San Angelo ISD School Board Meeting - January 20, 2026

001Good evening and welcome. My name is Taylor Kingman, president of the board of trustees for San Angela ISD. I would like to welcome all of you who are present at tonight's regular board meeting, as well as those who will be watching the recording online or on our public access channel. Today is January 20th. All items on the agenda have been posted as required by state law and most items have been discussed in our earlier pre-aggenda board workshop. As a board, our work includes setting goals, hearing reports from our superintendent, approving budgets, contracts, and personnel items, and making policy decisions for the district. Please keep in mind that this is a mean of the board held in public, not a mean of the public. These proceedings are recorded and will become part of the district's permanent

002record. to help us maintain a clear recording. Please refrain from speaking while others have the floor and please silence your cell phones. Thank you again for being here and for your support of SASD. We do have a quorum and we will begin with our first item on the agenda which is our invocation and Jamie Rouse, associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church is going to help us with that. >> Thank you. Would you bow your heads in prayer? Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you that we have a God who answers prayers, who tells us to call on you in prayer. And we glorify your name today as our true God and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray for these meetings tonight, Lord, for the board to have great wisdom to know your direction

003as as they care about each and every student and each every employee of the district. Lord, there's a great responsibility here. And I just pray that you would just anoint them with the wisdom and the knowledge as they've uh talked and consulted with others, Lord, that they would know what is best for the children of St. Angelo ISD, Lord, for these children. We're grateful to you for them because you tell us that children are a blessing from you. And we thank you for each child. We each one that is present tonight. We thank you for them and their successes. And I know this board celebrates those successes. And we pray that you'd give them even more success. But Lord, even those that are the marginal in our district, we pray for them tonight. We pray

004that you would meet their needs. Lord, that their teachers, their aids, those that work with them every day would see needs and be able to reach out and help them meet those needs. Lord, for each employee, for the teachers, for the custodian staff, for the maintenance and technology, and all of those who bear the backbone of this district. Lord, we pray for them. We pray that you remind them every day that they have a gift from you to work with these kids. And we just pray that you would just um honor their work and that they would honor you in their work. So Lord again tonight we pray that you would bless this meeting that you would be glorified in each and every decision. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Um now we

005have some fifth graders from McGill Elementary. We have King White, Kanan Morales, and Brinley Porus. And they're going to come up and help us with our pledges of allegiance to the United States and Texas. And if everyone would stand, I'd appreciate it. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. for the Texas flag. I aliance to the Texas one state one and indivisible. All right. >> All right. Next, we're going to move forward with our recognitions and Shannon Schwarz is going to help us as we get on with that. >> Good evening. We have a few recognitions tonight and we're going to first start out with a really, really special one. I'm going to invite

006Miss Kathy Keane from Congressman Fluger's office here and we are going to recognize Akos Picot for something extremely special. So, Miss Keane, good evening school board and Dr. Moran, I want to thank you so much for allowing us to make this recognition here publicly. Um, I want to give you a little bit of background. The Congressional App Challenge is an annual event that's hosted by the House of Representatives and it's for middle school and high school students with the goal of encouraging them to learn code and inspire them with the goal of encouraging I'm sorry, inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. This year was a record-breaking year for the app challenge. We had 13,830 students across the United States, created 4,650 applications across 394 congressional districts. That's 90% of the districts held this

007app challenge. So today uh or tonight we're pleased to recognize Akos Va Cody as a student here at Central High School as a test Texas District 11's app challenge finalist. Akasha's app was what's on my ballot and was inspired by interviews that he conducted in May of 2025 with all of St. Angelo's mayoral and city council candidates that were actively running for office. He then published a simple voter guide to easily explain the viewpoints of each candidate. And what's on my ballot received a lot of media attention as he developed that and helped contribute to near doubling the voter turnout here in St. Angelo, which is tremendous. So on behalf of Congressman Fluger, I'd like to present Akos with a congressional recognition and ask you to help me congratulate him. One, two, three. Do you

008want your paper? >> I'll just let you roll through, Shannon. >> Thank you. That sounds good. Tonight, we have some members of the St. Angela Schools Foundation. So, I'm going to go ahead and invite y'all to come up and stand in the middle with Dr. Moran. Okay, tonight we're proud to recognize the St. Angelo Schools Foundation for its continued partnership and support of St. Angelo ISD. Established in 1989, the school's Foundation continues to strengthen academic opportunities for our students by championing educator-driven ideas and investing in the future of our classrooms. The dedicated members of the foundation, many of whom are here with us tonight, work closely with our district and our educators to help students reach their individual hopes and dreams. They do this by supporting and inspiring innovation and excellence in teaching and learning

009across St. Angelo ISD. Since its founding, the St. Angelo Schools Foundation has invested more than $1.2 million directly into our classrooms and students. To date, that support includes over one million in grants to teachers, nearly $200,000 in scholarships, and more than $24,000 for the Bright Ideas Initiative for a combined impact of 1,226,160 supporting innovation and opportunity across our district. This year alone, the foundation awarded $92,014 in grants to teachers, supporting 72 educators, eight all-campus projects, and reaching 20 campuses districtwide. Later this spring, the foundation will award up to $15,000 through this year's Bright Ideas Initiative. So, if we have any staff members who haven't applied, you should think about it. Together, these investments help turn creative ideas into meaningful learning experiences and ensure our students benefit from engaging innovation innovative instruction. Tonight, we are joined

010by several members of the school's foundation board, including executive director director Narin Carpenter, President Ashley Hony, President-elect Gan Owens, treasurer Stacy Elkins, Chrisman Graves, and Reneor. Please join me in thanking the St. Angelo Schools Foundation for its incredible support of our students, staff, and our district. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking time. >> It's not my turn. >> It's not my recognition this time. So, I'm going to turn it to Dr. >> Gman. I'm going to defer this one to Dr. Gman. She's going to do recognition of teachers with the National Board Certification. >> Thank you, Dr. Kingman, Dr. Moran, and members of the board. This brings me great pleasure. If you're a recipient, you can breathe. I'm not going to make you stand up here the whole time I talk. Okay. Teachers love

011to brag on students, but they don't always like to be on the receiving end. But this is welld deserved. This is the part of the job that brings me the greatest joy. So quite excited for this recognition. Uh for um some of our teachers throughout the district, but for the board and for those here in person and those watching, um I want everyone to understand why this is so special. This ranks among the best of the best, the highest level of accreditation in the teaching industry. National Board certification is a voluntary. Please note that teachers plates are always overflowing. So these staff members chose to seek this professional growth. So it's a voluntary advanced professional credential for prek through 12 educators that recognizes accomplished teaching through a rigorous performance-based peer-reviewed assessment. The certification is issued

012by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and is widely regarded as the highest professional certification available to classroom teachers in the United States. So, I want to say that again, not the state, nationwide. That's why this is a really big deal. Now, you do have to come stand up here. Also, at this time, Miss Fliin, if you could, if you will wait here, I'm gonna call you individually, Miss Fentress, if y'all will come back just really quick. Miss Flippin. Yeah, this is a little bit of the part where you have to smile and do those things. Um, while we're we're getting ready, I also have called up Miss Mary Beth Flipping. Miss Flippen, I'm proud to say as well, is a current SISD employee who is serving as our teacher retention specialist. We know

013that recruiting is one part of equipping your organization with the best staff, but the key is retention. And so, we're blessed to have Miss Flippin in this role. She currently works with our new to profession teachers out in the field. But Miss Flipping, she had to go away for a little bit. Don't worry, she found her way home. So, she personally coached and worked with several of these teachers in her former role. And so it's just very fitting that she gets them gets to see them come across that finish line. So before I call you up, let me give a little more background. National board certification is valid for 5 years for teachers certified in 2017 or later with renewal available through the maintenance of certification process. So again, it goes back to showing uh

014the level of professionalism that these educators hold. It's not just something you get and you check it off your box. You have to continue the learning process. That's why it's the best of the best. By supporting teachers in pursuing national board certification, districts can strengthen instructional excellence, attract and retain high-quality educators, and leverage teacher incentive aotment funding to reinvest in teacher compensation and campus improvement. All of these teachers automatically will receive compensation part of the state's teacher incentive aotment. I'm also proud to say that we have a board of trustees that recognize the magic really happens in classrooms. So on top of the state's allocation from teacher incentive a lot, you all have approved an additional stipend that they will get for serving in St. Angelo ISD. You don't get that stipend if you serve

015somewhere else. Just want to remind you of that a little levity. So, first up, please welcome and help me congratulate Mia Arerodondo from Fort Concho. Next up, please help me in congratulating Brenda Barner. Next, a big congratulation to Jenny Black. Miss Black. Next, a round of applause and congratulations to Lucy Fentress. And last, but certainly certainly not least, you know, I am a former first grade teacher and we do things in alphabetical order. So, please congratulate Macy Smithson. Sounds like class yourself in height order like a normal class picture. Please join me in another round of applause for these outstanding educators. Congratulations. Once you finish your pictures, if you'll please come around the circle, the board members would very much like to shake your hands and congratulate each of you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. All right,

016Shannon, you're back up. >> It's me again. All right. So, each January, we take time to honor the dedicated individuals who volunteer their time and talents to serve their communities as schoolboard members. Trustees play a vital role in overseeing the operation of local public schools in ensuring students receive a highquality public education. Schoolboard recognition months gives us a chance to pause and say thank you to recognize the time, care, and thoughtful leadership our trustees bring to our district and to our students. This year's schoolboard recognition month theme is our future is public. As trustees volunteer their time and expertise to guide the direction of school districts, they're investing not only in today's students, but in the future workforce, our community, and the Texas economy. We're grateful for the leadership and service of our St. AngeloD

