The Sealy ISD Board of Trustees approved the calendar for the 2022-23 school year and the purchase of a master scheduling program as well as heard a presentation on possible employee retention payments during last Wednesday’s regular meeting at the Administration Building.

Assistant Superintendent Chris Summers presented the proposed calendar and said the next one resembles the current calendar but features a new addition.

The school year that is set to start Aug. 17 and end May 26, 2023, includes many teacher in-service days near the end of grading periods, full weeks off for Thanksgiving and winter breaks as well as the fair holiday in addition to two early-release days.

“That takes care of the learning needs of kids but another component of that is when you take care of the learning needs of kids, you have to take care of the learning needs of adults,” Superintendent Bryan Hallmark said in a follow-up interview. “That’s something that we heard from staff as we were working through this calendar is that staff need time, they need professional learning time. So, you’re going to see a few half days built into our calendar throughout next year to take care of that and I think we were able to do that in a way that’s not going to compromise the minutes of instruction that we’re offering to kids.”

In regard to staff, during the presentation portion of the agenda, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Svoboda brought before the board possible ESSER-funded employee retention payments aimed at incentivizing teachers to stay with the district longer and rewarding teachers who have served the district for an extended time.

Svoboda said SISD has received 23 resignations throughout this school year and noted there were normally no more than five submitted for a whole school calendar in pre-pandemic times.

“Not only are we going to be able to keep people, but we’re also going to reward the people that have been in Sealy for a long time and are doing great work,” Hallmark said. “I think it’s a great way to reward the people that have been going above and beyond over the last couple of years to honestly keep our kids in school.”

The CFO said they will also be looking into how substitute teachers would also benefit from the retention plans. Svoboda will return to this month’s regular meeting Feb. 23 to seek approval.

CTE Director Laura Osborne presented the master scheduling program, Cardonex, during December’s board meeting and returned in January to seek approval using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.

Osborne reiterated the software’s effectiveness that can create a master schedule in two days compared to the months-long, hand-constructed process that had been the norm. The program was approved unanimously following a motion from Trustee Joe Mike Young.

Also during the presentation portion, SISD Fine Arts Coordinator Erin Moore and SHS Band Director Oscar Cano came before the board with an example of the 12-year-old uniforms currently worn by the Roaring Round from Tiger Town. While pieces of the uniform were deteriorating due to extended use, Moore and Cano mentioned that, if approved, new uniforms would also account for Texas weather.

Better conditioned against the heat and rain, the proposed uniform they presented achieved those goals and brought flair and style while it retained Sealy’s tradition. The pair were also set to return to the next meeting later this month to seek approval.

In other action, the board also approved:

• • A $72,234 contract to Educator’s Depot for seat replacement, acoustic work and upgrades to LED lighting in the lecture hall at Sealy High School;
• • A resolution to Local Policy DFE; and
• • An extension of the superintendent’s contract.

In other reports, the board also heard presentations on:

• • School Board Recognition month from Sealy Junior High Principal Mathew Withrow;
• • Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) from Assistant Super Intendent Chris Summers;
• • The Special Education, 504 and Dyslexia programs from Special Education Director Shae Whatley; and
• • Strategic planning from Superintendent Bryan Hallmark.

SISD COVID update

Before the regular meeting last Wednesday night, a public hearing was held in the board room where Special Programs Director Mary Gajewski presented updated COVID-19 protocols for the district aimed at getting staff back on campus safely.

As of press time, SISD had record of 75 active cases ranging from Jan. 21-31 but Gajewski said the daily reporting of cases was trending downward. She said there were seven new cases reported that day, last Wednesday, but that was a five-case decrease from the previous day and a 21-case decrease from the day prior.

The updates included Clorox products being added to cleaning supplies, staff quarantines reduced to five full days but requires nurse clearance on the sixth day as long as symptoms improved and the introduction of and procedures for scheduling a test at the district’s testing clinic, among others.

“I think the updated protocols are a step in the right direction as far as getting staff back to work sooner, and really as safely as we can,” Hallmark said. “We’re really hoping we can get to a point where that’s the same for students. Our students need to be on campus and when you’re quarantined for ten days, that’s tough on students. It’s tough on teachers. It’s tough on learning and has ripple effects across our system.”