The Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees meets regularly to publicly address the business of the school district. Due to the current nationwide health pandemic, all district facilities and schools are closed and a Learning At Home system has been developed. To continue those health and safety standards, the Board of Trustees hosted their regular board meeting using a video conference call on Monday, May 11, 2020 and can be viewed here. Information shared and decisions made during that meeting include the following:
Board of Trustees Approve Hire of New Principal
At Monday’s board meeting the Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees approved the hire of Tambia Wesco as the new principal at Kennemer Middle School.
Ms. Wesco has more than 16 years of education experience and most recently served as an associate principal at a Mansfield ISD high school and assistant principal at an Arlington ISD high school before that. She was a teacher for more than 10 years when she began her career in education.
Ms. Wesco has a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master of Education in educational administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Marc Smith provided a report to the board of trustees beginning with the Class of 2020 senior yard signs. Duncanville High School held a pick-up day for students to collect their yard sign to proudly display at home. The district has been celebrating our graduating seniors in many ways after traditional senior events were canceled due to the global pandemic. DHS teachers also created an Adopt-A-Senior Facebook group to celebrate seniors with gifts; so far more than 400 seniors have been adopted by community members.
Dr. Smith explained two summer school sessions based on the status of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the area. Virtual summer school will take place June 3-25 and it has not yet been determined if July will be virtual or in the classroom. The technology department has distributed more than 2,200 loaner laptops to families. After seniors take their final exams, laptops will be collected to prepare for summer school distribution.
Dr. Smith concluded his report with information about Prekindergarten registration, new student enrollment and returning student registration.
Information Item
Chief Financial Officer Dr. Edd Bigbee presented an update to the budget planning for the 2020-2021 school year. Dr. Bigbee reviewed the current budget process and plans for developing the next budget. The presentation can be viewed here.
Other Items
Approved minutes for the April 20 meeting
Approved financial report for the month of March
Approved budget amendments
Approved request for pest control
Approved requests for maintenance equipment and supplies
Trustees Voted on New Officer Positions
Annually the board of trustees realign board officer positions. At the May 11 meeting, the trusstees selected Cassandra Phillips as the new Board President, Janice Savage-Martin as the Vice President and Janet Veracruz as the Secretary.
