The Goodrich ISD school board met last week to provide updates on maintenance and operations, review the upcoming election, and discuss the possibility of new seatbelts on buses.
Last week, the school administration gave teachers that have been recommended for designations through Texas Education Agency. The T.E.A. designates highly effective teachers through the teacher incentive allotment program, offering a recognized, exemplary and masters level that provide salary increases. There were six new teachers designated at Goodrich and two that had moved to another level.
“Now it is in the hands of T.E.A. for approval, but we feel pretty good about it, as far as their data,” Goodrich ISD Superintendent Daniel Barton said. “You already know all the tremendous growth, so that is the result for all of those teachers. If they are approved, we are getting to about 50% of our teachers. We are proud of that and proud for the teachers. Those designations carry $27,000 over the next five years. It is a big deal, and something to celebrate.”
Board elections are just months away. Positions one and two are up for election, which are held currently by Rigoberto Reyes and Lidia Moreno, respectively. Applications are accepted Jan. 14 to Feb. 13 in the district office 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In maintenance and operations, the agriculture shop has been completed other than lockers. Those lockers are now in place, as well as stairs. Plans for the athletic facilities are still underway with a target date of mid-January for bids. Reading of the bids are expected in mid-February if the district decides to move forward. A water line repair was finished Thursday. The line is three feet underground and it was not the first time it had leaked. A bus has been undergoing repairs, needing a fuel injector.
Barton and principal Aubrey Vaughan will lead an instructional program on the teacher incentive allotment, which the superintendent said is focused on student growth.
Based on the last legislative session, school districts are required to discuss the benefits and costs of three-point seatbelts retrofitted to current school buses.
“Most superintendents I’ve talked to, we’ve all had the same conversations,” Barton said of the belts. “In some districts, they have newer buses and they all have new three points. In our situation, we don’t, and we have no three-point seatbelts.”
There are a couple of buses with two-point seatbelts. One of the bids received to retrofit all buses was for over $229,000, while the other was for over $180,000. Barton recommended that any new bus purchased be done with the three-point belts. He said the district should look into grants to offset costs. However, he also recommended not allocating the funds required to retrofit the buses, as the district does not have the budget currently. Barton said the T.E.A. has suggested that grants could be made available at some point.
