The Canton ISD monthly board meeting was conducted Aug. 15, in the Canton ISD administration building.

The meeting began with Canton ISD Superintendent Dr. Brian Nichols presenting his monthly report, as he gave the trustees updates on a variety of news regarding the district and campuses.

Nichols’ first note regarded a new rating that was recently released regarding the overall accountability of the school district.

“I want to lead off with some really good news for us, as a district,” said Nichols. “The Texas Education Agency (TEA) officially released the school district’s public accountability rating for this past year, and I’m pleased to announce that Canton ISD has received an A’ rating with an overall score of 92.”

“TEA looks at student achievement, school progress, and closing the gaps, and we achieved an A’ rating in each one of those,” Nichols continued. “We’re really proud of the high school performance, where they received an overall score of 95 from TEA. Our high school ranked top five out of around 40 campuses [in our region] in multiple subject areas.”

“Our junior high received a ‘B’ rating with an overall score of 83. Here we received two different distinctions in ELA Reading, and Social Studies. The Intermediate received a ‘B’ rating with a score of 84 and had a ‘B’ in each of the three categories.”

“In 2019, which was pre-COVID, we finished the year with an overall district score of 90, and we have improved by two whole points. So, we’re very proud of how the campuses did and we’re very proud of how the district did [as a whole]. That’s just a reflection on how great of a job the staff did, as well as the students’ hard work,” Nichols concluded.

“We’re just extremely proud of all of our teachers and students,” added Assistant Superintendent Dusty Spencer.

Nichols also touched on his projected enrollment for the upcoming 2022-’23 school year.

“Our enrollment looks to be up. I’m hesitant to give a hard number right now because we won’t truly know until week one, but our initial numbers look like we’re going to be up across the campuses.” Nichols noted.

“Junior high and high school are showing significant jumps, and the elementary and intermediate campuses look to be close to what we closed with last year,” Nichols continued. “Overall, like I said, our enrollment should be up, but we’ll have a clearer picture by the end of the week.”

Nichols continued his address by updating the board on the progress of the addition project at Canton Junior High.

“We still have some things to finalize, but we did get the teachers moved into their new classrooms in the addition we’ve been working on,” Nichols said. “We’re still waiting on some supplies to arrive, but except for those minor things, we should be good to go. It’s a really pretty addition that we’re happy to complete.”

Nichols then wrapped up his report by noting some upcoming school events for the rest of August.

“Wednesday (Aug. 17) is our first day of school, and we’re excited to have the kids back. Thursday, our football team will have a scrimmage, at home, against Gladewater,” Nichols continued. “Volleyball has already tipped off, and they have a Eustace tournament this week, as well as a home matchup on Aug. 16 against Scurry-Rosser. Cross Country also has a meet on Saturday, Aug. 20. We are back in full swing.”

Following the superintendent’s report, items on the board’s consent agenda were approved, including the minutes of the July 25 board meeting, the financial status report, the tax collection report, and the budget status report.

The board approved the budget for the upcoming 2022-’23 school year.

Board members approved the resolution of a tax rate that will fund the previously approved school budget.

The trustees then approved a budget management resolution, as well as a resolution to accept donations that will not change the district’s overall 2022-23 budget.

Following a presentation by Dr. Angela Barton, Canton ISD’s Director of Curriculum and Assessment, the trustees approved a 2022-’23 Canton ISD Improvement Plan, as well as approving the House Bill 3 board goals.

These board goals included: meeting the region averages on all tests, closing the gaps for all student groups, further developing the college and career readiness programs, further developing a safe and secure learning environment, and increasing parent and family engagement.

Some points in the improvement plan included: new programs implemented at the Elementary school, more focus on K-3 reading curriculums, and more tutoring options.

The board of trustees then approved a new financial advisor, Live Oak Public Finance L.L.C, to represent Canton ISD in 2022-23. Live Oak sent representative Lucas Janda to meet with the board during July’s monthly meeting.

There was no action taken by the board of trustees following a closed executive session at the end of the August 15 monthly board meeting.

The next regular monthly meeting of the Canton ISD School Board is currently scheduled for Monday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m. in the Canton ISD administration building.