Jennifer Perry Middleton
Jefferson Jimplecute
The Jefferson Independent School District’s Board of Trustees swore in new board members during their regular meeting Tuesday. Place 4’s Leah Cooper and Place 5’s Rusty Mauldin took the oath of office for their respective seats. Cooper ran unopposed in the May 6 election, and Mauldin replaces Kevin Godfrey on the board.
In other business, members also approved $240,207 for the junior high kitchen update. Doors and flooring, at a cost of $62,574, will be completed by Contech, and Kirby will supply kitchen equipment for $167,660. Funding for the project will come from the district’s food service account. The demo work will be done by the maintenance crew and the water and electric needs will also be updated. Chief Operations Officer Clint Coyne told the board the junior high and elementary multi-purpose gyms will be completed during the summer at a cost of $34,000. Doors and hardware will be replaced at the elementary and high schools, and a new lift will replace the elementary elevator.
“We’re on pace to get these projects done by the end of the summer and we’re ready to get the ball rolling,” Coyne said.
A $107,595 proposal by NGS to provide safety film on windows and doors at all campuses, the field house and the administration building was approved Tuesday. Funding for the project will come from the School Safety Standards Grant. JISD will also install Silent Panic Alarm Technology, door updates and numbering along with the film to align with the Texas Education Association School Safety Standards.
A $98,000 contract with Moak Casey for instructional framework in K-5 math and training on research-based math strategies was approved for the district. It will be paid for through a $140,000 Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities grant the district received to help develop the framework. The contract also provides assistance in implementation through both face-to-face meetings and virtual connections.
“I’m happy to have a support team with Moak Casey and get started,” Dr. Lynn Phillips, JISD director of curriculum and instruction, said. “We are really looking forward to this. It’s an important piece of education.”
In addition, a high school performance band trip to Hot Springs, Ark., was approved, with the band boosters financially supporting the trip and no student having to pay out of pocket expenses.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 13 in the district Administration Building, 1600 Martin Luther King Drive in Jefferson.