TSPR Hitchcock Independent School District

Appendix A
PUBLIC FORUMS AND FOCUS GROUP COMMENTS

Hitchcock Independent School District Management and Performance Review

As part of the review process, a series of focus groups and one public forum were held to capture the comments and ideas of parents, residents, faculty and staff. At the public forum held at Stewart Elementary School, approximately 35 parents and residents wrote their comments on each of the areas of review. Some attendees of the forum also discussed these areas with the review team or asked questions to get additional clarity.
The 6 focus groups allowed representatives of the student body, faculty, staff, minority leaders, and civic leaders to speak in greater depth about issues relating to the areas of review.
The following comments convey the community's perception of the Hitchcock Independent School District and do not reflect the findings or opinion of the Comptroller review team. These are the actual comments received for each review area.
DISTRICT ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

It seems the administration is top heavy with personnel. The new superintendent is making a very good effort to see that money is spent wisely! I like the idea that the superintendent is involved in all aspects of the operation of the school district.
This district needs to not feel that they have to side with the police officer that are working when they are wrong.
Senior administrators should not be passed over for positions in favor of people with less than three years of experience. Loyalty and experience should be rewarded.
Micromanagement is a major problem. The superintendent has her fingers in every committee and on every campus. She needs to allow committees to work freely and independently so that teachers and staff can express themselves without fear or repercussions.
As enrollment has declined, the staff at central office has drastically increased district is top heavy.
I think the election of school board members by single member districts is a detriment to the process. In such small districts, there are few people who are willing to run or to oppose an incumbent who is more than likely their neighbor. The single member district voting procedure does not give the patrons a significant voice. Board members are (have been) historically unresponsive to the desires of the community.
As a lifelong resident I have seen the caliber and interest of the school board members decline over the past 10 or so years which I think is due to the method of electing members. The school was forced to elect members by single member districts by a lawsuit. There are many qualified citizens who would probably be willing to serve but are barred from doing so because of single member district lines. There is much apathy among citizens because of confusion about district lines and they only get the opportunity to vote every two years. This district and community are too small to be divided into seven districts.
The school board over the last few years has not listened to personnel or administrators.
The management is very poor.
There have been some 11 superintendents in this district with Mr. Banks staying 19 years. The other nine were employed over a period of some 16 years and no consistency in the central office.
There is no input from those who know.
The superintendent disseminates technical information to the principals and teachers very well.
The Central office is responsive and timely.
There is an open door policy throughout district.
There is a solid order of communication.
The superintendent encourages teachers to ensure accolades of the district and students are made public.
The Board of Director does not micro-manage. They understand and fulfill their role and allow the superintendent to run the district.
The coordination and consistency of interoffice communication is poor.
There are not enough people involved in various meetings and can condense agenda content.
There is no flexibility.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

