Southwest ISD Board Update
APRIL
APRIL 19 MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
The Student of the Month for Southwest Elementary School is 5th-grader Aria Rodriguez. Aria has excellent attendance, a great work ethic, and is an exemplary student. She is described as kind and helpful to all of her peers. For the last few years, she has represented Southwest Elementary School in the AAA Competition in the creative writing category. In Aria's free time she loves working on creative projects, drawing, and writing. She also loves animals and is interested in volunteer opportunities to help work with animals in local shelters.
The Student of the Month for Spicewood Park Elementary School is 4th-grader Jeriah Valdez. He recently accepted his teacher’s nomination to attend DeerFoot Youth Camp in the summer. After completion of the program, he will be awarded a full scholarship to Texas A&M University where he can choose to attend the College Station or the Galveston campus to pursue his educational dreams and be prepared to enter the workforce. Jeriah was identified as showing potential to succeed in higher education as he continues to maintain academic standing throughout his educational career. He enjoys sports and the outdoors and is actively involved with Theatre Arts: Performance group and the STEM Robotics Club.
Resnik Middle School’s Student of the Month is Houston Kuykendall. He is a model student academically, athletically, and in the fine arts. Houston has maintained an "A" Honor Roll status every nine weeks. He is an Algebra 1 Honors student and has met the criteria for Dual Credit enrollment at Southwest Legacy High School. Houston is a band member and plays the saxophone. He has applied for the UTSA Band Camp Scholarship. As a student-athlete, Houston’s coaches report positive comments about his behavior on and off the field. He exhibits a “never give-up” attitude and keeps on pushing through his workouts no matter how tired he may be.
Andrew Hale, a 10th-grader, is CAST STEM High School’s Student of the Month. He is the oldest of six siblings. He continues to be a meticulous student and consistently strives for excellence in all of his courses. Although Andrew is known to be quiet, he has proven himself to be a leader on campus by being an active member in several student organizations such as Academic Decathlon where he earned a Bronze medal in Literature. Andrew is described as an intelligent, responsible, and respectful student. His work ethic and polished presence really demonstrate the CAST STEM ideal and illustrates the versatility that he has as a student, brother, and friend. CAST STEM High School is proud to recognize Andrew and congratulate him on his academic, extra-curricular, and personal successes this year!
Presentations
Strategic Planning
Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Human Resources Frances Barcenez gave an update on the process of creating the new District Strategic Plan. With guidance from JG Consultants, the District gathered data and feedback through surveys, focus groups, numerous Southwest ISD community members, board members, administrators, teachers, parents, and staff. Data analysis, patterns, and ideas from these meetings were aligned to the District Commitments to ensure continuity and clarity of our vision and goals. Currently, the District is in the refinement phase of development, where internal committees and groups will be providing feedback on Strategic Actions and Targeted Goals. The feedback process will include the District Improvement Team and an annual public meeting.
Southwest ISD Local Wellness Policy Triennial Assessment Update
Katie Mahoney, Assistant Director of Child Nutrition, gave a presentation on Southwest ISD's Local Wellness Policy Triennial Assessment. As a contracting entity of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program, Southwest ISD is required to develop, implement, and assess a local wellness policy. The local wellness policy, created in 2016, focuses on nutrition education and promotion, physical activity, and school-based activities that promote student wellness. The results of the triennial assessment showed strengths in physical education and physical activity and USDA school meal standards. Areas needing improvement include nutrition education and wellness promoting and marketing. The School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) is in discussions to create a sub-committee to review and update the policy on a regular basis. The results of this triennial assessment will be used to help the SHAC focus on updating the areas of the local wellness policy that need improvement so that it can better serve the staff, students, and parents of SWISD.
Items Approved
Bexar County Head Start ESC-20/Southwest ISD Partnership
The Southwest ISD Board of Trustees approved the Bexar County Head Start ESC-20/Southwest ISD Partnership contract. Region 20 is offering the opportunity for SWISD to continue the ongoing partnership for students who are four-years-old by September 1 to be enrolled in a PreK4 Head Start Classroom, provided they meet the qualifying criteria. Should additional spaces be available, SWISD has the option to fill the seats with students who are considered non-Head Start eligible. The contract period is for February 1, 2022 to January 21, 2023. SWISD will benefit by receiving salary reimbursement for all Head Start teachers and
classroom aides.
District of Innovation
The Board approved the committee members' participating in the renewal of Southwest ISD’s District of Innovation plan. Southwest ISD’s current District of Innovation plan was approved for school years 2017-2018 through 2021-2022. Recently, the District began the process of renewing its innovation plan. As part of that process, an innovation committee has been developed to participate in the planning and creation of this new plan. Southwest ISD is using guidance from the Texas Education Agency regarding the renewal process. A schedule of meetings and key steps in the process has also been developed.
Board members approved to add contract time and extend the date of the Southwest ISD Aquatics Center completion from April 10, 2022 to July 8, 2022 due to weather delays, unforeseen supply chain delays, manufacturing delays, and labor shortages.
2021-2022 Compensation Plan
Trustees approved an employee retention stipend for the end of fiscal year 2021-2022 and a summer school employee attendance stipend. The proposed stipend will be provided as a one-time retention stipend to be paid to employees who meet the following guidelines.
● Must be a full time employee as of January 31, 2022 to receive $1,000.
● Must be a part time employee based on a minimum of 15 work hours per
week from January 3, 2022 to May 20, 2022 to receive $500.
● Substitutes who worked between 20-39 days between the date range of
January 3, 2022 – May 20, 2022 will receive $400.
● Substitutes who worked 40+ days between the date range of January 3,
2022 – May 20, 2022 will receive $500.
The District will also provide an attendance stipend for bus drivers, bus aides, and cafeteria
staff in order to recruit more employees for the summer school programs and to help
with attendance throughout the summer school hours.
● Bus drivers and cafeteria staff will receive an additional $350 at the end of
summer school programming if they attend 100% of the time.
● Bus Aides will receive an additional $150 at the end of summer school
programming if they attend 100% of the time.
Southwest Independent School District
Website: www.swisd.net
Location: Southwest Independent School District, TX, USA
Phone: 210-622-4300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWISDsatx
Twitter: @swisd