The Quitman School Board approved hiring Angie Andrews as the assistant principal for the elementary school Monday. Andrews comes from Fruitvale, where she was the lone principal, according to QISD Superintendent Chris Mason. 

“She knows all the things…she’s coming to us with really good experience,” said Mason.

The board also voted to purchase a new fleet vehicle to transport students and faculty, as all of the school’s other fleet vehicles already have over 110,000 miles, with the majority well over that. The new vehicle will cost $37,343.

Greg McIntyre, a consultant with TransCend 4, gave the board a plan to create a committee for long-term facilities planning. The proposed committee, which McIntyre says will optimally be made up of around 30 people, will consist of faculty, parents, students, clergy, business leaders and more.

Mason notified the board that grades K-5 showed marked improvement in their reading and life-ready goals from the fall to winter of last year. He also said that grades 6-8 met the STAAR test’s target goals, and that all QISD graduating students meet the qualifications for the board’s life-ready goals target.

According to Mason, the newly rebuilt track is almost finished, concrete work for the football field is beginning on Tuesday the 18th, and the elementary school’s fence is up but will soon be shortened for easier monitoring and better parking.

“It’s a busy time, everything’s rolling,” said Mason.

The board presented Bob Wells, who is a social studies teacher and football coach at QISD, and Thomas Linz, a math teacher and also coach, with June’s Top Dog award. 

“He’s got a good ministry going, and he loves to be around kids,” said Junior High School Principal Bryan Hurst about Wells. “(Wells and Linz are) just two great men for our students to be around.”

They were presented with the award for going “above and beyond” in helping free a stuck bus during the recent torrential rain storms. The award’s presentation to Wells was timely, as the beloved coach and teacher is leaving his work at the district.

The board reviewed preliminary property tax values from the Wood County Appraisal District.