Extra Credit

#FirstBell Contest: Tell us about your first day of school

School is back in on Monday at most Tarrant County area districts and Star-Telegram reporters will be out and about at several campuses.

We'll be tweeting our observations on Back to School and we want you to join in.

Parents, grandparents, students and teachers: post your experiences and photos from the first day of school using the hashtag #FirstBell. And don't forget to include the name of the school and/or location in your tweet.

Tweets with the #FirstBell hashtag may be used by the Star-Telegram online or in print.

The Star-Telegram is running a contest, giving folks to participate the chance win a backpack filled with school supplies, Mom2Mom gear and 4 tickets to the Movie Tavern.

Jessamy Brown

 

H-E-B supermarkets donate school supplies, funds to Burleson's Harvest House

It may seem like summer's just begun, but folks are already getting ready for classes to gear back up again.

Harvest House, a Burleson relief agency that provides food, clothes and financial help, runs the Little Red School House, which serves about 350 each year by providing their families school supplies, haircuts and immunizations.

On Wednesday, officials from the H-E-B supermarket chain donated a $2,500 check plus $2,500 worth of school supplies to the Little Red School House. The organization will give out supplies at an annual back-to-school event on Aug. 18.

Meanwhile, donations are being collected in a supply drive that runs through Aug. 12. More than businesses and churches are serving as drop-off locations for donated school supplies.

(Photo: Burleson H-E-B General Manager Eli Daniel presented donation. Courtesy H-E-B)

Jessamy Brown

 

Burleson students win all-state spots in Small Bands competition

Cody Hileman, at right, and Eric Neeley, lower left, of Burleson's Centennial High School band have been named to the Association of Texas Small School Bands' 2012 All-State Band. 

They participated in competitive auditions at the region and area levels. it is the second time that Neeley has made the All-State squad.

They were among 240 winners out of 1,360 students to compete last weekend at the area level.

Hileman and Neeley will perform in the All-State concert Feb. 11 in the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio.

The Association of Texas Small School Bands is a group of 1,000 band directors of from Class 1A, 2A and 3A high schools in Texas. Centennial's director Michael Cox is a member of the group.

 

 

 

 

_Shirley Jinkins

Details of school finance deal struck in Texas Legislature released

State officials hashed out a nearly last-minute deal on school finance late yesterday. Today we're seeing the details of how the state will cut $4 billion from Texas public schools in the next two years.

Tarrant County area schools will lose $260 million over the next two years. Under the deal, the Fort Worth school district will lose nearly $40 million over the next two years. Arlington will lose almost $29 million. Click here for a complete list of district-by-district cuts.

Included in the deal are efforts to eliminate target revenue by 2018. The complex system was created during the 2006 overhaul of school finance that set different per-pupil funding levels for each school district. However, the deal also establishes a joint legislative committee to address school finance between now and the 2013 legislative session.

 

UPDATE: Here's the local district-by-district breakdown. 

District name 
Aledo                               $5,415,240
Arlington                          $28,944,047
Azle                                 $5,265,993
Birdville                            $11,063,577
Burleson                           $7,345,677
Carroll                              $8,085,954
Castleberry                       $1,948,475
Crowley                           $9,076,757
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw    $20,336,740
Everman                           $2,384,536
Fort Worth                       $39,188,679
Grapevine-Colleyville        $13,504,670
Hurst-Euless-Bedford       $22,630,622
Keller                               $28,949,003
Kennedale                        $1,693,966
Lake Worth                      $2,983,716
Mansfield                         $25,104,342
Northwest                        $22,496,680
White Settlement             $4,252,858
Total                                $260,671,532
 

-Eva-Marie Ayala

North Texas students to make up for February snow day on Friday

Remember the ice-covered roadways and subfreezing temperatures during the mega snowstorm in February? Schools were closed and classes canceled, at some districts for up to four days.

So Friday will not be a day off for many students. Districts will be holding classes to make up for lost time.

Many districts got state waivers allowing officials to only have to make up two of the days. Several districts scheduled classes on Friday, which is often a day off just before Easter weekend.

As best we can tell from websites, school districts holding classes on Friday include:

(Be sure to check with your school district's calendar for the schedule).

Aledo, Birdville, Burleson, Carroll, Castleberry, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Fort Worth, Grapevine-Colleyville, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Keller (early release through middle school), Kennedale, Northwest and White Settlement.

