The Weekly Update #4

Greetings and welcome back, Scholars, Parents, and Guardians! We hope you had a chance to relax and enjoy the week off with your family! This past week was truly enjoyable! We celebrated Red Ribbon Week with the exciting theme: Life is a Movie, Film Drug Free! 🎬✨

We kicked off the festivities on Monday with a splash of pink for Mean Girls Monday! On Tuesday, we knocked it out of the park wearing our favorite baseball jerseys for Sandlot Day! Wednesday had us suiting up in black and sporting our sunglasses for Men in Black! And today, we united as Three Musketeers, reminding one another that "all for one and one for all" means staying drug-free!

Throughout the week, we engaged in meaningful discussions about the harmful effects of drugs on our bodies and minds. It was a wonderful way to learn and grow together! Here’s to keeping our lives as vibrant as a Hollywood premiere!

Looking ahead, next week marks our final football games of the season! We encourage everyone to come out and cheer for our boys during their last matches! The final schedule can be found below. While we may feel a bit sad that football is concluding, basketball tryouts begin next week, so you can continue supporting our SLA Knights! Additional information is also available below.

We also invite you to join us at the School of Choice Showcase on October 29, 2024! Come meet various teachers, students, and admin, and explore what Spring ISD has to offer!

Once again, welcome back to the second half of the first semester! Let’s keep supporting our Scholars as they continue to work hard in school!

As always, please take a moment to review your scholar’s clothing choices before they head out. The dress code prohibits items such as leggings, flare leggings, tights, ripped or torn jeans, crop tops, crocs, backless shoes, and slides. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Voter Approval Tax Rate Election on Nov. 5 ballot could increase funding for Spring ISD by $20 million annually

After being approved by the Spring ISD Board of Trustees in early August, the district will include a Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) on the upcoming Nov. 5 ballot.

The measure proposes a tax rate of $1.1569 per $100 of property valuation for the 2024 fiscal year, a 5-cent increase from the current rate. This would cost the average homeowner an extra $7 per month, generating about $20 million for the schools on an annual basis and allowing the district to eliminate its budget deficit and provide teacher and staff raises.

Homeowners who are receiving a homestead exemption for disability or are age 65 or older would not see an increase above their tax ceiling as a result of the VATRE.

The proposed tax rate, if approved by voters, would provide critical funding for teacher and staff salaries, including a 2% across the board raise for all staff. Starting teacher pay would increase from $60,500 to $61,500 per year, and targeted adjustments would be made for teachers with 5-15 years of experience, putting it in line with other local school districts.

With no increase in the state’s per-student allotment since 2019 and an inflation rate that has hit 17%, many school districts, including Spring ISD, have had to look to tax increases to generate needed funding.

Voters will have the chance to vote on the measure on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Dear Spring ISD Families,

As we prioritize the health and safety of all our students, we want to remind you of the importance of keeping your child at home if they are feeling unwell. To help you navigate when to keep your child at home and when it's safe to return to school, we’ve attached two flyers (in English and Spanish) with specific scenarios and guidelines.

Please review these materials carefully to ensure a safe and healthy school environment for everyone. Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping our schools safe.

Spring ISD Nursing and Health Service

Having trouble viewing your student’s STAAR scores? Follow the below steps in order to view test scores. If you do not have your child’s unique student access code, you will need their social security number (PEIMS ID) and date of birth.

1. Visit https://www.texasassessment.gov/families.html

2. At the bottom, select How Do I Look Up My Access Code

3. Enter the Social Security (PEIMS ID), DOB and Legal First Name

4. Retrieve Access Code

5. Return to previous page to login using the Unique Student Access Code provided

Connect with our Class Dojo to receive updates, witness our children's progress, and experience the excitement at Spring Leadership Academy! We regularly share our activities, showcasing the wonderful things happening at SLA. Be sure not to miss out – sign up today!

Dear Spring ISD Families,

We wanted to inform you of some recent adjustments to our instructional calendar for this school year.

Three days have been designated as Teacher Inservice Days, during which students will not attend school. These dates are:

Monday, September 16th

Monday, November 4th

Tuesday, February 18th

To help you plan accordingly, we have attached the updated instructional calendar. We recommend printing it out and placing it on your fridge or another visible location as a reminder of these important dates.

We appreciate your understanding as we work to support our teachers with the professional development they need to continue providing high-quality education for your children.

You can find the updated 2024-25 Instructional Calendar at www.springisd.org/calendars.

