Campus improvement plans headlined the Alba-Golden school board meeting Monday. The board approved the district, elementary and secondary school plans.

The district plan features seven overarching goals. They are academic growth, student opportunities, a safe and high-quality environment, collaboration with families, excellence in teaching, financial responsibility and leveraging technology. 

Superintendent Shelby Davidson shared that improving attendance rates was just one indicator of a successful district plan. He noted that as of Monday, the district attendance rate was 96.1%, up from last year’s 94% average.  

The board accepted the mid-year resignation of band director Jay Derington. Davidson advised that Derington is moving out of East Texas to co-locate with his spouse, who recently took a job on the Gulf Coast. Derington’s two-year stint with the district is widely recognized as having resurrected the Alba-Golden band program. 

A wide variety of items were disclosed by administrative personnel. They included Christmas checks for employees will be distributed on Wednesday; a third-grade Christmas program will be presented Tuesday, Dec. 8; the last programmed Panther Legacy Vision Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11; and 60 elementary school students will participate in this semester’s UIL academic competition. 

Third-grader Jaycie Allen, sixth-grader Miya Ramirez and 10th-grader Elli Wright were recognized as students of the month. 

Allen aspires to a career in gymnastics or as a science and math teacher. She was praised for her positive outlook. Ramirez has her heart set on becoming a hairdresser and is busy with starting a book club on campus, as well as commencing Bible studies. Elli Wright, a future orthodontist assistant, is looking forward to competing at area as a part of the FFA debate (LDE) team. 

The district recognized Jad Dusek and Brittany Maness as the elementary and secondary schools’ employees of the month, respectively. 

The board unanimously approved local procedures for setting the meeting dates as the third Monday of each month, prohibiting the use of cellular telephones during school hours and aligning the library acquisition procedures with state law. 

The Board also approved the Texas Association of School Boards policy update 126, which codified all the most recent education-related state legislation.