VOL 7 No. 17
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Birds of Fort Bend : Nutmeg Mannikin FBISD adopts facilities master plan
Nutmeg Mannikin is one of several exotic bird species establishing breeding colonies along Upper Coastal Texas. This Southeast Asian finch is among other non-native birds including the Egyptian Goose, Orange Bishop, and Monk Parakeet, all seen and photographed in Quail Valley. This sparrowsized finch prefers grassy, weedy areas near water and comes to seed feeders. If you are interested in making your home garden more attractive to birds, Photographer Margaret Sloan will be at the Quail Valley Backyard Tour, Saturday, April 26 at the 2910 Nancy Bell nature garden. Visit http://traction. typepad.com/QVTour for more information.
FBISD names Deidra Lyons-Lewis and Eugene Dupont Principals of the Year
Fort Bend ISD has announced the names of its 2014 Principals of the Year. Deidra LyonsLewis, principal at Hodges Bend Middle School is the Secondary Principal of the Year; and Eugene Dupont, principal at Colony Meadows Elementary School is the Elementary Principal of the Year. They were chosen by their peers based on their outstanding leadership, service and dedication to students, faculty and staff. “I am honored to be named the FBISD Secondary Principal of the Year,” said Deidra LyonsLewis, “although, I am but a reflection of the talented people in the District. Throughout my years in FBISD, I have been taught, groomed and challenged by the best to always do what is best for our children and community. I am grateful for the guidance and support of the FBISD community.” Lyons-Lewis, who comes from a family of educators, is a 19-year veteran in education and has led faculty and staff at HBMS for the past two years. While in Fort Bend ISD, she has held the positions as associate principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, Special Education teacher, Director of Staffing and Secondary Staffing Coordinator – all of which have prepared her for making executive decisions to ensure that students receive the positive educational experience that they deserve. Dupont learned how rewarding a career in education could be from his mother, who was a teacher. He has
Deidra Lyons-Lewis, FBISD Secondary Principal of the Year worked in education for 35 years, devoting 27 of those to FBISD. He has served as a principal, assistant principal and teacher at five FBISD schools. He says his greatest success as a principal has been seeing the accomplishments that students
E u g e n e D u p o n t , F B I S D ’s Elementary Principal of the Year make each and every day on campus. He feels blessed to be a part of the FBISD family and honored by his peers. “To be named as Elementary Principal of the Year is a wonderful honor,” said Dupont. “This distinction is even more
By SESHADRI KUMAR The Fort Bend ISD board of trustees on Monday unanimously adopted a “Facilities Master Plan” with little discussion. The plan prepared by Jacobs Engineering, after more than a year of study, with a price tag of about $488 million for the proposed projects, was presented to the board in detail at a previous workshop. The study recommends the construction of nine elementary schools and two middle schools in the next five to 7 years and the estimated cost of these projects alone is $328 million, excluding land costs. Top on the list is the construction of elementary school No. 46 in the Aliana area and elementary school No. 47 in the Riverstone area, with a target of opening for the 2015-16 school year. The estimated cost of an elementary school is $25 million. The school at Riverstone may cost $35 million because two schools with a total capacity of 1,200 with a common administration building is being proposed. In the Aliana area, the plan proposes three more elementary schools to open each year after No. 46 is opened. Similarly, in the Sienna area, three more elementary schools are proposed each year after the new Riverstone campus opens in 2015. The five-year life cycle investment in items like roofing, interior repairs, and airconditioning systems in existing school buildings is estimated to cost $127 million. After the community dialogue meetings and during the recommendations work session, two Steering Committee members from three planning areas met with district administrators and consultants
from Jacobs Engineering and DeJONG-RICHTER. “During this work session, the team discussed the continued growth of the district, the need for future additional space at the high school level, the strong desire of the community to have enhanced partnerships with local businesses, and career exploration opportunities for students. Based on these expressed needs and discussion with the Steering Committee, a District-wide Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center is recommended to be constructed at a site to be determined,” the report says. The estimated cost to construct the District-wide CTE Center is $46 million. Due to implementation of House Bill 5 and the needs expressed during the community engagement process, the District may consider the addition of a second CTE Center. This could include repurposing Lake Olympia Middle School by moving the Tech Ed Center, presently located on the Dulles High School Campus, to the Lake Olympia site. According to the administration, by adopting the Facilities Master Plan, the Board is neither approving a particular project nor assigning project priorities. Rather, the adoption of the Facilities Master Plan sets in motion the next steps in the planning process which include: Prioritize current facility deficiency, educational adequacy needs, and life cycle investment; Identify funding sources required to complete the plan; Analyze the timing and sequencing of the construction projects and actions and Revise local policy regarding facility utilization. A future ‘Boundary Study’ is expected to begin in the fall
of 2014. A district-wide feeder pattern optimization study is also recommended to take place with community engagement beginning in the fall of 2014. The district is expected to use the $63 million available in previous bond money to build elementary schools No. 46 and 47. “Save Clements” There is a new demand for “saving Clements High School” from the Global Studies Academy. A large number of parents sporting red t-shirts with the slogan “Save Clements” attended the school board meeting on April 21. Representatives from this group addressed the board during the public comments period and said the Global Studies Academy is adversely affecting the other students in the schools and the academy should be shut down. Timothy Scott, one of the speakers, told the board that nonGSA students are discriminated while the GSA students get highly qualified teachers. “You are treating people who pay high property taxes as second class citizens,” Scott said. Students who are not zoned to Clements High School use the academy as “ a back door” to attend the school, he said. The GSA lacks focus, Scott said, and questioned the real rationale for having the academy, which was a Global Language Studies Academy two years ago. Asha Kaul said her children, are high performing students, but the academy students placed heavy pressure on them to keep up in the “GPA game.” Consequently, her children were turning into bookworms, with little social life. See CLEMENTS, Page3
SMSD names Robert Bostic as Superintendent finalist The Stafford Municipal School District has selected Dr. Robert Bostic as the superintendent. His appointment will be formally considered at the May 7 meeting of the board. Bostic is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Academic Programs at Denton ISD in Denton, TX. Since arriving in Denton in the summer of 2009, Bostic has made using “technology as a tool” a top priority to help teachers and administrators streamline their work with teaching and learning in the district and throughout Texas. (See Page 2)
Bostic
Above, “Summer time” (an impressionism painting) and “Light Painting”, left, (a photograph of a unique creation of colors on a wall) by Sam Tarner of Missouri City. See profile on Page 4.