017trustees, President Dr. Taylor Kingman, Vice President Amy Miselle Flynn, Secretary Gerard Gyos, Treasurer Bill Dindle, our newest board member, Miss Carla Cardinas, Dr. Kyle Mills, and Miss Pam Duncan. Tonight, we're also joined by some very special students. Culinary arts and floral design students from both Central High School and Lake View High School have created beautiful floral arrangements and some sweet treats to present to our trustees as a small token of appreciation for your service. On behalf of our students, staff, and families, thank you to our board for your dedication, your leadership, and your commitment to public education. And let's just take a moment for how beautiful these arrangements are. They're gorgeous. And while they do that, I'd like to just publicly say thanks to the board for the the uh input, for the dedication, hours

018of uh reading through board book documents prior to meetings, uh questioning, and uh guiding this district over time. Thank you all for the work you're doing. >> Was this all of you? Yes. >> And I believe these flowers and u treats came from Lake View High School. So, thank you. Thank you, Lake View. >> All right. Sorry. >> Next on our agenda is public comments. Uh we do have individuals signed up to speak this evening. For those speaking tonight, please remember to follow the guidelines you received when you signed in and that were displayed on the screen before the meeting began. Our first speaker is Virgil Pacetti and his topic is leadership, finances, and transparency. Hello, my name is Virgil Petti, concerned father. Um, I know today one of the agenda items is closing down

019two additional schools and you know and it's because we don't have any money and we got to have the savings and you know we closed those other two schools and we saved about $1.5 million but it cost us $20 million to save 1.5. So that gives you a ROI of 7%. or a net payback of 13 years. So, we're not actually going to book any of those savings for 13 years. There's not a company in the world would take on a capital project that big with a 7% return. So, quit telling the public that you're doing this great deed for us that you're such a fiduciary with our money. You spent 20 million to save one and a half. And in the process, you traumatized all those kids. And now you want to do the

020same thing again because we need the money. We have a communication department right there. Two people, $500,000. We got 1.1 million in staff development. Yet, we're being investigated by the TA for not developing our staff and having people that aren't supposed to be teaching our special ed kids. We got $4.5 million for counseling. Is that directly going to impact the students? No, it might indirectly but there's money out there. The other thing scientific method you only change one variable at a time so that you can have a clear and concise I can't even think of the word to establish a clear and concise cause and effect. You're changing too many variables. You want to close more schools. You want to build here. The Fannon, the Aloma to Fannon was a disaster and now you want

021to do it to two more schools and you want to do it to Reagan and Buoie. And then third on the list is Santaita. Santaorita is going to be 100 years old this year. It only has 140 students that actually belong there. All the rest are transferred in because that's your little country club. So you're going to displace 400 kids at these other schools at the behest of your special 140 el presidentede cuz they're more important to you than those other 400 because they're the elite. So before you go and shut down those other schools, you need to look deep because you you know you you can't protect Sanorita at the disbenefit of these other kids and it's going to come out. So if y'all vote to do that, all that's coming out and everybody's

022going to truly finally see who y'all are. >> Thank you, Mr. Petti. Next we have Miss Emily Sharp and she's talking on closing schools. >> Good evening. My name is Emily Sharp. I'm a former Aloma parent and a current fan Fannon parent. As this board considers closing additional schools, I'm here because the closure of Aaloma and the transfer of students to Fannon was mishandled and the impact of those decisions continues to affect our children. When Aaloma closed, parents were repeatedly promised that Fannon would be a better environment. That promise has not been kept. The transition was chaotic and unacceptable. At open house, classrooms were unfinished. Teachers met families in the cafeteria and students were expected to attend school the next day without time to learn the campus or the routine. Children who have already lost

023their school were giving no transitional support. Condition at Fannon remains problematic. Traffic is unsafe and the cafeteria is overcrowded and rushed leaving students with barely enough time to eat. Yes, I know phase 2 construction should be done in 2027 yet students were moved before facilities were were ready. That planning failure should not have fallen on our children. Across the district, M. Miguel received what it needed with more improvements coming. Fannon got a new parking lot, a hallway, and please don't forget the new basketball court. Crockett is Crockett is estimated to be completed in August 2026 and Buoie hasn't even closed yet. This just goes to goes to show that the north side schools continue to be deprioritized. Communication from this board is unacceptable. I've emailed every board member multiple times about serious issues including heating

024heating and air conditioner failures that sorry I'm nervous that lasted nearly half the school year last year. Most of the emails went unanswered besides Dr. Mills. Thank you for that. Parents should not have to rely on social media to be heard when the welfare is at stake. Most concerning is a serious safety in incident involving my daughter. She was physically shocked and spark showered her back by a portable air conditioner when it was plugged into the outlet and the outlet caught on fire. This was not minor. It was a clear safety failure. To this day, I have received no one no response from the board or admin. Before closing any schools, this board must take responsibility. Do not move students in into incomplete campuses. Do not promise improvements when they are not ready. Do not

025promise double the staff when we can't even find a steady principal. And our classrooms are filled with 25 kids when we were promised four teachers per grade. We don't have four teachers per grade at Fannon. Our children deserve safe, prepared learning environments. Parents deserve trans transparency, accountability, and action. Thank you, Miss Sharp. Next, we have Miss Amy Strickland. Hi, my name is Amy Strickland and I am a concerned parent and I want to address the families also who I'm sure they're also concerned about the closing of Buoy Elementary. Um my family and I moved here from El Paso three years ago and my son started his um educational journey in El Paso. Um when we moved here to Buouie, he um we moved here my son was just starting his educational journey in El Paso

026and like any parent I worried about how such big change would affect him academically, socially and emotionally. Starting over in a new city and a new school is not easy for a child. What I can tell you today that is that enrolling my son in Buoie Elementary was the best decision that I have made. Buy is one um since attending Buoie, I have seen significant improvement in my son's academic performance. His grades have improved and most importantly he is now reading at beyond grade level. That did not happen by accident. It happened because of the support, the structure and the dedication of the teacher and staff at this school. Boy is Bully is more than just a building. It's a community. The teachers know their students. They recognize their strengths, notice when they struggle and

027step in to help. That kind of individualized attention makes a real difference, especially for the children who may fallen behind or who are adjusting adjusting to major life changes. Closing buoy would not just disrupt schedules, it would dis disrupt progress. It would uproot children who are finally thriving. For students like my son, consistency matters. Stability matters. Taking the away risks, undoing years of hard work, not only from the students, but from the educators who have invested so much time in their success. I understand that difficult decisions must be made and I respect the responsibility of this board. the responsibilities board carries, but I urge you to consider the long-term impact on our children. Numbers and budgets do not tell the full story. Growth, confidence, and academic improvement cannot always be measured on a spreadsheet, but

028they are real and they matter. Buoy gave my son the opportunity to succeed. Please do not take that opportunity away from him and so many other students who depend on this school. Thank you for your time and thank you for listening to the voices of parents who only want what's best for their children. >> Thank you, Miss Strickland. All right, next we're going to move forward with conducting our finance and audit committee workshop. I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Dindle to do that. >> Thank you, Dr. Cayman. Our uh financial reports for December begin on page nine uh with the uh finance and audit report. Page 13 shows right now the committed fund balance at 4.9 million of which 4 point excuse me of which $4 million are designated to capital projects were

029identified earlier in the year. Currently we show the unassigned fund balance uh resting at 50.5 million. I'm going to move to page 16 of revenues expenditures report for December. We're in the fourth month of our budget cycle. So, we should be at about 33% of our total budget uh for expenditures and revenues. Our revenues currently stand at 34.6%. And our expenditures are at 33.5%. So, we're right in line with our budget cycle at this point. Page 17 through 35 is our check register for December. We received that uh in it in its entirety in a report earlier this month. I don't know if anybody's had any questions about any of those checks. If not, we can move forward to page 36 through40, which is our December monthly investment report. Currently, interest earned for this uh

030December December was1,68,945.38. And currently, we have approximately 400 million invested uh basically due to our uh our bond funds that are that are continuing to earn interest as we were waiting for them to be distributed to uh our bond projects. There are no questions about our investment report. We can move to the November tax report. At this point, our taxes collected uh stand at 8.67% which is not unusual at all. The bulk of that of those funds will come in in December and January as people begin to pay their uh 2025 uh property taxes. There's no question about that report. We can move to our December PO report. Several items attached, multiple items. Uh the most significant PO listed is for the E3 bond project. uh for a significant amount of HVAC uh renovation and

031coordination. There are no questions about any of those purchases. Uh uh that would conclude this report. Thank you. Any questions? All right, we're going to move forward with some information items. Uh next we're going to do our 2425 audit report presentation. Dr. Keeman, Dr. Moran, board of trustees. Each year the district engages an independent certified public accountant to audit its financial reports. The audit report must be presented to the Texas Education Agency. The firm of ID Bailey was engaged to perform the audit for fiscal year 2025. We have with us this evening uh Jeremy Stevens, CPA and partner ID Bailey. And as he makes his way up, I'd like to make a quick recognition and a shout out uh to Mr. Guero. Hi Guero, our comproller uh who spends the bulk of time of any

032of our employees in the audit. Takes a team uh but he's at the front of that uh with the audit making sure everything is correct for the district and recently received his certified public accountant. So, we're very proud uh for Mr. Guero. >> Thanks very much. Uh good evening members of the board. Uh I'm Jeremy Stevens with ID Bailey. Uh our firm has uh completed the audit of the financial statements of the district. Uh as of and before the year ended August 31st, 2025, I left a copy of those uh bound financial statements to each of your seats. Additionally, I have a brief presentation to kind of uh cover some of the financial highlights. Uh before I get into it though, do want to say audit went well this year. Did not have any uh

