School districts are honoring their elected officials this month, recognizing school boards and their contributions to ‘Leadership for Tomorrow’s Texas.’
Gladewater ISD feted trustees Jan. 13: in particular, Supt. Rae Ann Patty said, the board members received a great meal prepared by board secretary Melissa Dennis along with centerpieces handmade at the district.
“We gave them some black and white photos to hang in their boardroom of different events on campus,” she added.
Last week’s business included a review of the Spring 2025 election details, with three spots on the ballot May 3 (see separate story on Page 1). Board members are elected to three-year terms, with places 1-3 up this year.
“We called the election to order and will begin taking packets and doing all of that,” Patty said. Candidate filing through Dennis ends Friday, Feb. 14. A contested election is not a given: “We approved the joint election agreement between us and the city should any of us need to have an election.”
Notably, Patty said, the district is undertaking a Region VII ‘Landscape Analysis’ with Texas School Leadership.
“They’re going to look at all the programs and academics, then we’ll take that information and start the board strategic planning process,” she explained. “They have a grant through the state; Gladewater was accepted to be in that grant process and participate in Texas School Leadership, TSL.
“That’ll be a two-year program we go through. We’ll have a strategic plan‚Ķ by the start of August. From August forward, we’ll set up the monitoring system; how we’re going to report that to the board, and how it’s going to be graded.”
The analysis will review GISD’s curriculum systems and other processes — from tracking attendance to withdrawals and other systems — at the district level.
The goal, Patty said, is to “make sure we have everything in place to make the campuses successful. Do you have curriculum management processes in place? If you do, does everybody have a copy of them? Does everybody know how to follow them?”
The program ensures efficiency and effectiveness with the systems that are in place, “that we’re all looking at things the same way, we’re evaluating things the same way.”
Consistent systems makes it easier for students to advance through school without having to re-learn expectations and procedures at various grade levels.
“We’re trying to put those consistencies among the campuses.”
Speaking Friday, Jan. 18, Patty noted a portion of her weekend would be spent “stalking the weather channels” to once again ensure the district could make the most informed decision about an inclement forecast closure.
“I don’t like to make the call too early. Last week, we were one or two degrees from it being the right call,” Patty noted. That said, “I always want to err on the side of caution for the safety of our students and our staff.”
Some staff members travel an hour or more on their commutes, she added. It adds another wrinkle to any closure decision that forces a weather make-up day later in the semester.
“That’s the one thing that I would love for people to understand. I’ve got to have staff to have kids, and not all staff live right here,” with some traveling from areas that may be experiencing worse weather than locals. “We just want to be very cautious because I don’t want anything to happen to anybody that works for Gladewater ISD.”