In addition to passing a resolution on school vouchers, the Cuero ISD school board recognized the girl’s basketball team for their continued victories in the playoffs and heard about a successful Career and Technology open house at their regular meeting on February 20.
In other business, the resignation of board member BJ Drehr was announced and a public hearing pointed to a detailed report on student demographics and performance. Each department also reported on its highlights.
Public Hearing
Assistant Superintendent Kim Fleener pointed out the 2023-24 Academic Performance Report that details student demographics (ethnicity, gender, grade level) and performance across all educational domains from early childhood to high school.
“We know we're closing the COVID gap,” Fleener said. “We continue to do most of our tutoring in reading and math.”
She said the district seemed to have caught up in science and that tutoring initiatives continue, including after- school and weekend sessions. The full report is available on the district’s website.
Public Comments
Pedro Gonzales with Southwest Engineers announced that his company has opened an offi ce in Cuero and invited anyone to stop by if his truck was there. He said Southwest Engineers has been around a long time and they actually contracted with the district in 1989 to install an administrative parking lot.
Also in public comments, Christian Palacios, with U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud’s office, announced a congressional student art contest. First place winners will be displayed in the capitol for a year, second in the congressman’s office in Washington D.C. and third in his office in Victoria.
CTE Night
Superintendent Micah Dyer said they had had the largest crowd ever at the CTE (Career and Technology Education) Night earlier in the week. Students and parents had the opportunity to look at the various programs and electives offered for technology certifications.
“They were actually seeing the auto shop,” Fleener said, “seeing the cosmetology lab, making contact with the actual instructor that they're going to be working with.”
Junior High Principal Jamie Dyer said she was encouraging the eighth graders to check it all out, so that they pick something from the beginning of freshman year instead of changing their mind and losing momentum on completing a certification.
Fleener said high school and eighth-grade students were being briefed on graduation credit requirements and course selection.
District Website Redesign
Technology Director Oscar Ray said that due to acquisition and platform changes by the website company, the school district had to redesign the website. New photos, taken by the yearbook staff and high school students, were added and features were improved for easy access to essential links and school news.
“We’re working on expanding our calendars,” Ray said, describing a combination of all district events including the athletic calendar as well.
Ray credited Charlene Murphree for the majority of the redesign work and said the new website will go live in late March.
Extracurricular Activities Athletic Director Jarod Fikac had already discussed the historic playoff run of the girl’s basketball team. He added that the Friday night regional venue had to be changed from Falls City to Nixon because of the expected crowd size.
In addition he said most sports for the week vhad been cancelled due to weather conditions, but the powerlifting team were regional qualifiers. He said baseball and softball games, and tennis tournament schedules might change to make up postponements.
Health Program
District Nurse Wanda Hayes said she was working with six students in the CNA program and progressing to the next step of their training. She said one student wants to be a pediatrician, two want to be RNs, one a sonographer, one an athletic trainer and another a physical therapist.
“It’s so exciting,” she said. “I hope they achieve their dreams.”
Educational Accountability
Fleener updated the board on accountability litigation, saying the A-F ratings were still pending and subject to change based on judicial rulings that are coming up.
She reviewed the midyear reading proficiency assessments.
“Everything they're doing is starting to pay off,” Fleener said. “Reading accuracy shows growth in all areas. So that was very good.”
She also described a new language learning program, called Duo Lingo, to replace Rosetta Stone that is also half the price.
Enrollment
Current enrollment stands at 1,873, a slight decrease from both last year and last month.
“There are different reasons for all of them,” Dyer said. “They have a bad discipline consequence, and they don't like it. They don't wanna travel to DAP. They wanna withdraw, but most of them come back, serve it, and rejoin the class.”
Policy and Governance Board President Mary Sheppard announced that board member BJ Drehr had turned in a letter of resignation dated February 18, 2025.
The board also approved a change in the March meeting date to Thursday, March 13. After the date change, the board went into executive session.
