October 2019

Belton ISD Earns State's Highest Fiscal Accountability Rating Belton ISD Trustees reviewed the 2019 School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) Report. Belton ISD received a perfect score on the report and a “Superior Achievement” rating, which is the highest available. The 2019 School FIRST Report is issued by the Texas Education Agency based on data from the 2017-2018 school year. It evaluates school districts based on 14 indicators, which include the findings of external auditors, cash-on hand, debt and staffing levels. Using those indicators, school districts are scored on a 100-point scale. Belton ISD received all 100 points possible! This is the 8th year in a row that the District has achieved a perfect score.   The primary goal of School FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the management of school districts’ financial resources, a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with Texas’ school finance system. Congratulations Jennifer Land and the BISD Finance Department!

Board Recognitions - National Academic Honors Belton High School senior Joshua Bledsoe and former Belton High School student Rohan Sami were named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. To qualify as National Merit Semifinalists , Bledsoe’s and Sami’s PSAT scores were in the top 1 percent of more than 1.6 million students who took the Fall test. For the next step in the scholarship competition, Bledsoe and Sami will submit essays, recommendations and additional test scores to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Belton High School seniors Sydney Hunt, Dean Biava, Gayathri Devi Thirunavukkarasu, and Euni Wu were named National Merit Commended Scholars for 2019. Ranked in the top 5 percent in the nation for their scores on the PSAT, these students are among 34,000 selected as commended students out of 1.6 million who took the test last fall.

The College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program identifies academically outstanding Hispanic/Latino high school students who score in the top 5,000 from over 250,000 Hispanic/Latino juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT. Belton High School seniors Dean Biava * , Miranda Davila, Gabriela Hansen, Jonah Jimenez, and Elizabeth Moctezuma-Manzanero have earned the distinction as a Hispanic Scholar for 2020.

New Natatorium Director Approved Trustees approved the hiring of Kimberly Davies as the District’s new Natatorium Director. Davies will provide instruction and coach students in club as well as develop and implement Aquatic Programs for Belton ISD and the surrounding community. Davies has served the last three years as the Assistant Athletic Director in Leander ISD, where she has overseen six high schools and eight middle schools, including swimming operations. While in Leander, she led Vandegrift High School to two State Championship titles as the head swimming and diving coach in 2015 and 2016. She has been voted 5A Coach of the Year in 2015 and again in 2016, and has led multiple male and female Division I athletes and one qualifier for the Olympic Trials. While at Vandegrift, she also served as the Girls' Athletic Coordinator. Davies earned her bachelor’s degree of science in Applied Health Sciences from Wheaton College and her Masters of Education in Exercise Physiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She has also served as a Chemistry teacher, Integrated Physics & Chemistry, and AP Environmental Science teacher.

National Principals Month Each October, National Principals Month recognizes the essential role that principals play in making schools great. The success of Belton ISD is a direct result of our campus principals efforts on behalf of our students and staff and it is worthy of recognition.  Belton ISD principals are Sue Banfield, Belton Early Childhood School; Jennifer Conner, Charter Oak Elementary; Elizabeth McMurtry, Chisholm Trail Elementary; Amy Armstrong, High Point Elementary; Marcie Beck, Leon Heights Elementary; Becky Musil, Lakewood Elementary; Hope Orsag, Miller Heights Elementary; Rebecca Vaughn, Pirtle Elementary; Stacy Cox, Southwest Elementary; Julee Manley, Sparta Elementary; Aubrey Itz, Tarver Elementary; Kris Hobson, Lake Belton Middle School; Michelle Tish, North Belton Middle School; Kevin Taylor, South Belton Middle School; Ben Smith, Belton High School; and Jennisty Thomason, BNTHS@W; Sandy Garrett, D.A.E.P.; Jill Ross, Lake Belton High School.

