Chapel Hill School District representative Dr. Doni Cook said Monday she feels confident "there will be no issues" when the instruction expert works with the Marshall Junior High School to implement a school improvement plan.

Ms. Cook is currently working with officials at the school to address the low scores on the science component of Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam \— particularly the scores by African-American and economically disadvantage students.

Ms. Cook said the main components officials are working to "target" are curriculum assessment, instruction, student support, culture/climate as well as other factors, including administrative leadership and parental involvement. She said she would be conducting monitoring visits at the campus and submitting summary reports to state education officials to update them on the progress.

The Chapel Hill school representative discussed various goals and initiatives with school officials during a Marshall Independent School District board meeting. She said she was confident the junior high would get back on track.

Also at the meeting, trustees recognized the Marshall High School's 2010 National Merit Scholar Commended students \— Johnathan Tijerina and Chelsea Pricer \— and the Marshall Junior High School 2009-2010 Duke Schools students \— Michaela Bedall-Johnson, Alexis Brewster, Cristian Cruz, De'Onte Harris, Sydney Hatton, William Hill, John McCrary, Caleb Oden, Alexandria Reynolds, Mary Roden, Emily Sallee, Gricelda Sanchez, Summer Tolbert, Anna Westmoreland, Michael White and Megan Whitener.

Various faculty and staff members throughout the district also were recognized for their services to their schools during the "Above and Beyond" awards announcements. Those who were recognized included, Diane Welch and Debra Jackson of David Crockett Elementary School; Nina Herigon, John Jones and Wilma Jenkins of Carver Elementary; Melody Coleman, Juanita Worthington and Carolyn Gorman of J.H. Moore Elementary; Ruthie Walker and Jose Zapata of Robert E. Lee Elementary; Anita Denise Williams and Karen Foster of South Marshall Elementary; Barbara Gould of Travis Elementary; Virginia Taylor of Sam Houston Middle School; Michele Hafer, Ngoni Chawayipira, Suellen Swank, Pat Crawford and Patricia Jones of Marshall Junior High; Natalie Talty of Marshall High; and Leslie Starr, who works in the administration office.

South Marshall Elementary School students also impressed with a singing performance.

Trustees also heard a report on the district's Texas English Proficiency Assessment System scores.

During executive session, trustees hired a new technology director, Ron Lehr.

Marshall trustees also approved the following:

Donation to Carver Elementary of $290 from the Reading is Fundamental program and Marshall Public Library, plus other donations, including $50 from Patterson Chrysler Dodge Jeep, $50 from Dr. Luis Balbuena Jr., $25 from Nehls Chevrolet, $25 from Matthewson Drug, $10 from Joe Buck's Place and $10 from Applebees.

Donation of $1,200 by the David Crockett Elementary School PTA for accelerated reader store prizes for students and $300 for copier supplies for their campus.

Donated backpacks and school supplies to students at South Marshall Elementary from Brookshire's Grocery and Crossroads Baptist Church.

Donation of a building valued at $1,400 by Noon Optimist Club to store supplies for the backpack program for students.

A waiver request to the Texas Education Agency for a missed instructional day on Oct. 9 due to storm damage at Robert E. Lee Elementary.

A resolution for review of the MISD investment policy and strategies and designating one or more employees of the district as investment officer(s).

Financial reports.

Approval of time clocks for MISD employees purchased through True Time, a component of Skyward Financial.

Designating a portion of the available fund balance in General Funds for future plans related to construction in the amount of $200,000. These plans include repairing and resurfacing the parking lot at Marshall High School and repairing the drainage system under the visitor's bleachers at Maverick Stadium.

Purchasing 56 DC166 document cameras for master audio visuals, not to exceed $32,000.

Purchases from Computerland Network Technologies of East Texas, including: 69 E6500 Dell laptops with docking stations and two E6500 Dell laptops without docking stations, not to exceed $140,000; five 2100 Dell mini-laptops, not to exceed $4,500; three color laser printers, not to exceed $3,000; 321 Dell 360 optiplex desktop computers, not to exceed $275,000; 63 laserjet printers with care pack and a three year warranty, not to exceed $17,500; 15 infocus projectors with a one year warranty, not to exceed $17,000; 128 smartboard interactive white boards with freight, not to exceed $150,000; and 18 3M interactive monitors, not to exceed $12,000.

The funding sources will include No Child Left Behind (NCLB) American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (stimulus) funds, Age Discrimination in Employment Act-B Formula-ARRA-LEA funds\—ARRA-Title II, and D-DISC grant funds.

A Brushworks Painting Company bid to paint the outside of the Carver Elementary School building. The cost will be $45,995.

Approval of a budget amendment. MHS received donations totaling $41,000 during August and September of 2008 to provide a variety of resources and incentives to encourage and enhance student academic achievement.

These funds were previously accepted by the board, deposited into the district account and amended into the 2008-2009 budget. However, all of the funds were not spent last year and do not automatically roll forward.

The district has recommended moving these funds out of Fund 186, which consolidates with the district's General Fund 199, into the high school's activity fund held at the campus. Also, the district received insurance recovery totaling $34,496.13 during November 2008 due to damage caused by Hurricane Ike.