Theresa Cantu
  Pamela Cole
  Maria Galvan
  Cindy Garcia*
  Orlando Garcia*
  Tory Garcia
  Mary Garnet
  Mercedes Garza
  Luis Gonzales*
  Ricardo Gonzales*
  Luis Gutierrez*
  Monica Ibarra
  James Kohn
  Maria Leos
  Stanley Leshner*
  Antonio G. Limon
  Noemi Martinez
  Jeannie McMillin
  Tim Moon
  Karen Moore*
  Rosalinda Peralez
  Dolores Ramirez
  Ray Saldana
  Henry Sanchez
  Jesse Sauceda
  Veronica Varner
  Heriberto Villarreal*
  Linda Villarreal
  Delia Weaver*
  Bertha Wilson*


  Reference
  Individuals:
  Theresa
  Christensen*
  Ruben Franco
  Celia Longoria
  Emma McCall*
  Celeste Sanchez


  * Unable to Attend

  Next meeting date:
  Thursday, April 6,
  3:00-4:30 p.m.
  John F. Barron
  Administration
  Building
  The public is invited
  to attend

March 9, 2006

Committee reviews 2006-07 Proposed School Calendar
Mary Alice Martinez, director of secondary education/gifted talented reported Calendar C received the most votes.  Highlights of the calendar include:

New Teacher Orientation–August 9-11
First Day For Teachers–August 14
Inservice–August 14-17, January 9 & April 23
Work Days–August 18, January 8, June 1
Labor Day–September 4
Early Release Dates (Students)–October 6, November 17, March 2, April 27
Early Release Dates (Students & Staff)–December 22 & May 31
Thanksgiving–November 22-24
Christmas/New Year’s–December 25-January 5
Weather Make-Up Days– January 15 & May 11
Spring Break–March 12-16
Easter–April 6 & 9
Last Day for Students–May 31
Last Day for Teachers & Graduation Day–June 1

Martinez thanked members of the Calendar Committee for their input and assistance. Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón explained that under the proposed calendar, personnel hired under the “Retire/Rehired” Program will be docked one day instead of two. The calendar will be presented to trustees for approval at the next regular meeting set for Tuesday, March 21.

Bilingual Elementary Transitional Plan presented
Eddie Villarreal, director of federal programs, presented the Bilingual Elementary Transitional Plan as follows:

Immigrant-LEP (testing)
Years 1 & 2-Exempt
Year 3-Spanish
Year 4-Spanish & English
Year 5-English

U.S.-LEP (instruction)
First Grade
English: Math, Science, History, Fine Arts
Spanish: Reading, ELA

Second Grade
English: Math, Science, History, Fine Arts, ELA
Spanish: Reading

Third Grade
English: Math, Science, History, Fine Arts, ELA
Spanish: Reading

Fourth Grade
English: Math, Science, History, Fine Arts, ELA, Reading

Rangerville teacher Dolores Ramirez and Principal Tim Moon said the plan allows flexibility.  Villarreal said the plan is designed to slowly help students make the transition and build up their vocabulary.  Tory Garcia, a teacher at La Paloma, said the transition is not that difficult to do.  Mary Garnett, a teacher at Sullivan, said having a strong English As a Second Language component makes the transition easier.  Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction Celeste Sanchez said that the plan will be used as a guide and that the majority of the students should be accommodated under this plan.  Villarreal added that the plan would be presented to the principals and then to the Curriculum Committee of the board.

Reading TAKS results
Planner/Evaluator Ruben Franco presented results from the first administration of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test for grades 3 & 5.  Third graders recorded a 85.6 percent passing rate, while fifth graders recorded a 68.5 percent passing.  Franco reported that although the performance is better than last year, there is work to be done in order to increase the passing rates.  Celeste Sanchez noted that the principals have already disegrated the data and that they can further increase the passing rates.  

Office of Civil Rights to visit district
Celeste Sanchez announced that San Benito CISD will be welcoming members of the Office of Civil Rights April 3-7.  They will visit certain schools to evaluate and determine standards that the district must meet.  Sanchez said the new buildings should be American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.  Sanchez said they will be doing walk-throughs at the campuses to look at several indicators.

Open Forum
•Tory Garcia inquired about middle school  changes for next year.  Limón responded that the district is proposing to close Miller Jordan Middle School for a one-year period in order to make the necessary construction improvements.  All of the city’s sixth graders will be attending the new Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary.  All of the city’s seventh and eighth graders will attend Berta Cabaza, while the country’s sixth, seventh and eighth graders will be attending the new San Benito Riverside Middle School.  Rangerville Principal Tim Moon said that temporarily closing Miller Jordan Middle School is a better option.  His campus underwent major remodeling several years ago and the school experienced issues related air conditioning problems and non-working toilets during the process.  Limón explained that Miller Jordan Middle School has asbestos and that he did not want to take the chance of exposing students or staff to this substance during the demolition/renovation process.  He emphasized that this is a temporary move and a decision to close the school for a one-year period is being done for safety reasons.

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