GRAPEVINE -- Grapevine-Colleyville school trustees swept through a meeting agenda Monday night that included votes on teacher salary guidelines, rules for doing business under the 2011 $124.5 million bond package and changes to the Student Code of Conduct.

Teacher salary schedules were set for 2011-12. It is usually a volatile topic that draws much interest and opinion from educators, parents and trustees. But on Monday it was a quick 7-0 vote with no discussion.

"Unfortunately it's a very simple item this year," Superintendent Robin Ryan said.

The board has already passed a $135.7 million budget for next year that includes no employee raises because of state budget cuts that will reduce the district's revenue.

Bond infrastructure items pertaining to how the district awards job contracts and which administrators sign off on contingency funds used for projects were approved by the board.

Ryan and Chief Operations Officer Paula Barbaroux will be able to approve using up to $30,000 for job changes and emergencies but must report the expenditures to the board by its next meeting.

The procedure is the same as in the 2005 bond program except for the absence of a third approver, who was the facilities services director. That position is no longer filled. The former facilities services director resigned last year under investigation of improper use of bond money.

Trustees approved two methods for awarding the first six construction bid packages of the new program.

"Unlike the 2005 bond program, where the district used the construction manager-at-risk method for all major projects, the 2011 bond program contains some major projects where the best value is more likely to be realized through the method of competitive sealed proposal, and the balance of projects through construction manager-at-risk," Barbaroux wrote in the board information item.

The district's designated construction manager-at-risk for the 2005 bond program was also implicated in the facilities services irregularities.

This time, "there could be two or three different contractors for construction manager-at-risk," Barbaroux told the board.

Bid packages having to do with athletic fields and technology upgrades would be handled with the sealed-bid process and will be among the first improvements.

The other four packages, planned as construction manager-at-risk projects, include campus renovations.

Student issues on Monday's agenda included approval of the 2011-12 Student Code of Conduct.

Few changes have been made during the legislative session, but definitions and stronger language concerning cyberbullying, sexting, sexual assault, firearms possession and aggravated robbery have been included.

The board also passed a resolution recommended by the Texas Association of School Boards to suspend for one year the state requirement that fifth- and eighth-graders pass state accountability tests to be promoted.

Since the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness will be used next year for the first time, Texas will not require students to pass the tests for promotion until the 2012-13 school year.

Shirley Jinkins, 817-390-7657

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