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RECOGNITIONS

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

• Students from Cypress Creek High School, for assisting a bus driver during an emergency situation on the way to school Nov. 19, 2008. Students Keele Maynard, Lawrence Fitzgerald, Willie West and Myra Wright were alert and witnessed bus driver Melissa Garcia displaying difficulty breathing, and stepped up to help and assist; and
• Cypress Ridge High School quarterback Russell Shepard, for being selected as the 5A Texas Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

In honor of Texas School Board Recognition Month, Dr. David Anthony, superintendent of schools, recognized the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Board of Trustees for their dedication, leadership and continuing service to the children of the district.

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

• Cypress Springs High School Panteras dance instructor Sally Provenzano, for being named Director of the Year by the Texas Dance Educators Association at their banquet on Friday, Jan. 9. The honor is bestowed on an educator with five or more years of service who exemplifies the philosophy, ethics and standards of the TDEA;
• Cypress Falls High School English teacher Kausam Salam, for winning the Outstanding Educator in English Language Arts award from the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts. She will be recognized at the TCTELA conference at the end of the month;
• Sixteen CFISD senior football players, who have been selected to the Texas High School Coaches Association 2008-2009 Academic All-State Football Team, based on GPA, class rank and SAT or ACT scores. The players are: Elite Team – Matthew Mitchell, Cy-Fair High School; First Team – Wesley Ryan and Robert Slatton, Cy-Fair High School; Da’Marcus Baymon, Cypress Creek High School; Lance Siragusa, Jersey Village High School; and Cole Heffernan, Langham Creek High School; Second Team – Stefan Galabaza, Cy-Fair High School; Kyle Harlan, Cypress Creek High School; Ryan Bott and David Polansky, Cypress Springs High School; and Jonathan Baubie and Robert Ottman, Jersey Village High School; and
• Cypress Woods High School tennis coach Tim Calhoun, for being named president of the Texas Tennis Coaches Association. Calhoun has held office in the organization since 1995, and will now serve as president for two years.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSIGNMENTS

Karen Smith was named the new CFISD controller, a position she took over at the beginning of the year. As the controller, Smith will provide direction and supervision for accounting, budgeting and accounts payable. She will also act as a resource for principals, division heads and directors in understanding and using the financial operations of the district.

MEETING DATE CHANGES

The Board approved modifying upcoming dates for Board Goal-setting, Committee-of-the-Whole and regularly scheduled meetings:

• the date of the Goal-setting workshop was changed from Feb. 28 to June 11, 2009 ;
• the June 4, 2009 Committee-of-the-Whole meeting was canceled; and
• the June 8, 2009 formal Board meeting was rescheduled to June 15, 2009 .

BOND UPDATE

The Board approved recommendations for elementary attendance boundary changes, including recommendations for student transfers, related to the opening of Swenke Elementary School for the 2009-2010 school year.

The Board approved recommendations for middle school attendance boundary changes, including recommendations for student transfers, related to the opening of Smith Middle School for the 2009-2010 school year.

The Board approved the contract award for the construction of Elementary School No. 51 to be located at Round Robin Drive and Plantation Myrtles Drive. The contract was awarded to Drymalla Construction, Inc. in the amount of $12,075,000, as recommended by PBK Architects and district staff.

The Board authorized the superintendent or designee to enter into miscellaneous professional service contracts related to Elementary School No. 51 up to the amounts listed below:

• HVAC System Testing and Balance: up to $60,000
• Material Testing Services: up to $50,000
• Roof Inspection Services: up to $50,000

The Board approved the site, architect and completion date for Middle School No. 17. The school will be located on Fairfield Place Drive in the Fairfield community and be designed by SHW Group LLP, with an opening date of 2011. The school will be funded by the 2007 Bond and provide enrollment relief for Aragon, Goodson, Hamilton and Spillane middle schools.

The Board approved the CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC Blanket Utility Easement to provide electrical service for Smith Middle School (No. 16).

The Board approved the 0.0137-acre Sanitary Sewer Force Main Easement with Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 105 for utility services to the 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 a Temporary Construction Easement for Harris County for the purpose of providing a construction work area for facilitating the existing driveway tie-in to the new roadway on Skinner Road for the 182-acre multi-campus site located at Skinner, Jarvis and Spring Cypress roads.

