February PEP

Texas 85th Legislature

LISD Council of PTAs 2017 overview of the Texas 85th Legislature.

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Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Notice of Vote to Amend the PTSA Bylaws

Vote of General Membership on February 13 at 6:30 PM at Marcus High School

The Marcus High School PTSA executive board is proposing the following bylaws changes for our organization for better a better organizational structure, more resiliency and to better align with the Marcus High School schedule.

Add a President Elect board position.

Current

ARTICLE VII: Officers and Their Election

Section 2. Officers and their election
a. The officers of this Local PTA shall be a president, three (3) vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer , a historian and a parliamentarian.

Proposed

ARTICLE VII: Officers and Their Election

Section 2. Officers and their election
a. The officers of this Local PTA shall be a president, president elect, three (3) vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, a historian and a parliamentarian.

Proposed – add a section with president elect duties and renumber existing sections.

ARTICLE VIII: Duties of Officers

Section 2. The president elect shall:

a. be the aide-to-the-president; and
b. learn the role of the president, to become familiar with the programs of the Association and its governance
c. preside in the absence of the president (in their designated order).

Increase the number of nominating committee alternates from 1 to 2

Current

ARTICLE VII: Officers and Their Election

Section 3. Nominating Committee

a. There shall be a nominating committee elected by the membership at a regular meeting prior to the election meeting. Student members shall not constitute a majority of this committee. Elections shall be by plurality. The committee shall be composed of three (3) members.  One (1) alternate shall be elected to serve in the event a member is unable to serve. The committee shall elect its own chair immediately following the meeting.

Proposed

ARTICLE VII: Officers and Their Election

Section 3. Nominating Committee

a. There shall be a nominating committee elected by the membership at a regular meeting prior to the election meeting. Student members shall not constitute a majority of this committee. Elections shall be by plurality. The committee shall be composed of three (3) members.  Two (2) alternates shall be elected to serve in the event a member is unable to serve. The committee shall elect its own chair immediately following the meeting.

Adjust the membership meeting schedule to align with the Marcus High School schedule

Current

ARTICLE IX: Meetings
Section 1. This association shall hold a minimum of three (3) meetings a year.
a. Regular meetings of the association shall be held in the months of September, January, and April, time and date to be established by executive board at its first meeting of the year. Five (5) days notice shall be given if change of date is needed. The membership shall be notified through regular publicity channels of the date and time of all regular meetings following the first meeting of the executive board at which time this schedule is determined.

Proposed

ARTICLE IX: Meetings
Section 1. This association shall hold a minimum of three (3) meetings a year.
a. Regular meetings of the association shall be held in the months of September, February, and April, time and date to be established by executive board at its first meeting of the year. Five (5) days notice shall be given if change of date is needed. The membership shall be notified through regular publicity channels of the date and time of all regular meetings following the first meeting of the executive board at which time this schedule is determined.

 

Posted 13-JAN-2017 3:00p CT – Contact Lorna Gibson, Marcus HS PTSA President with any questions.

January Newsletter

Here are a few of the things you’ll learn about this month:

  • LISD rejects TEA rating system
  • How you can help improve ratings
  • New traffic guidelines

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Reminder

PTSA Senior membership for MHS PTSA eligibility due by Tue, January 31, 2017.
PTSA Senior Scholarship Applications are due on Wed, April 20, 2016.

January PEP

2017 Traffic Flow Update

Beginning 04-JAN (Wednesday)

  1. Bussess enter from Waketon-stop at MHS9 and then MHS. Exit onto Dixon.
  2. All parent traffic is at the front of MHS9, MHS, and the north side band parking lot.
  3. No parent traffic in back parking lot. Students enter from Waketon or the top entrance of Dixon. Same for exiting in the afternoon.

LISD Parent U – Jan. 12

Advocating for TX Public Schools
Your Kids. Your Teachers. Your Schools.

January 12, 2017 – Morning

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Bolin Center (Room D)
1565 W Main St.
Lewisville, TX 75067

January 12, 2017 – Evening

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Career Center East
2553 FM 544
Lewisville, TX 75056

Under the Dome

Under the DomeState Assessment for Academic Readiness

Texas PTA will advocate for a reduced emphasis on state-mandated testing, focusing on grades 3-8, and monitor changes to STAAR for high school students, and limits on benchmark testing for all tested grades.

Background

Texas PTA has worked for several years to reduce the number of and the emphasis on state-mandated tests. We were part of a strong team that reduced high school end-of-course tests from 15 to 5 and have sought to reduce the number of tests that are required in the elementary and middle school grades. We will continue to look for opportunities to pursue these reductions during the next legislative session.
Texas PTA seeks to extend the graduation committee structure created last session through House Bill 149, one in which students who have passed all the courses required for graduation but have been unable to pass up to two of the end-of-course exams required to graduate, can participate in a rigorous process to demonstrate that they have learned the required curriculum. The committee that assigns extra activities, and reviews the student’s work must agree unanimously in order for the student to be allowed to graduate.
Read more about the history of efforts to reduce STAAR.

Oppose Vouchers

Texas PTA will oppose vouchers including Education Savings Account Programs (ESA Programs) and Tax Credit Scholarship Programs that allow state funds to be utilized in private schools not accountable to the taxpayer or the state.
ESAs are a form of voucher that allows eligible parents to use a portion of the funds the state expends for their student’s public school education to fund private school tuition, tuition at eligible institutions, distance education, home schooling materials and curriculum. The remainder of the funds, generally around 30%, are kept by the public school the student previously attended.
Corporations can earn tax credits by donating money to a scholarship program that uses the dollars to pay for private school tuition for students.

Vouchers:

  • Do not ensure accountability – They send public dollars to private schools that are not accountable to the public for producing results.
  • Provide choice for some, not all –
    • Vouchers disproportionately benefit students living in urban areas due to limited access to private schools in rural Texas.
    • Vouchers do not address many needs of low-income, at-risk students such as transportation, free and reduced lunches, textbooks, assessment of special needs, access to additional remediation programs, full cost of tuition.
  • Violate separation of church and state
    • The US Constitution prohibits any government “establishment of religion.” Tax dollars directed toward public schools of religious origin violate that principal.
    • The US Constitution ensures “free exercise of religion”; no government has proper authority to dictate a religious community’s expression of faith. Regulation and oversight always accompany allocation of public tax dollars, thus violation religious freedom.
More about Vouchers

 

Did You Know?

Only a portion of your property taxes, which is marked for schools, actually goes to your local school district. There is a tax rate cap on those funds that go to your local school district. The remaining funds are sent to the state for legislators to spend at their discretion. Often these remaining funds are spent on other state expenses like transportation.

Wouldn’t it be great if the state reinvested those remaining funds back into our public school system, so that our students will have more access to resources and facilities that they need to be successful? While reinvesting these funds back into public school will not solve all of our public school challenges, it would be a great jump start in improving the education of our students.

To learn more about how school financing works, you can access many articles and presentations online, or invite the CFO of your school district to explain how school financing works and what it means for your school district. Then join us at Rally Day February 27, 2017 as PTA and community members from across the state come together to advocate for these funds to be reinvested back into public schools, as well as many other issues that affect the education, well-being and the safety of our students.

Details coming on accountability system…

tweet-sboe-nov-16

Seniors: Apply now for LEF Scholarships

lef-scholarship-2016

The scholarship application is NOW open for all LISD Seniors.

The deadline is 4:30pm on Friday, January 27, 2017.

More Information

 

One application puts students in the running for over 275 scholarships!