Dublin ISD School Board brought on the merriment of the season during a packed agenda Monday, Dec. 11 as they praised students and teachers, received a glowing audit report and gave the superintendent a raise.
The 2.5-hour meeting opened with teachers and students receiving monthly awards for both November and December since the board did not hold a November meeting.
About 100 parents and well wishers packed into the board room taking photos of the youngsters and teachers as they received awards. (See pages 6A and 8A).
During the meeting, the board received its Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) and its 202223 Fiscal Year audit.
Both reports were full of positive notes.
On the FIRST report, the only ding the district received was not spending all of their CTE allotted money, which has already been fixed, according to Superintendent Melissa Summers.
The district’s audit was presented by James E. Rodgers and Company, P.C., certified public accountants, and he gave the district an unmodified opinion, which is the best result that can occur.
“DISD is a model district,” Rodgers said. Rodgers complimented the district in following the purchasing controls they had put in place, even when it might take longer to get items.
“The tone at the top is very important. You guys do a great job with that,” he said.
The audit also featured positive auditor comments in every area.
“We really want to thank Ginny and Kassi for all their hard work throughout the year,” Summers said about Business Manager Kassi Eads and Accounts Payable Jenny Mosier.
The board approved hiring James E. Rodgers and Company, P.C. for their 202324 Fiscal Year audit.
The school board also completed the annual superintendent’s contract during closed session and approved giving Summers a raise after reconvening into open session. The salary increase will put her in the middle of superintendent salaries in the area.
Summers currently earns $136,000 and the board gave her a 6.6% raise.
“I am very appreciative of the board and the amazing staff that I work with every day,” she said in a comment to the Citizen after the meeting. “We have the best students at Dublin ISD and they make our jobs so rewarding.”
School board member Raymond Salinas said they the board appreciates all of Summers’ hard work.
“Thank you for what you do. A great district always starts at the top,” School board President Bob Cervetto said.
Summers also presented an update on some district improvements that are ongoing and some that may be taking place in the future.
New restrooms are underway at the DHS Softball and Baseball fields, making them more centralized and easier to get to. The old restrooms will be utilized by the softball team for storage of equipment.
The district will be ordering large signs to hang both at the new restrooms and at the football field to help people locate the facilities more easily. The district is also doing research on building a new ag barn facility close to the Secondary Campus and are touring other districts to see what they have done.
Possibilitiesmayalsoinclude a greenhouse and aquaponics to aid students in growing and learning more about crop production. Grant research is being done to potentially aid with the project.
“We will have more and more students participate if it is right here,” Summers said. “It’s also a benefit to have the ag teacher right there on location.”
The district is researching building tennis courts near the high school in the future.
“It’s exciting to see the growth,” Salinas said.