February 2003

RECOGNITIONS

The Board of Trustees recognized the following students and staff members for their achievements:

• Cypress Springs High School student Kathleen Johnson and Jersey Village High School student Samuel Lee for their selection as candidates to the United States Presidential Scholars Program. They are now eligible for selection as one of 500 national semifinalists and ultimately as one of up to 141 Presidential Scholars in the nation.
• Seven CFISD secondary students were honored as recipients of Gold Key Awards in the Scholastic Art competition. Those students were Brianna Lamberson and Eric Plengemeyer of Cy-Fair High School, Alana Jordan of Cypress Falls High School, Andrea Patin and Chinong Nanthavougdoungsay of Jersey Village High School, and Sandra Arbelaez and Christopher Martin of Langham Creek High School.
• District swimmers and divers were honored for their performance at the recent state meet. Cypress Creek swimmer Chris Knate won the 500 freestyle while Andy Crum, Langham Creek, and Nikki Triplett, Cypress Falls, captured state titles in one-meter diving. Knate also finished second in the state in the 200 freestyle. Also finishing second in the state were Bryan Beresik, Langham Creek, in 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle; Thomas Bishop, Cypress Creek in the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay team of Knate, Bishop, Tyler Hill and Jay Murphy.

Superintendent Berry recognized students, staff members and athletic teams for recent achievements during his comments to trustees. The list of honorees and their accomplishments are as follows:

• The winner and runner-up from the elementary and middle school spelling bees. The winner of the elementary competition was Nicholas Goodman from Jowell Elementary and Ellen Yeung of Hamilton Elementary was the runner-up. The winner of the middle school contest was Snigdha Peddireddy of Arnold Junior High and the runner-up was Victoria Tompkins from Labay. The winners will compete in the Houston Chronicle Spelling Bee on March 26, 2003.
• Harris County Department of Education, the regional sponsor of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program honored the Silver Key winners from CFISD during a special ceremony February 16, 2003. Mike Caviness of Cypress Falls High School won the Silver Key for sculpture. Mark Egger is Mike’s teacher. Anne Pederson of Cy-Fair High School won a Silver Key in mixed media. Jerilyn Muster is Anne’s teacher. Three students from Jersey Village High School won Silver Key Awards. Brittany Given earned a silver award for photography, David Bonagurio won for mixed media and Mario Norton won for drawing. Robin Mouton is their teacher.
• The Cypress Creek boys’ basketball team was congratulated for winning the District 15-5A title. Jersey Village finished second and Cy-Falls finished third. The Cy-Fair girls’ basketball team won the district title while Jersey Village placed second and Cypress Springs finished third. The Cougars, coached by Jeff Thorpe, won the Region II Championship with a 68-64 win over Plano Saturday, March 1 in Waco. They advanced to the state tournament at the Erwin Center in Austin and fell to Corpus Christi Ray in the March 7 semifinals.
• The boys’ swimming and diving team from Cypress Creek finished as district champions while Jersey Village finished second and Langham Creek was third. Cypress Creek also won first place in district in girls’ competition while Langham Creek was second and Cy-Fair finished third.
• Mr. Berry asked all in attendance to remember the family of Susan Kelley, the recently retired coordinator of libraries. Susan lost her lengthy fight with cancer on Sunday, February 23, 2003. The Superintendent stated that her family would continue to be in the thoughts and prayers of the administration and school board.

PERSONNEL

Trustees approved the superintendent’s recommendation to name Horne Elementary Assistant Principal Meredith Perkins as principal of Frazier Elementary and Gleason Elementary Principal Janet Hoover as assistant superintendent for elementary administration beginning in July 2003. Additionally, trustees recognized Cheryl Salyards, who will be reassigned in July to assume the duties of the assistant to the superintendent.

Perkins will replace current Frazier Elementary Principal Erwann Davis, who was named as principal of Metcalf Elementary in February. In becoming the assistant superintendent for elementary administration, Hoover leaves a vacancy for principal at Gleason to be announced at a future Board meeting. She will replace Jane Little, who will retire at the close of the current contract year.

BOND UPDATE

The Board approved two contracts for electrical easements with CenterPoint Energy to provide permanent electrical service for Barbara Warren Birkes Elementary and Jane Maloy Tipps Elementary. Both schools are scheduled to open in August.

Additionally, trustees approved the location, architect, and opening date for High School #8 and the new Carlton Center. The new schools will be located at the multi-school site at Spring Cypress and Skinner and will be designed by PBK Architects, Inc. The campuses will open for the 2006-2007 school year. The high school will be a remake of Cypress Ridge High School, which will provide a reduction in architectural fees. The new Carlton Center will replace the current facility and will be built in conjunction with the new high school for cost savings.

The Board awarded a contract in the amount of $8,501,800 to Satterfield and Pontikes Construction, Inc for construction of Dr. Peggy Bell Duryea Elementary School. The contract is approximately $1.1 million under projected construction costs.

