Virginia S. Gilstrap, reporter/ managing editor
While Meyersville ISD’s recent challenge has been keeping the doors open during a fierce flu season, public input at the February school board meeting brought up concerns about transparency and the possible effects of school vouchers.
After an opening prayer in which trustees prayed for the health of their students and staff, resident Marge Kacir commented that she would like to see more transparency on meeting agendas and information on the items discussed.
Kacir said when board members discuss items in their packets, observers cannot follow the discussion and what they approve. “I didn't see where it was presented,” she said. ”But I keep coming because I care about the school, and I care about the education of our children.”
She also noted that school vouchers were not on that night’s agenda and asked if the board was preparing for the possibility of the measure passing in the current legislative session.
Board President Johnny Jank said her concern on transparency would be addressed, while a general consensus of the board on vouchers was that it would mainly impact their transfer numbers.
“A good percentage of our kids are coming here as transfers now,” Jank said. “Is that going to stay the same? Could it increase? Could they all go somewhere else now? We just don't know. We just have to keep the community posted as far as how it's affecting our school, if there is something that we can pin down.”
Another trustee said it came down to acceptance, wondering if schools would be mandated to take any students that wanted to attend. That might throw the balance of resources out of kilter.
Superintendent Kelly Dunn said they would have to wait and see what policies come from the legislation.
“You know, right after the election, we were notified that we'd lose our funding for our school lunch program,” Dunn said. “Well, that got negated several days later, and in that meantime, people were blown up. So I think that we're at the point here, we just got to let it play out.”
In the recognition portion of the agenda, Dunn praised the staff for stepping up in a rough few weeks with illnesses and weather situations, especially substitutes.
“They’ve been here keeping us open,” he said. “Without some of our subs, we would probably have closed the door down a few days, and we are still right on that line.”
He said other staff members have “come in when they're maybe still not feeling the best, but they're cleared to come back, and people have canceled appointments and rescheduled so they can to be here during this time. It's taken a team effort that's really shown to me just how good the staff is.”
Other than the calendar and consent agenda, as well as discussions of construction and building issues, the other timely topic discussed was the school’s response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in school.
Superintendent Dunn said if an ICE official should come on campus, the policy would be the same as for any other law enforcement or CPS official.
“We really don't have students that would be directly impacted by this, but maybe some parents that they're trying to get,” he said. “We will still follow our same FERPA guidelines. You know the parents have information rights. You know they're private. Unless they've said this can be released, we can't release it without court paperwork.”
Dunn said schools used to be considered a safe place and “you do want that.” He said he does not expect anyone coming in that needs an immediate answer and the district should be able to consult its attorney.
He said all bets were off “if there's an immigrant that's committed a murder or something in the community, and they think they may have a child here. They're going to try to look at that person using what we have.”
“We're still going to protect the kids,” Dunn said “We're going to do what we can, no matter what status they or their parents might be. Unless there's some kind of dire situation that's necessitating that, it needs to still be a safe place for our school and our community.”
