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Inside FWISD June 16, 2022

Superintendent Search Update and Other Board of Education Special Meeting Highlights FWISD Launches Investor-Friendly Website Ahead of $150 Million Bond Sale: www.FortWorthISDBonds.com is Geared to Attract More Bond Investors | Saturday’s Runoff Decides FWISD District 4 Board Trustee | Celebrate Juneteenth with FWISD Alumna, Retired Educator Opal Lee | Happy Father's Day! | Sagamore Hill Elementary Receives Grant To Update Library Collection: Find out where you can apply for the next grant! | New Playground at W.J. Turner Elementary Opens to Rave Reviews | Are you the next $5,000 Teaching Chair Excellence Award Recipient? Apply by June 24! | FWISD BriefsFWISD in the News | Photos of the Week | View more stories throughout the week on the Inside FWISD Blog

Superintendent Search Update and other board of education special meeting highlights

At the June 14, 2022, Board of Education (BOE) Special Meeting, Board members unanimously approved the superintendent search profile and job description as edited by trustees. Screening for the District’s next superintendent is expected to take place this month and in July, with a slate of candidates presented to the Board by search firm Hazard, Young, Attea (HYA) Associates in August and a superintendent selection made by September.

Also at Tuesday’s BOE special meeting:

Four pay recommendations were presented following a Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) Compensation Study conducted for the District:

  1. Realign job groupings and condense the number of pay plans.
  2. Retitle and reorganize jobs
  3. Implement pay structure adjustments that align with the job market.
  4. Adopt a general pay increase to maintain market position as well as adjustments to improve individual pay

Click here to learn more about the pay recommendations

The study, the District’s first conducted since 2014, reviewed pay structures and individual salary pay. The data were compared with comparable local and state school districts, as well as public and private sector jobs. The study is still analyzing stipends and extra-duty pay, and that data will be presented to the Board in the next couple of months.

Dr. Raúl Peña, Chief Talent Officer, said the recommendations are either in progress of being implemented or could be executed sometime during the 2022-2023 year.

The District is still proposing that a 4% mid-point salary increase for employees and a $60,000 starting teacher salary be part of the 2022-2023 operating budget. The Board is expected to consider adopting the budget on June 28. FWISD’s new fiscal year begins July 1, and Board trustees must adopt the budget before this date.

At the same meeting, the formation of a new safety and security committee was unanimously approved by trustees. The Board will determine the members of the group, whose meetings will be closed to the public because of the sensitivity of the topics discussed, President Tobi Jackson said.

After the Executive Session, Trustees appointed Loretta Salvatore as the District’s chief internal auditor. Ms. Salvatore, who has been with the District since 2015, most recently served as interim chief internal finance auditor.

Click here to view Tuesday’s meeting in its entirety.

FWISD Launches Investor-Friendly Website Ahead of $150 Million Bond Sale

www.FortWorthISDBonds.com is Geared to Attract More Bond Investors

Fort Worth ISD announced a new tool to help ensure transparency and attract more investors to the District’s upcoming $150 million bond sale on Tuesday. The new offering is www.FortWorthISDBonds.com, a free, investor relations website that provides a single location for accessing the data and documents that inform the credit features of the District’s financing programs.

Learn more about the new website here.

Saturday’s Runoff Decides FWISD District 4 Board Trustee

Election Day for the Fort Worth ISD District 4 Board of Education runoff is this Saturday, June 18.

Dr. Brian Dixon and Wallace Bridges are vying to fill the unexpired term, left vacant after the unexpected death of trustee Daphne Brookins last November. No one earned a majority vote in the original May 7 election, and the two men received the two highest numbers of votes, advancing to this weekend’s runoff.

Polls are open on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit www.tarrantcounty.com/elections for a complete list of polling sites and additional voting information.

The candidate elected this weekend will represent District 4 until the term expires in 2025. The FWISD board is expected to canvass Saturday’s election results and swear in its newest trustee on June 28.

