Board Recognizes Students, Staff and Schools

The Board of Trustees recognized the following students and a staff member for special achievements:

Congratulations to three students at Robert E. Lee High School who were recently named National Merit Commended students through the National Merit Scholarship Program in recognition of their outstanding academic promise. Congratulations to Cameron Staton, Hannah Bosley, and Andrew Peacock.

Congratulations to Glenn English, the Hubbard Middle School Campus Web Keeper for being recognized as the Tyler ISD featured campus website. As the new campus web keeper at Hubbard, Mr. English has completely revamped the schools website to give it a brand new look. In addition to following all the guidelines of the district, he has added user-friendly features for the community to find campus information. He has also made school-related information very accessible to students and parents.

Board Approves Fund Balance Designations

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the designation of a fund balance according to the District recommendations. The District has an extra $7.45 million that it received because of adjustments in target revenue by the state and Average Daily Attendance (ADA) increases.

The board approved to place the $7.45 million in the following areas: $1.75 million for the district incentive program and rewards for performance; $350,000 for the addition of teachers in the fall of 2008 because of growth; $250,000 for the hiring of additional teachers for hard-to-find areas; $300,000 for C-SCOPE additional amount for campuses; $750,000 for the school bus replacement plan; $100,000 for bond election expense; $2 million for the Instructional Sustainment Fund; $1.6 million for unanticipated maintenance projects; and more than $350,000 for technology.

Board Approves Selection of Construction Manager-at-Risk

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the Construction Manager-at-Risk firms for Clarkston, Griffin, Orr, Woods and Mattie Jones/Wayne Boshears Center. The Board approved the Denson Construction Company, Inc. as the Construction Manager-at-Risk firm for Orr Elementary School, Griffin Elementary School, Mattie Jones Elementary/Wayne Boshears Center, and Andy Woods Elementary School. The Board approved RPR Construction Co., Inc. as the Construction Manager-at-Risk firm for Clarkston Elementary School.

Board Approves Acquisition of Land

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the purchase of a heavily wooded site being approximately 14.4 acres located on Chandler Highway adjacent to Westwood Shopping Center in the amount of $850,000. Funding for the property will be provided from bond proceeds. The purchase of this property is for the purpose of building new campuses for the combined Jones Elementary School/Wayne Boshears Center.

Career and Technical Education Update

Cherie King, Tyler ISD Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program Coordinator, updated the Board of Trustees on the CTE offerings and what courses and programs are available to Tyler ISD students. Ms. King shared with the Board that 115 CTE courses are taught in Tyler ISD with 4,626 students enrolled in one or more CTE courses. She also explained that 55% of the total secondary student body is enrolled in these courses. Tyler ISD has 61 CTE teachers implementing 16 CTE clusters. Each cluster is an identified program with courses aligned for completion and/or certification