Trustees approved spending $47,420 budgeted for career and technical education funds on Apple iMac computers with Apple Final Cut Studio software to be used in a media technology course next school year. The course is designed to provide training for entry-level employment in movie, video or television production careers, according to the district.
In other purchasing business, board members approved spending $28,987 with INX to provide 101 phones in all classrooms at Decatur High School and Rann Elementary School. Only Carson Elementary now has phones in every classroom, but the district's goal is to eventually have phones in every classroom in the district. More phones are expected to be purchased this fall for the middle and intermediate school campuses.
Jim Crooks, U.S. Forest Service district ranger at the LBJ National Grasslands office in Decatur, told the board that the U.S. Forest Service had awarded the school a $26,900 grant - called "More Kids in the Woods" - for the development of Science Days activities for intermediate school students at the grasslands. Crooks said the grant was one of only 20 given nationally.
In other business, the school heard a positive report on delinquent tax collections from the district's tax attorney, Glen Smith, and Wise County Chief Appraiser Mickey Hand.
