Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District                                                         June 2005
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RECOGNITIONS

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

• Elaine Schwartz , teacher and team leader at Langham Creek High School, who was awarded the Gilder-Lehrman Preserve American History award. She will be entered in the national contest. Schwartz recently attended the Civil War and Reconstruction graduate institute at Ashbrook Center at Ashland University in Ohio and will also attend Striving for Excellence Through Teaching American History (SEATTAH) at the University of Dallas and We the People Citizen and Constitution at James Madison University this summer.
• Goodson Middle School students who won distinguished awards at the State History Day Contest in May. Hollie Bullock won the C.M. Caldwell memorial Award for Texas History for her historical paper entry entitled, “Oveta Culp Hobby, A Pioneer in Communication.” The team of Chris Baker, Brooke Bonicimino, Heidy Hallgrimsdottir, and Emily Neville won first place for their group exhibit, “How TV Changed America’s Outlook on the Vietnam War.” Matthew Dominguez and Brandi Engle won second place for their group documentary, “Communicating Their Way to Victory.”
• Brian Woodrome , science teacher at Kirk Elementary, who was recently selected as a merit winner of the Texas Medical Association’s Ernest and Sarah Butler Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching 2005.

Additionally, the superintendent recognized students and staff members for honors and achievements earned in recent weeks. Congratulations were extended to the following:

• Hamilton Middle School students, Zachary Michael Horst and Leah Dyan Cangelose, taught by Kathy Black and Candace Tannous, were recognized as finalists in the “Do The Write Thing” essay contest.   Twenty-eight school districts and 104 schools participated in the contest this past fall.
• Ross Epperly from Cy-Fair High School was awarded the High School Scholar Athlete for Soccer from the Houston Athletic Committee. Dr. Anthony said he was privileged to attend this awards dinner where eight CFISD students were introduced as nominees for an award, based on both their academic and athletic achievement.
• The Cypress Falls Eagles were still alive in the baseball playoffs during May and ended their season as regional quarterfinal champions during the weekend of graduation.
• Lana Burns, Cy-Fair High School government and economics teacher, received a scholarship to attend the “Interpreting the Constitution” seminar at Stanford University, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.   She also received a scholarship to the Academy, a new workshop sponsored by the State Bar Association, Law-Related Education Division.
• Sue Olson, a U. S. history teacher at Langham Creek High School, received a fellowship to study “America between the Wars” seminar, also sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.   Sue was recently chosen by the Cy-Fair Council for the Social Studies as the High School Teacher of the Year.
• Esther Hartman, a world history teacher and team leader at Cypress Springs High School will travel to South Korea this summer. She received a fellowship from the Korean Cultural Society for travel and study.
• Linda Maginness, Emmott Elementary, was chosen by the Cy-Fair Council for the Social Studies as Elementary Teacher of the Year, while Terry Noe, Goodson Middle School, was chosen Middle School Teacher of the Year.   Ann-Marie Yeley, a first year World history teacher at Cypress Falls High School was named the outstanding Nova Teacher of the Year and Mary Smith, secondary social studies coordinator, was chosen for the Joe Janca Award for Service to Social Studies.
• The Cook Middle School 7 th and 8 th Grade Boys’ Choir was invited to perform at the 2006 Texas Music Educators Association Convention in San Antonio next February.   This is the first time a middle school boys’ choir from the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD has been selected to perform at the convention.   More than 20,000 professional music educators attend annually, making it the largest state music convention in the United States.   This is a prestigious honor for the students and their directors, Merry Marcotte, Mica Kolb and Penny Kershaw.
• Jessica Lilly Hughes, coordinator for libraries, received an appointment to the Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee from the Texas Library Association.   Jessica will serve a 3-year term.

2005-06 BUDGET

After hearing a detailed report on the proposed 2005-06 budget, a public hearing was held during the June 9 Committee-of-the-Whole meeting to allow the community an opportunity to offer comments or suggestions. No patrons elected to speak at the hearing.

