COLDSPRING — On April 13, COCISD held a special board meeting to discuss rescinding their decision from the last regular meeting to adopt a 150-day calendar.
This comes after the board and the Texas Education Agency held a conference call to debate what is best for COCISD’s progression. It was revealed during the meeting that the TEA plans to enforce a year-round calendar that consists of 200 instructional days, meaning the request for 165 days is only temporary.
This plan is described by the TEA as the “Step” Strategy.
The board stood against the TEA and denied their request to increase COCISD’s academic calendar to a 5-day academic week.
“This is what our community wants. This is what our community voted for us to do,” said Board Trustee William B. Baker.
COCISD will not back down, stating that they welcome whatever TEA has in store for them. “They don’t know what’s best for our children,” said Baker.
Under the Texas Education Code Chapter 39A, TEA has full authority to place a conservator in a school district if a campus has been failing for four years in a row. In the case of COCISD, the Lincoln Junior High campus has been the underperforming campus in the district.
Furthermore, the TEA has the power to issue directives to the district if they see fit.
If a district does not adhere to a directive issued by the TEA, they risk losing control of their district. This means that the COCISD superintendent and the board could potentially be replaced by others who will oblige the TEA’s demands.
The meeting had a huge turnout from the community, who support the current academic calendar of 4-day weeks. There were 7 public comments from the community that were passionate about the board not giving in to the TEA’s demands, regardless of the consequences that could follow.
Courtney Robinson (COHS Principal), Stacey Ferguson (COCISD Educator), Sabrina Baker, Courtney Bailes (COCISD Educator), David Taylor, Ernest Bailes and Ashney Shelly all spoke in favor of the 4-day week.
The board unanimously voted to not rescind their previous vote to keep the original 150-day calendar, causing the meeting attendees to erupt in applause.
