The Goodrich ISD School Board had a busy June agenda Monday, hearing results of testing, grants, maintenance, and approving purchases. The meeting had been rescheduled from Thursday’s regular time slot, due to a lack of quorum.
Goodrich was chosen for the Texas Strategic Leadership in-kind grant of $100,000. Only two districts in the region were awarded the grant this year, and administrators attended a two-day kickoff conference in San Antonio to go through the process.
“Ultimately, what it is designed to do is create a fiveyear strategic plan that can be communicated out,” Goodrich ISD superintendent Daniel Barton said. “It would have things, for instance, of what is a portrait of a graduate at Goodrich ISD, and I have seen them with the portrait of a teacher. Organizations moving forward are about building systems that are sustainable when leadership changes or new teachers come on, so that we are branded on our way. We need a brand that covers our academic programs. In order to get there, I will have to put together a committee. It will include some board members and administrative staff. It is a pretty intensive process. All of the districts that went through it, we were watching them complete presentations on the process, and it was very positive. The reason that we were chosen is because we are small, and that is where the biggest issue comes in sustainability, because if you have a leader and everything is going great and that leader walks out the door, he takes it all with him. The idea is to build something that lasts beyond the board that is sitting here, beyond me, and it is the Goodrich way and our brand.” Barton said there was no growth across the state in STAAR testing or at Goodrich. The superintendent said that was to be expected, as the district saw a large jump in scores last year.
“Overall, we are in line with the state, but overall, the state didn’t do well,” he said. “The reasons for that — there are a thousand reasons that somebody could present, but none of them are based on anything other than an educated guess. This is the second year of this STAAR assessment and the kids are all online now. We’ve moved to A.I. grading. This year was the first that all of the written and essays were graded by A.I.
Finance manager Sarah Bacica gave the quarterly investment report, which included the district gaining $61,500 in interest. She also discussed status of the 12 grants Goodrich utilized in the 2023-24 school year and projected fund balance rollover for next year. The total leftover in the projected fund balance should be around $300,000. The projected settle up fund balance is expected to be around $320,000, for a total projected rollover of just over $628,000.
Barton said the attendance rate for the 2023-24 school year improved at 96%, with an emphasis of getting students in class. He also said the school has welcomed in 65 new transfer students.
In maintenance, school floors have been stripped and waxed. They are currently looking for someone to provide maintenance on the wooden floors. Sealed bids will be opened July 8 for replacing doors in the agriculture building and putting in gates for the old gymnasium. The district is also working on quotes to replace the roof in the old gym. Preventative maintenance for buses are complete, putting brakes on regular route buses and changing fluids. Drainage issues for the theater and cafeteria are being attended to with architects on site. Sidewalk drains have been finished.
Approved in action items, the district will update its access control systems, integrating them with the camera system. It will allow both to be in one console, in addition to adding cameras on the Ring system. The cost of over $30,000 will be taken from a grant.
Also approved was a request for proposal that remains open for five years. It is for those wishing to become a maintenance vendor at Goodrich ISD.
Finally, the board approved wall repairs in classrooms for $15,000, as well as new external and internal cameras on buses.
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