The Board approved the district’s recommendation for the 2005-2006 operating budget in the amount of $582,181,697 during the June 13 Board Meeting. Projected revenue to fund general maintenance and technology is $469,044,316 while projected expenses total $487,603,427. These figures represent a projected deficit of approximately $18.5 million. Interest and sinking costs as well as food service expenditures account for the additional $94,578,270 in the budget. Any deficit would be resolved by utilizing the general fund balance, which is estimated to be $75 million at the close of the 2004-05 school year.

Payroll and benefits will consume approximately 90.53 percent of the total operating budget while 5.89   percent will be spent on contracted goods and services, 2.66 percent on supplies and materials, 0.92 percent on other operating expenses, and funding for capital outlay has been shifted from the general fund to the savings on bond interest for the 2005-06 school year.

The budget includes a starting salary of $37,000 for first-year teachers and a 3-percent salary increase for all eligible employees. The district will implement a 10-percent reduction in supplies and materials and a 10-percent reduction in non-student travel. There will also be a reduction in staffing at secondary schools due to revising the staffing ratios, a practice which has been in place since the 2002-03 budget. The district has saved approximately $27.5 million by implementing budget reductions and cost avoidances since 2000-01 and projections are for the total to increase to almost $31 million with the reductions included in the 2005-06 budget.

SCHOOLS NAMED

Trustees approved the namesakes for three future schools, honoring long-time educators Royce Black, Joan Postma, and Woodie Andre’.

Black was chosen as the namesake for Elementary #43, which is scheduled to open in August 2006. He spent all 33 of his years as an educator with the district,   and all at Cy-Fair High School, before retiring in June 2004. Black taught social studies, served as a team leader and led the department for 27 years as the chairperson. Other leadership roles include assisting with coordinating social studies curriculum and instruction at the district level.

Royce Black Elementary School is currently under construction at a 13.86-acre site located near the northwest corner of Spring Cypress and Grant Road. PBK Architects, Inc. has designed the school using similar plans from the construction of Sampson, Duryea, and Danish elementary schools. This campus will be built from savings in construction costs and interest earned from the 2001 Bond Election.

Elementary #44 was named for Joan Postma, who spent 24 of her 29 years in education working for CFISD prior to her retirement in June 2002. Her tenure with the district started at Bleyl Middle School , where she taught mathematics and computer literacy for 10 years, as well as serving as team leader before being promoted to a district level position, technical assistant for administrative and instructional microcomputer services. Because of her leadership and expertise, she was later promoted to serve the district as the director of technology support services.

Joan Spillane Postma Elementary School is currently under construction at a 14.34-acre site located near the corner of West Road and Greenhouse Road . The school was designed by PBK Architects, Inc. and modeled after Sampson, Duryea, and Danish elementary schools. Postma Elementary will open its doors to children in August 2006. This campus is being built with funds from the 2004 Bond Election.

After spending the last 26 of her 33 years in education working in CFISD, Woodie Coker Andre' was chosen to be the namesake of Elementary School #45, the third of three elementary schools that will open in 2006. Woodie Andre' spent her first three years in the district as a teacher at Bane and Moore elementary schools. She provided leadership at Lowery Elementary School as a team leader for four years before being promoted to principal of Lowery where she served in that role for four years. She retired in 2004 from Fiest Elementary School after opening the school and serving as principal for fifteen years.

Woodie Coker Andre' Elementary School is currently under construction at a 12-acre site located on Fry Road and Longenbaugh Road . Elementary School #45 was modeled after Birkes and Kirk elementary schools and was designed by SHW Architects, Inc. This campus is being built with funds from the 2004 Bond Election.

HAMILTON MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL NAMED

Trustees named Teresa Hull, director for curriculum and instruction, high school, as principal at Hamilton Middle School. Hull earned her bachelor’s degree from Lamar University and her master’s from Prairie View A&M University. She began her career teaching at Vidor Junior High in Vidor ISD and then taught at Albright Middle School in Alief ISD.

