Crowley ISD Boardroom Rewind

Above: A rendering of Elementary No. 17, which will be located in the Bridges neighborhood west of Richard Allie Middle School

Crowley ISD is excited to move forward with construction of the first new school to be built as part of the voter-approved 2023 Bond program.

On Thursday night, trustees approved a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the construction of Elementary No. 17.

The GMP for Elementary No. 17 is $48,989,873.

Elementary No. 17, which will be located in the Bridges neighborhood west of Richard Allie Middle School, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025. It is a prototype of the June W. Davis Elementary School that opened in fall of 2019.

The construction of Elementary No. 17 will be a Steele & Freeman/Post L Group joint venture.

Highlights include:

• 97,324 square feet

• 40 classrooms

• Multiple collaborative spaces

• Makerspace

• Geothermal heating/cooling system

• Natural lighting for each classroom

  
  

This approval also keeps with the district's goal of involving historically under-utilized businesses (HUBs) and minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBEs) to the maximum extent possible in all facets of its contracting and purchasing activities.

The Board of Trustees named Charlotte Carter the new principal of Deer Creek Elementary School. Carter served as an administrator for 15 years in Waco and Arlington school districts. She also has 10 years of teaching experience.

The North Crowley High School Panther Football Team broke numerous school records, was undefeated in the regular season and made it to the state semi-finals.

The North Crowley High School varsity football team dominated this year with an undefeated regular season and earned the following recognition:

• District Champions
  
• Bi-District Champions
  
• Area Champions
  
• Regional Champions

The North Crowley Offense Also Broke These School Records:

• Most Points Scored: 788
  
• Most Points Per Game: 52.53
  
• Most Passing Yards: 3,092 (Chris Jimerson)
  
• Most Rushing Yards: 4,479
  
• Most Total Yards: 7,571
  
• Most Rushing Touchdowns: 70
  
• Most Passing Touchdowns: 40 (Chris Jimerson)
  
• Most Rushing Touchdowns: 31 (Ashton Searl)
  

Kisha Dorsey, a Summer Creek Middle School sixth-grade English Language Arts & Reading teacher, is the December 2023 Heartbeat Team Award winner.

The award recognizes employees who display heart as they go above and beyond their job description, inspiring other employees through their extraordinary work ethic. Heartbeat team members are nominated only by other district employees.

Watch to learn more about why Dorsey is the heartbeat of Crowley ISD.

Superintendent Dr. Michael McFarland shared an update on middle school redesign plans and possible funding options to help boost middle school achievement.

All middle schools in CISD were rated "C" in the last Texas Education Agency ratings provided, while all other campuses were rated an "A" or "B."

CISD has seen success with transformation and innovation efforts at the elementary level with schools such as J.A. Hargrave and David L. Walker Elementary. Those schools' ratings rose from the 50s to the 90s in four years.

The district knows from this experience that increasing student learning is tied to four areas:

• Instructional Time
  
• Aligned Resources
  
• Teacher Capacity
  
• Relevancy/Relationships
  

Outside funding helped pay for the innovation needed to boost student achievement at those and other elementary campuses. But outside funding is limited as the district looks to implement the same kinds of initiatives at the middle school level.

CISD is investigating partnerships with higher education institutions and other organizations as a way to secure funding, including what's known as 1882 Partnerships. Senate Bill 1882 incentivizes districts to work collaboratively with new and existing partners to promote innovation and dramatically improve student outcomes. McFarland estimated it would cost $800,000 to $1 million per year per campus to accelerate learning at the district's four middle schools.

"We have to innovate at our middle schools in order to compete and also to provide a high-quality experience for our students," McFarland said. "We know what we have to do to improve schools, and we know how much it costs."

McFarland said the latest benchmarks testing at all the middle schools shows significant improvement from the previous year.

"It is no question in my mind, in three to four years, we will have A and B middle schools," McFarland said. "If we have access to the funding, I believe we will be able to do it in a sustainable way."

Crowley ISD trustees approved purchasing Styrofoam recycle units from FoodService Sustainability Solutions for each middle school campus after success with the units at the high school campuses. The units help with lowering waste costs and are environmentally friendly.

The cost per unit will be about $28,300. The total combined cost of four units will be $113,200, which will be paid for with the Child Nutrition Fund.

A Styrofoam recycle unit can dispose of 1,100 trays at one time, allowing campuses to run machines one to two times per week. The unit reduces trays into small bricks for safe disposal. One condensed brick contains about 1,000 trays.

BENEFITS

• Reduce Styrofoam waste volumes by 95%

• Save on waste collection fees

• Significantly reduce landfill volumes

• Fewer carbon emissions from reduced waste hauling

A Styrofoam recycle unit can dispose of 1,100 trays at one time. The unit reduces trays into small bricks for safe disposal. One condensed brick contains about 1,000 trays.

Trustees also named Cindy Hankey as the new executive director of finance for Crowley ISD.

Hankey has worked for Crowley ISD since 2007 as accounting coordinator. She also served in Arlington ISD as a staff accountant.

Front row (L-R): Nedra Robinson, board secretary; Superintendent Dr. Michael D. McFarland;
Dr. La Tonya Woodson-Mayfield, board president; Gary Grassia, board first vice president

Back row (L-R): June W. Davis, board member; Kelicia Stevenson, board member;
Daryl R. Davis II, board member; Dr. Mia Hall, second vice president

MEETING VIDEO: To watch a recording of this meeting, please click here.

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