In short order, the Board of Trustees along with the administrators and principals began working diligently to determine the best course of action. District Goals were analyzed, revised and improved. Campus objectives supporting the District goals were established. Facilities were evaluated to determine if they were adequate to support the district goals. Personnel and pay scales were aligned to reinforce District objectives. The curriculum was revamped from kindergarten through grade 12 to further support TAAS, TAKS, and District objectives. The administrators developed a comprehensive plan for improvement and a course of action was set in motion to correct the weaknesses. Momentum and support grew as campus after campus became Exemplary along with the District. Standardized Tests improved and a “culture” of academic excellence emerged to complement the already strong athletic and other extracurricular activities.

The Board of Trustees was populated with very conscientious citizens with a common mission. I consider myself fortunate to have been part of that fine association. Some of the accomplishments that occurred over these years are listed below.

• Addition of all day kindergarten
• Employment of outstanding Superintendents, Principals, Teachers, and Administrators
• Construction of Windsong Elementary
• Construction of the $10,000,000.00 science wing at Friendswood High School.
• Correction of the grade point inequity at Friendswood High School
• 13 consecutive years as the medium schools State Champion in the Academic Decathlon
• State Champion in 4-A Band Competition
• 4 UIL Academic State Championships since 1997 at FHS
• State Champion Odyssey of the Mind Friendswood Junior High
• 1996 and 2004 UIL One Act Play State Champions
• 2001 UIL 4-A State Champions in Girl’s Soccer
• Recognized and Exemplary Campuses, currently a Recognized District
• Dramatic Improvement in SAT Scores
• Dramatic Improvement in the number of students taking the AP exams
• Dramatic Improvement in number passing AP exams with a score of 3 or better
• High Performance at virtually every grade level on TAKS Tests
• Acquisition of 23 acres in Centennial Park for another school as large as a Junior High
• Joint Use agreement with the City of Friendswood for facilities in Centennial Park
• 21 Commended or National Merit Scholar (5% of the 2005 graduating class)
• Highly Efficient District financially

In order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the academic achievements I have included several graphs.

I was elected to the Board in 1996 and proposed that we adopt a goal of 1100 for the SAT to be achieved in five years. The Board in short order adopted this goal and as you can see, our teachers, students and parents have certainly risen to the challenge.

The SAT is the most widely recognized college admission test. It is important to every college bound high school student and is one of the many AEIS indicators. Our high SAT scores take on even greater significance because we have approximately 75% of our students taking the test. The typical Texas high school has generally around 50% of their students taking the test and these are usually their better students.

As an element of the overall plan to increase SAT scores, the Superintendent and their staffs recommended that the District promote, develop, and implement an aggressive pre-AP and AP program extending to the junior high. The number of students taking AP exams rose dramatically.

In order to encourage students to take more demanding and academically challenging courses it was necessary to provide equity in the way grade points were calculated at Friendswood High School. The existing system of determining grade points provides more points for AP courses and encourages students to study more challenging courses that will better prepare them for college. The rising SAT test scores were a natural consequence of this effort.

The AP and pre-AP programs require additional training for the teachers of these courses. The District systematically implemented a program to train the staff necessary to effectively teach these courses. As more students took the AP tests, more students passed the test with a 3 or better.

Colleges and universities across the nation accept AP test scores as college credits. The minimum passing score is a 3 with the best being a 5. Many institutions will accept a 3 for credit with the most competitive institutions requiring a 4 or 5 for credit.

Almost half of the students taking the AP Tests last year are scoring at the more difficult 4 and 5 levels on these College Level exams.

With the replacement of TAAS with the TAKS and the changes in the accountability system attendant to those changes, Friendswood is now a Recognized district as opposed to an Exemplary district. While the district is striving to regain this status, it is appropriate to put this in perspective. The Texas Education Agency reports only 9 districts (and 1 charter school) in the State that were Exemplary for 2005. Only Highland Park is our size or larger. Seven out of the nine had less than 400 students with one being a 16-student district. Furthermore, an August 1, 2005 publication of the Texas Education Agency reports…”Of the 1,229 districts, 10 districts (0.8%) are rated Exemplary and 168 (13.7%) are Rated Recognized in 2005. The districts rated Exemplary comprise 0.2% of the total student enrollment, while the districts rated Recognized comprise 3.5% of the total students enrolled.” Friendswood is therefore in a very high performing group representing the top 3.7% of students in Texas.

District Efficiency and Funding
Friendswood is frugal and highly efficient in its use of financial resources. Superintendent Trish Hanks reported in the August 16, 2005 Budget Meeting of the School Board that FISD ranked number 20th out of 1050 reporting Districts in the percentage of students passing all TAKS tests while placing 925 th out of 1050 Districts in the per pupil operating costs. This placed FISD in the top 2% in the State in student performance and in the bottom 12% of the State in per pupil operating costs according to figures reported in the Comptroller of Public Accounts website. Comparisons of FISD to the average for the State as reported at TEA’s website reflect the same in per pupil expenditures:

As you can see, FISD per student expenditures are over $1,000 per student less than the State average and we continue to produce student populations at the very top of the State in virtually all academic areas. This has been accomplished with one of the lowest school district tax rates in Galveston County. Our tax rate is the 7 th out of 9 in Galveston County based on the reported 2004 tax rates published by the Galveston County Appraisal District.

School Districts throughout the State have been harshly impacted by the failure of the State Legislature to enact legislation to fund public schools. The Texas Constitution places the obligation to fund public education squarely on the legislature in Article 7 Section 1 wherein it states…” Section 1 - SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE OF SYSTEM OF PUBLIC FREE SCHOOLS. A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.” There have been both regular and special sessions called by the Governor specifically to address this critical need. The local funding has increased due to the growth of new homes and businesses as well as an increase in appraised values. The District is in desperate need of the legislature to fund public schools as required by the Texas Constitution. The following graphs demonstrate the magnitude of this problem.

Note the steady erosion of State funding since the 1999~2000 school year. This has occurred in a period of increasing student populations at all campuses in FISD. Replacement of these funds has been through local funding as depicted in blue. Federal funding remains small.

This graph demonstrates the loss of state funding during a period of increasing enrollments. This information was presented to the Board at the August 16, 2005 Budget meeting.

While the District is short on funds, the Board and Administrators work hard to make the most of our resources.

I Need Your Vote: I have been a hard working, conscientious Board member. I have supported the needs of our District and its citizens in the past and will continue to do so in the future. I have, and will continue to place academic achievement at the top of my priorities. I will continue to be responsible and accountable to parents and taxpayers. I pledge to you that I will exercise independent judgment and accept only programs that are data driven and proven. Vote early or vote Election Day, November 8, for John Ring.