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.

BISD’s board of trustees approved free SAT/ACT boot camps for BISD juniors and seniors. This is for students who registered, or plan to register, to take either the SAT or ACT by the June testing date. Boot camp information is available through the high school counselor. Students must register by Thursday, March 6. Trustees are using proceeds from the district’s oil and mineral leases to pay for these camps.

> Birdville High School Information

> Richland High School Information

> Haltom High School Information