On a sunny spring day, a select group of Montgomery ISD students took the field at the MISD Athletic stadium to participate in the first ever “Mission Possible Day.” The event was hosted by the MISD Special Education department and featured a wide range of events designed to showcase their athletic skills while having fun.
“Students were able to participate in field events such as Races, Distance Throwing, Individual Skills Games of Kicking and Dribbling, Group Games of Giant Volleyball, Parachute Games, Giant Cup Stacking, Line Dancing,” Executive Director of Special Education Meredith Burg said. “All games and activities were modified to fit the individual needs of our fantastic athletes.”
Also in attendance were student volunteers, district employees and parents to cheer the athletes, making it a special day for everyone.
“As the mother of a child with special needs, my circle tends to be pretty small. Talking to other parents that day felt like a weight was being lifted, even if temporarily. We connected and were able to brag on our kids’ victories and have the other person truly understand that sometimes the little things are REALLY BIG to a special needs parent,” MISD Marvels parent Jessica Prosser said. “Seriously, best day ever!”
Video Production students from Montgomery High School captured the action, producing a video highlighting the day’s exciting events. You can watch the video below.
Trustees also select board officer positions for 2021-22 school year and receive update on district strategic plan
Two Montgomery ISD trustees were sworn into office during the board’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 18. Montgomery County Justice of the Peace, Judge Wayne Mack administered the oath of office to Trustees Trey Kirby (Position 4) and Linda Porten (Position 5), who were both re-elected on May 1, 2021.
Kirby and Porten will both serve three-year terms. Kirby, a resident of Montgomery since 1987 and graduate of Montgomery High School, begins his third term on the MISD Board of Trustees.
“It’s an honor to have been elected to a third term as a member of the Montgomery ISD Board of Trustees,” Kirby said. I am excited to continue serving with the board and administration as we build upon the momentum we have achieved as a team. We remain committed to improving fiscal responsibility while taking care of our outstanding students and teachers. This community is very dear to me, and I look forward to serving for the next three years as Montgomery continues to grow and thrive.”
Porten, a lifelong educator who spent several years as an employee in Montgomery ISD, enters her second term on the Board.
“It’s a privilege to serve as a member of the Montgomery ISD Board of Trustees,” Porten said. “As a trustee, I’m committed to continuing to build upon the significant progress the board and superintendent have made to support our amazing teachers and staff through increased compensation. There is no doubt in my mind that our commitment to hiring, growing and retaining the best educators will empower all MISD students to achieve even greater academic results.”
After the oaths of office, trustees voted to elect its board leadership for the 2021-22 school year. Trustees selected Matt Fuller to continue serving as Board President. Gary Hammons will continue serving as Board Vice-President and Linda Porten will remain Board Secretary.
“I want to thank our staff, students, and families for their determination, resilience, and flexibility during what has been a difficult, but highly successful school year,” Fuller said. “Through extreme adversity, our students reached new heights in academics, athletics and many extracurricular activities. I’m excited to continue serving Montgomery ISD as President of the Board of Trustees and look forward to an outstanding – and more normal – school year in 2021-22.”
Trustees gave special recognition to the district’s school nurses during the meeting. School nurses were instrumental in supporting students’ physical and emotional wellbeing during a school year with added stresses and health protocols.
“It undoubtedly took a full team effort to safely re-open schools for in-person instruction this year, and the work of our school nurses was especially critical,” Trustee Mike Hopkins said. “They were a primary reason that nearly 94% of our students chose to physically return to school, and we are incredibly grateful for their dedication and work this year.”
During the meeting, trustees also received an update on the development of the district’s strategic plan. The three-year strategic plan is guided the Board of Trustees’ five adopted district goals. The district goals are Academic Achievement; School Safety; Finance & Operations; Human Capital; and Communications & Customer Service.
The development of the strategic plan has included a significant amount of community and stakeholder input. To gather feedback, the district formed five task force work groups in November 2020, each focused on a district goal. The five task forces were led by a senior district administrator and campus principals and included district teachers, staff, parents, students and community members. The district also held three town hall meetings throughout the school year to gather community input.
“We’re thrilled by the high level of community involvement that has been a driving force in the development of the district’s strategic plan,” Trustee Laurie Turner said. “We have made it clear that we truly want this to be the Montgomery ISD community’s strategic plan. Based on the district’s efforts to involve a diverse set of voices during this process, I’m confident that, once adopted by the board, this objective will have been achieved.”
Once approved by the board, the final strategic plan will take effect starting in the 2021-22 school year and contain measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) in the areas addressed by the district goals. The strategic plan will also outline district strategies and initiatives intended to meet or exceed growth targets and measures outlined in the KPIs.
The strategic plan is scheduled to be approved by trustees during the board’s regular monthly meeting on June 15, 2021.
“Since day one of this process, our goal for the strategic plan was to authentically reflect the community’s desires and vision for our school district,” Superintendent Dr. Heath Morrison said. “Our community’s vision is for Montgomery ISD to be ‘The Premier School District in Texas. The strategic plan is our ‘pathway to premier’.”
All Montgomery ISD schools and offices will be OPEN on Wednesday, May 19.
Roads in the district have been evaluated. Buses, schools and district offices will operate under normal hours. The decision to remain open today was made in consultation with Montgomery County officials and neighboring school districts.
Please exercise caution while traveling. We will continue to monitor weather and road conditions throughout the day.
WEATHER ALERT: Montgomery ISD is closely monitoring the heavy rains predicted to impact our region. In the event weather dictates any changes to regular school operations, we will make an announcement on Wednesday, May 19 no later than 5 a.m. after receiving an update from local officials.
