The Italy School Board of Trustees voted to extend the contracts of the elementary and high school principals through June 2014 following a three-hour executive session at its board meeting held Monday evening.

The vote for Jason Miller, elementary principal, was unanimous. Mark Stiles made the motion and Cheryl Owen seconded the motion to extend Miller’s contract.

The vote was split for Lee Joffre, high school principal. Curtis Riddle made the motion to extend the contract with a second from Owen. Mark Stiles and Paul Cockerham voted against the high school principal’s extension. All others were in favor of extending Joffre’s contract.

The board also accepted the resignation of Jeffery Richters, John Lindsey and Cynthia Springer.

The meeting started with Elmerine Bell, local resident and substitute teacher, requesting the school board allow her to volunteer her time instead of docking an employee for half-a-day pay to attend a funeral of the mother of two of her students.

Bell said she doesn’t usually volunteer her time to teach but felt this was an unusual situation. She said it was important for teachers to support their students and felt it was important for this teacher to attend the funeral.

After submitting her request in writing, Bell said a school official denied her claim explaining that other teachers might take advantage of a similar situation and begin asking someone to volunteer their time. She said the district no longer feels like “family.”

Kelsey Nelson and Jaclynn Lewis spoke to the school board in support of Joffre.

They said Joffre has made improvements to the district, has made it more secure, has added a section for seniors to eat their lunch and has done this in his first year here. They girls said they might not always agree on every issue but know they can always talk with him.

During the superintendent’s report, Kevin Witte, technology director, said he has received approximately $29,000 back on the E-Rate Funding the board approved several months ago.

During the enrollment report, Stiles questioned why 14 students had left the district since January. Stiles said the administration needed to figure out why they were losing students and wanted a report on it at the next meeting.

Current enrollment is 558 students with 300 enrolled at Stafford Elementary and 258 enrolled at the junior high/high school. Refined average daily attendance is 96.46 percent.

Barry Bassett, superintendent said the state average is 95 percent but the district is shooting for 98 percent.

Stiles then asked what the district was doing about truancy.

Bassett said they do file truancy cases in the civil court but said they have implemented a program that works to get students in the classroom rather than the courtroom.

Stiles had requested that Speed Hamby, maintenance director, give the board a bus maintenance cost report at a recent meeting.

Hamby presented a report at this meeting noting that it costs $2.63 per mile on average to operate the buses. Stiles requested another report that included the individual cost for each bus rather than a collective average.

Board members were also presented with class counts, another report Stiles recently requested.

He questioned why there were so many student aides during the day, noting that their time could be better spent studying in the classroom. He questioned how Joffre knew that the students that volunteer at the elementary school got there and did the job they were assigned to do. Miller said that they call the high school if a normally-scheduled student doesn’t show up.

Stiles then said the district needed a district and campus development plan.

Bassett said the district had these plans in place and in effect. Stiles questioned board members as to whether they had seen these plans then told the superintendent he wanted a copy of them by the next morning.

Stiles said if these are not in place, the district was breaking the law.

Bassett also presented a proposal to replace the football field bleachers. He said these figures are for informational purposes only.

Stiles asked why they didn’t include the cost to replace the baseball and softball bleachers as well. Riddle asked Hamby if he would look into the cost of wood versus aluminum bleachers. Stiles said as long as they were looking into replacement to include the cost to replace all bleachers, including the baseball and softball.

In other business, the board called a school board election for May 12 which will be a joint election with the City of Italy.

Trustees approved Update 92 which was stressed by Jennifer Cooper, TASB consultant at a recent meeting; and GASB 54 resolution which “designates” one million dollars of the school’s fund balance rather than “assigning” an unspecified amount of money to a project. This designation, however, can be changed upon approval from the board. They also approved a resolution suspending the 15% rule originally mandated by the state for the 2011-2012 end of school year testing upon recommendation from Basset.

The consent agenda was eventually approved.

Stiles questioned the Jan. 26 meeting extending the contract of the superintendent. He said he did not vote because he did not think six months was long enough to make an accurate evaluation. Larry Eubank, board president, said Stiles needed to let them know verbally if he was abstaining next time.

He questioned several bills including checks to Axiom Advertising, B&B Athletic Supply, CTCR Video, MSB and Texas Department for Public Safety.

