MARFA – The Marfa ISD School Board met at a regular meeting Monday night to hear updates – including nominations for H-E-B’s teacher awards. Other actions included a new staff grooming and dress code, sign off on a teacher certification waiver and a new, much anticipated memorandum of understanding between Marfa ISD and Presidio ISD concerning Redford students.
Trustees Paul Salgado, Jay Foster, Rene Gonzales, Jonathan Lockett and Board President Teresa Nunez were present.
In September, Marfa schools leadership sought to codify the employee dress code, something the district lacked. They invited teachers to sit on a dress code committee and work with the administration to come up with an appropriate rubric for dress and grooming. Seven teachers volunteered for the committee and presented their code to the board Monday. New regulations include restrictions against snug, saggy and sheer clothing; T-shirts and sweatshirts representing schools, colleges, or U.S. military forces are allowed on Thursdays and Fridays.
Teacher Adele Powers, who served as the committee’s spokesperson in the meeting, said of the presented code, “I think it’s pretty good and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.” The committee was careful to take into consideration what specific needs teachers in special education or other special population areas required and “dressing for the assignment.” Before the board’s vote, both Nunez and Gonzales thanked the committee for their assiduous care in developing a comprehensive and responsible dress code for the district. The code was unanimously approved by the board, and Superintendent Stephen McCanless said it would soon be added to the employed handbook and uploaded to the district website.
The superintendent also brought a request before the board to approve an individual teacher certification waiver in order to hire a welding teacher for the school. When the district lost their welding teacher at the beginning of last school year, eventually a local welder was hired to help teach the students – but that instructor did not have a state certification to teach, nor did the district apply for a waiver, thus losing the essential career and technical education (CTE) funding. “Last year we did not have this waiver in place, so we were not able to get CTE credit. If you’re not able to check that box in there, the district gets no funding. The students can get their welding education, their knowledge, but we need to follow this waiver to get this done correctly,” McCanless told the board.
McCanless aims to correct the situation by proving to the state that the district advertised the position to certified teachers across the state before considering a local professionally certified welder without the necessary teaching certification. The waiver will be submitted for the individual chosen to be hired; the district currently has at least one candidate for the position. McCanless stressed they will be held to the same standards as other teachers.
“Right now many of [our students] are on a Chromebook doing welding virtually — if anyone knows anything about welding, we need hands on,” McCanless told the board before they approved the motion unanimously.
Also of note, last month McCanless informed the board that he had come to a solution for a longstanding headache for the district, the problem of educating Redford students who, though technically within Marfa’s district, live some 75 miles away near the border. For the past couple decades, Marfa has paid Presidio ISD, about 16 miles northwest of Redford, transportation and tuition costs to matriculate the students. As McCanless discovered – and the Marfa ISD School Board has been deliberating for years — Presidio received the average daily attendance (ADA) funding for the state as well as MISD’s tuition for those students. In a conversation with Presidio ISD Superintendent Carmen Rubner, McCanless worked out a new agreement in which Marfa ISD will continue to pay transportation costs to bus the students to Presidio, but will no longer pay tuition. Presidio’s School Board accepted the new MOU last month, but Marfa school board formally accepted it Monday, to exhales of relief from the board.
Former board member Rene Gonzales said, “I’m just glad this is fixed — the tuition part. Man, it was killing me; it didn’t make sense.” Before the vote, Nunez also offered her thanks to the superintendent, while also offering gratitude to Presidio ISD. “Mr. McCanless, thank you for really getting into this and talking and getting it hashed out. And Presidio has done a great job helping us and educating our students,” she said.
In other district news, McCanless and Donel Hartnett have received nominations for the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards in the principal and teacher categories, respectively. Hartnett teaches junior high and high school English and has helped revitalize the school’s UIL one-act play program. McCanless stepped into the role of district superintendent in August and also serves as the JH/HS principal.
In a statement to The Big Bend Sentinel, the district said, “Even though this is an early step in the awards process, these nominations are meaningful recognition of the impact both educators are making in our district. These nominations are a big reflection of what Ms. Hartnett and Mr. McCanless bring to the district: dedication to students, a commitment to growth, and a willingness to go above and beyond for Marfa ISD. We are proud to see their work recognized.”
The H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards are designed to honor outstanding public school professionals and to thank them for their dedication and commitment. You can learn more about them at heblovesteachers.com.
