TSPR Mount Pleasant ISD Progress Report

Mount Pleasant ISD Progress Report

Transmittal Letter
Appendix: Status of Recommendations and Savings
  1. District Organization and Management
  2. Educational Service Delivery
  3. Community Involvement
  4. Personnel Management
  5. Facilities Use and Management
  6. Financial Management
  7. Asset and Risk Management
  8. Purchasing and Distribution
  9. Food Services
  10. Transportation
  11. Safety and Security

In February 1999, the Comptroller of Public Accounts’ Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) staff and consultants completed a comprehensive school review of the Mt. Pleasant Independent School District (MPISD). During the fall of 2000, TSPR staff returned to assess the district’s progress in implementing the recommendations.

Since 1991, TSPR has recommended more than 4,300 ways to save taxpayers almost $486 million over a five-year period in 45 different public school districts throughout Texas. TSPR also conducts follow-up reviews of districts that have had at least one year to implement recommendations. These 30 subsequent reviews show that almost 90 percent of TSPR’s combined proposals have been acted upon, saving taxpayers more than $96 million, with the full savings estimated to grow in the future.

Improving the Texas School Performance Review

Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, who took office in January 1999, consulted school district officials, parents and teachers from across Texas and carefully examined past reviews and progress reports in an effort to make the TSPR more valuable, even vital, to the state’s more than 1,000 school districts. With the perspective of having served as a teacher and later a school board president, the Comptroller has vowed to steer TSPR to increase accountability to local school districts and the communities they represent. The Comptroller intends for TSPR to become a tool for improvement in many more districts, particularly districts that seek help to improve academic performance by better managing classroom resources.

Comptroller Rylander began her efforts by creating new criteria for selecting school districts for future reviews. Priority is now given to districts that are judged as poor performing academically or financially, or to hands-on reviews that will benefit the greatest number of students. These are the school districts and children that need help the most.

Recognizing that only 52 cents of every state education dollar is spent on instruction, Comptroller Rylander’s goal is to drive more of every education dollar directly into the classroom. In addition, no longer will school reviews bury the districts’ best practices and exemplary models deep inside individual TSPR reports. Instead, Comptroller Rylander has ordered best practices and exemplary programs to be shared quickly and systematically among all the state’s school districts and with anyone who requests such information. There is no reason for a district that has solved a problem to keep the solution to itself. Comptroller Rylander has directed TSPR to serve as an active clearinghouse of the best and brightest ideas in Texas public education. Best practices identified in the original review of MPISD are included in the Comptroller’s best practices database, A+ Ideas for Managing Schools (AIMS).

Under Comptroller Rylander’s approach, the TSPR team and consultants will work with districts to:

ensure students and teachers receive the support and resources necessary to succeed;
identify innovative options to address core management challenges;
ensure administrative activities are performed efficiently, without duplication and in a manner that spurs education;
develop strategies to ensure the districts’ processes and programs are continually assessed and improved;
understand the link between the districts’ functional areas and determine ways to provide a seamless system of services;
challenge any process, procedure, program or policy that impedes instruction and recommend ways to reduce or eliminate obstacles; and
put goods and services to the “Yellow Pages test”—government should do no job if there is a business in the Yellow Pages that can do that job better and at a lower cost.

Finally, Comptroller Rylander has opened her door to Texans who share her optimism about TSPR’s potential. Suggestions to improve school reviews are welcome at any time. The Comptroller is a staunch believer in public education and public accountability.

Detailed information can be obtained from TSPR by calling 1-800-531-5441 extension 5-3676, or by visiting the Comptroller’s Web site at www.window.state.tx.us.

TSPR in Mt. Pleasant Independent School District

TSPR began its review of the MPISD in October 1998. As in many previous reviews, TSPR came to MPISD in response to a local call for assistance. In August 1997, Mr. Charles R. Wright, MPISD’s former superintendent, and members of the MPISD Board of Trustees requested a review. Senator Bill Ratliff of Mt. Pleasant also endorsed the request.

