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Carrollton n Farmers Branch ISD top stories of 2006
1. Legislators look at school finance
After several failed attempts to address the subject of school finance reform, members of the Texas State Legislature met in Austin on April 17 in a special session devoted to finding a new method of financing the state’s schools before a June 1 deadline. The deadline was part of a court ruling in a lawsuit filed by the West Orange-Cove School district and others that alleged the state’s funding system for public education amounted to an illegal state property tax.
Late in 2005, the Texas Supreme Court mandated that the Texas Legislature create adequate “meaningful discretion” for independent school districts and eliminate a de facto statewide property tax.
The plan that was eventually passed reduced property taxes by $15.7 billion and the net tax burden by $6.9 billion over the next three years, raised salaries for all teachers while creating the largest performance pay program in the nation to reward teaching excellence. The legislation also gave Texas a broader, fairer business tax that reflects the state’s diverse economy and is assessed at a low rate.
Perry told citizens he was “proud to sign the plan that will reward teachers and reform our schools, reduce the net tax burden on Texans by nearly $7 billion and improve our tax system so it is fairer because it is broader.” Perry also said he believed the new plan would improve schools and the economy.
House Bill 1 used between $2.4 billion and $8.2 billion of the state’s budget surplus to buy down the property tax rate for maintenance and operations by $17. per $100 valuation. It also allowed local school boards to raise taxes again by an additional three cents without getting voter approval.
House Bill 2 set aside new tax revenue raised from the revised business tax structure, any new tobacco taxes and other new taxes and fees for lowering local property taxes; House Bill 3 requires businesses to pay a tax on their gross receipts, minus the cost of either their payroll, including health benefits, or the cost of the goods they sell; House Bill 4, referred to as the ‘liar’s affidavit,’ will stop the practice of people avoiding sales taxes when they purchase used cars by saying they paid a lower amount for the vehicle than was actually paid.
While taxpayers were grateful for the small relief the new school finance system will provide, not everyone was pleased with the school funding methods passed by the Texas Legislature.
Steven Pool, deputy executive director of the United Educators Association, a group that represents about 14,000 teachers in the North Texas area, said his organization was disappointed with several aspects of the new system.
“What bothers us most is there really isn’t a lot of new funding for the schools and for education,” Poole said. “It appears to me that the legislature has avoided coming up with a permanent fix for the problem of school finance and the other issues facing education in Texas.”
In addition to pay raises for teachers, the legislation also reinstated health benefits for educators that was cut from state funding in 2003.
“The pay raise for teachers is definitely appreciated,” Poole said. “But what got us into this situation of an unconstitutional funding system for our schools will just happen again. This is not a permanent fix.”
Another portion of the school finance reform legislation establishes a common start date for all schools. Under the new legislation, all schools will start during the week in which Aug. 27 falls and there will be no waivers given as there were in the past. Some officials feel this takes away local control and would prefer that schools continue to be allowed to choose their own start dates and apply for waivers.
Taxpayers saw the result of the new legislation when their tax bills arrived in late October. Most saw between a $.14 and $17 decrease in the valuation per $100 on their property taxes.
2. R.L. Turner dealt with students’ deaths
R.L. Turner High School students and faculty dealt with the deaths of two students within a couple of months.
Ninth-grader Jesus Hernandez, 16, died after he was thrown from a car that was traveling 100 mph on Interstate 35E, witnesses said.
Hernandez was a passenger in the back seat of a 1995 Ford Mustang at 11 p.m. on Feb. 7 traveling north on Stemmons Freeway when the driver lost control of the vehicle.
The driver, a 16-year-old Hispanic male, was charged with two felony counts of failure to stoop and render aid and one count of criminally negligent homicide, Dallas police said. The driver could not be identified because he is a minor.
Hernandez was the second R.L. Turner student to die since December 2005 in a traffic accident.
Derek Elizondo, 14, died Dec. 18 as a result of injuries he sustained after being thrown from the back of a truck.
Elizondo was riding in the back with several other students on the way to their athletic field house for seventh period on Dec. 12. The driver lost control of the vehicle and the truck flipped. Elizondo suffered head injuries and later died at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
The driver was charged with one count of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
3. Ninth grade task force put into place
In the 2004-2005 school year almost 32 percent of ninth-graders at Carrollton nFarmers Branch ISD schools failed, which was down about 5 percent from previous years. District officials have found that more students fail ninth grade than any other grade and students are three times more likely to drop out of school if they have to repeat at least one year.