033adjusting journal entries that were identified as a result of audit procedures. So uh like I said, good good clean audit year. So that being said, I'll get into the bound copy starting with our uh audit report which starts on page number 12. Uh I've summarized kind of the the main points up on the slide. First of all, uh it starts at the top of page number uh 12 with our opinion which states that in our opinion. Uh these financial statements present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the district. Uh so this is what's known as an unmodified or a clean opinion on the financial statements. Uh it then goes on describe our basis for our opinion uh which that we conducted our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Uh and

034that we believe that the uh audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Uh it then goes on to describe management's responsibility for the financial statements uh which management is responsible for the preparation uh and the fair presentation of these financial statements uh in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles uh and for the design and implementation of internal controls. And then lastly on page number 13 uh it states our responsibility for the audit of the financial statements uh which our objectives are to uh obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles uh and to express an opinion as to whether these financial statements are presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting uh principles. Uh there's some additional narrative

035regarding our approach to internal controls which is we gain an understanding of the district's internal controls uh to design our auto procedures. However, we do not test them to an extent that allows us to express an opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls. Uh so we're not expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls. Uh now moving on to some of the basic financial statements themselves. Uh starting on page number 25 with the statement of net position. Uh this particular statement provides a snapshot of all assets and liabilities of the district uh as of August 31st, 2025. I've got a very very summarized version of that SL uh uh statement on the slide there with a comparative column for 2024. Uh you'll see at the end of the current fiscal year total assets and

036deferred outflows of resources. Uh we're about $76 million this year. Uh compared to last year, it's about $315 million. Uh total assets uh and deferred outflows increased about $390 million year-over-year. Uh primarily that's in the restricted assets and those long-term investment categories. uh district did issue bonds uh in the 2025 uh fiscal year. Uh those uh bonds generated some of those bond proceeds which were then held as restricted assets or investments until they're spent down on future years on those construction projects. So that's what's what drove up those uh total assets and deferred outflows of resources. Uh likewise on liabilities and deferred inflows of resources, those also increased uh significantly. uh you'll see up to about 586 million in the current fiscal year uh from about 195 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh again,

037that's largely driven by that 2025 bond issuance. Uh basically grossed up the balance sheet. Uh got the assets up there and then the corresponding liability was recorded as well. Uh if you add it up your assets less your net uh your your total liabilities, uh you get a total net position at year in about 120 million this fiscal year. Uh really comparable to last fiscal year is about 120 uh.4 4 million in the previous fiscal year. Second statement that I'll touch on is the balance sheet of governmental funds uh which is on uh page number 29. Uh again this statement provides a snapshot of assets and liabilities of the district. Uh however it's presented on what's known as the modified acrual basis of accounting. Uh so this particular statement it's its focus is on uh

038current assets and current liabilities. So, it does not include any sort of long-term assets uh such as your capital assets, fixed assets or anything of that nature. Additionally, there are no long-term liabilities. Uh so, it does not include a liability for your bonds payable uh or for your uh net pension or net other post-employment benefit liabilities. Uh under this basis of accounting, again, you'll see total assets uh did have a significant increase uh up to about 483 million this year. Again, largely in that restricted assets and long-term investment category. Uh again, when the it's kind of quirky with governmental accounting when you issue those bonds, uh you get the asset and that gets recorded as an asset, but then it gets recorded as revenue on your income statement until you spend it down in future

039years. Uh so that's why your assets are up again from that that 2025 bond issuance. Uh as far as liabilities and deferred inflows of resources, you'll see uh about 20 million in the current fiscal year, about 26.5 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh so pretty comparable. uh did decrease a little bit year-over-year, but but overall pretty pretty comparable. Uh if you add it up, you get your uh fund balance at year end, about 463 million in the current fiscal year, uh compared to about 70 75 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh this next slide I have on here to kind of show the the differences in those categories of fund balance year-over-year. And and this is total fund balance. U I have a slide in a second just to talk about general general

040fund fund balance. Uh as far as total fund balance again you'll see that total increase uh up to about 463 million this year. Uh if you look at the the categories again it's that largely it's largely in that restricted category. Uh that those are uh assets and fund balance that is restricted for those future construction projects. That's why that has increased so much. Uh unassigned fund balance about 49 million in the current fiscal year. So it did decrease uh from about 51 a.5 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh again as far as the general fund uh again you'll see primarily that reduction in the unassigned fund balance in the general fund uh down to uh like I said that 49 million in unassigned in the at August 31st 2025 was about 51.5 million in

0412024. Uh one metric you can use to kind of gauge the health of that is to compare it to your average monthly expenditures in the general fund. uh TEA recommends to keep it at least about uh three times your average monthly general fund expenditures in that unassigned fund balance category. Uh based on the fiscal year 2025 expenditures uh that 49 million it represents about 4.2 times your average monthly general fund expenditures. Uh so you are a little bit ahead of what TA recommends uh uh to maintain as that minimum reserve. And lastly, I'll touch on statement of revenues, expenses, and changes in fund balance. Uh it's income statement of the district. Uh on page number 31, uh again, this slide summarizes revenue sources of the district. Uh you'll see total revenues and other financing sources

042this year about 562 million uh compared to about 175 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh again, uh as I mentioned, those bond proceeds when that bond is issued, it's recognized as as basically revenue in the current fiscal year. Uh so we see that in the other financing sources. Uh that's where that 42 million came in. Uh if you look at your total uh regular operating revenues uh down to about 160 million this year from about 174 million in the previous fiscal year. Uh local revenues that's primarily property taxes about 64 million this year. Uh very comparable to last year about 64 million. State revenues pretty comparable about 77 million each year. Uh and then those federal program revenues did decrease uh quite a bit year-over-year. Uh ESTRA funds expired in the previous fiscal year.

043uh those were not renewed by the federal government. So that's why those federal federal revenues decreased year-over-year. And then lastly, as far as uh expenses of the district, about 173 million in the current fiscal year, about 184 million in the 24 fiscal year. Uh so total expenses did decrease to about 11 million yearover-year. Uh if you look at the individual uh categories, that's primarily in the capital outlay uh down to about 8 million this fiscal year from about 17 million the previous fiscal year. Uh again, that's kind of a timing of when those capital expenditures and those capital projects happen. Uh 2025 was lower than 2024. Uh I I definitely suspect 2026 will be much much much larger. Uh but anyways, that's that was driving the the kind of the reduction in those overall expenditures

044year-over-year. And then there are two other reports uh that we're issuing which are back in the back of the the bound copy. Uh first is on page number 127. Uh it's our report on internal controls over financial reporting and on compliance. Uh again, this reiterates that we're not expressing uh an opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls. Uh however, if we did report uh any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies uh in internal controls over financial reporting or any instances of non-compliance, this is the report that we'd communicate those to you. And uh again there were no such items identified. And then lastly is our report on compliance uh required by the unifi uniform guidance which on page number 129. Uh district does receive federal funding. Uh each year the federal government uh publishes guidance to

045to auditors to how to uh perform a compliance audit on those federal funds. Uh this year the the federal programs that we tested with the special education cluster uh title four part A and stronger connections grants. Uh the opinion for those is found on page number 129. Uh states in our opinion the district complied in all material aspects with the compliance requirements uh of those major federal programs. We are reporting uh a significant deficiency in internal controls over over compliance. uh specifically related to the stronger connections grant. Uh that particular program does require the district to uh communicate with uh private schools within the the boundaries of the district and offer participation in that grant program uh with those private schools. Uh the district did that communication with private schools for the title 4 program

046and for uh other federal programs which require that communication, but the stronger connections grant was was overlooked and not not communicated with. Uh so that was you know it's kind of a with federal government especially with compliance it's you did it or you did not do it. Uh so that was that communication that participation was not offered so we're reporting it to you. Uh that program it does extend through the end of September 2026. Uh so you still have some room in that grant uh to work it out with tea and figure out if there's a way to uh kind of rectify that and and and correct that uh omission. Uh but like I said for the 2025 fiscal year uh we are reporting it as a as a deficiency in internal controls over that

047compliance requirement. And that was everything that I have. Does anybody have any any questions for me while I'm here? >> Any questions for Billy? >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, next we're going to have Carl Danheim come up and give us a bond construction update or or maybe we're going to have KFW come up and give us a B construction update. Hello Very good. Okay. Oh, you want to go back? Yep. There we go. Uh, good evening, uh, Dr. Maran, Dr. Brandon, and school board. Thank you guys for having us. We're here to give you guys an update on Fannon Elementary. Um, I apologize for those lines. Goodness. Uh, that's not how it looked on our computer. So, uh, please bear with me. Not every screen is going to look like

048that. Uh this uh this slide here is the uh bird's eye view of Fannon Elementary as it exists today. Um on to the left of your screen, you'll see the original structure that was built in 1966. It houses uh the ad the administration area, cafeteria, and the nurses uh office. And then adjacent to that, also part of the 1966 structure is uh your special programs, uh the library and eight classrooms. That's four kindergarten and four first grade classrooms. Moving further to the right or north um is a 1997 edition with 10 classrooms and then uh then further on is this most recent edition of eight classrooms that was completed I believe in 2024. um a little bit more. So these large blue lines, you can't really read what they are, but on um going down

049Edund Boulevard, which is the one on the right hand side is a 10in water man. And then on on the opposite side running down Wilson Street to the left of the street is a is an 8 in water man. And then that another thing to note is that teal line that sort of runs diagonally across the site is a large um storm sewer drain and as part of that storm sewer drain uh is a 20ft easement. So that's something that we need to be uh cognizant of as we move forward and that's part of sort of as how something that we've kind of come across as we as we have been working on these designs. Um, another thing to note is that you'll see the the dash lines that are the contour lines as as

