In spite of the rain and the cold, almost all the members of the Quitman school board plus 20 others came to the board meeting Jan. 23.

One of the main topics of interest was the result of the Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR). These reports “pull together a wide range of information on the performance of students in each school and district in Texas every year,” according to the Texas Education Agency website. The report presented before the board considered responses from the Class of 2022, since the TAPR looks one year back.

Although 2022 saw the STAAR test become much more difficult for students, in addition to the test going online, QISD officials were pleased to see that the overall TAPR results went up in “all testing areas” from the previous year. Students in all categories outperformed the state in nearly every category of testing, including TSI, ACT, and SAT scores, among others.

“We improved in all testing areas across the board from last year to this year,” said Dana Hamrick, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. “We’ve come to expect it, but for it to be a completely different and redesigned test, that’s pretty impressive.”

QISD has a goal of getting 90% of students involved in at least one extracurricular activity, said high school Principal Jeff Tittle. QISD is currently at 86% involvement. They expect to hit 90% by 2025 and 95% by 2028.

In 2024, QISD intends to continue its push toward more literary involvement at the elementary school. In all levels, they intend to focus on a newer, more open-ended format of questioning such as the extended and short constructive responses found in the STAAR test. The school also wants to improve science scores across the board and to offer as many industry-based certifications as possible, Hamrick added.

The school also wants to “be as diverse as we can in trying to find areas to plug kids in,” according to Colby Bridges, director of technology. To Bridges and David Cross, the CTE/science teacher at Quitman High School, this means meeting every Thursday afternoon to visit, have fun and play video games with a group of students from the school.

“Everybody finds a place, and these guys find a place in David Cross’ room,” said Bridges. “This is a group of kids that I just love hanging out with. They’re nerdy, they’re fun…. I’m really proud of them and the kind of group that we’ve got. The future is looking really bright.”

It’s not only that the students are making friends and having fun while playing these games. According to Cross, since one of their favorite things to do is to play eSports, the students are actually able to compete with other schools as in a physical sport. They may even be able to get full rides to college by playing eSports, he says.

The school board also heard a presentation from Michael Barron, band director for Quitman high school and junior high. Barron requested that the board approve a spring break trip for band kids to go to a Sky Ranch campus in Westcliffe, Colo. The board passed the motion and approved the trip. It will be in early March 2025.

“This gives kids that don’t really have these opportunities (the ability) to go do this stuff,” said Barron.

January is School Board Appreciation Month, so the QISD board’s bench was decorated with signs, flowers and gifts while a table outside held cupcakes to celebrate the board members’ hard work.

The board announced that the recently purchased bus is now on the road. They are also now receiving bids for a roof for the elementary school, which had a few minor “issues that they’d seen.” Finally, the board approved the motion to increase the budget for the new track resurfacing to $111,300. This is the price set and agreed upon by the athletic building and renovating company TGS. The track surface will be blue and gray, which Superintendent Mason says should “look really sharp.” It’s estimated that the new surface will last between 5 and 7 years.