My child has brought home homework with misspelled words and improper grammar. When you are given spelling words that are spelled incorrectly, how can you expect the child to know how to spell them?
The TAAS test is not the most difficult test to pass but many do not pass. Please design curriculum not to "Pass the TAAS test". It shortchanges the children. They are smarter than the test. Many children are not challenged by the curriculum.
The academic environment at the elementary schools has improved significantly over the past five years. Thanks to grants and creative teachers, HISD children have been exposed to experiences that are common at larger schools. However, improvement must be spread across all demographics and socioeconomic levels.
This district needs to have more African-Americans in the Gifted and Talented program.
As a school district, we have invested too much money on too many educational programs. We need to invest and stay invested. Curriculum is being upscale at all times. Student performance is an all time struggle. Many factors play into this community. I think being consistent with one to two educational programs would help. We are always pulling for a miracle program. Let's stay focused. Student's educational growth and well-being is our major concern. Teachers are working their "tales" off to aid in the education of our students.
I believe that the appearance of the teachers is important. The students are expected to follow dress code and that's great, but the teachers need to be good examples.
It's sad when the coaches look like they are being punished as they are sitting on the sidelines. They should not be forced to fill a position that they don't want. The children suffer. The coaches' heart isn't in it and the children know it.
I would like to see an accounting of how many Hitchcock ISD high school graduates enter college and how many of them actually graduate from college.
There is way too much emphasis on test scores (i.e. TAAS). There is too much stress on students and teachers, and too much teaching to the test. Even though everyone wants to compare districts by test scores, we should be far more interested in teaching course content.
Tutoring program for TAAS is good.
We could use more classes at levels that prepare our students for college.
Too many of our students need remedial course work when they get to college.
It is imperative to get teachers for Gifted and Talented classes. Spanish and computers have to be offered at a younger age to be competitive with other districts. The children of Hitchcock will have to compete outside of Hitchcock to get anywhere. Curriculum needs to be improved.
Needs improvement and need some type of standard system for the teachers. They need to learn how to manage student without screaming at them.
Teachers need to be free to do their jobs without constantly being submitted to "new" programs that are actually old programs that didn't work. Also, there are too few electives at the high school.
There is too much emphasis on TAAS and benchmark testing. There is not enough time and effort put into teaching basic skills. Some students graduate knowing how to pass these tests and do not know basic skills to function in the real world.
Hitchcock ISD has nothing to offer students regarding arts and music. A music class is needed for the younger children.
High school curriculum is limited. I feel I was very lucky going to Texas City High School, because you have a choice of many different extra curricular activities. I would really like to see classes expanded.
Discipline is handled poorly. Screaming and yelling at a child causes the child to lose respect for the adult and doesn't make the child act better.
Unnecessary meetings take away time from class preparation and management.
Volunteers are needed to assist teachers in making copies, etc. to free teachers' time.
Progress reports are prepared manually every three weeks.
The principal supports teachers' disciplinary decisions.
The district provides professional development and training.
Alignment of organizational values to education (for example, change in administration culture; administration acts on suggestions from professional development and training).
There should be a tracking of behavior issues.
Grants result in additional instructional resources (for example, efficient use and spending of grant money to provide additional supplies and materials in the library, etc.)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Community involvement has been a matter of concern in this district as it probably is in many districts. I can say that the superintendent is making a concerted effort to communicate with the patrons.
From what I can see, the new superintendent is making a good effort to promote community involvement. I think that school board actions at meetings do not get to the public because area newspapers do not cover meetings unless there is controversy. I would like to see the agendas and minutes published in a newsletter or on a school website because not everyone can attend the meetings.
The Hitchcock Chamber of Commerce, the City of Hitchcock, and the Hitchcock ISD are jointly planning: a) In May 2002 - A Hurricane Preparedness program to be presented to all citizens of the Hitchcock community. Our Chief of Police and Mayor, Hitchcock's Emergency Management Officials will make the presentation; and b) In July or August (date to be announced) - A School Supply Drive for those students who may not be able to afford them
Hitchcock ISD projects an image that is unfavorable as compared to neighboring districts. With declining enrollment and low-test scores, the district is not attracting new students. This is a concern to the residents.
Great strides have been made to involve and better enhance parental involvement and community relations. We are still working at building a better relationship to better the school and parents.
Parental involvement is abysmal. Something must be done to get through to parents that their involvement is the single most important factor in their child's success in school.
This district does not need to feel intimidated by strong parental involvement.
This school district needs more involvement. It is very hard to get anyone to participate in any of the activities.
Because of the socio-economic factors prevalent in our city, we have few parents involved. Without parental involvement, our schools and students are limited. Please help us find a way to get more parents involved. A three-fold cord is strongest (student-teacher-parent).
One of the biggest problems with community involvement is that there is none. Everyone wants to complain, but when there are forums to voice these complaints, none shows up.
There is a monthly community forum held by superintendent.
People are more receptive to input in informal settings (for example: store, game, library, etc.).
The district encourages students to participate in community or civic activities.
The district is making a concerted effort to contact parents and emergency care cards.
We need to do a better job of positive communication.
We need more programs to encourage participation.
We need to bring parents for good news.
More staff with diverse background should be recruited.
There should be a higher sensitivity to population.

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

Hire qualified personnel. Salary for teachers should be raised. HISD is at the low-end in surrounding districts. Recruitment is taking place and staff development has been addressed.
This district needs to hire more African-American teachers. Our children need something or someone to look up to.
Teacher recruitment is a problem in all school districts. It seems worse in Hitchcock possibly due to the age and practices of the administration. I would like to know that other districts do to make it nice to teach in a small town. I know that "more money" solves all problems. I am interested in competitive pay but I know that there are more important items including an outstanding working environment, better benefits, teamwork, etc. I know that many "benefits" of working, living, and teaching in a small town are not utilized in Hitchcock. What are they and what would it take to implement them.
Don't pass over experienced employees for less qualified people whose main qualification is the ability to be associated with the superintendent.
We have some teachers who care about our children and our community.
We have too many teachers who have too small vision and too low expectations of our children. I have heard too many negative comments and seen students treated as though they have no future. Therefore, those of our students who do not attempt college are ill prepared and easily discouraged. We want more teachers who believe in our children.
The entire staff needs an increase in salary as an incentive for recruitment of long-term personnel and minority teachers.
Often, recruitment of non-degreed teachers is a necessary pre-requisite. After tenure, those teachers will get certified, and the end result is justified. The students benefit tremendously.
There are way too many people in the central office.

