BISD Board position open
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

The Brownsboro ISD school board had over a dozen items on its agenda Sept. 10. The points ranged from filling positions to the district's compliance with federal regulations.

The meeting started off with a summary of its finances, then moved right on to the recognition of Wanda Nichols, the Chandler and Brownsboro Statesman's former editor.

Joel Irwin, a board member, said Nichols has been a welcome part of the BISD community. Nichols was awarded a plaque.

School Superintendent Elton Caldwell said the plaque Nichols was given recognized the news coverage she provided.

The discussion then turned to the topic of field trips. Students in the district's Gifted and Talented program had a request approved for special overnight field trips. A fully detailed field trip schedule was unavailable at the time of this writing, but plans are made for the program's fourth graders to go to NASA, and for students in the first grade to visit the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

The board also took a look at the needs for additional teachers as dictated by the current student-to-teacher ratio in the dis- trict. It was noted that Chandler Intermediate's 4th grade class is two students over the 22-1 student-to-teacher regulation; an additional teacher will be hired.

A date was set for the discussion of the distribution of a public Financial Management Report and the district's Financial Rating. Oct. 8 is the date of the hearing. In addition, the district's Financial Audit for the year has closed, and BISD must now wait to find out the results.

Vickie York, assistant superintendent, addressed the board concerning the school district's ability to meet accountability guidelines and Adequate Yearly Progress requirements.

"We're concerned about special education reading," York said to the board. "Special ed scored a 66%, which is six over the standard state level."

The AYP requirements must be met in all fields. For example, York said a school will not meet AYP reading if a single student group fails the reading tests by even a single point, no matter how well the other groups do. Special Ed reading is only a few points away from a problem, and is thus a concern.

A point York stressed in going over the accountability ratings is that BISD has more targets to meet than other schools. Targets correlate to demographic groups such as Hispanic students, Caucasian students and Special Ed students.

York then went on to elaborate on the school's emergency operations, its standard operating procedures.

"The new one is more practical," York said of the school's operations manual. The manual covers everything from severe weather to bomb threats, and what to do in those situations.

The district's auditorium will receive a new booth for sound and light settings; the booth will cost around $29,000 and the plans were approved Monday.

Kevin McCarthy, executive director of operations, addressed the board concerning projects he had overseen. An object of note was the request for a new backup generator for emergencies.

Sandwiched between the new booth and an update on the maintenance department's projects was the forming of an attendance committee to conduct hearings on circumstances for poor attendance.

Finally, the board unanimously approved the decision to elect a replacement for the vacant board position by appointment. The vacancy on the Board of Trustees is due to a resignation.

Any interested in the position should contact Elton Caldwell or Elaine Goode, secretary to the superintendent. Applications will be accepted through Friday, September 28 at 3:30 pm.