BISD approves new visitors' bleachers
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

A pair of maintenance projects was unveiled at the Monday, April 14, monthly Brownsboro Independent School District board meeting. These projects were put forth to fix items in a state of disrepair.

The more expensive of the two involved installing aluminum bleachers for the visitors' section of the Brownsboro football field.

Elton Caldwell, school superintendent, said the price of aluminum was up and rising, so it would be better to get the cost of the new bleachers out of the way sooner, rather than later, as the cost might go up again.

The cost of the bleachers is estimated at around $71,903.80. Caldwell said it would be within the school budget to undertake this project.

The second project concerns the retaining wall in front of the school administration building and north of the junior high science building.

"The wall is in a state of disrepair," Caldwell said.

The wooden wall would be changed to a block wall when the project is finished. The cost will be $7,801.50.

During the meeting, Vicki York, assistant superintendent, released information regarding the school's district technology plan. One of the big goals of this plan is for all core area teachers to incorporate technology every day.

"A lot of times we only think about computers when we talk technology," York said. "It's much more."

A date and time was then set for a board meeting to canvass trustee election results after the May 10 board election. The first and last possible days for this meeting are May 13 and 21, and all ballots must have been processed by the time of this meeting.

The meeting is set for Friday, May 16, at 11 am.

The next agenda point limited the number of foreign exchange students the school could host to five students. Caldwell said too many foreign exchange students puts a strain on teachers.

A pair of salary related issues followed. The board voted to increase the pay scale of teachers with only a few years' experience in order to be more competitive with other schools. The board also voted to allow stipends for teachers in needed positions.

These stipends are in the amounts of $1,500 and $2,000 for high school teachers and for teachers who teach math, science, English, Spanish and English as a second language.

The board also received information regarding audit services for the district for the school year. The cost of this audit is $17,500.

In addition, a 2007-2008 Summary of Finance and Associated Areas was given to the board. The school is performing adequately in all areas.

The final monetary and salary related issues involved changing up pay grade placement for visually impaired/ orthopedic and mobility support positions. The board decided to reduce the pay for these positions.

The trustees then decided to hold their summer leadership institute in Fort Worth instead of San Antonio. The reason being Fort Worth is closer.

In the area of school maintenance, the new maintenance director, Spencer Newman, presented the report of his first five weeks on the job. He made several changes to the way his department runs, and the board voiced their pleasure at his activities.

Finally, due to the school's declining enrollment rates, the bond issue to finance construction projects will be put on hold until enrollment stabilizes.