The Italy School Board of Trustees received good news Monday night when Barry Bassett, superintendent, announced the district had earned a superior achievement rating with the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for the 2009-2010 school year.

Tammy Gillespie, business manager, said the district earned 80 percent, the highest score possible. 

The purpose of the financial accountability rating system, according to TEA, is to ensure that school districts be held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices. The system encourages Texas public schools to manage their financial resources better in order to provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes. 

Bassett also recognized Elmerine Bell, who received the first annual Living Legacy Award from the district Saturday morning at a breakfast hosted by the superintendent.

Bell was unable to attend the breakfast because she was participating in a Buddy Walk in Tarrant County raising funds for the Down Syndrome Partnership of Tarrant County.

Bassett said he hopes this will become an annual award for a community member who demonstrates a willingness and commitment to be involved in promoting the school and community.

Bassett said the teachers chose this award winner. He said three names kept reoccurring so the teachers voted on the top three nominees. Freddy Ivy and Kelly Lewis were runners-up for the award.

Bell received a crystal bowl with children etched on the side.

Addressing the school board, Bell thanked Bassett for the award and added that she felt the school was moving toward where they used to be – exemplary. She said, “I will continue to support the administration, staff, school board and especially the students.”

Gillespie noted the district received several donations and wanted to make trustees aware of them — $2,300 from Tina Haight for the book fair and $1,000 for a security camera, $500 from Lindsey’s Pharmacy for the band and $350 from Citizens National Bank for book fair taxes.

Current enrollment, as of Sept. 14, is 533 district-wide with refined average daily attendance at 97 percent. Bassett said the district is working to lower that absenteeism rate.

Gillespie explained that every percentile of students absent costs the district approximately $25,000.

Jason Miller, Stafford Elementary principal, said he is working diligently to get students in school. He said students do not need to miss school because they have a headache or because their stomach hurts. He said there are three reasons for an excused illness – vomiting, diarrhea and fever. Otherwise, he said students should be at school every day.

The new principal has been visiting homes and talking with parents about the absenteeism issue.

Miller said he did not know if this was a cultural issue or if perhaps the district should offer parenting classes stressing the importance of school attendance.

The board briefly discussed various incentives possible at both campuses that might get students back in the classroom daily.

Following approval of the consent agenda, the trustees spent three hours hearing various administrative reports.

Bassett said he asked several groups to speak to the school board to outline what the district is facing. Although they did not vote on the items, he wanted to make them aware of issues the district is facing.

Jen Cooper with Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) addressed possible policy revisions resulting from the earlier administrative training discussion.

She spent an hour explaining some of the new legal requirements while noting various local policy changes that need updating or reworded.

Speed Hamby passed out a list of projects that need addressing.

Bassett said the district cannot continue to “just maintain.” He said there are several areas that need renovation.

Hamby had a graph outlining energy usage, a hot topic with board members.

Hamby said the dome is one of the highest energy users noting the HV/AC unit has not functioned properly since he came to the district five years ago. He also said teachers and coaches that use the dome do not always turn the system down when they leave.

Trustees Curtis Riddle and Mark Stiles asked why the district is not holding teachers/coaches accountable.

Hamby had a proposal for a software program and thermostats for the dome that would allow him to set the temperature from a computer. The cost for this system is $19,500.

Hamby said the HV/AC dome units need repair regardless of whether they go with this additional system.

Bassett said he could authorize this project because it is less than the $25,000 cap that requires school board approval but said he does not like to spend that much money without hearing from the board.

They also discussed school bus and lighting costs.

Tanya Snook, curriculum director, briefly gave the trustees an overview of CSCOPE, a curriculum support system to Texas K-12 schools.

Snook said 800 school districts statewide are using the curriculum with 65 districts in Region X.

The curriculum encompasses the five E’s – engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate.

Snook also mentioned the STAR testing that began this school year. Students now in the ninth grade will be the first students who must meet the end-of-course testing requirements, as well as pass their classes, in order to earn a diploma.

The new tests, according to the TEA, will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a child’s performance, as well as academic growth.

Students in the higher grades will continue taking the TAKS tests. This, however, creates a problem for some teachers.

Casey Holden, a junior high/high school math teacher, said she has an algebra II class with students that will be required to pass the Star test while others in the same class will continue with TAKS testing.

Holden said she understands these issues will work themselves out in two-to-three years but is worried about making sure students, in the meantime, reach higher-level thinking.

Stiles said the district should give the teachers a “fighting change” with additional CSCOPE training.

During his presentation, Kevin Witte, technology director, explained that the technology department now requires teachers to submit requests for technical issues. He said the department received 308 request tickets since Sept. 1 and cleared 269 of them.

Witte also discussed E-Rate, a commonly used name for a program providing school discounts for telecommunications and internet connections.

School districts may apply for the discounts that range between 20 to 90 percent of eligible services. Witte said the local school district qualifies for 80 percent funding.

He said, for example, the district requested $12,000 for telecommunications and received $9,600; requested $2,400 for long distance telephone service and qualified for $1,920.

Witte said the district needs wireless upgrading, new drops, switch replacement and is requesting $77,930 for this project. He expects to get 80 percent of that back.

Another source of concern for the district is food service.

Bassett said he was at a meeting recently with Ellis County superintendents. He said he brought up food costs. He said the Red Oak ISD expressed an interest in purchasing cooperatively in order to decrease costs and said he hoped to get other districts on board.

Stiles gave a brief overview regarding the TASB/TASA convention he and Bassett recently attended.

He said the legislature is concerned about politics and not taking care of the children or their education.