Shiner school moving day postponed

Shiner school moving day postponed
TAKS testing comes too close to spring break moving period, superintendent says
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Barry Halvorson, Victoria Advocate Sports Editor

VictoriaAdvocate.com Article | Shiner School Construction News | Construction Watch Home Page

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SHINER - Moving to the new school has been postponed until the summer for the Shiner school district.

"The building is substantially complete and ready for move in but with the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) testing coming only two weeks after the break we decided to wait," said Trey Lawrence, school superintendent.

Plans were to spend spring break next week to make the move to the new $7.493 million campus, which will serve grades pre-kindergarten through 12,

Lawrence said student Dalton Petru, who planned to coordinate the move as part of his Eagle Scout community service project, will still be part of that process.

"I've talked to his father and they are fine with it," he said. "We're now scheduled the big move for the second week of June."

Lawrence said that the decision to wait actually came as a relief to many teachers as they prepare students for the TAKS.

"I'd say the decision to postpone is probably 95 percent academic," he said. "I didn't realize the immense amount of pressure it would place on the teachers. Everyone was willing to move but when I put out the e-mail announcing the postponement I got back 20 to 25 saying they appreciated the decision. I even got e-mails from some parents thanking us for waiting."

Another concerned was getting the district's 205 computers moved and reconfigured so they could keep up with grades and attendance.

Lawrence said that until he made the final call, the move was also stressing him.

"As we got closer and closer to the move date I was tossing and turning in bed thinking about all the little details. It helped my mental health when it was decided to move in the summer."

The other 5 percent of the decision, Lawrence said, was being able to really finish out the building before it is occupied.

"There are going to be a lot of things for people to learn once we move and it would have be a lot to digest in a short period of time," he said. The new school will have an intercom and security system, as well as telephones in the classrooms that the current school doesn't have.

This will also give the district time to add a few other extras that were left out of the original plans.

"We'll be able to add some things over the summer," he said. "We're working with the sports booster club on some lockers for the dressing rooms. And there are some things we want to add to the science rooms and some additional cabinets for the teachers. A lot of those items are being provided for by outside donations. The donors are lined up so it's just a matter of getting things organized."

The new school will replace a high school building that was opened in 1927. The classroom portion of the new facility has elementary classes downstairs and secondary classrooms upstairs. The rest of the campus, which is connected by an enclosed walkway, includes science and computer labs, the cafeteria, gym, vocational classrooms and library.

Barry Halvorson is a reporter for The Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-798-3888, or by e-mail at hvilladv@vicad.com.

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