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RECOGNITIONS

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

• Timothy “Malik” Risher for winning a national award in the READ 180 program. Risher won the Read 180 All Star Award, which was presented to nine student winners nationwide. Students are selected based on overcoming reading challenges to succeed in school;

• Students who won medals in the state UIL One-Act Play competition. Cypress Creek High School student Ethan Grabau, who played John Merrick in Cypress Creek’s one-act play performance of The Elephant Man, received the silver medal for an All Star Cast award; and Cypress Creek student Madison Niederhauser received a bronze medal for his role as Dr. Fredrick Treves. The play was directed by Cypress Creek theatre teachers Marilyn Miller, Marilyn Ocker and Paul Copenhaver; and

• Athletes who placed first and second at the state track and field meet . Cypress Falls High School senior Blake Shaw won the state championship in the 800-meter run, and Jersey Village High School senior Michael Barbas was the state runner-up in the shot put.

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

• The remainder of the Cypress Creek High School cast and crew of Elephant Man, who performed at the UIL One-Act Play competition: seniors Colin Bates, Eric Siebeneich, Katherine Carney, Cameron Forbus, Katie Taylor and Kevyn Eddy; juniors Melissa Williams, Annie Williams and alternate Sierra Morlock; sophomores Danielle Drab, McKenzie Mitchell, Tyler Galindo, Willie Shepherd and Emily Harvey; and freshmen Justin Salinas, Jon Cozart, Lauren Harsany, Brianna Ripkowski and alternates Nat Margolis, Maddie Andraschko, Erin Hanlon and Candace Gooding;

• Leah Stephanow, Government and Street Law teacher at Langham Creek High School,who was chosen to attend the highly prestigious Supreme Court Summer Institute in Washington, D.C. this summer. Only 60 teachers were chosen nationwide for this honor. While in D.C., she will study recent cases of the Supreme Court and will attend a reception at the Courthouse;

• Nine teachers who were named Texas’ winning teachers in the 2008 A+ for Energy Education program by BP America. The teachers will receive a $10,000 grant, an all-expense paid three-day Energy Training Conference, materials for their classrooms valued at $500 and more. CFISD winners are: Devon Savoy, Tavares Armstrong and Miranda Bussey of Cypress Ridge High School for their project “The Interrelation of Aqueous Solutions with Biomass in Our Communities;” Mary Patterson of Hamilton Middle School for her project “We have Potential!;” Carmela Simmons, Susan Williams, Katie Skow and Myrna Cabrera of Millsap Elementary for their project “More Power to You!;” and Jeanetta Mieth of Bang Elementary for her project “The Power of the Storm Goes On.” BP’s program was designed to meet the needs of teachers who want to expand their core curriculum with energy education activities;

• Six students who achieved the level of “Master” by taking and passing all four exams in the Microsoft Office Specialist Series: Cypress Falls High School junior Akash Patel; Jersey Village High School junior Tracey Rogers; Windfern High School senior Audrey Roeder; and Cypress Woods High School juniors Sarah Kennedy, Amanda Howard and Patrick Davis. This certification gives employers a way to measure competencies, and when interviewing, this credential verifies the level of training and skill of an applicant. CFISD had an additional 144 high school students who passed certification exams in one, two or three of the four areas. Furthermore, Cypress Creek High School senior Colton Chojnacki scored a perfect 1,000 on his Cisco Certified Networking Associate exam. The CNA certification verifies his ability to install, configure, operate and troubleshoot medium-size networks. All of these exams are very challenging, even for adults, and are recognized worldwide in the technology industry;

• Two CFISD senior athletes who received awards at the High School Scholar Athlete Awards dinner: Mike Barbas of Jersey Village, who is headed to Duke University, received the award for Male Track/Field and Nneka Ogwumike of Cy-Fair High School, who is headed to Stanford, received the award for Female Basketball Player. In addition, Barbas was named one of 25 winners of the 11th annual “Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year” award program. The Milk Processor Education Program and USA Today sponsor this program and judged their 65,000 nominees on academics, athletics, leadership, community service and an essay. Mike will receive a $7,500 scholarship, a trip to Disney World and his picture will be used in “milk mustache” ads;

