June 2003

RECOGNITIONS

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

• Betty Buchner, drill team director at Jersey Village High School, as the recipient of the Texas Dance Educators Association Achievement Award and for receiving the Lifetime Honorary Member Award from the Drill Team Directors of America.
• District high school students that participated in the UIL Press Conference Competition at the University of Texas in April. Elizabeth Erwin, Cypress Ridge High School, placed second in the state in headline writing; Lorena Maili, Cypress Falls High School, received a "Tops in Texas" award for sports action photography; Mindy Rueda and Kristen DeLisle, Cy-Fair High School, received a "Tops in Texas" award for sports feature story; Shazia Rehman, Cy-Fair High School, won first place in state for newspaper in-depth feature writing; the Cypress Falls High School yearbook won a Gold Star, Jason Peart is the editor; the Cypress Falls newspaper won a Silver Star, Lorena Maili and Marcelino Benito are editors.
• The Willbern Elementary Destination Imagination team won first place at the global competition in Knoxville, Tenn., in May for the challenge problem "Once Improv A Time!" The team faced the same problem and finished second in March at the state competition. Team members are Joe Rielly, David Phan, Adam Polk, Audrey Lee, Lily Nhoisaykham, Sara Adkison and Victoria Delgado.
• State winners in girls’ track and tennis. Langham Creek High School’s Brittany Brockman won first place in state in the 3200 meters and placed second in the 1600 meters while teammate Nina Gilbert finished first in the state in the 400 meters. They are coached by Ellen Robinson. Alyssa Rodriguez, Jersey Village High School, captured the women’s singles state title for the second consecutive season. She is coached by Robert Dennison.
• Eleven middle and high school students participated in the National History Day Competition in College Park, Md., this month after receiving first or second place at the Texas State History Day competition earlier this year. Those students were Alexandra Calvert, Tiffany Van, Courtney Weiser and Laura Desrochers, Goodson Middle School; Glen Rhodes, Dake Weng, Chris Cha and Thomas Douglass, Cypress Falls High School; Stephanie Clark, Cy-Fair High School; and Tara Grigg, Sara Franco, and Melanie Aston, Jersey Village High School.
• Students from Cypress Falls High School who placed second and third in their divisions at the international American Computer Science League (ACSL) All-Star Contest; and the Cypress Falls team that placed second at the State UIL computer science contest. Those students were Matt Monson, Sangaran Thirugnanasampanthan, Christina Lam, Daniel Grysen, Chris Cha, Amanda Humphrey, Andria Balogh, Michael Gray, Thomas Rogg, Todd Lewandowski and Bob Egner.

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:

