Hays CISD June Board Briefs

June Board Briefs: www.hayscisd.net/bb150622

 

Board Elects New Officers; Swears In Members

June heralded a number of changes for the Hays CISD Board of Trustees. In early June, Holly Raymond and Bert Bronaugh, Jr. were sworn-in for their second terms. Raymond has served on the Board continuously since 2012. Bronaugh served on the Board from 2009 to 2012 and was re-elected in 2015 following former Board President Robert Limon’s decision not to seek reelection. Following each election cycle of the Board, which occurs annually in May, the Board votes to reorganize itself and chooses new officers. By unanimous decision, the new officers for the 2015-2016 school year are: Merideth Keller, president; Sandra Bryant, vice president; Teresa Tobias, secretary.

June heralded a number of changes for the Hays CISD Board of Trustees. In early June, Holly Raymond and Bert Bronaugh, Jr. were sworn-in for their second terms. Raymond has served on the Board continuously since 2012. Bronaugh served on the Board from 2009 to 2012 and was re-elected in 2015 following former Board President Robert Limon’s decision not to seek reelection. Following each election cycle of the Board, which occurs annually in May, the Board votes to reorganize itself and chooses new officers. By unanimous decision, the new officers for the 2015-2016 school year are: Merideth Keller, president; Sandra Bryant, vice president; Teresa Tobias, secretary.

 

Compensation Plan Adopted; Hays is Competitive

The Board of Trustees approved a compensation plan for next school year that positions Hays CISD to compete for the most talented educators in Central Texas. In previous years, Hays CISD has ranked near the bottom of the list in terms of salary and compensation for Austin-area school districts. The 2015-2016 compensation plan is a culmination of more than a year’s worth of work to bring the district’s pay schedules and scales to market value and to ensure employees are properly compensated within those scales for years of experience. The 2015-2016 budget includes $5.8 million for raises (4.6% for teachers, nurses, and librarians; 3.9% for counselors; and 2% for all other full-time permanent employees) and an additional $192 a year for health insurance premiums per covered employee to accommodate premium increases.

Read the full compensation plan online.

Budget Update: New Teacher Starting Salary $43,700

The Board continues important work on the budget. In June they adopted a new teacher starting salary at $43,700. The Board is expected to adopt the 2015-2016 tax rate and the final budget in August.

Follow and participate in the budget process online.

Welcome New Principals!

Hays CISD is excited to announce new principals who had contracts approved by the Board in June for the 2015-2016 school year. These principals were selected, in part, based upon customized principal profiles developed after meetings with campus teachers, and in some cases focus groups involving other stakeholders.

 

Blanco Vista Elementary – Sandra Valdez

Sandra Valdez has enjoyed a successful career in education for more than 15 years. She began in 1999 serving as a pre-K, kindergarten, and 4th grade bilingual teacher for Socorro Independent School District. Her tenure also included several leadership positions in the bilingual department, such as: bilingual/LPAC coordinator, bilingual department budget chairperson, tutoring coordinator, and mentor teacher. After earning her Master’s in Education Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso, Valdez began her role as an educational leader with the Canutillo ISD.  There, she served as an elementary and middle school assistant principal. Most recently, she was the principal of Jose Damian Elementary School. As principal, Valdez led Jose Damian Elementary to exceed STAAR state standards and received ‘Met Standard’ accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2013 and 2014. Most impressively, the campus received distinction designations in 2014 for ‘Top 25% Student Progress,’ ‘Top 25% Closing Achievement Gaps,’ and ‘Academic Achievement in Mathematics and Science.’

 

Hemphill Elementary – Dr. Tracie Robinson

Dr. Tracie Robinson’s career in education spans nearly two decades. She brings with her to Hays CISD much valuable experience. She began as a special education teacher with the Harris County Department of Education. At the Houston Independent School District she was an English/Language Arts teacher. In 2001, Dr. Robinson was promoted to an assistant principal in Alief ISD. Since 2010, while in Spring ISD, she served as a principal and, most recently, a program administrator. In addition to holding bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Houston, she earned her Doctorate of Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Robinson belongs to several professional organizations and has been invited to present at a number of conferences. In recent years, she has presented “Monitoring It All: How to Organize the Campus for Improvement” at the Texas Elementary School Principals Association conference and “Organizational Transformation through Leadership” at the Texas Association of School Administrators conference.

