by Hunter Dawkins
After discussion of the 2020 BluePrint for School Re-Opening by the Pass Christian School District (PCSD), the Certified Financial Officer (CFO); Paige Bromen, reviewed the financial reports for May 2020 and the school board of trustees unanimously approved all concerns related to this matter. Upon completion of these measures, the board accepted two donations of $1200 from Victoria Blum and $1982 from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation for Leo Seal Teacher Recognition Award.
Two consecutive resolutions were adopted on a unanimous roll call with one transferring tables to another school district and Designating Persons to Sign Checks and Warrants for the school district.
The heated subject came up when board member Avra O’Dwyer brought forth a request to require the Pass Christian School District to issue Requests for Proposals from more than one insurance brokerage firms for the school board to review the policies and programs during the upcoming school year.
After O’Dwyer made the request, fellow board member Cecil Lizana seconded the agenda where the board president asked for the thoughts from each member.
Trustee; Walter “Skip” King, expressed caution in moving towards another insurance brokerage firm because of the current adviser; BXS Insurance, providing great prices and features.
O’Dwyer questioned the ethical ability to vote by School Board Member; Scott Naugle, and his work as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Bancorp South, a company of direct affiliation with BXS Inurance. Earlier in the meeting, Naugle recused himself from the docket of claims vote before the issue was discussed due to a connection. O’Dwyer expressed that she spoke with School Board Attorney Mark Alexander, who stated Naugle’s vote (according to O’Dwyer) on anything related to the insurance policies of the school district would be “a gray area .”
Naugle replied the insurance policy brought by BXS was successful because of the comparison brought through the market.
Following the deliberation, the Board of Trustees voted against the suggestion by O’Dwyer 2-1-1 as Naugle and King voted against the motion, O’Dwyer supported, Lizana abstained.
In other actions, the school board approved an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for private school allocation, the addendum of the 2020-21 Student/Parent Handbooks, contracted agreement with Swetman Security Services and acceptance of the additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) application. Thirteen items were unanimously adopted on the consent agenda and the superintendent; Dr. Carla Evers, mentioned of staying on a ten point grading scale system.
Finally, The Pass Christian School District released their plans for the 2020-2021 school year Tuesday, giving parents the option to choose between two different plans.
The first option is called “Safety-Enhanced Traditional” (SET) which is on campus and acts as a long-established way of learning, rather than option two which is all online. The second option will have students learn from home and “be on the same bell schedule as if they were attending school in the physical setting.”
Both options provide students with electronic equipment to assist with their learning experience.
Additionally, the district did note that “a Hybrid return to school will be considered based on the Governor’s executive orders and county/statewide restrictions.”
