Published: March 28, 2008 06:52 pm            

AISD moving ahead with Fisher transition

District officials still trying to decide whether to use portable building for sixth or eighth graders

Athens Independent School District Board of Trustees narrowly approved the purchase of portable buildings for Athens Middle School at a meeting Thursday night.

The district will lease an eight-classroom portable with restrooms from Mobile Modular Management of Pasadena for $131,752. AISD Assistant Superintendent Mike Green estimates the footing, covered walkways, sewer, water connection, electrical and alarms for the building will cost around $54,000 — a total of $187,677.

During a presentation to the board, Green handed out a sheet showing the district will save around $286,677 by moving into the portable building when considering saved salaries, utilities and transportation of students.

Trustee Ginger Kirk asked Green how the district intends to save $357,515 in salaries next year.

Green said the move will eliminate positions no longer needed.

“It’s an absorption of the people we have,” Hayes said.

On Friday, Hayes assured the Athens Review that no jobs will be terminated.

“Nobody will lose their job,” he said. “I understand the confusion there, because to cut those position you have to have vacancies. Well, we do have vacancies or we will have vacancies. That’s just a fact of a 550 employee organization.”

Hayes said some teaching positions will be left open at the end of the year due to retirements or employees leaving. Those positions will not be filled with a new employee, but instead with an already existing employee in the district.

The district not only has to work on where employees will move to, but also the logistics of adding a new grade to the Middle School.

AMS Principal Louis DeRosa has been working on a tentative plan for next year, but emphasizes nothing is set in stone yet.

“We are coming up with plans right now,” he said. “Until we know where the portable building will be placed ... we can just brainstorm.”

When the board originally voted — with a four to three vote — to move sixth grade students from R.C. Fisher School to Athens Middle School next year they were told students would be isolated in the portable building, Kirk said. During Thursday’s meeting, Green told the board eighth graders may be the ones moved to portables.

Kirk abstained from Thursday night’s vote.

“I have been opposed to sixth grade students being moved to the Middle School from the beginning, because I don’t believe that sixth graders and eighth graders should be on the same campus,” Kirk told the Review Friday. “However, when we were told last night that the eighth graders may be the students using the building I was surprised.”

“Voting from my heart, that was the only vote I could make.”

DeRosa said he is looking at perhaps placing eighth grade students in the portable building because they are more familiar with the campus.

“We don’t want to have to add any more time for changing classes,” he said, “and sixth graders are new to changing classes. It should be easier for them to just have a sixth grade wing.”

DeRosa is planning informational meetings for students and parents to communicate the change.

“I know from being a parent myself that change can be scary, so we are going to make sure that we communicate everything to parents as many times as we need to,” he said.

The sixth grade parent meeting is Tuesday, April 1, at the Middle School; the 5th grade parent meeting is Thursday, April 10; and the 7th grade meeting is Monday, April 14. All of the meetings are at 6 p.m. at the Middle School at 6800 State Highway 19 South.

        

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