GISD cafeteria to receive upgrades

By Brian Besch 
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The Goodrich ISD School Board approved cafeteria purchases and heard maintenance updates for April’s regular meeting Thursday in the administration building.

Students in English as a second language are required each year to test in Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). The test has four different categories that include listening, speaking, reading and writing. In order to exit the ESL program, students must reach an advanced score. Goodrich principal Aubrey Vaughan said the district had a procedural irregularity, missing the window for the students to test.

“We have a couple of different calendars,” Vaughan said. “We have a paper calendar we send out and a Google calendar with our testing assessment dates on there. The date on that calendar was incorrect. We’ve made some adjustments. This will not happen again, but we should have tested them by March 29. We were scheduled on our Google calendar for April 22.”

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Vaughan said missing it will impact the district’s accountability rating, as 3% comes from this exam.

Goodrich ISD finance manager Sarah Fulcher said the school district will apply for two grants in the following weeks. The first is a rural education achievement program that is applied for every year. This year, the grant is worth $11,750, and Fulcher said Goodrich applies every year and receives this grant. The other possibility is a safety cycle II grant for $150,000.

Goodrich superintendent Daniel Barton said he and Vaughn attended a safety meeting led by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office last week. The school district will review current operations plan that is submitted to sheriff’s department, which is submitted annually.

Goodrich ISD also holds its own safety meeting that is attended by a representative of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Office of Emergency Management’s Courtney Comstock. Another will take place in June to review upgrades and safety and plans for the future.

Barton said the old gym developed a leak after the storms last week. The theater flooded, which has not occurred since adjustments were made to the culvert. There’s also a leak in the fitness center, prompting the superintendent to call TASB risk management to file a claim. He said an adjuster has been sent and a forensic engineer will stop by soon to look at the roof on the old gym and the reason behind the flooding. Barton said the old gym will probably need to change to a seamless roof, where the solar panel system can be attached with clips instead of holes drilled.

Bids are currently being taken for an intercom and bell system. Barton said if the school district pays for that system, it can likely be reimbursed through safety grants later.

In business items, the board approved egress bars in the cafeteria and lower elementary door locks. The district has upgraded all its doors on campus through Esser funds. Also approved was cafeteria equipment, including an electric countertop convection steamer, a tray rack, and a milk cooler for a total of over $22,000.