For those of you who need a refresher about the 2008 Bond Program and the 40 million dollars that have come of it, check out this week’s issue of Oak Cliff People, which hit stands today. Follow the jump for the transcript from the DISD School Board meeting last night, where the board voted to approve the Bond Advisory Committee’s suggestion to add a new academic wing to Greiner Middle School. This will get roughly 600 students out of portable classrooms and help relieve the 180% overcrowding at the school.

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This was my first school board meeting – and what an exciting one to attend! For those of you who weren’t following my play-by-play on Oak Cliff People’s twitter, I’ll have the full transcript for your shortly. In the mean time, below is Susan Nurre, a member of Friends of Greiner, three minute speech about why the board should approve the 16 million dollar addition to the campus.

“My name is Susan Nurre and I live on [edited out]. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a friend of Greiner. I am the mother of a Greiner Arts Academy student. I am also a member of Friends of Greiner which is a nonprofit created to support the arts and academic of all Greiner students. And I am talking to you about an item pulled for a separate vote agenda, item 9 A 1 and I urge you to vote for the expansion of the Greiner campus. Greiner is a [inaudible] right now, but Greiner works. We have great teachers, great parents, we have community support, we have people who want Greiner to succeed and Greiner is succeeding. We do want the expansion for things such as – you mentioned Moore, Oklahoma, we want to make sure that the building our children go to school will keep them safe. We want to make sure that that takes place. But we want it to be large enough to keep the academy there, the Arts Academy is an integral part of Greiner and its success. When I was talking to my son, a seventh grader, he said ‘Greiner is my home. I’m an academy kid, there are neighborhood kids, we are all together and Greiner is our home.’ We want you to expand it, keep the Art Academy there, and I thank you for your time.”

Our newest reporter, Margaux Anbouba, is entrenched at the DISD Board of Trustees meeting, where Eric Cowan has just been been elected president. Cowan cruised to a re-election victory on May 10, despite drawing two challengers.

The folks at Sylvan Thirty have announced the fate of the Alamo Plaza sign: It’s going to stay at the site where it’s always been, but it’s going to be broken up and repurposed into three sculptures.

The Sylvan Thirty blog has a Facebook-based commenting system, and the first two commenters are on opposite sides of the issue.

Eddie D. Stafford says, “You just destroyed the sign! This is how you listen to the community?” But Craig Parsons counters, “At the end of the day, it’s their property, this is a free country, and I’m putting my anger and energy toward more pressing social issues in the world. I suggest you all do the same.”

So, what’s your take?

Casper’s human family members are Steve and Wendy Reiner. (Photo: Alana Harrison)

Be they four legged, finned, feathery, or scaly, pets are part of the family. Pose with your pet or send us your favorite snapshot by tomorrow for the chance to be featured in our Pet People section, which premieres next Friday. This section will cover news and information for all pet lovers, including community pet-friendly establishments, local animal organizations and services, and your cutest pet pics. Email your pet family portraits to pets@peoplenewspapers.com with your contact info, your neighborhood, and a brief bio today!

Even if you can’t be there in person to wish your favorite DISD graduate well, you can technically still watch him or her walk the stage.

Commencements for Sunset and Adamson high schools will be at 7 p.m. on June 5 and June 7, respectively, at the Ellis Davis Field House. They’ll also be streamed on Time Warner Cable channel 492 and U-verse channel 99 (you’ll apparently select “Dallas” from the main menu, then “Dallas ISD-492″).

A full schedule of the school district’s commencement ceremonies can be found here.

Moments ago, the City Council approved PSW’s zoning request for single-family units at Kings Highway.

“This is a great development,” Councilman Scott Griggs said.

Look for more details in our May 31 issue.

Awhile back, we had a tab on this blog called Good Neighbor, which was essentially a community bulletin board with many a lost-pet post. Today I got a note intended for that long-deleted web page, and am surprised and glad that it came through.

Lucy is a 14-year-old pomeranian who was wearing a little red sweater when she disappeared from her Winnetka Heights home yesterday afternoon. She’s now without some much-needed medication, which has her family pretty worried.

Her owner, Lee Day, is offering a reward. You can reach Lee at 214-926-1157.

At 5:20 a.m. on May 14, a thief stole two Gain laundry detergent products with a combined value of $12, two toothbrushes with a combined value of $6.98, two Dawn dish soap products with a combined value of $4.62, and a $3.99 bottle of Pinesol from 7-Eleven in the 2000 block of Fort Worth Avenue before fleeing in a black 1995 Nissan sedan.

Between 9 a.m. and noon on May 15, a burglar broke into a house in the 1800 block of West Illinois Avenue and stole two 23-inch flat-screen TVs with a combined value of $1,600, $1,000 worth of jewelry, a $600 Playstation 360, a $500 laptop, a $400 Playstation 2, a $350 Smith & Wesson pistol, and 10 CDs with a combined value of $200.

At around 11:40 p.m. on May 15, the manager of an apartment complex in the 500 block of North Marsalis Avenue saw a miscreant hammering on a Pepsi machine in the complex’s courtyard. When the miscreant realized he was being watched, he grabbed a black-and-blue duffle bag before fleeing in a red 1996 Chevy coupe. Upon closer inspection, the manager discovered that the machine had been cut with a torch, with $2,500 worth of damage caused.

Keep reading for more crimes.

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School may be (almost) out for summer, but that doesn’t mean that your little ones should stop practicing their reading. Last week I chatted with Carol Ann Luby, the vice president of membership for the University Park Library, and she shared an interesting fact with me: children can lose two to three brain levels in reading during the summer time if they don’t do it regularly. As a child I spent my summers enrolled in Hyer’s book club, and I credit it as one of the reasons I love reading so much (shout out to Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Shuford). Are you looking for something similar to enroll your little ones in? Here are the details on Mayor Rawlings’ summer reading camp.

The Mayor’s Summer Reading Club will last for eight weeks (June 15 – August 10) and aims to get the whole family involved (that’s right, there’s a section for adults too).  You can register online or at any Dallas Library location. Instead of selecting a specific book for kiddos to enjoy, this reading club wants participant to log their hours spent reading – and receive prizes as a reward (free Pizza Hut, perhaps?). Click here to find out more information.