June 2000

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

• Several students were recognized for earning state-level special awards or a bid to the National History Fair competition after winning first or second at the State History Day competition in Austin on May 12-13, 2000. They include the following high school and middle school students:

Senior Division:

-- The World War II Special Award was awarded to Kurt Nash, of Cypress Falls High School. His historical paper was entitled “J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Father of the Atomic Bomb.” His teacher is Linda Black.

-- Eric Tung, of Jersey Village High School, won the New York Times Special Award for excellence in incorporting the newspaper into his research project. The title of his individual documentary was “Around the World in Ninety Minutes: The Story of Sputnik.” His teacher is Nancy Williams.

-- First place in the Historical Paper Category was awarded to Catherine Matta, of Jersey Village High School. The subject of her paper is “America’s Dark Days: Watergate and the Fall of Richard Nixon.” Her teacher is Nancy Williams.

-- Justin Elliott, of Jersey Village High School, placed first in the category of Individual Performance. He portrayed Michael Collins in “Ireland’s Laughing Boy.” His teacher is Nancy Williams.

-- Second place in Group Performance was awarded to Tej Paranjpe and R.G. Beriones, of Jersey Village High School. Their performance was about the Scopes Monkey Trial and was titled, “The Six Days Man Fought God.” Their teacher is V.S. Crittenden.

-- Jonathan Tomko, of Jersey Village High School, won first place in Individual Documentary. His subject was the Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. He titled his documentary, “A Battle for Integration, Equality, and Education.” His teacher is Nancy Williams.

Junior Division:

-- People’s Choice Award was awarded to Jessica Higgins, of Arnold Middle School. Her Individual Exhibit was about the gold rush and was titled, “All That Glitters.” Her teacher is Moore.

-- Todd Hutchinson, Daniel Rubin, Landon Melcher, Krishanu Sengupta, from Hamilton Middle School won first place in the Group Performance Category. Their performance was titled, “The Quiet Passing of Jim Crow in Houston.” Their teacher is Kelly Ellis.

• Psychology intern Shawn Fleck was recognized for receiving the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Texas Association of School Psychologists. Fleck is described as highly adept in his work with students, parents, and district staff. Furthermore, he is extremely knowledgeable in empirically based theories and methods, and he presents relevant recommendations and clear, concise assessment information to his students, parents, and school faculty.
• The Board congratulated Cypress Falls High School students Mike Stewart, Jeff Criddle, and Vinay Sarda for winning first place in the Texas Computer Education Association contest and advancing to the 1999-2000 American Computer Science League (ACSL) All-Star Contest, where they won first place.
• The following students were honored for winning first or third place at the American Computer Science League All-Star Contest on May 29, 2000, in Alexandria, Virginia:

-- Cypress Falls High School students Mike Stewart, Jeff Criddle, and Vinay Sarda won first place in the three-member senior division. Their sponsor was Dena Johnson.

-- Jersey Village High School students Nathan Johnson, Samuel Lee, Sidd Kode, Dwo Chu, and Anh Tran won first place in the five-member junior division. Their sponsor was John Owen.

-- Cypress Creek High School students Steven Sensarn, Dosym Nurmukhanov, Mark Arras, Sean Palavan, and Graham Royalty won third place. Their sponsor was Tom Halbert.

• Several students were recognized for placing first or second at the state Destination Imagination competition and advancing to the world finals. They included:

-- Yeager Elementary School students Christy Daily, Blaire Pugliese, Allyson Brazil, Tori Williams, Amy Blount, Lauren Eason, and Katie Johnston. The team’s sponsors were Ardith Daily, Pat Daily, and Leigh Ann Blount.

-- Cypress Falls High School students Evan Fort, Daniel Garza, Shailee Shukla, Steve Fan, Keith Lawler, Diana Wang, and Thomas Bonura. The team’s sponsor was Dena Johnson.

-- Bleyl Middle School students Michelle Adams, Patricia MacKinnon, Shannon Miller, Robert Humble, Michael O’Brien, and Alan Viverette. The team’s sponsors were Ann Viverette and Mark Crow.

• The Board recognized the following students for earning a rating of “3” or “4” in the State Visual Art Scholastic Event sponsored by the Texas Art Education Association:

-- Cypress Creek High School: Carlos Santiago, electronic, and David Peterson, mixed media.

-- Cy-Fair High School: Jeremy Dusek, photography; Jamie Grove, photography; and Jeremy Quijano, photography.

