Board Approves New Athletic Handbook
School Board Approves New Extracurricular/Athletic Student Handbook
Head football Coach Stacy Perryman met with the Hart School Board Monday evening in the Board Room. Coach Ruby Romero, who, along with Perryman, had previously met with the Board to discuss an athletic handbook, was at a coaching clinic.
Discussion of the handbook included quitting a sport. Perryman explained that any athlete who quits a sport before its season has ended, for unexcused reasons, must complete (in a one school week period) 1,000 yards of bear crawls; 1,000 yards of power leaps; run five miles; 1,000 yards of whistle drills; and 1,000 yards of Army crawls. If the aforementioned is completed, the athlete may continue in the Athletic program.
If the athlete quits a sport, it will void any letter earned, regardless of time put in for that sport. If the student does not complete the punishment in the week period, he/she will be released from Athletics for 365 days, and still must complete the punishment to return to Athletics after the 365 days. For those athletes who do not meet these physical requirements, they will not participate in that sport the rest of their high school career.
Board member Angelica Ramirez asked Perryman who would be held accountable for enforcing the handbook. He said that as long as he is employed at Hart ISD, he will see that it’s enforced for the sport he is coaching. (Ken Rosser, superintendent, is also the Athletic Director.) The handbook should be enforceable by anybody employed by Hart ISD as a coach.
The handbook’s statement of purpose includes this: Opportunities will arise, through participating in athletics, that will build character, develop a sense of self-confidence, and help one overcome adversity.
In other action, the Board received preliminary results on the STAAR and the End-of-Course exams. Secondary principal Ramona Neudorf said that overall, the secondary scores were not “all that good.” Elementary principal Lonnie Powell seemed pleased with the elementary scores, adding that preliminary results indicate the campus met all four indices of the STAAR. These four are: 1) Student Achievement; 2) Student Progress; 3) Closing Performance Gaps; and 4) Post Secondary Readiness.
Attorney Fred Stormer met with the Board in executive session to bring them up-to-date on a settlement agreement with Linda V. Alaniz dba Educational Research Institute regarding Hart ISD’s TTIPS Cycle 2 grant application. Alaniz has sued Hart ISD because she said some of the terminology used in the grant application was from the first Cyce 1 application, which was through her company. The agreement is in draft form; Stormer told The Pulse as soon as it is officially ready, the amount Hart ISD is to pay to Alaniz will be made public.
The Board approved Region 16 contracts at an annual cost of $36,225.09. The property tax rate of $1.17 was approved. A fuel bid price of 15¢ above cost from Jim Black Oil was accepted.
The workers’ compensation annual premium of $10,490, and unemployment compensation premium of $4,939 were approved, both from the Texas Association of School Boards Risk Management Fund in Austin, Texas. And, a $26,539 annual premium for Property Risk was approved, also to be administered through the TASB Risk Management Fund.
After an executive session, the Board approved the employment of Tim Ashlock as a high school math teacher and coach; he is from Dimmitt. Another teacher was employed, but on Tuesday, decided not to accept the offer. In a previous meeting, Abigail Martinez was employed as fourth-grade teacher. The resignation of Laura Zepeda was accepted.
Board members present were President Elodia Rodriguez, Martha Gonzales, Erasmo Mata, Steven Reyna, Angelica Ramirez and Vickie Chavez. Raul Gonzales was absent.