Fairfield ISD school board trustees approved the annual TEKS certification report to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), establishing the Bluebonnet curriculum for Fairfield Elementary School and Fairfi eld Intermediate School at their Monday, April 14, meeting.
The district will be using IXL for an online resource. Star Renaissance will be removed as a resource from the district.
Bluebonnet includes the open education resources created by TEA. Assistant Superintendent Kelli Moore met with teachers and administrators about the new curriculum before bringing it to the board. The Bluebonnet curriculum is very rigorous. Superintendent Joe Craig noted that everyone may struggle with the curriculum at the beginning. Craig discussed controversial topics involved in the ELAR portion of Bluebonnet and how the district’s plan was to identify these lessons, review them with a committee of staff and administrators, then either substitute or eliminate these types of lessons.
“Our goal for this curriculum is to provide the necessary rigor to meet the state standards and provide teachers with high quality instructional materials, which we were lacking, in many areas, during our Effective School Framework report the ESC 12 conducted last semester.” Craig said.
Craig discussed that teachers could keep some outside resources with prior approval.
Sisha Ward who has been a teacher for 11 years, seven at Fairfield ISD, spoke to the board earlier in the meeting concerning Bluebonnet.
“I’m here tonight because I care deeply about our FISD students and the integrity of the instruction they receive,” Ward said. “We must mention that this curriculum at best greatly restricts teacher autonomy. At worst, it is a scripted curriculum that is lacking in cultural representation and support for our neediest students. I ask this board to advocate for a more balanced approach, and place trust in the professional teachers that have been hired to educate our students.”
Fifth grade students Hattie Chambers and Patricio Espinoza led the pledges.
The boys basketball players who received All-District honors were recognized by Coach Donte Wilson. Matha Holland recognized the FCCLA students who qualified for the state contest. The band members who qualified for the State Solo & Ensemble contest were honored by Band Director Russell Holland.
Craig noted that the current enrollment at FISD is 1,558 students. Attendance is at 95.18%.
Moore explained how the district is updating the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) plan. Teachers, who are in non-tested areas, can now start collecting data this upcoming school year instead of waiting until the third year. Educators in STAAR tested areas will use their STAAR data for TIA as educators in non-STAAR tested areas will use Student Learning Objectives to reach their goal. P.E. teachers will use the fitness gram for their data.
Board President Kevin Benedict announced that all board members had met or exceeded their yearly requirement for training hours.
The board approved the district’s investment policy, which is an annual requirement.
Wednesday, May 21, which is the last day of the school year, will now be an early release day. Campuses will release at 1 p.m.
The board approved the purchase of 351 new chromebooks as part of the district’s replacement schedule. The cost of the chromebooks total approximately $131,000.
The board approved the Corrective Action Plan for board member training that TEA required from the district stemming from a complaint back in 2023 where some board members did not obtain the required training hours. All current board members have met the requirements.
According to Craig, there was a misunderstanding regarding Eric Chavers needing “new board member training” when he was appointed to the board, since he had previously served on the board for multiple terms.
After the executive session, the board approved the contract renewals for the Non-Chapter 21 contracts and the District of Innovation of the staff members the campus principals recommended. Savannah Ellis was hired for the Ag Science teacher position. Adrianna Orona, who currently teaches fourth grade math, will be moving to Fairfield High School in the fall to be the new Culinary Arts teacher. For the Bi-County CoOp, Tiffany Gillen was approved for renewal.