Celebrate Juneteenth with FWISD Alumna, Retired Educator Opal Lee

Make plans to join Opal Lee, Fort Worth ISD alumna, former educator, and 2019 Wall of Fame recipient, this weekend to celebrate Juneteenth.

Festivities include the 2.5-mile Opal’s Walk for Freedom, the I Am Juneteenth Festival, and more. Visit www.juneteenthftw.com for additional details.

This year marks the first anniversary of President Joseph Biden signing legislation to officially recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Ms. Lee, affectionately known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” had advocated for several decades to have the day recognized federally. Because Juneteenth falls on Sunday, it will be observed as a federal holiday on Monday.

While FWISD is recognizing Juneteenth, it is a workday for District employees unless a PTO has been requested and approved.

Juneteenth, observed June 19, commemorates the day the last Southern enslaved Black people were officially emancipated in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived on the shores of Galveston with news that the Civil War had ended, and that enslaved people were free. The order was announced more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, declaring an end to slavery throughout the United States.

Happy Father's Day!

As we enter this weekend, the Inside FWISD team applauds the fathers and father figures of the Fort Worth ISD for all that you do for our students and your own children.

We hope that you are celebrated and honored for the work you do preparing children for a successful future.

Happy Father's Day!

Sagamore Hill Elementary receives Grant To Update Library Collection

Find out where you can apply for the next grant!

Books bring new life and new experiences to students. That is why the students and staff at Fort Worth ISD’s Sagamore Hill Elementary are thrilled to be one of 300 schools nationwide to receive a $5,000 grant through the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.

“We are very excited to be able to receive this award to update our library with much-needed Spanish and non-fiction books for our students,” said Sagamore Hill Elementary Principal Pamela Carrick.

The book additions will help support areas that were found to be lacking during a recent library inventory, and complement the campus student population.

Grant applications for the 2022-2023 school year will open in late 2022. Are you the next grant recipient? Visit laurabushfoundation.org to learn more.

The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries supports school libraries with the greatest needs with the goal of encouraging all students to develop a love of reading and learning. Since its inception in 2002, it has awarded more than $19.5 million to more than 3,300 schools across the country

New Playground at W.J. Turner Elementary Opens to Rave Reviews

W.J. Turner Elementary School recently became the first of three Fort Worth ISD schools to receive a new playground space this year.

Volunteers from the District and Challenge of Tarrant County constructed the student-designed playground the week of June 6. The school is also receiving a small putting green for its First Tee after-school program and a covered outdoor learning space. Learn more about the play space project here.

Throughout the summer, two additional community-built play spaces are being constructed at S.S. Dillow Elementary and Western Hills Elementary through partnerships with nonprofit KABOOM! and other funding partners. It is part of a multi-year project to offer FWISD elementary schools and their surrounding neighborhoods new playgrounds to end play space inequity.

Are you the next $5,000 Teaching Chair Excellence Award Recipient? 

APPLY BY JUNE 24!

On week remains to apply for the 2022-2023 Academic Chairs for Teaching Excellence award. Online applications for the one-of-a-kind program that recognizes 15 outstanding teacher each with a $5,000 honorarium are due by 5 p.m. Friday, June 24.

“This made me feel so special," said Dr. Emily Saenz, the 2021-2022 Friedman Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts upon being surprised with news last fall that she won. "I think it’s really rare to be an adult human who gets to go to work every day and really, deeply find meaning in what they do, and I feel that here.”

Apply for one of two Performing Arts (music, theater, dance) awards here.

Submit an application for one of 13 Academic Teaching Chairs awards here.

You could be our next Academic Chairs for Teaching Excellence honoree!

For more information about other eligibility requirements, ask your principal or contact Judy Ramos, judy.ramos@fwisd.org or Peg Murphy, peg.murphy@fwisd.org.

