Vote for Porter Coach

Porter ECHS Coach Gregory Fortner has been nominated for the BUILT by Nature Assistant Coach of the Week Award, presented by Dairy Max and Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. He is one of the 5 nominees for the weekly statewide award which is decided by fan voting. Vote for Coach Fortner here.

BISD Students Learn About Giving

The Brownsville Herald highlighted the new philanthropy classes being offered at six BISD early college high schools as part of the Career and Technical Education Department Curriculum. Read the story here.

Great Principals, Great Schools

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has proclaimed October 2015 as “Principals’ Month” in Texas. Please join Brownsville ISD in recognizing the contributions that our elementary and secondary school leaders make on student achievement in our school district. View the Governor’s proclamation.

It’s Pigskin Time

Make plans to attend the 73rd Annual UIL Pigskin Marching Competition on Saturday, October 17 at two locations this year. The 6A groups will compete at the San Benito High School Stadium at approximately 7 pm. The 5A bands will compete at the Donna High School Stadium at approximately 7:45 pm. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased from any BISD ECHS band director or at the stadium gate on October 17. Seats sold by the band directors are grouped together by campus. Come and support the Hanna, Lopez, Pace, Porter, Rivera, and Veterans Memorial ECHS bands. The students have been preparing since June for this competition and they will entertain you with an evening of outstanding music, dance, and precision. The 2015 Brownsville band UIL presentations are entitled: Hanna-The Caged Bird Sings; Lopez-Primary; Pace-Silk Road Dances; Porter-Amor Indeciso; Rivera-The Bermuda Triangle; and Veterans Memorial-Anomaly-A Show of the Curiously Odd.

Public Comment on Cummings

The public is invited to comment on the Cummings Middle School Formerly Improvement Required/Focus School Targeted Improvement Plan during a public presentation and hearing at the BISD Board Meeting on October 6, 2015 at 5:30 in the Boardroom located at 1900 Price Road. TEC 39.106 requires a public hearing since Cummings Middle School received an Improvement Required rating in 2014 and Met Standard for 2015 in the state accountability system. Click here to view the Cummings’ Improvement Plan.

100 BISD Students Named AP Scholars

A total of 100 current and former BISD early college high school students earned Scholar Awards in the College Bound Advanced Placement (AP) Program. The breakdown by campuses is: Hanna, 7; Lopez, 9; Pace, 19; Porter, 5; Rivera, 10; and Veterans Memorial, 50. These students have demonstrated college-level achievement through AP courses and exams. Although there is no monetary award, this achievement is acknowledged on any score report that is sent to colleges the following fall. The AP Scholar Award is awarded to students who receive a score of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams. View the complete list of BISD students who earned AP Scholar Awards.

TRE Early Voting Begins on September 21

Early voting will begin on Monday, September 21, 2015 in the Brownsville ISD Tax Ratification Election (TRE). Local voters will have an opportunity to decide whether to approve a measure to restructure the tax rate by moving .11¼ cents from the Interest & Sinking (I&S) fund that pays for debt to Maintenance & Operations (M&O) that pays for day-to-day operations. The total tax rate will remain the same at $1.15¼ as presented and approved in the budget at the June 25, 2015 BISD Special Called Board Meeting. The restructuring would not impact the total tax rate but would bring an additional $5 to $6 million net per year in additional state funding to be used for one-time expenditures to improve, repair, and expand district facilities and enhance school security. Moving the .11¼ cents to the M&O will generate more revenue because it is weighted at a higher level than the I&S. View the release.

A&M Commandant to Visit BISD

Brigadier General Joe E. Ramirez, USA (Ret.), Commandant of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets, will visit 3 BISD early college campuses on Tuesday, September 22 to speak to juniors and seniors. He will visit Pace ECHS from 9-10 am, Veterans Memorial ECHS from 10:30-11:15 am, and Porter ECHS from 2-3 pm. General Ramirez will talk to students about postsecondary opportunities, setting goals, following dreams, and making good choices. View the release.

Oliveira Band Earns National Award

The Oliveira Middle School Symphonic Band was named a Commended National Winner in Class AA of the 2015 Mark of Excellence/National Wind Band Honors Contest sponsored by the Foundation of Music Education. In addition, 6 members of the band received Outstanding Soloists awards. Congratulations to Joely Gonzalez, flute; Ivan Castro, obe and clarinet; Alondra Serrato, piccolo; Matthew Padilla, clarinet; Juan Angel Montemayor, alto saxophone; and Anakin Martinez, tenor saxophone. The Mark of Excellence National Wind Band Honors Contest through the Foundation of Music Education seeks to recognize and award outstanding achievement in performance by high school and middle school bands. Directors across the nation submitted CD recordings of their ensembles from the 2014-2015 school year. Adjudicators listened to all of the entries, and provided detailed tape-recorded comments and brief written comments. Winners will also be recognized in regional and/or national publications, and at national and regional conventions. National winners and Commended winners will each receive a trophy. Congratulations to the Oliveira Middle School Symphonic Band students, parents, and their directors, Gasper Garcia, Mike Kuntz, Victor Franco, and Robert Barron.

BISD Employee Medical Insurance

Brownsville ISD provides FREE medical health insurance at a cost of almost $5,000 each year for each full-time employee with affordable drug co-pays and dependent coverage. Brownsville ISD is one of the few remaining districts in Texas that continues to provide medical insurance benefit at no cost to all full-time employees. The district’s third party administrator for the group medical insurance is UnitedHealthcare for the 2015-2016 school year. The open enrollment period will be completed by Wednesday, September 30, 2015. You may enroll for the first time or make changes during this open enrollment. The following changes are allowable: • Dependent Status (Name, SSN, DOB Required) • Name and/or Address Changes • Plan Selection Representatives will be scheduled at each campus, the Administration Building and Central Administrative Building (CAB). All changes must be submitted on a UnitedHealthcare form and returned to the UnitedHealthcare representative no later than September 30. Consult your administrator for the dates and times of presentations or view the list here. If you miss your assigned campus/department enrollment session, you may enroll at the BISD Administration Building lobby until Friday, September 18.

Get Strong

The BISD Wellness Fitness Center will offer strength training to BISD employees. Learn more.

BISD Celebrates International Literacy

Several BISD campuses have registered in support of International Literacy Day on Tuesday, September 8. This year’s theme is “People Power: Start of a Literacy Movement.” BISD schools will celebrate and showcase literacy activities in the next few weeks. Thank you to our BISD employees and students for helping to shine a spotlight on global literacy needs.

Ortiz Manager Named CATCH Champion

Niselda De Leon, the Ortiz Elementary cafeteria manager, has been selected by the CATCH Team (University of Texas School of Public Health, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, and CATCH Global Foundation) as a 2015 CATCH Texas Champion. Ms. De Leon is one of six CATCH Champions to be honored for efforts to create and support healthy environments for the children of Texas. She will receive her award at the 11th Annual CATCH Texas Champions Awards reception on Thursday, December 3 in Dallas, Texas.