The Board approved a second amendment to the Water Supply and Waste Disposal Agreement between Cypress Creek Utility District and Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District for utility services to Cypress Creek High School, Bleyl Middle School and Matzke Elementary School and authorized the Superintendent or Designee to negotiate the final terms and execute all documents.

The Board authorized the superintendent or designee to negotiate the final terms and conditions and execute all documents for a Temporary Right of Entry Agreement between Harris County Precinct 3 and Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District for the construction of a concrete sidewalk along West Road and the east driveway at Aragon Middle School.

CENTERPOINT ENERGY SCORE PROGRAM

Representatives from the CenterPoint Energy Schools Conserving Resources (SCORE) Program presented CFISD with an incentive check for $155,788.50 for its energy efficiency. CenterPoint Energy pays incentives at the rate of $185 per peak kilowatt of energy saved. The savings resulted from efficient lighting design and high efficiency chiller selection at the four new schools and replacement of less-efficient chillers during renovation of existing facilities.

SUPERINTENDENT’S BRIEFING

January is designated as National Mentoring Month. This month-long outreach campaign focuses national attention on the need for mentors—whether individuals, businesses, schools or nonprofit corporations—to work together to mentor young people. National Mentoring Month 2009 spotlights the needs of young people and how mentors make a difference in their lives as they help the students with their personal and academic development to achieve improved grades, self-confidence, attendance and also graduate having improved their relationships with parents, teachers and peers. The district presently has approximately 1,000 volunteers, but since the district has more than 100,900 students, the challenges and opportunities are on-going.

Those who would like to become mentors can call Pam Scott in the Partners in Education office at 281-894-3950. The district appreciates Cy-Fair ISD mentors forembracing this year’s slogan: “Make a Difference, Mentor a Child.”

The 15th annual Cypress-Fairbanks School District Livestock Show and Sale will be held Jan. 29 – Jan. 31, 2009 at the Exhibit Center, located at 11206 Telge Road. Approximately 385 student exhibitors and 550 student projects will be exhibited and judged. A flyer is also available on our website showing the times and designated animals for the livestock judging on Jan. 29-30 at the Exhibit Center. The buyers’ luncheon will be held on Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. at Arnold Middle School, and the premium auction will be held at 1 p.m. at the Exhibit Center. Everyone is invited to attend and support CFISD students who have been working diligently for months in preparation for the show and sale.

The Houston Hispanic Forum (HHF) has extended an invitation to our district to attend the 23rd annual Career and Education Day (CED) to be held on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. CED provides scholarship opportunities to students who do not fall within the upper 10 percent of their graduating class, yet who have a financial need in the pursuit of higher education goals. Students, with and without disabilities, will be able to benefit from the day’s vast array of resources assembled in one area.

Dr. Anthony congratulated students who were named Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District 2008-2009 National Merit Scholars. Students from all CFISD high schools and their family members attended a special-called Board meeting on Monday, Jan. 12 and were recognized for their achievement of academic excellence by the Board of Trustees.

The National Merit ceremony will rebroadcast throughout January on CFTV Channel 16 on the following days and times: Mondays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 9 a.m., Fridays at 10 a.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 9 p.m. The entire program can also be viewed on the district website at www.cfisd.net .

The Cy-Fair Educational Foundation will host Salute to Our Heroes on Saturday, Feb. 7 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Northwest Forest Conference Center,12715 Telge Road, inCypress. Salute to our Heroes will honor the brave men and women who have served to preserve our freedom and liberty. Proceeds from this event will create an endowment in the memory of fallen soldiers, enabling graduating students from Cy-Fair ISD to attend college. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact: Marie Holmes or Lauren Starkey at the Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, at 832-381-2333 or www.thecfef.org.

AGENDA ITEMS

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

• approved bids and contracts to the recommended vendors;
• approved the list of students for Off-Campus Physical Education, Category I, for the school years 2008-2009 (spring) through 2010-2011;
• approved tax refunds of $500 or greater for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and/or Harris County Education District;
• renewed an Interlocal Agreement with Harris County to provide district facilities to Harris County for use in dispensing medications and/or providing immunizations to large numbers of people in the event of a public health emergency;
• approved on second reading additions, deletions or revisions to district policies:
• FFC (LOCAL) STUDENT WELFARE: Student Support Services;
• approved the 2009-2010 Official Board Meeting Calendar; and
• upheld the Level II decision denying an employee grievance filed by the secretary to Coordinator of Attendance Officer against the Director of Admissions, Attendance and Transfers.

ADDENDUM