050we go through. Uh, keep those in mind is that helps you understand each one of those contours recom uh depicts a foot of elevation change. So there's a all those contour lines shows a lot of elevation change on that site particularly as you go from uh the building to the east towards Louise Drive. This slide uh was done prior to our involvement in the pro. This this sketch and massy model was done prior to our our uh involvement in the in the project. I think it was part of the bond development uh packet. Um, and it shows sort of the preliminary program which was a cafeteria, the new cafeteria there over there by the gym on the west side of the campus back by the alley and then a new admin building with a library

051and then new parking and pullth through with a drop off uh in that area. and then the admin and library and cafeteria space that's in the original building would then have been migrated over leaving the eight classrooms and special programs in that existing uh area. So as we uh began to investigate um investigate the site, do a little bit of research, we kind of came across a few issues uh that kind of made us scratch our head. uh and one is the uh topography that I mentioned before. So at the intersection over there at that at the at the I guess lower on the the lower left hand part of that screen of uh Louise and and Wilson Drive, that corner is uh 20 ft in difference in elevation from the finished floor of the

052school. So it's 20 ft below. Um so we're looking at a pretty uh significant elevation change. So that parking lot in this graphic it looks nice and flat but really what we'd be looking at is a series of retaining walls, ramps, drainage coververts uh and stairwells that would kind of uh really complicate the project and add a fair amount of cost. Um, another issue that we ran across is that our understanding was that part of the a future phase for after this were to be completed at a at a future date would be to um replace that 1966 structure with a classroom building, a new classroom building. However, uh we're we're kind of eating up all the swing space. We don't have we don't you don't really have anywhere to put uh the eight class

053the eight uh first grade and kindergarten classrooms as as you uh uh once you start construction of that area. So because the area where you see the portables is actually going to be taken up by the new cafeteria and that's the that's kind of the last remaining flat part of this site where you could place a portable. So we were really kind of scratching our head on how best to to work that. So our our proposal, what we what we think is is a good direction is to rather than um the cafeteria will stay in that or the same location back there by the gym in the alley, but rather than a new administration building with the library, we're proposing a new 10 classroom building uh there at the on the eastern side of the

054campus. And then the as part of this current scope and then at a later date as part of a secondary scope would be the renovation rather than rather than the replacing that original that original structure with a new building. It would be renovating that existing structure with the uh to to house the current the the the admin the library uh special programs nurses and and the like. Um, what you'll also see here is that we're getting rid of that very uh large and expensive pullthrough parking lot and and drive. So, that's that's money that's being now portal directly into student learning spaces by adding in that 10 classroom building. Um, so before we look uh too much in the uh at the at where we are with these with the 10 classroom building and the

055cafeteria, uh Kai is going to talk a little bit about sort of what we saw in that original structure that kind of really helped spark our imagination, helped us kind of think about moving in this direction. >> So good evening uh Dr. Morans, Dr. Keeman and board members. Yes, I'm Kai Frankie with KFW Architects. Uh, and Brooks and I made several visits to the site and visited with the principal and Dr. Brandon and Carl. And as we went into the building and met there and had meetings, you know, this building has some interest to it. Uh, it has an interesting shape and a hexagon shape, we realized that some of those classrooms in the pie shape don't work the best for regular typical instructional space. However, the building itself, uh, we recognized that, you know,

056it seemed fairly sound and and it's a lot of volume of space. Uh, it's over 23,000 square ft. Uh, so as we were, as Brooks was discussing earlier about trying to figure out what's best for the campus, look at the scope and the programming and figure out how best to solve that. his first slide with those bold lines on it were illustrating the utility lines and where they're located around the building. And so as we did our study and explored does a cafeteria go on this side and then does it have access to the front admin area. uh if the admin goes on that east side and we build that large parking lot, we have to ex we cannot exceed 10% of grade and have it as a fire lane. And so there is just

057a lot of moving parts there. So, we kind of went back to this train of thought of let's look at that building a little bit closer and see if it has merit and instead of taking it down and building a new classroom building in a phase two or further down the road for the district, could it be repurposed? Could it be salvaged and repurposed? And so we did another visit there and took the structural engineer and MEP engineer to the building. We walked the building, explored some of the structural integrity of the building. Uh it really has very good bones and it has a lot of square footage there. The only thing we saw was on the outside there was some graffiti in years past that had uh I think someone had taken a sand

058blaster to it and you know tried to remove that graffiti. That building has an accent brick in it that is very soft. And so that sand blasting delaminated some of the brick, but it's only in those areas where they did this sand blasting. They also put a coating on it that tried to probably prevent future uh graffiti. And so we had one of the masons go and clean an area to see if it could be cleaned off. and it could we so we thought you know uh there's a lot of value if that was considered to be a phase two down the road and we built that classroom building now on the east that would solve that problem you wouldn't have that worry about where to stage some portables for swing space because the school

059could stay in full operation during construction of a classroom building on the east simplifying some things and then also the cafeteria on the west because of the way the utility connections are. So we we kind of came to that conclusion and talked with Dr. Brandon and Moran's Dr. Morans about that as well as Carl and visited. We did this uh just kind of a quick layout to see how could that space be repurposed and reused. And so it really works very well for just a first cursory in meeting the scope criteria that is needed at the school. So the admin would stay up at the front area where the portico share is and that parking lot could all stay. It would have a really an admin suite which would have a nice conference room, record

060storage, principal and vice principal to the far east. It would have a nurses area and then the library would move from the core area potentially. In this illustration, it may not end up this way, but this was just to show you how the space could be used. Library might move to the east. That center >> gain square footage. >> Yeah, the center core area, pardon me, >> and gain square footage. The core area might be a teacher training space or a large conference room for all the staff to be able to gather. Uh and then that furthest west area could be special programming. So that's how that building could potentially be repurposed and have a nice flow. The good part would be we could build the admin build or build the classroom building and cafeteria

061buildings and then when the district was ready, we could come in and really see exactly what the needs are and potentially repurpose this building. The positive thing is we didn't take down a good building. Uh, also that side is so challenging. The grades are just tremendous and to try to put portables on that campus is very difficult after we build that cafeteria. So, we really kind of felt like this was maybe using the dollars wisely and putting them back into the students and programming. >> Did I leave anything out? >> I may. So just walk through the classroom and cafeteria. This is very very very cursory very quick. Uh this is a you know a 10 classroom building with a uh double loaded corridor. Pretty standard. Uh we're showing group restrooms for older students. And

062then we do have uh single-use restrooms attached to classrooms as well. uh which allows and we would finalize the final location and the quantity of of what we needed as we talked further with the uh administration and the staff uh to really kind of hone in on what best serves serves the campus and gives them the best uh flexibility uh moving forward. Uh here's the cafeteria. This is seating for between 350 and 400 people, probably closer to 400 uh students. We have a large stage as well as group restrooms for boys and girls. And then the serving area the and the kitchen and food prep areas. Uh we're largely following the um the district model, the standard that's been set at both uh um McGill and and Crockett. So that's that is largely uh unchanged

063from those from those uh cafeterias since we know that that that works well for the for the food service uh staff in those locations. So we just keep that not try and reinvent that wheel. >> Okay. So I wanted to just kind of go over just briefly. We did a little cursory cost analysis to kind of see where we were at if we picked this direction and to see if we were staying within the budget that was allocated. And so the phase one is that upper portion of the sheet uh with includes the 10 classroom building, the cafeteria building. Uh we would propose to fire sprinkle the existing middle classroom building and that would include some lights and AC or um acoustical grid ceiling and also sprinkle that newest north building but just sprinkle it

064not change out ceilings or lights. And then since the site is so challenging, uh we have some budgetary dollars in there for the site utilities as well as that development. Um so contingencies on these type of projects, we need to ensure that they're there and I broke those out in three different brackets. Uh so all in all with the soft cost, uh we're at 17146. Now, that's very flexible, but uh wanted to try to give a snapshot of where we were at on at least this phase one. If you were to proceed with phase two down the road, I did an analysis of that and with soft cost and things in that it's about 11 11 million. But um I think all in all it is something to really consider that process or that approach.

065So I realize those together would be exceeding the budget. So, we're not really saying that phase two is part of this project, but if uh this was a good direction, then I think all in all it would be using the campus very wisely and it would be putting more of the dollars instead of into parking and more challenges of the site and putting them more to the students and u and into the ability to program the spaces. If there any questions, >> any questions for Brooks or Kai? >> I just had a question like uh I guess how important is that parking lot for I mean I know some parents have discussed like traffic patterns and flow with pickups and stuff. Is that removing that? Is that going to put a big hindrance in the

066school? So there are currently two uh two student drop offs uh and there are the city of St. Angelo standards for for parking are uh is 1.5 uh parking spaces per classroom and we would we'll we would exceed that uh by by a fair margin. Um that doesn't mean that that's not a challenging site. I mean, I do know that that during school functions there are, you know, parking is is is difficult. Um, and so that is definitely something that that needs to be considered. >> Dr. Keemman, one one thing Brooks and I were kind of tossing around in phase two, if the I'm sorry, in phase two, if the district were to move into that uh down the road, I think that Circle Drive and things could possibly be augmented to the west to

067gain a little more linear space and that might help with adding an additional pickup drop off area. uh because we realize that's always a concern of the principal and staff is how many drop off and pickup areas can we gain and so we could see that as a possibility there but that would need to be worked out in that phase 2 component of it. >> Thank you Dr. King. I know this all predates my arrival to the board, but I have a question. Um, were you all aware of the challenges that these men are presenting today when we or when the board selected Fannon as an elementary school to to um which school went to Fannon? Was it Austin or was it Aluma? Altoma. So, were you all aware of the challenges that they're facing

