The Governor's Message and Today's Emergency Board Meeting

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference at lunchtime today. The governor issued a statement about "reopening" the state in three phases. He issued executive orders establishing a COVID-19 Task Force and how Texas businesses would start serving the public again.

The governor also released a statement regarding the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The statement read:


The team of doctors are advising us that it would be unsafe to allow students to gather in schools for the forseeable future. As a result, school classrooms are closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. That includes all public, private, and higher education institutions.

The BISD convened an emergency board meeting after the governor's press conference at 1:00 pm. The superintendent began speaking at the meeting mentioning the governor's press conference and his decision to shut down the campuses for the remainder of the school year. Dr. Gutierrez also continued with discussions about beginning to plan a proposed graduation ceremony for this year's students.

Board President Minerva Pena then addressed the governor's statement about allowing teachers to return to their campuses to plan for the next year. The superintendent then mentioned teachers would be allowed to return to their campuses provided everybody adhere to the regulations set in place for cleanliness and employee safety.

Dr. Trevino, Deputy Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction then began giving her presentation regarding grading. She addressed senior ranking being frozen with the December rankings. She then discussed students who were in danger of not graduating and the plans they would have to complete. 

Dr. Trevino then mentioned those who were exempt, or waived, from End of Course testing. If a student was supposed to take an end of course STAAR assessment this year, at any grade level, they are exempted from taking the exam. If a student failed a STAAR exam in a previous year, they would still need to retake the STAAR exam. 

She then mentioned the grading policy during closed instruction. There would not be a sixth six weeks this academic year. The remainder of the grading period would be categorized as the fifth six weeks. From March 9 to April 17, three additional minor grades would be added to the gradebook and a second progress report would be sent out to parents. A final report card would be generated and mailed to the parents at the end of the school year with three additional minor grades added to the gradebook. 

Drue Brown iterrupted Dr. Trevino's presentation and asked what would be done to ensure uniformity between the campuses as far as grading was concerned. Dr. Trevino then mentioned teachers can collect more than three assignments, however only the top three grades would be recorded into the gradebook. 

Brown continued, mentioning parents do not adhere to the 8-4 schedule, often times messaging and emailing after the normal hours. She was adamant about creating a uniform, standardized schedule to service the students. Pena then suggested the option of allowing teachers to return to their campuses to use the school's internet and conduct distance learning from the campus. Discussion about the work schedule and the parent contact log continued, including commentary from Laura Perez-Reyes, Eddie Garcia, and Philip Cowen. 

Minerva Pena reiterated the governor did not cancel the school year, he simply said students would not be returning to the physical campus. Perez-Reyes also mentioned it is important the school district follow the TEA rules and regulations as far as allowing staff to return to their campuses.

Drue Brown brought up the possibility of virtual walkthroughs, and Dr. Trevino mentioned there was no mechanism in place for a virtual walkthrough scenario, reminding the board that T-TESS evaluations had been suspended for the remainder of the year. The superintendent also agreed, saying there is no practical reason to do any sort of walkthrough at this time.

Philip Cowen then went into a diatribe about technical issues some people were experiencing and potential complaints some people were having managing the documents and procedures in place, to which the superintendent and the deputy superintendent reminded the board and those watching the district was doing well and managing things as they come along. Several boardmembers agreed.

Prisci Roca-Tipton suggested mailing out USB drives to parents who do not have adequate internet access to work on assignments. Perez-Reyes applauded the district's efforts in keeping Chapter 21 employees on the payroll and continuing the meal distribution program at a time when some isntitutions are furloughing employees. Perez-Reyes said, "There are a lot of good things happening in the district."

Eddie Garcia summed everything up succinctly. Sometimes the easiest statement is the best. Garcia said, "We're going to get through this, working together."

Dr. Trevino closed her presentation by letting the board know curriculum and instruction and principals are doing the best they can and they are doing everything in their power to make sure the students' continue learning and there will be as smooth a transition as possible to the next school year. She also mentioned the governor closed the school buildings, not the school year. She also mentioned the district has a hotline for parents to call if they have any tech questions or questions in general. The number is 956-554-4775 from 8-2.

Dr. Trevino closed with the grading policy. She mentioned if a student was passing before leaving for Spring Break, and they turn in their assignments, the grades can only help the students' averages. Dr. Trevino said if a student was failing prior to Spring Break, and the student does not turn in any assignments, the student should be given an "Incomplete," and they would have to recover their credit during Summer School.