FACILITIES USE AND MANAGEMENT

Northside Elementary should be replaced. Six hundred plus students and seven grade levels are too many in a school district that prides itself on community and familiarity. The best thing about Hitchcock ISD is the small campuses where everyone knows everyone else.
Crosby is in need of serious improvement. More classrooms, better facilities and even the basics like bathrooms need improvement. And it would be nice to be able to utilize technology without blowing out the breakers.
The school needs a lot of improvement. Crosby and Northside are in bad shape.
Two custodians come to mind that are very hard workers. They do their job effectively. Custodial and maintenance management is in need of serious restructuring. Inefficient and poor quality work is happening. School energy use is at an all time high. Poor heating and A/C systems are prevalent throughout the district. Facilities use and management are poorly coordinated. The two "new" schools look as if they are deteriorating in a very quick manner.
Crosby's appearance could be good, if we put some landscape, a little paint, and keep it up for its appearance. All the schools except high school need landscaping. As far as the night custodian's keeping Stewart clean, they could do a better job.
Maintenance needs to keep grass mowed, weeds cut, grass blown off sidewalks and trash picked up before they mow. The appearance of the school makes a difference.
Northside is the worst school I have ever been in. It is falling to pieces. My son walks through ankle-deep water when it rains. The principal's office stands in water. The heating and A/C breaks on a regular basis and the plumbing doesn't work at least once a week. Half of the school is closed due to mold. Last year, my child was sick every 10-14 days, faithfully. My husband and I had an excessive amount of time off from work to take care of him. Our medical bills exceeded $1,000 due to MD office visits and prescriptions, not including two trips to the emergency room. This year, he is in a portable building (2^nd grade) and has not been sick one time. I would love to present my bills to the school district and show them what we spent. I find it very interesting that last year, he was in the school and sick every two weeks and this year he has not been sick once.
The bathroom doors in the girl's bathrooms are falling off the hinges. Bathrooms smell like sewer.
Staff at Stewart Elementary and staff at Northside both do an excellent job of taking care of the schools during the daytime hours, but the clean-up crew for the evening cleaning isn't doing a very good job.
Northside School is deplorable. Even if it is torn down (which it definitely should be), the property is too narrow to facilitate a school. There is no room for parking, no covered walkways, the sidewalks flood easily, and the entire school is deluged with mold.
Our facilities have greatly improved with the new buildings.

ASSETS AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Bonds must be prepared, presented and approved for a new elementary school and new middle school. Six hundred children at Stewart are too many.
Try direct reimbursement for dental coverage. Lubbock School does it. It seems cost-effective and gives employee the choice to pay for it.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

We need to be fiscally responsible. Spend our money like it was your money. Why has administrative personnel continued to mushroom while teachers are not being replaced as they leave? Teachers are more important than permanent substitutes. Belts must be tightened so that we can offer more money to young teachers and to keep teachers in the district. Many new graduates and young teachers will not consider Hitchcock ISD because of the low starting salaries, so we are forced to pay more to a very experienced teacher (this is the only level where we are competitive).
We need to spend tax money wisely. We need to budget appropriately and spend monies for the students' benefit. Don't spend money on foolish one-year programs which will never be mentioned again.
For Hitchcock ISD to have some of the highest taxes in the county, spend more per student than nearly any district in the county. How can we have some of the poorest test scores in the state? We need to look closely at our individual school administrators and at the quality of some of our teachers.

PURCHASING

Due to purchasing procedures at this given time, money allotted to aid in the education of our students is not being spent by the teaching staff. Teaching budgets or educational budgets are not being spent due to the process. Another method should be considered. Money is not being spent effectively and to benefit the students.
Streamline and automate purchasing process to lighten burden on teachers.
Why do we need three purchasing personnel if the burden falls on teachers to do all of the work?
We need to have a plan to ensure cheaper price doesn't lead to a lesser product.
We need to have a planned upgrade for computer services, hardware and software. We need to prepay for services if necessary.
It takes two to three weeks to get approved.
We are not notified of approved vendors. We need to ease the purchase requirement for special items. It requires three bids for minor items.

