THS Eye of the Tiger

Students will report to assigned advisory classes Monday morning to receive schedules and forms to be taken home to parents.

Signs have been posted in the hallways to let students know where they are to report, Thomas Graham, associate principal, said.

Students are to have their parents sign the forms and then return them to their fifth period teachers Tuesday, he said.

All classes will meet Monday, but on an abbreviated schedule to accommodate the morning advisory.

Counselors will meet with students who have problems with their schedules later in the week, but in most cases will not be able to see students on the first day.

Students can expect classes to be larger than they are used to due to the smaller faculty. Due to a $20 million budget shortfall, FBISD had a reduction in force last spring which caused Travis and other high schools to lose a number of faculty members, either through the RIF process or through being reassigned to other campuses.

Seniors who have had a yearbook portrait made by Prestige Studio need to take care of this f immediately so that the Travis Media Team will have it in time to put into the 2011 yearbook, Dianne Smith-Harper, TMT adviser said.

“We gave the Senior Class information about this at an assembly the last week of school,” Dianne Smith-Harper, Travis Media Team adviser, said. “Prestige also sent out appointment cards over the summer to each senior.”

If  the appointment card was misplaced or not received or if the appointment was missed, it is urgent that a new appointment be made as soon as possible, she said.

“We need to have those portraits in our hands by mid-October to be able to meet deadlines,” she said. “Students who have not had their portraits made may not be in the yearbook. We really want everyone in the book.”

The number to Prestige Studio is 281-492-9361.

Students who like to take their time getting to class as they dawdle in the hallways talking to friends may be in for some surprises this year.

A new tardy policy is in place, Thomas Graham, new associate principal, has announced.

“We are anxiously looking forward to the start of another fabulous year at Travis High School,” he said. “We have taken steps to ensure that all of our students will have the opportunity to absorb every minute of the valuable instructional time provided in their classes. We will accomplish this with our new tardy polices and procedures.”

Hall sweeps are nothing new to Travis, but in the past, they’ve been done randomly.

“Essentially, we will have hall sweeps every day, every period, in every hallway of the building,” Graham said.

Tardy students will be sent to one of several tardy stations strategically placed throughout the building. There, they will have to present their school ID and have their tardy entered into our computer system.

After having their tardy recorded students will be personally escorted to their class by a staff member, Graham said.

This year all students will be expected to keep their school ID’s on their person and visible throughout the instructional day.

“More importantly,” Graham said, ” each student will be expected to arrive to each of their classes on time, prepared, and ready to learn.”

While the economy is a concern for business and families, some may not realize the impact the current economic situation has on the school system.

During the spring, the district found itself facing a $20 million budget shortfall for the 2011 school year, and had to put into effect a Reduction in Force, or RIF. Nearly 500 teachers, administrators and other positions were eliminated before the end of the year. Some teachers who were not RIFed were reassigned to other schools in the district.

Schools will be opening with smaller teaching staffs, but that won’t be the only  thing that will be smaller. There will be a smaller stash of teaching supplies, too.
Susan Jones, principal JJ Kyle’s secretary, handles all of the budgets that the district gives to the school.
“I buy everything from jockstraps to projectors,” she said.
The district gives money to each of the campuses and then the school distributes to each department.
The departments supply all the teachers supplies such as paper and pens.
“The big expenses are printer cartridges and copy or printer paper,” Jones said.
“Copy paper is $25.92 a case, which has 10 reams, 500 sheets a ream. I order 45 cases at a time every two or three weeks.”
“Its a big chunk of money,” she said.
The ink cartridges range from $70 to $100 dollars depending on whether it’s colored or just black.
The cost of all these items has even more impact this year than usual because each school had to tighten its belt to operate within the current economic situation.
Fort Bend ISD is operating under a budget shortfall, and this affects how much money each school receives. Next year, there will be a new high school and a new elementary school which will also take slices from the current budget pie.
Travis raises funds through non-budget means, too, and those funds are used to help the students, Jones said.
“For instance, parking permit money goes back to the students,” she said. “The parking permit money and the cell phone money go into an activity account that goes back to the students.”
That money is not used for curriculum, she said.
But the budget cuts have caused some concern for students.
Students who have earned letter jackets have been disappointed to learn they would have to pay for the jackets themselves this year.
Jones has some advice for teachers and organization sponsors who are trying to make sure their classes and organizations have enough resources to work:
“Try to be more creative,” said Jones, “because there is no money.”
Principal JJ Kyle understands the problem, and sympathizes, but warns students and teachers that it may not get better for a while.
“We grow and we do without sometimes,” she said. “It’s going to be hard, but life will go one, and we’ll turn out just fine.”