The Texas Education Agency announced Friday, Sept. 12 that Birdville ISD received a rating of “Superior Achievement” under Texas’ Schools FIRST financial accountability rating system. The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest, demonstrating the quality of BISD’s financial management and reporting system.

The 2013-14 rating is based on data from the 2012-13 fiscal year. Birdville ISD received 70 out of 70 possible points on 20 indicators. The District has received a superior rating every year since the inception of the program 13 years ago. The rating system was established through the 76th Texas Legislature in 1999 to measure the performance of school districts’ financial resources. The rating system consists of the following objectives to …

• Assess the quality of financial management in Texas public schools;
• Measure and report the extent to which financial resources are allocated for direct instructional purposes;
• Fairly evaluate the quality of financial management decisions; and
• Openly report results to the general public.

Birdville ISD will hold a public hearing on the FIRST rating at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at the BISD Administration Building.

“In 2014, the Texas Comptroller honored BISD with the Leadership Circle Platinum Award, which is the state’s highest award, for financial transparency,” Superintendent Dr. Darrell G. Brown said. “The Board is committed to continue a high level of transparency, which includes measures to ensure taxpayer trust.”

On Aug. 14, Birdville ISD’s Board of Trustees unanimously called for a bond election to be held as part of the general election on November 4. BISD voters are being asked to consider a $163.2 million bond program that was developed with extensive community input by a diverse group of citizens from all parts of the district. The program approved by the Board includes safety and security upgrades at every campus; science lab renovations/upgrades; rebuilding North Richland Middle School, The Academy at West Birdville Elementary School and Birdville Elementary School; renovations and upgrades to facilities across the district; and technology upgrades to address instructional requirements and obsolete equipment districtwide.

The Board also embraced several best practices for the impending November 4 bond election. These procedures are intended to ensure greater transparency, higher standards of disclosure, and fair polling practices. This comes after consulting with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Secretary of State, elected officials and community groups.

“We are pleased to take a leadership position and continue our commitment for transparency to our taxpayers,” said Board President Cary D. Hancock. “The District is addressing needed solutions while being prudent, as our community justifiably desires.”

As part of the best practices embraced by the Board, BISD will maintain their standard of not issuing bonds for items past their projected useful life. This ensures BISD will continue to repay bonds for items such as technology in five years or less. It has long been BISD’s practice to repay all other bonds in 25 years or less. In addition, BISD does not plan to issue Capital Appreciation Bonds.

As part of the embraced practices, methods used for early voting locations will also change. The District will not offer branch or “rolling” polling. Only early voting locations provided by the County will be available to voters. During early voting, BISD voters can vote at any early voting location in Tarrant County. However, on Election Day, voters can only vote at their designated precinct.

To learn more about the upcoming bond election, visit www.BISDbond14.net.

Today, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced the 2014 district and school accountability ratings under the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests. Birdville ISD and all 31 district campuses earned a rating of Met Standard, the highest rating available in this second year of the newly revised state accountability system.

“I am proud that the district and every campus earned a Met Standard rating under the state’s new and more rigorous testing system again this year,” Superintendent Darrell Brown said. “I believe this is a reflection of the continued hard work of our students and staff. Congratulations to the students, staff and community.”

To receive a Met Standard rating, the district and elementary and middle schools had to meet target scores in four indexes, while high schools were evaluated only on indexes 1, 3 and 4.

• Index 1 – Student Achievement, evaluates performance on STAAR across all subjects and all student groups at the satisfactory performance standard.
• Index 2 – Student Progress, evaluates the academic growth of students in reading and math from 10 student groups, including seven race/ethnicity groups, English language learners and special education students.
• Index 3 – Closing Performance Gaps, evaluates two levels of performance of students who are economically disadvantaged and, as applicable, students from the two lowest performing race/ethnicity groups from the prior year.
• Index 4 – Postsecondary Readiness, evaluates student performance in all tested grade levels against standards to be in place in 2016 (Level II final). High schools and districts are also evaluated on graduation rates, the percentage of students graduating on Recommended and Distinguished/Advanced plans, and on a postsecondary readiness indicator based on TAKS performance.

Additional distinction designations were also awarded in 2014 to campuses in seven areas: academic achievement in reading/ELA, academic achievement in mathematics, academic achievement in science, academic achievement in social studies, top 25 percent in student progress, top 25 percent in closing performance gaps, and postsecondary readiness. Distinctions are based on comparisons between individual schools and a 40-campus group with similar student demographics. Overall, 26 of the 31 BISD campuses received at least one distinction and two campuses received the maximum possible: Foster Village and Green Valley elementary schools. A total of 77 distinctions were awarded to campuses across the district, up from 36 in 2013.

Additional academic highlights from 2014 include:

• BISD STAAR scores exceeded the state average in every subject area in grades 3-8, with the exception of one area.
• Third-grade students exceeded the state average on the STAAR math test by seven percentage points and by six percentage points on the reading test.
• Fourth-grade students exceeded the state average on the STAAR math and reading test by four percentage points and by three percentage points on the writing test.
• Fifth-grade students scored four percentage points above the state average on the math test and seven percentage points above the state average on the reading and science tests.
• Sixth- and seventh-grade students exceeded or equaled the state in all areas, except in sixth-grade reading, where they were one percentage point below.
• Students taking the eighth-grade math test exceeded the state average on the STAAR math test by 10 percentage points.
• Eighth-grade students also exceeded the state average on the STAAR reading and social studies tests by four percentage points and the science test by six percentage points.

