CISD Board Receives Update on Current District Projects

Crockett Mayor Provides Proclamation

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – The Crockett Independent School District Board of Trustees was presented with a list of the current and future projects the district is working on during their regularly scheduled meeting held on Monday, Feb. 28.

CISD Superintendent John Emerich began the project discussion by directing the trustees’ attention to the district website. He explained there was a career and technology survey on the website that all students would be filling out.

“We are also asking parents and the public to fill this out about what they feel is important as to what we might offer in our career and tech courses,” he said.

The superintendent also spoke about the new CISD Transportation Department location that was covered in the previous edition of The Messenger.

As he continued, Emerich showed several slides of a 30-ft. trailer the Crockett FFA Ag. Mech. Team is working on. He said it would be a three-axle trailer and would be shown during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Another project the superintendent brought up was the district’s security upgrades using key card entry ways and cameras.

Emerich also provided an update on the installation of new flooring at the Andrew J Hopkins Activity Center. He reported the wood flooring had been installed and was in the curing/settling stage.

“They are going to start the sanding process later this week. Then, they will start putting the different stains and colors on the floor,” he said.

The floor needed to be replaced because of a pipe that burst in the concrete underneath the flooring. He added the floor in the Administrative Building Gym was also being repaired because of a leak.

Also concerning the Hopkins Activity Center, Emerich presented several slides of the dome’s exterior which showed areas which will need to be addressed sometime in the future. He said gutter work would cost approximately $72,000, sealing/repairing the exterior walls would run approximately $183,000 and repairing the roof would cost approximately $480,000.

The last project area discussed pertained to the lights at the football field, as well as those at the baseball and softball fields. No action was taken on the lighting matter.   

Prior to the project discussion, Crockett High School Senior Keaton Crabtree addressed the board about decorating graduation caps. She said the CHS seniors had been informed they would no longer be able to decorate their caps for the graduation ceremony and added she believed this infringed on her individuality and that of her classmates.

“In response to this,” she continued, “some of our classmates went out and started a petition. In about two days, we got about 500 signatures from people in our community to allow us to decorate our graduation caps.”

TieAsia Tucker, a candidate for the District Six school board seat, also spoke during the public forum about the graduation cap issue and expressed her support for allowing the seniors to decorate their caps.

Following the public comments portion of the meeting, Emerich welcomed Crockett Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher to the meeting.

“Last month (January) was School Board Appreciation Month. The mayor and the city wanted to support you guys but they had a meeting on the same night we did. Unfortunately, that was not able to happen. So, our mayor is here tonight and she has been a big supporter of our schools. She would like to say a few words to you tonight,” the superintendent said.

“We are all affected by what the school does and it is such a pleasure to be a part of this. I gave the best part of my life – 31 plus years – to education. Even though the date is not accurate on here, what you do transcends time and date. I’m going to share this proclamation with you and you can fill in the date,” the mayor said.

With that, she read a proclamation declaring the month of January as School Board Appreciation Month.   

In other matters brought before the school board:

• Consent agenda items were approved.  
• The district framework for Governance Leadership was received as information by the board.
• Judges for the May 7 election were approved.
• The purchase of playground equipment for the Early Childhood Campus was approved by the board at a price of $55,000.   

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].