I hope everyone had a great (and safe) Thanksgiving Holiday. This time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is very important for the school district - we have much to accomplish before the kids get their next holiday break. Please continue to be very proud of our children. We are having a fantastic school year, and that is based primarily on the efforts of our students thus far.

The main purpose of this article is to give a detailed update on our building project as we are about to begin two of the three major projects in the bond program. During the regular November board meeting last week, our school board members officially approved two guaranteed maximum prices (GMP) from Charter Builders, our construction managers at-risk, for Marble Falls Elementary School and Marble Falls Middle School. For each project in the bond program, Chart Builders will bring the board a GMP and this is the maximum amount of money from the bond that they can use to complete the specific projects.

The GMP for the elementary renovation and expansion was $9,399,336. The GMP for the middle school renovation and expansion was $15,086,500. Charter will begin work at the middle school first, and then the elementary will begin right after our Christmas Break. There will be two special events that will take place at both campuses in relation to the building projects, and I want to invite all our parents and community members to attend.

� We are going to have a special groundbreaking ceremony at Marble Falls Middle School to celebrate the start of the building program. This will take place on Thursday, December 13, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. We want to invite all parents and community members to be a part of this very special event that will officially begin the building project for the district.

� We are also going to have a farewell ceremony for the Marble Falls Elementary School Gym on Monday, December 17, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. The MFISD Board of Trustees will hold their regular December meeting in the elementary gym and a part of that meeting will be to celebrate the end of a much valued facility. There have been many in the community who have expressed an interest to have one final tour of the gym at the elementary school, so we are going to hold a closing ceremony before we leave for Christmas Break. The school district is also going to give away one-foot squares of the floor for those who are interested in keeping a piece of the old gym, so please plan to come to our board meeting on December 17th to say goodbye to the old gym.

After getting the elementary and middle school projects under way, Charter will then turn its attention to the high school and to the new Colt Elementary School building. The next guaranteed maximum prices our school board will review will be for the high school project which includes new classrooms and science labs for the main building, a new fieldhouse wing for our athletics program, and the new Mustang Stadium. The board will also review the GMP for the new building for Colt Elementary School.

I’ve had many questions on the stadium, so let me give everyone an update on where we are with this project. We have essentially started over on the design phase for the stadium. The school board had approved the first two preliminary designs of the stadium, and we were ready to proceed, but then we needed to go back and rethink our plans. There were three main reasons for the need to revisit the stadium design which were as follows:

1. After the plans for the stadium had been approved by the city’s planning and zoning commission, a group of residents from the subdivision around the current high school presented to the district a list of deed restrictions that were adopted in 1974. Because the original design had called for the home-side parking area on two lots just west of the current high school, these restrictions prevented the use of those lots for parking, so we needed to rethink that option.

2. Along with the restrictions on the lots on the west side of the high school, the district also received an indication from the City of Marble Falls that a future road that would be able to serve our campuses might be put through on the west side of the high school. We had always planned for the road the city is putting in on the east side of our current high school campus, but this new road would also be a great asset for us to serve the high school, the new stadium, and the new Colt Elementary campus.

3. After Charter Builders had run the numbers on the preliminary design on the stadium, the needed budget to complete the project did not fall within our budget. On all of the building projects, Charter attempts to get within 5% of the original planning numbers the architects from SHW used to plan the bond. The budget for the stadium was set at $7.8 million, but the first numbers did not fall within 5% of this, so the redesign will get us to the level the community approved from the election.

We all know that the classrooms this bond program is giving our children are the most important issues that we are dealing with right now, but we also know that the stadium will be an outward sign of excellence for years to come for the district. The board is looking forward to seeing the next set of plans for both the high school projects and the new building for Colt, and we will begin these projects after the Christmas Break.

One last issue to mention concerns a letter I have sent out to all parents and caregivers in the district. We have been seeing an increase in sickness of our kids and even our staff members, and I sent out a letter this week that gives instructions on how to prevent the spread of these illnesses. With the weather getting colder, we will see more students with ailments, and we want to be as proactive as possible to treat sickness. The bulk of the letter includes tips from the Texas Department of Health on how to prevent illness, with an emphasis on staph infections. These tips include practicing good hygiene (especially regular hand washing) and thoroughly cleaning any shared items, like telephones, toys, and keyboards.

I want to reiterate my pride in our students and our staff. They have been doing an excellent job this year. I also want to thank all of our parents, caregivers, and community members for the support you give our schools. The success we enjoy would not be possible with you. If anyone has questions about the issues in my article this week or about anything else, don’t hesitate to come by my office. I would be happy to sit down with you. Thank you for your support.