WOODVILLE – During its regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, the Woodville ISD Board of Trustees received news of a much-anticipated finish line approaching.
Brayden Griffin, of Gallagher Construction, updated the board members and WISD superintendent Lisa Meysembourg on the progress of the new Woodville Elementary School campus. Griffin, who is the project manager overseeing the project, said the certificate of occupancy was received, and the building will be ready for students to populate it on August 6.
All of the wings of the building are done, and Meysembourg reported that millwork is being finished. The one detail that might have to wait is the installation of playground equipment, which Meysembourg said might take a week into the new school term to receive and install.
“We’ll still have some small punch-list items…but it will be ready for kids to come back to school,” Griffin said.
The first day for all WISD campuses is Wednesday, August 13. Meysembourg said a grand opening event for the new elementary campus will take place on Monday, August 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
It will feature a ribbon cutting, and allow the community the opportunity to tour the building and see it having been lived-in a bit, with students’ work on display.
Meysembourg added in her report to the board that with the completion of the new Woodville Elementary campus, and the adoption of the name, which was approved by the board last year, there are no longer separate campuses for the elementary and intermediate schools; they are now both under the WES banner.
WISD opts out of homeschoolers in extracurriculars
One of the action items on Monday evening’s agenda was to consider whether or not WISD wished to adopt a policy to opt-in or out of allowing homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities.
Under Senate Bill 401, which passed in the last regular legislative session, changes were made to the state’s education code about students not enrolled in a school district, such as homeschoolers, to be able to participate in University Interscholastic League (UIL) sanctioned events, if they meet all of the standard eligibility requirements, unless the school district adopts a policy to decline their participation.
“School boards now must take action to opt out,” Meysembourg said, and added that the board had previously put in place a policy to not allow homeschooled students to participate in extracurricular activities. With the new legislation being slated to go into effect Sept. 1, that the deadline for school districts to make that decision.
With a majority vote, the district voted to opt-out of allowing homeschool students’ participation in extracurriculars. Board member Josh McClure abstained from the vote.
McClure said he had some questions about the topic that merited a deeper dive, information-wise. He said that the passage of taxpayer funding to cover private school tuition, as well as the insurance liability factor brought him questions.
