Much gratitude is shown at PAISD meet
Published 6:32 pm Friday, September 29, 2017
By Lorenzo Salinas
Hearty thanks were given to one and all during Thursday’s board meet of Port Arthur Independent School District.
The regular meeting was held in an irregular place—the Memorial High School cafeteria—because the administration building was one of the few school buildings that had sustained significant flood damage from Harvey. However, the change of scenery was anything but a distraction for the board of trustees as they acknowledged the storm and PAISD’s response to it.
“It has been a month since Harvey came to us,” superintendent Mark Porterie said. “I think we are doing remarkably well.”
Porterie offered an extensive list of individuals and groups he wanted to thank for their hard work and tireless dedication to the school district.
He thanked each board member for moving the district in the direction it was supposed to go both during and after the storm hit. He thanked the school’s executive staff for working behind the scenes to “make the impossible possible.”
He recognized the unique challenges both Lucian Adams students and faculty face by being temporarily relocated to two other campuses. He praised the efforts of the individuals who ensured that all of the 1,000-plus of PAISD employees received their paychecks.
He thanked the initiative of the transportation workers who made sure students made it to the schools in the first place.
“We lost buses, we lost vehicles … but they made it happen,” Porterie said of the drivers. “Transportation is picking up our students wherever they are, even though their locations could change daily or hourly.”
He thanked the custodial staff and technical department for maintaining the schools and getting Internet back up respectively.
Porterie took time to mention the special dedication of Port Arthur Early College High School principal Gloria Dodson, who had lost everything to Harvey but still showed up for work on the first day of class Sept. 11. PAECHS started a week earlier than the rest of the district.
He also thanked the PAECHS staff, as all but one had showed up for work the first day.
Porterie expressed his gratitude to all PAISD staff for their continued support and hard work for the district, many of whom are still displaced with some even commuting from Houston.
Porterie thanked the PAISD media specialist, the school attorney and parents among others.
He said he was certain he was forgetting others. He credited all with getting the school district back on track and for achieving something akin to normalcy.
“We needed to see some stability in our community,” Porterie said.
In turn, each member of the board took their moment to thank Porterie for his leadership and committed efforts toward the school district and all those within it. Among those was board president Donald Frank.
“Everything rises and falls on leadership, so I wanted to thank you, Dr. Porterie,” Frank said, before presenting the superintendent with a framed newspaper of The Port Arthur News where Porterie is featured on the front page.
“Dr. Porterie, you are the best leader PAISD could have,” trustee Brandon Bartie said, commending him for making employees feel comfortable and being “Superman.”
In a brief update on building restoration, Jim Baliya with Unlimited Restoration, Inc. thanked the board and district for entrusting their company with the vital work of getting their buildings back together. He said his company is on schedule for district repairs.
Finally, Porterie said the district would commemorate October as National Hispanic Heritage Month.