068now at school? Yeah. other questions. All right. Um, thank y'all. >> Thanks so much. >> Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Gomez, we're going to get an update on academic programs. >> Thank you. Dr. Keeman, Dr. Moran, and members of the board. I want to connect back to this. Oh, sorry, wrong clicker. To the board goals that you all approved this fall. This evening's academic update will specifically address goal one and goal three as we move forward. I first want to begin because the topic of this evening's conversation connects back to our work in school improvement. So we discussed this information in great detail in the fall semester and part of our commitment was ongoing updates to the board about how our campuses engaged in the process were progressing and the monitoring of those campuses

069specifically in addition to our regular district monitoring. So uh for clarity because it's important that we work from facts not other information that may be shared. We are talking specifically about the following campuses here. McGill, Belair, Bradford, Fannon, Golad, and Lincoln. It's also important to point out SISD does not have a single campus in four years of unacceptable performance. So, we do not have a single campus in year four. The five elementary campuses have three years and Lincoln has two years. Again, still very serious, still something we are committed to improving, but it's important that we work from facts. So, for campuses and school improvement and specific to these campuses that are engaged in a turnaround plan, the the specifications come directly from the Texas Education Agency. So, as a reminder from our fall discussions,

070if a campus has been identified as unacceptable for two consecutive school years, the campus must prepare and submit. Again, you may recall we talked about how um in the business world, we don't just prepare a plan and submit a plan and then not see a plan out. Okay? Okay. So, I just want to provide the clarity because that doesn't always align with um what the agency requires school districts to do. And then a turnaround plan must take effect no later than the school year following the third concept uh third consecutive unacceptable rating. So again for the summary of where we are engaged in the process and where each individual campus that we're discussing this evening is McGill is in the phase of implementing their approved turnaround plan. Golad is in the process of implementing their

071approved turnaround plan. Belair is in the developing and implementing the turnaround plan. Fannon is developing and implementing and Lincoln is in the development phase. Now I want to connect back because I know uh we have a lot of very academic language in the school system. So, I want to remind you of the information we also discussed in November regarding assessments and changes to specifically to NWA's MAP assessment, which the district uses grades 2 through high school. So, in July of 2025, NWA implemented a new set of national map growth norms, replacing the previous norms from the summer of 2020. This updates reflected significant postcoid shifts in student performance and changes in US student demographics. It's also important that I remind everyone we look at map for a national comparison not always looking just within the

072state itself. That norm referenced assessment is very important for educators. So as we reviewed what this means is the RIT scores remain unchanged but the norm reference groups have been adjusted to align with the current performance levels. Now some of you who have children in our system may be asking what's a good RIT score. And the first thing I'm going to say is what was the beginning RIT score? Because it's not like we think of school what's a good grade. It it doesn't work to that level. So it's not like an A. So it all depends on where the child was at the beginning, how they're progressing in the middle, but ultimately how they do at the end of that school year. And so we are currently in process of what we refer to as

073our middle of the year assessments. So I'm going to recap specifically some beginning of year assessment data for these schools because that was our commitment to you. Then in February after we've completed our ILOY data, we will be back to report so you have a comparison from beginning of year to middle of year how the data is progressing. And then again in summary in July 2025 norms offer a more accurate and relevant benchmark for understanding student achievement in the current state because nationwide since co there has been a dip. So we'll begin first with Belair Elementary. Again, it's important that we work with facts. So some factual information before we dive into their data. Belair with the last report that we have from the state with our economically disadvantaged status is a campus at 74.3%

074economically disadvantaged as compared to the 58% of the district and the 61% of the state. Belair also currently has approximately 328 students. I think it's important as we talk about um grade levels and teams of teachers, all of our campuses do not have four teachers. Our campuses where we're limited to only having two teachers per grade level. It is very difficult for the teachers in those grade levels for a lot of reasons. So also as I go forward I want to recap for you the number of sections in these campuses. So Bair Bair currently has three kindergarten sections, three first grade sections, two second grade sections, two third grade sections, two fourth grade sections, and two fifth grade sections. So when we're in the upper grade levels, what that means is one teacher teaches all

075of those kids RLA social studies. one teacher teaches the other teacher teaches them all math and science. Okay, so just for a point of reference as we move forward. Okay, so as we first look at Belair in terms of MC class and dibbles, which we know is our early reading assessment, I want to point out also from the fall um and back to what I said earlier, beginning this school year, the 25 26 school year, second grade began MAP. So, you're only going to see K and one for that ELMclass early reading assessment. Remember from our past conversations also, I don't want to just keep saying remember, but it's important that I point these out because you get a lot of information when we know that in St. Angelo as a whole and St. Angelo

076ISD, we have students entering kindergarten well below grade level for our district as a whole. So you can see Belair's kindergarten as compared to the district at well below. It's pretty comparable, but we are quite concerned when we look at Bair's first grade, they're well below as compared to the district well below. And so when we talk about resources and staffing and how do we push in additional support, those are the things we look to provide differentiation among these campuses. So, I told you this campus has three first grade sections. It's also important because we are very strategic on staffing and staffing is real. The challenges we have with that, not just with St. Angel, but with the nation. But with a campus that is that does have um larger gaps to close, we can't

077have three brand new non-experienced teachers in that grade level. And so those are the type of things we look in placement with. You all know we had a leadership change at this campus last year. Um we also had a key hire in that first grade. One of the most skilled teachers districtwide first grade. But I only give you that information not to disclose anything about staff, but we don't just fill positions to fill positions. We're looking at the data. We're looking at the student demographics and we're saying how can we best support. Now also in full transparency I don't want to close disclose the staff member because their confidentiality is very important. Um we have a brand new to the profession teacher in that grade level. That's why we have a teacher retention specialist so

078that staff member can be there to coach that new teacher to the profession. Um, so recapping for Belair, we are closely monitoring their first grade data because they are trending below the district and first grade is pivotal to getting a student to reading on grade level by third grade. When we move to the next slide and we look at cohorts of students, this is also important. We just don't compare from year to year. Those aren't the same groups of students. So we follow students through the grade levels. That's how we form our interventionist schedules. Interventionists are key in our campuses. All of our elementary campuses do have a minimum of one time or one full-time interventionist. Some of our campuses including Belair Elementary have an additional part-time interventionist. So we can track this data here

079by cohort. See how the students did kindergarten. See how they did first grade. There is a big jump in expectations in MClass from kinder and first grade. Again, going back to the expectation, the amount of standards the state has set forth in RLA for first grade, but first grade is a pivotal year again on getting students on track for third grade reading. So, you can see there's slow growth between first and second grade. However, what is key here is those students we we cannot it is urgent we cannot have students remaining in the well below level. So while growth is slow you do see students after two years of instruction moving from that well below to the below. I know I'm going kind of quickly but I have a lot of campuses so I don't

080want to go too quickly. Um, but I also want to be aware of our time. So, I'm trying to look at facial to make sure we're doing okay. Then when we move forward, we also look at cohorts by first grade. Again, first grade, we only have the two years of class data and we see districtwide that decrease from K to one with those standards. What will be very telling is this moyear data for this group of students. So I look forward to bringing that back to you. Our next slide here for Belair shows we're moving back to map again. You'll notice this is only third, fourth, and fifth. I'm not trying to disclose second grade at all. There's no cohort data to share because second grade this year only has MAP and last year they

081had ILM class. We can't compare two different assessments in a cohort manner. So that's why you see third, fourth, and fifth. And you can see specifically in math again, we're looking at the group of students as they progress up the grade levels. You can see in all three grades the grade level gains and their math writ scores. Also, you can see in that chart below though, we still have work to do and we fully acknowledge that work we have to be done where for no better for no more simplistic way to describe this. We want the bar graphs to hit the diamonds. Okay, that's the simplest way I can say that. So, we are making growth. You see those gains there, but we have more growth that need to be met. I I might can

082make y'all laugh a little bit. Don't use the word diamonds. Math teachers get really upset. Okay, remember I've been with prek. We start talking about that vocabulary because they first say diamonds. Just wanted any secondary math teachers that were listening to understand that we start talking about that vocabulary in prek. Then moving on to our RIT scores and RLA, you can see fourth and fifth grade and you can see the gains there. Now I do want to point out look at the bar graph and look at where we are on growth. There is greater growth that we are making in the upper grade levels for reading at Belair. So in summary at Bair we are very closely watching first grade and second grade. Okay. As we move forward to Bradford, again, it's important that we

083work for FA work from facts. Um, this campus is not in year four of unacceptable performance. And I say that because I had to go out and have some conversations with some staff who were a little offended by misinformation. So, it's not four years, it's three years. It's also important that I point out this is a bilingual magnet campus for the district. So going back to recap for this campus, Bradford has approximately 85.2% economically disadvantaged students as compared to the district's 58 and the states 61. They currently have approximately 453 students enrolled in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. They have two regular grade level sections and they have two bilingual sections. So when you talk about PLC's placement of students, it's two and two. In third grade, they have three regular sections and one

084bilingual section. In fourth grade and fifth grade, they have three classes per grade level. Okay? So in the fourth and fifth grade level, teachers departmentalize. There's an RLA teacher, a math teacher, so forth. Okay. So, as we look here at Bradford, when you see their kindergarten coming in, their kindergarten is coming in higher than the district at the well below about 10%. And their first grade is about 20%. Then I want to point out some information on this next slide where you see the cohorts as we go through and talk about our current second grade as they've moved forward. You're going to um in the second grade where it says map reading. Okay. Map reading proficiency level is only for the English version. I pointed out Bradford was our bilingual campus. We had 22 students

