June 1999

Special Recognitions

• The Board recognized first- and second-place winners at the State History Fair. In the junior division, the following students won awards:
  • Thornton Middle School students Sarah Wilkowski, Anne Nguyen, Adrienne Kocher, and Veronica Chidester won first in group exhibit for "Agricultural Odyssey: George Washington Carver." The group also won the Willie Lee Gay Award for Excellence in African-American History.
  • Arnold Middle School students Sarah Seifert and Katy Thomas won second in group exhibit for "Changing the World: The Invention of the Printing Press."
  • Thornton Middle School students Stevie Garza, Jessica DuBois, and Maria Garcia won second in group performances for "Voices Across the Waves."
  • In the senior division, Cypress Falls High School student Gregory Bonsignore won second in individual performance for "Elevators on the Rise: The Transformation of Urban Society." In addition to the previously mentioned students, Cook Middle School students Allison Stokan, Charlotte Smith, and Ashley Hubble won the New York Times Award for excellence in incorporating the newspaper into historical exhibits for their project "Howe Learns How."
• The Board recognized former Trustee Fred Ziehe for his service to the District from 1996 through 1999.
• Langham Creek High School students Vikram Maheshri and Ryan Keedy were congratulated for winning second place in the physics lab event at the National Science Olympiad.
• Langham Creek High School student Lauren Smith was recognized for winning first in the 100-meter hurdles at the state track meet, and Cypress Falls High School student Joe Vaughn was recognized for winning second in the 800-meter run.
• The following computer science students were honored for winning first or second at state and national competitions:
  • Langham Creek High School students Mustafa Dohadwala, Jon McAlister, and William Postcavage won first at the Texas Computer Education State Contest. Langham Creek students Paul Egli, Rich Peng, and Joon Hao Chuah won second.
  • Langham Creek High School students Jimmy Bogard, Einsteins Do, Paul Egli, Joe Yu, and Joon-Hao Chuah won first place in the intermediate division of the American Computer Science League All-Star Contest.  Langham Creek students Mustafa Dohadwala, Ryan Keedy, Jon McAlister, Mark Liu, and William Postcavage won first in the senior division.
  • Langham Creek High School students Mustafa Dohadwala, Jon McAlister, William Postcavage, and Aziz Syed won first at the State University Interscholastic League (UIL) Contest.
  • Jon McAlister, of Langham Creek High School, was named to the United States of America Computing Olympiad team, and William Postcavage, of Langham Creek, was selected to attend to attend the training camp where team USA members were chosen.
• Students earning honors this year at state career and technology competitions were recognized. Winning students included the following:
  • The Cy-Fair High School Industrial Technology Department won first place in the Industrial Technology State Competition, marking the department's 24th state championship in the last 27 years.
  • Cy-Fair High School welding students Kevin Barnett, Sky L. Carr, and Charlie Butler received first place at two contests -- the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) State Contest and the State Industrial Technology Contest for their 35-foot, 6,500 pound custom gooseneck trailer.
  • Cy-Fair High School Automotive Technology student Michael Crawford won second in automotive skills and Darrell Daugherty won second in motorcycle technician at the State Vocational Industrial Clubs of America competition.
  • The Campbell Middle School Industrial Technology Department placed first in the State Industrial Technology Contest. In addition, student Nick Waterland received the Texas TSA Overall Individual Student Award, and
    students J.J. Olds, Paul Slater, and Seth Sellars won first in the Radio Controlled Car Race.
  • The Arnold Middle School Industrial Technology Department placed second in overall high point student awards in the State Industrial Technology Contest. High individual winners included students Robert Parker and John Krampota.
  • Cypress Creek High School Health Science Technology student Malea Murphy won second in the State Sports Medicine Competition, qualifying for the national competition to be held in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Langham Creek High School Health Science Technology student Valerie Tinklepaugh won first in the State Sports Medicine Competition, qualifying for the national competition to be held in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Arnold Middle School teacher Kathie Ramsey was congratulated for receiving the Richard Halle Award for Outstanding Middle School Educator by the National Council of Teachers of English. The national award is presented to one middle school teacher annually.
• Owens Elementary School was recognized for being named a 1998-99 U.S. Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Owens was one of 266 public and private schools nationwide selected for the honor.

PROGRESS REPORT ON MIDDLE SCHOOL #11

SHW Group, Inc., reported on the final design of Middle School #11, which will be located on West Road near Queenston and is expected to open in 2000-01. The school, based on the Thornton Middle School floor plan with enhancements, will be built on a 32-acre site, which includes 10 acres dedicated for an elementary school. The portion of the building that will include classrooms will be a two-story structure; the entire facility will be approximately 219,000 square feet, 10,000 square feet larger than Thornton; and space has been allocated for future portable buildings and a natatorium, if necessary. The construction contract for Middle School #11 is expected to be awarded in September.

PROGRESS REPORT ON MIDDLE SCHOOL #12

Bay Architects reported on the final design of Middle School #12, which will be located at Barker Cypress and Huffmeister Road and is expected to open in 2000-01. The school will be 217,828 square feet and have a student capacity of 1,350. The portion of the building that will include classrooms will be a two-story structure, and space has been allocated for future portable buildings and a natatorium, if necessary. The construction contract for Middle School #12 is expected to be awarded in November.

LEGISLATIVE REPORT

The 76th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 4, an omnibus bill that places $3.86 billion in new money into public education. The $3.86 billion was allocated in the following ways:

• $1.35 billion was dedicated for tax relief.
• $1.7 billion was mandated for salary increases for teachers,
  librarians, and counselors;
• $300 million was earmarked for special programs; and
• $510 million was made available as discretionary funds.

