Dr. Timothy B. Chargois is wrapping up his first school year as the superintendent of schools for the Beaumont Independent School District. Supported by successes in a number of areas, the veteran educator and former assistant superintendent in charge of research and testing, consistently focuses his efforts on the well-being of students and improving their academic success. However, more often than not, Chargois has found his first year filled with challenges ranging from the Board of Trustees’ election process and investigations by the Texas Education Agency to an in depth review by the Legislative Budget Board and even lawsuits impacting his own contract as well as other legal actions focusing on construction projects and more.
With Monday’s return of administrators from their summer break, Chargois is addressing some of the misinformation and facts surrounding the 2012-2013 school year at BISD where he was initiated last September as the chief executive officer. “It is important to me, to the parents, students and the employees of Beaumont ISD to be able to separate facts from rumors, especially as it deals with the education of children and fiscal responsibility to taxpayers. While my first school year as superintendent was not a rose garden without thorns, we achieved a number of successes, despite many of the challenges encountered. The coming school year will, no doubt, include more challenges that I hope the employees, students and this community will join me in turning into opportunities,” Chargois explained. The 2013-2014 school year that officially starts in just a few weeks—Aug. 19 for teachers to return and Aug. 26 for nearly 20,000 students to arrive at the district’s 30 campuses.
Transitioning from Thomas to Chargois’ leadership
The transition plan set up by Chargois to move from the administration and operations style of the retiring, 16-year veteran superintendent, Dr. Carrol A. Thomas, started Sept. 1. Thomas left Chargois with the task of wrapping up the construction projects of the 2007 voter approved $389 million bond facilities improvement program, improving Board relations, fully implementing the state’s new STAAR exam and closing out the old TAKS exam. With a motto of “Every Child. Every Day,” Chargois set his own goals of catapulting student excellence toward a 100 percent graduation rate, improve transparency in the district, develop stakeholder trust and leverage technology innovations for efficient and effective operations, including teaching and learning. “Yes, I came in excited about being able to impact the academic success of students. My plan was to keep the focus on students and to not be distracted by a lot of the politics and sensationalism that often took the focus off of student achievement. Frankly, the ink was barely dry on my contract when I discovered that the agenda I have as an educational leader was not necessarily going to be the agenda of others and if our agendas did have the same goal of developing mind power today for our students’ global success, oftentimes
there may be disagreements of how we reach that goal,” shared Chargois as he addressed some of the challenges BISD faces.
The superintendent’s contract
Some would say Dr. Chargois’ first year got off to a great start as employees and much of the Beaumont community showered expressions of love and support for him. Yet, others might say the new superintendent’s start was somewhat rocky as the contract approved by all seven Board trustees to hire him later became a legal issue. Just a few months ago, a judge dismissed the complaint as moot.
The election of trustees
There has been much litigation since the 2010 Census and the subsequent May 2011 election where the majority of Beaumont citizens voting decided to change the election of trustees from a seven single member district process to one with five single member districts and two at large positions. Resulting litigation, followed by the U. S. Department of Justice intervening caused BISD’s Board of Trustees to cancel the May 2013 election for all board seats and to set a November 2013 election with just three of the seven board seats placed on the ballot. The DOJ was concerned that the 5-2 plan had the potential to disenfranchise minority voters and other proposals would truncate the terms of trustees who had not served the four years they were elected to serve. Despite the recent Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling, current Department of Justice communications and pending litigation before the Texas Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia federal court, BISD must adhere to the current standing order for the Nov. 5 election of three positions, Chargois explained.
Purchasing, finance and transparency
The superintendent is making improvements in purchasing operations. Already earning Texas Comptroller Susan Combs’ Gold Circle Leadership recognition for transparency in financial operations and a superior rating from the Texas Education Agency’s Schools FIRST (Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas), the new superintendent wants more from his finance team. The finance office continues to post online the district’s monthly check register. Furthermore, BISD has implemented an online E-bidding system and is working to update the district’s TEAMS software to have trigger notices when the purchase of any particular product or service not under contract or a competitive bid nears the $50,000 total during a 12-month period. Dr. Aaron Covington has been appointed to the newly created position of contract administrator. He is responsible for making sure all BISD purchasing contracts meet district and state guidelines. According to Chargois, “BISD is going to be more stringent in this area than ever. State policy clearly indicates, regardless of the company, when a district purchases more than $50,000 of a particular commodity, product or service, a competitive bid or Texas cooperative buy board approved vendor is required. While we, as many other districts across Texas, may have missed the boat on this in the last year, BISD is working diligently to correct this issue.”
The superintendent said the new school year’s budget is tight, but he is please that BISD did not have to lay off any teachers and worked to eliminate positions through attrition. Employees still have health benefits supplemented by the district at the rate of about $460 per month. Each employee will have to contribute an additional $60 to maintain their health insurance.
In other finance news, Chargois said he is looking forward to the State adding about $3.5 million to the coming year’s budget, offsetting some of the budget cuts originally set by the Texas Legislature two years ago. “With all the new requirements, these funds will help BISD with training and other resources needed to continue improving academic success,” he added.
Testing, TEA investigation and more
Recent accusations of “widespread cheating” on TAKS exams in BISD were put to rest last week when results of a TEA investigation confirmed in a letter, “...the reporting teacher stated that other serious testing irregularities had occurred at Central High School. The district investigated and found that the additional allegations could not be substantiated. TEA has reviewed the district documentation and affirmed the district findings.” Although neither person is now employed at BISD, in response to the teacher who accused one substitute teacher of testing improprieties, the TEA letter further stated, “However, the Student Assessment Division security team has reviewed the documentation provided and is recommending that no further action be taken. Please make certain that all future district training includes comprehensive instruction on proper test administration and the handling of test materials....”