FOOD SERVICE

I pay for my children's lunch. Running out of food is not an option to me.
If the government supplies the food that is served in the cafeteria, then it should always be plentiful. There should never be a time that they run out of food by the time the last class comes through the line. When that happens, they pull out weeks old. The looks of some of this food the children eat are unfit in my opinion. This food is the only solid food some of our children get here and it looks awful.
The food at Stewart is awful. The children on free lunch only get two items. They are still hungry. Sometimes they find hair in the food or mold on the cheese. At Crosby, by the time the last class goes through the snack bar, they ran out of food. Then they charge way too much.
The food is of very poor quality. Menus are not balanced and portions are very scant. I believe our prison system is serving a higher quality and quantity of food than the students receive at Stewart Elementary.
We need better quality food.
The cafeteria is filthy, metal around windows is rusting, floors are dirty, and the building is dilapidated.

COMPUTERS AND TECHNOLOGY

Are the computers in the classrooms being utilized by all students? Is the curriculum being geared toward making all students computer literate?
I have been pleased with technology utilization at Stewart and HHS, but technology is seriously underutilized at Crosby and Northside since the electrical systems cannot facilitate the computers.
We need more computers and we need to teach the children to be computer literate.
A lot of money has been spent on computers districtwide, so the students should always have access to them. Different programs are started with computers like computer labs, and they don't last.
Please upgrade school utilization of technology. Plan for new computers every five years. Also, plan on getting software upgrades and support. Use community members to provide these service contracts. Help keep Hitchcock competitive with other schools.
Hitchcock High School received several computers in the form of a grant; they are sitting on the floor in storage because there is not electrical service capable of running them. Northside has many computers that are inoperable.
Great plans are in progress for the next school term.
The district has started providing computer training.
The district is planning to install a phone with voice mail in every teacher's room.
Two schools do not have equitable benefit of technology.

TRANSPORTATION

I take my children to school because I do feel for their safety. At the junior high, they are getting to school late.
Bus maintenance and upkeep is a major problem concerning the safety of Hitchcock ISD students. Vans are in terrible shape. I'm concerned for the safety of students who are riding on them to and from school functions.
More effort is needed from principals, especially Northside, to back-up bus drivers when bus riders misbehave on the buses.
There are too many children on one bus with no seatbelts.
The buses are in extremely poor condition. The vans are really bad.
I know of a young boy (2nd grade), and the bus driver forgets him. The bus driver returned to pick him up after he had picked up the high school children. I don't feel that a 2nd grader should be riding with high school students.
Any field trip has to be worked around the bus schedule. There are no separate buses allotted for special events.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

Student discipline policies should be consistent and enforced.
It is better to have three rules and they are diligently enforced than too many rules and no enforcement. There should be continuity.
I believe that the rules for the students should be made short and sweet and then they need to be enforced. We have too many rules and they're not being enforced.
The teachers as a group should be sticking together to have the students obey the rules.
Security and safety are two issues that need to be addressed. Campuses are very lax-parents and basically anyone can walk into the buildings unannounced and wander through. A security camera system should be in place in all school hallways and this is not happening. Safety of our personnel and students are lax and in jeopardy.
We need perimeter and entrance surveillance systems to prevent/deter/monitor unwelcome visitors at all campuses.
We need background checks of everyone at the school including contractor or employees.
We need more "bullying" and other violence intervention training. We also need conflict resolution training.
The student discipline is not good. We need a program like Texas City. Some of the things Hitchcock does are not good. Corporal punishment is wrong and not working. Teachers need to be educated on how to treat children.
I do agree on what I have from the public that the teachers need to be educated on how to treat the children. The police need to be educated also on how to treat the children. They are not criminals.
My children claim that drugs are being sold on campus and even in the classes. They play poker in some of the classes. There are way too many videos being shown in the classrooms and they're not educational tapes. They show everything from (G) to (R) rated movies. The students bring them and the teachers show them. My daughter has asked to go to the library more than once because (high school) of the R-rated shows being movies shown in the class was so offensive. There are some (PG-13) movies that are not suitable for my children to be watching at home so I am really unhappy that I'm sending them to school for an education and they're being fed trash.
Schools should be a controlled environment. The buildings should be safe. Teachers need to have the authority to control the classroom. I don't know if that requires police at the schools or just parental involvement and responsibility to accomplish but it needs to be done.
What is the school liability with playground equipment? Is there a "safe" playground? If there is, can we still be liable for child injury?
Given the legal nature of society and the attitude to get paid for your suffering, is it rational to have a playground?
Playground equipment needs to be replaced.
Schools are unsafe. Northside Elementary has no security personnel in place. There is no fencing, or any type of structure to protect our children when they go to the bathroom or between classes. Anyone could walk on the grounds and take a child off if the children were by themselves.