Rockwall ISD National Merit Scholar Semifinalists
Rockwall, TX (November 12, 2024) – NOTE: Board meeting summaries highlight different agenda items. Board meeting videos are available for viewing within 24-hours of the meeting at www.rockwallisd.com.
Recognitions
Congratulations to the following students and student groups that were recognized by the Board of Trustees:
• National Merit Semifinalists from the Rockwall ISD Class of 2025 – More than 1.5 million high school juniors nationwide entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in October of 2023. Of these students, 16,000, or less than one percent, qualified as semifinalists by being among the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. These high-scoring high school seniors will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $40 million next spring.
Rockwall ISD had one student from Rockwall High School and one student from Rockwall-Heath High School who earned recognition as National Merit Semifinalists for the Class of 2025. Congratulations to: Angela S. Williams – Rockwall High School (Angela also attended Celia Hays Elementary School and J.W. Williams Middle School.) and Savannah B. Crocker, Rockwall-Heath High School.
• Extended School Year 2024 Mentors – The ESY Mentor Program, which began in 2018, supports and works with students with disabilities by providing a peer mentor. This summer, eight secondary students volunteered a total of 372 hours. Our Extended School Year (ESY) instructional program provides eligible students with disabilities services beyond the regular school year. Students receive individualized instruction in critical life skills, including academic, communication, functional skills and behavior.
• State FFA Lone Star Degree Recipients from the Dr. Gene Burton College & Career Academy – The Lone Star Degree is the highest degree of membership the State Future Farmers Association (FFA) Association can award. Students must be an active FFA member for at least two years (24 months) at the time of receiving the State Lone Star FFA Degree, complete at least 360 hours of systematic school instruction in agricultural education at or above the ninth grade level, which includes a supervised agriculture experience, earn and productively invest at least $1000 and worked at least 300 hours outside of scheduled class time, in a supervised agricultural experience program and demonstrate strong leadership ability by performing ten parliamentary law procedures, giving a six-minute speech on a topic relating to agriculture or FFA, and serving as an FFA officer, committee chairperson or committee member. Students must also satisfactorily meet all academic requirements, participate in the planning and implementation of the chapter’s program of activities, complete ten activities above the chapter level in at least three different categories and at least 25 hours of community service in a minimum of two different activities.
The following students earned the 2024 Lone Star Degree Award:
o Ashlyn Ault – RHS student,
o Taylor Crooks– RHHS 2024 graduate,
o Matthew Hemmer – RHS 2024 graduate,
o Courtney McKay – RHHS student,
o Kate Smith – RHHS student, and
o Makenzie Starling – RHS 2024 graduate.
• Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) State and National Medalists from the Dr. Gene Burton College & Career Academy – Led by advisors Robin Peterson and Laura Gunter, the Education and Training students competed at the State Texas Association of Future Educators conference in Round Rock, February 27 – March 1, 2024. Two Rockwall ISD students placed in the top three which qualified them to compete at the National Educators Rising conference in Washington DC, June 28-July 1, 2024. These two future educators are the first students in Rockwall ISD’s TAFE organization to compete at the national level. They placed 2nd at Nationals and earned a gold medal. Congratulations to the Public Service Announcement Teacher Recruitment team: Adri Laird and Kassidy Swaner.
• Students in Culinary and Fashion chapters of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) represented the Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy and Rockwall ISD at the State Competition in Dallas on April 12-14. Six students placed in the top three at State to qualify for Nationals and went on to represent the great state of Texas at the FCCLA 2024 National Leadership Conference in Seattle, Washington on June 29 – July 4.
o Culinary – Under the guidance of Chef Chris Rivera, our Food Innovations team placed 1st at state, making them the first Culinary FCCLA students in RISD to compete at Nationals. This team placed 14th out of 51 groups in the nation and earned a gold medal. Culinary Team: Montana Wheeler, Lauren Denver, and Jaime Reyna.
o Fashion – Under the guidance of Mrs. Renee Aube, three fashion students competed and placed in the top three at state. At nationals, these students each placed in the top three and received a gold medal.
