North Forest Independent School District (NFISD)
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TRANSMITTAL LETTER August 29, 2002 The Honorable Rick Perry The Honorable William R. Ratliff The Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney Members of the 77th Legislature Commissioner Felipe T. Alanis, Ph.D. Fellow Texans: I am pleased to present my performance review of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD). This review is intended to help NFISD hold the line on costs, streamline operations, and improve services to ensure that more of every education dollar goes directly into the classroom with the teachers and children, where it belongs. To aid in this task, I contracted with Gibson Consulting Group, Inc. of Austin, Texas. I have made a number of recommendations to improve NFISD's efficiency. I have also highlighted a number of "best practices" in district operations-model programs and services provided by the district's administrators, teachers, and staff. This report outlines 140 detailed recommendations that could save NFISD more than $23.4 million over the next 5 years, while reinvesting more than $19.3 million to improve educational services and other operations. Net savings are estimated to reach more than $4 million that the district can redirect into the classroom. I am grateful for the cooperation of NFISD's board, staff, parents and community members. I commend them for their dedication to improving the educational opportunities for our most precious resource in NFISD-our children. I am also pleased to announce that the report is available on my Window on State Government Web site at www.window.state.tx.us/tspr/northforest/. Sincerely, Carole Keeton Rylander Texas Comptroller EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In March 2002, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander began a review of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD). Based upon more than five months of work, this report identifies NFISD's exemplary programs and suggests concrete ways to improve district operations. If fully implemented, the Comptroller's 140 recommendations could result in net savings of more than $4 million over the next five years. Improving The Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) Soon after taking office in January 1999, Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander consulted school district officials, parents and teachers from across Texas and carefully examined past reviews and progress reports to make TSPR more valuable to the state's school districts. With the perspective of a former teacher and school board president, the Comptroller has vowed to use TSPR to increase local school districts' accountability to the communities they serve. Recognizing that only 52 cents of every education dollar is spent on instruction, Comptroller Rylander's goal is to drive more of every education dollar directly into the classroom. Comptroller Rylander also has ordered TSPR staff to share best practices and exemplary programs quickly and systematically with all the state's school districts and with anyone else who requests such information. Comptroller Rylander has directed TSPR to serve as a clearinghouse of the best ideas in Texas public education. Under Comptroller Rylander's approach, consultants and the TSPR team will work with districts to: · Ensure students and teachers receive the support and resources necessary to succeed; · Identify innovative ways to address the district's core management challenges; · Ensure administrative duties are performed efficiently, without duplication, and in a way that fosters education; · Develop strategies to ensure the district's processes and programs are continuously assessed and improved; · 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 a business in the Yellow Pages can do that job better and at a lower cost. Finally, Comptroller Rylander has opened her door to Texans who share her optimism about the potential for public education. Suggestions to improve Texas schools or the school reviews are welcome at any time. The Comptroller believes public schools deserve all the attention and assistance they can get. For more information, contact TSPR by calling (512) 475-3676, or see the Legislative Budget Board’s Web site at www.lbb.state.tx.us. TSPR In North Forest ISD In 1999, soon after taking office, Comptroller Rylander selected North Forest for a review, but at the request of the former superintendent, delayed the review until stability could be restored to the district. In early 2002, Comptroller Rylander again selected North Forest for a review, noting that a review at this point in the district's history could provide guidance for the new superintendent and board. In March 2002, work began with two public forums held at Shadydale Elementary on March 19 and 21, 2002 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. TSPR began