On Monday, the monthly Coppell ISD Board of Trustees meeting took place to discuss and consider the approval of a Guaranteed Maximum Price for the new middle school site grading package.

A few months ago, they approved the use of a Guaranteed Maximum Price purchasing method for the construction of the site, then hired Northstar Builders, LLC to be the general contractor for the project. The first piece for the construction of new middle school will be located on 70 acre tract within the Cypress Waters development. Ground will be broken on Nov. 8.

In order for the project to be completed in August 2018, the architect and Northstar builders think it is necessary to start the process as soon as possible.

With the approval of the board, Northstar will be able to move forward with finalizing the permitting of the city of Dallas so that in the next two to four weeks they will be moving dirt out there grading the site. Then, after the first of 2017, they will be able to build construction on the actual building.

“The thing that I’m really excited about is that we received five very good competitive bids for this grading project, therefore we know in this market condition we’re getting the best possible value for the grading,” CISD assistant superintendent for business and support services Sid Grant said.

The guaranteed maximum price that Northstar has presented is $2,520,526.

The motion was carried and approved by board for construction.

Next, proposal to approve the updates to the board policy to DNA (performance appraisal which is the evaluation of teachers) and DNB (evaluation of other professional employees) was carried out by the board.

CISD chief financial officer Kelly Penny proposed a Financial Transparency plan to adopt a resolution that sets forth the opposition to vouchers, taxpayer saving grants, tax credits and any other mechanism that would take funding from public education and redirect it to private entities with no accountability.

With every student that the district might potentially lose, the recapture payment increases by $6,160. If a student receives a voucher and leaves CISD go to a private education entity, the district would lose $6,160, sending that additional money back to the state.

“If this were to go through, this would harm our school district,” CISD board trustee Leigh Walker said.

The motion passed, 7-0.

“[The resolution] is a great thing for all of us to be behind and support because we know ahead of us having gone through legislative sessions time and time again that this matter continues to come up but we need to be vigilant in supporting this kind of resolution,” CISD board president Anthony Hill said.

A proposal for the legislative agenda for the Board of Trustees and school district was put together by board trustees Tracy Fisher and Walker and Superintendent Dr. Mike Waldrip.

It was resolved that the CISD Board of Trustees call on state and local legislatures to uphold and support the needs of the district in order for learners to achieve success.

Every year the district has a financial integrity rating system that is provided by TEA and looks over the finances of the school district.

The 2015-2016 report that was based on 2014-2015 years financial data was presented by Penny.

Out of the 15 indicators that the school receives, the district received an A (superior) with a maximum score of 100 points for the 2014-2015 data.

Executive director for curriculum and instruction Dr. Penny Tramel discussed the the district of innovation proposal.

The District Educational Improvement Committee (DEIC) met on Oct. 11 to discuss the possible proposals to the commissioner. The DEIC elected to innovate in the area of the district planning process and greater parent representation on the committee.

They also chose to address deals with teacher certifications and certain contracts and deals with the calendar and attendance for class credit and final grade.