“Unprecedented times” was the phrase most often used at the Howe ISD School Board meeting Monday night. Howe Superintendent Kevin Wilson said after 30 years, you think you’ve seen it all, but he said couldn’t say that anymore. He couldn’t possibly guess how many phone calls he’s had since last week between contacts with the area superintendents, Region 10 service center, and daily calls with the TEA Commissioner of Education Mike Morath.
“The commissioner started a daily conference call with state-wide superintendents on Friday which included Saturday and Sunday,” said Wilson. “It’s not daily, it’s hourly that we get new information. We just try to digest it all and do what’s best for our kids and our community.”
In Monday’s board meeting, Wilson began by informing the board that enrollment was up at the end of February with 1,271 students but then began to give information on COVID-19.
“I know that Princeton ISD decided today that they will remain closed through May 8 which is eight weeks,” said Wilson which delivered some signs of shock from some board members. He then told the board that the TEA Commissioner informed the group that they needed to prepare for long-term closures and that areas with a high rate of infection need to prepare for an eight-week closure at a minimum.
Wilson said the Dallas and Houston area schools took that the heart and went ahead and made that decision.
“I have not been planning to operate that way,” said Wilson. “To me, it’s week-to-week; maybe two weeks and reevaluate. That’s my intention, but I can tell you that this is a very fluid situation and it changes not daily, but hourly.”
Wilson went over President Trump’s “15 Days to Slow the Spread” that was released on Monday.
“These are unprecedented times, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that,” said Wilson. “We’re going to make mistakes along the way. We’ve all admitted to that. We’re trying, speaking personally, to make decisions based on the information we have at that time. I’m trying to be very diligent to collect all that and sometimes you have to do what you think is best and go with it.”
As of 10:30 am Monday, there were 700 school districts in Texas that were closed. It had been 500 over the weekend. Wilson said Commissioner Morath has supported each superintendent and stated that he would not second guess their decisions because each school and each community is different.
If and when Howe ISD re-opens the TEA Commissioner has created an option for parents to keep their kids at home. If they miss school, they will be technically absent but counted as present. For the ISD, it would not create any funding issues from the state based on attendance.
“He’s (Morath) been very responsive to our fears and needs about funding and testing and everything involved,” said Wilson. “We won’t be penalized based on low attendance if their parents don’t want to send their kids to school. We also will not be penalized if we exceed our bad weather days or bank hours that we have to use until we have to file for waivers. He said, ‘do what you have to do to plan and we’ll be very forgiving, but come up with a plan to provide instruction at home so that we’re still trying to move kids along.’”
The ISD sent out a survey on Monday afternoon which was intended to provide the best means of instruction for students while in-person classroom attendance is not taking place. The survey was a question of which would your student prefer online coursework on paper/pencil coursework.
“It’s going to be specific per campus,” said Wilson. “Obviously, we’re not going to give the elementary kids a lot of online work. But your high school students – they’re used to it, they’re already doing it and it makes sense for them to continue doing that. If a kid didn’t have access to the internet, we’re looking at alternatives. The commissioner said there’s no prohibition on opening your school for a small number of students.”
Foodservice was another big topic at the board meeting where Wilson said they did receive permission from USDA to take-out lunches.
“Hopefully starting next Monday, we’ll start either providing food or delivering food to different drop-offs throughout the district,” said Wilson. “I don’t think there’s a large number, but there’s a fair number of students that depend on our meals and we’re going to do everything we can to provide them.”
Assistant Superintendent Darla Williams said the inventory was adequate for providing breakfast and a sack lunch for next week.
Wilson also informed the board that the UIL has canceled all events through March 29 which also includes practices. UIL cancellations included athletics, music, theater, and all extra-curricular events. The district will also be canceling all parent meetings or other meetings that take place at the school.
Texas Governor Greg Abbot declared Monday that there would be no S.T.A.A.R. testing for the 2019-2020 school year. Some Howe High School seniors had not yet passed their required exams for them to graduate, but TEA reiterated that graduation committees were in place and they were going to be relaxing some of the rules which could allow the district to determine whether the student meets the necessary levels to graduate.
One of the items TEA and districts will have to work through is the situation with the freshman that normally completes English I, Biology, and Algebra I as a graduation requirement. What will that look like in three years? Wilson says that they can work through that, but the immediate item is having flexibility for the seniors that need to re-take the S.T.A.A.R. test for graduation purposes.
Wilson also said that Grayson College announced that they will host online classes for students enrolled in dual-credit courses.
During the school closures, teachers under contract will continue to be paid as well as hourly staff. One question arose regarding substitute teacher pay.
“If you (a substitute teacher) were scheduled to work a day this week and a day next week, in my opinion, those aren’t paid,” said Wilson. “But if we have a long-term sub that is subbing for a teacher on maternity leave that has been working and supposed to work three more weeks, I’m inclined to continue to pay them. If we have a commitment to them, I think we need to honor them.”
The board agreed and Board Member Mark Abner commented that the district would need them to be ready to go when schools begin again.
In items beyond COVID-19, Wilson informed the board that the plans for the high school campus renovations have been submitted for bid.
“Unless something crazy happens, we still plan on having a proposal for you to consider at our April meeting. It’ll be a bottom-line number and we can decide to move forward or delay, or just say no,” said Wilson who indicated the fees from the architect came in much lower than he anticipated.
In personnel, the board approved the extension of the contracts for Assistant Superintendent Darla Williams, the Principals Clarissia Doty, Clay Wilson, and Phil Kempson, and Directors Julie Snapp, Angie Liss, Bill Jehling, Melissa Atchisson, and Brett Williams. All extensions are the typical one-year annual extension with the exception of Jehling who received a new 2-year contract.