The Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees hosted a regular board meeting on December 14, 2020. A video recording of the meeting can be viewed on the district website under Board of Trustees. Information shared and decisions made during that meeting include the following:
“Made With Pride in Duncanville” Honorees Recognized
The December “Made with Pride in Duncanville” honorees include student Jocelyn Gallo, teacher DeMario Frost and staff member Natalie Chase.
Jocelyn Gallo is a sixth grade student at Brandenburg Intermediate School who exemplifies her school’s principles PAWS – Positive Attitude, Act Responsibly, Wise Choices, and Stay Focused. Jocelyn takes the initiative to help others when they need assistance and her teachers say she is enthusiastic about learning.
DeMario Frost is a kindergarten teacher at Hyman Elementary School. A parent and grandparent of one of
Mr. Frost’s students nominated him because of his commitment to making each of his students feel valued and important. He also encourages students to communicate with each other during virtual learning lessons and engages his class through songs, encouraging words and lots of smiles.
Natalie Chase is a teacher specialist at Hastings Elementary School. Mrs. Chase is known as one of the heartbeats of her campus and is the glue that holds their leadership team together when things get difficult. When the pandemic started in March, Mrs. Chase created a calling cycle to check in on her colleagues and sent e-cards with words of encouragement.
Read more about the honorees here.
Board Approves Hiring New Director of Fine Arts
The Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees approved the hiring of new Director of Fine Arts, William Young. Mr. Young comes from Cedar Hill ISD where he was the Director of Fine Arts and has held previous roles as band director and assistant band director in Dallas ISD. Mr. Young has a Bachelor of Music from Southern University and A&M College and a Master of Education from Concordia University. Mr. Young hopes to motivate the fine arts staff in asserting their inner strengths and abilities to teach students in Duncanville ISD.
Superintendent’s Report
Duncanville ISD Superintendent Dr. Marc Smith began his report sharing information about his newly created Superintendent Roundtable. The purpose of this roundtable is to regularly gather input from a group of community stakeholders including parents, business owners and active community members who are committed to seeing students succeed. The first roundtable was held earlier this month via video conference.
Dr. Smith shared the outreach of district employees to help students and families in need this holiday season. The Panther Angel Tree is an opportunity for staff members to sponsor a district student in need by providing gifts for the holidays. This year, the district extended the invitation to community members to participate. The third annual Board of Trustees Coat drive helped provide new coats for more than 100 students in need so they can stay warm during the cold winter temperatures. Those are just a couple of the donation drives that helped support more than 400 families.
Other Items
The board agenda items can be found here.
Approved minutes from the November 16 board meeting
Approved minutes from the November 16 canvassing meeting
Approved financial report for October 2020
Approved budget amendments
Approved an interlocal agreement between Education Service Center 10 Child Nutrition Multi Region Co-op and Duncanville ISD
Discussed bilingual/English as a Second Language program evaluation
Discussed the present planning process for 2021-2022 academic calendar
Discussed the process for donations
Discussed the COVID-19 pandemic plan and efforts update