085at Bradford who took the grade 2 rla test in Spanish. So their data cannot be in here because it's not a comparable assessment. So K and one at Bradford we're monitoring closely kindergarten and first grade. I did want to show you though specific just pulling out the bilingual. So, I'll pause a minute and let you see those levels. And again, the reason why you have no data in second grade is because those 22 students took the RLA test in Spanish. So, we look at first grade with the two years. We do see the levels that I've already pointed out that we're closely monitoring and that well below. Then here's first grade bilingual. Oops. I'm sorry. I went I got click happy. I'm sorry. Trying to look at all the screens. Now we'll go to the

086upper grade levels with RIT scores. So this slide is specific to math. You can see the grade level gains in those cohorts as they go through the grade levels. And you also have the picture graph to show the observed growth. And then in RLA, while we know we have very specific work at um Bradford in those primary grades, we are seeing the gains in the upper grades. Also in full transparency if we as we have shared um with the board the difficulties in staffing um this was a specific campus where we could not find a qualified fourth grade teacher and for RLA specifically and we weren't going to just fill the classroom with a long-term sub. We had an experienced teacher that was in a specialty role that said please put me back in the

087classroom so I can provide tier one instruction to those students. That's just a testimony of the educators we have in this district. So, as I said, we provide differential support based on needs and the demographics of our school communities. Bradford with their emergent bilingual population has a full-time interventionist and has what we refer to as an EB student support teacher. So, it's it's not a one-sizefits-all staffing. It's very specific to that school community. Moving forward to Fannon, some overview as we um discuss Fannon. Fannon is approximately the last time it was reported to the state 81% economically disadvantaged as compared to the district's 58% and the state 61%. Current enrollment for Fannon is approximately 371 students. This is a campus where we have four kindergarten classrooms. Four first grade, four second grade, three fourth uh

088excuse me, four third grade, three fourth grade, and three fifth grade. And again, in the upper grades, starting in third grade, they do departmentalize. As we look first at the kindergarten and the first grade data for McLass, you see that the student population for Fannon does come in higher than our district, well below, which is a great concern for us again. And then in first grade, still above the district average and well below. As we move forward and look at cohorts of students, you see that as we go up from kindergarten to first grade with that cohort, you saw the closing of that well below and then as they moved up to second grade. For Fannon, we are seeing the progress at the primary grades. Staffing in some of the upper grades has been our

089challenge at Fannon. Then we can look at our current first grade. Again, I want to reiterate the need that we cannot wait, the urgency to have students reading on grade level by third grade and the importance of first grade. So to see the closing of that gap from kindergarten to first grade is very positive information. Then moving to NWA map for math. You can see the cohorts across the board. Now, it's great that we are seeing gains, but the gains are not great enough. We have more growth that is needed in math. That came down to staffing and looking um at staff experiences and staff strengths. And there were some very specific staffing placements made to help with the needed growth. Yes, we were seeing growth, but we weren't happy with just the amount of

090growth. We need more. As we look at reading where we're seeing the gains from third to fourth, gains from fourth to fifth, but we need more in fifth grade. Okay, again, I'm kind of watching to make sure I'm not going too quickly. Golad, our next campus. Currently, we have approximately 503 students on this campus. This campus is approximately 80% economically disadvantaged as compared to the 58% for the district and the 61% for the state. You can see in their kindergarten where they're coming in at the well below as compared to the district. And so when we look at the gaps that we have to close there, that is something we're looking at specifically with interventionist. And then in first grade, you can see um that we're still above that district, well below, but it's not

091as significant as the kindergarten. Still fully acknowledging it, but when you're looking how do how do you prioritize and where do you push in supports? That's super important. Now, moving to the cohorts of students. So current second grade I'm going to take just a second and let you look from their experience from kinder first and second. Now none of us are accepting of still having 50% at approaches and below benchmark level but this group of students has made significant increase from shifting starting in the system at 61% well below to 10% in second grade. Now for our current first grade. So there is an increase in students performing at the benchmark level but it is slow growth. Moving to map RIT you can see across the cohorts gains in all three levels but the greatest

092gains and observed growth being in that fifth grade specifically. Then in reading, it's a little bit of the opposite. Um, in the fact that the math observed growth in fifth grade is higher than the observed growth in reading, but both of them are still meeting their projected growth. I don't think I told y'all how many sections at Golad. Maybe I'll did or didn't. I don't think I did. I'm sorry. That was not intentional. At Golad, we have four sections of kindergarten, three sections of first grade, two sections of fourth grade, three sections of third grade, four sections of fourth grade, and five sections, excuse me, four sections of fifth grade. Now, for our final elementary campus, we have McGill. McGill was approximately 75% economically disadvantaged as compared to 58% for the district and 61% for

093the state. There's currently approximately 494 students at McGill with four kindergarten sections, four first grade, four second grade, four third grade, fourth grade, and four fifth grade sections. So, I want to give you just a minute to really look at um a point of pride and an interesting um data point for Miguel. Migill is um one of our outliers in the fact that their first grade is coming in with their well below lower than the districts. I've continued to say you've seen that pattern in these schools engaged in school improvement. They have a significant gap to close from first grade to third grade. Miguel is already trending above and all of those teachers serving are experienced teachers. As we look at cohorts, our current second grade, you can see the progression and the gap is

094closing. Again, none of us are okay with the fact that we basically shifted. You can see the shift from kindergarten and first grade well below to that. That's out of balance. We should not have 63% of kindergarten students well below. But as they go through, you see that shifting to 51.8% approaching benchmark then the current first grade. So still, while they're an outlier in the well below, the reality is we have approximately 60% of first grade students that came in beginning of the year well below or below grade level that we have to move forward. Then you can see the map RIT scores. You see double digit gains for all three of these grade levels. That's why I like to include the bar graph, though. Third grade has exceeded their projected growth so far. Doesn't

095mean we're done. Just means the trajectory is on a great pace. Fourth grade, we're we're we're hitting it, but we still need more growth. Same with fifth grade. Then in reading can see the fourth grade gains. They are higher than those fifth grade gains, but they're still making projected growth. >> So can I ask you a question before we go off elementary schools? Sorry. >> Okay. So on just on any of these elementary schools are well below going from And I guess it's beginning of year data, but going from first to second grade is is where we're seeing a significant jump on. I mean, I know Miguel's doing great, but as far as even Miguel, all of them, first to second grade is where we're seeing the significant jump. Is that because our well below

096are so well below in kindergarten that they're making progress and they haven't reached that? like we just we're making gains and we're not seeing like is there a way to measure that gain I guess is what I'm trying to ask >> that they're g and and are we are we getting those gains in K to one we're just still not the gain isn't enough to get us to that next threshold or is it that we're not getting those gains between K and one >> you answer my question >> yes I do it that all depends on the campus um some some of the campuses we're not getting enough gains from K to one there's also a significant jump in the expectation from first grade. So, um the reality is um when we have the number

097of students coming in well below, we're already as a district of all different economically disadvantaged backgrounds, but even at 58% from the district, we're already coming in 10% higher, well below the national average. >> Yeah. So, and then you add an increase on economically disadvantaged status, which does have a direct correlation. Those campuses, which is super important, all of our teachers work hard, but those teachers have a harder lift to close the the amount of gains or amount of gaps that the students come in their classrooms with. And that's why it's important that as we support, as we make recommendations that we have the understanding we have to provide the support based on the students we're serving >> and maybe for board and when we are supporting I mean obviously on this we're look we're

098talking about the well below like that's >> the and those are the first kids we got to find how what else are we doing to support because when you look at that our below benchmark >> number is increasing which is great, >> correct? >> Except they're not moving to at benchmark yet. And so what are we doing with to support our teachers and those students to get them from not just from well below but to at benchmark. >> Absolutely. That's why we use everything based on growth. That's why when you see the MOI data, so we're committed that every student, regardless of where they enter the system, because we owe it to the student that comes in well below just as much as we owe owe it to the student that comes well above, we

099owe that student that's well above to also continue growing. So we look at each individual student. We cannot stay stagnant and we cannot drop. Now the rate of growth will vary for the learner but we have to be committed for every single student to have continued growth. I know we spend a lot of time talking to the well below because in terms of school improvement that's what the system is for. But our commitment cannot just be we're only focused around these students. We have to look at each individual child. >> I have a question along those lines. This doesn't apply to all campuses, but there were a few campuses that you'd see students come in at at masters and they over time or we're getting we're getting growth from the below level. We're seeing a

100regression towards the mean of the masters. Do we know why that is? And are we trying to intervene on that to try and keep those kids at masters as well? >> Absolutely. Um, now do we know the why? The why goes down to each individual child. Okay. There can be a lot of different reasons. There can be the reason I'm not being challenged. There can be the reason I didn't feel good that day on the test in all of those variables. But that's why we have to look at each individual student. So, um, yesterday, as you all are well aware, was a district-wide professional learning day, and we excel in professional learning for the state. We're we're um not we do not have a deficiency on the professional learning that we provide because it is

101differentiated. So, for example, I'm going to use the high school level because that connects directly with our mission statement of future ready graduates. Our AP teachers were not in a session with just the core teachers getting the same information. Their professional learning was geared to gifted and advanced learners for depth and complexity. Because if you don't challenge gifted learners, they won't always perform at a gifted level. And there's this um misinformation that gifted learners or advanced learners always do great in school. That is not a true statement. If you do not challenge them and you do not keep them engaged, they can very much fall behind. So I hope that answers gives you a general answer. >> Do our elementary school teachers get that same type of professional learning? >> Um yes. So it all