The Axiom Advertising check for $624, according to Tammy Gillespie, was from the school’s activity account for the baseball team. The B&B Athletic Supply bill for $1,868 was for the football helmets to be made ready/certified for the 2012/2013 football season. The CTCR Video for $6,132 was for the installation of security technology at the elementary school. The $1,184 check to MSB was for special educational services software. The $7 for the Department of Public Safety was for background checks on seven parents who volunteer at the district. 

Stiles questioned the cost of $1. Celeste Carroll, superintendent’s secretary, said this isn’t the cost for the background check; it is the cost to receive a copy of the report. Stiles said he wants to see a report and see what is being checked. He added that he wanted to see a copy of the background checks for teachers as well. Carroll said the information in these reports is confidential and is not available to the public or even school board members. 

Stiles also complained about Joffre getting furniture in his office before the stalls were installed in the boy’s bathroom. Hamby said the stalls are scheduled to be installed during spring break. 

Paul Cockerham questioned a $710 bill to Interstate Billing Services. Hamby said this was for heads and injectors to repair a school bus.

The meeting adjourned at about 11:30 p.m.

Audio record of meeting

Audio for mobile devices:

Comment from Steven Dalon Coleman received 2/28/12, 8:11pm

Regarding the most recent school board meeting and the report thereof on the NeoTrib.

First of all I applaud this coverage.  It would seem that the Neo Trib too is starting to smell a collective of rats. Some of them midget rats thinking they are giant rats but rats the same.

So the FOURTH HS/JH Principal in five years cannot get a unanimous renewal vote?  Note to Italy ISD Board if the Sup recommends a renewal of a person 99.9% of Texas School Boards act on his recommendation. Can you NOT see that the turmoil YOU are creating is hurting the kids of this district? Really? Are you that out of touch with reality?  If the Superintendent is not doing the job you hired him for you replace him.  In case you have not noticed the only thing that is being accomplished with the way you are doing business the last couple of years is the stroking of your own rather inflated sense of self worth.

Instead we have people micro-managing and bickering over silly bills that the School is bound to pay for whether you like it or not. By the way $1700.00 is a VERY reasonable price to recondition the number of helmets Italy Football needed to be refurbished.  Trust me, I know.

And NOW we are bickering because the Superintendent did not include a price on the replacement of bleachers at the Baseball and Softball fields when he submits his report on the cost of the fixing of the worst HS football Stadium within 100 miles of Italy, in spite of the FACT that he was not directed to do so in the first place?  Hmmmmm, someone got an axe to grind?  Did we ever even think that maybe JUST maybe the bleachers on those other fields do NOT need replaced?  They don’t, trust me I have seen them and sat on them, your view from the concession stand might be influencing your opinion.  They are in fine shape.  But instead we have a Board Member all incensed that just because Football is getting something then baseball and softball are being neglected?

And what is REALLY funny is that the same people who are causing all of this turmoil are the ones in the Board Meeting wanting a detailed report of why students are leaving the district.  Normally you have to pay a ten dollar cover charge to see stuff this funny. Are you kidding me? People are leaving this District because the people on the School Board could not manage a Girl Scout Cookie sale in front of Wal-Mart. And by the way managing a government entity is not the same as managing a multi million dollar corporation no matter how much you think it is.  The American people figured that out years ago, call Ross Perot for reference.

Note to silly people, you hire good people to do a good job. You leave them alone and let them do their job. Sitting on high and bickering about $1.00 checks which are you are not entitled by law to see anyway is yet further proof that you have absolutely no clue what you are doing but rather you are in this for your own ego and have checked the students best interest at the door. You are doing a grave inservice to the kids no matter how many times you stand in front of the HUGE expensive mirrors in your home and tell yourself that you are in this “for the kids”.

You are not fooling anyone.

My name is Stephen Dalon Coleman and I approved this message.

Additional comment from Stephen Dalon Coleman received 2/28/12, 8:51pm

If we are going to start complaining about the inadequacies of Italy ISD Athletic facilities based upon what sports our children are involved in, my daughter runs track.  We don’t have one.  Much less bleachers around it.

I win.

Have a peachy day.

Stephen Dalon Coleman