Raleigh McMillian – 1st
Sophia Brewster – 2nd
Gracie Zellerholf – 2nd
• Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) State and National Medalists from the Dr. Gene Burton College & Career Academy – Mithradev Sivakumar represented Rockwall ISD at the State HOSA Competition, May 3-5, 2024, placing 1st in Dental Science. He advanced to the HOSA International Leadership Conference (ILC) where he competed June 26-29, 2024 and placed in the top 10 in Dental Science. HOSA ILC was represented by 54 chartered associations including American Samoa, Canada, China, Korea, and Puerto Rico.
• Good Neighbors Program – The Student Services Department and Bimbo Bakeries work together to coordinate a school-wide snack closet for students at Rochell Elementary School. At a recent “Good Neighbors” celebration, employees from Bimbo Bakeries provided over 100 swag bags, 400 loaves of bread, snacks, and prizes to families and students at Rochell ES. In addition, we would like to thank Bimbo Bakeries for their donation of $5,000 to Rockwall ISD to help support our students with clothing, coats, and school supplies. Finally, Bimbo Bakeries awarded Mrs. Burns at Billie Stevenson Elementary School a grant in the amount of $300 to purchase supplies for her classroom. Again, thank you for supporting Rockwall ISD students and staff.
Superintendent Update
Dr. Villarreal gave the following update to the Board of Trustees regarding the recent VATRE and bond election.
Rockwall ISD would like to thank the community for their ongoing support. We believe we have outstanding students, teachers, and staff. Supporting our community’s school district that serves 19,200 plus students and the ongoing increase in student enrollment is a shared responsibility for Rockwall ISD families and the community. Maintaining high student performance in a top 5% district for academics, fine arts, career and technology education, and athletics relies on great teachers in our classrooms and great staff. To be clear, our greatest challenge will continue to be retaining and recruiting teachers for our children as we compete with other Districts in communities that have passed Voter Approved Tax Rate Elections (VATRE) to address teacher and staff competitive pay.
Problem: State-wide Teacher/Staff Shortage and Retaining and Recruiting Teachers and Staff to Address Accelerated Growth
Note 1:
89th Legislative Session Support for Teachers and Staff Competitive Pay- Moving forward, Rockwall ISD will respectfully work with state Elected Officials to provide support and assistance in addressing the need for an increase to the basic student allotment and addressing unfunded mandates from the last legislative session related to school safety, school security, and providing increased funding for our special education students.
Note 2:
Retaining and Recruiting Teachers and Staff for the 2025-2026 School Year- Rockwall ISD will recommend a one-time incentive retention payment to teachers and staff in December 2024.
Additionally, Rockwall ISD will work to provide a pay increase for teachers and staff in 2025-2026. Final approval will occur in late spring pending the outcome of the 89th Legislative Session. Decisions for teacher and staff pay increases will require an additional year of deficit budgeting to do so. Please know that the district is also preparing other cost reduction of services to address improved teacher and staff competitive pay.
Note 3:
Addressing Budget Deficits and Enrollment Growth for the 2025-2026 School Year- Without a VATRE and new facilities for growth, Rockwall ISD will be working to determine changes to our educational programming and operations to use any cost savings to address teacher and staff competitive pay. To address continued enrollment growth without new facilities, the district will explore all options regarding overcrowding of schools such as Linda Lyon ES, Lupe Garcia ES, Stevenson ES, Amy Parks ES, Sherry and Paul Hamm ES and Cain MS.
Note 4:
Plans Moving Forward for Teacher and Staff Competitive Pay- Currently, Rockwall ISD is functioning at the lowest tax rate with a $7.5 million deficit budget due to (1) teacher and staff pay, (2) addressing inflation, and (3) the 1st year opening of 9th grade campuses related to high school overcrowding. Since 2019, there has been no new funding to the state’s basic student allotment to address teacher and staff pay, safety and security (limited funding), and overall inflationary costs. The past 88th legislative session began with an additional $32.7 billion surplus with no new funding allocated for school districts. This upcoming 89th legislative session will begin with a projected surplus of approximately $21.2 billion surplus.
Again, our greatest challenge will continue to be retaining and recruiting great teachers to the classroom and meeting the needs of continued student enrollment growth as we compete with other Districts that receive additional funding from a Voter Approved Tax Rate Election (VATRE) for teacher and staff competitive pay. In the future, Rockwall ISD will consider a stand-alone VATRE election.
