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Waxahachie ISD updates: suicide-awareness presentations, drug testing and security town halls
Summary
Waxahachie ISD staff reported plans for a Feb. 6 suicide-awareness presentation for all 8th-graders, rescheduled high-school random drug testing, results from recent junior-high testing, a security town hall and community programs including Dear Day and Lighthouse for Learning.
Sherry Phillips, serving as the meeting chair, opened the update segment and asked staff for program reports. Ginger Robinson, director of educational sport and counseling for Waxahachie ISD, said the district will present a suicide-awareness program to all 8th-grade students at the three junior highs on Feb. 6 and plans a preceding parent presentation night once the location and time are finalized.
Robinson said the district is in registration season and that the “choose love” and “sources of strengths” programs continue and are expanding; she said field trips tied to those programs are planned and that the next meeting will include further details.
Robinson delivered nursing and testing updates: the district’s random drug testing scheduled for December did not include the two high schools because of a scheduling conflict and will be rescheduled; junior-high testing took place and “all 3 junior highs were negative.”
Lieutenant Dickinson, who oversees SROs and marshals, gave a security update and said the district ran drug-dog screenings “Tuesday” covering roughly 400 students’ bags and classes. He said the operation yielded one finding at Global High School in a parking lot involving prescription medication that was not in proper packaging; Dickinson called it “kind of a non issue” and said staff educated the student on proper handling and storage. He also said a safety town hall with the police chief, emergency management and district staff would be held that evening and again next Tuesday at Coleman Fine Arts Center at 6 p.m.
Becca Lockridge, Waxahachie ISD’s community outreach coordinator, reviewed community programs: Dear Day (Drop Everything and Read) is scheduled for March 7 with sign-ups to go live the first full week of February; Lighthouse for Learning classes will begin Feb. 3 with a range of low-cost community courses; and Waxahachie ISD will partner with the Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce for a Jan. 30 “morning brew” on education featuring Advantage Academy, Navarro College and Nelson University.
The meeting concluded early with a motion to adjourn at 12:21; the motion was seconded by Jessica Nelson and the chair called for all in favor. The next meeting was scheduled for Feb. 27.
Ending: District staff said they will report back at the next meeting with updates on the suicide-prevention field trips and the rescheduled high-school drug testing.
