Burnet School district investments secure, board is informed

Business Manager Preston Ingram during his financial report said the district has invested more than $10 million into an account managed by TexPool as prescribed by the Texas Public Funds Investment Act for school funds “not required by law to be deposited in the state treasury.” 

“None of our money is in commercial paper,” Ingram added. 

Also during the meeting, the board heard reports on the status of new construction, learned about an updated demographic study of the district and was informed of student progress on standardized tests as measured by the federal government. 

But finances took center stage.

Commercial paper is short-term debt sold by large banks or corporations “for a certain interest rate” with yields to investors generally higher than government securities, Ingram told The Daily Tribune. 

“We have just never felt like we should do that (purchase commercial paper),” Ingram said. 

Also, the district has no investments in any of the shaky mortgage securities that have recently thrown Wall Street into a tailspin and prompted Congress to enact a $700 billion bailout for several banks and investment groups. 

Some school districts got into trouble with bad investments in commercial paper and mortgage securities during the 1980s, Ingram recalled. 

“We have pretty much gotten out of the habit of going anywhere near that,” Ingram said. 

As the result of a recent 10 percent increase on utility rates, the district’s utility bill through last month was about $96,000, compared to $78,000 spent on utilities during September 2007 “without changing how much (electricity) we use,” Ingram told the board. 

“It is a huge part of our (monthly) budget,” Ingram added. 

 Meanwhile, each Bertram Elementary School third-grade student will get a dictionary soon, courtesy of the Burnet County Republican Women. 

The board voted to accept the donation from the group during the meeting, which was held at the Bertram Elementary School cafeteria. 

“They would like to make (the donation) an annual project,” Assistant Superintendent Judi Whitis told the board. 

“That is very nice of them,” said board President Andy Feild. 

The board also recognized Elizabeth Honaker and Abraham Van Vleck as the Burnet High School Students of the Month. 

As the board turned to other matters, Facilities Director Kyle Powell reported site work for the first phase of the Burnet High School new athletic complex is 70 percent complete. 

“It is coming along pretty good,” Powell said. 

The complex will include new baseball, softball and practice fields and a new field house, school officials have said. 

Contractors hope to begin foundation work on the field house next week, including electrical and sewer lines, as well as dugouts and a backstop for the baseball field and outfield fence locations for the softball diamond, Powell said. 

During his presentation of an updated demographic study of BCISD, Desk Map System president Steve Stewart said the district should plan on a 27 percent increase in total student enrollment over the next 10 years, from the current enrollment of 3,425 students to 4,333 students by the 2018-2019 academic year. 

The highest estimate of BCISD projected enrollment pushes the number of students up to 4,588 by 2018, Stewart noted. The projected enrollments are based on current and historical employment, housing, population growth and land-use data, Stewart added. 

Indeed, district student enrollment has increased almost every year since 1990, Stewart said. 

However, even with Shady Grove Elementary School expected to reach full capacity within the next five to 10 years, there is no immediate need for new campuses or attendance zones, Stewart told the board. 

“It looks like you are in pretty good shape for facilities across the board,” Steward said. 

Experts predict the city of Bertram will be the fastest growing area in the county, he added. 

“This (Bertram) area is growing,” Stewart said. “There is certainly a lot of talk about expanding (Texas) 29. We think it may be important for you to keep an eye on it.” 

Whitis told the board Texas Education Agency preliminary reports indicate Burnet High and Burnet Middle schools just missed meeting the “Adequate Yearly Progress” goals set by the U.S. Department of Education for student performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills standardized reading and math tests in 2007-2008. 

AYP was established by the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 as a “separate accounting system, more difficult, more comprehensive” than TAKS to track the progress of “special education and limited English proficient” students with other student populations, Whitis told The Daily Tribune.

To meet current AYP goals, 60 percent of students taking the TAKS test must be counted as “proficient” in reading and 50 percent of students must be counted as proficient in math, according to the TEA Web site. 

Both Burnet High and Middle School missed meeting the AYP proficiency standard for math by one student, Whitis said. 

Neither campus is listed as an AYP “school in need of improvement,” according to the TEA Web site. 

AYP aims to produce 100 percent student passing rates on state standardized tests by the 2013-2014 academic year, Whitis said. 

“That is not far away at all,” Whitis added. 

raymond@thepicayune.com