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After the student recognitions at the monthly meeting of the Dripping Springs ISD board of trustees on Feb. 18, the board held a public hearing on the District Annual Report for 2023-2024.
Dr. Karen Kidd, Assistant Superintendent for Learning and Instruction, reviewed the report, which largely covers the STAAR test results.
“Our goal is always meets and masters for our level of performance for students,” Kidd said. “You’ll see math has dipped down a little bit. It dipped down across the state in math, it’s not just us.”
Kidd said when compared to the region and the state, Dripping Springs is still well above those numbers.
“Then for reading we saw a slight uptick, which is great,” Kidd said. “We are still far above where the region and the state end up with those scores.”
She also reviewed the attendance rate, which was 94.6.
“We have a goal this year of getting up to 96% attendance,” Kidd said. “Currently we did a check and we're at 95.26% here today, so we're getting there, getting a little bit better.”
The district also got “meets requirements” for their special education program. Kidd said while that may sound underwhelming, it is actually the highest level that can be achieved from TEA.
The full annual report is posted on the DSISD website, and paper copies are also available at each campus and at the district’s central office.
Next on the agenda were public comments. The first speaker was Ming Chon Ho, who is the father of two young daughters in Dripping Springs. He said he’d been hearing a lot about electronic devices being used in the lower grades, and wanted to speak to the board on the issue.
“I am a computer engineer, so when I say I’m against screens that’s a bit ironic, but I am truly passionate about this, seeing what that does to kids whose minds aren’t fully developed,” Ho said.
He proposed that schools should be prohibiting screens for kids under high school age.
“It's really just not suitable for their young minds,” Ho said. “They're pretty addictive. It's almost like tobacco for the young minds, and I don’t think anyone here would be handing out cigarettes to kids.”
He said that multiple scientific studies, all peer reviewed, have shown that screen time for children is harmful across all the age bands under 16, with the younger ones being the most susceptible to harm.
The next speaker was Sheriff Anthony Hipolito, who was recently sworn in for Hays County. He introduced himself to the board and talked about the county’s role in providing SROs for DSISD schools.
“We are going to continue to make sure our deputies that are working in our schools are the most highly trained so that they can serve our kids, and make sure that our staff is also staying safe,” Hipolito said. “I look forward to working with you guys in every capacity possible to make sure that our schools are as safe as possible.”
For this month’s Learning Spotlight, trustees heard a presentation from Sycamore Springs Middle School. Principal Kelly Miller introduced teacher Sara Pope and her intro to engineering students. Pope said the class is largely project-based.
“I give them a little bit of science, a little bit of instruction, and they really take these projects and run with them,” Pope said. “I'm having more fun this year as a teacher than I have had in a really long time.”
The students introduced themselves and talked about some of the projects they’ve been working on. Those included projects such as air skimmers, playground designs, bridge builds and tower construction.
The next order of business was board highlights and liaison reports. Olivia Bernard reported on Taxpayer Tuesday, which featured a presentation from the board’s committee for legislative advocacy.
“We had a really, really good turnout,” Bernard said. “The attendees were so engaged and everyone said that they learned something new.”
Bernard said a lot of those in attendance are regularly serving through PTA or in other ways, and will go out and share this information with other community members.
Bernard also gave an update on the activities of the legislative committee. She said they have been very busy, with their number one focus being Senate Bill 2, funding student allotment.
“Both of our state reps came and met with the committee, and then today we were at the capitol for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) legislative conference, which was very insightful,” Bernard said. In the next couple weeks they are planning to meet with senators and other state leaders to share the importance of per student funding. Among the other reports, Kim Cousins discussed the Dripping Springs Education Foundation’s gala. She highlighted that the band, one of the speakers and the balloon decorations were all provided by DSHS alumni.
“We are excited to announce that the event raised over $200,000 dollars,” Cousins said. “That was a record for us.”
There were several action items on the agenda for the evening, but topping the list was a presentation on design progress for the second high school from VLK Architects.
“We are grateful to be here tonight, really excited to talk about the progress this team has made,” Tim Kunz said. “We're going to be presenting a design update tonight and asking for your approval for design development.”
Kunz said the team has had many in depth discussions with teachers, with campus administration and with district administration about the design.
“So the next process is construction documents, where we really get into the nuts and bolts of putting together a set of documents that a contractor can then build from,” Kunz said.
He emphasized that the team has worked hard to adhere to the community voice. The design emphasizes safety and efficiency, while making the building modern and effective for the future generations.
The presentation, which included a site plan and floor plans, as well as some interior and exterior design concepts, was well received by the trustees.
“I really appreciate that you listened, that it is a modest design, it is high function, and it has everything we need, but you’re not looking to be on the cover of Architectural Digest,” Bernard said.
Board members questioned Kunz about the budget and where there might be areas to save on costs. He said while it was a little early to tell, that is something the team will be on the lookout for throughout the process.
“We're going to be working collectively to ensure that the district gets the best value,” Kunz said. “At the end of the day that’s our goal.”
After the discussion concluded, Cousins motioned to approve the design development, Dr. Mary Jane Hetrick seconded, and the motion passed 6-0.
After several other action items, which all passed after brief discussion, the board heard a brief update on the 2023 bond project from James Conkle, DSISD Director of Construction & Planning.
“The subs, contractors, architects are doing a phenomenal job,” Conkle said. “This is the best talent I’ve ever worked with in 20 years of doing school construction. We hired great, the guys are doing great, everything’s on budget, everything is on time and everything’s phenomenal.”
More details on the meeting can be found on the DSISD website.
