The Spring ISD Board of Trustees met at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 10, in person, and streamed via video conferencing, to address items on the agenda. President Justine Durant called the meeting to order. The Spring High School Navy JROTC led the presentation of colors, with Cadet Ensign Delilah Romero leading the pledges to the flags. Commanding the Color Guard and carrying the United States Flag was Cadet Lt. Cmdr. Halie Burroughs, the first of four siblings participating in the presentation of colors. Carrying the Texas Flag was Cadet Petty Officer 2nd Class Daylen Burroughs. The United States Rifle Guard was Cadet Petty Officer 2nd Class Elizabeth Burroughs, and the Texas Rifle Guard was Cadet Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Emma Burroughs. The Spring High School Navy JROTC was led by Master Chief Mark Clarke.

Points of Pride and Spotlight Awards

Since January 1984, the Board has recognized students and staff for major accomplishments beyond the District with Points of Pride awards. ABCD awards are presented to individuals or groups that go Above and Beyond the Call of Duty.

More than 100 students recognized for earning honors at regional, state and national levels

For the first time in two years, students from across the district gathered for the annual May Board Meeting at the School for International Studies at Bammel to be recognized by the Spring ISD Board of Trustees.

Traditionally, at the May board meeting, students who have made outstanding achievements on the state or national level are invited to receive Points of Pride awards from the Board of Trustees, with their friends, family, and teachers invited as well. This year, Spotlight Awards were given out as well to students celebrating a range of achievements at the local and regional levels.

“Tonight is a very special night,” Superintendent Dr. Lupita Hinojosa told the audience. “As the school year is drawing to a close, we have gathered here to honor the best and brightest that Spring ISD has to offer.”

Two student emcees, Enock Gota and Stefany Ramirez Martinez, both graduating seniors from Dekaney High School, hosted the awards section of the meeting. High achievers in the areas of academics, art, speech and debate, drama, JROTC, Skills USA and others were recognized for their accomplishments. For a full list of the students who received an award or recognition, click here.

Click here to see a Photo Gallery of student honorees.

Superintendent's Report

Superintendent Dr. Lupita Hinojosa began her remarks by once again recognizing the students who received Points of Pride and Spotlight awards.

“We are so very proud and honored to congratulate them tonight,” Dr. Hinojosa said. “Once again, it is just so good to be back together after two years of not having this May board meeting, which has been a tradition here in Spring ISD. It just warms my heart to be able to come back together and keep up the traditions.”

She then discussed the Rookie Teachers of the Year celebration that occurred Monday night, May 9. This annual event celebrates first-year teachers from each campus. This year’s group of rookie teachers were selected by their principals for their ability to inspire and persevere during what many consider the hardest year in a teaching career.

Dr. Hinojosa went on to mention the Employee Recognition Celebration, set to take place May 11. The event recognizes employees who exemplify dedication to the students of Spring ISD, along with employees who have reached milestones with the district or recently retired. Two teachers were also set to be named as Teachers of the Year.

She continued her remarks by reminding everyone about the Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit scheduled for Saturday, May 14.

“Just like we did with the Girls’ Summit, we will feature speakers with a variety of topics for our young men in the district,'' Dr. Hinojosa said. “There's going to be lots of conversation, especially focusing around self-esteem, friendship, and relationships. There's going to be sessions on college readiness, what you need to do to be prepared to go to college.”

Dr. Hinojosa also reminded parents about the Summer Bridge Program, which will take place Monday, June 6 through Friday, July 1. The program is designed for students who need accelerated learning or grade recovery over the summer. Students are identified for eligibility based on STAAR scores, campus criteria, or attendance. Parents of those identified students will be notified to enroll their students in the Summer Bridge Program. The deadline to enroll is May 18, 2022. More information can be found at SpringISD.org/summer.

She finished her remarks by offering a message to Spring ISD nurses, in celebration of National Nurses Week and National School Nurses Day on May 11. 

“If you get a minute, go by your child’s school and stop by the nurse's office,” Dr. Hinojosa said. “Congratulate them for all that they do for our kids and celebrate them.”

Trustees Remarks

At each regular board meeting, during Opening Remarks, each board member is given the opportunity to share information with those present.

