Italy School Board Meeting

Monday, October 15, 2012

During the Italy School Board meeting on Monday, October 15, 2012, Paul Tate and Pat McGennis were recognized by the board who presented Certifications of Appreciation to Larry Eubank (Board President), Curtis Riddle (Board member), IHS Principal Lee Joffre and to Judi Rowe with Wells Fargo Capital Financing of Dallas. Tate is president of the Lone Star Cyclists, hosts for the annual Tour d’ Italia and McGennis is Tour d ’Italia Director.

In addition to presenting the certificates, Tate presented the school with $2,500 toward scholarships which was graciously accepted by IHS Superintendent Barry Bassett. These funds are a direct result of the Tour d’Italia bike ride held last June. In fact, a financial contribution to Italy High school is made annually from Lone Star Cyclists representatives who hope to make larger contributions to the school in the future, which directly benefits the students.

More participation from local residents as well as our annual guests is encouraged for the 2013 Tour d’Italia which will ultimately increase the amount of the check that will be presented to Italy High School next year.

Tate said there were more than 1,100 riders at the annual event held each June in Italy and went on to extend his praise to Italy ISD which makes the gym available for riders to shower and sleep and to those volunteers that work days in advance to ensure rider safety while touring parts of Ellis County.

After the Lone Star Cyclists presentation, Charles Hyles addressed the board regarding their upcoming decision to potentially approve a class-size-waiver from the state allowing Stafford Elementary’s kindergarten and first grade classrooms to surpass the maximum number of students allowed per teacher. Concerned that the teachers were already being overwhelmed by the current number of students in their classes, Hyles gave an extended presentation regarding the subject and encouraged the board to not accept the state’s waiver and, instead, consider, hiring additional teachers or teacher aids.

The board then went into executive session to discuss the waiver option and then returned to address the audience that had several concerned parents awaiting their decision. The board announced they would investigate the situation more thoroughly before making their final decision and tabled the issue. Bassett explained his intentions to meet with those teacher’s affected the following day, which he did.

Read the results of Bassett’s findings and the boards decisions regarding the class-size-waiver following an executive session called on Monday, October 22.

In other business, Athletic Director Hank Hollywood gave a breakdown of student athletes and the number of passing grades. Hollywood highlighted the fact that all Varsity boys/girls student athletes passed all their classes to remain eligible to compete and represent Italy High School, an accomplishment Hollywood said he had yet to see in 14-years of coaching until now. Hollywood also explained that the football players get stickers on their helmets for academic accomplishments as well as their sporting achievements.

Principal Joffre presented the board with student’s grade percentages over the past six weeks. Principal Joffre pointed out that 13% of IHS students mad the “A” honor roll while 34% made the “A-B” honor roll. Board member Mark Stiles questioned the science grades which appeared to have the lowest marks. Principal Joffre explained a more rigorous teaching effort in that area has been challenging to students who are being encouraged to meet the challenge. Principal Joffre went on to point out, that overall, 90% of science students were passing.

Principal Joffre concluded his presentation by showing documented proof that the percentage of student athletes fair better in the corp classes than non-student athletes.

Bassett passed out information to members of the board comparing IHS students’ TASK scores to those nationwide.

Speed Hamby, of the IHS Maintenance Department, gave a report to the board and answered their questions before the meeting was officially adjourned by President Eubank.