 

 

Kyle Elementary – Karen Lucita

Karen Lucita has worked for the district her entire education career that spans nearly two decades. In fact, it was at Kyle Elementary School where she began as a student teacher and long-term substitute in 1997, the year she earned her bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University and her Texas teacher certification.   Through the years, Lucita has worked as a teacher, a curriculum and technology leader, and district administrator. As a teacher, Lucita served at Kyle and Fuentes Elementary Schools, and at then Dahlstrom Intermediate School. She has also served as a campus technologist, instructional strategist, and eventually the assistant principal at Tobias Elementary School. She was the district’s summer school principal in 2010 and 2011. Most recently, Lucita was the assistant principal of Negley Elementary School before accepting the assignment at Kyle Elementary School earlier this year. In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree, she has earned a Master of Arts in Education Administration from Texas State University.

 

 

Simon Middle School – Dr. Jose Arturo Puga

 

Dr. Jose Arturo Puga’s career in education spans a quarter of a century. He began as a sixth grade language arts and bilingual teacher with the Los Fresnos Independent School District in Los Fresnos, Texas. Aside from his tenure in Los Fresnos ISD and a brief period of service as an assistant principal at an early childhood center in Progreso ISD, Dr. Puga spent most of his career with Brownsville ISD. There, he served as a high school academic counselor, an assistant principal at all levels, and most recently a middle school principal. Dr. Puga describes himself as an innovative, forward thinking educator with a track record of success. He is experienced in creating a stimulating and challenging learning environment conducive to the highest level of achievement. In addition to holding two bachelor’s and two master’s degrees, he earned his Doctorate in Education, with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction and bilingual education, from Texas A & M University in Kingsville.  Dr. Puga is also a retired captain in the United States Army Reserve who served for more than 20 years, including time in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom.

 

The Board also approved the hiring of Thad Gittens from Spring ISD who brings with him 18 years of experience as an educator and instructional leader to serve as principal of the district’s sixth middle school. That campus won’t open until August 2016. The Board of Trustees will appoint committees this fall to recommend campus boundaries and a name for the school.

 

The district is still engaged in the hiring process for the new principal at Negley Elementary School. The announcement of the selection for the position is expected this summer.  

 

Trustee Tenorio Earns Master Status

Willie Tenorio, school board trustee from Hays CISD, has earned the highest designation recognized by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) by graduating as a member of the Leadership TASB Class of 2015 and earning the status of Master Trustee.

 

Tenorio joined 33 other school board members from across Texas this past year participating in a yearlong education leadership study program. The program sessions featured nationally recognized experts in the fields of leadership development and education. Teams also work throughout the year on extended learning assignments between meetings.

 

Created in 1993, Leadership TASB has more than 700 graduates to date. The current class was sponsored in part by H-E-B. TASB is a voluntary, nonprofit association established in 1949 to serve local Texas school districts. School board members are the largest group of publicly elected officials in the state. The districts they represent serve approximately five million public school students.

The Board chose in June to recognized all of the people of Hays CISD who have assisted with flood recovery efforts. The recognition was symbolic and presented for the record.

“Tonight we recognize the efforts, assistance, compassion, and generosity of the people who live in our school district and our communities,” said Board President Merideth Keller. “The flooding during the Memorial Day weekend was as devastating for our area as it was historic in scope. We saw, and continue to see, incredible acts of kindness following this terrible disaster.”

At least three Hays CISD employees lost their homes in the flooding. In just days following the tragedy, Hays CISD parents, employees, and community members raised more than $56,000 for the three employees to help them begin to rebuild their lives. In addition to the financial help, many schools and facilities served as food bank drop off locations and staging areas for first responders. District student groups have also worked to physically clean up flooded areas.

Top photo: Members of Lehman High School Lobos athletics teams help clean up flood damage. Bottom photo: Members of Hays High School Rebels athletics teams joined the flood clean up efforts.  

