By Chuck Davidson
CHESTER – Five of the seven board members of the Chester ISD Board of Trustees, plus three staff, three community members, and six students were present when president Bryan Martin called the meeting to order. After prayer and pledges, with no public comments, principal Amy Dinger introduced the officers for the National Honor Society and its president Lily Read introduced the three incoming members and invited the board to the upcoming induction ceremony.
Superintendent Paul Drake then introduced James Guest, attorney for LPVS, to give an update on tax collections. Due to a glitch in the first mailing in July to those delinquent in paying, about only 20% were notified, thus causing a significant decrease in collections.
After two more mailings, Chester ISD now stands at 89% collected, below the normal rate of close to 100%.
Business manager Austin Odom reported on the latest revenues and expenditures, including a construction update and financial report. All is on target and progressing as planned.
Board members then had a good discussion on end of year fund balance and how the low tax collections impact the current and future budgets.
Dinger then reported that enrollment this week stands at 199 with attendance above 97 %. She reported on the busy days ahead for the ag students (district events and fair), success in sports, and upcoming events such as early release on Sept. 26; homecoming on Sept. 27 and the homecoming parade on Sept. 28 starting at 10:30 a.m. in downtown Chester.
She also mentioned that they were able to purchase 30 “ClassVR” sets, for interactive virtual educational experiences.
Drake highlighted the districts approach to the various drills they are required to hold, mentioning that all are announced ahead of time, thus reinforcing to all what must be done when alarms go off. He also mentioned the importance of the upcoming parent-teacher conferences and the fall break starting week of Sept. 30.
The board then quickly approved the consent agenda and adopted the National Incident Management System (NIMS). As there was no need to meet in executive session, the meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m. with the next regular meeting scheduled for Oct. 21.
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