COLLEGE STATION INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

February 15, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

CSISD Board Room

A. CALL TO ORDER

President Randall Pitcock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and declared a quorum was present with seven members present.

B. DECLARATION OF QUORUM/WELCOME

In attendance were President Randall Pitcock, Vice President Valerie Jochen, Secretary Paul Dorsett, Trustees Charlotte Slack, Garland Watson, Carol Barrett and Jeff Harris.

President Randall Pitcock welcomed students that were in attendance at the meeting from the BlinnTeach program.

C. RECOGNITIONS

C-1. Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag and the Texas Flag, and a Moment of Silence

Superintendent Eddie Coulson recognized South Knoll Elementary Principal Laura Richter who introduced students Tate Hogan and Anna Sanchez. Dr. Coulson also recognized Rock Prairie Elementary Principal Mike Martindale who introduced students Grace Nolen and Austin O’Neill. The students led the audience in the pledges and the moment of silence.

C-2. Schools

The National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) recently announced their high performing campuses for the 2010 year. Four College Station ISD campuses made the list in the following subject areas:

A&M Consolidated High School, Principal Buddy Reed – Science and Math

A&M Consolidated Middle School, Principal Nkrumah Dixon – Math and Reading

Cypress Grove Intermediate School, Principal Rick Hill – Math

Pebble Creek Elementary School, Principal Annette Rorabak – Math and Writing

The Austin-based NCEA evaluated schools differently than the Texas Education Agency. NCEA identified Higher Performing Schools based on two measures: growth of students at the school and absolute achievement of students at the school. The measures identify schools that outperform their peers that serve similar student populations. Additionally, the school must have more than expected academic growth for three consecutive years to be named an NCEA Higher Performing School.

The absolute achievement levels are based on the Texas Assessment and Knowledge Skills (TAKS) test commended standard. Elementary campuses are rated on their TAKS performance in Reading/English Language Arts, Math, Writing, Science and Social Studies. Upper elementary school, middle school and high school campuses are recognized for having higher than predicted growth in student performance based on NCEA’s predictive formula. Since it is difficult for schools with high achievement to show a great deal of growth, the top five percent of Texas schools using NCEA’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) measure are also recognized as High Performing.

To ensure that consistently high performing campuses are selected, NCEA selects campuses based on the performance of students that have been continuously enrolled for three years.

C-3. Students

A&M Consolidated High School senior Zachary Wu was recently named a semifinalist in the national Intel Science Talent Search – the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science competition. Wu’s efforts in his research project “Photocatalytic Production of Hydrogen with Ru(phen)2DPPZ and its di-Cyano Analogs,” earned him and his school a $1000 award.

The Science Talent Search recognized 300 students and their schools as Semifinalists each year pulling from 1,744 applicants in 2011 – to compete for $1.25 million in awards. From that select pool, 40 student Finalists are then invited to Washington, D.C. in March to participate in final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for the top award of $100,000.

C-4. Recognize Campus Artwork provided by students from Rock Prairie Elementary taught by Art Teacher Karen Dean and students from South Knoll Elementary taught by Art Teacher Amber Herbelin

Student artwork adorned the Board Room walls and was enjoyed by all.

D. CONSENT AGENDA

Agenda Item E – BOARD: Agenda Item E-4: Appointment of Designees for Filing Purposes; Agenda Item E-5: Consider approval of a Joint Resolution of the City Council of College Station and the Board of Trustees of the College Station Independent School District order joint elections for City Council positions and propositions and CSISD Trustee positions 6 and 7; Agenda Item E-6: Consider approval of Notice of Election; Agenda Item G – APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 15, 2011 Board Workshop minutes, January 15, 2011 Public Hearing minutes, January 15, 2011 Regular Board Meeting minutes, February 8, 2011 Joint Meeting with the City; Agenda Item I – PERSONNEL: Agenda Item I-1: Consider approval of Resignations; Agenda Item I-2: Consider approval of Employments; Agenda Item I-3: Consider approval of Administrator Contracts; Agenda Item J - BUSINESS: Agenda Item J-1: Consider approval of the purchase, delivery and installation of furniture, fixtures and equipment of Greens Prairie Elementary School from School Specialty, Inc., for the amount of $351,682.01 ; Agenda Item J-2: Consider approval of Monthly Budget Amendments; Agenda Item J-3: Consider approval of Monthly Financial Reports;

MOTION 4344: I move approval of the Consent Agenda as presented. The motion was made by Trustee Charlotte Slack and seconded by Secretary Paul Dorsett. The motion passed with seven ayes and zero nos.

