We Are Staying THE Course

The headline of one November Focus Point was "Staying THE Course As We Work Through Financial Issues."  Our team has remained focused on our goal of high achievement for all students although C-FB ISD still faces financial issues.  Due to our team's focus, C-FB ISD is in the top 9% in academic performance of the 200 largest school districts as ranked by ERG (Education Resource Group) for 2010-2011.

Since we've talked about the district's financial situation, there has been some good news thanks to our team's commitment to "continuously increase operational effectiveness".  At the December 2011 School Board meeting,  Associate Superintendent Mark Hyatt gave an update on our financial status. 

At that time, Mr. Hyatt reported that due to the staff's work, the 2010-2011 budget would not be a "deficit" budget as previously thought.  Because the C-FB ISD team had continued to reduce operational costs during the last 12 months, the 2011 fiscal year ended with "excess revenues" of approximately $2.1 million. For a school district, we will move those funds to our reserves or fund balance.

We made this happened because we worked together as a team, focusing on our singular goal of "high achievement for all students;" this quote from District Leadership That Works by Robert Marzano and Timothy Waters states it best:

"High performing districts ensure that the necessary resources, including time, money, personnel and materials are allocated to accomplish the District's goals. This can mean cutting back on or dropping initiatives that are not aligned with district goals for achievement and instruction."

However, the cost containments that we have made haven't been easy. We know that our team has made adjustments everywhere: on every campus and facility.   This is the first year, C-FB ISD has requested state waivers for exceeding 22 students in kindergarten through fourth grade classrooms.  And, although that number can vary; we have more than 50 classrooms in those grades with more than 22 students. We've also increased class sizes throughout the rest of the district as well.  The district has managed personnel costs through attrition, reassignment and retirements.  Everyone on the C-FB ISD team has stepped up and is doing more than ever before.

2011-2012 Estimated Budget and 2012-2013 Projected Budget
December 1, 2011 Board Meeting Presentation



 When the 2011-2012 budget was approved by the School Board in August, it had a $9.7 million deficit. As the district evaluated expenditures through December, we believe the deficit will be approximately $3.5 million. Again, the C-FB ISD School Board and the educational team members should be commended for their efforts in being financially conservative.

When we began talking about the "perfect storm" of school finance, I knew in C-FB ISD we had the ability to "weather" the situation better than many other districts because of our preparation, commitment to purpose, and strategic planning.

In December, Mr. Hyatt presented the Board a proposed 2012-2013 budget, similar to this year's budget. The proposal has an estimated $12 million shortfall compared to the original $20 million talked about early in the year.  The good news for C-FB ISD is that our financial picture is not quite dire as we thought in November because the shortfall is less than originally estimated. However, there is still much work to be done to overcome the loss in revenue from the state.  The School Board will meet in a work-study session on February 16  at 6:30 p.m. in the Administration Building to address Resource Allocations  for the 2012-2013 school year.

We will continue to implement strategies to be cost efficient and effective, but at the same time, we in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District need to remember that high performing districts such as ours must "allocate the necessary resources to accomplish the District's goals." 

Note: To see the 2012-2013 Preliminary Budget report from the December School Board meeting, go the district's Vimeo Channel: December 2011 Board Meeting

High Academic Performance Continues;ERG Ranking Top 9% Academically

At January's School Board meeting, Dr. Cloyd Hastings, the district's executive director for assessment and accountability, presented the 2011 Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) report, required by the Texas Education Agency.  The 2010-2011 school year was the last time for TAKS; C-FB ISD along with other Texas school districts are under a new accountability system which includes STAAR and end-of-course exams.  The accountability ratings that C-FB ISD and our individual schools earned in 2010-2011 will remain in effect for two years.  However, we will still monitor student achievement on the state performance system as well as other measurements.

Although the community and staff may have seen most of the data before, the report reminds us of the tremendous academic performance of C-FB ISD students.  Our educational team is to be commended for the continuous high achievement of our students. 

Our district is a Recognized School District under the AEIS.  The state accountability system is very complex. In fact, there are three methods the system uses to determine a rating:  1)  an absolute standard, 2)  an improvement standard or 3) an exceptions provision.  C-FB ISD earned the 2011 Recognized Rating through the absolute standard - the highest of all three options.