With the help of WCL Enterprises, a Katy-based consulting firm, the TSPR team held public forums at Frances Corprew Intermediate School and Mt. Pleasant Junior High School. To obtain additional comments, the review team interviewed district employees, school board members, students, parents, business leaders and representatives from community organizations. In addition, the team collected comments from letters to the Comptroller’s office and calls to the Comptroller’s toll-free hotline.

The team sent written surveys to district personnel, students and parents. TSPR received completed responses from 242 teachers, 25 central and support staff, 66 parents and 55 campus staff.

TSPR also consulted two databases of comparative educational information maintained by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)—the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) and the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS). For the review, MPISD selected peer districts for comparative purposes based on similarities in size, location, student enrollment and property values. The selected peers were the Athens, Corsicana, Greenville, Kaufman, Kilgore, Liberty Eylau, Paris, Terrell and Texarkana Independent School Districts. TSPR also compared MPISD to district averages in TEA’s Regional Education Service Center 8 (Region 8), to which MPISD belongs, and the state as a whole.

In the 1999-2000 school year, MPISD served 4,539 students in one high school, one junior high school, one middle school, one intermediate school, three elementary schools, one Child Development school and an alternative education campus.

The district’s student enrollment has increased by 5.8 percent since 1995-96. MPISD’s 1999-2000 property value per student was 12.4 percent lower than the state average, and 62.4 percent of its students were economically disadvantaged, compared to a statewide average of 49 percent.

According to TEA, MPISD’s student body is 39.2 percent Anglo, 43.5 percent Hispanic, 16.6 percent African American and 0.7 percent categorized as Other. The percentage of students passing the state-mandated Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in 1999-2000 was 63.7 percent, compared to the state average of 77.1 percent.

For the 1999-2000 school year, the district had a staff of 698 employees. Of that total, 57.2 percent—399.5 full-time positions—were teachers. The district’s 1999-2000 operating budget reached $24.7 million. Almost 47.8 percent of MPISD revenue came from local funds, 52 percent from state funds and .2 percent from federal and other sources.

Numerous changes have occurred in MPISD since the 1999 review. The former superintendent, Charles Wright, retired in June 2000. With his retirement, the board hired a new superintendent, Kenneth English, who embraced the report and began implementing the proposals.

While the district still has a lot of work to do, both MPISD staff and TSPR team members have a sense of steady progress. Thirty-four recommendations have been implemented, 33 are in various stages of progress and 13 have not been addressed. MPISD officials rejected three recommendations because they believed implementation was not feasible at this time. (See Appendix A for details on the recommendations’ status.)

Chapter		Total	Complete	In Progress	Not Implemented	Rejected	Percent Complete/ In Progress	Grades
Mount Pleasant ISD Report Card
1.	District Organization and Management	8	2	6	0	0	25%/75%	Satisfactory
2.	Educational Service Delivery	10	3	7	0	0	30%/70%	Satisfactory
3.	Community Involvement	6	1	2	3	0	17%/33%	Needs Work
4.	Personnel Management	8	3	2	3	0	38%/25%	Needs Work
5.	Facilities Use and Management	2	0	2	0	0	0%/100%	Satisfactory
6.	Financial Management	10	7	2	0	1	70%/20%	Satisfactory
7.	Asset and Risk Management	4	4	0	0	0	100%/0%	Excellent
8.	Purchasing and Distribution	6	4	1	1	0	67%/17%	Satisfactory
9.	Food Services	12	5	4	3	0	42%/33%	Needs Work
10.	Transportation	11	3	4	2	2	27%/36%	Needs Work
11.	Safety and Security	6	2	3	1	0	33%/50%	Satisfactory
	Overall Grade	83	34	33	13	3	41%/40%	Satisfactory
Excellent = More than 80% complete Satisfactory = 80% to 100% complete or in progress Needs Work = Less than 80% complete or in progress

Exemplary Programs and Practices

TSPR identified numerous “best practices” in MPISD. Through commendations in each chapter, the report highlights model programs, operations and services provided by MPISD administrators, teachers and staff members. Other school districts throughout Texas are encouraged to examine the exemplary programs and services to see if they could be adapted to meet local needs. The TSPR commendations include:

