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February 2007

RECOGNITIONS

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

• Athletes, coaches and trainers from the Cypress Falls High School football team who advanced to the Class 5A Division II State Finals on Dec. 22, 2006. The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 12-4 record and was the first team in CFISD history to go to the state finals. Led by fourth-year coach David Raffield,who has a 10-3 postseason record, Cypress Falls has advanced to or beyond the regional finals for the last three seasons. The following players from the 2006 team were recognized: Anas Al Qady , Johnny Alexander , Javier Avellan , Lane Bailey , Matthew Baldwin , Eric Bassett , Patric Beard , John Beasley , Daniel Bernal , Jeremy Bibb , Fred Billings , Blake Billings , Jerrod Black , Darius Bolden , Nick Brown , Ross Bruns , Patrick Bun , Jeremy Bybee , Chris Carnicle , Michael Cervenka , Stedmann Coleman , Andrew Contreras , Haris Devic , Drew Diegel , Geoff Dobbin , Ronald Donaldson , Byron Doxey , Matt Eureste , Daniel Evans , Chris Fitzgerald , Jack Freeman, David Gavigan , Mike Gentry , Manuel Geronimo , Garrett Gibbs , Kolby Gray, Matt Hardin , Ty Harvey , Jesse Hernandez , Andrew Higgins , Roger Holland , Kyle Hooks , Marcus Hughes, Brandon Hyslop , John Innes , Matt Ivy , Jeremi Jackson , Nick Jankovsky , Andrew Johnson , David Jones , Shawn Kaltenbach , Andrew Kelley , Randy Lim , Phillip London , Austin Marrs , Zach McDonald , Tyler Miles , Nezar Nabelsi , Troy Napatalung , Jonathan Norris , Hunter Palmer , Wilbert Perro , Jordan Poole , Reggie Robinson , Chris Schoennagel , Daniel Sharpe , Max Smith , Anthony Smith , Justin Speights , Derrick Stephens , Kelton Summers , Darrius Thomas, Shane Turner , Jeff Welch, Denzel Wells , Garret Williams , Xavier Witchet and Jason Woods .The training staff was comprised of Robert Maniscalco and Lesa Brown,assisted by student trainers Brooke Abshire, Amanda Costen, Shannon Crowe, Lanette Francione, Lareigh Francione, Brandon Huber, Austin Hunter, Jana Johnson, Kourtney Lardge, Cynthia Mayer, Trinity Medrano, Shequira Mukes, Sarah Roberson, Keiara Sanders, Keionna Sanders, Jasmine Sneed, Bethany Sweeney, Courtney Warren and Ashley White . Assistant coaches are Kelley Abercrombie, Rick Arnold, Phillip Aguinaga, Chris Brister, Kirk Eaton, Brad Lane, Derek Logback, Carl McCloskey, James Miller, Ricky Mourning, Todd Ringo, Greg Rogers and Todd Thompson . Filmers are Michael Blevins and Sam Woodward .