Deborah Jensen Position 1	Kelly P. Hodges Position 2	Justine Durant Position 3	Winford Adams Jr Position 4	Rhonda Newhouse Position 5	Carmen Correa Position 6	Natasha McDaniel Position 7

Vice President Winford Adams Jr. began the Trustee Remarks by mentioning the return of the Night of Lion Stars event at Spring High School, which had taken a pause during the pandemic. The annual year-end event celebrates the top five percent of the graduating class.

Students were asked to invite inspiring teachers from their educational careers, as well.

“I think it is a very powerful testament to what teachers do for our kids,” Adams said. “Some of them moved me to be misty at times, just knowing the impact they have made.”

He then mentioned his attendance at the EMERGE annual luncheon, which raises funds for the Spring ISD EMERGE program. EMERGE prepares high-potential students from underserved communities to attend and graduate from selective colleges and universities from across the nation. 

Assistant Secretary Rhonda Newhouse mentioned again the Rookie Teachers of the Year event.

“I had a chance to talk with many of them during the celebration last night, and it was so wonderful to hear of their experiences that they shared with us throughout the year — the good, the bad, and the ugly,” Newhouse said. “They are still very excited about coming back with us next year. Our principals did an awesome job in mentoring those rookie teachers that we had, so I would like to shout out and congratulate our principals as well, for the hard work that you did with our teachers.”

She finished her remarks by thanking Fallbrook Church, which provided meals and other celebratory items to nearby Thompson Elementary and Claughton Elementary during Teacher Appreciation Week.

Trustee Natasha McDaniel offered remarks on the Girls’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit, which took place in April. The event was designed for young women from across Spring ISD middle and high schools, with the aim to inform and challenge students to become leaders, high achievers and change agents in their schools and communities. It featured conversations about self-esteem, friendship and relationships, as well as college and career advice, etiquette lessons, entertainment, giveaways, and more. 

“The girls were so engaged,” McDaniel said. “There were sessions they got to self-select based on their own needs, and what they wanted to discuss and learn more about for their personal development.”

Trustee Dr. Deborah Jensen offered her remarks about an awards ceremony she attended for the Criminal Justice program at Carl Wunsche Sr. High School. 

“The emcee pointed to a table full of awards, and he said that there are some schools that will win that many awards in 10 years, and Wunsche had won them all in the last year,” Dr. Jensen said. “The kids there are just doing amazing things.”

Board President Justine Durant finished the remarks by mentioning all the celebrations and ceremonies around the district that recognize achievements. This included ceremonies at the high schools recognizing the top-five and top-percent graduating seniors, the CTE scholarship banquet, a breakfast sponsored by the Spring ISD Education Foundation and the Ministerial Alliance, as well as events surrounding Mental Health Awareness Month.

“It keeps the Board busy, but it also highlights what an amazing job we're doing here in Spring ISD. That is something that is to be celebrated,” Durant said. “As president of the Board, and on behalf of all of my colleagues, I just want to say that I am proud to be able to be a part of Spring ISD, and to participate and celebrate and recognize their accomplishments and the success, not just of our teachers, but our scholars and our community.”

Updates

Board Audit Committee Provides Update

“The Audit Committee did meet and we went through the risk assessment,” Trustee Rhonda Newhouse said during a brief update of the Board Audit Committee. “It has been completed, so at this time we are ready to present the annual audit report at our June meeting.”

Board Governance Committee Provides Update

Trustee Dr. Deborah Jensen shared the Board Governance Committee’s busy month in May delivering Employee Excellence Awards in-person to several Spring ISD staff members, which she said had been a fun opportunity for the trustees.

“It was wonderful meeting and hearing about all of the wonderful employees we have in Spring ISD,” Jensen said, making mention of the Employee Recognition Banquet held on May 11.“We have picked one lucky employee to get a special award on [Wednesday] night,” referring to one Employee Excellence Award winner designated for an extra recognition by the Board.

Board Equity Committee Provides Update

Trustee Winford Adams Jr. provided an update of the Board Equity Committee and its ongoing work with the Cambridge Education equity study.

