School Board Roundup for September

Staff shortage, school expansion and mask requirements

The Ennis School board held their regular trustee meeting on Monday, Sept. 13. Here’s a recap of what was discussed and voted upon.

• Superintendent Casey Klasna reported the district is still short on bus drivers, especially sub and activity drivers. The shortage has resulted in cancellation of some day routes. The district is also short a custodian; there are currently four, but another is needed. A fulltime paraprofessional is also needed.

• The lengthiest discussion and draw to the four-and-a-half hour meeting involved the trustees’ consideration of revision to the Safe Return to School Plan, namely whether mask wearing should be changed to mandatory or remain optional. The board voted three to two to keep mask wearing optional. The board is federally required to revisit the issue quarterly, though Klasna stated the board does so at each of their monthly meetings as the COVID-19 situation can change rapidly.

• The board approved Plan D of the ongoing school expansion project. Gathering information from the community the district recognized a desire to keep the K-12 on one campus, as well as keeping the football field in place. The concept, which has changed over time, includes an entirely new junior and high school to replace the current one which was built in the 1970s and is not ADA compliant. It also allows for future growth on the same campus footprint as well as building a regulation track near the softball fields. The board will consider a community request for a bond election to fund the project at its next meeting set for Oct. 13. For artist renderings, taxpayer costs and more information, visit https://www.ennisschools.org/.

• The board voted 3-2 in favor of an MOU related to the district’s school resource officer contract. All board members were in favor of an MOU, but two preferred a year-to-year agreement versus the three-year one which was approved.