Our teachers and staff are the heart of our school district and their dedication to serving our Rockwall ISD students is sincerely inspiring. Our teachers continue to go above and beyond every day to challenge and care for our students thereby being a source that creates opportunity and hope.
We love our Rockwall ISD Teachers and Staff.
Bilingual/English as a Second Language Program Annual Update
District administration presented the annual English as a Second Language (ESL)/Bilingual program presentation as required by the state. The presentation provided the following information: criteria for entrance into the program, the extent to which students are becoming proficient in English, state assessment data and information on the reclassification history of the students. It also included information on teacher professional learning to support Emergent Bilingual students and a description of parental involvement activities. Rockwall ISD currently serves 2,082 students in the English as a Second Language (ESL)/Bilingual programs. The majority of the students are served in the elementary schools. The Emergent Bilingual students speak 62 different languages.
2025-2026 Academic Planning Guide Substantial Changes Update
District leadership presented information about the 2025-2026 Academic Planning Guide. The Academic Planning Guide (APG) aims to assist students as they plan their academic future. Counselors assist students and parents with selection of courses for graduation utilizing the APG.
District and Campus Improvement Plans Approved
As required each year, the Board of Trustees approved the District Improvement Plan to guide district and campus staff in improving student performance for all student groups at all schools. The District will post the approved plans on www.rockwallisd.com and campus websites by the end of the week.
Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) Report Presented
In compliance with the applicable Board policies and Administrative Code sections and subsections, District leadership presented the 2023-2024 FIRST to the Board of Trustees. Highlights of the report include:
• Rockwall ISD received a “Superior” rating – the highest rating available.
• Rockwall ISD’s “District score” equaled 98 – 2 points shy of a perfect score.
• The data that the 2023-2024 FIRST report is based upon data from the 2022-2023 school year.
Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Approved
The Board of Trustees approved the annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. A representative from the auditing firm presented the report. Audit highlights include:
• An unmodified opinion was issued on the financial statements – in other words, the highest level of assurance an auditor can provide an opinion on.
• No material weakness in internal controls were identified.
• The fund balance of the General Fund decreased $4,865,678. This was primarily due to increased teacher and staff compensation, as well as, strategic one-time uses of fund reserves for critical projects within in the District. However, the year-to-date budget deficit was less than the $10,915,729 budgeted originally, demonstrating that the District performed better than anticipated for the fiscal year.
• The Child Nutrition fund balance decreased $305,921 primarily based upon increases in food costs driven by inflation.
• The Debt Service fund balance increased $5,086,616 primarily due to increases in state aid driven by hold-harmless provisions passed in Senate Bill 2 related to property tax relief, specifically the increase in the mandatory homestead exemption.
Approval of District Votes for the Board of Directors of the Rockwall Central Appraisal District
The Board of Trustees approved casting the District’s votes for the 2024-2025 Rockwall Central Appraisal District’s Board of Directors Election for Tim Hartley, John Hohenshelt and Sedric Thomas.
Approval of District Votes for the Board of Directors of the Kaufman Central Appraisal District
The Board of Trustees approved casting the District’s votes for the 2024-2025 Kaufman Central Appraisal District’s Board of Directors Election for Bruce Bynum, Robert Dobbs, Don Griffin, Danny Kirbie, and Bruce Wood.
Approval of Competitive Sealed Proposal (CSP) Contract Award for Middle School #4 Network Infrastructure
The Board of Trustees approved a contract to Global Asset in the amount of $248,926.45 for the Middle School #4 Network Instructure project. Funds from the 2021 bond authorization will underwrite the project.
Approval of Competitive Sealed Proposal (CSP) Contract Award for Middle School #4 Wireless Access Points
The Board of Trustees approves a contract award to Global Asset in the amount of $119,475.30 for the Middle School #4 Wireless Access Points project. Funds from the 2021 bond authorization will underwrite the project.
Draft 2025-2026 School Calendar
District leadership presented a draft of the 2025-2026 school calendar to the Board of Trustees for consideration. Pending Board feedback, a final draft will be posted online in December for employee and public feedback
Press release submitted by Luci Mouton, edited for publication in Blue Ribbon News. Courtesy photos.
Rockwall ISD Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting Monday, November 11, 2024 added by Melanie M on
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