by Michael Robinson |Uvalde Hesperian
Top Picture: Trustees Robert Quinones, Jaclyn Gonzales and Javier Flores listen to public comments made by Diana Olvedo-Karau.
Thursday, August 8th, 2024
The Uvalde CISD Trustees met for a special Board meeting at the Benson Board Room to make decisions on several agenda items including approving a Memorandum of Understanding with Community Health Development Inc. dba Our Health / Nuestro de Salud to provide health clinics on district campuses in order to provide medical care access to students and Uvalde CISD staff members. CHDI CEO Mayela Castanon answered trustee’s questions about the clinics. According to the District, Parents would be contacted in the event their child is sick and needs to visit a campus based health clinic.
Earlier this year, the District voted to contract with Hazel Health in providing virtual clinic visits to students as well as providing other health services.
Penalties for Student Vaping
District’s trustees discussed the various types of punishments and protocols for first offending students caught with tobacco vapes on Campus. Superintendent Ashley Chohlis stated she felt that punishments need to be administered with each individual student in mind and an educational component needed to be included with the punishment prescribed by the respecting school principal. Trustees discussed various scenarios where a student might have a vape pen in his/her possession including if another student asked another student to hold his/her vape.
The trustees tended to concur that students need to be informed not to hold items for other students.
Student discipline contracts for first offenses for students could include doing community services, doing talks on the dangers of vaping to younger students, and also not participating in extracurricular activities. Chohlis stated that allowing for first offense punishments would not disrupt students current academic routine as much as Deferred Alternative Education Placement would.
Texas State Legislature House Bill 114 which according to the Texas State University website:
Effective Date: September 1, 2023
States the conditions under which a student may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program for conduct involving e-cigarettes, marihuana, or tetrahydrocannabinol.
2024-2025 Student Code of Conduct
Trustees voted to approve the 2024-2025 Student Code of Conduct after a discussion on situations where bullying may be occuring.
