AISD trustees review FIRST report

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany school board members got their first look on Monday at the required financial rating, along with briefly discussing extending leave for employees that test positive for COVID-19, and hearing an update on the elementary school’s dyslexia and reading comprehension program.

Superintendent Jonathan Scott presented the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) report, indicating that the district scored an A Superior rating on the annual accountability report.

“It was another good year for the district, but it is becoming more difficult to achieve a superior rating,” Scott said.

The first reading of the report was approved on a motion by Kelly Head.

Reading Programs

The elementary school’s dyslexia coordinator, Kristie Smith, gave the trustees an update on the program. Smith has been trained to interpret data to identify struggling students.

She reported that without STAAR data, with testing cancelled last year because of the statewide school shutdown due to COVID-19, she and other teachers have to rely more on benchmark testing.

“We want to catch students who are struggling as early as possible to provide support,” Smith said.

Smith has completed the Scottish Rite program and the school is adopting its Take Flight curriculum for students in grades two through six, along with a new PreFlight program for kindergarten and first grade students.

“We have seen huge progress in a short amount of time,” elementary principal John Gallagher said. “We think we are a little ahead of the curve because we already had a program in place before it was required by the state.”

COVID Pay

The board members also were told that the federal program that provides extended paid sick days if an employee tests positive for the coronavirus will end on Dec. 31.

“We haven’t heard anything about whether the federal government will be extending this program,” Scott said. “We want to take care of our employees, but I think we have time to wait a month to see what the government does.”

Also approved on a motion by Head was the system that has been in place for several years to conduct the superintendent’s evaluation in January.

Board president Robert Montgomery said it was the “fairest tool that we have.”

Scott noted that the evaluation is partly based on test scores and student growth, which are not available from last year since STAAR testing was cancelled.

Administrator Reports

In his principal’s report, Gallagher said that he and teachers have developed benchmark tests, given over the last two weeks, with questions taken from released STAAR tests.

“Based on the benchmarks, 89 percent of our students would have passed,” he said. “However, passing is not enough. We need to move students up to the level of meeting and exceeding expectations.

Secondary principal Glen Hill reported that his campus was selected for a CTE audit this year, the only district in the ESC 14 area.

He also told the board that the Campus Improvement Committee has made recommendations about dual-credit pertaining to GPA, as well as small modifications to the high school final exam policies.

Finally, the superintendent said that the district will return to using the services of the one full-time school nurse. Two other local nurses were employed part-time in August to assist with monitoring of students and staff for the coronavirus.

He said he feels the district has a handle on the protocol currently, but he added that at least one of the part-time nurses will be available to return if needed in the spring semester.