Trustees unanimously approved a school year that features 177 days of classroom time for students. The 2008-2009 school year will begin Aug. 25 and end May 29.
The three fewer class days will be used for staff development, instead, Superintendent Michael Downes said.
The new calendar features the following holiday breaks:
• Three days for Thanksgiving.
• Two weeks for Christmas.
• One week for Spring Break.
• One day each for Labor Day and Martin Luther King Day.
“It’s a pretty tight schedule,” Downes told trustees.
A recent state mandate that school begin no earlier than the fourth Monday in August and end no later than Memorial Day meant that many traditional student holidays — such as Columbus Day and Presidents’ Day — had to be scrapped, Downes noted.
In other business, trustees:
• Extended the contracts of all administrators, directors and coordinators, with the exception of Big Spring High School Principal Bruce Wilson. Officials declined comment on the reasons for Wilson’s non-extension.
• Approved an order calling for a trustee election May 10. Voters will elect school board members from Districts 1 and 3. Current incumbents Irene Galan (District 1) and Alan Partee (District 3) will seek re-election, they indicated.
• Accepted the following resignations: District Testing Coordinator Mary Arnett; High School Journalism Teacher Doneva Garcia; BSHS Assistant Principal Charles Mohler; Goliad Teacher Janie Conley; Bauer Teacher Hope Gilbert; BSHS Teacher Rob King; and Marcy Teacher Barbara Tarpley.
• Approved the hiring of Judith M. Grant to become the new director of food services for the district, replacing Joann Knox, and Christy Alton, who will teach third grade at Bauer.
• Accepted a bid to install emission reduction devices on 17 BSISD school buses. Chief Financial Officer Sandra Waggoner said the new devices will reduce emissions on the buses by about 80 percent.
The project will be paid for by a grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331, ext. 234 or by e-mail at
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