• The Cy-Fair High School athletic program, for being recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 25 high school athletic programs in the U.S. Cy-Fair ranked No. 4 in the nation. They cited “Stanford-bound forward Nneka Ogwumike who led the Bobcats to the girls’ state title, Michigan football signee Sam McGuffie and UCLA-bound Jennifer Lamb, Region 5 Girls’ Swimmer of the Year;” and

• CFISD’s UIL state champions, the Cy-Fair High School girls basketball team, Neil Caskey of Cypress Falls High School, Blake Shaw of Cypress Falls and Jessica Nguyen of Cypress Ridge High School, who have all been invited to join Gov. Perry for State Champion Day on June 18 at the State Capitol.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIGNMENTS

The administration reported on the following administrative assignments and/or promotions:

• Darlene Davenport , the lead counselor at Cy-Fair High School, was named the new CFISD director of guidance and counseling. Davenport replaces Sadie Woodard, who is retiring this month.

• Jill Smith , the director of instruction at Truitt Middle School, was named the new principal at Aragon Middle School. Smith replaces Vicki McComas, who was named the new assistant superintendent for secondary school administration in May.

• Jeff LaCoke , the assistant principal at Frazier Elementary School, was named the new principal at Frazier. LaCoke replaces Meredith Perkins, who will relocate to Round Rock ISD this summer.

2008-2009 BUDGET

The Board approved the adoption of the 2008-2009 Budget as presented by the administration. The Budget will include new teachers for student enrollment growth, costs associated with new schools, increases for fuel and utilities, and a step movement for teachers and nurses for the 2008-2009 school year, based on the salary schedule in effect for 2007-2008, net of budget reductions.

BOND UPDATE

The Board approved the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC Blanket Utility Easements to provide electrical service for Jersey Village High School and Post Elementary School.

The Board adopted an order authorizing the issuance of Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District Unlimited Tax Schoolhouse & Refunding Bonds, Series 2008; setting certain parameters for the Bonds; authorizing the superintendent and associate superintendent for business services to approve the amount, the interest rate, price, including terms thereof and certain other procedures and provisions related thereto; authorizing the redemption prior to maturity of certain outstanding bonds; authorizing the advance funding of certain outstanding bonds and the execution and delivery of an escrow agreement and the subscription for and purchase of certain escrowed securities.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District Tax Anticipation Notes, Series 2008; setting certain parameters for the notes; authorizing the superintendent and associate superintendent for business services to approve the amount, the interest rate, price, including terms thereof and certain other procedures and provisions related thereto.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing the substitution of the remarketing agent for the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District Tax Adjustable Rate Bonds, Series 2002B.

The Board approved the 0.6289-acre waterline easement with Harris County MUD No. 157 located at Hopper Middle School (No. 15).

The Board authorized the superintendent or designee to negotiate the final terms and conditions and execute all documents for the Detention Credit Purchase Agreement between Harris County MUD 105, Arete Real Estate and Development Company, Satya, Inc., NW Houston 529, LP (Woodbridge Estates), 135 Settler’s Place, Ltd., Auros Development Services and Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District for a sub-regional storm water detention facility to develop our 179-acre multi-campus site located on FM 529.

The Board authorized the superintendent or designee to negotiate the final terms and conditions and execute all documents for the Cost Sharing Agreement for the Harris County MUD 105 Sub Regional Detention and Impact Assessment between 135 Settler’s Place, Ltd., Satya, Inc. NW Houston 529, LP (Woodbridge Estates) and Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District for a sub-regional storm water detention facility to develop our 179-acre multi-campus site Hegar Tract located on FM 529.

The Board authorized the superintendent or designee to negotiate the final terms and conditions and execute all documents for all agreements with necessary parties and Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District related to the utility and roadway infrastructure development of the 179-acre multi-campus site located on FM 529.

TAKS REPORT

The administration gave a written report on TAKS and other state assessment results for 2008.

Out of the 27 TAKS tests, CFISD students scored equal to the state average in one test and greater than the state average in 26 tests.

