Board Meeting Report - December 6, 2022

This week’s Board of Education (the Board) meeting began with a recognition of two outgoing Board members. The Board and district leadership honored Board President Melissa Ford and Board member Dr. Katherine Kennedy and thanked them each for their eight years of service on the Board of Education. President Ford has led the Board since 2020 and previously served as Board Vice President from 2019 to 2020. Board Member Kennedy served as Board Vice President from 2017 to 2019.

Security Measures

The Business Administrator reported to the Board on the latest discussions about school safety, specifically at district high schools and middle schools. Leaders at those schools have expressed interest in hiring more security personnel as well as installing weapons detectors. The Business Administrator said the current plan is to install weapons detectors at East, Highland, and West High Schools. The district would also hire three campus security coordinators to oversee the operation of the detectors. After using the detectors for a year, the district could consider placing them in other high schools and middle schools.  

Horizonte School Name and Mascot

The Board discussed a proposal by Horizonte Instruction and Training Center to change the name of the school and adopt a school mascot. As they reviewed the proposal, Board members expressed concern that the proposed name change to Horizonte High School might not accurately represent the adult education program at the school and said they would like to see more feedback from the community. They asked the school leadership to gather additional feedback and bring their proposal back for consideration at a future meeting.