E. BOARD

E-1. Board Directions and Reports/Announcements/Superintendent Reports and Announcements

Trustee Charlotte Slack commented on the Chamber of Commerce Legislative tour that she and several board members participated in, attempting to get our legislators’ attention as it pertains to public school issues.

President Randall Pitcock echoed Slack’s comments related to meeting with state legislators.

Secretary Paul Dorsett reported that DEIC met and dealt with make-up days pertaining to CSISD having to take a snow day earlier in the year.

Trustee Jeff Harris reported that because of the “snow day” CSISD’s Education Foundation event “50 Men Who Can Cook” has been moved to 3/4/11.

Superintendent Eddie Coulson reported that the Board will schedule a workshop for 3/1/11 and for 3/4/11 to do CRSS work. Dr. Coulson commented on the impending resignation of Coach Slaughter and that CSISD must make up for the “snow day”

F. HEARING OF CITIZENS (Non-Agenda/Agenda Items)

1. Dr. Jonathan Coopersmith addressed the Board of Trustees regarding budget funding cuts.

H. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

H-1. Receive Report related to Bilingual and ESL services

Superintendent Eddie Coulson recognized Robin Oberg, Director of Special Programs, who addressed the Trustees related to College Station ISD Bilingual/ESL programs.

The scope of the program covers two program models: one-way dual language in Pre-K and Head Start; and two-way dual language bilingual model for grades K-6. ESL is in conjunction with pull-out support for Pre-K – 8^th grade and sheltered instruction for grades 9-12. CSISD currently has 869 students in the program with 438 of those being Spanish speakers. CSISD currently has over 63 languages other than English.

The goals of the program are to help all English language learners master the state curriculum, to teach English to all students in the program, to develop fluency and literacy in English and Spanish (Dual Language), and to develop an appreciation of other cultures.

Program Needs include: literacy and math interventions for bilingual students and professional development for classroom teachers.

K. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

K-1. Consider approval of an Interlocal Agreement between the Texas A&M University (“TAMU”), and College Station Independent School District (“CSISD”
for the operation and management by TAMU of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Educational Broadband Frequencies issued to CSISD

Clark Ealy, Deputy Superintendent for Administrative Services, reported to the Board of Trustees related to approval of an Interlocal Agreement between the Texas A&M University (“TAMU”), and College Station Independent School District (“CSISD”) for the operation and management by TAMU of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Educational Broadband Frequencies issued to CSISD. College Station ISD has 4 EBS channels, and the district has been reviewing our options for the past two years. We must either lease the channels or deploy them for our use by May 1, 2011, or the FCC will reassign them to another entity.

CSISD has been working with Texas A&M University, Blinn College, Bryan ISD and other districts in our region. The groups entered into a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to gather interest in leasing these channels in late 2009. The responses to the RFP were not what any of the entities hoped, and the leases were not pursued. Since that time the entities have been working together to plan joint use of the frequencies.

Approval of the Interlocal Agreement before you would allow CSISD to work with Texas A&M University to operate and manage the district’s EBS channels. This would allow the district to have its channels deployed and not subject to reallocation by the FCC. College Station ISD with Texas A&M and others in the BVCNet will continue to plan and deploy the broadband spectrum for use by educational and other public entities in Brazos County.

MOTION 4345: I move approval of an Interlocal Agreement between the Texas A&M University (“TAMU”), and College Station Independent School District for the operation and management by TAMU of the Federal Communications Commission Educational Broadband Frequencies issued to C SISD, as presented. The motion was made by Trustee Jeff Harris and seconded by Secretary Paul Dorsett. The motion passed with seven ayes and zero nos.

N. ADJOURNMENT

Without objection, President Pitcock adjourned the meeting at 7:55 p.m.

RANDALL PITCOCK PAUL DORSETT

PRESIDENT SECRETARY