She joined the Cy-Fair ISD family as a social studies teacher at Cook Middle School in 1993 and taught there for three years before accepting a position to teach social studies at Bleyl Middle School in 1996. Hull spent the next several years at Langham Creek High School, beginning in 1997. First she served as an at-risk support specialist, then as assistant principal and finally as director of instruction in 2000. She was named director of curriculum and instruction, high school in 2004.

BOND UPDATE

The Board approved and executed the plat for Elementary School No. 43 as recommended by Brooks & Sparks, Inc. Trustees also approved the Harris County Municipal Utility District 166 Easements to provide water service for Kahla Middle School, and the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC Blanket Utility Easement to provide permanent electrical service to the water plant servicing the 182 acre multi-campus site at Spring Cypress and Skinner.

The Board approved a change order to the Cypress Woods High School construction contract with Pepper-Lawson, Inc., for the construction of a multi-purpose room addition as approved in the 2004 Bond Authorization.

TEXTBOOK ISSUE

As a result of student enrollment growth, and the delay and/or lack of funding by the Legislature and textbook orders being placed on hold , many high school subject areas will begin the school year by providing class sets of textbooks to each teacher and not issuing one textbook per student. The exception will be in high school English since the district expects to have enough English textbooks to issue one to each student.

Campus administrators are aware of the concerns from the district and are making the necessary preparations to begin the school year with class sets of textbooks. Each campus will have extra textbooks that may be assigned to those students requesting one for home use. There are several subject areas with adopted textbooks that have either a CD/DVD version of the textbook or access to the textbook via the web. Secondary curriculum coordinators are preparing this information in the event there is a delay in the delivery of the additional textbooks.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

Dr. Anthony stated that he recently participated in his first graduation exercises in CFISD. He told the Board and the general public how proud he was to be a part of this special occasion. The speeches the students gave and their behavior throughout the ceremony were representative of the fine group of graduates. He offered his congratulations to each student and wished them all continuing success as they embark on the next leg of their journey.

He thanked the principals who clearly set expectations that day for their students and the team of Leonard Brautigam, Deborah Stewart, Dave Schrandt and Dave Straughn who spent their holiday weekend making sure every detail was in place for a smooth and memorable commencement.

Summer school registration has ended and elementary and secondary classes are underway. There are a total of 12,662 students taking summer school courses, including those in general education, special education and ESL/Bilingual education programs. The size of the district’s summer school program represents the size of a large school district. This is significant, when thinking about the issues related to a compressed calendar that some legislators are advocating. With a longer summer break, there will be a need for even more students to enroll in summer school in order to prevent the regression that occurs with extended breaks.

The Texas Student Success Initiative requires students to pass selected TAKS tests in order to be eligible for promotion to the next grade.   Currently, third graders are required to pass the TAKS reading assessment to advance to Grade 4, while fifth graders must pass the reading and mathematics assessments to advance to Grade 6.   The third of three testing opportunities will occur on the following dates:

• June 22, 2005 - Grade 5 Math TAKS Retest
• June 23, 2005 - Grades 3 and 5 Reading TAKS Retest

There will also be other opportunities for TAKS and TAAS Exit Level Retesting:

• TAKS Exit level retesting for English language arts, math, social studies, and science will occur on July 12, 13, 14, and 15.
• TAAS Exit level retesting for writing, math, and reading will occur on July 12, 13, and 14.  

Dr. Anthony encouraged   the students, their parents and our teachers as we all work together to help each student demonstrate success on these tests.