“We took a deeper dive into our Middle-of-the-Year data, and we're anticipating getting End-of-the-Year, MAP and CIRCLE data — all of the assessments that [students] are taking,” Adams told the trustees. ”We looked at that data with the idea that we would use it to prepare outcome goals for the superintendent's evaluation and for our strategic plan.”

Board Community Empowerment Committee Provides Update

Trustee Kelly Hodges thanked members of the Community Empowerment Committee for quickly organizing the district’s recent Mental Health Fair, held on April 30 at Dekaney High School.

“There were more than 10 community agencies there to provide information that was very helpful to our Spring ISD families,” Hodges shared. “Three parents participated in a panel discussion about their experiences with mental health issues and provided input on ways the district could support, and they also recommended hosting more summits and conferences earlier in the year.”

After receiving feedback from the event, Hodges said the committee is now partnering with Spring ISD parents to host an Anti-Bullying Workshop on Saturday, May 21 at Dekaney High School at 10:30 a.m.

“We hope that all of you here will share this information with the community and our partners to make sure that we have an excellent turnout,” Hodges said.

Action Items and Presentations

Demographics Update – Fall 2021

Trustees received a Fall 2021 Demographics Update from Rocky Gardiner of Zonda Education (formerly Templeton Demographics).

“This report will outline the economic conditions and market trends affecting Houston and Spring. It'll also detail housing activity in our area, residency trends and enrollment forecasts,” said Executive Chief of District Operations Mark Miranda in introducing the presentation.

Gardiner began with a brief overview of the current Houston-area economy, including the job market, stating that unemployment rates in Houston are sitting right around 5%, which is considered full employment by most economists.

Gardiner explained that economic and demographic growth in the Spring area was also being driven by developments in business, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HP) relocating its corporate headquarters from the San Francisco bay area to the new City Place development (formerly called Springwoods Village) in Spring, following completion in early 2022 of a 440,000-square-foot HP corporate campus there.

The master-planned City Place development continues to attract and consolidate major employers in the area, including companies such as Southwestern Energy, St. Luke’s Health and ExxonMobil, which in January 2022 announced it was relocating its main corporate headquarters from Irving to its existing 385-acre campus in Spring. These and related trends will continue to boost the local economy, Gardiner told the trustees.

“We believe Houston could add 75,000 jobs next year,” Gardiner said, “so lots of employment.”

He added that business and economic trends drawing more workers to the Houston area would also continue to impact the housing market, both in terms of property value and new home and apartment development around the region, including within Spring ISD’s zoned boundaries.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the overall population living within Spring ISD’s boundary grew more than 20% between 2010 and 2020, including a 10.3% rise in the population of children below age 18.

Discussing enrollment trends across the state, Gardiner pointed toward a larger pandemic-related issue that schools statewide are now wrestling with, namely the huge drops seen in enrollment for the 2020-21 school year – a drop of more than 122,000 students statewide – followed by smaller-than-expected enrollment gains for 2021-22.

“That's the largest drop that Texas has ever seen,” Gardiner said, noting that the 2020-21 drop followed a number of years when the state had seen overall enrollments consistently rising.

During the pandemic, economists projected a quick bounce-back, but enrollment figures for 2021-22 across the state haven’t borne out those predictions.

Drilling down into how those trends are playing out in Spring ISD, Gardiner explained that, after a number of years of steady growth, the district’s enrollment declined by 3,273 students between the school years of 2016-17 and 2021-22, an overall decrease of 8.9%.

After an initial pandemic drop in numbers seen in 2020-21, the decrease in district enrollment continued in Spring ISD, but at a much smaller rate, with a drop of just 0.1% between 2020-21 and 2021-22. Nevertheless, Spring ISD’s trends differ from surrounding Region 4 and Region 6 school districts, where overall enrollment numbers were again on the rise by the fall of 2021.

The district’s housing market has reflected wider trends over the past few years, especially pandemic-era trends, with home inventory generally lower and sale prices generally higher, with both resale and new homes selling very quickly. On average, Gardiner explained, the district has seen solid growth in property values over the last decade.

“$127,000 would get you a new home back in 2010,” Gardiner said. “In 2021, that number is $238,000, an increase of over $100,000 in new homes, and a similar increase – not quite as much – for your existing homes.”

