Thorndale ISD board recognizes outstanding students
The Thorndale ISD School Board met on April 15 and had a lot of great news about students.
They board recognized several student groups for accomplishments during the meeting.
Band Director Michael Powers led off the honors by informing the board about the great accomplishments that the band received this year. Many students advanced to Area and State competitions in solo and ensemble competition and the band received straight 1’s at concert and sight reading evaluation to earn a Sweepstakes trophy. Senior Mason Drumm qualified for the State Concert Band at the recent Texas Music Educators Association Conference.
Junior Mason Lilies addressed the board on behalf of the FFA program to invited them to the upcoming awards banquet.
One-Act Play Director Deana Caffey was on hand to discuss the excellent year they had. The group advanced from District to Bi-District and had multiple awards at District, Bi-District and Area. This included two awards for Best Actress by Summer Wycough and Aracelia Sauceda.
Boys Athletic Director Scott Hawkins finished up the student recognition by talking about the powerlifting team. He introduced all the lifters and highlighted the two State qualifiers for this season. Senor Lauren Newton qualified for State for the second straight year and Senior Corey Brooks qualified for his first trip. Hawkins also stated that many athletes qualified for the Regional meets.
Administrators were on hand to give brief reports.
Superintendent Adam Ivy added to his report by briefly discussing pending legislation and how that may affect the district in coming years.
Board President David Hall presented the board’s annual training requirements and reported that all members had successfully completed their required training hours for the year. The board discussed a request to grant Ivy the authority to approve professional contracts during the summer months. Ivy stated that this had been done regularly over the past few years to allow for flexibility during the summer hiring process. He stated that getting contracts to new hires quickly helps to ensure that positions are filled with the best possible candidates. The board approved the measure.
Ivy, along with Maintenance Director Allen Leschber, discussed the districts need to update the bus fleet. The board has previously heard about these needs and examined one of the districts older buses. Leschber talked to the board at length about the research he did into finding new buses. He presented quotes from Thomas and International that included many different configurations and options. He talked about the references he had called and the buses that both companies brought for inspection.
Leschber discussed the possibility of having one of the district’s current buses refurbished by the Texas Department of Corrections bus shop. The board discussed the options and voted to purchase two new 77-passenger buses, on of which will have a wheelchair lift. They also voted to send bus 25 to be refurbished this summer. The vote was 7-0 in favor of using funds from the district’s fund balance.
Business Manager Rebecca Peel presented several budget amendments to allow for the purchase of the new buses, the completion of the interior of the new transportation facility and the demolition of the old bus barn. The board approved the budget amendments.