 

Board Recognizes Instructional Coaches & Content Coordinators

The Board recognized eight Hays CISD instructional coaches and content coordinators for their work with the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) on the “iTunes U” project. Beginning in late 2012, TASA engaged teachers from across the state in a project to transform the teaching and learning process by developing interactive, online content for teachers. The content – created by teachers for teachers – is fostering creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking skills in an engaging, digitally rich learning environment. Because of the efforts of the Hays CISD teachers who participated in this year’s expansion of the iTunes U library, an additional 16 professional development courses were added, bringing the total course offering to 59. School Districts, campuses, and educators across Texas are benefitting from the work of our superstar instructional leaders!

Board Secretary Teresa Tobias made the presentation to the honorees. Chief Academic Officer Kim Pool and Executive Director of Learning and Teaching Yarda Leflet assisted with the presentation. The honorees are: Allison Gillentine, Lenicia Gordon, Tim Jacobson, Brooke Lucio, Krista Milan, Janet Patterson, Rob Cheshire, and Tania Dymkowski.

2015 – 2016 Calendar Revised

By unanimous vote, the Board revised the previously adopted 2015-2016 school calendar by moving the second inclement weather make up day that had been scheduled on Memorial Day 2016 to the day after the last day of classes. In recent years, the district has used various inclement weather make up days including the Friday before Easter, Memorial Day, and days at the end of the school year. Each has merits and disadvantages that differ for everyone in the district.  Recognizing there is no good day to make up for bad weather, the administration asked parents and staff to participate in a survey to identify which days they would most prefer to use as inclement weather make up days. The survey, with 1,483 responses, showed two clear preferences for weather make up days. Seventy-one percent (1,056) of respondents wanted to add one day to the end of the school year. Fifty-four percent (807) of respondents wanted to use President’s Day. The next choices in descending order were: second day at the end of the school year (35%/523), the Friday before Easter (23%/348), Memorial Day (10%/150), shorten spring break by one day (4%/65), and shorten spring break by a second day (1%/17).

See the revised 2015-2016 Hays CISD Academic Calendar online.

 

Academic, Instructional, and Program Presentations Fill Agenda

 

Much of the Board’s meeting time in June was filled with informative presentations on a number of programs and initiatives underway in the district. Members heard presentations on: the Hays CISD Education Foundation, preliminary testing data, the results of the annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the annual evaluation of the bilingual program, the annual evaluation of the gifted and talented program, the annual evaluation of the career and technical education program, the regular finance and tax collections report, an update on the district’s counseling model, and the district’s response to intervention plan.  

 

Impact Center to Get Library and Counseling Space

The Board approved the purchase of a two-classroom portable building for the district’s Impact Center. The campus will use the space to expand services for students who are assigned to the center. One side of the portable will be used for an expanded library. The other side will serve as a counseling center. The building will cost about $106,000.

See the blueprints of the portable building online.

 

FY2016 Audit Plan Adopted

The plan for fiscal year 2016 is for Gibson Consulting Group, Inc. to conduct a follow-up audit of the Academic Program Management Audit and an audit of facilities management and operations. Hays CISD uses internal audits to safeguard assets, ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and to monitor efficient use of resources and the achievement of program objectives. The 2015-16 budget includes $115,000 for internal audits.

 

Additional Items Roundup

 

In June, the Board also: contracted for electrical and water service at the Middle School #6 site, renewed the contract with Texas State University for assistant athletic trainers; renewed the cooperative agreement between the district and the teacher fellows program at Texas State University, and adopted its 2015-2016 school board meeting calendar.

 

Student enrollment in Hays CISD at the time of publication is: SUMMER (No Count) 

Board Briefs is a publication of the Hays CISD Public Information Office: Tim Savoy, Public Information Officer; Angie Mendez, Director of Community Relations; Linda Rosebrock, Webmaster; Christina Courson, Communication Specialist (Customer Service); Jim Cullen, District Photographer; Esther Leal, Admin. Assistant.

 

This newsletter does not constitute official minutes of the meetings of the Hays CISD Board of Trustees. Official meeting minutes are published after the Board approves them, which is typically one month following the meeting.