Town Halls set, to discuss $85 mn Bond Issue

Hello East Harris County and Crosby ISD families,

We are welcoming you into the month of September and hopefully we can welcome cooler temperatures as well. Last month, we successfully started our new school year, opening our doors to approximately 6,800 students across the district. Thanks to everyone involved with the smooth start.

A couple of weeks ago, the Crosby ISD Board of Trustees approved to call for a bond election in November of this year. Crosby ISD will ask voters to approve an $85 million dollar bond to build two new schools and perform district-wide maintenance and renovations like HVAC system replacements, roof replacements, and restroom renovations. Soon after the decision was made to go out for a bond, my team and I began working on dates to meet with you concerning the bond package.

We wanted to share the dates and times for those community town halls where you can hear the plan and have an opportunity to ask questions. Please keep in mind these dates/times are subject to change, but we will communicate with you about any changes that may occur.

Monday, September 11
Indian Shores Homeowners Association
Approximately 7:30pm
Community Clubhouse
20731 Appaloosa Tr., Crosby, TX, 77032

Thursday, September 14
Community Town Hall (Newport)
6pm
Stonebridge at Newport
16401 Country Club Dr, Crosby, TX 77532

Monday, September 25
Community Town Hall
6pm
Crosby High School
333 Red Summit Dr., Crosby, TX, 77532

Thursday, October 5
Community Town Hall (Crosby)
6pm
Crosby Community Center
409 Hare Rd, Crosby, TX 77532

We look forward to seeing many of you and taking your questions as we take our bond proposal on tour. You can find videos, information, and a meeting calendar at www.crosbyisd.org/Bond2023.

Other happenings in the district, our hybrid academic calendar will transition from a five day instructional week to a four-day instructional week. September 8 is the first student Friday holiday for the fall semester. Students will have Fridays off between September 8, 2023 and April 12, 2024. In mid-April, we transition back to a five-day instructional week through the end of the school year. Teachers will be working one Friday a month, which is designated as a Staff Development Friday. Our goal to create a four-day calendar was to recruit and retain exceptional teachers for our students. We have seen the results already. We started the 2022-2023 School Year with 23 teacher vacancies. This year, we had three vacancies. We have also hired many veteran, certified teachers. In the 2022-2023 School Year, we started with 37 first-year teachers who had no experience. This year, we started with eight first-year teachers, and those teachers, who are starting their careers with Crosby ISD, are being teamed with a mentor educator who will guide them during their first year.

I want to brag a little about our Curriculum and Instruction team here in Crosby ISD. They organized a District-wide professional development day for our staff just before the School Year started in August. The inaugural “Cougar Con” was a conference-style day during which staff members chose their own schedule of classes. The learning sessions ranged from drug awareness to customer service training. Deputies were also here to train educators on “Stop the Bleed” techniques. We also learned how to train students as helpers for the Houston Food Bank programs that are expanding in Crosby ISD. I sat in on several sessions and was blown away by our staff’s ability to be lead learners.

We are looking forward to the Crosby Bicentennial Celebration coming up Saturday, September 23. Crosby is celebrating its 200th birthday, making it one of the top 13 oldest towns in Texas. Crosby ISD students will be participating in the parade and festival that day at the Crosby Fairgrounds. The parade starts at 10am and the festival runs from noon-6pm. The District will have a booth, so come on by and say hi.

Mark your calendars! Crosby ISD’s Homecoming Week will be October 9-13. We’ll battle Baytown Sterling at Cougar Stadium on Friday, October 13. I look forward to seeing fellow alumni who may be out celebrating their class reunions that night. We Crosby High School graduates are Cougars Forever!

We are Moving Forward! Go Coogs!