Extra Credit

Free TAKS tutoring to help seniors graduate starts June 10

High school seniors who still need to pass one or two TAKS tests to graduate can get free tutoring this summer.

The Fort Worth Can Academy is offering the tutoring to any student at any school that failed one or two portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills standardized test, preventing the from graduating this spring.

The four-week Operation Success program is scheduled for June 10 through July 3, Mondays through Thursdays at the location at 4301 Campus Drive in Fort Worth. A free meal will also be provided.

For more information: 214-944-1960

Jessamy Brown

Carroll school board candidates to participate in forum

SOUTHLAKE _ Carroll school board candidates to present political platforms and speak to resident this evening during a forum hosted Tuesday by the Southlake Program for the Involvement of Neighborhoods or SPIN.

Two at-large seats are on the ballot: Place 6, held by John Thane; and Place 7, held by Sherri Williams. Neither is seeking re-election.

Candidates for Place 6 are Sam Torolopoulos, president and CEO of ATI Capital Group; and Matt Kormann, a vice president of sales for the Freeman Co.

Candidates for Place 7 are James Palazzo, a managing director for the Navigant healthcare consulting company; and Chris Archer, vice president of Associated Time & Parking Controls.

The forum starts at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Southlake Town Hall, 1400 Main St. in Southlake. Candidates will brief residents about their platforms. Candidates will also answer questions posed by the audience.

For more information visit, www.SouthlakeSPIN.org.
-Diane Smith

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Carroll district board candidates seek greater transparency and balanced budgets

#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

 

Tonight: Carroll school board invites public to comment on proposed budget

Carroll school board trustees are scheduled to vote tonight on a proposed estimated $82 million budget that includes at 1 percent salary increase for employees and is supported by a two-cent increase in the maintenance and operations portion of the property tax rate.

Voters will decide the fate of the 2-cent increase during a Sept. 15 Tax Ratification Election. In July, the board voted to adopt a tax rate of $1.42 per $100 of assessed property value. The board also decided to decrease the debt service portion of the total tax rate by 1.5 cents. (A Tax Ratification Election was triggered because the school board is considering raising the maintenance and operations portion by 2 cents.)

If voters approve the tax rate increase, residents would see a net tax rate increase of 0.5 cents, or about $25 per year. If the proposal is rejected, the total tax rate would be $1.40.

That hike is expected to generate about $1.1 million to help reduce a $3 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2012-2013.

The district expects to raise $691,000 from pay-to-ride fees.

The biggest cost to the district is instruction with an estimated $36 million expected to be spent on teaching. The second highest is expense is a $13.9 million payment to the state. Carroll is considered a property wealthy district and must send money to the state every year under the state's share-the-wealth school funding program dubbed Robin Hood.

Detailed budget information is available on the school district website. Want to review the agenda? Here's the site.

The board is meeting at Johnson Elementary School while construction is underway on a new administration center located in the former Carroll Middle School campus.

A public hearing on the proposed 2012-2013 budget is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., Monday Aug. 20, at Johnson Elementary School, 1301 N. Carroll Ave., Southlake. A vote on the budget is scheduled for later in the meeting. 

-Diane Smith and Jessamy Brown 

 

 

 

48 percent of Texas schools failed to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress

Update on Thursday: The Texas Education Agency says that 48 percent of Texas campuses failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards this year, compared with 26 percent of campuses that missed the federal benchmark in 2011.

That means 44 percent of campuses met the federal AYP targets for 2012; 8 percent of campuses were not evaluated because they were new campuses, for example.

Original post:

We're still going through the data. But locally, Arlington, Birdville, Crowley, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Everman, Fort Worth, Grapevine-Colleyville, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Keller, Kennedale, Mansfield and Northwest are among the Tarrant County area districts that failed to meet the AYP standards.

Aledo and Southlake Carroll school districts are among those that met the federal requirements.

Read more in the Star-Telegram. We'll keep updating the article this afternoon.

Here's the news release from the Texas Education Agency.

Look up your school's results here.

Jessamy Brown

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/08/08/4165114/majority-of-texas-schools-fail.html#storylink=cpy

Southlake Carroll ends year on top in the race for Lone Star Cup sports bragging rights

Southlake Carroll schools finished first in the annual Lone Star Cup competition recognizing top sports and academic performance, University Interscholastic League officials announced Friday.

Carroll racked up 100 points in the program after winning five team state titles and numerous district championships. Carroll Senior High School's varsity football team won the 2011 5A Division I championship.

Carroll schools and the City of Southlake held a parade honoring students who finished in first place in state and national competitions on behalf of the district on April 22. It was at Southlake Town Square.

