The North Houston Greenspoint Chamber held their annual Tribute to Education Luncheon last Thursday, with presentations by the three area Superintendents of the Aldine, North Forest and Spring Districts.
Chamber president Reggie Gray emceed the event at the DoubleTree Hotel, which was well attended by Chamber members and educators. To set the tone of the luncheon, he reported on a meeting he had with State Representative Sylvester Turner regarding the use of federal stimulus funds this year to pay for educational needs, but that in the next budget session in two years, local districts will be faced with making up the monies that the state does not have available.
In spite of the funding problem, two of the districts reported optimistically that they were meeting the needs this year for growth with new facilities that will open in their districts in the fall.
ALDINE
Aldine ISD now has 61,000 students on 72 campuses, according to Superintendent Dr. Wanda Bamberg. A new Pre-K will open on E. Mt. Houston, next to Excamilla, and be named for Norma Garcia-Leza. In the following school year, Aldine will open a new Intermediate and a new Middle School. Also planned, for 2012, is a new high school on Ella Blvd. She was able to report that a majority of Aldine schools, 72%, are either Recognized of Examplary by state TEA standards.
Even though her budget is balanced this year, she admitted that next year Aldine will look at a “rollback” election that would result in an increase in taxes, if the stimulus money is not available. In an effort to avoid a deficit budget, the construction of a new Pre-K has been delayed, and federal grants and Broad finalist monies have been pursued. She reported on the importance of the hiring of 3 new football coaches to the vaunted athletic programs in Aldine.
NORTH FOREST
Superintendant Dr. Adrain Johnson is starting his second year as head of the North Forest system. He joked about the importance of a football coach to a district, but then said he had hired a new one, with experience at Yale University, to replace the coach Aldine had hired away. Also hired were a new CFO and a new Police Chief, he said.
“Things are changing at North Forest ISD”. He spoke about a new full day Early Childhood Program, funded by a $1,000,000 federal grant. He is putting emphasis on improving teaching quality, training them better, he said, so that if you can succeed at North Forest you can succeed anywhere. He has started a new Urban Teacher Transition Program, similar to medical residency, with 8 new teachers paired with Master Teachers for their training. Johnson mentioned that he has to deal with the community as well as the district, addressing problems of drop-outs, unemployment, health, and crime.
Unlike the other district who are planning for the future, he said, “My game is helping a District Survive. I have the comeback role. I am planning for today.”
SPRING
Dr. Ralph Draper, Superintendant, said that his district now has 35,000 students, and is still growing, but not quite as fast as in the past. This year’s 3% growth compares with 6% previously. He is opening 4 new schools, three elementaries and one middle school.
Spring is operating on a deficit budget, about $1.5 million now and perhaps as high as $7 million next year. The stimulus money will have to be made up locally in the future, he noted. In addition, the economically disadvantaged is the fastest growing segment of the community in Spring ISD, he noted.