• District teachers Terry Noe, Goodson Middle School, and Cassie Johnson, Thornton Middle School, were recently recognized by the Texas State Historical Association for their dedication to students and contribution to National History Day activities.
• Nine students won honorable mention in Texas Magazine’s 2002 fiction contest. They are: Kitt Braddick, Jill Fredenburg and Logan Elizabeth Hardy, Emmott Elementary; Emily Gruener, Lowery Elementary; Megan Huff, Lamkin Elementary; Victoria Moreaux, Sheridan Elementary; Shawnee Logan Johnson, Walker Elementary; and Mark Crutchley and Brandon Pfluger, Cypress Falls High School.
• Charles M. Goodson Middle School, designed by Bay Area Architects, won two design awards at the 42^nd annual TASA/TASB exhibit of school architecture. One award was for value and the other for design.
• Aragon Middle School, designed by SHW Group, Inc, won a Gold Citation given by the American School and University 2003 Educational Interiors Showcase. There are only five Gold Citations awarded in the nation annually.
• Forty-one students were recruited by the National Hispanic Institute to participate in the "Great Debate" in Austin. Students must maintain a B+ average and be willing to commit weekends in preparation for the event.
• Jersey Village High School teacher Robert Dennison has been announced as a finalist in HEB’s Excellence in Teaching Awards. He received a $1,000 check from HEB and Jersey Village High School received a matching grant.
• Bleyl Middle School students Katherine Carney and Natalie Blackmur won the Great Women in Science and Technology essay contest sponsored by the Houston Society for Women Engineers. Their award includes an all-expense-paid trip to the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., in August.
• Additional students earning achievements in the junior and senior division of the State History Fair in Austin included Naveet Setlur, Goodson Middle School—fourth place in individual performance; Matthew G. Delgado, Thornton Middle School—fourth place in historical paper; Miles Diaz, Goodson Middle School—honorable mention in historical paper; Kelly Chappuis, Goodson Middle School—honorable mention in individual documentary; Drew Stone and Chris Kominezak, Cypress Falls High School—fourth place in group documentary; and Katie Nelson, Jessica Ricke, Chelsea Lyons, Jillian Bontke and Alyssa Rodriguez, Jersey Village High School—fourth place in group exhibit. Tara Grigg, Sara Franco and Melanie Aston of Jersey Village made the finals in group performance, while Stephanie Clark of Cy-Fair High School made the finals in individual performance.
• The students and sponsors from Hamilton Middle School, Jersey Village High School, Hamilton Elementary School, Bang Elementary and Dean Middle School were recognized for competing in the state Destination Imagination contest.
• Cypress Creek High School was named by Newsweek as one of the top 700 high schools in the nation (or the top 4 percent in the nation) based on the number of Advanced Placement tests taken by seniors in the 2001-02 school year.
• Carolyn Spillane, assistant superintendent for secondary instruction, was presented the Kids First Award May 4 by the CFISD Special Education Parent Advisory Committee. This award is based on professionalism, student interactions and family support.
• Cypress Creek High School student Nhien Qui Duong was selected to participate in the University of Texas-Houston Medical School Summer Program June 9-20. This two-week program was open to all graduating seniors from area high schools with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Only 20 area students were selected for this program.
• Six student-athletes were recognized by the Houston Athletic Committee during the annual Greater Houston High School Spring Sports Scholar Athlete Awards dinner held May 28 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel. Earning recognition from Cy-Fair High School were Casey Plant, baseball; Patrick Timmons, basketball; and Ryan Eurek, soccer; from Cypress Creek High School student Chris Knaute, swimming; and Cypress Falls High School students Laurie Rhodes and Andrea Stewart, volleyball.
• Trustee Terry Newcomer announced his resignation effective June 30, 2003. He was elected to the Board in May 1998 and served one complete three-year term and finished two years of his current term. He served as Board secretary in 2000-01 and again in 2001-02. Newcomer and his wife, Diana, have six children: John, Christopher, Jennifer, Jeremy, Brian and Michael. All have attended schools in CFISD and the youngest son, Michael, will graduate from Windfern High School in December 2003. Superintendent Berry thanked Newcomer for his years of service and presented him with a lifetime pass to all student activities and a plaque representing the district’s gratitude for his work and dedication to CFISD children.

2003-04 BUDGET

A public hearing was held during the June 5 special-called meeting to allow the community to offer comments or suggestions concerning the 2003-04 budget. No patrons elected to speak at the meeting.

The Board subsequently approved the district’s recommendation for the 2003-04 operating budget in the amount of $522,874,491. Projected revenue to fund general maintenance and technology for the 2003-04 school year is $428,256,761 while projected expenses total $435,054,094. These figures leave a projected deficit of nearly $7 million. Interest and sinking costs as well as food service expenditures account for the additional $87,820,397 in the budget.

The three-percent employee salary increases approved by the Board in a separate action created a portion of the deficit in addition to the new expenditures mandated by the state and federal government. Any deficit would be resolved by utilizing the undesignated fund balance, which was approximately $83 million at the close of the 2002-03 school year.

Payroll and benefits will consume approximately 89.87 percent of the total operating budget while 6.05 percent will be spent on contracted goods and services, 2.87 percent on supplies and materials, 0.96 percent on other operating expenses, 0.19 percent for capital outlay, and 0.06 percent for leases and purchases.

BOND UPDATE

Trustees approved the district’s recommendation for the new transportation center to be built on district property on Eldridge Road, adjacent to Cypress Ridge High School. CLR Architects will design the center, which has a scheduled completion date of December 2004.

Additionally, the Board approved the recommendation for an agricultural center to be built on district property on Eldridge Road, adjacent to new transportation center site. The agricultural center will also be designed by CLR Architects and built in conjunction with the new transportation center.

