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School wins $489,000 grant; new trustee named Trinity Standard - August 2008 TRINITY – The Trinity school system has won a grant for almost $489,000 to help purchase student laptop computers, the Trinity School Board was told last week. During the July 31 meeting, the board also appointed Maggie Trevino to fill the school board seat vacated in June by the resignation of former member Debbie Quan. Trevino will serve until the next election in May 2009. In his report to the board, Director of Technology Brian Furbee announced Trinity had won the Vision 2020 Technology Immersion Grant from the state. The $489,000 will be used to purchase about 250 laptop computers, enough for every six, seventh and eighth grade student to receive one. The grant also will pay for other equipment and staff training as well as computer programs such as Microsoft Office and software aimed at helping students improve in the four core subject areas – English language arts, math, science and social studies. In his report, Furbee also updated the board on the two-year, $269,000 STAR grant received by the school last year. The STAR grant is designed to improve student achievement on standardized tests such as the annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) exam. Money from the grant is aimed at helping both students and teachers improve their computer skills and funds a mentoring program to assist those with problems at all campuses. Furbee noted that the district has now completed the first year under the program, which he said was used to get the mentors trained. “We’re going to hit the ground running this coming year,” he told the board. Board member named During the meeting, the board unanimously approved the appointment of Trevino to fill the vacant board seat. Trevino’s appointment will run through the May 2009 election, during which candidates will be able to run for the final year of Quan’s current three-year term. Trevino has resided in the Trinity area for over 20 years and attended the Pan-American University. Her husband, Serapio Trevino, is the security director at the Whispering Pines Golf Club. She has been a volunteer, substitute teacher and room mother at Lansberry Elementary School and until her appointment to the school board, had served on the campus’ site-based decision making committee. She and her husband have two children, Albert, 20, a graduate of Trinity High School, and Marina, 8, a third grader at Lansberry. Other business During the meeting, the school board: · Learned that the Old Red School House Committee had met with architects to review preliminary drawing for renovation work. Once the plan, which includes an elevator that would serve both Old Red and the intermediate school, are complete, the school board plans to seek grant funds to remodel Old Red into the district’s administrative office building. · Learned that work on remodeling the old, two-story middle school building into the intermediate school is nearly completion. Superintendent Dr. Bobby Rice told the board it would be ready in time for the start of school and that an open house would be schedule, probably in September. · Awarded an $18,135 bid to Partstock for the purchase of new campus computers. · Approved an agreement with the Texas Department of Health Services that would allow the state to use Trinity High School as site for mass vaccinations in the event of an emergency. · Named board member Gary Gallant as the district’s delegate to the Texas Association of School Boards. · Approved the athletic handbook for the coming year. · Approved the bids for groceries, milk, juice and bread. · Approved an additional $30,000 for the remodeling of the old middle school into the new intermediate campus. Rice noted the board originally authorized $475,000 for the project but that estimate did not include remodeling the campus’ auditorium. The additional funds will cover that expense. · Authorized Rice to advertise for bids on the sale of two of the three portable buildings used previously at Lansberry Elementary. With the opening of the intermediate school, the fifth grade will move from Lansberry to the new school, freeing up classroom space inside the building. The third portable building will be moved to the middle-high school campus for future use as a possible vocational agriculture classroom. · Accepted the resignations of Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Glenn; band director Leonard Arnold; elementary teachers Marisa Glenn, Lima Ogden, Jocelyn Connell and Megan Kiers; middle school teacher Ron Hibbard; high school teachers Mathew Bowles and Sylvia Font; and AEP teacher Rae Anne Hibbard. · Offered one year probationary contracts to band director Stanley Welch; elementary teachers Christy Quan, Catherine Steiner, and Shannon Tracey; intermediate school teachers Shares Rest Meyer and Heather Barron; middle school teacher/coaches Patrick Carter and Jamie Moore; high school teachers Astrid (Karen) McDaniel and Marla McClain; and high school teacher/coach Chris Owens.
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