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Trustees Continue to Advance 2017 Bond Projects to Address Growth
During this month's Belton ISD school board meeting, Trustees authorized the Superintendent to negotiate and execute construction contracts for the District's 11th elementary school, the Wall Street Auditorium, and the Lakewood Elementary Music Classrooms and Gymnasium Addition Projects. These projects are all a part of the $149.7 million bond program supported by voters in May 2017.
After consideration of all proposals submitted to the District, Cloud Construction had the highest ranking for the construction of the new elementary school and Mazanec Construction earned the top ranking for the Wall Street Auditorium and Lakewood Elementary Music Classrooms and Gymnasium Addition Project.
District officials will now move forward with contract negotiations and plan to break ground on these projects in January 2018.
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State Jazz Alto Saxophone
Cameron DeHart, a senior at Belton High School, placed 10th in the State of Texas on alto saxophone in the Texas Music Educators Association All-State Jazz audition process. For the 2nd year in a row, Cameron placed 1st chair alto saxophone in the TMEA Region 8 Jazz Band, advancing him to the TMEA Area level of auditions. His Area recorded audition was then adjudicated against 60 other top Region alto saxophone players from across the state, and Cameron ended up 10th overall.
Cameron plans to attend Baylor or Tarleton State University next year and major in music education.
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Trustees Select Name for New Elementary School
In addition to advancing projects to the construction phase, Board members voted on the name for the District's 11th elementary school. Following discussion of historical and geographical features of the property, Trustees selected the name of Charter Oak Elementary.
Charter Oak Elementary School is expected to welcome its first students for the start of the 2019-2020 school year.
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Architectural Rendering of Charter Oak Elementary School
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This year Belton ISD students and staff are participating as a team in official Special Olympics competitions for the first time in almost 20 years. In response to parent and student interest, staff members of the Special Education Department are facilitating this opportunity by organizing both a young athletes program and the traditional Special Olympics activities offered to middle school and high school athletes. In addition, staff has incorporated the District's Partners PE program that brings together general education students and special education students in an inclusive environment.
The commitment of the staff and community volunteers speaks to the quality special education program the District offers for students with disabilities. By participating in bowling and track and field Special Olympics events locally, students and their families benefit from competing against their peers and having the opportunity to be in the spotlight.
During the board meeting trustees recognized the student athletes, as well as the student and staff volunteers, who recently competed in the Area Special Olympics Bowling Competition that featured teams from more than 15 schools from the region.
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Bond Refunding Saves Belton ISD Taxpayers $6.8 Million
During the meeting, the District's financial advisor, Jennifer Ritter of Specialized Public Finance, reported that bonds refunded within the last week exceeded projected interest cost savings. Belton ISD taxpayers saved $6.8 million in interest payments on portions of the District's 2010 and 2012 bonds, taking the total of refunded bond savings since 2010 to approximately $15 million.
Due to current federal tax legislation under consideration eliminating the ability to advance refund debt for savings after December 31, 2017, a special meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on December 4 to authorize the District to refund bonds in order to deliver these cost savings to local taxpayers.
Further underscoring the importance of continued diligence and planning by the Board, the District's demographer, Bob Templeton with Templeton Demographics, provided updated projections for the District through 2028. The District is expected to add 2,257 students in the next five years, for a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,787.
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Big Red Community Partner - Anti-Defamation League
Belton ISD is committed to creating inclusive learning environments for all students in which their unique differences are celebrated. A significant partner in putting into practice strategies and objectives related to inclusivity is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The District has collaborated with the ADL on specialized training for administrators, instructional coaches and counselors. In addition, individual campuses across the district are benefiting from participation in the ADL's "No Place for Hate" initiative.
"No Place for Hate" is a school climate improvement framework that provides Pre K-12 schools with guided plans for combating bias, bullying and hatred, leading to long-term solutions for creating and maintaining a positive climate. During the 2016-2017 school year, seven Belton ISD campuses accomplished the "No Place for Hate" annual designation. This year, 13 campuses are moving towards this important distinction.
Building inclusive and safe communities in which respect is the goal and all students can thrive is an important objective for Belton ISD and the ADL is a strong partner in these efforts. ADL's Education Director for North Texas and Oklahoma, Dr. Rachelle Warren, accepted the award.
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Superintendent's Report
Elementary and Secondary Academic UIL
Academic UIL provides a great opportunity for our students to participate in academic contests and excel in areas of their strengths.
On Saturday, December 9, 541 elementary students from all nine elementary schools participated in our District UIL meet at BHS9. Events were held in areas such as art memory, chess, creative writing, dictionary, listening, music memory, ready writing, numbers sense, oral reading, spelling and storytelling. In addition, 235 students submitted an art project for competition.
Approximately 140 staff members served as coaches, judges, campus coordinators, and event directors. We appreciate our teachers who coach students in these events before and after school.
Our Middle School UIL event was held the week prior, at North Belton Middle School. More than 280 students from all Belton middle schools and Midway Middle School participated. Events included art, calculator applications, dictionary, editorial writing, listening, maps, graphs & charts, music memory, number sense, oral reading, ready writing, science, social studies and spelling.
Approximately 75 BISD staff members served as coaches, judges, campus coordinators, and event directors.
North Belton Middle School was the overall winner of the competition.
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More photos of students and staff members recognized at this month's board meeting can be found on Belton ISD's Google+ page.
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