To help the battle from middle to high school C-FBISD started a ninth grade task force during the last school year to find out what the major issues are.
In order to lower the failure rate and make the transition from middle school to the big school, C-FBISD is implementing 10 strategies. The strategies include a support team and courses for students and a parent transition program.
The task force was made of representatives from all high schools, central office and a middle school representative. The group met approximately once a month for six to eight months and 16 students were interviewed.
The students said the things that positively affected their high school experience were better lunches and more freedom, more options, friends and teachers that listen and try to help when they are behind.
Things that negatively affected the students high school experience was the amount of work — when major projects come at one time — and getting bullied by upper classmen.
4. Gov. Perry visits DeWitt Perry Middle School
A handful of students at DeWitt Perry Middle School had a little surprise their first week back from summer vacation.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry stopped at the middle school on Thursday to give a press conference and visit with 10 students.
Once in the building, Gov. Perry held a press conference for local media outlets. During the conference, he talked about the recently approved school finance reform, which gave a break to tax payers by lowering school property tax to $1.33 and giving faculty and staff a raise.
“Parents can rest assured their students are being better equipped as anytime in the state of Texas — schools are being better funded and teachers are being better paid,” Gov. Perry said.
Once the press conference was over, Gov. Perry spent some time with the students chosen to meet with him.
After meeting with the students, the governor walked around the campus.
5. City council approves lights for Creekview
After reviewing written and verbal comments from more than 200 people in February, the Carrollton City Council unanimously approved allowing Creekview High School to install lighting on its baseball and softball fields.
Carrollton n Farmers Branch ISD filed an appeal with the city council after the city Planning and Zoning Commission voted 7-2 to deny the districts first request in early January.
Lights on the baseball and softball fields were approved with the condition that no game will start later then 9 p.m. to keep games lasting late into the night.
The city council had to approve the lighting because they were not originally in the school plans. At the time no other school in C-FBISD or in Creekview’s division had lights. Now all the C-FBISD and Hebron High School, which is part of Lewisville ISD but in Carrollton, have lights for the fields.
Without the lights the teams are forced to play earlier games making it hard for parents to attend the games. The varsity games start at 4 p.m. while junior varsity teams start earlier.
Although neighbors of the high school said they understood the want for later games they were concerned with some of the negative impacts to the neighborhoods, such as the sight of the lights and light shining into backyards.
6. Trustees increase salaries, drop taxes
The Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees approved a raise for teachers and a cut in property taxes.
The final budget for the 2006-2007 school year was approved in August by the C-FBISD board of trustees.
This higher raise is partially due to the passage of House Bill 1. The state gave a salary allotment of $4.9 million for teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses.
Teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses will receive a raise of 2.25 percent plus the state mandated amount of $2,500 or more, depending on the number of contract days. Other employees in the district will receive a 5 percent raise plus $500 from the state. Administrators will receive a 5 percent raise. All raises equal $9.1 million.
The district was able to add 37 positions for the 2006-2007 school year.
The tax rate was lowered by $0.15 per $100 valuation. HB1 lowered the tax rate to $1.33 per $100 valuation and allowed district official to add another $0.04 if needed without getting voter approval. C-FBISD board of trustees decided to only add $0.02 of the $0.04.
Revenue for C-FBISD went up 4.43 percent, or $9.3 million, from the previous year. The district expenditures were also up 2.8 percent, or $6.1 million. This leaves the district with a $3.3 million deficit at the beginning of the 2006-200 school year.
Although the district is looking at a deficit, officials believe it can be made up throughout the year, leaving the district to break even.
The tax base that the district pulls from has seen an increase of 3.84 percent to $13.4 billion dollars. With the general fund tax rate at $1.35 the tax revenue is $177.7 million, which makes up about 81 percent of the districts revenues.
7. District pleased with accountability ratings
Accountability ratings for Texas schools were released in August, leaving Carrollton school officials feeling “ecstatic.”