Dr. Cantu then started her presentation, which included how FEMA is helping the district get through the pandemic. She mentioned there are some TEA and FEMA "misalignments" or "discrepancies" between policies and procedures. 

Dr. Cantu then went through a timeline outlining the shelter in place orders and the disaster orders issued by the president, the governor, the county judge, and the superintendent. She then went through the process and the paperwork she had to submit for fedral funding and public assistance. She also discussed reimbursable expenses and eligible expenses. 

She then talked about the first discrepancy - the reimbursement for technology and distancde learning supplies and infrastructure including hotspots. TEA said this was reimbursable, but FEMA says these items are not covered. FEMA was going to cover cleaning supplies and supplies having to do with food services. The split was identified as a 75-25% split, 75% would be covered by FEMA, and 25% would be covered by the district. She continued with the timeline and deadline for submitting the paperwork for assistance and reimbursement. 

Dr. Trevino then indicated the district had to approve a plan for classified and hourly wage employees and premium pay as soon as possible to see if there is a possibility FEMA would be able to reimburse the district. A 100 dollar per month payment for teachers and for the use of their internet as long as distance learning is documented is also being considered. 

FEMA is saying they cannot reimburse the discrict for premium pay because they cannot retroactively reimburse the district since the district was not registered prior to the disaster declaration, however TEA is saying the district should complete the application process and FEMA may realign their policy and reimburse the district.

Dr. Trevino then clarified a few questions from the board. She mentioned students who lost credit during the first semester due to lack of attendance would have to make up the time in order to reach the 90% attendance requirement, maybe attending distance learning on the weekends in order to regain credit. The students are only exempt from the attendance requirement for the second semester. 

Drue Brown asked to see the numbers on the meal distribution program to date. The meal program has been amended from 12 points of distribution to 10, and the BISD attorney also mentioned the program is subject to change based on the superintendent's discretion. Dr. Cantu then went through a spreadsheet that had the numbers of the meals distributed throughout the program which included over 30,000 breakfasts and 20,000 lunches. She also mentioned Morningside and Pullam will be closed and the Central Administration Building (the old Central Junior High/Clearwater Elementary complex) will be added to the rotation. Dr. Cantu then mentioned the meals will now be bundled since the distributions will be reduced. 

Drue Brown then asked for a detailed breakdown, or a report of the district's technology infrastructure; the amount of hot spots and the amount of laptops that have been distributed. Dr. Gutierrez then reiterated the importance of shoring up the district's technology footprint. Laura Perez-Reyes then mentioned the district should look into a uniform online platform similar to UTRGV's Blackboard. 

Perez-Reyes also confirmed her commitment to bringing seniors a graduation ceremony; she asked Dr. Gutierrez to confirm ceremonies are postponed, not cancelled. Dr. Gutierrez mentioned he, too, was commited to giving seniors a commencement ceremony.

Dr. Cantu then continued with the different maintenance and facilities repairs going in, including the repairs at Hanna, Veterans, Canales, and the aquatic center. She confirmed the projects are moving forward.

The board then went on to approve agenda items:

An item to provide teachers with a 100 dollar per month stipend to help offset the cost of internet provided teachers submit appropriate documentation to show good faith and intentions to meet the 75% instructional support, regardless of whether or not FEMA would reimburse the district for the costs of this stipend. The motion passed unanimously.

The second item was to allow the reauthorization of the meal distribution program at the superintendent's discretion. There was some discussion about the language in the item, whether or not the term BISD should be included in the language, whether or not the term "student" should be included in the language, and whether or not students must be present when picking up meals. The motion passed unanimously.

The third item was to formally approve the grading policy discussed earlier. Motion passed unanimously.

The fourth item was to approve language that defined the pay structure for hourly employees, including disaster pay and premium pay, during the closing of schools. Motion passed unanimously. By the time this vote was take, Dr. Roca-Tipton had left the meeting.

The fifth item was to ensure the facilities would be maintained, clean, sanitized, and disinfected befure students and employees return to the campuses. Motion passed unanimously.

The Board President gaveled the meeting to a close at 3:40 pm. The next board meeting, notwithstanding another emergengy meeting, is scheduled for May 5, 2020.

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