The Dublin ISD School Board officially name Melissa Summers as the lone finalist for superintendent after Rodney Schneider announced his retirement during the regular meeting Monday night.
Summers is in her 18th year at Dublin ISD, serving as an assistant principal and principal before taking on the assistant superintendent position five years ago.
Representing school administration during public comments, Dublin Intermediate Principal Amanda Lisso recommended her for the position, describing Summers as “the epitome of servant leader,” recognizing that she has raised a daughter through the Dublin school system who has just started as a teacher in Dublin Intermediate and currently has a son in the 7th grade. Lisso also said that Summers as principal and assistant principal was integral in moving a struggling campus to a nationally-recognized blue ribbon school in Dublin Elementary.
Coach Greg Hardcastle also offered an endorsement on behalf of teachers, saying that Summers has always been “very supportive of our teachers” and “always checking in on our well-being.”
The school board unanimously (minus the absent Raymond Salinas) approved Summers’ selection following an executive session at the end of the meeting.
The school board also settled several other staff matters, accepting term and probationary contracts and approving a one-time efficiency payment for May-$1,000 for professional employees and $750 for at-will.
The board also amended the budget to provide for the efficiency payment as well as the separation agreement with Rodney Schneider.
The board also unanimously approved the suspension of Policy DC (Local), allowing the superintendent and assistant superintendent to extend job offers to qualified candidates as soon as they are found, and approved Policy Update 115, relating to cyber security training for staff.
The board was addressed by Norma Briseno of a program starting on March 22 where Texas Workforce Commission representatives will be coming to the secondary school to assist collegebound seniors with applications and necessary matters while helping those looking into trades with job placement and finding necessary training.
During regular reports, it was announced that a construction company was allowed to rent property on the secondary campus to place materials for a nearby job on the condition that they stay in Dublin hotels and eat in restaurants in town. It was also announced that enrollment stood at 1,084.
Public Comments
In addition to the staff comments endorsing Melissa Summers, there were three public comments by community members amongst a large crowd at Monday’s meeting.
Daniel Johnson questioned some decisions being put forth by the school administration, saying he had spoken to many concerned community members about recent decisions. Johnson said that the school needed to follow the model of ‘God, health, family and freedom.”
John Shipman said he also had concerns about the school district and administration as he has come to live in Dublin, saying he has heard many good things about each board member personally and encouraged them to discuss the district with neighbors in the community about concerns.
Tara Ratliff said that she really likes the teachers but also urged administration to seek community input on policies about things like how the COVID-19 policy is handled in regards to children under 10 wearing masks and how people yelling at students to put on masks will affect the students.