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Northwest Board Notes: Sept. 10 Meeting
The Northwest Independent School District Board of Trustees met yesterday - Monday, Sept. 10 - during a regularly scheduled meeting. This is a recap of the major actions and reports from the meeting. To see every item that was discussed or voted on, click here.
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District improvement plan adopted
Trustees approved adoption of the 2018-19 district improvement plan, a document designed to ensure continuous improvement across the entire district as required by the Texas Education Code.
The district improvement plan was created to align with Northwest ISD's strategic goals, which can be seen here. The document identifies challenges and their root causes while providing proposals to improve these issues.
Overall, the plan features nine performances objectives and 37 strategies to meet objectives. Each objective relates to one of Northwest ISD's three strategic goals.
Following the district improvement plan's passage, the board will now review individual campus improvement plans at its Sept. 24 meeting and take action on them at its Oct. 22 meeting.
To view the entire district improvement plan approved by the board, click here.
Facilities team updates board on construction, planning
Northwest ISD's facilities team provided trustees with an overview of current construction and planning, with several projects currently in the works across the district.
In planning, the team continues to work on the design of the district natatorium as well as the second phase of the Byron Nelson High School expansion, which would feature additions and renovations to the main building. Design of expansions and renovations for Sendera Ranch and Thompson elementary schools are in the process of being finalized, with construction scheduled to begin in November.
The addition and renovation of Hughes Elementary School was recently completed, expanding the school's capacity to the new district elementary standard of 850 students.
Projects that remain under construction include Curtis Elementary School (the kitchen, stage, courtyard and two academic wings), Box Agricultural Sciences Center and Lance Thompson Elementary School. The new metal barn addition to Box arrived this month, and the first slab pour (for the base of the building) was completed at Lance Thompson on Aug. 31.
Finally, a new website focused exclusively on Northwest ISD construction and planning is being created and will launch soon. This site will allow community members to view all the projects in the works across the district, categorized by completed projects, active projects and projects in planning.
General counsel updates board on policies, legal trainings and more
Christie Hobbs, Northwest ISD's in-house legal counsel, provided trustees with updates on her work, including board policies and regulations, legal trainings and similar matters.
As general counsel, Ms. Hobbs oversees the district's legal matters, including updating its board policy. While the legal policy of school districts is updated by the Texas Association of School Boards and every legal policy is identical for school districts across Texas, the district updates its local policy based on TASB recommendations. The local policy includes items such as rules and expectations for students and staff. Regulations are also made by the district, as they are rules for implementing legal and local policies. Finally, exhibits serve as examples to better explain policies.
Ms. Hobbs also oversees the legal trainings required of school professionals - including educators and support staff - such as protecting students from sexual abuse, when visitors should be ejected from campuses, bullying and more. Student protection and privacy rights are key focuses of many of these required trainings. Ms. Hobbs has also created legal trainings for students, parents and community members to help them better understand legal principles that protect students.
Other matters overseen by Ms. Hobbs include legal advice (compliance, discipline, rights, grievances and more), public information requests and investigation responses.
In other action, the board
- Recognized Amanda Rogers of Thompson Elementary School for being named Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail's Program Coordinator of the Year.
- Recognized the United Way of Denton County for partnering to host the Northwest ISD Back-to-School Fair, an annual event that helps provide school items and services for students in need.
- Recognized First Baptist Church of Justin for serving as an Adopt-A-School partner of Pike Middle School.
- Approved amendments to the 2018-19 budget resulting from additional revenue, such as service fees (facilities being rented, for example) and grants, and expenditures, such as contracted maintenance.
- Reviewed board standards of professional practice revisions. The revisions were made to reflect the district's new strategic framework and more closely reflect the board policy.
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| Peterson Elementary School students led the pledges. |
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| Trustees recognized Amanda Rogers of Thompson for being named Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail's Program Coordinator of the Year. |
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| Trustees recognized the United Way of Denton County for its partnership in the district Back-to-School Fair. |
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| Trustees recognized First Baptist Church of Justin for serving as an Adopt-A-School partner of Pike Middle School. |
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