Marble Falls ISD

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

The Texas Education Agency has released to the Texas Legislature preliminary ratings of school districts and campuses based on a new accountability system that is set to go into effect in August 2018. The reviews by area educators could best be described as thumbs down.

Marble Falls Independent School District Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction Dr. Wes Cunningham said administrators were told there would be a provisional accountability rating released, but added that the A-F Accountability Ratings are “using a still-in-process methodology that doesn't use any new data.”

“These A-F ratings just released are using the current system data that is being used under our current accountability ratings, in which our campuses and our district got the highest rating possible of meeting the standards,” Cunningham said.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

On Thursday, Oct. 20, Manuel “Manny” Lunoff gathered the staff of Marble Falls High School to announce that Friday would be his last day as principal.

Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) Superintendent Chris Allen, PhD Allen was at Lunoff's side for the Thursday staff meeting, praising him as a “good man” and asking for cooperation in respecting Lunoff's simple statement that he was leaving for “personal reasons.”

Parents of students also received individual personal electronic messages from Lunoff. He shared with them that the district had secured as an interim principle, Emmett Aubry, who most recently served as interim principal for Lake Travis High School.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Marble Falls ISD has been listed on an Instagram account of schools that comprise some vague “hit list” for alleged “creepy clown” activity.

The Instagram account “killer.clown.666” has listed under the name of the account “Killer Clown Hit list: Johnson City isd: marble falls isd, Harper isd, centerpoint isd.”

While Marble Falls ISD officials do not believe the threat may necessarily be credible, they have gotten local law enforcement involved and will be monitoring the situation, said Superintendent Dr. Chris Allen Friday.

“Like other Central Texas school districts, Marble Falls ISD has been mentioned as one of four districts noted in a 'clown' post. No specific Marble Falls campus, student, or facility has been named as part of this post,” Allen said in a statement.

By Lew K. Cohn

The Highlander

Managing Editor

Two Marble Falls Independent School District trustees submitted their resignations Monday to the Board of Trustees, which appointed a familiar face to fill one of the vacancies.

The board accepted the resignations of Dr. Kelly Fox and Larry “Coach” Berkman following a 78-minute executive session in which the board met with its attorney behind closed doors. The board then appointed former Trustee Mike Savage to serve in Berkman's stead for the next 11 months.

By Lew K. Cohn

The Highlander

Managing Editor

Granite Shoals Police Chief Gary Boshears was elected to Place 1 of the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees, while Tony Satsky and Cheryl Mott Trinidad won seats on the Cottonwood Shores City Council in today's school board and municipal elections.

The Old Granite School building which houses the Falls on the Colorado Museum is getting a much-needed improvement that will not cost Marble Falls ISD or the museum any out of pocket expense.

Early voting for the May 7 city and school elections begins Monday, April 25 in Burnet and Llano counties. Several different local leadership positions are up for grabs on the ballot.

Voters will decide which of three candidates will get the Place 1 spot on the Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) Board of Trustees. 

The following students exemplified the ability to focus on "Putting First Things First."
Pre-Kindergarten: Jayden Rodriguez and Mayah Sanchez.
Kindergarten: Katya Barrientos, David Flores, Alexis Lundgren, Octavio Mendiola, Jayden Patlan and Savannah Rutland.
First grade: Scarlett Bueso, Brianna Gee, Colton Milam, Daniel Molina and Armonie Rios.
Second grade: Raul Avalos, Daniel Dominguez, Kallen Moehlmann, Emily Ramirez and Carmen Turland.
Third grade: Megan Bernabe, Ashley Gonzales, Caityln Johnson, Mauricio Patino and Oswaldo Sanchez.
Fourth grade: Kaeli Blair, Stephanie Bolanos, Raul Ramirez, Alizabeth Stanphill and Bryan Vasquez.
Fifth grade: Reagan Bethune, Tucker Boswell, Linett Fonseca and Avah Jimenez.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Eight Marble Falls High School students affected by a computer glitch while taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test on March 29 will not have to re-take the high stakes test, a Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) official confirmed on Thursday, April 7.

“Ultimately, all the answers were recovered,” said Wes Cunningham, Ph.D., assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

District officials maintained a “cautious optimism” since the problem happened after Texas Education Administration (TEA) officials said it was possible answers were stored on either TEA or Educational Testing Service (ETS) computer servers, Cunningham said on March 31.

ETS is the vendor that administers the tests.

The MFISD students at different grade levels were taking the computer-based

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Colt Elementary fourth and fifth grade students decided the fate of Goldilocks for her crime of “Criminal Mischief with Damages” at a mock trial at Marble Falls Teen Court last month. (Last year, members of the C3--Colt Character Crew--threw the virtual book at the Big Bad Wolf for speeding.)

C3 students, called Master Leaders, do community service projects and leadership development exercises such as the mock trial.