That solid growth in new and used home values, combined with Spring ISD’s relative overall affordability for prospective homebuyers, Gardiner said, should continue in the longer term to make the district attractive for families drawn to the area by new and existing economic and job opportunities. 

Gardiner noted that Spring ISD – like other area school districts – will face the continued task of differentiating itself and its offerings from those of area charter schools, which have increased their enrollment in recent years.

However, the current and future expansion of available housing in the district – including a number of developments already underway – together with the expected influx of families, is projected to return Spring ISD to positive enrollment growth within the next several years, a point celebrated by Board President Justine Durant.

“We've got a lot of changes going on and we've lost a lot of students,” Durant said, “but it's good to see that our projection is positive.”

View the full Zonda Education presentation

Spring ISD and EMERGE Partnership update

Representing the EMERGE Fellowship, Vice President of EMERGE Programs Whitney Gouché attended the meeting and gave trustees an update on the partnership between Spring ISD and EMERGE, first launched in 2018.

“I remember in 2018 when you all approved the EMERGE partnership, it was a really exciting time for us.” Gouché said. “It's been a great partnership ever since, so I just want to say thank you, because there's been so many students who have been impacted because of your ‘yes,’ and because of your partnership, so thank you.”

The Houston-based nonprofit, originally founded within Houston ISD in 2010, specializes in working with high-performing students from underserved communities to connect them with the opportunity to attend college – with a particular focus on the country’s selective colleges and universities, schools that often offer better financial aid resources and academic supports to ensure students not only get to college but graduate successfully.

From an initial group of 65 high school students – including five rising seniors – selected to join the program during its initial year in Spring ISD, the partnership between Spring ISD and the EMERGE Fellowship has grown to include 150 current district sophomores, juniors and seniors, along with the 65 program members who have graduated since 2019.

Since the partnership’s beginnings, EMERGE’s Spring ISD students have achieved impressive results, Gouché told the trustees.

Spring ISD EMERGE Fellows have matriculated to college at rates well above national averages. Approximately 95% of the graduates have committed to attending a four-year college after graduation, and the group has been able to increase student admissions to selective colleges from 60% in Year 1 of the partnership with Spring ISD, to 83% in Year 3 – high above averages for students from underserved communities.

In this year’s graduating class of Spring ISD EMERGE seniors, college acceptances include four Ivy League schools, and the collective list includes UT-Austin, Texas A&M, Rice University, Brown, Duke University, Washington University, and Columbia University, among many others.

“And these are students who have had an entirely virtual experience since they started,” Gouché said of this year’s seniors, who joined EMERGE as spring-semester sophomores right at the beginning of the pandemic. “So just kudos to the students, to their families for trusting us, and to the staff as well.”

Locally, Gouché told trustees, only 13% of students from Houston’s low-income communities earn a postsecondary degree within 10 years of graduating from high school, whether a two-year or four-year degree. That’s the kind of statistic EMERGE exists to see change – one student and one district at a time – by connecting students and their families with information and resources that can help them, resources that selective colleges are often in a better position to offer, as Trustee Winford Adams Jr. noted.

“I think there's also a lot of money kind of left on the table in some of the more well-endowed institutions,” Adams said,  “and that kids and families don't realize that they can afford to go to Harvard or Brown or wherever, but they just don't know. So I really appreciate EMERGE bringing that to the fore for our students and families.”

Even after graduation, EMERGE continues to offer its Spring ISD alumni ongoing support as they pursue their education at the college level – support that has been especially needed during the pandemic.

“It's not enough for us to just get our students to college,” Gouché said, explaining how EMERGE maintains active contact with students to ensure “that they're persisting through college and graduating.”

Students from underserved communities and low-income backgrounds – especially students who are the first in their family to attend college – can experience struggles during their college years, from homesickness and feelings of guilt about attending a college away from home, to unique academic and social challenges that can be alleviated by their connection with fellow EMERGE program participants attending their college or a nearby college or university.

The strength of those ongoing – and growing – networks of EMERGE students across the country, Gouché said, is helping inspire even more students to dream big, including members of Spring ISD’s Class of 2022.

