Board approves agreement for school resource officer

By Marlene J. Bohr
mbohr@steelcountrybee.com
 
Ever mindful of the safety of children, the Daingerfield-Lone Star Independent School District unanimously approved a resolution for a mutual agreement between the city of Daingerfield and the school district to share the cost of a school resource officer. This action was taken at the Feb. 18 meeting of the board. The resolution is contingent on the approval of a school resource officer grant.
Daingerfield Police Chief Tracey Climer explained the grant to the board.
“The city has asked me to fill out a grant for a resource officer,” Chief Climer said. “It is a three-tier grant. We may or may not get the grant.  It is for $43,336 which includes benefits, supplies, travel, and training, plus salary. I applied for another grant to get a patrol car for this officer.
“The city will agree to pay for 50 percent of what is not budgeted. The first year the grant will pay 100 percent and will require no one to pay; the second year will be 80 percent, and the city and school will need to split that. Right now there are a lot of departments applying for grants. There are several that are applying for their second or third grant.”
Superintendent Sandra Quarles commended Chief Climer on his department.
“I would like to thank Tracey for his department’s actions in December,” Mrs. Quarles said. “He was here bright and early after the Sandy Hook tragedy and had a presence that entire week. After we got back from Christmas break, the officers were here again.”
Architect Ted Estep showed a power point of the junior high gym and locker room and the high school labs.
“This (boys’ gym and locker room) is an example of how things can become greater than what you initially looked at,” Mr. Estep said. “The boys’ gym is ‘quite’ something. It needs a lot of work, and we would plan to line the walls to 7’4” to provide a durable surface that cannot be damaged. Since the walls are metal, it is very loud in there. We plan to air condition the boys’ gym and the girls’ gym also.
“We discussed the auditorium and suggest we continue to find out how much the rest of the items will cost, take care of those things first, and see what is left to spend on the auditorium.”
In her report, Mrs. Quarles told the board the fire alarm systems are in.
“The junior high fire alarm system is up and running, and they have had one fire drill,” Mrs. Quarles said. “The high school alarms are in but there are a couple of bugs we are working on. There are 20 pairs of exterior glass doors that were installed at the high school and six metal doors. The roof work is scheduled to begin in April.”
Mrs. Quarles told the board about the talks with Northeast Texas Community College about an industrial class at the high school.
“The model for the class is in Mount Pleasant,” she said. “We are coming up with a program similar to that to prepare students for high end jobs in industrial maintenance. Our counselor has gone to the classes and she has a field trip planned to go over to the Mount Pleasant school. We have tried to talk to every parent and send letters home to parents. The kids will be able to go there and have a good idea if they can take this class.
“Our commitment to the college is $1,000 per student, and we want to have 10 to 15 students the first year. We are in the process of seeing if we can get some of that money from some of our grants. We feel like this is an excellent opportunity for our students.”
NTCC President Dr. Brad Johnson said one of the things they would be pleased about was the curriculum is a nationally standardized curriculum.
“It actually requires a relatively decent level of math skills,” Dr. Johnson said. “This is not a class for those who are not motivated. Technology is replacing a lot of the jobs and those jobs require critical thinking and skills. These are about the last blue collar jobs in our area that pay a good wage. When people come out to that program, employers are telling us they like what we are teaching the students.
“The college will bring mobile units that are duplicates of what we have over there and we have a trailer that is being built that can be a mobile training center.”
Dr. Johnson explained the college’s current strategic planning.
“The college is going through strategic planning like we started in 2009,” Dr. Johnson said. “The ag center came out of that in addition to student housing and the technology center in Mount Pleasant. Higher education is in a rapid change mode. NTCC has to figure out what our mission is. We are on social media with Facebook and Twitter. I would encourage you to find a link to us and offer your ideas and comments. “