Photo: swimmers and divers threw beach balls to fans during the parade. (ST/Jeffery Washington)

In 5A, Conroe schools in The Woodlands finished the year in second place with 92.5 points, according to Lone Star Cup standings released Friday. In third place is San Antonio Reagan with 76 points. Arlington's Martin High finished in 10th place in a three-way tie with Laredo Alexander and San Antonio Churchill with 58 points each.

In 3A, Argyle finished first with 94 points. And in 4A, Aledo finished eighth with 68 points followed by Byron Nelson High in Northwest schools in ninth place with 64 points.

Results won't be official until July 1.

The Lone Star Cup is given each year to five high schools in Texas, each representing the five UIL classifications, based on their team performance in district and state competitions.

Standings include these sports: state and area marching band, team tennis, cross country, volleyball, football, swimming and diving, wrestling, girls basketball, boys basketball, soccer, golf, track and field, academics, one act play, softball and baseball.

Winning schools get a trophy and a $1,000 scholarship from UIL.

"On behalf of the CISD Athletic Department, I'd like to thank all of our student-athletes, parents, administrators, and the Dragon Nation for your efforts this year," Carroll Athletic Director Kevin Ozee wrote on the Carroll Athletics blog.

Jessamy Brown

Solar powered Southlake Carroll Middle School wins design award

Carroll Middle School, a solar powered campus in Southlake that opened in August, has won a design award from the United Masonry Contractors Association, Carroll schools officials announced.

The campus won the First Place Golden Trowel Award for Exterior Design and Block work.

The 159,133-square-foot campus, at 1800 E. Kirkwood Boulevard in Southlake, was designed by the Natex Corporation Architects. The mason contractor was J & E Masonry and the general contractor was Bartett Cocke.

Carroll Middle School features thousands of solar tubes on the roof, which can generate up to 450 kilowatts of electricity. The $40 million campus was part of a $139 million bond package approved by voters in May 2009. The campus replaced another building at 1101 E. Dove Road in Southlake, that will be renovated for an administrative headquarters and other purposes.

Jessamy Brown

New Southlake Carroll Senior High principal will move from Northwest High

The new principal at Carroll Senior High School is Shawn Duhon.

The Southlake Carroll school board voted 4 to 0 on Monday to approve Duhon to lead the campus, which serves students in grades 11 and 12.

He replaces the retiring Mike Rhodes, who was in the post for three years.

Duhon is currently associate principal of student services and facilities at Northwest High School. He previously worked for Carroll from 2008 to 2009 as assistant principal and textbook coordinator of Dawson Middle School, according to his resume.

He is a 1988 graduate of South Grand Prairie High School. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., and a master's degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

In other business: a group of 18 parents of baseball and softball players addressed the school board to ask trustees to recommend installation of lights at fields at Carroll Senior High.

The parents said that students miss class because they have to leave school early to attend games off campus and substitute teachers have to cover for coaches who leave early.

"The lack of lighting at the Carroll Senior High School baseball and softball fields results in academic and athletic disadvantages, unfairness to baseball and softball players, and increased cost and lost revenue," the parents said in a handout to trustees.

Jessamy Brown

Southlake Carroll teens watch video on drinking and driving tragedy

The Southlake group Students and Parents Against Risks to our Kids (SPARK) has posted a powerful video about drinking and driving that has been shown to high school students.  

Carroll High School principal P.J. Giamanco wrote on his blog that the video has been shown to high school classes. He continues:

"With the end of the school year approaching, CISD with SPARK is providing this video to help families and students discuss the importance of making wise decisions.

Debbie Fresch lost her son the summer before his junior year in a tragic accident that involved students driving while under the influence of alcohol. We hope that you will view the video; Ms. Fresch shares her perspective and her family’s terrible loss."

Jessamy Brown

Southlake Carroll to motorists: cut thru our parking lot, risk a ticket

Carroll school district officials included a cautionary note in Monday's Dragon eBlast, an electronic newsletter sent by email to subscribers.

In a nutshell: motorists who cut through the parking lot at district headquarters risk getting a ticket.

"A Warning For Drivers: Police Enforcement
The Grapevine Police Department is issuing citations to all drivers who use the Carroll ISD Administration Center as a cut-through to avoid the four-way stop sign at the intersection of Kimball and Dove. The CISD Administration Center is located at 3051 Dove Road in Grapevine. Using the parking lot as a cut-through is illegal and dangerous for pedestrians. Violators will be fined and ticketed."

The district's Administration Center is in Grapevine, although the majority of the district is in Southlake. Plans are for administrative offices to move out of the renovated supermarket space on Dove Road next year. Architects recently showed school board members proposed plans for renovations for new administrative offices at the former Carroll Middle School campus at 1101 E. Dove Road, Southlake. That campus was left vacant when students and educators moved to a new solar-powered campus on Kirkwood Boulevard in August 2011.

Jessamy Brown