Trustees of Pleasant Grove Independent School District rejected a lone bid for the district's 16.79-acre property at Bringle Lake during last night's regular meeting. Board President Jeff Harris said the board unanimously rejected the bid from Columbia Properties on the factor of price.
Board to interview candidates for superintendent Thursday
Trustees of Pleasant Grove Independent School district will meet in special session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss applicants to interview for the district's superintendent position. In closed session, trustees will consider applicants procured through a search by Arrow Educational Services, Inc., a firm based in Henderson, Texas. The search to fill the top spot comes after former superintendent Todd Williams announced his retirement in May. Williams served as superintendent since April 2013, and his contract ended June 30. Mark Roberts, who has extensive experience with PGISD, was also named interim superintendent in May, and is leading the district until a permanent replacement is found. The meeting will be held in the Central Services, 8500 North Kings Highway, Texarkana, Texas.The property has been a sore spot for the district, as it was the proposed site for a new elementary school that failed to get voter support in 2014 and 2015 bond elections. In 2007, PGISD purchased 25 acres at Bringle Lake from Aven Williamson for $1 million. Later, the district sold eight acres back to Williamson's family for $600,000.
Harris said the district won't likely make additional efforts to sell the property anytime soon, as they are tackling other needs first.
"We're working on superintendent. That's probably going to be our focus for the next two or three months," he said. "Once that's resolved, we'll readdress that issue."
Trustees are set to meet in special session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday to decide which of the applicants they will interview from those provided by Arrow Educational Services Inc., a Henderson, Texas-based search firm. Mark Roberts is serving as interim superintendent following the resignation of Todd Williams, who served in the district's top position since 2013. Williams' contract ended June 30.
Selling the Bringle Lake property is included in the district's Strategic Plan, which was also approved during Tuesday's meeting. The five-year plan consists of seven main topics and seven main goals identified through several community and administrative meetings. Mendy Sharp, the district's curriculum and state programs director, told the board the goals and strategies would be a good guideline for PG.
The plan's timeline shows an October 2016 target date for selling the Bringle Lake property.
Sharp also told the board of grading changes for kindergartners to begin in the fall. Teachers will switch from using number grades to evaluations of Mastery, Developing or Needs Improvement.
"Kindergarten is a very developmental year and it's difficult to talk to parents when they want to know specifically what it is that their child needs help with-what an A would be in reading or a 90," Sharp said. "That's wide and broad. The teachers feel this would be a much better way for them to rate the students."
Roberts gave a report to the board on the school winning the 4A UIL Lone Star Cup for the second year in a row. It's awarded annually to six schools across the state, one in each of the six UIL classifications. PG placed fourth in the state point-wise, rising from last year's ranking of sixth.
"This is a great honor to have. Not everybody gets it," Roberts said. "It's just a true testament of our kids and how they performed athletically and academically."
In other business, trustees voted to approve the state's new Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System. Administrators said that while it will take more time to evaluate the teachers, it will also allow them to spend more individual time with teachers who may require help while rewarding high-quality teachers for their performance.
Campus and student handbooks for 2016-17 were also approved, along with the student code of conduct.
The next regular meeting will be held August 11, with a public hearing for the 2016-17 proposed budget and tax rate scheduled for Aug. 25.