Mike Falick's Blog

A Call to Action on the School Accountability Bills (HB3/SB3)

As you can see from the clock above, the current Legislative Session is drawing to a close.  A Conference Committee has been appointed to discuss the differences between the House and Senate versions of the school accountability bills, House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 3.  (Click here,and here for prior posts on these bills).

Spring Branch's Superintendent, Dr. Duncan Klussmann, has issued the letter below (click the images to enlarge or click here to download the letter).  Please take the time to read Dr. Klussmann's letter, and please contact the members of the Conference Committee to express any concerns you might have with the Bills.

Death is Nothing at All

Death is nothing at all.
Whatever we were to each other we still are.
Call me by my only familiar name.
Talk to me in the same easy way you always have.
Laugh as we always laughed.
Play, smile, think of me.  Pray for me.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is as it always was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight?
I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is past.
Nothing has been lost.
One brief moment and all will be
as it was before
only better.
Infinitely happier.
We will be one, together, forever.

- Anonymous


Melissa Christopher Crawford

April 3, 1967 - May 20, 2000

Recap of Tonight's Regular Monthly Board Meeting

Our Board held its regular monthly meeting tonight.  Here's a recap of the issues discussed, and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

We had four special presentations this evening.  Our first special presentation was recognition of Marilyn White, MUNIS Project Manager, as our May 2009 Employee of the Month.  As stated in the Board Agenda item describing the work done by Ms. White:

The exceptional efforts of this month’s Employee of the Month, enabled SBISD to smoothly undertake the year-long planning and implementation of the MUNIS software system that reached a new milestone on May 1st with Payroll going live without a hitch!
This amazing and very dedicated SBISD employee has a “whatever it takes” spirit and embraced the project with zest and an incessant smile and positive attitude, even when others may have been overwhelmed by the scope of the project. She worked through every weekend, Winter Break and Spring Break to get the job done right and planned for and communicated with users across the district about untold numbers of meetings, trainings, and help sessions. She is a trouble-shooter par excellence and has done a fantastic job interfacing as our lead representative with the software vendor.

Our second special presentation recognized Suzie Jones, a volunteer at Landrum Middle School, as our May 2009 Volunteer of the Month.  As stated in the Agenda:

Susie Jones is a member of the Leadership Houston’s Class XXV that planned and conducted a college-preparation program for 30 students and their parents at Landrum Middle School in 2007. Suzie helped read the 50 applications, select participants, speak at the event and raise scholarship monies that are promised to the students when they graduate from SBISD and enroll in college. She has continued as a monthly mentor to the students who are now high school freshmen.

Mrs. Jones was so impressed with the students and their parents that she committed to continue the program for two more years. She has been the driving force behind the program; inviting fellow LH class members to help, and recruiting new members. She has continued to work with Principal Pratts to arrange a college tour of the University of Houston as part of the program, to arrange for speakers on topics such as planning your future, financial aide for college and making good choices.

Our third special presentation recognized Hispanic Heritage Month with a performance by students from Landrum Middle School's Ballet Folklorico.

Our final special presentation recognized Spring Branch's student athletes who advanced to state level competition in UIL athletics.

Our next agenda item was Citizens Participation.  We had two people speak tonight.  The first was a gentleman from Houston Community College who invited Spring Branch to send 100 juniors and seniors to the HCC Chancellors Energy Conference in October.  The second was David Cornell, a Wilchester resident, who spoke about the Wilchester Task Force.

We next held the first of two Public Hearings on the Proposed FY 2010 Spring Branch ISD Budget.  Our second public hearing will be held at 7:00p on June 22, 2009.  Click here to view the PowerPoint presentation shown immediately prior to the public hearing.

We then had our Board member Liaison Reports (each Board member serves in a liaison capacity).  Click here for the documents I provided in my Legislative update, here for the documents I provided in my Technology update, and here for the materials provided by Wayne Schaper, Sr., in his Facilities update.

In addition to the Liaison reports, the Board received its Quarterly Investment Report, Quarterly Energy Report, and Quarterly Report on the Five Year Educational Plan.

We then adopted the following Board policy: DNA (Local) Performance Appraisal: Evaluation of Teachers.

Our action items on the Agenda included the approval of the Budget Status Summary with Budget Amendments as of April 30, 2009 and the Facility Improvement Program Monthly Status Report as of April 30, 2009.  As we do in every monthly meeting, we also approved the awarding of a number of contracts.

