The Freedom school board voted for a major overhaul of the school's heating and air-conditioning equipment by accepting a bid from Alfalfa Electric Cooperative Services Inc. in the amount of $90,000.
There will be numerous Rheem units, with furnaces attached. The bid is contingent upon the school getting lease-purchase type of financing, probably from Alfalfa Electric Cooperative. The bid has an expiration date of 30 days.
Suspension Upheld
The first item on the agenda was an appeal by Freedom resident Craig Hamil to a board ruling to ban him from the campus and school activities for six months.
The ban occurred after an incident at the Woods County Fair in September. A female student reciting her placing of the swine class, and in front of several people, Hamil berated the student saying, “Are you f...king kidding me, (name of student)?” The vo-ag instructor, Mr. Weber, told Hamil to quit talking to the student in that way. He persisted even though she was already crying.
The student later reported that Hamil apologized to her and he said he thought she was good.
The appeal hearing at Monday night's board meeting called for a written statement from the superintendent and a written appeal statement from Hamil. The agenda made it clear that no oral comments by either side would be allowed, although school board members could ask questions if they wished.
The superintendent's statement cited school visitor policy and stated that Hamil had violated that.
Hamil's statement acknowledged the bad language and behavior, but reasoned that since he helps a lot with students and their FFA projects, that a one-time error of judgment should not merit a six-month prohibition.
None of the school board members had any questions after reading each statement. A motion was made by Shane Morris to uphold the administration's decision. That motion passed unanimously with Russel Reed, Robert Babcock, Shane Morris, Donald Simmons and Shan Wilson voting “yes.”
Guests in attendance at the meeting included D. Craig Hamil, Concha Herrera, Iridian Herrera, Lynn Bolar, Kimberly Hall, Raul Galindo, Allison Galindo, Vanessa Galindo, Lynn Martin and Dara Immell.
Superintendent's Report
Freida Burgess said the district may get back on the state formula since gross production tax revenues were down significantly. They were down $50,000–$60,000 in one month. The district's budget totaled $786,029 for the fiscal year.
On May 12, 2017, the baccalaureate service will be at 6 p.m. with graduation at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium. The senior trip will be May 14–20 for the single senior.
The board unanimously voted to pay a $1,000 stipend for employees. The motion called it a one-time Christmas bonus.
The principal, Michael Long, reported that 23 out of 50 students were exempt from semester final exams because of meeting the school's criteria on grades and attendance.
The lease of the Municipal Account System software was approved in the amount of $3,300. Another motion to fix up the fire alarm system by Bass Fire Company was passed. The cost will be $4398.86 in order to meet the fire marshal's inspection rules.
The board voted to accept a calendar for next year's regular meeting dates. In general, the meetings will be on the third Monday of each month. The January meeting will be on Jan. 16, 2017.
Finally, the board passed a “Foster Care Plan” policy that requires cooperation between state and local agencies regarding the handling of foster care children in regards to school. The policy was recently written by the state school board and all districts must adopt some form of it.
Freedom schools were dismissed on Dec. 20 for the Christmas vacation.
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