“Just as the school year was ending, TEA informed me that it was launching another BISD investigation due to complaints it had received. I encouraged and welcomed them. The sooner they could investigate allegations, the sooner we could get back to our main purpose—educating children. Certainly, I did not want to take more time and resources away from educating children as we go into the new school year. Our children deserve better. I know BISD is not perfect. Also, I know our district is doing a great job. With more than 3,000 employees, nearly 20,000 students, a $389 million bond construction program, an annual budget of more than $160 million and property to maintain that is value well over a billion dollars, we are going to have some challenges, a mistake or two and an oversight every now and then. In fact, as the region’s largest employer, yes, some of our employees will have a relative or two working in the district. However, we are operating above board and within the spirit and intent of the law. When we find errors, we correct them. When we discover problems, we fix them. We work to be as proactive as possible,” Chargois added.
In addition to testing irregularities, TEA received complaints about special education records, student attendance records and purchasing and contract records. “We are working with TEA to provide them with all the information they need to complete their investigations. In the meantime, we are continuing to shore up our strict testing protocols. Employees involved in testing will all continue to receive training about testing security, rules and handling of test materials. I hope all our teachers will continue to have confidence that we are in this together. They work hard to make sure our students are learning and the errors of one or two do not taint the whole district. They also understand the seriousness of any violation related to testing and are encouraged to report any concerns they may have. As always, I continue to encourage anyone truly concerned about resolving a BISD issue or problem to utilize the established protocols we have in place. Our purpose is to have the best, most efficient and effective BISD possible,” he said.
Completing the $389 bond projects
The West Brook Auditorium was the last project on the 2007 voter approved bond projects list. The facility recently received its Certificate of Occupancy and is undergoing a punch list review this week. West Brook employees and students are now able to use the state of the arts facility. The last Community Advisory Bond
Committee meeting will be held in a few weeks. The superintendent said he is proud of the fact that more than 50 of the projects were completed in four years, that the last three or four projects were wrapped up this year and overall, BISD completed all of the projects listed in the bond referendum and went above and beyond the list to add many more classrooms and other improvements as parking lots and more. Despite many naysayers claiming BISD would not complete the projects within budget and on time, Chargois said those comments don’t matter. “It matters that our students are in better facilities and we have removed more than 200 portable buildings as classroom sites for our students,” he shared.
Impact of HB5 on BISD—preparing for challenges
While he was heavily involved in pushing for legislation that would reduce the number of state required standardize tests for students from 15 to 5, Chargois and other superintendents across Texas now have to make sure all aspects of House Bill 5 are implemented timely, efficiently and effectively. Re-training counselors, course scheduling, communicating changes and how they impact graduation requirements and more are on the plates of public education leaders—all while the State Board of Education is still defining various aspects of the meaning of HB5.
The Legislative Budget Board in depth review
Within months of taking over the helm of BISD, Chargois received word that the Texas Legislative Review Board had tapped BISD for an in depth review. This word, right in the midst of political jockeying about the Board of Trustee election and re-districting, dared the young superintendent to ask, “God, what next?” Despite the LBB’s history of doing reviews on districts failing academically or financially, Chargois pondered why were politics unfairly usurping the resources of BISD that in his opinion would be better spent on improving student achievement. After all, BISD had a solid budget and was the envy of many districts across the state and nation for its success in improving student achievement, including achievement of it majority population of 77 percent economically disadvantage students.
Instead of questioning God, the very faithful Chargois, looked at the glass as half full instead of half empty. Frankly, to have an in depth unbiased review of the entire district, whether politically motivated or not, could be considered invaluable to a new CEO. While the politics of some may have meant the LBB review for evil, with exception of resources taken from regular responsibilities, Chargois is looking at the experience as one that will help BISD operate more efficiently and effectively. Based on the superintendent’s preliminary discussions with LLB representatives, BISD is already moving forth with several suggestions for improved operations. A full report from the LLB is expected to be received by BISD sometime in August. It will detail strengths and weaknesses and remedies to improve district operations.
Relationship building
The superintendent and the Board of Trustees are in the midst of training provided via a grant from the Center for Reformed School Systems. The training is helping the attending trustees be more effective in their roles as volunteer policy makers governing the public education system here in Beaumont. “I am committed to improving Board relations and to helping the public understand the mission and goals of the Board and the school district,” Chargois said.
Chargois has a number projects he hopes to put in place during the new school year. Each is designed to better inform the employees, students, parents, businesses, volunteers, taxpayers and community at large of BISD information relevant to these particular audiences. He is committed to working with Lamar University and LIT, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Beaumont, Jefferson County, non-profit organizations and a number of other entities to provide the best of BISD and for the region.
Starting the new school year off on the right foot
“BISD is adopting and implementing new practices and procedures aligned with policies that will increase academic success and district efficiencies. For us, the employees of BISD, our purpose remains, ‘Every Child. Every Day.’ We hope to move from our current 97 percent graduation rate to my goal of a 100 percent graduation rate, too. I am excited about what the 2013-2014 school year will bring. Monday, Aug. 19, marks the return of teachers and all employees back to BISD from a well-deserved summer break. A week later, Monday, Aug. 26, I expect to be looking into the bright, beautiful smiling faces of BISD’s pride and joy—our students,” Chargois exclaimed.