Two MPISD efforts focus on students at risk of dropping out of school, but they are available to all students on each campus–the Maximum Achievement Learning Lab (MALL) and Accelerated Schools teaching strategies. On every campus, a combination of Title I, compensatory, local, and state technology allotment funds fund the MALL. Since the MALL was created and the Accelerated School approach initiated, student TAAS scores have increased, especially among economically disadvantaged and African American students.
The Mall and the Accelerated School approach continue to be instrumental in increased TAAS scores for the district. For the first time, an MPISD campus, Mount Pleasant High School, earned a Recognized rating.
MPISD’s Campus Intervention Team (CIT), established in 1996-97, provides intervention strategies for any student not performing well in class, having difficulty reading, or exhibiting behavioral difficulties. According to principals and teachers, in 75 to 80 percent of the cases, individual student needs can be handled on their home campus by modifying their particular educational program.
The Campus Intervention Team (CIT) continues to be an effective intervention strategy for students not performing well in class. The district changed the alternative education program to provide a better environment for at-risk students and made efforts to recover more dropouts into the alternative program.
The Titus County Special Education Cooperative serves 807 students from four school districts, including MPISD. MPISD also participates in the Mt. Pleasant/Paris Regional Day School Program for the Deaf involving 33 students in a nine-county area, and the Tri-County Cooperative for the Visually Impaired, which serves 27 students in three counties. By using cooperatives, MPISD provides its students high-quality services at a reasonable cost.
MPISD continues to provide its students high-quality services at a reasonable cost through the use of cooperatives. The Titus County Special Education Cooperative now serves 1,054 students from four school districts, including MPISD.
The Titus County Special Education Cooperative receives more than $100,000 in annual reimbursements through the federally funded School Health and Related Services (SHARS) program. Under SHARS, school districts are allowed to enroll as Medicaid providers and apply for Medicaid reimbursement for services determined to be medically necessary and reasonable to provide children with disabilities under the age of 21 the benefits of a free and appropriate public education.
The Titus County Special Education Cooperative now receives more than $144,410 in annual SHARS reimbursements. MPISD and the Titus County Special Education Cooperative also participate in the Medicaid Administrative Claiming Program (MAC). MPISD began participating in June 1999 and the cooperative in October 1999. To date, the district and the cooperative have received approximately $15,802 in reimbursements.
The Mt. Pleasant Scholarship program, created in 1987, offers every student who graduates from Mt. Pleasant High School scholarships at Northeast Texas Community College. Every student who graduates in the top 10 percent of their class is eligible for paid tuition, books and fees. All others are eligible for paid tuition and fees. More than 1,200 students have received scholarships.
The Mt. Pleasant Scholarship program continues to be a source of pride for the district and its students.
MPISD’s energy management program, begun in 1991, uses performance contracts to replace heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, retrofit lights, and install equipment to monitor and control building temperatures. In these performance contracts, the vendor guarantees that the cost for equipment will be paid with savings from reduced utility bills. Since 1991, MPISD has reduced energy costs by $1.3 million, saving $191,000 per year.
While annual savings have decreased since 1991, the district continues to use performance contracts to reduce its utility bills. Since 1997, MPISD reduced energy costs by $100,000, saving $50,000 per year. The savings result from heating and air conditioning equipment upgrades and lighting retrofits.
Through a centralized accounting of activity funds, collected from various school-approved money-raising activities, MPISD reduces risks of poorly accounting for the dollars. The accounting method strengthens the district’s internal controls and fosters efficient budgetary operations.
The district continues to take advantage of centralized accounting of activity funds to reduce its risks of poorly accounting for dollars and to ensure strong internal controls and efficient budgetary operations.
An established budget and tax rate planning calendar allows for effective control of MPISD’s budget preparation process.
The district’s established budget and tax rate planning calendar continues to serve as an effective control for the budget preparation process.
The East Texas Educational Insurance Association, a workers’ compensation insurance pool, spreads the risk of workers’ compensation costs among 180 member school districts, including MPISD, limiting the amount the district must pay in any year.
The East Texas Educational Insurance Association remains a sound insurance pool for MPISD.
The district’s purchasing code of ethics, adopted more than 10 years ago, ensures that its purchasing activities provide the best support possible for students, staff and faculty, at less cost to MPISD taxpayers.
Since the initial review, the district has updated the purchasing code of ethics and purchasing procedures manual to include policies and procedures related to the new automated purchasing system and deadlines for making purchases for the school year.
A computerized cash management system ensures confidentiality in the MPISD free and reduced-price meal programs, saves time, reduces errors, includes a complete database of student patrons and produces accurate reports on the number of meals served.
MPISD’s computerized cash management system continues to ensure confidentiality, save time and reduce errors in the free and reduced-price meal programs.
A telephone hotline at Mt. Pleasant High School allows students, teachers and community residents the opportunity to anonymously alert district officials to any alleged violation of district security or discipline rules, without fear of reprisal.
MPISD now subscribes to a 1-800 number service to which it reports problems. Campus police also established a Crime-Stoppers program for students and faculty to anonymously report crimes.

