BSISD

awarded one $125 scholarship to Abel Clark and one $250 scholarship to Kaylie Rodriguez.

There was also one $750.00 scholarship awarded to Jayden Torres from Gexa Energy. This scholarship was able to given out to one outstanding senior from Big Spring High School and was hand-selected by Superintendent Jay McWilliams, Principal Mike Ritchey, and the Senior Sponsor.

“Jayden is an outstanding young lady and she has received some other scholarships as well,” McWilliams said.

There were several action items also on the agenda that the board decided to unanimously approve. The five items that were up for consideration and approved include:

• Approval of the Emergency Operations Plan

• Approval of the Anderson Turnaround Plan

• Approval of Howard County Appraisal District Budget

• Approval of a Standard Form Owner/Contractor Agreement with Javine West Texas LLC, dba Varitec Solutions, for Contractor Services Relating to the HVAC system upgrades at Moss Elementary, Marcy Elementary, Washington Elementary, Goliad Elementary, Big Spring Intermediate, Big Spring Junior High, Big Spring High School, and other action related thereto

• Approval of Budget Amendment and Expenditures over $150,000

For there the Emergency Operations Plan, there was a committee that went over the plan and made any necessary corrections to the document that needed to be made before Thursday’s meeting.

“It was the first time anything like that has been done in several years and I applaud Jim (Womack) for putting it together, putting a committee together, and he did a good job running the meeting,” McWilliams said. “That’s a very, very good emergency operations plan. It’s very detailed, thorough, and people can read it and make sense of it.”

The Anderson Turnaround Plan was approved back in February and submitted to the TEA (Texas Education Agency). Following some revisions that have been made, the Board approved the final copy at the meeting on Thursday.

The appraisal district budget is down 13% this year and so BSISD will be paying $386,000 for 2021.

At the conclusion of the meeting, McWilliams gave his Superintendent’s Report and spent a few minutes praising Amanda Finley, who is taking over as the new Principal of Marcy Elementary.

“She’s outstanding,” McWilliams said. “With her moving into that role, teachers are more than excited and the consistency is there. And what she’s strongest in, in my opinion, is curriculum. She’s an instructional leader so we’re glad to have her.”

The last items that were discussed for the night were the District Convocation and the August Board Meeting Dates. They are working on a ‘Plan B’ for the Convocation but McWilliams assured everyone that they will have it.

In August, the Board will meet on 8/13 for their regular monthly meeting and once again on 8/27 for a special meeting that is needed to approve the final tax rate.

Shawn Moran is the sports writer at the Big Spring Herald. To contact him, e-mail sports@bigspringherald.com or call 432-263-7331.