In the June 15 board meeting, the Carthage ISD Board of Trustees took the following action.

  • The consent agenda was approved as presented.

  • The board approved the sale of struck off property by Yolanda Miles for tract in W. Liddy survey

  • The board approved the Region 7 Service Agreements to provide professional learning and contracted services in the amount of $155,839 without the TEKS Resource System with their anticipated cost being between $14,000 and $20,000.

  • The board approved the engagement of auditors for 19-20 Financial Report.  Knuckols, Duvall Hallum, and Company will be the auditors.

  • The board approved a budget amendment.

  • The board reviewed and discussed the 2020-21 budget.  Key points include the following:

    • There is a proposed reduction in the overall tax rate from $1.21 per $100 valuation to $1.1964.

    • The district anticipates that property values will remain similar to this current year values.

    • There will be a reduction of expenditures in excess of  $500,000 compared to the 2019-2020 budget.

    • The budget will also include a recommendation for a 2% increase in salaries which will increase expenditures by approximately $350,000.

      • $1000 for professional staff

      • $500 for paraprofessionals

      • $250 for bus drivers.

    • The district will present a zero balance budget for approval in August.

  • The board approved the bid for cafeteria equipment with Kommercial Kitchen for the installation of convection ovens, a heated holding/transport institutional cabinet, and range in the amount of $117,794.  

  • The board approved the bid for 700 new chromebooks in the amount of $174,776 from the CDWG firm.

  • The board approved the district and campus improvement plans for the year.

  • The board discussed plans for the upcoming school year.  Topics discussed included the following:

    • Social distancing guidelines in the school

      • Hand-sanitizers will be in every classroom and office

      • Electrostatic cleaners will sanitize every bus and classroom every day

      • Temperature checks will be conducted based on state guidelines

      • Students will not be required to wear facemasks or gloves.  The school will support parents who wish for their children to wear masks.

    • The At-Home-Learning model will be improved this summer to ensure students get access to instruction, assessments and interventions from teachers.

    • Work from the At-Home-Learning will be graded in 2020-2021.

    • There will be no change to 2020-2021 school calendar.

    • Teachers will be engaged in professional learning around the topics of Technology Integration, Google Classroom, Zoom / Meets, as well as other topics related to their content areas and state requirements.

    • The district plans to have 3 learning plans for the fall.

      • 1st Choice - Full face to face

      • 2nd option if we are closed - Full closure with at-home learning

      • 3rd option - Hybrid learning model with partial face to face instruction and partial at-home learning instruction.  This option will only used if state guidelines limit the number of students allowed in the building or classrooms.

    • The first day of school is Wednesday, August 12, 2020, and CISD teachers and staff will report for duty on Monday, August 3, 2020

The next board meeting will be on Monday, July 20, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.