A standing ovation followed the Mineola School Board unanimous decision to reassign Athletic Director Luke Blackwell to the position of athletic director and head football coach Monday. The movement was one of several personnel changes approved by the board.

Seven Mineola residents offered impassioned support of Blackwell’s reassignment as AD/head football coach. Those speaking in support of Blackwell were Dana Donohoe, Phillip Moore, Kendall Banks, Bruce Armstrong, Leon Anderson, Mike Sorenson and Toscha Sneed.

Most of the speakers credited Blackwell’s personal ethics and Christian faith as being central to the individual athletes under his charge as well as driving the successes in the athletic department.

Other personnel changes approved by the board included retirements of coach Aaron Slider, assistant superintendent David Sauer, and custodian Maria Martinez.

Additional reassignments included Dr. Chase Thomas from high school principal to assistant superintendent and Adam McMahon from assistant principal to high school principal. Mike Key’s resignation from the technology department was also approved.   

Resident Brandon Neighbors made the initial public comment and spoke of his desire to directly confront decision-makers in the district. He also recommended that others likewise take a direct approach when addressing the board and district leadership. 

Preceding the personnel deliberations, the board recognized a number of student achievements. Among them were the third/fourth/fifth grade academic UIL teams which recently secured first-place team finishes; the middle school one-act play which also secured a blue ribbon; the 12 members of state-qualifying FFA teams; and the 114 musicians of the state championship marching band.

Students of the month recognized were Gael Lopez and Lyla Sipe (primary), Kealy Blaylock and Jackson Hall (intermediate), Jackson Baucom and Addison Miller (middle) and Jadelyn Marshall and Ruben Mata (high school).  

Employees of the month from the respective schools were Melissa Snook (primary music teacher), Josh Burns (fifth grade science teacher), Amanda Morris (sixth grade reading and writing teacher) and Amanda Harris (algebra II teacher).

The board acted to make a one-time insurance adjustment in the amount of $1,000 per employee. The total cost of this adjustment will be approximately $268,000 and will be funded out of the district fund balance.

The board also approved four Meredith Foundation grant requests. In priority order, they were: $50,000 in scholarships, $166,000 for band instruments, $36,000 for electrical upgrades to the multi-purpose room and $88,000 for new district signs at each campus and at Meredith Memorial Stadium. 

A single budget amendment was approved which moved $17,000 to the maintenance department resulting from the sale of five buses. This money will be used toward replacement of three old vehicles (1997, 2000 and 2003 work vehicles). 

The sale of three district real estate holdings was approved, as was a memorandum of agreement with Region 7 Education Service Center for student accounting services. 

The board was briefed on a recently submitted grant request for the purpose of building a new reading curriculum for grades K through 5. The grant could potentially provide from $395,000 to $2.1M over two years.

Business Director Keith Sparkman reported the district’s balance stood at $8.76 million. December enrollment was 1,752 students. Sparkman related that he had submitted two years’ worth of attendance projections to the Texas Education Agency which reflected steady growth.