For the past three weeks Mrs. Williams & Mrs. Kuykendall have opened their classrooms up to some new friends, the Painted Lady Butterflies. Second grade students observed the different life cycle stages of the butterfly as they underwent complete metamorphosis. They discovered and documented the physical and behavioral changes that a butterfly goes through. On Friday, they were able to complete the unit by releasing their Painted Lady Butterflies into the garden.
Today, all Montgomery ISD employees received a letter detailing their salaries for the 2021-22 school year. As I shared with you during our budget “roadshow” meetings, this is another step in our effort to improve processes, communication and transparency around district compensation.
The letter you all received includes a breakdown of your salary to start the 2020-21 school year, salary to start the 2021-22 school year and any stipends you receive. It also shows a breakdown of the October 2020 raises and the raises approved as part of the 2021-22 compensation plan. The employee raises and restoration of stipends adopted by the Board of Trustees in the 2021-22 compensation plan take effect on July 1, 2021, or at the start of your 2021-22 duty schedule.
The compensation plan adopted by the board was a significant effort to bring clarity and improved processes to provide employees with a clear understanding of how they are compensated. The salary letter that was provided – in advance of your contracts – is another step in our commitment to improve in this area. Contracts will be sent out via email next week.
The external review of district human resources functions performed by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) earlier this school year documented many areas of needed improvement. Please know that this is the first year of a multi-year effort to address the issues documented in the TASB study, especially in the area of determining compensation. We welcome any questions, issues or concerns that you may have during this process. If you have a question or inquiry, please fill out the form you received in the email from HR on Thursday, May 13 and submit it back to HR. This is your salary and we are committed to making this process as clear and smooth as possible. I hope this shows our commitment to collaborating, listening, continuing efforts to address any issues identified during this process.
Sincerely,
Dr. Heath Morrison
Board of Trustees Certifies May 1 Election Results
This week, the official results of the May 1, 2021 Montgomery ISD Board of Trustees election were certified by trustees during a special board meeting. Trey Kirby and Linda Porten were both re-elected to serve three-year terms as members of the MISD Board of Trustees.
I want to thank everyone who ran for the MISD Board of Trustees in this election. Through my years of serving as a district superintendent, I have had the privilege of working with many outstanding school board trustees and getting to know some amazing candidates. What is often common amongst all who wish to serve on a board of trustees is their passion for improving the education and lives of children. Each of the individuals who ran for the board this year shared this same core value. I look forward to continuing to work with Trustee Trey Kirby, Trustee Linda Porten and all other members of the of the MISD board of trustees to ensure we are delivering a high quality education to the more than 9,000 students in Montgomery ISD.
Board of Trustees Regular Monthly Meeting Next Week
On Tuesday, May 18, the Board of Trustees will meet for its regular monthly board meeting at the MISD Education Service Center. At the meeting, Trustees Trey Kirby and Linda Porten will be sworn into office to begin their next three-year terms. Additionally, the board will organize itself by selecting officers for the next year.
Following these actions, the district will provide the board with updates on various items. Most notably we will provide overviews of the 2021-22 district budget as well as the development of the district strategic plan. Both the 2021-22 budget and strategic plan will be adopted by trustees during the June regular board meeting.
Superintendent Shout-Out – MHS Holds Fine Arts College Signing Day
On Thursday, Montgomery HS held a special signing ceremony for students who will be continuing in the Performing and Visual Arts in college. We are incredibly proud of this outstanding and talented group of students for choosing to continue their academic journeys at 4-year universities across the country. The list of students, their major and college destination is below. Congratulations, Bears!
Madison Fields
School: Texas State University
Major: Fine Arts and Communications
Savannah Horton
School: Baylor University
Major: Bachelor of Music Education – Choral Emphasis
Quinn McClendon
School: Stephen F. Austin University
Major: Bachelor of Music Education – Choral Emphasis
Kaeden Ottinger
School: Colorado Mesa University
Major: Bachelor of Arts – Musical Theatre
Case Wyrick
School: Sam Houston State University
Major: Bachelor of Music Education – Band Emphasis
Lauren Ferro
School: University of Texas in Austin
Major: Radio Television and Film
Sebastian Saavedra
School: Utah Valley University
Major: Digital Cinema and Software Engineering
William Hearn
School: Sam Houston State University
Major: Mass Communication and Broadcast Production
Two MISD Instructional Coaches Selected to TAGT Emerging Leaders Program
This week, MISD instructional coaches Jennifer Ellis and Lorra Lynch, were selected to the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented 2021-22 Emerging Leaders Program. Ms. Ellis and Ms. Lynch were just two of 13 leaders in education selected from across the state of Texas.
TAGT’s Emerging Leaders Program provides district G/T coordinators with the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with school staff, parents, students, and the community to positively impact the development of appropriate educational services for G/T students in the district. TAGT connects and empowers educators and parents to meet the unique needs of G/T students from every cultural background who see the world in unique ways and are developing minds that just might discover innovative answers to the most challenging questions of their generation.
We’re proud and excited to have two outstanding leaders representing Montgomery ISD in this program.
The Texas School Safety Center is partnering with Extreme Youth Leadership to host the TxSSC Youth Safety Summit this summer. This virtual event features opportunities for students to develop and expand their safety skills and learn how to improve their school and/or community through projects while connecting with their peers from across Texas.
The three day event is FREE, but spots are limited. For more information and to submit a registration application, click on the link below.
The MISD Premier Blog 