Dublin ISD announced last week that all school supplies for all students, PreK-12, for the 2021- 2022 school year will be provided.
Superintendent Melissa Summers stated, “All our students will need to bring is a backpack, and we will fill it with everything they need. We want our students and families to know that we are here to support them.” Each student will also be supplied with a reusable water bottle.
Any student in need of a backpack should contact their campus principal.
This announcement was made as the DISD school board made other decisions to prepare for the 2021-2022 school year during its regular meeting Monday night.
School Board member Pat Leatherwood referenced recent reports of COVID numbers rising around the state and asked about safety guidelines for the next semester. Summers reported that masks would not be required but other safety protocols such as social distancing, sanitizing rooms and hand sanitizing stations would still be observed. Parents will also be responsible for filling out weekly paper or online forms (turned in Mondays) that indicate their child has not exhibited symptoms over the weekend.
The board unanimously (minus the absent Jeff Weaver) voted to accept the new student and employee handbooks which were mostly unchanged except that grades in 4th-12th grade will once again be determined with 50% test grades and 50% daily work. (The percentages were different last year due to quarantine and remote learning procedures.)
The board also unanimously passed the new code of conduct although board member James Moore asked that further attention be given to how some behaviors in the book are classified, citing some things in ‘gang’ activity that he felt belonged in harassment or bullying behaviors.
DISD Business Manager Kassi Eads was also present to address the school’s budget, saying the ESSER grant was making certain things more manageable, like the planned replacement of all air conditioning units at the elementary and secondary schools over the next three years.
Eads also presented the proposed tax rate for 2021-2022, offering the same rate of $1.03980 per $100 valuation for M&O and $0.15763 for I&S. Eads said this rate will decrease based on the appraisal values (which have a final due date of July 25) and board decision. She was hesitant to set a proposed rate without the official numbers.
The board also approved certain trained, screened and approved personnel to carry concealed firearms under the guardian program.