The AEIS data sources include the TAKS in all subjects in grades 3 through 11 which includes the following tests:

• Reading/English Language Arts
• Writing
• Mathematics
• Social Studies
• Science



Gold = Exemplary Standard; Blue = Recognized Standard



We have 30 TAKS performance indicators in the AEIS. In looking at the chart, you can see that our student performance in 2011 moved toward the Exemplary rating requirements. In fact, our students met the Exemplary standard for 18 indicators and the Recognized standard for 11 indicators. 

The district received two Gold Performance Acknowledgments (GPA) from the agency.  These acknowledgements recognize districts and campuses for high academic performance on various indicators.  For the second year, we were recognized for "college-ready graduates."  What an outstanding accomplishment for our teachers, principals and instructional team since this is part of our district's vision.

The second GPA recognized the percent of students receiving the commended status for TAKS Social Studies. Over an eight-year period, we have seen the percent of students earning commended status climb every year.  For 2011, 54% of our students taking the social studies test earned the commended level. Congratulations to our students and their teachers for a job well done.

Education Resource Group Update
Along with the state-required system, C-FB ISD also uses the Education Resource Group (ERG), an organization that focuses on public education performance management. A Focus Points in October highlighted how we are using the ERG data to move C-FB ISD's goal of high achievement for all students forward. What we like about ERG is how it integrates academic and financial measures into a relatively clear framework of performance management.

As a reminder, ERG has three indexes: Academic Performance Index, Financial Performance Index, and an Educational Performance Index (which is an overall value). For the 2010-2011 school year, ERG has just released its Academic Performance Index (API). C-FB ISD remained seventeenth among the 200 largest school districts in Texas.  These results place C-FB ISD in the top 9% in academic performance of the 200 largest school districts, which account for more than 81% of the students in Texas. When the 2010-11 financial data has been analyzed by ERG, the district will give you an update about the Financial Performance Index and Educational Performance Index. 

This Academic Performance ranking by ERG performance system is a tremendous accomplishment for C-FB ISD teachers, principals and staff.  They along with our students should be commended for the outstanding work they have done in academic performance.  Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District is a bright spot in public education for its academic performance. 


To review the PowerPoint shown at the January School Board meeting, please click here:
AEIS Report 2011


You can also see the School Board Meeting from January 12, 2012 by visiting the district's Vimeo Channel:
C-FB ISD School Board Meeting: January 12, 2012

Texas Celebrates January As School Board Month

As C-FB ISD educators and local citizens, we join with the state of Texas in observing January as School Board Recognition Month. More than 7,300 citizens serve as School Board members in Texas.

Nancy Cline, President

James Goode,
Vice President

Richard Fleming,
Secretary

Lynn Chaffin,
Assistant Secretary

Locally, the C-FB ISD Board of Trustees is the body that governs and develops polices to help our school district be a leader in public education not only in Texas but in the United States.

As the district’s elected governing body, the School Board’s key roles include:

• Ensuring the creation of a vision and goals for the district
• Communicating the district’s vision, goals and successes to the community
• Adopting policies that guide district actions
• Adopting the annual tax rate and budget

• Monitoring district finances
• Hiring a superintendent to serve as the district's administrator and evaluating the superintendent’s success
• Overseeing the regular assessment of the district’s students, staff, and programs 

We salute the seven individuals who serve as the elected representatives of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. Your current School Board members are Nancy Cline, James Goode, Richard Fleming, Lynn Chaffin, Frank Shor, Nancy Watten and Karin Webb.

The seven individuals who serve as the C-FB ISD Board of Trustees volunteer hundreds of hours. Not only do they attend regular meetings and work-study sessions, but they attend athletic and fine arts events as well as school celebrations, community activities and numerous other meetings. 



Frank Shor



Nancy Watten

They focus all their decisions toward the district goal of high achievement for all students.  They also spend time sharing the "bright spots" of C-FB ISD with our community. They also spend time listening to our citizens. They serve as the district's ambassadors to our community.



Karin Webb

The Board holds one regular meeting a month from September through June. All regular meetings are the first Thursday of each month except January. Regular meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are held in the Board Room of the Administration Building.


