As students and teachers in the Temple Independent School District prepare for the first day of classes on Tuesday, Dr. Robin Battershell, the district’s new superintendent, answers questions about her expectations for the upcoming school year.

What types of activities do you plan to participate in this fall that will open you up to community members?

I will continue to meet with civic groups. In mid-August, we completed Phase I of our Painting the Town Blue, walking downtown and distributing general district information and Wildcat Nation Supporter signs. This will continue throughout the fall.

We will be conducting a campus walk-through of Meridith-Dunbar on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. and will hold a Community Conversation on Oct. 23, 6 p.m. at the TISD Administration Building. Any and all community members can come to ask questions of the superintendent.

We are building community, business and parent e-mail directories so that I can consistently send out information. Throughout the summer, I have written Board Briefs and begun sending these to the individuals and/or businesses for whom I have an e-mail address. These are not minutes, these are briefs. If you wish to have your name on this e-mail directory, please write me at robin.battershell@tisd.org.

Since you began this summer, what do you think you have accomplished?

I don’t think that I have accomplished anything; however, we have accomplished a great deal! We have worked on infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. It is not fancy, but it is necessary.

In June, we cut the budget by $2.5 million to fund staff pay increases.

Beginning in July, the board meeting format changed. The public forum is now at the beginning of the meetings and meetings are much shorter and more efficient mainly due to two working board committees, Policy and Facilities.

Temple ISD is a proud recipient of a Safe Schools Grant for $1.4 million a year for four years! This is a major grant and I am so proud of those who were instrumental in writing this.

Our demographic study was completed and presented to the board in July. This information is critical in planning future facilities. The agriculture science center construction is well under way with us hoping that we can move in in November. Over 500 overhead projectors and white boards were installed this summer through the community’s approval of a bond in May 2007. The board approved going out for bid for the auditorium and science labs in July. We will have a special-called September meeting to approve the guaranteed maximum price for both of these projects.

We have developed a five-year maintenance plan and the board approved a $1.8 million loan to try to complete most of the asbestos, HVAC, lighting and roofing projects this coming year. We should receive about $80,000 in rebates for the more energy-efficient lighting. The five-year plan gives us marching orders for the next few years. Thank you, Max Cleaver.

We completed massive maintenance projects at Temple High School South, Jefferson Elementary and Meridith-Dunbar.

We implemented a stringent purchase order and internal audit system to control use of credit cards.

We made significant staffing changes including the hiring of Joe Palmer as assistant superintendent for Human Resources and Wanda Reynolds as principal of Meridith-Dunbar.

In curriculum, we have instituted the A-Plus curriculum, Eduphoria, and Forethought initiates, in addition to Data Walks. A-Plus will provide credit recovery at Temple High School South and at Temple High School. Through Data Walks, all administrators in the district will conduct a minimum of 20 classroom walkthroughs each week focused on specific learner objectives.

J.J. Villarreal and a large group of administrators and teachers worked all summer to develop over 50 aligned curriculums. We have conducted training on these. These alignments ensure that we are focusing on the TEKS objectives and that we are consistent between campuses and between teachers.

Regina Baird has work so hard at providing backpacks and school supplies for all children who need them. Thank you to Back Pack Buddies, local churches, Temple Lions, The Rotary Club of Temple, Time Warner Cable and St. James United Methodist Church. This network of organizations and people will be the beginning for our Partners in Education (PIE) program. PIE will have various programs under it including a mentor program. The implementation board for the mentor program will kick off in September.

As you can see, it takes a village to raise a child.

Where and what are areas where the district could improve?

Critical improvements are: Stability, curriculum and building/grounds maintenance.

Do you have any suggestions in facing those issues?

Stability: There is no magic formula. Politics cannot affect the day-to-day operations of this school district. We have business to do and that business is providing the best education that we can for children.

Curriculum: The curriculum must align with the TEKS and we must teach to the TEKS objectives. This is not teaching to the test, but to the state objectives. Benchmark testing throughout the year will help us to see where we can better help students.

Building/grounds maintenance. Max Cleaver and his crew have done a wonderful job, but we still have much to do. We have many older buildings. Beautify Temple has adopted six campuses and we are working on the rest of them.

What is the district going to do to improve accountability ratings at the schools recently deemed “academically unacceptable” by the Texas Education Agency?

Although the accountability ratings are the most visible sign of success for a school and for a district, you can have a good school with a poor rating and inversely you can have a poor school with a good rating! We are judged based upon up to 26 indicators. One student can make the difference.

This summer, the district moved personnel to maximize our staff and their talents.

There is not a magic formula. To improve accountability, it takes a goal-oriented plan, hard work and the right people.

Are there any challenges in the future the district has to look forward to?

Our two biggest challenges are the growing number of non-English speaking students and the students who live in poverty. Sixty-four percent or 5,000 students in Temple ISD live in poverty. This statistic is the driver for all facilities, curriculum, discipline/safety, and personnel.

I will say again, it takes a village to raise a child. Our village of Temple has to bond together to address the two issues above.

What types of legislative issues do you believe public schools are facing right now in Texas?

We are coming into a legislative year with new legislators representing our area. One of our challenges will be to ensure that our elected officials understand the issues affecting our schools. Our elected officials should understand the impact of the state school finance formula and be willing to ask school teachers and administrators what we need to help children.

The transportation allotment was last adjusted in 1984. Most of our transportation costs are currently paid from local taxpayer dollars. We receive very little funding for our non-English speaking students and yet it takes tremendous resources to educate them.

No Child Left Behind has required that school districts decrease the number of students served in special education. School districts have complied, thus the amount of money that we receive for special education has drastically lowered. Students who were once in special education are not suddenly cured; they are served in general education with modifications. We receive no additional money for modifications for non-special education students.

Unfunded mandates eat school districts up. We have a classroom with four students because the program is required.

The funding formula provided through HB 1 did not allow for cost-of-living increases. Thus school funding has not increased over the past two years while utility, gas and insurance costs have soared.

How do you think rising economic challenges are impacting the district?

We need to pay our teachers and staff more. The current Texas funding formula does not allow for that.

What are you looking forward to the most when it comes to the 2008-09 school year?

I always look forward to watching the kids come to school on the first day! I get chill bumps watching the yellow school buses arrive.

Convocation was inspiring and the staff, teachers, and community have been so warm. I look forward to the challenges. I always have. We will solve these together.

What do you consider the most interesting aspect of the job?

People always ask, “Why on earth are you a superintendent?” Every day is different. Every day presents a new challenge. Every day I feel useful.

Dan Fearson, Telegram staff writer