102depends on the time of year. Again, we know that we have from this state a new curriculum. So, they first had to be trained on the new curriculum resource, but any teacher in our district that has gifted learners must have the 30 hours of foundational training or be working on acquiring that training. And then once they have their 30 hours, they must have a six-hour annual update. >> Thank you, >> Lincoln. Lincoln. >> Okay, Lincoln. So, Lincoln currently has approximately 779 students. Um, approximate economically disadvantage rate. The last time we received the state report was 74% as compared to the 58% for the district and 61% for the state. So, now we're talking um grade levels that don't have MC class. So, we're talking all in terms of MAP and RIT scores. First, you have

103the math information. I'm going to jump down to simplicity on the bar graph. 7th grade math, we've discussed this many times. I'm sorry, Miss Duncan. I don't try to just bring this up every time, but seventh grade math for our district is an a grade level that we are working on. um that is that's not to pick on seventh grade math at all. There are a lot of things that go into seventh grade math. So yes, seventh grade math is an area that we're looking at very closely at Lincoln. I don't want to disclose any confidential information, but when we talk about the importance of staffing, we talk about the reason why school districts offer contracts so that teachers fulfill those contra contracts. When we lose staff in those key core areas, it very much

104has a direct impact on our student outcomes. So also want to say that 19 students in algebra 1 in 8th grade take a different version of the MAP test. So the cohort gains cannot be accurately calculated. Then here are some additional charts for observed math by grade level. It's what makes 8th grade a little tricky with it being a different assessment. But the summary here is we do see growth over the years in grade 8, but grade seven is stagnant and we've had some fluctuation in sixth grade depending on the year. Then as we move forward to reading, you can see there are gains. We just expect larger gains than what we're currently seeing. Again, you can see that through seventh grade. I think all teachers um are more than special people. Seventh grade teachers

105have an extra special calling. Um it's it's just a reality. Then as we look at observed growth in reading, I know this is small especially uh on these big screen TVs. It's even small on my paper. Hopefully, it's better on the TVs next to you, but these charts again compare BOI from year to year and reviews that projected growth at the same time of the year. So, as we look at over time in the area of reading, grade 8 has also shown some growth. So, that's a common area for eighth grade in both RLA and math. We are seeing growth. The difference between seventh grade math and reading is we're seeing a slight decline in seventh grade. And the consistency there is that we've had fluctuation in sixth grade depending on the year. So I

106know this is a lot of information. I know that we had had prior conversations. I personally apologize um that you didn't receive this formal report um as originally planned in December. I know that it's a lot. I'm happy to answer any questions that I haven't already. Thank you, Dr. Gomez. I do like this a lot. Obviously, we all got an email in December, but I appreciate the fact that you're going through it today. Um, and you know, I think it's important that we are looking at it and we look at our middle of the year as well, come next month or March, whenever it's available, so that we make sure we're knowing where we need to be allocating resources and trying to help get these um the growth where we need it to be. Any

107questions for Dr. Gomez? Thank you. Um, okay. Okay, if it's okay with the board team, there are people who've been sitting here patiently. Um, I was going to move action item B ahead of the consent items to consider and take possible action to identify elementary campuses for closure unless someone on the board has a problem with that. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, let's go to we're going to go to action item B, which is to consider and take possible action to identify elementary campuses for closure. And I'm going to turn over to Dr. Mar first. Okay. Well, tonight the board of trustees is being asked to consider a vote to close elementary campuses due to to declining enrollment and loss of revenue. This yearslong discussion dates back to at least October 20 of 22. The board

108of trustees has been provided with demographic forecasts, financial projections, facility evaluations, and academic initiatives. I acknowledge the emotions tied to discussions around closing any campus. Also recognize the impact on students and families. The administration's been thoughtful to balance that with the reality of planning for the future and ensuring financial solveny, filling staffing vacancies, maintaining our facilities, and most importantly, providing a rigorous academic program for all of our students, regardless of campus, with a qualified and capable teacher. The board of trustees heard a report last week that if no campuses close, we're facing about $4.3 million deficit as of May of 2027. You've also heard that the district saves roughly $900,000 annually for each elementary school we close. Currently, we are 33 teachers short, which means that many classrooms are being covered by retirees and long-term

109substitutes. In Dr. Gomez report tonight. Some of those scores are reflective of a lack of a qualified teacher. We're thankful for these individuals who are covering these classes. However, nothing replaces a full-time qualified teacher for our kids. Research shows that when a student has a poor classroom teacher, it takes three years to recover. You also heard that our academic growth is trending in the right direction. And very soon we'll be excited to present our midyear uh middleofyear uh map testing uh data that you'll be hearing pretty quickly probably in the next month or so. By reducing the number of elementary campuses, we'll be more equipped to serve our students by placing these qualified teachers in classrooms. In 2022, a recommendation was made to close Alto, Austin, Sano, Reagan, and Buouie. Since that time, we've closed

110Altaloma, Austin, and Sano. The board received the rankings for the remaining elementary schools based on these attributes. Cost per student, facility condition, age of facility, capacity, expandability, special programs, educational adequacy, and spatial adequacy. And based on this criteria, Reagan and Buoie scored the lowest. It's the recommendation of our administration to consider these two campuses for closure at the end of the 2627 school year, which is 17 months from now. If approved during that time, an attendance boundary committee will work to consider how we can redraw attendance boundaries for the remaining 12 elementary schools and make a recommendation to the board of trustees this summer for consideration. If approved, the new boundaries would be effective July 1, 2027 to begin the 2728 school year. This will provide time for the district to communicate the new boundaries

111and allow families time to plan. >> All right. So um it is you know admin has been presenting for the last six months more or less to um give us the data but basically it's the decision it comes up to the decision of this board whether or not we want to not want to but whether we choose to close elementary schools or not. Um, so I will open it to any questions or comments and then I will entertain a motion. >> Dr. Cayman, uh, and Dr. Moran, you just mentioned now that in October of 2022, um, Park Hill recommended that Reagan be shuttered, closed, and that that's not the case. If you look on SASD's website right now, there's a YouTube video and it shows R.J.'s recommendation from Park Hill. And I found that last

112night, guys. I found it. I've been racking my brain thinking, how h how is this how is this all working? This is his quote that SISD has on the website right now. First, he was introduced because he has extensive experience when working with districts that have enrollment loss. He was hired to do a thorough assessment on all facilities in SISD and he brought his recommendations to the board. He recommended when it comes to the Reagan and Saninto um he recommended that Reagan and Saninto make the merge, right? turning Saninto into a prek facility. So I I I'm looking at that slide and it's showing the factors, right? When considering closure, I asked Dr. Moran to provide the board with the weighted values of those factors. What's the base data? How do I know? How can

113I do my due diligence as a board member with research if I don't know what factor weighs what? How do I know if special programs weighs more than capacity? How do I know if age of facility weighs more than facility condition? So the response to that was that our cabinet independently I have so many notes if y'all give me some grace please and go through that >> that the cabinet independently um worked on that and somebody else told me just to kind of trust the process. So I thought okay let me just assume that all these factors weighed the same. So, I went through different schools. Ra R.J.'s telling us, let's see, I got his quote here. Well, first of all, we know that Reagan and Sano made the merge, right? So, automatically increase enrollment

114at that school. You look at Reagan's campus, it has plenty of space and capacity for expandability. It has it currently houses different special programs and it can house many more in the future. Um, let's see here. So, I'm just going through all the the factors when considering school closures and Reagan in particularly. He spoke that Reagan has a large site, 7 plus acres. There's an opportunity for a new elementary school to be built on that site. This is his quote. If we are thinking about if we are making these moves now where these students are moving from Sanino to Reagan, we don't want to have to move them again in the future if a new facility or should I say when a new facility is built built. Park Hill or R.J. goes on to state

115that the large on-site parking spaces on multiple sides of the building would accommodate a newer facility, benefiting students and parents alike. Reagan, this is another quote. Reagan has more opportunities when considering these moves, and a lot of consideration, thought, and planning went into these recommendations." End quote. Like I said, all of these are on the school website now. I didn't have to go digging for any information. It's up right now. Another slide after that with the sustainability plan states from SISD, if your students campus is closed or repurposed as part of the plan, your student will be zoned to the campus they merge with and existing feeder patterns will not be affected. That's on the website as we speak. the next slide on the website. >> Just you're talking about the 2022 plan on the

116website. >> It's on the website. >> Yeah, but it's the 2022 plan. >> I'm going off of Yes. >> Yeah. Just making sure. Okay. I just want to make sure I knew what we're doing. >> A lot of our data is going off of 2022. So, that's what I'm doing also. >> You're good. I'm good. I just want to make sure I know. >> Yes, sir. So the next slide on the website states, Reagan's site could accommodate a new elementary to be built on site in the future and would allow the same students within the same boundary to attend the new school after construction. So I'm wondering when did all this change cuz Dr. Man, you just stated that it was proposed that Reagan is to be closed. So, going slide by slide through my

117emails, right? Um, let's see. It talks about budget impacts and immediate savings. I really want somebody to break down how the almost million dollar in savings. How can we get that each year if everyone will be keeping their jobs? That that's another question I had. You all saw that. I understand maintenance and utilities will decrease, but not the budget impact you're you're showing with almost a million dollars. If we still have the same staff, we're still feeding the same amount of students. That's something that I really need somebody to help me understand. The next slide that's given to me is academic pro progress more consistent curriculum and it's titled a look back at 2022. Um like I just stated we're still using 2022 reports as data. So I am also um on one slide that's

118presented like Dr. is is stating today. It shows Altaloma, Austin, Saneno, Buoie, and Reagan to close or repurpose. These are on the slides that I'm seeing today. On the next slide, it says future phase 5 to 10 years that there will be a future phase to address Reagan. So, here I go. I'm going down, you know, the the the factors when considering school closures. So, I'm like, okay, and let me look at different campus costs per student because we have tons of information to to go go through. We have Fannon, Belair, Reagan, and Crockett at the top of campus cost per student that's costing us the most. Now we have to eliminate Fannon because we're we're adding on to it right now. There's improvements. It's part of the bond. So let's forget about that school.