Ninety percent of CFISD students met the standard in TAKS Reading versus 87 percent of the state; 82 percent of CFISD students met the TAKS Math standard versus 76 percent of the state; 92 percent of CFISD students met the TAKS Writing standard versus 91 percent of the state; 83 percent of CFISD students met the TAKS Science standard versus 73 percent of the state; and 95 percent of CFISD students met the TAKS Social Studies standard versus 91 percent of the state.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

CFISD’s 5,111 seniors were awarded school diplomas during graduation ceremonies held at the Berry Center. The graduation exercises were broadcast live over Channel 16 and online. Dr. Anthony thanked the members of the Board of Trustees and the many district employees who helped organize, participate and assist at the eight high school ceremonies, and said he was proud of the graduates and wished them every success in their future endeavors.

The enrollment total for this year’s summer school is 10,380 students. That number includes 7,209 at the elementary level (regular education and bilingual/ESL). At the secondary level, 3,171 students are enrolled. This figure includes 1,876 students taking original credit courses, 109 students taking make-up credit and 974 secondary students in special programs. Enrollment in CFISD’s Extended School Year (ESY) summer program is 212 students. Summer school graduation has been scheduled for Aug. 1, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Berry Center.

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-grade students are required to pass the TAKS reading assessment to advance to grade 4, while fifth- and eighth-grade students must pass the reading and mathematics assessments to advance to grades 6 and 9. Testing dates for summer school are:

• Grades 3, 5 and 8 Summer TAKS Retesting
• Grade 5 and 8 Math TAKS Retesting – July 1
• Grade 3, 5 and 8 Reading Retesting – July 2
• Exit-Level TAKS Retesting
• English Language Arts – July 15
• Math – July 16
• Science – July 17
• Social Studies – July 18

These dates are also posted on the district website at www.cfisd.net.

The Facilities Planning and Construction and the Maintenance and Operations departments are currently managing projects at 68 campuses and nine facilities. The Facilities and Planning and Construction department is overseeing the final stages of construction and the Purchasing Department is purchasing equipment for Hemmenway Elementary School (No. 48), M. Robinson Elementary School (No. 49), Cypress Ranch High School (No. 9) and Cypress Lakes High School (No. 10). These new schools will open in August 2008. Construction is underway for Elementary School No. 50 and Middle School No. 16. These two schools will open in August 2009. In addition, these departments will be relocating a total of 62 portable buildings throughout the district. Dr. Anthony thanked the Facilities Planning/Construction, Maintenance, Operations and Purchasing Departments along with the campus administrators and staff who are working as a team to get all CFISD schools ready for students in August.

A special-called meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for June 26, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Board room of the Instructional Support Center at 10300 Jones Road.

AGENDA ITEMS

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

• approved the advanced courses for 2008-2009;
• approved the list of students for Off-Campus Physical Education, Category I, for the school years 2008-2009 (fall) through 2010-2011;
• approved the sale of district vehicles through auctions to be held in June, July and August 2008;
• approved bids and contracts to the recommended vendors;
• approved the tax refunds of $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and/or Harris County Education District;
• approved the list of financial institutions and brokers/dealers eligible to provide investment services to Cypress-Fairbanks ISD;
• approved on second reading additions, deletions or revisions to district policies:
• BBB (LOCAL) BOARD MEMBERS ELECTIONS
• CDA (LOCAL) OTHER REVENUES: Investments
• DCB (LOCAL) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES: Educator Term Contracts
• EED (LOCAL) – INSTRUCTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS: Student Schedules
• EHDD (LOCAL) – EXTENDED INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM: College Course Work/Dual Credit
• FN (LOCAL) STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES;
• canceled the Board meeting scheduled for July 14, 2008;
• approved on first reading additions, deletions or revisions to district policies:
• CI (LOCAL) SCHOOL PROPERTIES DISPOSAL
• DBD (LOCAL) EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS & RESTRICTIONS: Conflict of Interest
• FD (LOCAL) ADMISSIONS
• FEA (LOCAL) ATTENDANCE: Compulsory Attendance
• FNF (LOCAL) STUDENT RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES: Interrogations and Searches;
• 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 Aug. 18, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2008; and
• approved the 2008-2009 Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Student Coade of Conduct.

ADDENDUM

The Board discussed the superintendent’s final formative review evaluation for the 2007-2008 school year.