We next approved the Board's Calendar for 2009-2010.

Our final two action items tonight were the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between SBISD and HCC for the Spring Branch Early College Program, and the Elementary and Secondary Student/Parent Handbooks and Student Code of Conduct for 2009-2010.  Click here to review the draft Elementary Student/Parent Handbook and here to review the draft Secondary Student/Parent Handbook.  (These are large files that may take several minutes to download, depending on your connection speed).

We concluded tonight's meeting by approving our Consent Agenda.

Meeting Notice for May 18, 2009 House Public Education Committee

Here is the notice for tomorrow's House Public Education Committee meeting (click on the image to go to the House Public Education Committee meeting notice with links to each bill).

TED Video of the Week: Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

This week's TED Video of the Week is from Elizabeth Gilbert whose talk is entitled "Nurturing Creativity."  From the TED website:

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

SBISD Board President Susan Kellner Testifies on House Bill 130 (Pre-kindergarten) before the Senate Education Committee

Spring Branch's Board President, Susan Kellner, testified before the Senate Education Committee today on House Bill 130, this session's Pre-K bill.  Due to technical difficulties, the archive of the hearing is audio only.  To listen, click here and scroll forward to 51:24.

Recap of Tonight's Board Workshop Meeting

Our Board held its monthly workshop meeting tonight. Here's a recap of the issues discussed and actions taken on tonight's Agenda.

We had four discussion items on tonight's agenda.  The first continued our discussion of the FY 2010 Budget.  Through savings this year, reductions discussed during the budget process, and modest protential additional funding from the State, the anticipated deficit has been reduced to $12m.

Our second discussion item concerned the parameters for the sale of additional bonds authorized by the District's voters for the 2007 Bond.  By December 1, 2009, the District will sell an additional $125m to fund the continued implementation of the 2007 Bond.  Our bond advisors presented information about potential vehicles for the sale of these bonds.  Click here to view the information presented by the bond advisors.

Our third discussion item was an update on the District's Parent Engagement and Parent Education initiative.

Our final discussion item on tonight's Agenda was a Review of the Bond Oversight Committee Charge.  The Bond Oversight Committee was created by the Board following the 2007 Bond election.  More information about the Committee is available here.  The Board held a rather lengthy discussion on this item with the consensus that the Bond Oversight Committee plays a critical advisory role to ensure that the District's implementation of the 2007 Bond is consistent with the bond program approved by the voters.

We concluded the meeting by considering amendments to Board Policy Board Policy DNA (Local) Performance Appraisal: Evaluation of Teachers (there were no amendments proposed).

Spring Branch Election Results

(click the image to enlarge)

Meeting Notice for May 7, 2009 Senate Education Committee

Here is the notice for tomorrow's Senate Education Committee meeting (click on the images to go to the Senate Education meeting notice with links to each bill).

Spring Branch ISD's Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Jennifer Blaine, Creates "Students Talk" -- A Blog for SBISD Students to Provide Feedback and Comments

Spring Branch's Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Jennifer Blaine, has started the Students Talk blog, a new blog designed to provide students with the ability to provide feedback and comments on issues and topics.  Dr. Blaine's email announcing the creation of the Students Talk blog below.

Current topics posted for comment and feedback are as follows:

Personal Digital Devices at School

Some adults are worried that when kids bring their cell phones, I- Touches, computers, etc. to class, they won't pay attention. Are you worried about this? If you are worried, why? If you are not worried, why are people worried about this?

Are you ready to go to the next grade level?

What experiences did you have this year that got you ready to go to the next grade level? For example: what did you learn, what activities did you do, did anyone talk to you about what next year will be like?

Think

I was at an awards ceremony last night and a student said, "The teachers at this school really inspire me to think for myself." What kind of things can teachers do to make you think?

What makes a class a good class?

What does your teacher do that makes you want to go to that class?

________________________________________________

Dear All,

I have created a blog called Students Talk. The purpose of this blog is to create a continuous virtual focus group for SBISD students to comment or provide feedback on various selected topics. I have chosen to do it this way because we are trying to reach out to student in another way that they will respond. The topics are related to my area, however if you would like for me to use a topic in your area for you to get student feedback, please let me know.

The student comments will be monitored before they are made public or posted, so no need to worry about inappropriate language.

(the Avatar speaks if you click on the arrow and the eyes will follow your cursor- don’t freak out! I am still working on the hair, but it is the best I could do)

The link is: http://sbisdstudentstalk.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Jennifer