Como-Pickton CISD passes two safety, security audits

Como-Pickton CISD passes two safety, security audits Image

• Como-Pickton CISD passes two safety, security audits

Tammy Vinson Wed, 06/26/2024 - 07:08 Subhead

Construction proceeding on new field house

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Construction proceeding on new field house

Como-Pickton CISD Superintendent Dr. Greg Bower announced earlier this month that the district has received high scores on two state School Safety and Security Audits.

The audits are part of a comprehensive statewide school safety mandate that was put into place following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed by an 18-yearold former student. The shooter was able to enter the building through a door with a malfunctioning lock.

“I’m happy to say that, on Nov. 1 [ 2023], we had a security audit,” Bower told the trustees. “I received the findings of that audit in late May [2024]. Obviously, they had to view us a bit different because we had the back half of our school destroyed in the tornado. I think they’ll be a little stricter when they look at things going into next year.”

The auditor from Region 8 looked at a variety of things, including the school’s security and vulnerability assessments, building size, classroom security, electrical and fire safety, tripping hazards and first aid capacity.

“We are well ahead of most schools on this, because we have trauma kits for every single office and every single classroom,” Bower said. “We received nothing but positive feedback.”

CPCISD underwent a second School Safety and Security Audit on May 7, 2024, which took a second look at the same items from the first assessment. CPCISD received “glowing remarks” from that audit as well, with no findings reported to the state, Bower said.

Construction update

Bower also gave a brief status report on the new field house, which is currently under construction to replace the old field house, which was destroyed by a storm in June 2023. Both the exterior and interior walls are up, Bower reported. Workers were expected to pour concrete for the concession stand and sidewalks as soon as the rain stopped.

“Financially, we’re about $300,000 to $400,000 into the field house project. [Trustees approved rebuilding the field house for $1.4 million in October 2023.] We’re sitting at about $7.5 million that we’ve paid out for tornado damage. We received about $7.6 million from insurance, so I’m feeling pretty good,” Bower said. “But those discrepancies between what we pay compared with what the insurance gave us. We’re building back more than the insurance money’s coming in. I think next year you’ll see — it’s just a guess — probably a $1.2 to $1.5 million dip in our fund balance. A big chunk of that is going to be $700,000 to $800,000 for the field house.”

Other campus structures being rebuilt include the visitors’ side press box, which the storm also destroyed. The home side press box was undamaged, Bower reported.

Additionally, repairs and corrections to the school gymnasium awnings are also taking place. In October 2023, maintenance workers discovered water had damaged planks forming the archway of the gym and awnings. This was not related to the June 2023 storm that damaged other campus structures, but still needed to be repaired.

Bower told the board he was grateful they voted to grant him the authority to approve major expenditures for repairs without having to get board approval.

“Those things are winding down now, so any [expense] that comes in that is over our threshold for our policy, I’m going to start bringing those back to you.”