Maria Agado
  Diana Atkinson
  Ernesto Balli  
  Maria Teresa Bazan
  Luis Cantu
  Arnold Castillo
  Fred Cavazos
  Pamela Cole
  Dolores De La
  Fuente
  *Marina De Leon
  Sylvia Espinoza
  Carol Evans
  Normalinda Garcia
  Rene Garcia
 *Isabel Gomez
  Carlos Gonzales
  Dr. Margarita Greer
  Roberta Kelly
  *Jana Landrum
  Stan Leshner
  Antonio G. Limon
  Sam Mendez
  *Jose L. Morales
  *Monica Pulido
  *Eddie Ramirez
  Dee Dee Reza
  *Rene Rivas
  *Victor Rosas
  Nancy Thompson
  *Joe Villarreal



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


  * Unable to Attend

  Next meeting date:
  John F. Barron
  Administration
  Building
 

December 13, 2007

House Bill 530 Presentation
San Benito CISD Coach Roy Garcia, who oversees the district’s Physical Education Program, conducted a presentation on House Bill 530. The Texas Education Agency has identified FITNESSGRAM as the assessment tool that will be used by all districts
in Texas.  During the 80th Legislative Session, Senate Bill 530 was passed to require this particular fitness assessment. 
 
The new mandate requires students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical education activities daily for 30 minutes in grades kindergarten through fifth.  Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, students in grades 6-8 will participate in moderate to vigorous physical education activities daily for four semesters.  An additional component of the state law is a specific fitness assessment for students in grades 3-12 each year.  The fitness assessment components include aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility.
 
ParentLink
Dallas Smetter, Director of Instructional Technology, provided an overview of a new mass communications system, ParentLink.  The tool will be used to communicate the following: emergency, general, surveys, attendance, lunch balance and transportation.  The initial system will be pre-loaded with numbers already in the system. 
 
Public SAC Meeting Date Set
The Public Superintendent’s Advisory Committee meeting date has been set for Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008 at 6 p.m. in the board room.  This public meeting, which is required by law, is held annually to give the public an opportunity to attend.
 
School Calendar Sub-Committee Selected
The calendar sub-committee will be headed by Director of Secondary Curriculum/Gifted and Talented Mary Alice Martinez.  SAC members that have agreed to serve on this year’s committee include Dodi De La Fuente, Dee Dee Reza, Roberta Kelly, Nancy Thompson, Diana Atkinson, Carol Evans and Rene Garcia.
 
Instructional Facilities Allotment
Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón announced that the state has Instructional Facilities Allotment monies available and that the district is considering pursuing another bond election.  The district’s Board of Trustees would have to call the bond election for May, 2008.  Some of the proposed projects on the list include a new elementary school in the country area, enclosing all elementary gymnasiums, renovations at Sullivan Elementary, adding additional wings at Veterans Memorial Academy, and upgrading HVAC (air conditioning systems) to a chill water system.  Discussion also took place regarding the possible uses for the old Berta Cabaza campus.  Studies have been conducted and the building has been determined to be structurally safe.  There are several options regarding the use of the building: an alternative campus, an evening high school, an early childhood campus and central administration offices.
 

Open Forum

• Carol Evans, a teacher at Dr. Raul Garza Jr. Elementary, inquired about sodium and fat content on school lunches.  Child Nutrition Program Director Jana Landrum, who was unable to attend the meeting, will be asked to present some information regarding school lunches at the next meeting.
• A question on whether the district would allow school employees presenting their identification cards to attend games free of charge was raised. (A decision has been made to allow staff members with school ID cards to attend home games free of charge.  All school principals have been informed of this decision and have been asked to inform staff members.)
• A question regarding lessons and grades at the Joe Callandret Positive Redirection Center was raised.  Committee members were told that the teacher of record is the teacher at the home campus.
• A question regarding landscaping was raised.  Committee members were told that the Maintenance Department has limited funds available for purchase of plants.  Schools can also use money from their activity accounts, partner with a local business or partner with the Cameron County Master Gardeners, who began a project next to Maggie’s House. 
• A favorable comment was made regarding the Free First Clinic hours being extended.
• A question was raised regarding teacher’s paycheck and the additional hours included into two separate checks for tutoring.  The Business Office has been asked to review this.
• A question was raised regarding the availability of the C-Scope curriculum in Spanish.
• A suggestion was made regarding benchmarks and whether the answers could be placed on the same page so that students would not have to flip the pages.  (A remark was made that the test is done in this manner, therefore, students have to familiar with the idea of flipping the page over. Another option is to have the students unstaple the pages and then restaple them once they have finished.
• A question regarding the Idea Academy was raised.  Committee members were told the academy has a selective enrollment process.
• Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón announced that a total of 108 seniors will have two additional opportunities to pass the state test.  (Initially, the school had a total of approximately 240 seniors that still needed to pass the test.)

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