You can find all agendas online prior to the meetings. These meetings are the time when the Board conducts the "business of the school district."  They have the opportunity to recognize our teachers, staff, students and business partners during these monthly meetings. The educational team usually gives a presentation that focuses on student achievement.  We also may share other information that relates to one

of the other strategic objectives.

Citizens are encouraged to attend any and all of the regular School Board meetings. Regular meetings are replayed on CFB-TV and on our online Vimeo Channel.



The Board also holds a series of work-study sessions to delve into topics that need more in-depth discussion and review. These meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. You are invited to attend these too. We have three more scheduled for this school year.  They are

• February 16, Resource Allocation

• April 19, Grading

• June 28, Accountability and Planning for the 2012-2013 year.

Last year, our Board developed a “Standards of Professional Practice” manual. The document was created to guide the Board’s actions and assist them in their roles in as Trustees. 

Under the Texas Education Code, School Board members are required to take continuing education classes annually. C-FB ISD Board members have always  taken courses well before the legislative mandate.  Your current School Board members believe in life-long learning, and they annually exceed the state-required eight hours of continuing education credit they each must earn.  They attend numerous workshops and seminars to learn how they can help with the district's singular goal of high achievement for all students.  C-FB ISD Board members also meet with
Trustees from other Texas public school districts to learn best practices to bring back to C-FB ISD.

Because of the time that our School Board members spend learning on their own, they have a better understanding of what is happening in our state and nation when it comes to finances.  That is why, C-FB ISD has been able to weather the financial storm better than many other school districts.  The other classes they have taken have helped them gain knowledge about what our teachers, principals and instructional team members are doing to move student achievement forward.  As we share data on student achievement issues, programs and projects, our Trustees have insightful questions because they have background knowledge because of the training they attend. 

  

As a community and educational team, we should be pleased that our C-FB ISD School Board is an effective governing body who takes its role seriously and believes in our vision and goal of high achievement for all students.  We in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District thank our seven School Board members for the hours you spend in helping our students achieve at high levels.

Welcome To The Second Half Of The 2011-2012 School Year

This week, we began the second semester of the 2011-2012 school year in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District. This is an excellent time to remind our staff, parents, and community that your school district is strategically working toward one goal: high achievement for all students.


We have developed four strategic objectives that guide our work on our one goal, and they are found in the strategic improvement plan, our district improvement plan and campus improvement plans. All of these can be found on the district website. These plans are designed to help us continously increase student achievement, to provide an effective learning environment and to be more operationally efficient and effective. While doing all of these, we want to build confidence among our staff, parents, and entire community. Basically, what this means is everything in C-FB ISD is tied together.

I encourage you to look through our documents because you will see that C-FB ISD has a plan to move student achievement forward. Our team also has strategies in place to advance our other three objectives as well.

During the second semester, the district will continue to face financial challenges as we prepare the 2012-13 budget. We will keep you informed about where the district is in the budgeting process in Focus Points. On February 16, the Board of Trustees will hold a work-study session on resource allocations to discuss the district's budget and other financial issues.

As we plan for the February work-study session, the staff is using a systems approach to analyze C-FB ISD programs, operations and services. The School Board, the district's governing body, developed three guiding objectives to prioritize resource allocations and determine budget reductions.

The Three Guiding Objectives

· Minimize the impact on student academic achievement

· Minimize the impact on non-academic special services and programs for all students, i.e., extra-curricular and co-curricular programming

· Minimize the impact on the ability to retain and attract quality staff

Through this process, we will prioritize the proposed cost containments based on what will have the least impact on the district's goal of high achievement. We know that this isn't an easy task, but we are committed to this systems approach.

Finally, we know it is important academically for students to attend school each day. But, what you may not remember is that district finances are tied directly to student attendance. Since 2006, Texas public schools have been funded based essentially on the number of students in attendance in school. For example, this year's budget is based on $5,239 per student.

We never want students to attend school if they are sick, but we do want students in school every day if they are well. We encourage students and their families to be supportive of good attendance. The good attendance and being on time learned as early as elementary school are expectations of today's employers.

As C-FB ISD begins the second semester of the 2011-2012 school year, we know that there will be many "bright spots." We invite the community to join in our efforts to help all of our students achieve at high levels.