As a result of the Fast Growth Coalition, a group led by Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, fast-growing school districts will receive additional funding for new facilities, start-up costs associated with new schools, and old debt. In order to fund property tax relief and salary increases, legislators replaced local money with state money, and as a result, local school districts have
less discretionary money. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD administrators are still trying to determine how the new financial formulas will affect the District. Meetings with employees are being planned to explain the impact of the legislation on the District's proposed budget, which includes pay raises for all employees.

CY-FAIR HIGH SCHOOL RENOVATION

Several enhancements to the original renovation project for Cy-Fair High School were approved. The items, totaling approximately $2.6 million, include the following:

• expansion of the music area to create an additional orchestra hall;
• an additional woodshop classroom to serve the existing two woodshops;
• conversion of the "Farm and Ranch" area into a welding classroom;
• a new canopy for the welding courtyard; and
• reconfiguration and relocation of athletic and physical education areas.

The enhancements are needed to bring Cy-Fair in line with other district high schools. The additional projects will be paid for with cost-savings from other district projects or with interest income from recent bond sales.

1999-2000 PRELIMINARY BUDGET

The Board received a report for the 1999-2000 budget, which currently totals $334,865,897. The budget includes goals discussed by the Board of Trustees at its February goal-setting retreat, new positions to accommodate student growth, funding for at-risk and TAAS program, and money to implement a variety of new security measures. Because the District continues to grow at a rapid rate, payroll represents more than 87 percent of the budget. Enrollment for the 1999-2000 school year is expected to be 60,823. The District's administrative expenditures continue to be the lowest in the Gulf Coast region. The 1999-2000 budget also accounts for new funding formulas included in Senate Bill 4, recently passed by the 76th Legislature. Senate Bill 4 requires that school districts lower tax rates, so Cypress-Fairbanks ISD's is expected to decrease in the future.

PAY RAISES

Approval was granted to raise the starting salary of teachers to $31,000.  In addition, the Board approved an across-the-board raise of $4,325 for teachers, counselors, nurses, and librarians. The pay raise includes $3,000 passed through from the state and $1,325 funded locally. The total pay raise will result in a 12.47 percent increase of the 1998-99 mid-point for teachers. All other employees will receive a 7 percent of mid-point pay raise, and employees who are at or above the top of their salary schedule will receive a 4 percent of mid-point pay raise.

FIVE-YEAR TAAS COMPARISON

A report was presented summarizing Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) results by subject area and grade level for five student groups: all students not in special education, African-American, Hispanic, white, and economically disadvantaged. Since 1995, significant gains have been realized in almost all areas for both Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and the state. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is also making strong gains in closing the achievement gap between previously mentioned subgroups. All scores for the group "All Students Not in Special Education" were 90 percent passing or better. The "All Students" group, which reflects students in both regular and special education, posted a 91 percent passing rate or better on all sub-tests with the exception of grade 10 math students, who scored an 88. A summary of five-year gains follows:

• Third graders showed a 6-point improvement in reading and a 3-point improvement in math.
• Fourth-grade reading scores improved 7 points, math scores improved 15 points, and writing scores improved 5 points.
• Fifth graders improved 3 points in reading and 10 points in math.
• Sixth-grade math scores remained steady, but math scores improved 11 points.
• Seventh-grade scores in reading improved 4 points, math scores increased 19 points.
• Eighth-grade reading scores rose 7 points, math scores increased 15 points, and writing scores improved 10 points.
• Exit-level reading scores gained 11 points, math scores gained 16 points, and writing scores gained 3 points.
  
  

1998-99 TAAS RESULTS

Results of the Spring 1999 Texas Assessment of Academic Skills test were presented to the Board. The table below includes the results of this year's tests.

EXIT-LEVEL TAAS RESULTS

The Board heard a report regarding exit-level TAAS results for 1998-99 juniors and seniors. Students take the test for the first time in 10th grade and must pass all three portions of the exam to earn a diploma.  There are 23 students in the Class of 1999 still needing to pass one or more tests to qualify for a diploma, meaning 99.2 percent of the seniors earning sufficient credits to graduate passed all three parts of TAAS. The 99.2 percent passing rate is up from 98.9 percent in 1998, 98.2 percent in
1997, 97.4 percent in 1996, and 96.7 percent in 1995. Tenth graders taking the exit-level TAAS for the first time this year also realized significant gains, as well. Eighty-five percent of the Class of 2001, this year's 10th graders, passed all three portions. The percentage passing all portions of the exam on the first attempt has risen annually since 1997 when 68 percent of the 10th-grade class passed all portions of the test on their first attempt.

DRUG ABUSE RESISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM REVIEW

Results of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program review were presented to the Board. The program review included interviews and surveys of staff and students involved in the program and those not involved in the program for comparative purposes. In addition, external evaluators conducted a two-day review of the District's D.A.R.E. program, visiting campuses and interviewing stakeholders. Commendations and recommendations were made in several areas, including organizational support, planning, equity, continuous improvement, and costs and results.

STIPEND INCREASES

The Board approved stipend increases or new stipends for several co-curricular and extra-curricular student and professional services. The stipends allow the District to remain competitive with school districts like Aldine, Alief, Conroe, Fort Bend, Katy, Klein, Spring, and Spring Branch. Approval was granted in the following areas: critical teaching areas (bilingual classroom, adaptive behavior, and other special education classroom), academic/peer leadership, music program, and athletics. New
stipends were created in the critical teaching area of special education, specifically for Life Skills and Resource/Co-teach positions for which stipends had not previously been awarded.

Stipends in the District which were not competitive were either brought to the average, or the discrepancy was reduced by at least 50 percent. For those receiving a 50 percent adjustment, a similar review and adjustment is planned for next year.