The Quitman school board voted to purchase new bus camera and monitoring equipment for $51,765 Monday.

The new camera system will be installed in all QISD buses, including mini buses, travel buses and route buses, said Assistant Superintendent Bryan Hurst. The funds come from the Safe Cycle 2 Grant, which was originally for $200,000.

Quitman citizen Sally Attaway spoke during the meeting. In her short presentation, She heartily commended the board on their “good, solid group” chosen for the citizen bond steering committee; on the transparency of all processes related to the bond; and on the above and beyond effort of Superintendent Chris Mason. 

The board also heard an elementary showcase from first-grade students Miah Luttrell, Trixie Wright, Sawyer Osbourn and Emma Pellerzi, who came with elementary librarian Connie Wilson. The girls presented on their Flat Stanley project, which administrators say is an annual project with Wilson.

The Top Dog Award went to the Quitman Young Farmers, and a second, surprise Top Dog award went to junior high/high school nurse Stephanie Vance. 

The board voted to approve the board evaluation and quarterly progress tracker, in which Mason let the board know that they had increased their score from a 79 to an 82. He also mentioned that every member of the school board went “above and beyond” in their extracurricular training hours.

The board also approved the Certification of Provision of Instructional Materials Survey 25-26. The certification is a requirement for schools to send a list of curricula to the Texas Education Agency in order to certify that students have access to instructional materials that cover all the state requirements, and in order to certify that the school keeps all obscene material away from kids.

The board voted to purchase a new combination oven for the junior high/high school; to approve Rutherford, Taylor and Company, P.C. for the 2024-25 financial audit for $25,875; to approve bad weather employee compensation for custodians who were asked to stay home due to tornado weather on April 4; and to approve TEA Update 124, with no major changes.

Following a closed session, the  board approved pay raises for the administrators and directors for 2025-26 and set the superintendent’s annual salary at $142,156 for his three-year contract.