Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate

Brownsville ISD will hold a public meeting at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, June 25 in the Administration Building Board Room, 1900 Price Road, to discuss the school district’s budget that will determine the tax rate that will be adopted. Public discussion is invited. View more information.

Oliveira Band Students Selected for Special Scholarship

The Lagunitas Music Foundation will award $10,000 of summer music scholarship funds to the Oliveira Middle School Band Program in memory of William Carroll. This scholarship will be used to send Oliveira Dolphin band members to summer music camps at various universities throughout Texas. Three band programs in the United States have been selected for this award. Wheeling High School, Wheeling IL (Brian Logan, Director), St. Charles East High School, St. Charels, IL (Jim Kull, Director), and Oliveira Middle School, Brownsville , TX (Mike Kuntz, Director). These schools were selected because Bill Carroll taught all three of these Band Directors when they were students at Buffalo Grove High School. View the release.

Vote for Lucio Teacher

Alexandra Cornejo, a teacher at Lucio Middle School, has been selected to represent Brownsville ISD in the Target, Major League Baseball, and People Magazine’s All Star Teacher Contest. She is a finalist in the contest under the Texas Rangers Major League Team. You can cast your vote for Ms. Cornejo here.

Eat for Free at BISD

Summer is here but the meals continue! BISD Food and Nutrition Service will provide free meals to children 0 to 18 years of age at several designated school and community sites in Brownsville. Free meals are not limited to BISD students. Anyone 18 years of age or younger is welcome to eat for free. The program begins at most locations on Monday, June 9. To encourage participation, children can also enter a contest to win great prizes just by eating at school from June 9 – 27. Chances to win are multiplied when children eat two meals a day for a total of 10 entries in a week. Drawings will be held every Friday until June 27. Adults may purchase a meal at the nominal cost of $2.00 for breakfast and $3.25 for lunch. Fresh fruit, cold milk, healthy breakfast, and nutritious lunches are all available for free. Call (956) 547-5086 to learn more. View BISD Summer Child Nutrition Program sites, dates and times.

Garcia Named to CUBE

Brownsville ISD Board Member Caty Presas-Garcia has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the prestigious Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) Steering Committee. She will serve in this position until March 2015 when CUBE’s Annual Business Meeting takes place at the National School Board Association’s Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Garcia will have the opportunity to run for election to this seat to finish out the term which expires in 2017. Ms. Garcia’s consistent presence and support of CUBE events, coupled with her energetic and enthusiastic spirit, made her an obvious choice to represent Texas and the region on the Steering Committee. The CUBE is guided by the Steering Committee which seeks to foster effective school board governance in urban school districts. The Steering Committee is comprised of 16 school board members selected by representatives of the school districts that participate in the CUBE program. The BISD Board of Trustees was selected as the recipient of the CUBE Award for Urban School Board Excellence in 2008, the same year that the district also won the coveted Board Prize for making the greatest progress in raising student achievement.

BISD Athletes Earn Cavazos Endowment

The BISD Athletic Department announced the names of the 30 student athlete recipients of the 2014 Johnny N. and Nena S. Cavazos Endowment. The scholarship recipients, 5 per high school, each received $1,000 to continue their education. The annual endowments are available to both male and female athletes who participate in any University Interscholastic League athletic sport. View this year’s Cavazos scholarship recipients.

Attention Benavides ES and Manzano MS Parents

Benavides Elementary has been locked down since a little after 10 am today at the direction of local law enforcement officers due to a situation in proximity to the school. As per the district’s emergency operation plan, students are being relocated by school bus to the Good Shepherd Community Church located at 300 Morrison Road beginning at approximately 2 pm this afternoon. The church has been designated as a staging area so that school officials can release Benavides students to their designated parent or guardian. The parents and guardians will need to show a photo identification. The school is using the district notification system to inform parents and guardians about the relocation. All Benavides Elementary students and employees will be relocated to Good Shepherd Community Church out of an abundance of caution and under the direction of local law enforcement officers. Manzano Middle School students who ride school buses to the area around Benavides Elementary School will be held at the Manzano campus today for pick up by their designated parent or guardian after 2:50 pm which is the end of the school day. The Manzano parents are being notified via the district’s instant notification system which calls parents or guardians at the numbers they provide.

It’s Summer!

Brownsville ISD will offer several academic and recreational programs to students this summer. Free nutritious meals are also available to all children in the community, ages 0 to 18. Most programs will begin on Monday, June 9. View the summer opportunities.

Superintendent Announces Scholarship Recipients

Superintendent Dr. Carl A. Montoya has announced the winners of the 2014 Superintendent’s Scholarships. A total of 75 graduating BISD seniors will each receive $1,000 to attend the college of their choice. The scholarship funds were raised at the 11th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament hosted by Dr. Montoya at the Rancho Viejo Resort on Saturday, May 10, 2014. Scholarship recipients were selected by a committee of local Brownsville leaders and district personnel. Over 200 student applications were reviewed. “I sincerely thank our sponsors for their enthusiastic support of this scholarship golf tournament. Our local businesses and community organizations come together each year to support our high school graduates and provide them with badly needed college scholarship funds. Sponsor participation has made this tournament one of the largest in the entire Rio Grande Valley,” said Montoya. In the last 11 years, the Superintendent’s Scholarship Golf Tournament has provided $700,000 in scholarships to 599 deserving BISD graduates. Dr. Carl Montoya will personally award the 2014 Superintendent’s Scholarships to the following recipients at their respective high school campuses. View the recipients.