CCISD seeks to end lease with Boys & Girls Club

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

A lease agreement which has been in place for three years is now up for a recommended termination tonight by the Copperas Cove Independent School District board of trustees.
The Boys & Girls Club of Copperas Cove has been leasing the Fairview side of the Fairview-Jewell Elementary campus for $1 per month since Jan. 1, 2015, and on January 3 of this year, Brian Jones, vice president of operations for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Texas submitted a letter to the district, requesting the lease be extended. 
However, according to the agenda for tonight’s school board meeting, the district has plans to renovate the campus in the summer of 2018, and that portion of the campus used by the Boys & Girls Club will be part of that renovation. CCISD administration is recommending the board terminate the lease on May 31, 2018. 
Several budgeted purchases costing more than $25,000 are up for an official vote by the board tonight. Three of those projects are technology-related, to include $98,752.50 for 120 desktop and 30 laptop computers for teachers at Copperas Cove High School, to be replaced this summer. The second technology purchase is for 30 replacement computers in the Career and Technology classrooms, in the amount of $33,144.60. The current computers will replace older computers in another computer lab. The third technology purchase is for 480 “AMP” devices to be used by elementary teachers for student assessment in conjunction with the Schoology program. The AMP devices will cost $115,684.80. 
The last budgeted purchase more than $25,000 is for a concrete retaining wall and handrail at Bulldawg     Gym, in the amount of $33,89523. 
The board will also take action on an investment broker, and also conduct its annual review of investment policies and strategy, along with a letter of engagement to select a firm to perform its annual independent audit for the year 2017-2018.
There is a “Settlement Agreement for Docket No. 033-SE-1017” up for a decision by the board tonight as well with no further information listed on the agenda regarding that item. 
A closed session is on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, with the topic of discussion to include the rescinding of a proposed termination of a teacher contract, with an item on the agenda to possibly take action on the rescinding of the contract termination. 
As part of the monthly recognitions this evening, the district will be recognizing the board of trustees members for their service as part of School Board Recognition month, with several student groups to make presentations. Also, several retiring employees will be recognized, to include Elizabeth Fecher, bus driver; Marlene Shirley, SPED bus aide; and Arlene Wyatt, crossing guard.
CCISD administration is also asking for the board’s approval for two out of state trips, to include the School Nutrition Association 46th Legislative Action Conference in Washington D.C. March 3-7; and the Schoology NEXT Conference in San Diego, Cal. July 15-18. For the Washington D.C. trip, the cost is $2,698.64, with Child Nutrition Director Melissa Bryan traveling to the conference to meet with members of Congress about issues that child nutrition programs face locally, and to attend classes. For the Schoology NEXT Conference, four staff members to include Earl Parcell, Dani Patterson, Kim Blalock, and a teacher to be determined, will get to attend sessions at the summer conference to learn more in-depth features of the Schoology program, for a total of $8,129. 
For reports, the board will receive the district’s monthly and financial reports, along with the quarterly update for the district’s strategic plan, Vision 2020. 
The meeting will begin at 6:45 p.m. at the district’s conference room at the Administration Building, located at 703 W. Ave. D. 
In addition to public comment time during the hearing, there will be a time of open forum at the beginning of the meeting for which the public may sign in and have a chance to speak to the board. 
Prior to the regular meeting, the board is holding a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. to discuss CCISD’s annual Texas Academic Performance Report, or TAPR.