Southwest ISD Board Update
March
March 21 Board Meeting Highlights
Students of the Month
Sky Harbour Elementary School
Javier Gomez, a fifth-grade bilingual student, has been chosen as the student of the month for Sky Harbour Elementary. Javier's love for history is evident, and he is a bright young man with an infectious personality. He greets others with a smile and is always willing to lend a helping hand, which brings joy to everyone's day.
Javier's love for reading is apparent whenever he picks up a book, and he is always eager to share what he has learned with others. He takes his role as a responsible Sky Harbour Safety Patrol seriously, arriving on time for morning duty and reporting to the office at 8:05 am for his role in morning announcements before returning to class, ready to work.
Javier is an Honor Roll student with an excellent attendance record and a role model for other students in the school. He frequently uses his bilingualism as an asset to help other students in the class. Following his brother's footsteps, Javier will attend McAuliffe Middle School and join the McAuliffe Mariachi Group. Javier deserves this recognition because he knows the value of continuous learning.
McNair Middle School
Emiliano Romo has been selected for the student of the month at McNair Middle School. He is a 7th-grade Challenger who participates in our Gifted and Talented Program and is a member of the football and soccer teams. From the start of the year until now, Emiliano has distinguished himself from others by displaying the values of what it means to be a student-athlete at McNair- teamwork, involvement, happiness, and integrity.
He has excelled on the soccer field by scoring over ten goals and a hat trick- 3 goals in his last game. He will be a great addition to the Dragon powerhouse soccer team. Professional clubs need to be ready for this all-star.
The trait we admire the most is his education excellence in the classroom; without a doubt, he has demonstrated to many students, parents, and professionals to perform at such a high level, both in terms of mastery level on the STAAR and being an avid peer tutor to his classmates. McNair is very proud of all of Emiliano’s accomplishments and contributions to McNair.
Southwest Legacy High School
Southwest Legacy High School proudly announces Cassidy Cazares as its Student of the Month. Cassidy is the Vice President of her Senior Class and Student Council and displays exceptional leadership qualities. She is also dedicated to helping others, evident in her involvement in the Best Buddies program, where she spends time assisting special needs, students.
Cassidy's community service work extends to the SWL Interact Club, where she actively participates in donation drives and events that benefit the school and the surrounding community. She is also a top-performing student in her Business program, earning Industry-Based Certifications and serving as the Historian Officer for her Business Practicum Association.
Cassidy's commitment to her school is further exemplified in her participation in various spirit events, such as pep rallies, varsity games, and poster-making campaigns. She takes the initiative on creative projects and has led student council meetings and fundraisers.
Cassidy's teachers describe her as exceptionally reliable, responsible, and dedicated. Her strong work ethic is also evident in her academic achievements, where she ranks in the Top 20% of her graduating class. Cassidy plans to pursue a career in sonography and will be attending St. Phillips College in the fall.
Southwest Legacy High School is honored to have a student like Cassidy, whose unwavering commitment to her goals and community is truly admirable.
2022-2023 Teacher of the Year Awardees
The Teachers of the Year for 2022-2023 were celebrated for their passion for teaching, love for children, and expert knowledge in their respective fields. The District commended them for their hard work, dedication, and the positive impact they have made on the students in their care.
The Southwest ISD Teachers of the Year are highly respected and admired among their peers and the wider community. They have earned this honor through an unwavering commitment to their students and profession. They inspire and motivate their students to achieve their full potential, and they help them grow both academically and personally. They are exceptional teachers who go above and beyond to ensure their students receive the best education possible.
As a community, we owe these teachers a debt of gratitude for their service to our children. They work tirelessly to instill a love of learning in their students and help shape the next generation of leaders, innovators, and problem solvers. We recognize and appreciate their hard work, dedication, and the positive impact they have made in the lives of so many.
The recognition of these teachers during the school board meeting is a small token of our appreciation for all they do. We hope this recognition will encourage them to continue striving for excellence and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. They truly deserve this honor, and we thank them for serving our community.
Elementary
Big Country Elementary-Toni Davison
Bob Hope Elementary -Gina Huerta
Hidden Cove Elementary -Carlos Pena
Indian Creek Elementary -Melissa Hernandez
Kriewald Road Elementary -Suzanne Mutz
Medio Creek Elementary -Olga Escamilla
Sky Harbour Elementary -Stephanie Thetford
Southwest Elementary- Erika Forman
Spicewood Park Elementary -Amber Aguayo
Sun Valley Elementary- Christina Pina
Secondary
McAuliffe Middle School -Veronica Gonzalez
McNair Middle School- Briar Buckley
Resnik Middle School- Joann Ledesma
Scobee Middle School- Larry Sullivan
SW Legacy High School- Ann Lievrouw
CAST STEM Aaron Patino
Crossroads/DAEP Heather Halton
Elementary Teacher of the Year: Elm Creek Elementary Mary Nino
Secondary Teacher of the Year: Southwest High School Cecile Castaneda
Presentations
Teacher Incentive Allotment
Executive Director of Talent Management and Acquisition, Dr. Lesley McClellan gave the Board an update on the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA)application. The TIA is a program established by the Texas House Bill 3 during the 86th legislative session. Its purpose is to reward, retain, and recruit teachers while ensuring a fair distribution of qualified teachers. The program has three categories of recognition - recognized, exemplary, and master - based on teacher performance in T-TESS domains 2 and 3, as well as student growth measures. The district can include additional components, such as attendance or T-TESS domains 1 and 4. Teachers can also achieve recognition by obtaining a national board certification, and their designation lasts for five years or until their certification expires.
