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School board votes to support VA hospital |
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Published January 21, 2004 The Kerrville school board threw its support behind the veteran’s hospital Tuesday night with a unanimous resolution in support of its acute care facility. Like many other governing bodies around the county, the school board urged that the Department of Veterans Affairs keep the acute care beds at the Kerrville VA Hospital, and even add 20 more to alleviate overcrowding at the San Antonio facility. “The closing of the acute-care beds at the Kerrville VA Hospital in no way will provide improved health care to the veterans of the Texas Hill Country,” the resolution read. “When given a choice between Kerrville and Audie Murphy, the veteran will always select Kerrville because of the well trained, dedicated, professional staff and the quality of service provided.” The resolution — asked for by Ret. General Walter Schellhase, president of the Hill Country Veterans Council — passed unanimously with no discussion by the school board. “We also have a lot of parents and grandparents who are veterans. This is more of a community resolution,” said Kerrville Independent School District Superintendent Dan Troxell. School board members also approved a corporate resolution that allows the board president and secretary to negotiate the terms, except the purchase price, of the sale of the Doyle property where the Head Start center now sits. The board accepted a bid of $175,030 for the property in December. In other news, board members discussed the many changes that the state Legislature made to education law and approved the first reading of a Texas Association of School Board’s policy guideline to handle the changes. This past summer, the Legislature enacted into law 420 education-related bills. Highlights included a law that made a teacher’s grade final, subject to review by the school board only if the teacher did not follow established grading policy. Another guided school districts on how to deal with homeless students. After a rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” to board member Virginia Graham, board members listened to the campus improvement plans for Starkey and Tally elementary schools. Both campuses are working to improve parental involvement as well as student performance on state standardized tests. Starkey faces the challenge of Limited English Proficient students and is working to mainstream those students in its classrooms, Principal Diane Stern said. The campuses are also working to address bullying at school. “Bullying is an issue not only for the person who is being bullied but the person who is bullying,” Stern said. Her school counselors have been talking to the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at the school about bullying and have asked parents to be diligent in reporting bullying to school officials. “Oftentimes bullying happens and we’re not aware of it,” Stern said. “It is sometimes a very sneaky situation.” Jennine Zeleznik may be reached at jennine.zeleznik@dailytimes.com. |
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