Gainesville Independent School District board of trustees heard from Ray Nichols regarding the Boys & Girls Club of Cooke County during their Friday meeting.

Nichols spoke on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club, asking the school board to consider committing the land on which the old Gainesville Junior High School stands on Denton Street, to the Club for their new location.

Nichols gave an overview of the Boys & Girls Club of Cooke County, the programs and the results of the Club’s community-based needs assessment.

During the presentation Nichols said the existing structures on the school property would need to be taken down and a new structure(s) built for the Boys & Girls Club. Nichols said that the project needs to by supported by the city, school and county and that the completed building could be used by many people and community groups.

During the discussion, board members agreed they need to go ahead and take care of the asbestos situation at the old junior high, regardless of what is done with the property.

Following Nichols’ presentation, Adams requested to hear from each board member about how they feel about “committing the school district property to this project.”

The board’s decision at this point was to continue the discussion at the next board meeting. Board members requested more details about the project including commitments from the city and the county and the timeline and funding for the project.

Adams said, “lets put it on our next agenda that we’ll discuss it and...lets try to come up with a plan...we’ll discuss it. I think it’s time for someone to commit and I think this board would like to be the first to commit to it.”

During the meeting board members considered the settlement of the Robert E. Lee Intermediate Lawsuit Case No. 07-408 and voted 6-0 to approve the settlement. The total settlement of the lawsuit is $968,000. GISD filed the lawsuit against the builders of Lee Intermediate School over faulty construction. The school district spent $1.1 million to fix the work.

“I think this is an outstanding settlement of this lawsuit,” Adams said.

During the meeting board members voted 6-0 to approve the Junior Future Farmers of America (FFA) program. GISD Superintendent Bill Gravitt recommended the approval, saying the school has never had a Junior FFA program.

“All we need from the board is an approval,” said Gravitt who also reported that the existing FFA program in the district has really moved forward.

The budget amendment for the telephone system for Lee Intermediate and Chalmers Elementary Schools was approved by a 6-0 vote for the amount of $32,000.

Gravitt said that the other buildings and campuses in the district have updated phone systems and that each school room needs to have a telephone in it, especially for safety reasons.

Board members voted 6-0 for the approval of debit cards. The debit cards will replace the school credit cards for GISD employees as needed.

Following executive session, board members took action to approve the employment contract for teachers by a 6-0 vote.

During the meeting Gravitt reported that student enrollment is at 2,642 for the entire district and attendance is at 95.49 percent district-wide.

Gravitt gave the board an update on the athletic stadium. Gravitt said,“as far as the construction there’s been absolutely zero done out there since the last two weeks and it’s because of it being wet out there. Everything’s going good, the weather is just holding us up.”

GISD board president Phil Adams confirmed the results of the ballot order drawing for the upcoming election, saying that Lee Tatum is first on the ballot and Mary Hunter is second on the ballot.

Board members approved the consent items by a 6-0 vote. The consent items include the minutes from the last meeting, monthly bill list, financial statement, cash flow statement, investment management report and delinquent taxes report.

GISD Board member Will Presson did not attend the meeting.