“We are very pleased,” said Dr. Charles Cole, Assistant Superintendent of Student, Family and Community Services. “The district was recognized and we had growth in almost every subject and several more schools were recognized this year.”
All schools in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD were rated at least academically acceptable with 20 schools recognized and four schools earning the title of exemplary.
While the district is proud of its hard-earned success, they are looking forward and working toward new goals to improve.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Cole said. “We want to at least be recognized again next year which means scores have to go up because the rating standards go up as well,” Cole said. “And we want to be exemplary in the near future.”
In order to accomplish these goals, Cole insists that more emphasis be placed on math and science at an earlier age since these subjects need the most improvement. He also acknowledged the need to focus on students at an economic disadvantage.
According to Cole, the completion rate is up to 95 percent of students graduating or still working on their diploma. With such a high completion rate, the focus becomes getting students to look beyond high school.
Cole credits the leadership of the superintendents, principals and teachers for the success of the schools.
8. High school gains spot in history
A dedication ceremony for a historical marker in front of the oldest school in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District was held in September.
The ceremony for the marker was held in front of DeWitt Perry Middle School, at 1709 Belt Line Road in Carrollton.
DeWitt Clinton Perry and his sister, Harriet Perry Warner, donated land for the original school in 1915. The first school, often referred to as “Old Red,” was a two-story building, with a basement. It was built with brick from the Carrollton Brick Company and opened on January 19, 1916.
Construction on a new Carrollton High School began in December 1935 and the school opened on Sept. 14, 1936.
Though “DeWitt Perry High School” was in stone over the entrance, it was always referred to as Carrollton High School, and diplomas were issued in that name.
The school became DeWitt Perry Junior High School in 1962, when Turner High School was opened. Later, after the school was renamed as a middle school, a new sign was placed in front of the old DeWitt Perry High School sign, which reads, “DeWitt Perry Middle School.”
Prior to 1916, students had attended an unpainted clapboard school at the corner of what is now Belt Line and Erie.
“Old Red” was razed in 1966 to make way for additions to DeWitt Perry Junior High and the Harriet Perry Warner Gymnasium. The original cornerstone for “Old Red” is adjacent to the marker site.
9. WW II veteran given trip to Washington, D.C.
When Bob LaPrade went to a Veterans Day program at Blalack Middle School, he expected to be just another face in the large crowd, or maybe be among the many veterans present to be recognized.
The World War II Navy veteran had no idea that the school was about to give him and his wife a trip to Washington, D.C., complete with two roundtrip airline tickets, three nights in a hotel near the memorials and $600 dollars in spending money.
LaPrade, who will be 86 years old next month, was surprised and thrilled.
“I’m not speechless very often,” he told the standing-room only crowd that packed the gymnasium, “but I am speechless today.”
Blalack teachers, faculty, staff, parents and others in the school district donated a total of about $2,000 to make the trip possible for the LaPrades. Dr. Les Black, principal, made the presentation.
LaPrade is the oldest full-time employee in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. He began as a substitute teacher about 10 years ago and is now an aide in a special education classroom. He has taught at Blalack for seven years.
LaPrade said he first wants to visit Arlington National Cemetery, where several of his former mates are buried, including a colonel who died recently.
He and his wife also plan to visit the World War II Memorial that was opened two years ago.
LaPrade was in the heat of the battle between 1942 and 1945, and helped command a ship that shot down enemy planes in both broad daylight and at night.
10. WHO Foundation gives grant to Katrina kids
The Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District Educational Foundation recently received a $36,000 grant from the Women Helping Others Foundation and BeautiControl Inc. This grant provided 360 returning Katrina students with school supplies and appropriate clothes in the form of a $100 voucher. These vouchers were redeemable at the Wal-Mart located at Trinity Mills in Carrollton.
“We want each of these kids to be prepared for school,” said Kayla Adams, executive director of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Educational Foundation.
According to Adams, not much is heard about the Katrina victims anymore and they want to make sure that “the kids and parents who have been displaced know they haven’t been forgotten.”
Wal-Mart committed to making a donation to the school district’s educational foundation in addition to redeeming the vouchers.
“We are so proud that the district chose our store to partner with. We are always proud to support the school district in any way we can,” Doris Browning, Wal-Mart store manager said in a press release.
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