Forney ISD Board of Trustees Hear Updates and Approve Bus Purchases

Don Purdum
Post Editor

December 2, 2008

On Monday night, the Forney ISD School Board of Trustees met in a regularly scheduled meeting and received updates on the construction of the North Forney High School, approved the purchase of buses, and received an update on the 2009-2010 school year calendaring, among other items.

North Forney High School Update

The construction manager for the North Forney High School briefly stated that the project is going well, and that they “plan to finish the facility in May (2009).”

In regards to landscaping of the new high school, Dwayne Thompson, FISD CFO, said two bids were submitted for approval. Trustees approved $481,000 for the landscaping.

Included in the cost is sod for the new athletic facilities, which the approved company will wait until early spring to install. In the meantime, Thompson stated that rye grass will put down to avoid weather erosion.

School Bus Purchases

Thompson recommended the purchase of six school buses to the Trustees, stating that there are “three buses that currently need to be taken off of routes due to high mileage. We will keep them if another bus breaks down or has an accident.”

Thompson added, “There is nothing wrong with them except they are getting up there in miles.”

Another reason for the needed buses, “We also need spares. Right now, athletics feels the impact trying to schedule around all of the other transportation needs.”

Thompson said that by having three more buses, “we have more flexibility in the scheduling of events.”

In all, the board approved the purchase of six new buses from Longhorns Bus Sales in the amount of $73,436 each, for a total of $440,616.

The buses will be financed over five years.

2009-2010 School Calendar

Assistant Superintendent Donna Sweeney shared with the board the process the district will go through over the coming months to establish the 2009-2010 calendar school year.

According to Sweeney, the DEIC committee began meeting in October to “review how it (the process) was done in the past. It was determined by the DEIC members that they liked the process of the last few years.”

Sweeney further stated, “There was a member of campus on the committee who helped develop the calendar. The committee met on three separate occasions and utilized calendars from other districts, the tentative UIL calendar for next school year, and evaluated days such as staff development.”

According to Sweeney, the DEIC will meet again this Wednesday. After their meeting, the two calendars will be posted on the school district’s website to get input from the parents and the community.

When the process is completed in December, a calendar draft will be recommended in January to the Board of Trustees.