I cannot say much about the prom itself since I was not in attendance. I have heard that it was a packed house and everyone has good stories to tell. Rumor has it that there was 300+ prom tickets and 136 for an after prom event at Strikz.
There is a lot of talk about the wonderful sketch artist and so I thought that I would share a sketch of some lucky guy.
In this article, I wanted to give you a glimpse into a typical Frisco EDC (Economic Development Corporation) board meeting.
The Frisco EDC activities are critical to the future of Frisco, but it is not an interesting meeting for a visitor to attend since the majority of the meeting is conducted in closed session under section 551.086, “Deliberation regarding commercial or financial information that the Board has received from a business prospect and to deliberate the offer of other incentives to a business prospect”. The meetings typically start and 6:00 PM and last until 9:00 PM.
The following are the more interesting items discussed in open session:
I have been asked by some friends about what makes up a typical school board meeting. I’ll use this last meeting as one example.
Some people have questioned why certain topics have very little discussion in the public board meetings. To understand that, you must understand all the work that leads up to that point.
First of all, the board and administration does a lot of the hard work in the subcommittee meetings. Each board member will typically serve on five or six subcommittees aligned with their particular interest or skills. These subcommittees may meet several times before bringing the items to the full board for consideration. When the items do make it to the full board, we know that there has already been substantial consideration and research. Here are our subcommittees and the ones of which I am a member:
The next thing to keep in mind is that the larger, more important/complex topics will span many months of consideration. For example, we first started talking about the budget in the January timeframe and will not officially adopt the budget until the June or July meeting. The board also receives weekly “board updates” from administration. In the public meeting you will often hear board members ask for additional information and the Superintendent will instruct his staff to “please provide that information in the board update”.
As the public board meeting approaches, we will receive the materials for consideration. At the last board meeting, this consisted of approximately 120+ pages of confidential background information surrounding a level three grievance. The official board book itself was 261 pages. We spend several days reviewing the information and will often seek clarification of the person responsible for each request, normally the senior administrative staff.
Now it’s time for the board meeting. Here is the timeline from our last board meeting, which was fairly typical:
I hope that this gives you some idea of a typical board meeting. See the Frisco ISD web site for specific highlights related to this meeting.
This is one of the most enjoyable times of the year as we watch our seniors begin the next step in their journey. Last night was our annual Frisco Education Foundation Scholarship Night. If I remember the numbers correctly, 275 students received scholarships totaling $365,000. Since the foundation started in May 2000, the numbers will exceed 1,200 students and over $1.8M.
Scholarships are awarded based on specific criteria established by donor(s). Some donors look to recognize a student who has excelled academically or is an active community citizen, others look for students that have worked hard to achieve success without being at the top of their class. Still others are awarded for specific career goals and/or financial need. Scholarships range from $500 to $8000.
The FEF Scholarships are sponsored through donations from community organizations, businesses, caring individuals and fundraisers such as the Gary Burns Frisco Fun Run, Annual Chili Challenge, and various other events in the community.
It was an honor for me to help hand out the payroll deduction scholarships which went to 51 students this year. I would like to thank the Frisco ISD staff for their generosity on behalf of our students.
The Shattered Dreams program started today at Liberty High School. Let me start off by saying that as a School Board Member and a parent, I think that this is a great program for teaching our students the dangers of drinking and driving.
Shattered Dreams is a two-day program designed to drive home the dangers of drinking and driving. In dramatic fashion, Frisco police officers, firefighters and air ambulance crews respond to a staged, mock DWI crash outside the High School. By design, this program takes place just before Prom.
Emergency crews simulate medical treatment for students portraying the victims, and other students posing as the “drunk driver”. The “victim” students will be transported by ambulance and CareFlite to Centennial Medical Center, while the “deceased” student will be transported by Turrentine Jackson & Morrow Funeral Home. The “drunk driver” will be arrested and transported to the Frisco Detention Facility for book-in and arraignment.
A “Grim Reaper” appears in classrooms every fifteen minutes, selecting students to illustrate Texas’ sobering statistic of someone being killed every fifteen minutes by a drunk driver. Students selected as “living dead” return to class in white face makeup and instructions not to talk. Parents are tasked with writing obituaries (my wife had to do this) and the living dead spend the night away from their families and friends.
On the second day, the students attend a mock funeral, followed by an assembly. Student actors will share their impressions and community leaders will talk about teenage alcohol abuse. In addition to performances by members of the LHS Choir, scheduled speakers include Frisco PD Chaplain Murphy, Dr. Robert Simonson of Methodist Hospital, and LHS Principal Mike Waldrip.
Shattered Dreams is a cooperative effort between the Frisco Independent School District, the Frisco Police Department, and the Frisco Fire Department.
My wife and I had the privilege today of a personal tour of the entire Heritage High School campus by Principal Mark Mimms. Having observed many schools being built in my seven years on the board, I must say that this school is in great shape. There is no doubt in my mind that it will easily be ready for school in the fall. Most of the classrooms are essentially complete and even the gymnasiums were receiving their last coat of varnish. As you can see from the picture, they are installing the grass and landscaping at the front entrance. The interior colors are Maroon and Vegas Gold and are well placed throughout the school. The furniture arrives around the middle of June.
The city has committed to having Eldorado widened in front of the school and the traffic light installed at the intersection of Eldorado and Independence before the start of school. This is the only schedule that still has me concerned, but I have confidence in George and the city staff.
To all the future Heritage High School Coyotes, you are going to be amazed and very proud of your new school.
See the Frisco ISD Web Site for more information.
Heritage Construction Progress - April 2009
Monday was a very joyous occasion as we recognized our Frisco ISD staff that received 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, and 35 year service pins. It was scheduled to coincide with a teacher work day, so we had almost our entire staff (4900+) fill the home side of Memorial Stadium. Thankfully the weather cooperated.
As a board member, this is one of the most enjoyable events of the year. It was especially meaningful for me this year as my daughters are now seniors. This means that there were quite a few teachers receiving 10 year pins that we had as teachers. Each and every one of them had a lasting impact on my children. I hope that all of our teachers realize the huge impact that they have on our world by touching so many lives.
That night we had a dinner to recognize the service recipients with 10 year or more of service. I would like to offer a special congratulation to Charlie Mooneyham for his 35 years of service to Frisco ISD. You can see all the honorees on the Frisco Web site.