NEWS
Bowie ISD debates ‘what ifs’ for school opening
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie Independent School District is working to hammer out a plan to open school for this August, but the ever changing unknowns are making the process very difficult.
At its July 23 meeting trustees received a 20-page draft plan to reopen, but administrators said it was still a work in progress. It must be completed one week before the first day of school. Bowie’s ISD’s first day is Aug. 19.
The district sent out a survey to parents asking their preference for in-school or virtual learning. The staff also has surveyed other North Texas schools on their plans.
Superintendent Blake Enlow said of the local survey 1,100 of 1,600 have responded, and of those 85 percent want to return to in-school learning and 15 percent want virtual.
While this plan covers everything from visitor restrictions and temperature pre-screening for students, some of the main discussion was on the use of masks and the question if students who opt for virtual learning will be allowed to participate in extracurricular activities such a sport like football.
Enlow said the plan follows state guidelines for masks but does not require them in class. Montague County based on its low active case numbers is exempt from the governor’s mandate for face coverings as long as active cases remain under 20.
Social distancing also will be followed when feasible. Masks also are not required for those students age 10 and under. Enlow said they would make the cutoff fourth grade because there are some 10-year-olds in that grade. Masks may be required for certain group activities. Masks at this moment will not be required but will be allowed for students or staff.
Read the full story for the new school year in the mid-week Bowie News.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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