Northwest Assistance Ministries hosted its second annual Legislative Breakfast. The informative community event
featured a panel of 10 public officials. Panelists were: State Rep.
Sylvester Turner, State Rep. John Zerwas, State Rep. Debbie Riddle, State Rep. Patricia Harless, State Rep. Allen Fletcher, Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Harris County Constable Ron Hickman, city council member Jarvis Johnson and city council member Ronald Green.
Tom Forestier, NAM executive board chair, served as moderator. NAM President & CEO Carole Little welcomed the audience, and thanked the panelists and event sponsors. Rev. Ginny Brown Daniel, NAM executive board member and Public Policy Committee chair, provided the
invocation. Questions were posed to the panelists on the topics including
children
’s health care, energy assistance, domestic violence, health care reform and the
Federal Stimulus Package
’s impact on Harris County.
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD received a rating of “Superior Achievement” by the Texas Education Agency’s Schools Financial Accountability Rating System of Texas program. It marks the
seventh consecutive Superior rating for Cy-Fair ISD.
The district’s rating is based on an analysis of staff and student data reported for the
2007-08 school year, and the budgetary and actual financial data for the 2008
fiscal year. All areas of the district
’s financial management were reviewed according to 24 indicators. A negative
response to any of the first few criteria could have resulted in an automatic
“Substandard” rating.
The Superior Achievement rating is the state’s highest mark, an indicator of the quality of the district’s financial management and reporting system. Schools FIRST was developed by the
TEA in response to Senate Bill 218 passed by the 77th legislature in 2001.
The primary objective of Schools FIRST is to achieve quality performance in the
management of school districts
’ financial resources—a goal made more significant due to the complexity of accounting associated with
the Texas school finance system.