“For this class, the Class of 2022, we're really excited,” Gouché said. “97% have applied to a selective four-year college, 94% have been admitted to a selective four-year college, and 70% have been admitted to an out-of-state selective college.”

Gouché said that EMERGE was excited to be relaunching summer college tours for students this summer for the first time since 2019. In coordination with Superintendent Dr. Lupita Hinojosa, the group has also been working to expand its partnership with counselors, teachers and other high school staff to help impact even more students.

“We want to make sure that we're sharing our knowledge and not just keeping it in EMERGE,” Gouché said.

Gouché thanked the Board for its support, saying that EMERGE couldn’t do the work it does without the active support of the districts it partners with. After receiving a brief overview of how the program works with its cohort members from the spring semester of their sophomore year through graduation and beyond, Trustee Natasha McDaniel was among several board members praising the program’s model and the impact it was capable of.

“That's phenomenal, just hearing how you have it all laid out,” McDaniel said. “Sometimes families and kids just need additional support, so thank you for what you're doing for our community.”

2022-23 Budget discussion continues during May meeting

Spring ISD Chief Financial Officer Ann Westbrooks helped facilitate continuing discussion regarding the development of the district’s 2022-23 budget following input and feedback during the May 5 Board Work Session, with two proposed options that would address teacher pay and retention – prioritizing new teacher recruitment as well as rewarding long-serving teachers. 

“We want to be competitive enough to recruit, but we also in this very competitive time don't want to lose our cornerstone, our teachers who have been here and been with us, and so this does address both,” Board President Justine Durant said.

Chief Westbrooks outlined updates to Option A and Option B, with Option A allowing for a starting teacher salary of $60,000 and a general pay increase of 3% for teachers. Other highlights of Option A included: 

• 1,436 of 2,224 teachers (64%) would receive more than the general pay increase
• 3.67% average increase for all teachers
• Teachers with 5-15 years experience, average increase would be 4.1%
• Teachers with 12-15 years experience, average increase would be 4.6%
  

Option B of the compensation proposal included a starting teacher salary of $60,000, with a 4.5% general pay increase for teachers. Other highlights of Option B included:

• Teachers with 5-15 years experience, average increase would be 4.8%
• Those with 12-15 years experience, average increase would be 4.9%

As part of the recruitment and retention initiative, Chief Westbrooks requested special board action to move forward with a plan that would give all current employees who return in 2022-23 a $2,000 retention stipend, payable in two installments – a first installment of $1,000 on Aug. 10, and a second installment of $1,000 payable on Jan. 10. Deductions to the amounts would occur if an employee left the district before March of 2023. Additionally, the package would include two wellness days in addition to the leave time employees’ would normally receive for the 2022-23 fiscal year. A proposed change to qualifications for additional teacher incentive pay included:

• 50% or more growth (was 80%)
  • 268 current teachers would qualify
• 50% meets or higher (was 70%)
  • 100 current teachers would qualify

“We were asking for action … this evening, so that we can communicate it to our employees, calm some concerns that we've heard about being eligible for the retention [incentive], and then also increase the number of individual teachers who qualify for that higher additional retention amount,” Chief Westbrooks said.

After hearing the presentation, board members moved to take special action to approve the recruitment and retention package and also voiced a preference for Option B in future budget planning. The Board is set to approve the 2022-23 budget during the June 2022 regular board meeting.

View the full presentation

In other action, the Board approved:

• The minutes from the April 7, 2022 work session; April 11, 2022 special called session; and the April 12, 2022 regular meeting;
• Approval of Spring ISD Momentum High School;
• Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding with Prairie View A&M;
• Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding with Harris County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) for the 2022-2023 academic year;
• Approval of the cost of the Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) Project for $749,850;
• Approval of the Spring Independent School District Local Innovation Renewal Plan;
• Approval of the agreement with the Department of Defense for excess equipment;
• Approval of awarding a contract for plumbing fixtures and parts supplies;
• Approval of awarding a contract for lighting parts and supplies;
• Approval of awarding a contract for electrical parts and supplies;
• Approval of awarding a contract for custodial supplies for the Operations Department;
• Approval of the list of investment brokers/dealers; 
• Approval of the 2022-2023 Textbook Allotment and TEKS Certification; and
• Taxpayer Refunds.