The compensation allotments for SWISD range from $4,408 to $27,365 depending on the designation, campus rural status, and level of student economic need. If a teacher decides to work in another district, their designation will move with them if they meet eligibility requirements at their new district.
Approval of a local designation system by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is a two-step process over three school years. SWISD is in the first year of the process, where district committees comprised of teachers, administrators, and district leaders are developing the district system. The district will submit its application to TEA for review in April, which is the first step. Once the application is approved, the district will begin its data capture year, where teacher observation and student growth data will be collected. After this year, the district will submit the previous year's data and proposed designations to Texas Tech University for data validation, which is step two. The TEA will review the data validation and application outcomes to determine final approval. The district can issue designations if approved, and eligible teachers will receive an allotment.
For more information on the TIA, click here.
Bond 2023
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance, Brandon Crisp, gave an update on
the 2023 Bond. The SWISD Board of Trustees has approved a recommendation to call for a $250,000,000 bond election on May 6. In response, the Southwest Independent School District has launched an informational bond webpage and has been hosting a series of community meetings.
The bond has been designed to ensure investment in safety and security measures at all campuses, address the rapid growth in the Southwest ISD community, and fund the modernization and renovation of existing facilities. The bond will benefit all Southwest ISD schools and provide needed space to accommodate the influx of new students. Additionally, the bond includes two propositions: Proposition A, which funds security improvements, critical facility renovations throughout the district, and new school construction, and Proposition B, which addresses modifications to the Southwest High School Stadium.
A demographics study prompted the initiation of this bond after showing that the District's enrollment would surpass 16,000 students by 2031 if new home builds in the Southwest ISD community continued at its current rapid growth rate. The bond project recommendations were presented to the board after a series of meetings with a committee of community members, parents, and staff.
The bond package is expected to raise the debt service portion of the school tax rate by 1 cent per $100 in taxable property value. However, Southwest ISD anticipates the maintenance and operations portion of the school tax rate will decrease over the next few years due to rising property values.
For more information, click here.
Summer 2023 Academic Programs
Executive Director of Student Support Services, Dr. Patty Escobedo, provided an update on the Summer 2023 Academic Programs. The purpose of these programs is to provide instructional service time for students who require additional support and to offer summer EOC testing opportunities. The Division of Curriculum and Instruction has designed several programs to provide a targeted focus on mastery of essential TEKS.
Additionally, the summer program will offer select students the required tutoring for HB4545. To kick off the summer academic programs, Smart Start will be hosted by feeder pattern schools from June 7-28, 2023, with a federal holiday on June 19, 2023. Classes will be held Monday - Thursday for K-12 grade students, with the program, dates varying based on program needs.
Summer 2023 Academic information will be posted to the District website at a later date.
Items Approved
Bilingual Stipend Increase
The Board approved the Bilingual stipend increase from $2000 to $2500 per year for appropriately certified bilingual teachers starting in 2023-2024. The stipend will be paid yearly as per their contracted service. Local Bilingual Funds will be used to pay for the stipend increase.
ESC Region 20 PreK Head Start Program Contract
The Board approved a contract for the ESC Region 20 PreK Head Start Program worth $440,009. This contract covers the period of February 1, 2023, to August 31, 2023, and provides Head Start services to all eligible PreK students who are four years old by September 1, 2023.
The contract outlines specific duties and responsibilities for SWISD and Region 20 to work collaboratively on during the contract term. These duties include providing instruction to students, maintaining facilities, providing health services, mental health services, nutrition services, special education services, and staff professional development services. All of these services will be provided in collaboration with ESC staff.
The Board approved the SWISD District Scholarship Committee recommendation to
award $207,500 to 179 qualified students, awarding $1160 per student. Students can also request one lump sum of $1160 for disbursement.
Child Nutrition Cafeteria Tables and Vehicle
The Board has approved the purchase of Southern Aluminum and National Public Seating Corp cafeteria tables for nine schools for $287,152. The schools receiving the new tables are McNair Middle School, Scobee Middle School, Southwest Elementary, Bob Hope Elementary, Sky Harbour Elementary, Hidden Cove Elementary, Big Country Elementary, Spicewood Park Elementary, and Elm Creek Elementary. The new tables will replace the existing ones that require an update.
Additionally, the Board has approved the purchase of a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban for a maximum amount of $62,000. The Child Nutrition department needs an additional passenger vehicle for transportation between schools and conferences and for transporting items between campuses. The District has used the Chevrolet Suburban as a standard passenger vehicle for many years.
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