onsite work in April 2002. The Comptroller's office selected Gibson Consulting Group, Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm, to assist the agency with the review at a cost to the Comptroller's office of $175,000. The review team interviewed district employees, school board members, parents, business leaders and community members. To obtain additional comments, the review team conducted focus group sessions with teachers, principals, parents and community members. To ensure that all stakeholder groups had input, TSPR sent surveys to students, parents, teachers, campus and central administrators and support staff. A total of 114 respondents answered surveys. Thirteen administrative and support staff;eight principals and assistant principals; 37 teachers; 15 parents and 41 students completed written surveys as part of the review. Details from the surveys and public forums appear in Appendices A through F. The review team 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). NFISD selected peer districts for comparisons based on similarities in student enrollment, student performance and community and student demographics. The selected peer districts were Eagle Pass, Edgewood, Port Arthur, and South San Antonio ISDs. TSPR also compared NFISD to district averages in TEA's Regional Education Service Center IV (Region 4), to which North Forest ISD belongs, and to the state as a whole. During its five-month review, TSPR developed 140 recommendations for improving operations and saving taxpayers more than $23.4 million by 2006-07. Cumulative net savings from all recommendations (savings minus recommended investments or expenditures) would reach more than $4 million by 2006-07. A detailed list of costs and savings by recommendation appears in Exhibit 4. Many TSPR recommendations would not have a direct impact but would improve the district's overall operations. Acknowledgments The Comptroller's office and Gibson Consulting Group, Inc., wish to express appreciation to the NFISD Board of Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Edwin Walker, district employees, students, parents and community residents who helped during the review. Special thanks go to Ms. Jackie Tolbert, who served as NFISD's liaison. She arranged for office space, equipment and meeting rooms, organized the findings meeting, responded to data requests and accommodated the review team's needs. North Forest ISD NFISD is located in Harris County and encompasses 33.6 square miles inside the Houston city limits. NFISD is a property-poor school district, with per-pupil property values in 2001-02 of $75,058, compared with the state average of $215,232 per pupil. NFISD's students are 79.1 percent African American, 20.1 percent Hispanic and less than 1 percent Anglo. About 80 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged. Exhibit 1 details the demographic characteristics of NFISD, Region 4, the state and NFISD's peer school districts. Exhibit 1 Demographic Characteristics of Students NFISD, Peer Districts, Region 4 and the State 2001-02 Racial/Ethnic Percentage Student African Economically District Enrollment American Hispanic Anglo Other Disadvantaged Eagle Pass 12,778 0.1% 97.1% 1.3% 1.5% 91.1% Edgewood 13,435 1.6% 97.0% 1.2% 0.1% 96.3% North 11,699 79.1% 20.1% 0.8% 0.1% 80.1% Forest Port Arthur 10,823 56.8% 24.7% 10.8% 7.6% 73.8% South San 9,970 1.7% 94.9% 3.0% 0.4% 89.5% Antonio Region 4 900,198 21.7% 38.1% 34.8% 5.4% 48.8% State 4,150,741 14.4% 41.7% 40.8% 3.1% 50.5% Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA), Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), 2001-02. NFISD served 11,699 students during 2001-02, a decrease of more than 13.8 percent over the last five years (Exhibit 2). Exhibit 2 NFISD Student Enrollment History 1997-98 through 2001-02 Actual Percent School Student Change from Year Enrollment 1997-98 1997-98 13,579 NA 1998-99 13,416 (1.2%) 1999-2000 12,603 (7.2%) 2000-01 12,487 (8.0%) 2001-02 11,699 (13.8%) Source: TEA, AEIS, 1997-98 through 2001-02. Student enrollment in the district peaked in 1996-97 with 13,758 students. In 2000-01, NFISD's enrollment dropped more than 9 percent to 12,487. In 2001-02, enrollment declined by nearly 800 students to 11,699; Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001 is thought to have caused many families to leave the district. Allison also caused $21 million in damage to district buildings. In 2001-02, the district had 12 schools, including two high schools, two intermediate schools, two middle schools and six elementary schools. Two schools were not operational because of the flood. The district's 2001-02 budget was more than $78.7 million and NFISD had more than 1,500 full- time employees; 45.1 percent were teachers. In February 2001, the district's accountability rating was lowered to Unacceptable: Data Quality due to reporting and accounting errors for students who dropped out of school.