The Board of Trustees met in regular session on Thursday, June 23. The following link will provide you a summary of actions taken at their meeting.
Monthly Archives: June 2016
Board approves two administrative appointments
At their regular board meeting, the Birdville ISD Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Cecil “Skip” Baskerville as associate superintendent for human resources, governance, and support services and Darrell Brown as principal of Major Cheney Elementary at South Birdville. Baskerville will replace Joe Cammarata, who is retiring from BISD, and Darrell Brown will replace Han Arthurs, who took a position in BISD’s Special Education Department.
Baskerville has worked in education for more than 20 years. He began his career in 1996 in Stafford ISD. Baskerville was a coordinator of human resources from 2002–16 and currently serves as interim executive director of human resources in Katy ISD.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1995 and two master’s degrees from Houston Baptist University in 1999. He holds a mid-management certification.
Brown began his career in 1991 as a teacher in Northwest ISD. He then moved to Ponder ISD, where he taught for five years. Brown returned to Northwest as a teacher at Northwest High School from 1997 to 2000, was Pentamation Finance coordinator from 2000 to 2001, and director of curriculum and technology from 2001 to 2005. He has also worked in Lewisville ISD from 2005 to 2008, Carroll ISD from 2008 to 2011, Eagle-Mountain Saginaw ISD from 2011 to 2014, and most recently, as director for curriculum for HEB ISD from 2014 to present.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Hardin-Simmons University and master’s degree from Southwestern Seminary.
Both Baskerville and Brown will begin in BISD in July.
Angela Maiers Taught BISD Teachers Through the use of Professional Learning Techniques
Angela Maiers, a nationally-known keynote speaker, taught BISD teachers through the use of professional learning techniques, how to apply the seven Habitudes (imagination, curiosity, self-awareness, perseverance, courage, adaptability, and passion) to 21st century classrooms. The activities, tools, and strategies used with participants were engaging and uplifting.
Summer Website Trainings Available this Week
Summer Trainings available this week:
- Schoolwires Website/Google Integration – 6/21/2016 8:30–11:30 a.m.
> Register for class - Video – YouTube Channel and Website – 6/21/2016 1:30–4:30 p.m.
> Register for class - Schoolwires Training for CENTRAL ADMIN Staff (Departments) – 6/23/2016 8:30–11:30 a.m.
> Register for class - Schoolwires ADVANCED Website – 6/23/2016 1:30–4:30 p.m.
> Register for class
Sign up today!! Limited seating available for each session!
These trainings will be at Technology Lab 108 – 3126 Carson Street, Haltom City, 76117
Technology Maintenance | Eduphoria system will be down starting tomorrow
The Technology Department is moving the District’s Eduphoria service to a new hosting location. The system will be taken offline tomorrow at 8 a.m. and will be down for most of the weekend. The system will be back online by 6 a.m. on Monday at the latest.
A new link to access Eduphoria will be sent out after the move is complete and all of the links on the BISD staff page pointing to Eduphoria will be updated as well.
This change will allow our district to get application updates applied faster and will give us access to data quicker. Eduphoria applies updates to the districts they host first before releasing updates to districts that host the software themselves.
This change will also allow the Technology Department to remove a bunch of servers from our on-site data center and will shift the responsibility of keeping the system and all of its modules up-to-date to Eduphoria’s own technical staff instead of our own staff.
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Dave Lambson
Director of Technical Services
Birdville Independent School District
(817) 547-5604
Different Name, Same Great Service
BISD has changed the name of two departments to better reflect the services provided to the District.
Technology Department (formerly Technology Information Management System [TIMS]) handles all technology needs for the District.
> Technology Department website
Facilities Management (formerly Buildings and Grounds [B&G]) handles all facility and property needs for the District.
> Facilities Management website
State Board of Education Seeks Public Input About Assessments and Accountability
AUSTIN – The State Board of Education (SBOE) is issuing a survey in English and Spanish to seek public input about the state’s current assessment and accountability programs and gather suggestions for future program development. The survey will be open online to all Texans through June 30.
From October 2015 to March 2016, SBOE members held nine Community Conversations meetings around the state, meeting with more than 500 citizens to gather comments about the state’s student assessment and accountability systems. The online survey addresses the issues raised during the community meetings and allows for additional input from educators, parents, business people and students.
“Our constituents often talk to board members about testing and school ratings issues,” said SBOE Chair Donna Bahorich. “I felt it was also important for board members to have in-depth discussions to learn what educators, parents, business people and others want from these two high profile programs. I believe our findings will be useful in shaping the next generation systems.”
The information gathered from the survey and the Community Conversations will be compiled into a report and presented to the SBOE for its consideration at its July 19-22 meeting. Once adopted, the report will be provided to legislative leaders and the Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessments and Accountability.
The 15-member commission, created by the Texas Legislature, is to make recommendations for statutory changes to the state’s assessment and accountability systems. The commission report is to be submitted to the governor and legislature by Sept. 1.
The survey is available in English at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2762440/State-Assessments-and-Accountability-Survey and in Spanish at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2851839/Encuesta-de-evaluaciones-y-responsabilidad-educativa-del-estado. Bahorich encourages Texans to share the link to the surveys to encourage widespread participation.
Comments gathered at each of the Community Conversations are available at http://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/Leadership/State_Board_of_Education/SBOE_Meetings/Community_Conversations_about_Assessment_and_Accountability/.
For more information about the Texas Commission on Next Generation Assessments and Accountability, please visit
http://tea.texas.gov/2804Commission.aspx.
Birdville High School Community Celebration/Rally
Birdville High School is hosting a community celebration/rally for the Lady Hawks softball team Friday, June 10 at 6 p.m. on the softball field. This is an opportunity for the community to celebrate and congratulate the girls for winning the 2016 UIL 5A state championship.
Summer Professional Learning
This summer, we will be Learning in 3D in Birdville ISD. We invite you to get started by exploring the catalog of available sessions. Begin registering now before sessions fill up!
Summer Website Trainings
June 14, 2016
Schoolwires BASIC Website
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Earn 3 hours credit): Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
June 16, 2016
REMIND101 (Text Messaging with Students/Parents)
9 – 11 a.m. (Earn 2 hours credit); WEBINAR
> Register for this session
Schoolwires Website Apps/Functions OVERVIEW
2 – 4 pm (Earn 2 hours credit); WEBINAR
> Register for this session
June 21, 2016
Schoolwires Website/Google Integration
8:30 – 11:30 a.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
Video – YouTube Channel and Website
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
June 23, 2016
Schoolwires Training for CENTRAL ADMIN Staff (Administrative Departments)
8:30 – 11:30 a.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
Schoolwires ADVANCED Website
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
June 28, 2016
Schoolwires BASIC Website
8:30 – 11:30 a.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
Schoolwires ADVANCED Website
1:30 – 4:30 pm (Earn 3 hours credit) *Schoolwires BASIC website training is a prerequisite; Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
June 29, 2016
Video – YouTube Channel and Website
8:30 – 11:30 a.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session
Schoolwires Website/Google Integration
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Earn 3 hours credit); Technology Lab 109
> Register for this session