August 26, 2008 MPISD Board of Trustees
Public Hearing and Regular Meeting
by Judith Saxton
Public Hearing
At 5 p.m., the Board held Public Hearings
on the proposed operating budget for the 2008-2009 school year and
on the proposed tax rate for the 2008 tax year. Superintendent
Terry Myers and Business Manager Stacie Thompson discussed elements
of the budget and the tax rate.
Regular Meeting
Above and Beyond Awards were presented to MPHS student Jacob
Blue, for his volunteer efforts with Science Camp, and Jennifer
Tolson (MPHS) for her work on behalf of MPHS students.
Science Camp: Wallace 5th grade science teachers Caren Fieldler and Adina Russell reported on the Summer Science Camp they held during summer school for students on the four K-4 campuses. The goal was to interest young students in science and begin to prepare them for 5th grade science.
Board Business
•Approved overnight trips for MPHS FFA to Texarkana for the Four State Fair (Sept. 11) and to Dallas for the Texas State Fair (various dates between Sept. 26 and Oct. 19).
•Approved a resolution designating 4H activities as approved extra-curricular activities and appointing Kenny Rollins and Linda Ferrell, Texas Cooperative Extension Service, as an adjunct MPISD faculty members.
•Approved the addition of two dual-credit courses, Introduction to Psychology and Introduction to Sociology, to the MPHS Course Guide Manual. Students will be able to get .5 credits for each course.
•Approved revisions to Local Board Policy Student Welfare: Freedom from Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation and Freedom from Bullying. The revisions delete examples.
•Approved five budget amendments.
•Adopted an operating budget for the 2009 Fiscal year. The budget amount is $40,502,270 with $37,518,785 allocated to Maintenance and Operations (M & O) and $2,983,485 allocated to Interest and Sinking (I & S).
•Adopted an ordinance setting the tax rate for the 2008 tax year at $1.184 per $100 valuation with $1.040 for M & O and $0.144 for I & S. The rate is a $0.11 decrease from last year.
•Approved a resolution designating the National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) as the basis for all incident management in MPISD.
Reports
Deputy Superintendent Jason McCullough reported that the district had a very smooth first day of school. Attendance for day 1 was 5021 with 329 no shows.
McCullough also updated the board on the Abstinence program that will be presented to 7-12 graders in the district by the East Texas Abstinence Center from Longview. The program is 10 weeks long.
Superintendent Terry Myers reported that the roof is on the new Tennis facility, the plumbers will be there next week and MPISD Maintenance will take over final preparations of the facility next week. The facility should be ready for use by the end of September.
Assistant Superintendent Bruce Gearing and Mizuni founder Ignacio Ibarra demonstrated the data available to teachers and to administrators with Mizuni. The district is approximately 6 months ahead of schedule with Mizuni.
Gearing also updated the board on the district's professional development and written curriculum noting how both are being driven by the data available through Mizuni.
Personnel:
New Professionals: Jerry Ballard (Sims Bilingual), Todd Flory (MPJH Science), George A. Pearson (8th grade Math), April Welch (MPHS CATE Business), Joe Woodson (MPJH Band)
Resignations: Jeana Hahn (MPJH), Margaret Manzer (Corprew)
Future Meetings:
Regular Meeting: Monday, September 22, 2008, 5:30 p.m., CSS Board Room
