NISD to pursue day care

The Navasota ISD Board of Trustees met for their monthly meeting Monday, March 18, and touched on a variety of topics, including the advancement of an in-house daycare facility.

In the superintendents update, Dr. Stu Musick mentioned a proposal that was brought before the board at a separate meeting about housing a day care facility for employees. He stated there was a meeting at the Navasota Education Learning Center (NELC) to discuss some options and ways that they could make a day care facility happen.

“We are going to do our best to try to make this happen for this coming August, not only to house but also to staff that day care facility,” said Musick. “We do know that since it is housed at a Navasota ISD facility we do not fall under the same state and federal guidelines. That’s a good thing because there are a lot of strings that come with those regulations. We had a good informative meeting, but there is still a lot of leg work that will need to be completed before this summer, including reaching out to staff to see how many of them would commit to utilizing the facility.”

Musick also mentioned there is a special called meeting Thursday, March 28, to discuss bids for phase two projects at Navasota High School and Navasota Junior High, which are already due for submission.

“Over the next few days our architect and project manager will work together to present information to the board for approval,” stated Musick.

Maintenance report

Jeff Neblett provided a maintenance report with several updates. Neblett announced he passed his test and is now licensed for pest control.

Neblett also indicated the school underwent and passed a gas pressure test at all campuses. The maintenance department inspected all urinals and toilets throughout the district and repaired those that needed repairing.

Technology

As part of the contract with Dayhill, 98 percent of the printers have been replaced or repaired throughout the district. According to NISD’s Director of Technology Frank Perez, contractors have been working diligently, replacing wires and cables.

Discussions

Discussions took place on several topics, including the P3 Anonymous tip line, District of Innovation (DOI) and salary and stipend updates.

Grimes County Investigator Kindale Pittman and Grimes County Crime Stoppers member Rogers Douglas presented the board with a new anonymous tip line proposal called P3. The system would replace the current system already in place and would be implemented with no cost to NISD because Crime Stoppers is paying for the proposed system with grant money.

Pittman said students, faculty or residents can anonymously submit tips not just for crime related activities but for a variety of situations, such as suicidal thoughts. Tips can be submitted online, via the downloaded app or by phone.

Any tips that could pose a potential threat to student safety will be immediately sent out to selected school officials, as well as law enforcement.

Pittman and Douglas were unaware if a contract would need to be signed, how long the grant money would cover costs for the program or if the district would incur charges at a later date but told the board they would investigate and report their findings.

Musick stated the school currently pays money for a tip line that is in place on the district’s website. According to Pittman, Iola ISD, Anderson-Shiro CISD and Richards ISD have adopted the proposed system.

Salary increases

Jeff Dyer discussed Texas Senate Bill 3 proposing a $5,000 raise per year to teachers covering a two-year span, which would raise teacher salaries by $10,000 over the next two years. The “money looks nice on paper,” but Dyer reminded the board if Navasota wants to stay competitive with other districts additional raises should be given on top of whatever the Senate offers.

Dyer also noted while the Senate bill raises salaries for teachers and includes library staff, other key positions within the district are not included within the bill. Positions such as school nurse, instructional aids, maintenance workers and custodians are not covered under the bill. Dyer noted those positions are vital for the success of the school’s daily operations and they deserve raises as well.

The board recommended that Dyer research a possible $1,000 a year pay raise for all employees and present his findings at the budget planning workshop scheduled for early May.

UIL athletic rule changes

Dyer also noted a newly implemented University Interscholastic Rule (UIL) that allows athletes to do strength and conditioning training throughout the summer.

Navasota Athletic Director and Football Head Coach Casey Dacus gave the board specifics on the new rule. Dacus said the rule would allow six hours of strength and conditioning training per week with an additional two hours of sport specific training throughout the week. Days are spread Monday through Thursday with Fridays being mandatory days off.

Dacus said “to remain competitive” he will “most likely address the board soon to renegotiate coach’s contracts for some of his staff to go from a 10 to 11-month contract.” He told the board that if his staff is required to be on site to work with the athletes in the summer, the staff will have to be paid.

Musick pointed out that currently football, band and volleyball staff receive an additional 10 days pay because their practices begin before the school year begins. Musick said an 11-month contract will essentially be the equivalent of adding another 10 days to those staff members’ current agreement.

Board Trustee Paul Malek suggested a proposal be made and brought to the budget planning workshop and assured Dacus he is a huge supporter of athletics and wants teams to remain competitive as long as it’s feasible in the budget.

Action items

•approved certification of unopposed candidates for political subdivisions. None of the board members whose terms are up after this school year have opposition in the May elections;

•approved cancellation of school board election. With school board candidates running unopposed the board was able to cancel elections saving the district $21,000;

•approved calendar B for the 2019-2020 school year as recommended by Musick; and

•agreed to continue using Century Link for the E-Rate 2019-2020 application. Minimum of 2 Lit 10 Gigabit Fiber Lines and maximum of 5 Lit 40 Gigabit Fiber Lines. Frank Perez, director of technology, stated the added lines will allow other campuses to continue to have internet access even if one campus may be experiencing issues.

Special recognitions

The board recognized student organizations, including State Skills USA that had multiple photography and media projects qualify for state competition and the History Fair Team that also had several members make it to the state level.

The Navasota Junior High theater, band solo and ensemble and Navasota High School boys and girls basketball teams were also recognized.