A Message from the Board President
When you read this month's Board
Report, only nine weeks will remain of the 1999-2000 school year. It's hard to believe how
quickly the school year goes by and yet there is a lot to accomplish before the year ends.
As you know, the biggest concern before the Governing Board is the hiring of a new
superintendent. We have been very pleased thus far with the work of Dr. Nancy Noeske, the
principal consultant with Overton Consulting.
Although the time line has been moved back by almost a month, we feel confident that
we'll have a new superintendent named by June.
During this time of year, you usually hear about negotiations with TEA and White
Collar/Food Service employees.
This year, because of the two-year agreements in place with both groups, we are pleased
to report on the work of the TUSD/TEA Joint Task Force. The Task Force, made up of TEA
members and TUSD administrators, has been meeting since the beginning of this school year
to address issues and concerns that were brought up during negotiations last year.
The result of their work has been the creation of addendums to both agreements to
address those concerns. This task force has been a very positive effort and I believe it
has strengthened working relations. If you would like to learn more about the addendums,
they can be viewed by TUSD employees on the TUSD Intranet page at http://intranet/.
A special thank you to the following individuals who were appointed to the Task Force
by Dr. García and TEA: Marilyn Freed, Mike Bernal, Louise Chapman, Paul
Karlowicz, Mary Pritchard and Ann Warren for TEA; and Dr. Vicki
Balentine, Dr. Betsy Bounds, Maria Cuesta-Patterson, Paul Felix, Abel Morado and Rosanne
Neal for TUSD.
An item of note that may have gone unnoticed on the Consent Agenda was the
reclassification of our health assistants and network lab technicians. We're pleased that
we were able to upgrade those positions in light of the many demands placed upon these
individuals.
In other action, the Board voted to have Drachman Primary Magnet School adopt a
Montessori strand for kindergarten through second-grade and to have Lynn/Urquides and
Menlo Park adopt school uniforms for 2000-2001 school year.
Furthermore, the Board approved the recommended order for conversion to air
conditioning at school sites.
Lastly, I would like to thank the individuals responsible for developing the
recommendation for the K-5 Mathematics Textbook Adoption.
They have been meeting since last May to plan, collect, review and evaluate textbooks
and materials. Their work has resulted in TUSD adopting the Scott Foresman Addison Wesley
series that is currently being used in our middle schools.
The adoption of the same program for our elementary students will assure a continuous
progression of concept and skill development within our students and will foster
articulation between elementary and middle schools.
Mary Belle McCorkle, Ed.D.
Board Report
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