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The November school board meeting on Monday, November 9th began with a tour of the LBJ Middle School. Cammie Ockman, middle school Principal, guided board members through the 8th grade annex and briefed them on the school’s efforts to make the campus an Exemplary district. The board then moved back to the board room to continue their regular meeting.

Nobody signed up to speak during open forum and the consent agenda passed unanimously. On the Action items list, the board voted to split their 1809 votes between two candidates for the Appraisal District Board of Directors. Will Marasek received 905 votes and Will Shelton received 904 votes. Next, they approved the TASB updates to district policies based on changes made during the legislative session.

Superintendent Shanley reported that enrollment at the high school was down to 198. Even though the referendum to split District 2A into two categories passed, when reclassification occurs in February, JCISD may still be put back into District 1A. Blanco High School has about 320 students and Comfort High School has about 340 students. Total JCISD enrollment is 680.

Following the enrollment review, Mr. Shanley presented a clarification to the community regarding fundraisers. The clarification will be in the next Superintendent’s report that is included with report cards. The clarification urges parents and business owners to use caution when being asked to give money in support of any campus or the district. The letter states that district fundraisers are a way of raising money for a specific school event or organization. All fundraisers are approved by the campus principal and directly involve students. JCISD limits the amount of fundraisers each year so that the community is not overburdened with excessive requests for financial support of school functions. Mr. Shanley said that there have been phone solicitations by independent companies selling products that support the school. He notes that these are not approved fundraisers and cautions anyone to question what they will be getting before sending in their money. If you have questions about a fundraiser, call the campus principal to see if the fundraiser is valid.

Finally, A’Lann Truelock reported that the audit had been completed and a report will be presented at next month’s meeting.