Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012/10/24-Minutes-City Council-Special CalledCITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL AND FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES CALLED - SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2012 Present: Fort Worth City Council Mayor Betsy Price Mayor Pro tern W.B. "Zim" Zimmerman, District 3 Council Member Salvador Espino, District 2 Council Member Daniel Scarth, District 4 Council Member Frank Moss, District 5 Council Member Jungus Jordan, District 6 Council Member Dennis Shingleton, District 7 Council Member Kelly Allen Gray, District 8 Council Member Joel Burns, District 9 Staff Present: Tom Higgins, City Manager Fort Worth Independent School Board of Trustees T.A. Sims, President — District 4 Christene Moss, Vice President — District 3 Judy Needham, Secretary — District 5 Carlos Vasquez, District 1 Tobi Jackson, District 2 Ann Sutherland, District 6 Norman Robbins, District 7 J. R. Martinez, District 8 Juan Rangel, District 9 FWISD Staff Present: Walter Dansby, Superintendent I. CALL TO ORDER With a quorum of bodies present, Mayor Price and Board President, T. A. Sims called the joint meeting of the Fort Worth City Council and Fort Worth Independent School Board of Trustees to order at 5:37 p.m., on Tuesday, October 24, 2012, in the Jean McClung Middle School, 3000 Forest Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76112. CITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL AND FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES CALLED — SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2012 Page 2 of 4 II. WELCOME AND INRODUCTIONS Mayor Betsy Price and President T. A. Sims welcomed the members and audience to the meeting. Both boards were introduced. III. JOINT USE FACILITIES Randle Harwood, Planning and Development Department, City of Fort Worth and Art Cavazos, Chief of District Operations, Fort Worth Independent School District gave a presentation on joint use facilities including parks, athletic facilities and community centers. They highlighted the Eastern Hills Detention Basin which is a soccer field and park and when needed serves as a water runoff control. They reviewed growth patterns and demographics in the City and the District. They reviewed existing joint use facilities and discussed the benefits. It was mentioned that the District is currently building facilities that can be used by the community outside of the school day. The City and the District are continuing to review potential sites applicable for joint use. They two entities will continue to meet together and to report back to their respective Boards. IV. FORT WORTH AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM Miguel Garcia, Director, Fort Worth after School and Sandra Youngblood, City of Fort Worth Parks and Community Services gave a presentation on the Fort Worth After School program and the Wallace Foundation Grant. The Fort Worth After School program has 94 sites and is the largest structured after school program in the state. Participants in the Fort Worth After School program have higher attendance, better grades and better behavior in school. With the Wallace Grant the partnership between the City and the District will be expanded to collect information on a larger scale, including programs not currently served by FWAS as well a programs in other school districts and to create a system to promote high quality programs, develop shared vision of standards, develop assessment tools and professional development and create an infrastructure to sustain these efforts. V. UPDATE OF FORT WORTH EARLY CHILDHOOD COLLABORATION Michael Sorum, Deputy Superintendent for Leadership, Learning and Student Support gave a presentation on the Department of Early Academic Success and Acceleration ( DEASA) and the Fort Worth Early Childhood Collaborative. DEASA consists of three areas of concentration: l ) Early Child hood Department — enhancing early language, literacy and math to better prepare young students for academic success; working with early childhood entities and parents 2) Elementary Literacy Department — building a strong literacy foundation; 3) Early Literacy Intervention Department — district wide programs that support early intervention services, prevention and appropriate instructional programs to ensure early academic success and acceleration. The Fort Worth Early Childhood Collaborative is a community readiness initiative. CITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL AND FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES CALLED — SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2012 Page 3 of 4 The vision is that all children in the Fort Worth ISD will enter school ready to be successful learners. The framework is ready families; ready early education and care services and ready communities will equal ready children. The program is building on existing program, using data to guide decisions, expanding practices with demonstrated outcomes to reach children before they enter school to ensure that they are ready. VI. FITWORTH INITIATIVE Fort Worth City Councilmember Dennis Shingleton presented the FitWorth Initiaitve. This is a community initiative to improve well being in Fort Worth. The program is facilitating awareness and providing information on the benefits of activity and healthy eating. Mr. Shingleton highlighted several programs: the Steer Fort Worth food for thought program at De Zavala Elementary School to bring in healthy food options, switching recess and lunch times and tracking behavior and attendance and the FitWorth kids challenge which is an 8 week challenge for 3rd — 8`h grades that emphasized activity. The team with the highest activity level won PE equipment or track enhancements. The FitWorth team will be reaching out to the schools, neighborhoods and community via newsletters, social media and news media to encourage participation in local events or in neighbor and school events to get people active. Councilmember Shingleton recognized Georgi Roberts, Director of Health and Physical Education who was unable to be at the meeting. VII. COMMUNICATION OF FWISD SUCCESSES Barbara Griffith, Senior Communications Officer, Fort Worth Independent School District gave a presentation on how the FWISD was communicating success in the following areas: STAAR test and what areas were improved during this implementation year; Increase in the number of students receiving dual credit; Learning networks on each campus; Gold Seal Programs of Choice and Schools of Choice; Budgeting — a year -round process; Community Partnerships; Read 2 Win; Momingside Children's Partnership; Parent empowerment tools; It's Not OK — the anti - bullying campaign; and Know the Plan — what to do in the event of an emergency; update on the Capital Improvement Program. VIII. FURTURE AGENDA ITEMS The following were suggested future agenda items: Common ground — legislative issues, opportunities to pool resources Positive updates from the schools in each district given to the Councilmember Update on how FWISD schools have benefited from Neighborhood empowerment zones Program for getting the community more active in the schools. CITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL AND FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES CALLED — SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OCTOBER 241) 2012 Page 4 of 4 IX. ADJOURN There being no further business, Mayor Price and President Sims adjourned the joint meeting at 7:49 p.m. These minutes approved by the Fort Worth City Council on the 12th day of November, 2012. Attest: Mary J. K City Secretary Approved: 4�etsyy Price Mayor