The Alba-Golden Board welcomed Jed Sitar as their newest board member at Monday’s meeting. Sitar was appointed and sworn-in to fill the seat vacated by Jessica Christian, whose new residence placed her just outside the district boundary. 

Teacher contracts dominated the business of the board. A consolidated teacher contract approval list was unanimously approved for the 2025-26 school year. Three teachers up for contract renewal were voted upon separately due to potential conflict of interest with sitting board members. Tamela Ellis, Starla Bryant and Nacall Haisten were each separately approved, with one abstaining vote.

Resignations were accepted from secondary school employees LeeAnn Cockrum, Summer Jones and Lucinda Stokes.

New hires for the upcoming school year were approved for Amber Fountain (elementary school special education), Emily Harwick (algebra), Brittany Maness (coach and Spanish proctor), Danny Osborn (coach and history), Nathan Sabo (coach and geometry) and Kayla Taylor (kindergarten).

Athletic Director Drew Webster introduced Sabo as the new boys head basketball coach and Maness as the girls athletic coordinator. He also noted that the incoming football defensive coordinator, Danny Osborn, was an Alba-Golden alumnus.

The balance of Monday’s meeting consisted of student recognitions and reports from administration advising of the many events forthcoming on both campuses. Basketball, powerlifting and track student-athletes were publicly recognized for superlative performances and/or for qualifying for continued competition.

This recognition included the 2025 state powerlifting champion, junior Layton Williams.

During the public forum, resident Brandi Varner advised the board that she was filing a complaint with the Texas Education Agency detailing the board’s failure to post meeting announcements in a timely fashion. Following the public forum comment, Superintendent Shelby Davidson recited the announcement standard for board meetings and advised that the notice for Monday’s meeting was posted at the external access to the administration building on the preceding Friday morning.

In other action, the board approved renewal of the Skyward communications service and the workers compensation plan for 2025-26.  

Anthony Gonzalez, Kynslee Sitar and Brandt Peterson received recognition as students of the month. Elementary schooler Gonzalez was lauded for his polite and respectful nature. He plans to become a professional athlete or a highway patrolman.    

Sixth-grader Sitar was described as a natural leader who took no shortcuts when dealing with studies or activities. Senior Peterson will soon be embarking on a two-year mission to the Republic of Korea with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The board recognized Heidi Driskill (first grade teacher) and Josh Neill (sixth grade social studies teacher) as elementary and secondary school employees of the month.