item be addressed in open session. After lengthy discussion whether the item could be addressed in closed session, and a brief recess to confer with the grieving party, this item was dropped from the agenda.

Consideration and Possible Approval of Recommended Policy Change for FMH (Local): Commencement (Graduation Exercises). Administration recommended passage of this policy change requiring all students to meet state graduation requirements including passing all exit level state assessments. The recommended policy change was supported by 26 of 28 S-T High School teachers. Current policy allows students to “walk down the aisle” in the graduation ceremony despite having failed to earn a diploma by passing all exit level testing. Board president Rick Olivares argued that the administration was somehow failing these students and that the school should have a 100% graduation rate. Administrators argued that the current policy serves as a disincentive to students who are allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony without actually earning a diploma. The administrators further explained that students have two full years in which to satisfy the exit level testing requirements and that targeted tutoring is provided to all students experiencing difficulty passing the tests. This item failed by a 5-1 vote with Alice Gonzales the sole dissenting vote.

Consideration and Possible Approval of a Proposal for Facility Renovations with the Corresponding Budget Amendment. This item was approved.

The next regular meeting of the S-T ISD Board of Trustees is scheduled Monday, April 10, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in the S-T ISD Board Room.