Big Spring ISD Board of Trustees votes 5-2 to discontinue mask wearing on all campuses
At its meeting Thursday evening, the Big Spring ISD school board voted 5-2 to discontinue requiring students, teachers and staff to wear masks during the school day. The vote is in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-34 issued March 2, which ended the statewide mask requirement for Texas citizens.
“Really, we’re sitting here with one of two choices. It’s pretty simple,” said BSISD Superintendent Jay Mcwilliams during the meeting. “We’re either going to say, ‘We’re going to continue having masks with adults, kids 10 years and older, either through spring break, or for the rest of the year even though the governor says we don’t have to do that. But we could still do that. The reason this discussion is even coming around is, the governor said one thing, and TEA didn’t quite jump on board 100 percent.”
A message posted on the BSISD website, signed by Mcwilliams, indicates that the mask mandate in the district was no longer in force as of Friday.
“Face coverings and masks will be optional for all staff and students,” the message reads. “All other TEA, UIL, and District regulations and practices to control the spread of COVID-19 will remain in place. BSISD will phase in our on-campus visitor policies as we continue to monitor the number of positive cases on each campus, and across the district.”
The message goes on to indicate that the district reserves the right to require masks again if conditions worsen.
In other business, the school board canceled the district’s planned May 1 election because board candidates in both races were running unopposed.
Michelle Dawn Garcia will replace incumbent Maria Padilla in District 2, while Tommy Jason Martinez will replace Melissa Miller in District 4.
“Since they are running unopposed, we do not have to have an election,” said Director of Business Services Melissa Tarbet. “This next item is just the official cancellation of the general election. They will stand elected from this point on, but they will not join the board until after election day on May 1, when I will do the swearing in.”
The school board also unanimously approved the proposed 2021-22 school calendar. According to the calendar, the first day of school in the 2021-22 school year will be Wednesday, Aug. 18, while the last day of the school year will be May 26, 2022. Scheduled holidays include Sept. 6, Oct. 11, Nov. 24-26, Dec. 20-Dec. 31, Jan. 17, Feb. 21 and March 14-18. The calendar also indicates that Sept. 27, Nov. 1, Jan. 3-4, Feb. 18 and April 18 are professional
development days/student holidays.
The board approved a resolution confirming wage and salary payment to district employees during the recent school closure caused by winter storms.
“What you are voting on is something we’ve actually already done,” Mcwilliams told the board. “That is, we as a district paid our employees for that week, even though they weren’t up here working. The good part about it is, we were able to do that because our DEA Local policy allows us to do that. We’ve used that once before. What I did was, I called our attorney and he double-checked and he said, ‘The beauty part is, it’s already in your policy. You can go ahead and do it, but you still need to vote as a board on a resolution that says, “We went ahead and paid them.”’”
At the start of Thursday’s meeting, the school board recognized students and teachers involved in the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The recognition was slated to occur at the February school board meeting, but, although the school board did meet, icy conditions caused by February’s winter storm kept the honorees home.
CTE Coordinator Vonnie Anderson introduced faculty and students involved in the program, and announced that CTE students will be able to wear a special cord on their graduation robes during ceremonies this year and in the future.
Students introduced at the meeting included Gabriella Carter, Connor Crisp, Gabrielle Galan, Matt Galaviz, David Gonzalez, Shanelle Landsaw-baird, Michael Martinez and Anailed Rivera. Alumnus Gia Ortega, currently a college student in Killeen, Texas, was also introduced at the meeting. Ortega is studying to become a CTE teacher specializing in construction trades.
Faculty members introduced include High School business teacher Brooke Everett, High School culinary arts teacher Erica Melton, Junior High CTE teacher Amanda Rivera, High School automotive teacher Stephen Robles, High School construction teacher Joseph Saiz and High School welding teacher Milton Woody.
“We are very, very proud of the teachers here, the students here. If you follow my Facebook page, the Big Spring ISD Facebook page, you see a lot of things happening with CTE,” Mcwilliams said. “A lot of things. We’re very, very proud of them. We’re very proud of the skills these kids are learning.”
In his superintendent’s report, Mcwilliams reported that the district’s enrollment currently stands at 3,637 students.