The Board approved the recommendation for a second agricultural center to be built on district property on Telge Road, adjacent to the Exhibit Center. CLR Architects will design the center with a scheduled completion date of August 2004.

Bay Architects, Inc. gave a design development presentation to the Board on the final design of Middle School #13. The new school will be located on the 50-acre site on West Little York between Highway 6 and Queenston Blvd. A design development presentation for Middle School #14 was made by SHW Group, Inc. The new school will be located on the 182-acre multi-school site at Jarvis and Skinner Road. Both schools are projected to open in August 2005.

Representatives of PBK Architects, Inc., and HOK Sport, Venue and Event presented the final design presentations for the Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center and new athletic stadium. The new facilities will be located at the 65-acre Barker Cypress site with construction beginning in March 2004.

A special-called Board meeting was set for June 25 to sell $100 million in Unlimited School House Bonds, Series 2003 and refund $10 million in bonds sold in 1991 and 1993. With the sale and refunding of the bonds, the district will have successfully financed the $470.5 million approved by voters in December 2001 with no increase to the Interest and Sinking (I&S) tax rate. The district had originally estimated a possible tax impact of two cents over the life of the bonds but was able to avoid any increase due to wise financial planning and taking advantage of low interest rates. Through refunding of old bond debt, the district may be able to actually reduce the I&S tax rate within the next two years.

BOUNDARY CHANGE

Trustees approved the recommendation to rezone Silver Oak Trails from Willbern Elementary School to Frazier Elementary School for the 2003-04 school year. Silver Oaks Trails will remain in the Campbell Middle School zone. Currently, there are no students living in the Silver Oak Trails community that just recently began development.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

Mr. Berry reminded all in attendance that the final TAKS testing for the third-grade reading and Spanish reading will take place on July 8, 2003. Tutorials for this test will be included in summer school instruction.

There will be no Board of Trustees meetings during July. The August meetings will be held Thursday, August 7 for the Committee of the Whole and Monday, August 11 for the regular Board meeting.

There will be two graduation ceremonies held simultaneously Friday, July 18 at 7 p.m. Graduation will be held at Cy-Fair High School for students whose home campus is Jersey Village, Cy-Fair, Cypress Creek or Windfern. The ceremony at Cypress Ridge High School will be held for students whose home campus is Cypress Falls, Cypress Springs or Langham Creek.

Mr. Berry wished everyone a safe and restful summer. Teachers will return for the fall semester August 7 and the first day of classes for students is August 13.

AGENDA ITEMS

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

• received a written report on the changes to the alternative accountability system for Windfern High School;
• received a written report regarding the student standardized dress code for 2003-04;
• received a report on the TAKS results for grades 3-11, a summary of SDAA results for grades 3-8, and a TAAS overview for graduating seniors;
• received a report on the 2003-2004 Student Handbook and Code of Conduct;
• 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 list of students for off-campus physical education, Category I for the school years 2003-2004 (fall) through 2005-2006;
• authorized the sale of surplus computer equipment, furniture and miscellaneous equipment through the district’s Internet auction;
• approved on second reading three local policy revisions pertaining to Board meetings, other revenues: investments and assignments and schedules;
• approved on first reading 10 local policy revisions pertaining to employment requirements: restrictions; employment conduct; Exhibit A Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas educators; Exhibit B standards of conduct and ethics for paraprofessionals; personnel positions; academic achievement; grading/progress reports to parents; make-up work; testing programs; student records and notice of parent and student rights; deleted policies related to attendance: compulsory attendance and admissions and attendance; and adopted new policies pertaining to attendance: compulsory attendance; attendance: attendance accounting; and attendance: attendance for credit;
• authorized tax refunds $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and/or the Harris County Education District in the amount of $569,143.22;
• selected CFISD Board members Al Martinez and Lida Woodul to serve as delegate and alternate delegate, respectively, for the Texas Association of School Boards annual delegate assembly;
• nominated Bill O’Brien to fill the board member vacancy of District 4, Position F of the Texas Association of School Boards and endorsed candidate Sarah B. Winkler of Alief ISD, for the vacant position of District 4, Position C;
• approved bids and contracts from recommended vendors for goods and services; and
• approved 442 personnel recommendations, resignations, retirements, promotions, terminations and discharges.