Facilities Committee List of Capital Improvement Projects Advances Trustees approved placing $3.5 million into a Capital Improvements budget as a part of the 2019-2020 budget for the completion of a list of prioritized projects at facilities across the district. The proposed project list was advanced by the Board Facilities Committee, which based its work on past facilities requests, walk-throughs and discussions with campus administrators. Funded projects include further security enhancements at Belton High School, updates to the Tiger Field Press Box, new equipment for the Swim Center and improvements at all of the District's elementary and middle school campuses. A complete list of projects, as prioritized by the Facilities Committee is available in the October 21 Board meeting materials available online here . Jarrod Sterzinger, O'Connell Robertson, presented a 2017 Bond and Contruction update and additional fencing was approved for most campuses.

Policy Committee Changes to Transfer Policies Approved Recommendations from the Board Policy Committee to make changes in FDA(LOCAL) and FDB(LOCAL) policies addressing both inter- and intradistrict transfers were approved by Trustees. Approved changes to FDA include: discounting active military transfer fee by 50%, allowing district employees to choose any BISD campus for transfer of his or her child, closing a campus to transfers when they reach a capacity threshold, and assigning the campus of attendance for interdistrict transfers to closest proximity to their home address. To FDB the approved recommendations involve: allowing district employees to choose any BISD campus for transfer of his or her child and closing a campus to transfers when it reaches a capacity threshold.   The Board also received an update on the upcoming Early Middle School Transfer Process. Communication efforts to parents of current 5 th , 6 th and 7 th graders, as well as information public meetings scheduled for October 28 and 29 were highlighted. For more information on the process and to review a timeline for applying, visit the Belton I.S.D. website here .

English Learner Program Update The English Learner program serves students in PK through 12 th grade that are identified as an English Learner based on their home-language survey indicating a language other than English. The number of students served represents approximately 6.4% of the entire student population. While 90% of the English Learners in Belton ISD have a primary language of Spanish spoken at home, there are 35 different languages represented in the program. To meet the needs of these students we offer four different program services. Bilingual services are provided to qualifying Spanish-speaking students in grades PK-5th grade. This year, bilingual students in PK-1 st grade are served through a dual language immersion one-way program. Bilingual students in 2 nd through 5 th are served through transitional early exit. In addition the District offers, English as a Second Language (ESL) services that are both content-based and pull-out for students in PK through 12 th grade.

Big Red Community Partner - TRU & Stratasys Direct Manufacturing For providing students with important Manufacturing Day experiences and their continued role as members of the Belton Career & Technical Education Advisory Committee, TRU and Stratasys Direct Manufacturing were honored.

Interim Superintendent's Report Reading Academies: As of 2021, any teacher who teaches any component of reading has to take a reading certification test. Concerns have been raised regarding the impact on other certifications, a district’s ability to move teachers, the cost of substitutes for teachers to go through the academies, reimbursement, long-term state funding, etc. This is extremely labor intensive and expensive. We will brief you as we receive more information. Elementary Mascots: Each campus has narrowed the vote down to 3 possibilities and will vote on Election Day, November 5. Football Game at McLane Stadium: Athletic Director Sam Skidmore asked if we had interest in having our Georgetown HS game at McLane Stadium next year. It would be $1000 more. I think it would be great for all of our kids and fans so I said “Go for it!” CTE Job Fair: We will host a job fair for graduating Belton seniors at the end of the year. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR): Although not required, Belton ISD is working on the CAFR. This is considered a financial best practice. Dietician: We will move from a part-time dietician to full-time.

Consent Agenda Approvals: Previous Minutes September 31 Financial Report Gifts & Grants Expenditures over $50,000 - Smartnet and JAMF Renewals OMNIA Partners Interlocal Agreement National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance Interlocal Agreement Energy Market Exchange Authorization 2019-2020 Interlocal Agreement with City of Temple for Crossroads Park Tennis Facilities 2018-2019 School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) Report 2019-2020 SHAC Appointments

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