-- Cypress Falls High School: Jeff Budsberg, drawings; Andrew Arnold, mixed media; and Candice Jones, photography.

-- Cypress Springs High School: Lee Ann Carrier, drawing; Richard Colson, mixed media; Phong Doan, mixed media; Sarah Hay, mixed media; Karen Morris, mixed media; Denise Parret, painting; and Jennifer Ibarra, sculpture.

-- Jersey Village High School: Josh Batilla, painting; Tina Pham, drawing; and Noora Abdulwahab, drawings.

-- Langham Creek High School: Jorge Hernandez, ceramics.

• Cy-Fair High School student-athlete Allie Booker was recognized for winning first place in the discus event at the state track and field meet.

ATHLETIC BIDDING AND PURCHASING PROCESS

An overview of the athletic bidding and purchasing process was presented to the Board. When purchasing items like uniforms, the District utilizes the competitive bidding process to obtain the best value, a determination that includes consideration of price, quality, and many other items. In order to purchase the product that meets the needs of the District, bid specifications include the description of items that meet the requirements of the District. Each school is provided an opportunity to assist in the development of bid specifications. In addition, they have flexibility in the choice of uniforms, provided it does not exceed the budget established by the District. In future evaluations, the District will utilize the services of a professional seamstress to ensure the quality of items submitted by uniform vendors.

STANDARDIZED DRESS

Thirteen schools recently surveyed their communities to determine if there was sufficient support to implement uniform/standardized dress guidelines. District policy requires that 75 percent of the student body’s parents must support the implementation of uniform/standardized dress guidelines. Of the 13 campuses, the Adaptive Behavior Center attained the required level of support. Schools that already have uniform/standardized dress guidelines include Francone, Frazier, Holmsley, Metcalf, Owens, and Sheridan Elementary Schools and the Alternative Learning Center.

2000-2001 PRELIMINARY BUDGET

A preliminary version of the 2000-2001 budget was presented to the Board. The budget currently includes a deficit of $54,528, with revenues of $340,945,415 and expenditures of $340,999,943. We anticipate the next draft will show a balanced budget. The following expenditures are included in the budget:

• Payroll costs represent 89.56 percent of the budget.
• Purchased and contracted services represent 6.19 percent of the budget.
• Supplies and materials represent 3.11 percent of the budget.
• Other operating expenses represent .81 percent of the budget.
• Capital outlay expenses represent .33 percent of the budget.

The budget is based on a projected net taxable value of $14.2 billion and includes state and federal mandates, employee salary increases, new teachers and other positions necessitated by student growth, continuation of funding for at-risk campuses and TAAS, and increases in security and safety. A balanced budget is expected to be adopted in August.

CONSERVATION OF MILLSAP NATURE TRAILS

The Board approved a contract with John Jackson Logging to cut and sell excess timber from the nature area at Millsap Elementary School. The Board previously approved a contract with Bryant Forestry to improve the health of the nature area because it has become overgrown and congested, a condition that places the nature area at risk of hazards like pine bark beetles. Bryant Forestry will supervise the selective thinning of the forest, which will encourage the growth of hard wood trees and preserve the forest for future generations. The thinning will also help increase animal populations in the forest. As part of the project, a fire break will be installed around the forest. The entire process is expected to last nine months.

2000-2001 STUDENT HANDBOOK AND CODE OF CONDUCT

The 2000-2001 Student Handbook and Code of Conduct was approved. A committee of students, parents, and staff members reviewed the publication from April-May, 2000, and considered input from students, parents, and staff members. There were no major changes made to the handbook; however, there were some changes designed to clarify various items in the document. The new document will be reviewed with campus administrators and teachers during professional development sessions. All students will receive a copy at the start of school.

TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The Board elected Dr. William O’Brien to serve on the Texas Association of School Boards’ (TASB) Board of Trustees. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is entitled to a position on the state board because Cypress-Fairbanks ISD meets TASB’s guidelines as a “large district.” The TASB Board of Trustees implements policies established by the association’s Delegate Assembly.

TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

The Board nominated Al Martinez, Jr., to serve as Cypress-Fairbanks ISD’s delegate to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) annual Delegate Assembly. During the meeting, delegates from across Texas consider issues, including school finance, vouchers, and teacher compensation. Alton Frailey was selected as the District’s alternate delegate.

LAND PURCHASE

The Board approved the purchase of 2.665 acres of property adjacent to Cypress Ridge High School. The land will be used to accommodate future expansion at the school.