Site updated July 2, 2009 at 12:15 pm 

Join the 4th of July Celebrations being held at
Carrizo Springs Veterans Park • Saturday, 6 pm to midnight
Big Wells City Park • Friday, 3pm &
Saturday, after 10 am Parade
Asherton City Park • Saturday, all day

Board Split over Bank Contract Recommendation
In the regular board meeting held Tuesday, June 23, 2009, what is generally a routine item for governmental bodies to decide, was a split decision by the CSCISD board: which bank should the district award the depository contract?

In early May, the district advertised for bids for a bank depository. It requested certain information which was then evaluated by an outside firm, Bill C. Rocha, CPA. The firm concluded that based upon their evaluation of the two bidders, First State Bank of Uvalde and Capital Bank of Texas, that “First State Bank appears to be the most favorable choice to be awarded the District’s depository contract.”

The firm performed an evaluation of the bids in a procedure agreed upon with the district, as per their letter to the district which accompanied their report. There were five criteria used to make the recommendation for a bank depository: bank financial strength, estimated cost of services, collateralization of district’s deposits, estimated interest income to the district, and other bank services.

First State Bank was found “most favorable” in four of the five areas, and received the same “favorable” status in the fifth area. Capital Bank was found “favorable” in four of the five areas, but “unfavorable” in the fifth, because it would cost the district approximately $2,565 annually for bank services that would be offered to the district at no cost by the other bank. When comparing estimated interest income to the district by the banks, earnings were estimated to be $5,495 at First State Bank, compared to only $2,065 at Capital Bank.

The board members asked some questions, and agreed that Capital Bank of Texas has been doing a good job for the district. The board president said she didn’t have enough information to make a decision because she needed an audit, but when asked what kind of audit she was requesting she admitted that she did not know. The firm had already used the banks’ prior year audits in the evaluations. Detailed financial information was also submitted in the bid packets which were a part of the board’s informational packet which was distributed several days prior to the meeting.

There were also concerns by board members about the savings to the district and that the district was paying Mr. Rocha’s firm to perform this evaluation and make the recommendation which some board members seemed to want to disregard without reason to go against it. The professional opinion cost the district approximately $2,500 plus travel and time.

A motion was made to accept the recommendation to award the depository contract to First State Bank of Uvalde by board member Claudia McDaniel. The president was about to call the motion dead for lack of a second when Bill Martin interjected to say that he would second the motion. The vote was called, and again the president assumed votes against the motion that had not come in. Mr. Martin again told her that everyone had not yet voted and asked for Armando Silva’s vote. Mr. Silva deliberated about the matter and voted for the motion, but Mr. Martin abstained. The motion failed with a vote of 2 for (McDaniel and Silva), 3 against (Compagnone, Talamantes, and Castaneda), and one abstention (Martin). Dr. Ricky Alaniz was absent at Tuesday’s meeting.

Another motion was made to award the contract to Capital Bank of Texas, which passed with a 3-2 vote and one abstention.

Other board activity included approving the grade re-configuration for the 2009-2010 school year. The move will leave pre-k through 3rd grade at Carrizo Springs Elementary, and move 4th with 5th grades at Carrizo Springs Intermediate, move 6th grade with the 7th & 8th grades at Carrizo Springs Jr. High, and will leave 9th-12th at the High School. The board’s main concern was the 6th grade class who would be making the move to Jr. High, as much of the parents’ concerns had been centered on that grade level. The board was particularly sensitive to making sure the transition would be smooth and safe.

The board accepted a monetary donation in the amount of $2,500 from St. Mary Land & Exploration Company for new playground equipment. They also approved the purchase of equipment to be paid from the construction reserve at a cost of almost $20,000.

The board approved the submission of the Consolidated Application for Federal Funding, and approved budgets for federal funding programs.

The board rejected bids for the dry food storage area at CSE, and will utilize existing classrooms. The district had looked to building a dry storage area because of lack of space at the school, but with the approved re-configuration they would be able to use storage room in one of the old classrooms left from what used to be North Elementary. JL Refrigeration was awarded the bid for the walk-in freezer and cooler for the high school and Big Wells Elementary. The bid for servicing of fire extinguishers was awarded to All State Fire Extinguishers who had the best price in 11 of 12 areas. Vendors were approved for instructional and office supplies, health care supplies, and copy paper supplies.

The board approved the purchase of two buses and two vans for the district. They had previously approved this purchase, but Mr. Gene Gutierrez brought back more information to the board as to which buses and vans he was recommending for purchase. The board accepted his recommendation, which included spending an additional $12,000 for buses with 160,000 BTU air conditioning units, which he said would be cost-effective in the long run because compressors wouldn’t have to be replaced as often.

The board approved adjustments to the standardized dress code, including allowing students in grades pre-k through 3rd to wear jeans.

The board was given information on stipends paid through the district. During budget hearings, the board discussed ways to cut expenses and suggested that they would be considering stipends as part of those cuts. Other parts of the budget were looking at 5% cuts over last year’s budget, including curriculum and food service, which was of particular concern to the board because it affected the students directly.

After executive session, the board approved the resignation of Mrs. Valerie Dykstra, as of June 30, and approved the hiring of Jose Trevino, Jennifer Sheridan, and Jeanelle Coleman. They also approved equity adjustments and re-classifications of employees. No action was taken to fill the position for Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction.