40 percent grant to underwrite project
By Suzanne Bardwell
Gladewater ISD Trustees had a 2-hour session at last week’s meeting with multiple reports and discussion. Trustees approved 6-0, with George Glenn absent, a network cabling infrastructure improvement from ETEX for the high school and primary school after a lengthy discussion.
The projects would provide the infrastructure to increase bandwidth and speed for the staff and students, as well as allow for possible security improvements in the future. With a total cost of over $280,000 the district can use Title II funds from an eRate Grant to pay approximately 40 percent of the total and possibly more according to board president Jon Keller. He also noted that the most the district would have to pay for the project is $167,687.
Supt. Sedric Clark announced his plans to hold a GISD Vision 2025 Town Hall meeting to engage the community in the future of the district. The first Town Hall is scheduled for Monday, March 23 at 6 p.m.
Clark also announced that the Upshur County SSA Community School is scheduled to move out of the former Gladewater Middle School (old high school) by Dec. 31, 2020. The Community School will be relocated to a vacated Gilmer ISD building.
According to Clark the work on the central business and administrative offices complete with the technology offices to be completed this week. The boardroom, tax office and cafeteria are slated to be completed by the end of March with GISD’s first board meeting in the new boardroom in April. Supt. Clark said that an Open House will be held as soon as renovation work is completed.
Trustees designation of stadium turf installation at the beginning of the school year came in with $31,800 available at the end of the project which was applied to the Broadway Campus Central Administration renovation.
In other business the board hired Shana Schneider as a GHS math teacher and received resignations for GHS Ag teacher Dallas Walker, GHS chemistry/IPC teacher Althea Carling and GHS English teacher Emily Smith.