Despite Property Rent, County’s AEP To Stay Put

GRAND SALINE—The Alternative Education Program for the majority of Van Zandt County’s school districts will remain where it is for now.

Monday, Grand Saline ISD trustees decided to leave things where they are after learning of a $600 per month rental fee to be imposed by the city of Grand Saline for the land on which the AEP buildings are located.

The AEP is a cooperative between seven school districts, including Grand Saline, Canton, Martins Mill, Wills Point, Edgewood, Fruitvale and Alba-Golden.

Grand Saline ISD Superintendent Mark Keahey said the three buildings that house the program will likely stay put this year, but the school board could consider several options for the program’s future.

"We are the physical agent for the AEP and it is housed within our district boundaries. If we ended up dissolving it, any of the buildings would be the property of Grand Saline ISD," Keahey said.

"We could possibly look at relocating it on land we own or we could start asking other districts if they would be interested in housing the program," he added.

Expenditures for the program, which would include the imposed property rent, would be shared by the seven districts in the cooperative, Keahey noted.

Also in Monday’s school board meeting, Keahey reported that the district earned a "Recognized" rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2008. Grand Saline ISD’s high school and middle school campuses received "Recognized" ratings, while the intermediate and elementary school campuses were rated "Academically Acceptable."

"We were one of three school districts in the county to earn a ‘Recognized’ rating along with Canton and Martins Mill," Keahey said. "We are very pleased with what our teachers are doing in the district, and we are trying to step up our ratings and get kids to achieve more and more."

In other matters during the meeting, the school board took the following action:

— Accepted a bid from Texas Schools Property/Casualty Cooperative for the district’s property and casualty insurance.

— Accepted a bid from Williams Oil Co. of Mineola for the district’s fuel.

— Approved an adjunct faculty agreement with the Texas Cooperative Extension Service.

— Approved a measure to use a Texas Association of School Boards service to place district policy online.

— Approved a 15-year contract with TAC Energy Solutions for district-wide energy management. The $693,000 will be paid out over the 15 years of the contract and is expected to be offset by energy savings through the program.

— Approved a memorandum of understanding with the Van Zandt County Juvenile Probation Department for cooperation with the county’s juvenile justice center in Grand Saline.

— Received a report on the completion of the Old School Museum construction from architect Jason Jennings.

— Tabled action on selecting committee members for district facility naming.