Klaeger asks for Highland Lakes summit

By Raymond V. Whelan • Daily Tribune Staff

BERTRAM - The Burnet Consolidated Independent School District board received more good news this week, this time related to a state report on its financial rating.

During the school board meeting Monday at Bertram Elementary School, Business Manager Preston Ingram told the board the Texas Education Agency has granted the district a “superior achievement” rating for financial integrity.

The rating underscores the district’s desire to “keep the financial health of the district in balance with the needs of the children,” Ingram told The Daily Tribune.

TEA based its rating on 21 indicator tests; the district received a passing grade on 20. The agency found one blemish on the district, concerning the percentage of operating expenditures spent on instruction.

TEA recommends 54 percent, while BCISD spends about 52 percent, or $12.5 million out of $24 million according to the district’s 2005-2006 financial data.

The state financial report came after district teachers received one of the most prestigious awards in the nation earlier this month.

The U.S. Department of Education Oct. 2 recognized Bertram Elementary School as a “2007 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School,” among only 23 schools in Texas and just 287 schools across the nation.

During their meeting, the board praised Bertram Principal Shelley Reavis and her staff for all of their efforts in earning the honor.

“We’re all very proud of you,” Superintendent Jeff Hanks told Reavis and more than a dozen Bertram teachers.

To help celebrate the award, Bertram fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Graves leaped and did a couple of cartwheels across the floor, accompanied by much cheering and laughter.

Turning to other business, Facilities Director Kyle Powell said the construction of the $1.2 million high school baseball and softball fields are still in the design phase.

The district will pay the city of Burnet about $70,000 for materials required to relocate underground utilities to support the new fields and up to $16,000 for labor. Burnet may waive the labor cost, Powell said.

Before the meeting ended, the board resolved to reduce district energy consumption by 5 percent over the next six years. Possible reductions include operating vending machines with lights that turn off automatically when not in service.

The action would put the district in compliance with Senate Bill 12 and House Bill 3693, energy-saving measures which lawmakers approved during the 80th Legislature, Ingram said.

“That was just in case we hadn’t thought of it already,” Ingram quipped.

The board approved the Textbook Committee for 2007-2008 to include Trustee Mary Ann Jones; Judi Whitis, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; the Bertram, Burnet, R.J. Richey and Shady Grove principals; and 12 teachers.

The committee will review and evaluate math textbooks for district students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade, Whitis said.

A report from the committee is due next March, and approved textbooks will ready for students in August, Whitis added.

Burnet High School seniors Jessica Devaney and Jacob Robinson received “Student of the Month” honors from Burnet High Principal Craig Spinn.

raymond@thepicayune.com

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Klaeger asks for Highland Lakes summit