Trinity County News 2

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COURTESY PHOTO - Misty Coleman was named professional employee of the month, Keri Dobbs the paraprofessional employee of the month and Ben Stubbs the support employee of the month at the Oct. 26 Trinity ISD School Board meeting.

TRINITY — The Trinity Independent School District board approved a distance learning plan, while at the same time approving a plan to get students back into the classroom.

Superintendent Dr. John Kaufman said the state approved its learning plan on the first go-around, which was rare.

However, Kaufman said that with the board’s approval, he hopes to have everyone back in class by the end of the semester. The plan is to start with one or two grades per campus, wait two weeks, and bring back two more.

Currently, 65 students use distance learning throughout the district, which has about 1,200 students.

“We’ve had a non-success rate of 64 percent of students doing remote learning,” he said. “That’s alarming, especially when there’s a 14 percent non-success rate for face-to-face.”

Kaufman said students that have failed in the first six weeks could either come back for face-to-face learning, be homeschooled, move to a virtual learning environment, or transfer to another district for virtual learning. Students who maintained passing grades will remain in virtual learning until the third six weeks, and plans are to then start phasing them back for face-to-face instruction.

“Face learning is more productive, and has a social aspect that kids need to have,” Kaufman said. “We need to get them back to the classroom. I understand about how parents feel about the safety of their children; but our mitigation efforts at the schools have been very good. We’re taking every precaution to keep our kids safe.”

However, students can remain on virtual learning can remain there if there’s a verified medical condition that would require that separation, Kaufman said.

In other business, the board:

•approved moving the November meeting to Nov. 16, when election results will be canvassed;

•approved resolutions for the Trinity County Appraisal District; and

•discussed all board members meeting their continuing education credits.

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Groveton ISD file photo

GROVETON — Students in Groveton Independent School District are in pretty safe hands

At its Oct. 26 meeting, the Groveton School Board approved a safety audit which Superintendent Don Hamilton said was overall very good.

“We have a few things we know we need to deal with, but overall it’s good,” he said.

Hamilton said the layout of the building is of a concern, because its age means it does not meet current safety and fire codes, but for the most part, the kids are going to school in a safe environment.

In other business, the board:

•approved the ESL program;

•approved changes of names from the signature card on the school’s account;

•changed meeting dates for next two meetings because of upcoming holidays. The November meeting will be held Nov. 16, and the December meeting will be held Dec. 17;

•discussed new goals for the future;

•approved purchase of 20 interactive boards to replace older models at a cost of $40,000; and

•approved an annual pay stipend, to be paid to non-professional employees only.

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FILE PHOTO Centerville ISD logo

TRINITY COUNTY — A recent safety audit of the Centerville school system shows the students are learning in a safe environment.At its regular meeting on Oct. 15, the district’s School Board members discussed the audit, which also contained some deficiencies.The deficiencies were discussed only in closed session and not made public. However, Superintendent Mark Brown said that of those, most could be taken care of easily.

The district was commended for numerous items, which include:

• having 30 fire extinguishers on campus;
• having 10 staff members trained in the use of an automated external defibrillatorand CPR;
• well-kept grounds;•student monitoring;•morale;•adequate use of security cameras;
• secure classroom doors and metal exterior doors;•robustphone/intercom system; and
• a healthy school climate.

In other business, the board:

• held a second hearing on changes to the school’s policy manual; and
• approved school finances for the month.

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Photo by Tony Farkas | TCNS Trinity residents wait outside the city Fire Department on the first day of early voting for the 2020 general election.