Verbal sparring marks HISD trustee meeting

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Continued verbal sparring between an elected official and the school superintendent marked the regular meeting of the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees last Thursday evening, April 25.

Although the board itself was united on every vote it took Thursday, school trustee Karen Watt and Superintendent Bill Sanders remained at loggerheads on several issues.

Watt questioned Sanders on his mileage charges during consideration of the school district’s financial report, and later drilled the administrator over the school’s failure to ratify a Concussion Oversight Team, an item that had been on the board’s agenda several times for “discussion” but not for “approval.”

Watt quoted passages of the state education code and quizzed Sanders, who also coaches tennis, as to whether he had the required two-hour concussion training and required CPR training.

Sanders said he was capable of performing CPR if needed, and said he still had 22 months to get the concussion training, but Watt disagreed and said the concussion training had to be completed by September 2012. She then said Sanders’ failure to complete the training could jeopardize a Hedley student’s appearance at the state tennis meet.

“It’s on you,” Watt told Sanders, “if she goes to state and gets kicked out because I’m telling you it’s required.”

The board later scheduled a 6 a.m. meeting Monday, April 29, for the purpose of affirming the Concussion Oversight Team.

The board also discussed its “FDA local” policy related to the authorization of accepting transfer students when said student might require increased staff. The school had previously placed that authority with the superintendent, but some months ago the board voted unanimously to return that authority to the board.

Sanders said an advisor with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) had recommended the board rescind that change and leave the authority with the superintendent.

Watt read a lengthy prepared statement on the topic, defending the change as a legal local policy decision and calling the fact that the policy change had not been made “unacceptable.” She also said she was “insulted” that TASB would try to interfere with the board’s action.

Sanders read a letter from the TASB representative and said the school should listen to its policy consultant.

“We have to trust somebody,” Sanders said, “and I trust TASB.”

Trustee Ted Wright said the TASB representative was supposed to have attended the April 25 meeting, but then the matter was “turned over to Bonnie Brown.” Wright, the former board president, was referring to his being ousted from the board leadership and being replaced by Brown at an April 16 meeting.

Brown did not attend last week’s meeting, and Sanders said Brown told him the board could handle the matter without TASB.

Trustee James Edward Potts said he thought the board needed TASB at the meeting, and Trustee Mark Howard said he trusted the judgment of the professionals.

The board took no action on the policy and will reconsider the matter at a May 6 meeting.

Watt then took issue with Sanders’ handling of the District Improvement Plan and presented Groom ISD’s plan as an example of what a school with a small staff can do. She specifically wanted to see changes to Hedley’s documentation of higher education opportunities at the school. Board Vice President Dana Bell directed Sanders to make the changes and e-mail the revised plan to Watt so she could review it prior to the board’s May 6 meeting.

Under personnel issues, Sanders announced the resignation of Linda Naylor, who will retire after 30 years of teaching.

The board then came to consideration of salaries for not-contract labor staff, and a short debate centered on the closed session called for on the agenda with some trustees feeling the matter needed to be discussed in closed session “for one of them.” Watt asked for representatives of The Clarendon Enterprise to look at the agenda for an opinion as to whether a closed session was legitimate, but Potts objected.

“We’re not asking the Enterprise for advice,” he said.

The board then met behind closed doors for six minutes, but Watt excluded herself from the session, saying she thought the wording on the agenda was too general.

When the board reconvened in open session, trustees voted unanimously to increase the salaries of the non-contract labor staff by five percent effective September 1, 2013.