Spring Independent School District

To ensure your student has access to a Spring ISD Chromebook, we require parents to complete the linked forms. One form is from the district, and the other is the SLA device policy, procedures, and acknowledgment of proper care and consequences

.

We plan to distribute the Chromebooks beginning on Monday. Please note that if both forms are not filled out, your child will not receive a Chromebook. Students will sign their acknowledgement in their business class.

Please complete the SISD district form here: https://tiny.cc/ms2024cb

Please complete the SLA Student Device Policy form here: https://forms.gle/d1nSwpy7yLVf2HDk6

Attached is a PDF of the policy for you to save and download SLA Device Policy

Thank you for your cooperation.

Parents, thank you so much for your patience with transportation systems these first three days of school. Things will continue to smooth out over the next few weeks. Below you will find pertinent information regarding the various modes of transportation we support.

Buses: Please be mindful that every year it takes a few weeks for bus transportation to smooth out. Spring ISD has made some changes to the district routes this year, therefore, transportation is still adjusting to those changes. With each day the routes should run more efficiently. When there are address changes or scholars that need to be routed or rerouted, it typically takes 5-10 business days. In the meantime, those scholars will need to be car riders.

Car Riders: During the first few days of school, we typically tend to see more car riders than normal. As scholars transition from car riders to bus riders, the car rider line will become shorter and the wait time will decrease. Please be mindful of the following…

• No one is on duty to supervise scholars prior to 8:35 am. Refrain from dropping scholars off prior to this time to make sure they will have supervision.

• Scholars can only be dropped off/picked up in the car rider line.

• Dropping scholars off or picking them up on the street in front of the school is not permitted as it is a safety issue and obstructs traffic.

• We require all cars to stop before loading cars in the afternoon. Please do not encourage your child to come to the car prior to being given the signal from our staff to load, as this also poses a threat to their safety.

• Please fill out our transportation form so that we can get an accurate count of the number of car riders we will have this school year.

Walkers:The only scholars leaving the building walking will be those that designate on our transportation form that they are walkers. In order to keep our scholars safe, we do not allow them to leave the building walking to meet a parent or guardian in a car. True walkers are those that leave the campus walking to their place of residence.

All Car Riders and Walkers must complete the Transportation Form linked above.

The SMART tag™ system helps increase safety and security for students riding on a school bus, leveraging technology to improve student management and communications on school buses.

SMART tag™ monitors the location of each tablet-equipped school bus, including student loading and unloading, providing real-time information to the Transportation Department, and you, the parent.

How does it work?

Students are issued passive, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards which do not store student information nor emit any tracking information. RFID technology is used in many industries such as medical (patient, equipment & supplies tracking), libraries (book tracking), and even amusement park access. These IDs are read when students get on or off the bus by an RFID reader. On campus, they can be used at the cafeteria and library via their printed bar codes.

Benefits:

• View your student's profile and assigned routes.

• Monitor your student's riding activity.
  Sign up to get notified when your student gets on/off the bus at your home stop and school.

• Sign up to get notified when the bus is on its way to your home stop.

• View live bus location from when you receive the arrival alert up to your home stop.

• Manage guardians authorized to receive your student at their PM drop-off stop (for primary parents only and if enabled by your district).

Dear Parents,
Below are the links to the Spring ISD Parent Handbook and Student Code of Conduct. Your child will bring home a form that needs your signature, confirming that you have reviewed these documents. Kindly go over them with your child and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Student Parent Handbook:

English

Spanish

Student Code of Conduct:

English

Spanish

Parents, please make sure to order a PE uniform if your child does not already have one. The deadline for ordering is Friday at 5pm to facilitate a bulk order. While another order will be made soon, it is important to place these orders as soon as possible.

• All 6th graders must order a uniform as elementary schools did not require one in 5th grade.
• All 7th graders should have one from last year due to the requirement for 6th graders. However, they can still order if needed for class.
• All 8th graders should also have one from last year as it was mandatory for 7th graders. Nonetheless, they can still place an order if necessary for class.

You have the option to scan the QR code provided below or simply click on this link to visit our online store. You can find the PE uniforms under 'Fees'.

Cross country and 6th-grade running club practice will commence on Monday, August 19th. Before starting practice, all participants need to have a valid physical on record at Claughton. For parents of 7th and 8th graders, completion of the Rankone Athletic Participation form is required, accessible at SPRINGISD.RANKONESPORT.COM. While 6th graders do not need to complete the form, they must have a valid physical on file. If needed, physical forms can be obtained at Claughton.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact via email: ERober1@springisd.org