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

• Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees , for their dedication, leadership and continuing service to the children of the district in honor of Texas School Board Recognition Month. Three speakers from district-affiliated organizations praised the Board and provided gifts as tokens of appreciation: Darcy Mingoia, president of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce, Candy McLaughlin, PTO president, and Yvonne Vukowski, VIPS executive chairman;
• Winners of the Elementary Spelling Bee,held Feb. 6 at the Berry Center, and the Middle School Spelling Bee, held Feb. 7 at the ISC Board Room. Tristan Craig, a third grade student from Hamilton Elementary, won first place . Naren Makkapati, a fourth grade student from Danish Elementary, was the district’s runner up. Craig advances to the Houston Chronicle Regional Spelling Bee March 21. Christie Johnson, an eighth grade student from Watkins Middle School, won the district-wide Middle School Spelling Bee . The runner-up was Sarita Sampath, a seventh grade student from Goodson Middle School. Both Johnson and Sampath will compete in the Chronicle Spelling Bee;
• The 12 grand champion and reserve champion winners at the CFISD Livestock Show and Sale held Feb. 3, an event that included approximately 335 student exhibitors and 480 student projects. The results were as follows: Cy-Fair High School—Kat Wall, grand champion turkey and reserve champion rabbit; Brandyn Borden, grand champion swine; Brandon Stepp , reserve champion turkey; and Ashley Ashmore , reserve champion steer; Cypress Creek High School—Brandt Silvi , grand champion steer; Cypress Ridge High School—Sarah Farris , grand champion broilers; Langham Creek High School — Whitney Walker , reserve champion goat; and Taylor Parinello , reserve champion swine; Jersey Village High School — Jessica Harper , grand champion rabbit; Cypress Falls High School — Greta Monson , reserve champion lamb; Cypress Woods High School — Jessica Hernandez , grand champion lamb; Cypress Springs High School—Chantelle Kisor , grand champion goat; and Sarah Baker , reserve champion broilers. Gross sales for the 2007 auction were $433,200. An additional $85,127 was raised from freezer sales, which, combined with donations, brought the total sales to $600,475—a nearly 25-percent increase from 2006;
• Seven students from the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s School Art Program , held at the Instructional Support Center. The event, which showcases the culture, history and heritage of the west, featured 769 works of art from students in kindergarten through 12th grade. “Best in Show ” awards were given to Morgan Penny of Fiest Elementary , Jasmine Farshchi of Labay Middle School and Austin O’Neal of Cy-Fair High School . Gold medals were awarded to Brittany Petrutsas of Fiest Elementary , Victoria Voigt of Labay Middle School, Patrick Lievsay of Cy-Fair High School and Austin Waylan of Cypress Springs High School . The students’ work will be on display throughout the Rodeo in the Reliant Center, Feb. 10 to March 18;
• Cypress-Fairbanks ISD , which was presented the first annual Partner in Scouting Award by the Boy Scouts of America, Rising Star District. The award was created to recognize organizations that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support and promote Scouting;
• Alexis Ledesma , a seventh-grade student at Goodson Middle School , who won third place out of 1,000 entries in a state writing competition entitled Texas School Safety Conference. Ledesma won $200, a plaque and a trip to Austin;
• Seven district schools who attended the Teen Summit on Race Relations on Jan. 31 at the Berry Center . Total attendance was more than 1,200, including 13 Texas districts, 64 public and nine private schools. More than 200 trained facilitators oversaw the event, including Cypress-Fairbanks ISD’s Mike Stirgus, student advocate, who is the current president of the Inter-ethnic Forum of Houston and Chairman of the Teen Summit Committee;
• Participants in the Houstonfest German Competition , including students from Cypress Creek, Cypress Falls, Cypress Springs, Cy-Fair and Langham Creek, who competed in prose readings, duet acting, vocal solo and many other activities. Students from Cypress Falls, Cypress Springs and Cy-Fair will advance to the Texas State German Competition to be held Feb. 24 in Austin; and
• School athletic teams that have achieved recent successes. In the district swim meet on Jan. 25, Cypress Creek took first place, Cypress Falls was second and Jersey Village was third among varsity boys. In the varsity girls district meet, Langham Creek was first, followed by Cy-Fair and Cypress Creek, respectively. In the regional meet Feb. 3, Cy-Creek was first and Cy-Falls second on the boys’ side. For the girls, Langham Creek took first and Cy-Fair placed third. The district wrestling meet held Feb. 3 yielded Cy-Fair as the boys’ champion, followed by second place Cypress Ridge and third place Langham Creek. For the girls, Cypress Ridge was first, Cy-Fair was second and Cypress Falls placed third. The girls’ basketball playoffsbegan Tuesday, Feb. 13, as the District 17-5A season wrapped up with Cy-Fair in first, Cypress Falls in second and Langham Creek in third.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIGNMENTS AND PROMOTIONS

The administration announced new principals for Adam Elementary, Jowell Elementary and Cook Middle School:

• Elizabeth “Beth” May ,former assistant principal within Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, was assigned as principal to Adam Elementary School;
• Julie Manuel , former teacher and assistant principal within CFISD, was assigned as principal to Jowell Elementary School; and
• Sherma Duck , former associate principal at Langham Creek High School, was assigned as principal to Cook Middle School.

BOND UPDATE

Trustees were provided with a report on the process for developing a bond issue recommendation, with the goal of involving members of the Cypress-Fairbanks community in evaluating the need for and scope of a bond issue. A 75-member Bond Steering Committee will be formed to reflect the geographic and demographic diversity of the district and meet the needs of approximately 115,000 students.

Dr. Ed Hogan will serve as the Steering Committee’s community co-chair while Pam Wells, associate superintendent for general administration, will serve as the co-chair/liaison and non-voting member. Changes in steering committee structure include the committee’s growth by 25 members and three subcommittees—Student Growth, Instructional/Support Facilities and Technology.

The Board received a written report on the operation of the Berry Educational Support Center, which was approved by 84.8 percent of district voters in the December 2001 Bond Referendum. Student educational activities held at the Berry Center have included Advanced Placement testing, i nstructional camps, SAT testing, musical performances, elementary field trips, Student Leadership Conference, Teen Summit and College Night.

PUBLIC HEARING

A public hearing was held on Feb. 8 to discuss the required annual report describing the district’s 2005-06 performance on the Academic Excellence Indicator System. No patrons elected to speak at the hearing.

SUMMER SCHOOL DATES

The Board approved the 2007 summer school plans for elementary, middle school and high school. Elementary summer school will be held at Bang, Jowell, Metcalf, Duryea, Fiest, Gleason, Lee, Moore, Sampson, Willbern and Wilson elementary schools beginning on Monday, June 11, and ending on Friday, June 29.

Truitt and Campbell middle schools were approved for original credit, make-up credit and ESL classes for sixth- to eighth-grade students. High school summer school will be located at Cypress Falls and Cy-Fair high schools for original and make-up credit. The first summer session for original credit for both middle and high school students is scheduled for June 11 through June 29; the second session for original credit is scheduled for Monday, July 9 through Friday, July 27.

