Locks for every classroom door in the district, funds for a new livestock barn at the high school and new uniforms for the football team all were included in roughly $1 million in budget amendments the Paris ISD board of trustees approved earlier this week during a meeting that saw trustees spend time behind closed doors discussing security measures.
Roughly $425,000 of the money moved from fund balance into expenditure accounts is allocated for the agriculture barn, $163,000 for hotel-type locks for classroom doors, $46,000 for playground equipment, $33,000 for football uniforms, $32,000 for a paint job at A.M. Aikin Elementary and another $16,000 for Aikin sidewalk replacement, all expenditures approved by the board but not yet spent. Funds for various other miscellaneous projects and supplies make up the remainder of the transferred funds.
“This is the one month that we really have one doozy of a budget amendment, but this year’s total is actually smaller than some years in the past because we don’t have a lot of construction projects and that sort of thing going on,” business manager Tish Holleman said.
In other action, trustees approved pay scales for bus monitors along with new cafeteria hires based on the number of food service experience. The board also approved the district code of conduct, which includes the dress code along with an employee handbook with no substantive changes to either, according to Assistant Superintendent Gary Preston.
Before trustees entered closed session to approve new hires and discuss security measures, board president George Fisher commented that although security details should not be discussed openly, for obvious reasons, he can assure the public that Paris ISD is ahead of many of the state’s school districts in measures to ensure student safety.
Recently returned from a trustees conference in Fort Worth, Fisher said school security was a leading topic of discussion during his networking with other board members.
“The shooting at Uvalde was on everyone’s mind, so there was a lot of discussion,” Fisher said. “I can assure PISD is way ahead of other districts when it comes to student safety.”
After the meeting, Fisher elaborated more on the topic.
“We’ve been working on security for more than 10 years when we hired police officers for each campus and since then we have been adding things every year,” Fisher said, as he spoke about building secure entrances at each campus, bullet proof glass, security cameras and other equipment such as the locks just ordered to install on each classroom door.
“There is always room for improvement,” Fisher said. “That’s why we have discussions about security like we had tonight on a regular basis.”
The following teachers were approved at the Monday meeting Matt Colman, junior high teacher/coach; Sydnie Doolley, at Aikin; Carla Ford, junior high science; Reisa Holzwarth, Crockett reading; Aaryn Honeywood, junior high art; Stacy Matthews at Crockett; Madison Morrison, junior high special education/coach; Maria Perez, high school Spanish; Raphael Ramirez, band; Lauren Stogsdill, Aikin; and Kimberly Stone, Aikin.