August 2014

Where has summer gone? It is hard to believe the 2014-15 school year is just around the corner. BISD staff have been busy all summer preparing for the return of students on Monday, August 25.

This summer, BISD’s Board of Trustees approved a new strategic plan for the district. This plan was developed by a Strategic Planning Team comprised of 36 individuals—one Board member, 14 administrators, three teachers, one paraprofessional, five parents, five community members and seven students.

As a result of the Planning Team’s work, the Board approved a strategic plan, which includes a new mission statement for Birdville ISD. The statement says,

“The mission of Birdville ISD is to ensure that all students position themselves to excel with integrity in an ever-changing global society through innovative and responsive learning environments.”

This is the mission and foundation for all we do. For the good of all our children, I hope the entire BISD community will come alongside the staff and Board of Trustees in this work.

In addition to the district’s new strategic plan, the Board is also preparing to call for a bond proposal to be placed on the November 4 ballot. This bond proposal will address the following:

• Safety & Security Upgrades;
• Science Lab Upgrades;
• Technology Upgrades;
• Renovations & Facilities Upgrades; and
• Rebuilding (Birdville Elementary, Academy at West Birdville [elementary] and North Richland Middle School).

I hope you will review the details of the new strategic plan and proposed bond program on the district’s website at birdvilleschools.net.

Don’t forget that school begins Monday, August 25. Drive safely, and remember, don’t text and drive!

Darrell G. Brown, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Birdville ISD

July 2014

On June 12, a diverse group of BISD citizens presented a plan to the Board of Trustees to address ever-increasing facilities needs across Birdville ISD. This plan represents hundreds of hours of evaluating facilities in BISD.

Kristin Wheeler, Bond Planning Committee member, told Trustees, “The message you continue to hear from this Committee is, ‘This is a financially prudent package. It gets us moving in the right direction—a direction we must continue to follow and with great conviction, commit to continue. Why? Because it is what is right for our children.’”

Why was the Committee’s message so strong? It is because they quickly came to realize that doing nothing to our facilities means,

• Our financial resources will suffer;
• Our facilities will continue to suffer;
• Our staff will continue to suffer;
• Our communities will suffer;
• Our business community will continue to suffer; and
• Most importantly, current and future generations of students will suffer due to limited services we will be able to provide.

The plan being recommended to the Board from the Bond Planning Committee is:

• Rebuild North Richland Middle School;
• Rebuild The Academy at West Birdville and Birdville Elementary School;
• Provide for safe and secure science labs;
• Enhance safety and security;
• Provide for technology needs;
• Improve facility equity among our high schools; and
• Address critical renovation needs throughout the district.

The Committee made some bold steps in their recommendation to the Board.

At this time, the Board of Trustees is reviewing the plan which positively impacts every campus and every student. BISD has done a lot with a little for many years, but now is the time to move forward.

A copy of the Committee’s final report to the Board is available at http://tinyurl.com/l4r3grg. The Committee’s recorded presentation to the Board is available at http://youtu.be/_gJlaVm8usY.

I hope you will review the details of the recommendation on the district’s website at birdvilleschools.net and support your fellow citizens’ efforts to do what is right for current and future generations of Birdville ISD students.

Darrell G. Brown, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Birdville ISD

Since the first of April, I have had the privilege of working with more than 50 BISD community members in an extensive study of facility needs across the district. With half of our campuses being 50 years old or older, the Committee was faced with some difficult decisions. They too have come to realize that in order for BISD to move forward in providing a quality education for our children we, as a community, must understand the threat BISD faces if nothing is done to these facilities.

In the 1950s, when many of our elementary campuses were built, there was no air conditioning, no restriction on the number of students in each classroom, no computers, no science labs, no full-day kindergarten, no prekindergarten, no special needs students on the regular campuses, and no worries about campus security. Also, there was no concern for aging plumbing, electrical inadequacies/failures, aging roofs or concerns for energy efficiencies.

Today, the state mandates 22 students to one teacher in fourth grade and below, which now includes full-day kindergarten and programs for three- and four-year-old students; elementary students needing to have 40 percent hands-on experience in science labs; special needs students, many of which require special accommodations, are now on each campus and are being mainstreamed in regular education classrooms; and educational material/resources becoming more technology-driven each year. These are just a few of the state-mandated changes happening at the elementary level that cause strain on our aging facilities. The mandates at the middle at high school level are equally as overwhelming and straining on our facilities.

The Bond Planning Committee has been focusing on:

• Additional safety and security measures on every campus;
• Science lab renovations, expansions, and where necessary, additions;
• Renovations on every campus, which include items such as plumbing, HVAC, roofing, and electrical needs;
• Technology to support education in the classroom; and
• Rebuilding one middle school and two elementary schools.

I encourage you to visit with any member of the Bond Planning Committee. I feel confident they will tell you that what they identified is critical to the continued educational success of our students. To do nothing means we fail our students, our parents, and our communities.