Curtains purchased, video on hold

Gentry School board approves bid for high school auditorium, hires needed staff

— A bid to replace the curtains in the high school auditorium was approved by the school board at its July 18 meeting, but a suggestion to purchase video equipment to be placed in halls and other locations at the high school was put on hold.

The board approved a bid of $24,300 from Texas Scenic Curtains to replace existing stage curtains in the auditorium which have been in use for more than 20 years and were once ignited by stage lights.

The curtain replacementis part of a plan, now nearly finished, for renovations to the auditorium used for school plays, concerts and numerous other events.

With the renovations and maintenance work done on athletic facilities, it is only fair to do needed work in the auditorium where the bands, choirs and drama teams perform, Barrett said.

Rather than having an architect prepare specifications for sealed bids on a system to provide video surveillance in high traffic areas within the high school, board members chose to hold off and see how new property assessments affect incoming tax money for the school.

There is no current immediate need for the cameras, Gentry School District superintendent Randy Barrett said.

Rough cost estimates for such a system ranged near the $50,000 mark and the district did not have plans to have someone constantly monitor the hall cameras.

Under personnel items, the board accepted the resignations of Sarah Pfeifer as high school teacher and coach, and April Teague as middle school English teacher. Hired were Cliff Smith as intermediateschool special education teacher, Rebecca Caswell as high school science teacher, Kim Edmondson as middle school social studies teacher, and Blake Rheim as middle school teacher and coach.

Transfer requests approved include Amy Starkenberg from seventh grade social studies to English, Janis Folker from middle school special education aide to the high school distance learning lab, Nellia Philpott from intermediate school special education aide to duty aide, and Beau Collins from middle school physical education and health to high school math.

News, Pages 5 on 08/03/2011