April 9, 2020 - The Center ISD School Board has named Dr. Brian Morris as the lone finalist for new Superintendent of Center Independent School District.
A meeting was held Thursday, April 9, 2020 at the Center ISD Administration building and the lone remaining candidate for superintendent was determined to be Dr. Morris. A motion carried by the school board to approve naming Dr. Morris as the lone finalist.
There is a 21-day mandatory waiting period after the school board names their finalist until a contract can be executed with the candidate.
According to information provided by Center ISD, Morris is currently the Superintendent of Columbus ISD and he has had prior administrative experience at Hallsville and Huntington ISD. He has been commended for increasing the academics, attendance and other school district metrics at Columbus ISD.
Dr. Morris has a reputation for setting high expectations and being very visible and active in the community. He brings with him his wife Meredith, who is a math interventionist. They have two kids, Morgan who is a student at Texas A&M and Jake who will be a high school sophomore next year.
At the onset of the meeting Arnie Kelley, Interim Superintendent, gave an update on COVID-19 and CISD Operations. The second cycle of instructional packet delivery was scheduled for Monday, April 6; however, Kelley said on the previous Friday the school administration learned two school employees and two students were positive for COVID-19. As a result, the distribution of materials and curbside meal service were both cancelled for the safety of everyone.
"We believe no students came in contact with these individuals while they were on campus, and that those employees who did make contact were notified and they are currently monitoring their situation," said Kelley.
Following Spring Break on April 20, Kelley said the instructional plan will be re-evaluated and a decision will be made on when to reschedule the second cycle of instructional material delivery and possibly restart curbside meal service. This decision will involve city of Center, County, and school officials as well as the school board.
Kelley stated about 40% of students are without internet access to continue their studies.
The school will seek the safest and most practical option for all involved.
Plans for F.L. Moffett are to move classes into the new wings on the week of April 20 and the tentative plan is for the construction workers to vacate the facility for a couple of days. Meanwhile, custodial workers will move in and clean the facility.
The TEA Commissioner has asked schools to review the grading policies for the last nine weeks and how to move forward. Kelley tasked Shelly Norvell and Teresa Richard to develop a revised policy considering current circumstances.
Norvell and Richard explained to the school board, currently 12 grades are required in reading, language arts and math in elementary school as well as 9 in science and social studies. As an adjustment, the plan would be to not have a minimum or limit on grades.
If a student is failing, the school must provide written notice to the parent or guardian of the child on the fourth of nine weeks if progress isn't accomplished. This is a TEA rule which can't be changed at this time. With the current policy, students are looking at no progress situations.
The new policy would be back dated to March 23. Students who maintain no progress will likely be required to take some sort of remedial classes, such as summer school.
There are three different categories included in the policy and they are master, meeting, or no progress. Mastering will include turning in 75% of the assignments or more and demonstrating mastery of skills; meeting is at least 50% of assignments turned in and completed with minor errors of understanding or thinking, but still maintain a general understanding of the concept. No progress, will be turning in less than 50% of the assignments with major errors in thinking or understanding.
Secondary school will somewhat mirror that of primary school, with the review of grades being different and the starting point for the new grading system will be March 13. As packets are returned if there is no progress, a student will lose points. If a student is attempting to do the work and making contact with the teacher bi-weekly and needing to make progress to earn a point and just have some misunderstanding, they are in the Meeting category. The student would be Mastering if they are getting the work completed, meeting with the teacher weekly, attending online meetings with the teacher and they would receive two points.
There will be expectations for attendance, grading and support.
Students making no progress would face remedial classes, summer school, or being retained another year.
According to Kelley, a Continuity of Instruction grant is being worked on by Jennifer Guillory and would make the school eligible for up to $24,000 of grant funding.
A motion carried by the school board to suspend the current grading policy and adopt the revised grading policy for the last nine weeks of school.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:23pm.
