Amanda Bunch named Principal of Beck Elementary School

Trustees unanimously named Amanda Bunch as the new Principal of Beck Elementary School, elevating her from the school’s assistant principal position.

Mrs. Bunch has served as the Assistant principal at Beck since 2018, where she has collaboratively developed and implemented plans to meet campus goals and needs. She has been an instrumental partner in working towards the school’s goals to transform learning experiences for all students and building a culture of family within all grade levels through their House System.

“I’m excited to continue the great traditions we have at Beck, and I look forward to continuing to partner with our families, teachers and students to meet and exceed each student’s achievement potentials,” Mrs. Bunch said. “The most important aspect of any school is students learning, and I look forward to working with our teachers and staff to ensure all students have the tools and resources they need to be successful.”

Prior to joining Northwest ISD, Mrs. Bunch spent seven years as a teacher at a neighboring school, Westlake Academy. It is there that her passion for authentic learning opportunities and student centered approaches to teaching and learning became her inspiration for transforming learning one lesson at a time.

Mrs. Bunch earned her bachelor’s degree in education and master’s degree in education leadership and policy studies, both from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Plans made for designs of future campuses

To keep pace with growth in Northwest ISD, trustees approved plans to fund design fees and assign architecture firms for future campuses.

As part of the approval, $2.5 million was set aside for the design of new schools. Glenn Partners was previously approved as the architecture design firm of one future campus, Middle School No. 7. Additionally, Huckabee was assigned as the architecture design firm for the following projects: Hatfield and Seven Hills elementary school replacements (based on the district’s current prototype design), and Northwest High School additions and renovations.

These new projects are part of the 2020 Northwest ISD Bond Proposal, with construction dependent upon voter approval. Because the ongoing pandemic delayed the election from May to November, this approval was made to maintain the timeline of design work in an effort not to delay potential construction of these projects.

Partnership with Northwest ISD Education Foundation renewed

In two items, trustees continued the district’s partnership with the Northwest ISD Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to students and grants to teachers.

The first item approved by trustees was a resolution of support of the organization. The second item was a new memorandum of understanding, which details how the district and foundation will work together to continue supporting teachers and students through the foundation’s work.

For more information about the Northwest ISD Education Foundation, visit www.nisdtx.org/nef. 

Student Code of Conduct reviewed

As part of the annual approval process of the Student Code of Conduct, trustees reviewed the document prior to a vote on its changes for the new school year.

Each year, revisions are made to the documents as needed, largely to stay updated on district changes, such as appropriate contact information. Other revisions include updates as recommended by the Texas Association of School Boards, typically made to stay updated on changing state or federal requirements.

To see the proposed changes, click here.

Public meeting set to discuss budget, tax rate

As part of the district’s annual budget adoption process, a public meeting has been set to discuss the budget and tax rate. The adoption of the budget is set to take place at the June 29 board meeting, while the adoption of the tax rate is scheduled for an August board meeting.

Because of House Bill 3, school districts no longer set their own maintenance and operations – or M&O – tax rates. The Texas Education Agency now computes these rates for districts. It is estimated the district will be notified of its M&O tax rate within the first week of August. The district does know the tax rate will decrease because of state-mandated tax rate compression.

Reports, discussions addressed by board

District leadership presented the following subjects to the board as a report or discussion:

To view reports or discussion presentations from board meetings, click here.

In other action, the board