UPDATE: These school districts are listed on their websites as closed on Friday: Arlington, Azle, Crowley, Lake Worth and Mansfield.

Jessamy Brown

 

 

 

 

Tarrant County area marching bands competing today

Friday night was all about football, but today it's all about the bands. The UIL region contests are going on today with local schools performing in Burleson, Denton, Carrollton, Glen Rose. This year 3A and 5A bands will be able to advance in competition to area and then state if they qualify; 4A bands will be able to advance next year.

In Denton so far today, five area high schools earned the "I" rating needed to advance in 5A competition. That included Keller, Northwest, Fossil Ridge, Saginaw and Keller Central high schools. In 4A, Boswell, Brewer, Bryan, Bryon Nelson, Denton, Springtown and Timber Creek (pictured here with band director Sonny Martinez waiting to perform) all earned the I rating. Azle, who advanced to state last year with its popular dancing shoes routine, earned a II rating.

Competition begins in Burleson at 1:30 p.m. with Fort Worth's Dunbar High School. Most the district's band will be at the Burleson Stadium today though Diamond Hill-Jarvis and Polytechnic will be taking the field in Glen Rose. Kennedale is also in Glen Rose.

-Eva-Marie Ayala and Susan McFarland

How did the Texas Education Agency rate your school?

The state agency released its annual academic accountability ratings on Friday which, for the most part, was good news for area schools. However, some campuses slipped in their ratings. Castleberry, for example, had its high school and Cato Elementary receive the second-highest rating of recognized, but its James Elementary dipped from that rating to acceptable. The Aledo, Azle and Kennedale school districts received the recongized rating at the district level. Read today's story here and look up how your school performed here.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Tarrant County schools eligible for about $119 million in stimulus

If President Obama signs the stimulus package as expected today, Tarrant County schools could be in line to receive $119 million over the next two years. This House Committee on Education & Labor blog has a state-by-state list of district level estimates for special education and programs for low-income students.

The original stimulus package had targeted about $206 million for Tarrant County schools, about $70 million of which was for modernization and technology upgrades. The package now has $53.6 billion for construction and modernization efforts nationwide, which will be given to districts based on state and federal formulas. About $650 million will be available nationwide for technology grants.

Here's a breakdown of what area schools could receive as estimated by Congress:

District 
Aledo                                $594,000
Arlington                           $25,371,000
Azle                                 $1,747,000
Birdville                            $7,594,000
Burleson                           $1,775,000
Carroll                              $1,364,000
Castleberry                       $1,413,000
Crowley                            $2,813,000
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw    $1,798,000
Everman                           $1,533,000
Fort Worth                        $49,220,000
Grapevine-Colleyville          $3,653,000
Hurst-Euless-Bedford         $6,717,000
Keller                               $4,410,000
Kennedale                        $847,000
Lake Worth                      $1,098,000
Mansfield                         $4,336,000
Northwest                        $1,727,000
White Settlement             $1,594,000

- Traci Shurley and Eva-Marie Ayala

Burleson teacher collects cool classroom stuff

There was plenty of oohing and aahing in Kathy Cowley's fourth grade class on Wednesday at Burleson's Bransom Elementary School. Fellow teachers and students alike watched a group of Office Max representatives haul in boxes of new pens, pencils, crayons, files, notebooks, glue sticks and what have you, as part of their nationwide A Day Made Better program to reward teachers.

"What an exciting day," said Cowley, "who knew?"

Each of Office Max's 1,300 stores nationwide made a similar delivery to a teacher in their area. Twenty-five North Texas teachers shared the bounty.

"It's really great, but it's alarming to know that schoolteachers have to pay from $1,200 to $1,500 out of their own pockets each year for school supplies," said Tom Costello, store manager of Office Max's Hulen Street location in Fort Worth.

What were the big-hit items? An automatic pencil sharpener was cheered, and a digital camera and memory card was outright applauded. But her teacher buds began to swoon in earnest when Cowley pulled out the most popular prize _ a fancy label-maker.

"I get to borrow it first!" "No, me!" came cries from the hallway.

_Shirley Jinkins

Judge nixes rebel purses

Rebel purses are still a no-no at Burleson High School _ for awhile longer at least. Two Burleson teens who challenged the school district's ban on the Confederate battle flag on anything from clothes to jewelry have graduated and a third teen will probably graduate before their federal case winds its way through the federal courts. A well-known advocate for southern rights hopes the case will establish new law on the issue. Read more about it.

--Martha Deller