The first summer session for make-up credit for both middle and high school students will be held on Thursday, June 14 through Friday, June 29; the second session for make-up credit will be held on Monday, July 9 through Tuesday, July 24. Summer school will not be in session during the week of July 2-6.

ATTENDANCE BOUNDARY CHANGES

The Board unanimously approved Option 11 for middle and high school attendance boundary changes. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD will open Hopper Middle School for the 2007-2008 school year and Cypress Lakes and Cypress Ranch high schools are scheduled to open for the 2008-2009 school year.

Hopper Middle School is located on Fry Road just south of Cypress Springs High School; Cypress Lakes High School is located on Greenhouse Road just north of Kieth Harrow Road; and Cypress Ranch High School will be located on Fry Road just south of Black Horse Ranch.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

Cy-Fair ISD approved fundraising vendors are invited to display their products at the Richard E. Berry Center, located at 8877 Barker Cypress Road at West Road, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the district’s annual Vendors Fair. The PTO Presidents Council Annual Vendors Fair provides an opportunity for booster clubs, sports associations, school supply chairpersons and school spirit chairpersons to view the goods and services that vendors have available.

On Saturday, Feb. 17 , the district will conduct the annual Board Goal-Setting Workshop . The district will provide parents, employees and other citizens in the community with opportunities to provide input on priorities for the district. Input from two hearings regarding the budget will also be considered as the Board makes decisions regarding the District Action Plan for 2007-2008. The workshop is open to the public. It will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 17, and will be held in the Board room at the Instructional Support Center , 10300 Jones Road .

2007 TAKS and SDAA II Testing for district students begins in February, with the first testing day occurring on Feb. 20, the day after President’s Day. When the school calendar was set last year, it was decided that it would be in students’ best interest for them to attend school rather than have a student holiday on President’s Day. According to Dr. Anthony, this would encourage students to be present and prepared for this important assessment.

Testing for students in grades 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11 will occur as follows:

Feb. 20, 2007

• Grades 3, 5 & 9 will take TAKS reading.
• Grades 4 & 7 will take TAKS writing; some students in special education will take the SDAA II in writing as an alternate.
• Grade 10 students will take the TAKS English Language Arts test; some students in special education will take the SDAA II Language Arts test.
• Grade 11 will take the TAKS Exit Level English Language Arts or the alternate test, TAKS – I.

Feb. 21, 2007

• SDAA II Level 9 Reading will be taken by some students in special education in grades 9 and 10.

Feb. 22, 2007

• This day is a make-up testing session for the grade 10 TAKS and SDAA II English Language Arts test.
• TAKS Exit Level retesting for English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies will occur on Feb. 20, 21, 22 and 23.

Dr. Anthony said that these are important tests for all students, and he encouraged parents to help their students get a good night’s rest and have a hearty breakfast. He said he is confident that the students are well-prepared for these state assessments and will do a fantastic job.

February is Black History month, and the district recognized and acknowledged the contributions of Black Americans to the history of the United States. Dr. Anthony said curriculum activities and some cultural arts programs will focus on the influence of Black history and its impact on the diversity of the nation and world.

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 Coaltion activities;
• approved bids and contracts from recommended vendors;
• approved tax refunds of $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and Harris County Education District;
• approved budget amendments for the period of Oct. 1 through Dec. 31;
• approved and submitted to the Commissioner of Education a Request for Maximum Class Size Waiver;
• approved second reading additions, deletions or revisions to the following district policies:
• BDAA (LOCAL) Officers and Officials: Duties and Requirements of Board Officers
• DEC (LOCAL) Compensation and Benefits: Leaves and Absences
• EIAA (LOCAL) Grading/Progress Reports to Parents: Examinations (DELETE)
• approved the construction contract in the amount of $11,506,000 for the construction of Elementary School No. 48 to be located on West Little York;
• approved the construction contract award in the amount of $11,442,000 for the construction of Elementary School No. 49 to be located on Westfield Village Drive ;
• authorized the Superintendent to enter into miscellaneous professional service contracts related to George Hopper Middle School up to the amount of $75,000 for HVAC System Testing and Balance;
• authorized the Superintendent to enter into miscellaneous professional service contracts related to Elementary School No. 49 up to $55,000 for HVAC System Testing and Balance, $50,000 for Roofing Inspections and $40,000 for Material Testing; and
• approved the Superintendent’s contract recommendations for school year 2007-2008 of administrators and non-teaching professionals to (1) renew term contracts; (2) issue one-year term and probationary contracts; (3) not extend existing two-year term contracts; (4) terminate probationary contracts; (5) issue one-year (annual) contracts; (6) non-renew term and one-year (annual) contracts; (7) reclassify current administrators and non-teaching professional staff from contracts as presented in the Administrative Staff Recommendation Book (Feb. 2007); and the Superintendent’s memorandum of Feb. 8.