The Italy School Board of Trustees approved the hiring of two teacher/coaches at its monthly meeting held Thursday evening.

Lee Joffre, high school principal, introduced Nate Skelton and Bryan Coffman. Both will be coaches and junior high/high school social studies and history teachers. Skelton will be football offensive coordinator, basketball and track coach. Coffman will be assistant football coach and boys head basketball coach. The board approved both men unanimously.

They also unanimously approved Natasha Blackburn, interim business manager, the authority to transfer money at the bank through the Cash Management System. Blackburn is filling in for Tammy Gillespie, business manager, who is out on medical leave. 

The trustees also granted power of attorney to Mackey Graves for matters of the FSA office. This item also passed unanimously.

Barry Bassett, superintendent, briefly updated the board regarding the renovations at the football field.

He said a representative from Paddock Bleacher Services of Chicago visited the district last week. Bassett said the company specializes in bleacher restoration and said the used football bleachers from Ferris ISD are a good deal financially at $12,000. They decided, however, that there would not be enough material to restore both the home and visitor bleachers. 

Speed Hamby, maintenance director, said he requested a bid from Paddock to replace only the home bleachers. The maintenance department would repair deteriorating boards on the visitor bleachers. They gave him a bid for $39,480 to complete the home stands only.

Bassett also discussed upcoming training for school board members and a date for a budget workshop.

The board also approved minutes from previous meetings, the check register, utility reports and the monthly investment and cash position report.

Enrollment, as of May 31, was 563 students – 305 students at Stafford and 258 students at the high school.