Quitman ISD will opt out of the Texas summer feeding program for school-aged children.

The school board approved the Texas Summer Mandate waiver request Monday.

The QISD requested the waiver due to transportation obstacles which hinder the program operations. In the city of Quitman there are no sidewalks or crosswalks and no city transportation.

Children who live within walking distance of feeding sites would be walking in hazardous conditions to the sites.

All the district’s school bus routes are considered hazardous under state guidelines, which allows the district to receive state funding to transport students living closer than two miles from campuses during the school year.

The district is a wide spread rural community, and some students live as far as 20 plus miles from the district feeding site.

The board approved all QISD’s 544 votes for Dr. John Johnson for the Wood County Appraisal District’s board of directors.

The board approved $19,307 to purchase reading curriculum from Heinemann Publishing for Quitman Elementary School for kindergarten through second grade. The money is budgeted but needed board approval because the purchase exceeded $10,000.

The board approved TEA waivers of certifications for two teachers who are completing the teacher certification process. They will be certified by the end of the year.

“They are making great progress. These were both late hires for us. I don’t see any issue with either one of them finishing their certification by the end of the school year,” Assistant Superintendent Christopher Mason noted.

Lauren Doan, municipal judge for the city of Quitman, explained how the city is able to present money to the district from the city.

“Every fiscal year we collect a fee on certain types of citations from the city police department such as passing a school bus. An extra $25 fee is added to the citation and that is put in an account and that money is given to the school at the end of the fiscal year,” Doan said. “This year I believe it was $400. The court is happy to give that to the school to be used in any way that helps the schools and the classroom.”

Prior to the action agenda, the board honored several businesses for standing up and supporting the QISD. The recognitions were in accord with the Texas Association of School Boards Business (TASB) Recognition Program.