Jennifer Middleton/Jefferson Jimplecute
Two new board members were sworn in May 11 during Jefferson Independent School District’s regular board of trustees meeting. Toleshia Davis and Michael Williams were sworn in to replace former Board Members Ned Frantangelo and J.P. Abernathy, who had served a combination of 31 years on the board. Neither sought re-election for their respective seats in the cancelled May 6 board election.
The board also met members of Trull-Hollensworth Architects, Inc. of Magnolia, Ark., who spoke about renovations to the football stadium and other long-term district projects. Superintendent Rob Barnwell said that the firm had been highly recommended and that he had called several of their references, which gave the design team high praises.
Jerry Hollensworth told the board they had experience with football stadiums and that they had recently worked on projects at a school in Gurdon, Ark., where they designed new dressing rooms, ticket booths and press boxes. They’ve also worked at Smackover Northlett schools north of El Dorado, Ark. and designed the sanctuary rebuild of the First Baptist Church in Texarkana on Moores Lane after it burned a couple years ago.
“We’ve got quite a bit of experience on drainage on football fields,” Hollensworth said. “We will try to understand your program of what you need, present it to you almost like a menu list, work with you on your needs and try to fulfill those needs.”
During JISD’s April board meeting, trustees identified needed capital projects including the stadium upgrades, removal of portable buildings at the primary campus and a covered walkway at the high school from the handicapped spaces into the building.
“We will look at the turf and parking lot and try to get a survey with topography on how it’s draining,” Hollensworth said. “We will work on that a long time to get that right. We will also work on building new press boxes and if it’s possible, maybe move it to the visitor’s side. It would have twice the space than the existing press box today. We’ve got lots of ideas, we’ve just got to cram it in the budget.”
Trustees approved Barnwell drawing up a final contract with Trull-Hollensworth to be presented at a future meeting.
In other business, the board heard a presentation from Clint Coyne, district special programs director, on a federal grant the district expects to receive. Of the $11.2 billion the American Rescue Plan through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III fund will give Texas schools, JISD is expected to receive a total $4.4 million.
Coyne said this is the third round of federal COVID-related funding and once it’s received, the district will have three years to use the money. He added that JISD had not yet received all of the previously-allocated federal funding and that he was still learning from the Texas Education Agency on the next steps the state and districts are taking to receive the funding.
“Although most schools are open in Texas, across the nation more schools are closed than not,” Coyne told the board. “They want to make sure we use funding to stay staffed, stay open, keep teachers employed and make sure they have a job.”
He went on to say that this is the largest amount the state’s ever gotten from the federal government and that the district can expect to be audited and held accountable for how the monies are spent.
The plan requires that the district will continue to pay its employees during any COVID-19-related closures or disruptions and that public safety protocols will be put into place for in-person learning.
JISD is also required to consult with stakeholders and give the public the opportunity to provide input on how they use the funding. A minimum of 20% must be used for learning loss mitigation and to help students cross the learning gaps created while schools were closed for the pandemic. In doing this, the district can purchase additional technology and add more summer learning and after school programs.
Barnwell said one way they can address the learning gaps is to hire more paraprofessionals to work with the students in small groups and give them individualized attention specific to their needs.
“Now we have the opportunity to see if this grant will help us pay for us to get those classroom sizes a little smaller,” he said. “If we can catch kids up during that time, it’s money well spent.”
Trustee Leah Cooper agreed.
“This will give us the opportunity to try a variety of things that we didn’t have the funding to do before,” she said.
Some of the funding will be used for summer school this year, and the district will transport and provide lunch for those children who attend, Barnwell said.
“The parent will not have any reason to not allow them to come to summer school,” he said. “They’re going to need to get extra help.”
Coyne said the district is already reaching out to parents via the website, sending letters and calling so they knew about the available learning opportunities.
“We are already telling parents and many of them already know,” he said. “Over the next three weeks, we’re going to do our best to get the participation up to get the most kids possible.”
Patti Wallace with the Marion County Tax Collector’s Office also reported to the board on the June 1 delinquent tax sale. Several properties will be up for sale, including 76 lots in Pine Bluff on Caddo Lake, which has a minimum bid of $94,000.
The next meeting will be held June 8.