TSPR Key Recommendations

The following are some of the key recommendations that administrators and staff said they believe had the greatest impact on district operations. The highlighted recommendations are organized by chapter and by the area of operation as contained in the original report. The comments came from district administrators during the TSPR team’s follow-up visit to the district.

District Organization and Management

#2 Develop a profile of the ideal superintendent to be used in seeking and selecting a superintendent.

During the original review, MPISD’s superintendent announced his intent to retire at the end of 1999-2000. Following TSPR’s recommendation, the board developed a profile of the ideal superintendent for the district, which included the criteria that the superintendent be an open and honest communicator. The board then contracted with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) to conduct the formal search for applicants. This action resulted in the district’s hiring of Dr. Kenneth English, who started working for the district in June 2000.

District administrators said this recommendation helped to bring about frank discussions about what the next superintendent needed to bring to the district and community. They agreed the new superintendent should foster an atmosphere of open and honest communications. The administrators said the new superintendent is changing the atmosphere positively.

#4 Reorganize central administration with two deputy superintendents, one for business and operations, and one for all instructional areas.

To improve its efficiency, the district is reorganizing its central administration. As part of this reorganization, MPISD officials decided against filling a vacancy in Administration and Operations, which opened in May 2000, and expects this decision to save more than $340,000 over five years. District administrators said the decision helped to assuage misperceptions and dissatisfaction in the community and among district staff who questioned the need for three deputy superintendents.

Educational Service Delivery

#11 Include all education program areas in designing a new curriculum.

MPISD believes implementing this recommendation will permeate all that it does in producing its product—student learning.

Personnel Management

#28 Increase teacher compensation to competitive levels to reduce high turnover.

#29 Implement a retirement incentive plan.

#30 Conduct a market survey and revise the paraprofessional employee, hourly employee and bus driver salary schedules to a market-based system.

MPISD implemented a new salary structure in summer 2000 and contracted with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) to conduct a compensation study and market survey. While the district is hesitant to implement a retirement incentive plan, administrators said that all three recommendations have the potential to make a difference. They believe that the key to district success will be its ability to recruit and retain good people in an incredibly competitive market.

Facilities Use and Management

#33 Develop a long-range facilities master plan.

The district formed a citizens committee to review facility needs and report to the board in January 2001. District administrators said this recommendation would help them proactively address facility needs.

Financial Management

#44 Cross-train another member of the business office staff to handle the payroll clerk’s duties.

The district had only one employee from 1985 until May 2000 who was trained to maintain payroll records and run monthly payroll. This situation put the district at risk of not getting out the payroll if that clerk, whom since has transferred to another position, was unavailable. Today, one employee plus the director of Business and Finance are trained to do payroll. The director expressed a sense of relief in the district’s current ability to handle payroll if one employee is unavailable.

Asset and Risk Management

#47 Increase the district’s fixed asset capitalization policy amount to $5,000 and establish a control inventory of other high-theft items and all computer and telecommunications equipment.

