The Houston school board made seven employment decisions and accepted five resignations Tuesday during the closed session of its monthly meeting.
Hired by the board were:
•Alyssa Wildhaber, middle school cheer sponsor.
•Lillard Davis, high school social studies.
•Joleen Sharpe, paraprofessional.
•Elizabeth Williams, elementary teacher.
•Pauline Marsh, Title 1 paraprofessional.
•Christina Smith, custodian.
•Kaylon Buckner, middle school health.
Smith’s hire was effective immediately. The others were for the 2016-’17 school year.
The board also accepted five resignations for current teachers:
•Ruthanne “Andi” Scheets
•Nathan Christeson, middle school football coach.
•Tony Overy, bus driver and bus maintenance.
•Ashli Todaro, junior class sponsor.
•John Jordan, assistant high school girls’ basketball coach.
Also at the meeting, school board members:
•Heard from Superintendent Scott Dill that the district had unknowingly been in violation with regulations regarding asbestos inspections. Dill said the district self-reported the violations to the Environmental Protection Agency, which said no fines will be levied for the violations.
•Continued discussions related to the Fine Arts Building on campus. The bid process for demolition was re-established until noon May 31.
•Requested information from Gary Gentry, of Gentry Construction Inc., on the cost of demolition versus restoration of the Fine Arts Building. Gentry said, in his opinion, it would be more costly to restore the building and bring it to current code and regulation standards than demolish it and build a new, state-of-the-art facility in the future.
Citizens Ila Jean Farris, John Impey, Karen Cavanaugh, Jim Cavanaugh and Jeff McNiell commented as patrons about the situation.
•Discussed the possibility of moving graduation to a different day of the week than Saturday. No vote was taken.
•Considered adding a student liaison to the board of education –– a move the Ava school district recently made. No vote was taken.
•Approved the fiscal year 2017 budget.
•Heard the Food Service Committee held its inaugural meeting after forming in response to patron concerns.
•Received program evaluations from Joyce Jones (food service), Brent Kell (athletics) and Dill (comprehensive school improvement plan).
•Recognized Jason Pounds and the Scholar Bowl team, which won districts and sectionals to advance to state for the second time in school history.
PDF: Minutes from Tuesday’s Houston school board meeting