FWISD Briefs

Fort Worth ISD College and Career Access In Action

The Paschal High School Go Center recently received awards highlighting their successes in the TCU College Advising Corp network in the following categories:

  • Most student meetings
  • Most parent contacts
  • Most FAFSA and college applications completions

Staff stated, "We aren't the largest school in the network, which includes schools from FWISD, Arlington, Birdville, Crowley, and other area school districts, but we couldn’t be prouder of the work our Go Center has done with our students."

FWISD Go Centers are open during the school year and support all students and families with decisions about college, career, and military service.

Laundry Love - Making a Difference One Bundle At a Time

On the third Saturday of every month, from 9 am to 1 pm, committed volunteers will gather at Turbo Laundry (6209 Granbury Road) to provide cost-free laundry services to those in need.

The story of Laundry Love began when T-Bone (Eric), a homeless gentleman living in Ventura, California, was asked: “How can we come alongside your life in a meaningful way?” His response was honest and practical. “If I had clean clothes, I think people would treat me like a human being.”

To learn more about this program, click here. For immediate questions, contact Kelli Graham at 817-269-4565.

Free Vision Screenings and Eyeglasses

The U S Vision Program of Texas is providing free eye exams and glasses for Vulnerable Populations - especially Children 10 and older, Men, and Women. All are welcome!

Date: LIMITED DATES PLEASE CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR FAMILY APPOINTMENTS

Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Location: Las Vegas Trail, Fort Worth, Texas * address provided when appointment is confirmed

Contact: 817-697-8653 to schedule your appointment

Cost: FREE

Documentation needed: NONE

If you currently wear glasses, please bring them with you! If you currently wear contacts, please do not wear them to the screening.

FWISD IN THE NEWS

More Texas students are attending college, according to a Fort Worth Star-Telegram story featuring recent Marine Creek Collegiate graduate Karina Torres and FWISD employees.

FOX 4 (KDFW) recently aired a story on the student-designed playground build and ribbon cutting ceremony at W.J. Turner Elementary School.

Check out this Spectrum News story about Southwest High School’s National Skills Match Championship win at the recent VEX Robotics World competition.

Photos of the Week

Summer Learning

Summer Learning began last week at FWISD elementary and middle school campuses. Here are a few images from the first week.

Business and Finance Employee Service Awards

The FWISD Business and Finance Department recently closed the academic year celebrating employees with an awards ceremony June 9 at the Professional Development Center. View more photos here.

Legal/Risk Ethics Service Award Ceremony

The FWISD Legal/Risk Ethics Department recently closed the academic year celebrating employees with an employee service awards ceremony June 9 at North Hi Mount Elementary School. View more photos here.

Blue Zones Volunteer Project

Students at Versia Williams Elementary and M.H. Moore Elementary schools will return to sidewalk games like hopscotch, chess, tic-tac-toe, basketball, and more this fall. Volunteers braved the morning heat and humidity June 9 to provide a recess refresh to paved areas by the playgrounds.

The Fort Worth ISD’s Operations Department furnished the paint and helped outline areas that needed attention. Volunteers from Blue Zones Project Fort Worth and Texas Health, including Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth President Joseph DeLeon, transformed the play areas with colorful graphics. Learn more here.

National Scholastic Arts Ceremony

Congratulations to Arlington Heights High School student Andrea Saenz, a student gold medalist of the 2022 National Scholastic Arts and Writing Award. Andrea and teacher Andrew Giles traveled to New York City June 9 for the ceremony held at Carnegie Hall.

The ceremony’s special guest Nick Cannon said this award is “the highest honor a high school art student can achieve”. Andrea was presented with the award for her photography (first image) which she said: “represents the liminal state that people go through between their grieving and healing. Change is inevitable and allows us humans to grow and evolve."

Share your story ideas, successes, calendar items, photos, questions and feedback with us at Inside@FWISD.org. Content submissions are due no later than 10 a.m. Fridays for the next edition. Check the Inside FWISD blog, www.fwisd.org/insidefwisd, regularly updated throughout the week with additional content and features.

Credits:

Created with an image by Andrei Korzhyts - "Concept of news media, print media and mass media"