MPISD previously capitalized fixed asset items with a value of $500 or more and a useful life of at least one year. This limit resulted in a voluminous fixed assets listing, which required a significant amount of the clerk’s time. The director of Business and Finance said the board’s implementation of this recommendation had the greatest impact on workload, from an accounting and time standpoint.

Purchasing and Warehousing

#49 Implement the RSCCC automated purchase order system.

#53 Integrate the warehouse tracking system into the financial accounting system.

The district launched an automated purchase order system, Pentamation, in May 2000. This system also allowed MPISD to integrate the warehouse tracking system into the financial accounting system. District administrators said implementing this recommendation has resulted in a dramatic improvement in efficiency and the time spent processing purchase orders and tracking warehouse inventory, which no longer requires duplicative transaction entries.

Food Services

#55 Develop a job description for the Food Services Director and increase the salary to be commensurate with the new duties and responsibilities expected of the director.

The district’s former Food Services director was not involved in the department’s financial management, did not have authority to evaluate kitchen managers and staff, and was not paid in keeping with other school district food service directors. The new director’s job description provided the position full management responsibilities such as budget oversight and personnel selections. The director now has the authority to evaluate kitchen managers and staff. The district also increased the former director’s salary by $5,100 in 1999-2000.

#56 Give the Food Services Director the authority to evaluate kitchen manager and staff.

Administrators said that it was important to provide the Food Service director additional duties, such as managerial oversight of staff and budget matters, and an increase in pay to bring that position more in line with its peer positions in other districts.

#65 Hire a bonded courier to pick up money from each cafeteria daily.

While the district has not hired a bonded courier, this recommendation was important because it identified and halted the risky practice of employees taking money home at night to be deposited the next day.

Transportation

#71 Designate hazardous routes where appropriate and apply to the Texas Education Agency for the full hazardous busing entitlement.

MPISD designated all its routes as hazardous. District administrators said this was a key recommendation because of the increased reimbursement amounts that it allowed the district to receive from the state.

#74 Address routine and remedial maintenance of MPISD’s bus fleet by exploring options.

The district hired a second mechanic and now has a computerized set of records to facilitate preventative and remedial maintenance of its bus fleet. District administrators said implementing this recommendation was one of the most critical to providing transportation services. By preventing major repairs and bus replacements, it saves more money for the district than any other transportation recommendation.

Safety and Security

#78 Establish goals and objectives for MPISD’s safety and security functions.

The district is developing a districtwide campus-level crisis management plan and new plans for each campus. The district also increased the number of security personnel by one certified and one non-certified officer, improved communications with improved radio technology and created a process so that officers regularly visit each campus. District officials said this recommendation would ensure that the district provides a safe and secure environment for its students and employees.

What Still Needs to be Done?

MPISD has made steady progress in implementing TSPR recommendations, particularly considering that it transitioned in a new superintendent during this time. Eighty-one percent of the TSPR recommendations either have been implemented or are being implemented at the present time. District administrators have not implemented 13 of the report’s recommendations, and have provided their reasons for their delay or inaction on three others. This section addresses the key areas requiring additional attention.

Community Involvement

Because of the superintendent transitions, the district postponed implementing several recommendations that concerned increasing community involvement; outreach and communication, including holding quarterly town hall meetings; and activating the district’s foundation. The district could not implement Recommendation 22, which suggested including the agenda for each board meeting on the cable television channel, because the channel was not available as of this report. TSPR understands these delays to implementation, but urges the district to move forward as soon as practical. Communication and community involvement are keys to a successful district.

Minority Involvement and Student Education

During the original review, TSPR found that one of the greatest community and staff concerns was the district’s growing minority population. TSPR offered several recommendations to address the educational needs of minority students and the minority community’s involvement in the district.

The district has taken steps to ensure minority representation on site-based decision-making committees, appoint a tri-ethnic task force and expand its recruitment efforts to colleges and universities that graduate a high number of minority teacher candidates. While the district reported that it has made progress in identifying and increasing enrollment in Advanced Placement and Gifted and Talented courses for all of its students, it did not focus on minority students. It is imperative the district develops strategies to decrease the participation gap existing between minority and non-minority students.

