Good morning!  I hope you had a good week last week coming back from our Thanksgiving Break.  I talked to many people who really enjoyed the time off and were ready to be back and hit it hard before our Christmas Break.  With Thanksgiving being later this year it only made for a three-week period between breaks, but I know that everyone is working hard with our students prior to the Break.

Last Monday, through Monday Message, I know I delivered some news that certainly wasn't what people were hoping for.  However, I want to express my appreciation for the many notes and comments thanking me and the Board for all that has been done to increase salaries and to pay four retention stipends over the past two years.  Everyone understands the economic situation and how it is affecting families as well as the effect it is having on the District in terms of reduced revenues.  Also, the understanding of how all of this is going to affect us in the future is understood.  Thanks for your understanding, your positive attitudes, and the belief in doing what is best for the school district in these difficult financial times.

Previously, I had mentioned the concern I had about the effect of the economy on our ability to sell bonds and get them at an interest rate commensurate with what we projected when we passed the 2007 bond.  The bond market has been very tight and it has been very difficult to market bonds over the last few months.  However, thanks to the great work of our Finance Office and our financial advisors, this past week we successfully negotiated the sale of $80,000,000 of our bonds.  Orders from retail buyers for bonds with maturities less than 20 years came in at five times the amount of bonds being offered which allowed us to negotiate lower rates.  The market is still difficult and sensitive to credit quality, but there was a high demand for our bonds which is indicative of our credit quality.  We have a very good bond rating which is a result of the financial stability of the District, and with the backing of the state Permanent School Fund we were able to sell our bonds at very good interest rates for this economic situation our country is in at this time.  The bonds were sold with rates ranging from 3.25% to 5.50% which stayed in line with our budget projections.  This was very good for our District and will allow us to keep on pace with our construction projects.

The financial situation of school districts and the state is certainly front and center of all discussions relating to school finance.  I was in Austin Friday at the TASA/TASB Pre-Legislative Seminar and actually met with Speaker Tom Craddick Friday afternoon.  All of the speakers in the Seminar talked about the challenges the state is facing in terms of revenue available for increased appropriations due to the effects of the economic situation.  Just as I have mentioned the effects on our school district, the hard economic times are having an effect on state revenues.  There is no doubt that it is having an effect on sales tax revenue being collected by the state and also on oil and gas revenues as the price of oil has deteriorated.  This has implications for school districts as we enter the legislative session in January because there may be less money available for appropriation than was anticipated.  Yet, it was emphasized that most states are looking at budget deficits, whereas Texas is still looking at having some surplus available for appropriation.  I believe one speaker said that 41 states were running deficits whereas we had modest growth.  But with the economy state revenues may flatten out even more and the challenge will be how much can be done in light of the future economic times.

As we prepare for the legislative session I hope each politician remembers what was said about education being the most important aspect for economic growth.  The economy of Texas is the 12^th largest economy in the world, according to State Comptroller Susan Combs, and we are a diversified economy.  The economic situation of Texas is certainly being affected by the downturn, but we are much better off than many parts of the nation.  No doubt, school finance is the primary issue for both TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators) and TASB (Texas Association of School Boards).  I have explained in previous Monday Messages the problem of the current finance system based on a "target revenue" figure to which each school district is held.  This figure is the amount of state aid and local property tax revenue that was available to a district in either 2005-06 or 2006-07.  Our target revenue figure is $5035 per student based on the 2006-07 school year.  This year our budget was built for 2008-09 based on 2006-07 revenue, and the same will occur again as we start developing our 2009-2010 budget unless the Legislature addresses this issue.

The state average for target revenue is about $5000 per student so many districts fall below this level.  Many of these districts are making cuts similar to those we made in 2003-04 and 2004-05.  I have said many times that the reason we are in fairly good financial shape at this time is because of the cuts we made in those years.

The Legislature must find a way to help school districts financially or more districts will have to make cuts and the financial condition of school districts will become direr.  As we stated to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Legislature must find a way to return to formula funding rather than the current system which is stagnant and inequitable.  If returning to formula funding cannot be achieved this session, then the Legislature must address the wide disparity among districts' target revenue by setting a floor for target revenue and making inflationary adjustments for all districts.  Districts will also need additional revenue to meet the cost of increasing academic standards and raising teaching salaries.  I know the state has a tremendous burden to find revenue to fund the many state needs, but the key to the economic future of our state is education.  Education must be a priority by paying first for the enrollment growth in the state, and then increasing the funding of school districts for operational expenses.

As I close this Monday Message I want to congratulate and thank our Technology Department and Facilities staff for the completion of our wireless network in the District.  This has been accomplished through e-rate funding and I believe we are the largest school district in the state (and possibly the nation) to go completely wireless.  Internet coverage and NISD network access is available throughout all campuses, including classrooms, libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums, and outdoor common areas to support a wide variety of instructional and administrative applications.  This has also made possible our NISD Wi-Fi initiative, whereby staff can now use their own personal laptops at work to access filtered Internet and Web-based applications.  I specifically want to thank Ernest Vasquez, Joe Delgadillo, Michael Bohler, and George Ortiz of our Technology staff for their efforts in making this project a success.

Also, I want to congratulate the Clark High School football team on being Regional football champions of Region IV-Division I.  On Saturday they defeated Austin Westlake 24-21 in a great football game.  What a great job Coach Lloyd Alexander, his coaching staff, and all the players have done in reaching this point in the playoffs.  The Cougars will play Ft. Bend Hightower at the University of Texas Royal Memorial Stadium this Saturday at 4:00 p.m.  Only four teams are left to compete for a state championship in Class 5A - Division I and Clark is one of them.  We are proud of you and we wish you the best this Saturday.

In Northside we have our challenges and our successes, and this is because "We Believe" in students and what we do every day to help them be successful in all areas.  Thanks for all you do, and your confidence in what we are trying to accomplish for our students.  And that is spelled S-U-C-C-E-S-S!

Have a great week!