The board of trustees approved two Texas Education Agency waivers. While they were initially on the consent agenda, Trustee Toni Carter opted to pull them as she had a question about why the district limited the number of foreign exchange students.
The first waiver allows the district to limit the number of foreign exchange students to five per high school, according to agenda documents. The reason PISD pursued this waiver is because of the additional cost associated with a large number of exchange students who have moved into the district, according to agenda documents.
“Many years, we don’t even hit five, so we have two high schools at five,” PISD Deputy Superintendent David Moody said. “That discussion through the years has been that when you’re looking at enrollment of a classroom, the additional students that come in ... can put a burden on the campus.
“It is a good spot for a principal to hone in on those five kids and make sure that the experience for the five kids is what you need," he added.
Moody is serving as the day-to-day contact person after the board of trustees granted Superintendent John Kelly's requested leave March 1, board President Sean Murphy told Community Impact Newspaper in a written statement March 2.
The second TEA waiver gives the district the flexibility to change the schedule of classes on state assessment testing days, such as for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.
The waiver has been in effect for multiple years, according to agenda documents, and it is required to be approved and renewed every two years.
Additionally, the board of trustees also approved the use of $253,717, which comes from the 2021-22 COVID-19 School Health Support Grant, to purchase 201 large air purifiers and 778 small air purifiers. The grant funds were limited to specific uses, one of which include portable air fan and filtration systems, according to the TEA.
