Creek Speaks Out Pg 17
Pet Food Drive Pg 9
Creek Players Sign Pg 19
December 2009- Volume 84, Issue 4 Clear Creek High School
2305 E. Main, League City, TX 77573
Creek organizations celebrate the holidays Ashley Farmer Clear C r e e k H i g h school students a n d administrators are celebrating the holiday season by participating in numerous activities. S t u dents at Creek participated in the League City Parade on Saturday, December 5, hosted by the Baytown Parks and Recreation Department. The parade began on Main Street at 6:30 pm and ended at Commerce Street. With 250 entries, the parade was the largest in League City history. Organizations from Creek the CCHS Marching Band who played Christmas
music, the Cavaliers who danced, and the Cheerleaders who cheered all the way down Main Street through the evening weather. FFA, and Best Buddies decorated their own floats for the parade, complete with Christmas music. CLEAR and JROTC both walked in the parade and PALS sold hot chocolate to the onlookers. Other holiday activities sponsored by the Student Council included signing cards for wounded soldiers in Walter Reed Hospital. The organization also sold candy cane crushes in the cafeteria. Creek’s Habitat for Humanity Club is encour- aging its members to provide gift wrapping services at Baybrook Mall from now until Christmas. “This is a
great opportunity to get hours for Honor Society,” Habitat for Humanity Club sponsor Mr. John Lewallen said. The Clear Creek Fine Arts organizations are also busy this holiday season. The Drama department hosted the League of Extraordinary Improvisers on Thursday December 10, along with plays and their annual Thespian Holiday party. Choir had its concert on December 8 and Orchestra had its concert on December 9. Creek’s concert bands will have their annual Christmas concert on December 17 at 7:00. The Clear Creek Chamber Choir performed Christmas Carols at Chick-fila on Tuesday, December 1 to raise money for their Choir Booster Club. “It was a really cool experience. I liked singing somewhere out of the o rd i n a r y, outside of my
school,” sophomore Chamber Choir member Chris Larsen said. T h e Clear Creek H i g h
School Christian Club participated in Operation Christmas Child in November. Members of the club donated and wrapped toys to be sent to children in need. They also helped collect money to sponsor a child in the Houston area whose family could not afford Christmas presents. This family was delegated by the Alvin Habitat for Humanity Chapter and the Christian Helping Hands organization in Pearland. “I am so blessed to be able to witness the members of CCHS Christian Club…their devotion to their faith, the school and the community is empowering,” Mrs. Smith, the sponsor of the club said. As the organizations of Clear Creek High school prepare for the holidays, it is apparent they are impacting the people in the community and pulling in the holiday spirit. Photos by Kaitlyn Boryk
CCISD working to balance next year’s budget Allie Hinga
its budget. The district will be opening its In the midst of the nation’s ongoing fifth comprehensive high school, as well economic struggles, a number of business- as a new intermediate school, in the fall of es and organizations have been forced to 2010. Altogether, these new campuses will cut costs and balance decreased budgets. add another $5.5 million in costs to the disSchool districts are not exempt from this trict. While the state does allocate funds struggle, including CCISD. The district’s to districts for taking on more students, Board of Directors is already in the midst the amount will not offset the expenses of its fiscal discussions for the 2010-2011 incurred by the addition of two new camschool year to discern the most efficient puses. CCISD also expects to see escalaway to balance the budget while main- tions in property and casualty insurance, as taining CCISD’s standard of education. well as a need for teacher salary increases While many districts in Texas have and other new expenses. In total, faced deficits in the past, they have been so far the district expects to face a able to balance their budgets with the as$9-$10 million deficit next year. sistance of the state legislature. However, “The funding levels from when the last legislative session ended in the state aren’t sufficient for June, the state made no long term comgrowth,” CCISD Chief Finanmitment to continue to help districts cial Officer Paul McLarty said. keep up with increasing costs due The district is finding to inflation, rising gas and inways to save money without surance prices, and the need to decreasing the quality of educreate more schools. Approxication it offers. So mately one third of schools in far, energy Region Four, of which CCISD conservation is a part, adopted budget deficits efforts have this year. Dr. Greg Smith, CCISD Superintendent of Schools, said he expects another one third of the region to do so next year. As a growing school district, CCISD has experienced the increasing demands of balancing Dr. Greg Smith and Mr. Paul McLarty are working to develop next year’s budget. Photo by Allie Hinga
saved CCISD $743,000. The district’s “Walk to Stop” program lengthened the distance between bus stops and saved an additional $200,000. The transition from block scheduling to a seven period day also saved the district $2.5 million this year. “We have been frugal with our expenses and will have to continue to be that way in the future,” Dr. Smith said. However, these savings have not been enough to cover the entire deficit. District employees have been looking into a number of different options to help save money. Some possibilities t discussed range from allowing the out of district students of CCISD employees to come into the district to raise additional revenue to cutting the cost of employee travel. The district will also continue to evaluate current programs, such as Smaller Learning Communities, to see where to best allocate funds. “Everything is on the table for us to look at this point,” Dr. Smith said. The district is also working to develop alternative revenue sources and is currently looking into placing advertisements on buses as an option for raising additional funds. CCISD has already held the first reading of the draft policy for this action. While CCISD is working to save money and garner additional revenue, it is looking to do so without decreasing its standards as a district. The district has avoided cutting allocations to
schools and is working to ensure that campuses continue to offer non-mandatory elective programs that allow students to pursue their passions. Dr. Smith said that the district is not considering a teacher reduction in force to reduce costs at this time. “We want to make sure we remain the highest performing large school district in the State of Texas,” McLarty said. In December, McLarty began walking the CCISD Board of Trustees through the annual budget to identify priorities for the 2010-2011 school year. The Board will be responsible for approving the finalized budget that it believes best implements CCISD’s mission of providing students with a high quality education and displays fiscal integrity. The Board will receive input from committees made up of CCISD staff, students, and community members throughout the area and will utilize these priorities, as well as their own findings, to develop a budget that best utilizes the district’s current funds. It will also be looking for ways to save money and develop other revenue sources. Some budget priorities that have thus far been identified include maintaining competitive staff salaries and academic standards. In addition to finding ways to cut spending, if the district finds itself unable to balance the budget, it has the capability to access a capital outlay plan that will help offset any negative balances by Continued on page 5.