Bitzkie briefs retires teachers on BISD happenings
BCRTA President Connie Young welcomes BISD Interim Superintendent Gary Bitzkie to the November meeting at the Dixie Dude Ranch. BULLETIN PHOTO/Tracy Thayer
The Bandera County Retired Teachers Association (BCRTA)met at the scenic Dixie Dude Ranch on Wednesday for their November meeting. Interim Superintendent Gary Bitzkie spoke to the group.
Bitzkie reported a new demographic study found there is very little growth in Bandera County in the under-18 age group.
It has been 11 years since Bandera ISD had a study done, and the new study confirmed the largest growing segment of the population in Bandera County is the 65 and older age group, which has grown by more than 67%.
One of the challenges Bitzkie noted was the county, state and nation are experiencing teacher shortages.
Bitzkie said that he was not able to fill positions for a special education teacher and a secondary math teacher, noting the price of land and rentals are high and contribute to this problem.
The interim superintendent said his priority is the retention of teachers in Bandera ISD. The district has explored signing bonuses and has used increases in step raises during the past three years.
In the past, the district has done a small “retention bonus” distributed just before the Thanksgiving holidays. This year, tied to the new budget and new federal COVID-19 money, the district will give a $1,000 bonus to every employee as a means of saying thank you for their hard work over the past two stressful years.
Bitzkie said he already had positive feedback from staff on this bonus. “It really meant a lot to them to see how much we appreciated their hard work,” he said.
Even though this year has continued to be stressful, Bitzkie reported the students continue to give their best efforts, highlighting sports teams’ success and ag students who placed second in the nation in the ag science fair.
Bitzkie said the overage in recommended fund balance monies will be designated to repair and revamp the middle school stadium. Seating and press box will be targeted in this effort. He emphasized that his goal for every student was leaving Bandera with a diploma in one hand and a work training certificate in the other.
Doris Doebbler gave a presentation on how to enjoy holiday coffees without the fat and calories associated with those treats. Denise Van Dyke gave a brief report on the change of legislative district boundaries. She introduced Lamar Lewis, retired Bandera ISD teacher and coach, to speak about his candidacy for the Texas Senate seat vacated by Dr. Dawn Buckingham.
The BCRTA Book Project is progressing toward its goal of 550 books to be distributed in grades PreK, Kinder and First in Utopia ISD, Medina ISD and Bandera ISD. Chairman DeeAnne Mazurek reported the group had collected 454 books so far. The books will be distributed on December 1 at Alkek and Hill Country Elementaries, December 2 at Medina Elementary and December 3 at Utopia School.
The BCRTA will begin to collect 16-ounce jars of peanut butter to donate to the local Snack Pack for Kids program. These donations help food insecure students bridge meals over the weekends and holidays during the school year.
The next meeting of the Bandera County Retired Teachers Association will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 19, at the Mayan Ranch in Bandera. Anyone who has retired with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas or who has values in line with the mission of the Retired Teachers Association of Texas is welcome to join the group. For more information, go to the local group’s Facebook page or go to trta.org .