PBK Architects will proceed with architectural designs for the Richard E. Berry Educational Service Center and the district’s second athletic stadium after presenting the Board with a site placement plan. The architectural planning phase of these facilities will continue through May. Based on previous discussions with the Board and the administration, PBK anticipates having the final designs ready for Board approval during the May 2003 meeting.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE TASK FORCE

Sue Heineman presented trustees with an overview of the results of a six-month study and report filed with the administration concerning the Substance Abuse Task Force that she chaired. The task force was established in the spring of 2002 to review current district statistics and programs. The group was charged with assessing the problems associated with substance abuse, developing methods for apprising the community of the common signs of substance abuse, reviewing programs implemented by other school districts, analyzing community prevention strategies, and identifying resources that the CFISD community has to offer, and making recommendations for new solutions.

Based on the findings of the Task Force’s five subcommittees, a recommendation was made to implement several pilot programs, including a Teen Leadership Training program teacher for middle school or high school, a Life Skills Training program in three middle schools, a Cy-Fair Student Intervention Plan (CFSIP) at all eight high school campuses and a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program at all 38 elementary schools. Estimated costs for these programs were also provided.

FITNESS GRANT APPROVED

Trustees adopted a resolution authorizing the execution and delivery of fully equipped, state-of-the-art fitness equipment as part of a grant program offered by the National School Fitness Foundation. The schools included in the program are Cy-Fair High School, Jersey Village High School, Cypress Creek High School, Langham Creek High School and Cypress Ridge High School. The National School Fitness Foundation has established the Leadership in Fitness Training (LIFT) program and made 50 grants available to Texas schools.

SUMMER SCHOOL DATES

The Board approved summer school locations, dates and courses for elementary, middle and high school students. High School original credit courses will be offered at Cy-Fair, Cypress Ridge and Windfern in two sessions. The first session is from June 9-27 with the second session from June 30-July 21. The time schedule for both original credit sessions is 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Make-up credit courses will take place June 12-27 and June 30-July 16 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Middle school courses will be offered at Aragon and Arnold (original credit, make-up credit and ESL classes for sixth- through eighth-grade students) and Cy-Fair and Cypress Ridge (original credit high school classes for eighth-grade students). Dates for original credit sessions are June 9-27 and June 30-July 21. Make-up credit courses are from June 12-July 16. All middle school classes will be from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

Elementary courses will be offered from June 9-27 and June 9–July 8 (third grade ARIP only). The times are 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and noon to 3 p.m. Locations for elementary summer school are Farney (for students residing in Ault, Farney, Hamilton, Lamkin, Millsap and Sampson attendance zones); Jowell (for students in Copeland, Holmsley, Jowell, Sheridan and Walker); Metcalf (for students in Kirk, Lieder, Metcalf and Wilson); Moore (students in Adam, Hancock, Matzke, Moore and Yeager); Owens (students in Fiest, Hairgrove, Horne, Lowery and Owens); Reed (students residing in Bane, Frazier, Hollbrook and Reed); Willbern (students in Bang, Emmott, Francone, Gleason, Post and Willbern) and Lamkin (ESY students).

ADDITIONAL SUMMER PROGRAMS

The Board approved the inclusion of additional summer school opportunities that will be available to secondary students at various locations in the district. Added course offerings include: ESL enrichment, TAAS remediation, Accelerate to Algebra, Moving Up in Math, Ninth-grade Summer Academy including Algebridge, Scholars Program (PSAT prep), Carverdale Summer Reading program, Willow Green Apartment tutoring program, and SAT Prep. These programs are in addition to the make-up and original credit summer school programs that will be available. Students will pay limited tuition with scholarships provided for eligible students in programs where tuition is charged.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

Mr. Berry announced that district students took the new TAKS test for the first time February 25 and then again March 4. Future TAKS testing dates are April 29-30, May 1–2 and July 8. Mr. Berry extended his best wishes to all CFISD students as they prepare for these exams.

Spring Break was the week of March 10-14. Mr. Berry wished all employees and students a safe and happy week of vacation.

Trustees held their annual Goal-setting Workshop February 28 and March 1. During this time, the Board reviewed and modified the district’s long-range goals. The event produced good dialogue among board members and the administrative staff.

AGENDA ITEMS

In other action, the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees:

• received a written report on legislative issues and the activities of the State Board of Education, Texas School Alliance and the Fast-Growth School Coalition;
• approved the long-range plan priorities established for 2003-2004 at the goal-setting workshop;
• approved the student transfer status and guidelines for the 2003-04 school year;
• approved the district textbook committee's recommendations for the 2003-04 school year;
• authorized tax refunds of $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and/or the Harris County Education District in the amount of $144,193.37;
• approved resolutions for Amendment #4 and Amendment #5 for the District Pension Plan for non-TRS employees;
• approved the sale of district surplus furniture, equipment and miscellaneous computer components through the district’s Internet Auction;
• approved bids and contracts from recommended vendors for goods and services;
• approved on first reading three local policy revisions to guidelines on miscellaneous instructional policies: teaching about controversial issues, community relations: conduct on school premises, and community relations: use of school facilities for non-school purposes; and
• approved 107 personnel recommendations, resignations, retirements, promotions, terminations and discharges.