Trustees name new members of student health advisory group

The San Marcos Consolidated ISD Board of Trustees tackled a hefty agenda Monday night that included the appointment of members to the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) and the approval of a 2018-2019 Improvement Plan after the district received a “D” rating in closing the Gaps in the Texas Education Agency’s new A-F rating system.

SHAC is a group appointed by the school board to serve at the district level to represent the community. Members of the SHAC represent different interests of the community and the school district, but the majority of members must be parents who are not employed by the district.

The board of trustees approved seven members to SHAC, including Christina Loy, a parent of students at Goodnight Middle School and Travis Elementary; Paige Biersdorfer, a parent of a student at Miller Middle School; Yvonne Albrego Natoli, a parent of students at Miller Middle School and San Marcos High School; Kelli Huston, a parent of a student at Miller Middle School; Katherine Ewing, a mental health therapist, Dylan Jones, a district employee at Crockett Elementary and parent of students at Hernandez – though he is not considered a parent by the board because of his employment with the district – and Alicia Jordan, a grandparent of students at the Child Development Center, Bowie Elementary and Goodnight Middle School.

San Marcos CISD recently received a “D” rating from the TEA in closing the gaps and earned an overall “C” rating. Districts that received an overall rating of a D or that receive a rating of a D or F in any domain must develop and implement a targeted improvement plan approved by the board of trustees of the district per Texas Education Code §39.101. Although no submissions or progress reporting are specified now, the TEA may request the submission of the targeted improvement plan that contains these intervention activities.

The 2018-2019 Improvement Plan passed 6-0 with Trustee John McGlothlin abstaining.

“I’m going to abstain because I am not qualified to analyze an instructional improvement plan and I think this requirement is stupid from the state,” McGlothlin said. “I mean we already monitor how the schools perform and make adjustments when we feel necessary. So the idea that we are not doing that is kind of insulting.”

In other news, the SMCISD Board of Trustees also approved a facility usage waiver for Community Action, Inc.’s GED Program at the Lamar campus for SMCISD parents and guardians and a resolution authorizing the tax resale of a foreclosed property for $3,200 – $2,790 less than the original minimum bid.

The board also approved the design development for elementary school renovations with a vote of 6 to 0, with McGlothlin absent. The design development for the district’s Central Administration Offices was also approved with a 6 to 1 vote, with Trustee Anne Halsey opposing saying the budget for the project was still too high.