Further, MPISD has not implemented a recommendation to develop a cultural diversity training program for teachers that focuses on discipline management using input from representatives of the minority community. While the district said it would consider implementing this recommendation in the future, TSPR believes this recommendation is an important step toward lessening community concerns of unequal treatment of students.

Personnel Management

Three of eight recommendations in the personnel function have yet to be addressed including a retirement incentive plan, working with the Regional Service Center to develop an alternative certification program and developing an employee performance measurement and reward system. While the district has not rejected these recommendations outright, administrators expressed concern and the superintendent said he would need additional time to study each of these issues more carefully. Given MPISD’s high employee turnover rates, TSPR continues to believe that a controlled retirement plan could help stem the exodus of experienced employees; the alternative certification program could bring key people into hard to fill teaching positions; and the reward system would serve to retain the brightest employees.

Transportation

Transportation was a serious concern at the time of the review, and while some progress has been made, the district continues to use a drop system in which regular program students are transported to the high school and transferred to other buses for transport to their respective schools. The drop system does not lend itself to a staggered bell system. Discontinuing the drop system and moving to a staggered bell system would allow the district to consolidate or redesign routes to add more passengers on each route and allow each bus to run at least two routes. These practices could increase the district’s linear density ratio and possibly state allotments for transportation, while shortening the length of time students, particularly those at the elementary and intermediate grade levels, are on buses.

In an effort to offer MPISD alternatives to a massive overhaul of its in-house transportation operations, TSPR also recommended two options for consideration: contract for all or part of the transportation services from an outside vendor and create a transportation cooperative similar to the one operated by Bowie County. The district has not considered either option. The district should look into these options because they can provide economies of scale, particularly for small districts, that can reduce costs, while leaving the day-to-day operations to a more experienced entity.

Food Services

The district has not addressed several financial management issues in the Food Services area. The former Food Services director was not involved in financial management; therefore, in the transition to a new organizational structure and new director, these issues remain under consideration.

MPISD’s Ideas for Improving the Texas School Performance Review Process

The Texas School Performance Review team does not assume that its process for performing school reviews works so well that it cannot be improved. Therefore, as part of the progress report preparation, TSPR asked Mt. Pleasant ISD staff members and administrators what went right and what went wrong—and how the process could be improved.

The feedback TSPR has received from other districts led to improvements in the review process. For example, early reports did not include implementation strategies, and districts told TSPR they needed help in getting started. As a result, the reports now include implementation strategies and timelines to complement the recommendations. Districts have told TSPR these blueprints are invaluable to achieving the desired results.

In some instances, however, the districts felt TSPR did not have all of the facts needed, consequently, the recommendations missed the mark. For example, TSPR recommended the Food Services Department combine the snack bar enterprise fund with the regular food service special revenue fund and amend the annual budget to include the estimated annual revenues and estimated annual expenditures of the snack bar operation. District officials said TSPR might not have gotten all of the information about this issue because its snack bar funds were never used for anything other than food service operations.

TSPR also recommended the district document services provided to the Titus County Special Education Cooperative and seek reimbursement. However, district administrators said MPISD, as the fiscal agent for regional special education, deaf services and visually-impaired cooperatives, already was charging a 15-percent administrative fee to member districts during the time of the review. They acknowledged that the bookkeeper might not have known this at the time.

While TSPR made every attempt to verify the information in each case, the individuals that were in a position to make these corrections obviously were not consulted. TSPR will make a more concerted effort to include key personnel in the findings meeting where the district has an opportunity to validate all findings.

MPISD board president, Dr. Mary Hearron, said the district has not had enough time to implement many of the recommendations because it has a new superintendent. She believes, however, that the administration, faculty and community are more aware of the various ways of working as a team since the release of the report. Dr. Hearron also said that district officials were pleased with the report. Some of the report hurt a bit, but that was what the district needed. The report was well written, and the review team was very professional even when it met with some resistance.

Board member Ezeal McGill echoed the board president’s sentiment. Mr. McGill said that while there has not been enough time to judge the results, the board has been supportive of the recommendations and is working hard at implementing as many of the recommendations as possible.