The Facilities Planning and Construction department is currently managing a total of 14 construction contracts including major renovations at 23 campuses and 8 support facilities. These projects were funded from both the 2001 and 2004 Bond authorizations and include the following:

• Jersey Village and Cypress Creek High Schools additions/renovations
• Dean and Arnold Middle Schools additions/renovations
• The Food Production Center/Maintenance Center renovations       
• Pridgeon Stadium scoreboard installation
• Adam, Horne Hancock, and Moore PE building additions
• Windfern HS and ALC miscellaneous renovations
• Distribution Center expansion
• Early Learning Center No. 2 miscellaneous renovations
• Multi-purpose room additions at Cy-Springs and Cypress Woods HS
• Bang, Hamilton, Emmott and Owens Elementary Schools miscellaneous renovations
• Barker Cypress Transportation Center & Exhibit Center reroofing
• Bane, Fiest, Hairgrove, Metcalf and Millsap Elementary chain link fencing installation
• Instructional Support Center, Early Learning Center No. 1, Cy-Fair HS/Carlton Center roof    replacements;
• Construction of 19 new portables and relocation of 50 existing portables throughout the district

In addition to these renovation projects, the department is working on the completion of Lee and Danish Elementary Schools and Kahla and Spillane Middle Schools to be ready for opening the new school year in August.   Also, elementary schools #43, #44 and #45 have just started construction for completion in June 2006. Other ongoing construction projects in progress managed by the department include the Educational Support Center and new athletic stadium, and Cypress-Woods HS, which includes the replacement Carlton Center.

Dr. Anthony thanked the Facility Planning and Construction department, Maintenance and Operations, and Purchasing departments along with the campus administrators and staff who are working as a team to get schools ready for students in August.  

The superintendent introduced and welcomed the Facility Planning and Construction department’s newest members, Sonny Fletcher and John Posch, who have joined the district within the last two weeks and will be serving as Project Managers overseeing both new facilities and renovation construction projects.

With summer school underway, there will be two graduation ceremonies held simultaneously on Friday, July 15, 2005 at 7 p.m.   For those students whose home campus is Jersey Village, Cy-Fair, Cypress Creek or Windfern High School, graduation will be held at Cy-Fair High School.   For those students with home campuses at Cy-Falls, Cy-Springs, Cypress Ridge or Langham Creek High School, the graduation ceremony will be held at Cypress Falls High School.

A special-called Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, 2005 for the purpose of approving budget amendments.   The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Board Room at the Instructional Support Center.

And lastly, teachers will return for the new school year Thursday, August 4, 2005 and the first day of classes for students will be Wednesday, August 10, 2005. Dr. Anthony again wished all of our students and staff a safe and restful summer.

AGENDA ITEMS

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

• received a report on legislative issues and the activities of the State Board of Education, Texas School Alliance and the Fast Growth School Coalition;
• received a report summarizing the 2004 TAKS results for grades 3-11, SDAA results for grades 3-8, and a TAAS overview for graduating seniors ;
• received a written report on the revenues generated by the district’s Internet auctions held in October 2004, January 2005 and April 2005;
• nominated Trustee Don Ryan for the Texas Association of School Boards at-large position 4-F;
• approved the Boundary Agreement and Utility Easement with Harris County Fresh Water Supply District No. 52 at Yeager Elementary School;
• approved the list of students for Off-Campus Physical Education, Category I, for the school years 2005-2006 (Fall) through 2007-2008;
• approved the Superintendent’s recommendation for supplementary and extra-duty stipends to be paid in school year 2005-06;
• approved the sale of district surplus furniture and equipment through the district’s surplus Internet auction June-August 2005;
• approved an addendum to its Interlocal Agreement with Harris County for the provision of law enforcement services through Precinct 4 Constables Office, to cover the period of August 8, 2005 through December 31, 2005;
• authorized tax refunds $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and/or the Harris County Education District in the amount of $ 480,526.82;
• approved bids and contracts from recommended vendors for goods and services; and
• approved on second reading revisions to the following policies:

CDA (LOCAL) Other Revenues: Investments

DEC (LOCAL) Compensation and Benefits: Leaves and Absences

GE (LOCAL) Relations with Parent Organizations