119We got Belair as number one as our number one school that's costing the campus the most money. We got next on the list Reagan and we got next on the list Crockett. But let's forget about Crockett because we're adding improvements to that school, too. So, okay, let's go down the next the next category, age of facility. All right, we got Reagan at the top, built in 1909. Next, we got Sanorita at 100 years old. Next, we got Glenn Moore, 100 years old. Next on down the that list is McGill. But we got to eliminate McGill because we're putting millions of dollars into that school. So, let's eliminate that. This is me trying to figure out what what weighs more, right? Because we didn't have that data. So, next current cap campus capacity. These three schools

120are close to or at capacity or above. Top of the line is Fort Koncho. Next in line is Bonum. Our third school is Sanorita. The rest of our elementary schools after that are fairly close in percentages with the lowest elementary school that with campus capacity being Crockett 48%. So then I go to our next slide we're given with the potential projects list bond 2025 FAC meeting. on there. We had a category campus additions and renovations projects. This is the one we're currently working on, right? Elementary right sizing the kitchen at Fannon a cafeteria a library admin edition plus bed renovation on top of McGill replacing classrooms a library on top of Crockett receiving kitchen a new kitchen a cafeteria and classrooms estimated at 42 million approved on that list there was also a um a

121suggest a suggestion of kitchen and cafeteria replacements at Glenmore Elementary and Sanorita because of its age and size. Site modifications and drainage are also included. I'm assuming it floods in those areas. I'm not exactly sure. Another um another bond project was Belair replace two buildings with new buildings that house classrooms, library, special ed, and Hollowman with um also adding four additional classrooms estimated at 25 million didn't pass. So I asked for now I'm assuming okay I'm looking at all of this criteria. I'm assuming that the top of the list for Reagan is age of facility. It's the oldest school we have in St. Angelo. So is that what weighted us to the top? That's all I can that's all I can think of. So when I asked about now and now this is I want

122to point out too the only the main building at Reagan is as old as as 1906. The surrounding buildings are not. So I asked for estimates of raising just that main building if we needed to. Um, and would by us doing that, would we still be able to accommodate the students in the buildings in the perimeter? Dr. Ran said we could not. So, if we took down that main building, it would include us rebuilding to include a new kitchen, library, and office. But we could utilize building C at Reagan Elementary for office space just as Saneno's staff did. I looked at the the blueprint and of course my kids go to Reagan so I go into that school and to me it doesn't seem like the kitchen is connected to that high-rise. So, but whether

123it is or not, if we look at what these other uh bond projects cost, and as much as included in each one, doesn't seem like it'd be too too much of a of a a far stretch to rebuild that main building. at Reagan, you have a campus that Park Hill, we paid to give them for them to give us these suggestions and he's saying Reagan is a great candidate to build on in the future because of the space and because of, you know, the things that he listed. So, next I looked at Let me go back right quick. There's some um there's some community members raising the the question in the statement that the Sanorita, which is number three on the list, should not be touched because it was um it was touched in the

1242008 bond, but so were two other schools that were closed as well as Sanino and Reagan. All of these schools received many schools received updates in that 2008 bond that are no longer with us or are being discussed today. My question is why was Saninto and Reagan neglected? Why were they not maintained and cared for? I hate to say this, but I think demographics played a big part in that. So now when I look at my next slide, my transfer reports, I really want the board to evaluate these campuses that are in closer proximity that are more transferable. Who's at the top of the list here? And we all know that elementary transfers have contributed to the imbalance in enrollment in our elementary schools. Top of the list is Fort Koncho. Over 300 transfers to

125that elementary school. Absolutely no room to build. Number two on that list is Sanorita. Over 160 transferred in. So, we're talking about very low number of student population or or home campus at these two schools. No room to build at these two schools. Deficiencies within the campus, old campuses, but yet they're the most sought-after campuses that that kids want to get go to. Why? What is what is there that cannot be at at these other campuses around St. Angelo? So, looking at transfer reports, next on my list is, okay, if we're going to be shuttering or or or um transferring students, closing down Reagan, now we have a big gap in that community. You closed down Saneno, which everyone knows how I feel about that. You closed Sano and we sent you sent our students

126to Reagan Elementary. The distance from Reagan to Sanento was 2.3 miles. The closest school for Saninto would have been Fort Koncho to be transferred to. But we can't do that because that school is packed. How how how are we going to get to Fort Con? There's no way. So, let's let's send them to to Reagan. Reagan to Saneno was 2.3 miles away. Going through each school now. All right, we closed Reagan. What's the most Let's go through the campuses that are are closest to Reagan. Where can we spread out these students at Reagan? That makes sense. The closest one is Bradford, a mile and a half away. There's no way that we can send many students to Bradford. Reagan to Hollerman, 2.8 miles away. Reagan to Golad, 2.2 miles away. Reagan to Belair, 4.7 miles

127away. And I'm talking building to building. Reagan to Lincoln, 3.4 miles away. So then I'm thinking, man, what other schools are are close closer together? I find Glenn Moore and Bair one mile away from each other. We have two schools right now that are operating that aren't even being considered that are one mile away from each other. All right. So then I look at Crockett. Word is that Buoie will be going to Crockett. I don't see how because we haven't voted on anything. But let's let's assume again because I've all I've been doing here is assuming Crockett buoy to Crockett 2.2 miles. But wait a minute, what if we moved Sanorita to Crockett? It's only a mile and a half. Sanorita to Crockett. Why this is significant is because anything over two miles we have

128to provide transportation to the students. which will cost the district money there too. So another question I have is why are we willing to displace these schools that have a large number of students in compare comparison to campuses which with much lower home campus enrollment such as Sanorita one of the other oldest schools in St. Angelo, school closures, as we all know, affect lowincome neighborhoods and we will lose value within our homes. I need to know that the alternatives are equitable. From my research, it doesn't seem to be. My history in St. Angelo, I'm born and raised, and I need we need to see the equality across the district. past St. Angelo school closure history tells us that we're willing to close schools on one side of town in order to adequately fill the other.

129Taking into consideration like Sam Houston, Dr. Man, I know you you may not know this history, closing down Sam Houston to Phil Sanorita, closing down Rio Vista to Phil Lamar. Another surprising thing to me, man, is that McGill's one of the top schools right now in St. Angelo and it was set to close also and that community came in and rallied and look at us putting millions of dollars into it. So things can turn and they can turn quickly. So where are we at here? My suggest suggestion to the board is to please focus currently right now on our main goal, our number one district goal, which is our children's academics. Dr. Keeman, you said yourself that we have failed our kids. Making a drastic change right now in the midst of us trying our

130best to bring the academics up will only throw a wrench in that plan. I I feel like it's irresponsible and a flatout mistake. I can't support that right now. We need to get our campuses to a minimum, and I hate even saying this, but a minimum of passing before we consider this this consolidation. Kids should be our number one priority. So, I let's see here. I do understand the financial pressures that the district is facing. Elementary school closure school closures are not just budget decisions. To my team, to the board, I really want y'all to fully consider things that I that I mentioned today. Please. We're talking about increasing and increased um spending and transportation, the learning gaps, emotional stress, adjustment issues, hardships, child care strain, loss of neighborhood value, overcrowding in the campuses, safety

131concerns, the loss of more students within our district. Guaranteed. We're trusted elected officials and the entire community deserves us at our best. Please consider what I've spoke today. I haven't told anything that's not factual information. That being said, that that concludes, you know, most of what I had to present today. If anybody else has anything else to say. >> Thank you. Other thoughts or comments? >> Carla. Um, thank Miss Cardinus. I'm sorry. Thank you so much for um all your work. That was that obviously took a long time. Um, I was not because we were on the board. We weren't able to be at all the facility advisory committee meetings, but you were. So, um, were there other opportun were there other options talked about? Um, how did how did that what did that look

132like in the conversations? So, I've learned now in my short time here that some of the conversations that I have are better left to private. And I don't like that because I'm here to be transparent. But to your question, I did raise the concerns on that committee and I did provide suggestions, but they were not taken into consideration. And the feedback that I got back was that a elementary a new elementary deserves to be on that side of of of the of St. Angelo, but where are we going to get the money from? What am I What am I supposed to say to that? I'm I'm a community member at that time, but I'm learning a lot sitting right here on this side of things and I really want to thank the parents, the ladies

133who came to speak today because I've been on that side and it sucks. And here I am sitting here going through the same thing again. My kids are going to go through it again. That is not right. There's there's opportunity for adjustments and I commend you all for coming. The Reagan Rockets that are sitting here today, you're here because you take pride in your school and I really appreciate what you do for those kids and for my kids, too. It's not just about a building. People keep saying it's just a building, just a building. It's more than that. It's the location and it's the demographics that these schools serve. And we keep going off of 2022 data and the data is posted all over our website saying that Reagan is a great is in a

134great spot to build on, but now we're talking about it being closed a couple of years later. That does not make sense and that is not right. That's why I'm here to speak on that. And I need you all to take what I'm saying into consideration. Please, my constituents voted me in for this reason and they voted you all in for this reason, too. But back to your question. I did bring it up. I did mention it. Me and several other people on my team, that was the answer that I got. Other comments or questions? >> No, I'm sorry. This a bunk the board. Um, so only I will speak to Carly, just as far as some of the questions you brought up. Um, one thing was part of the reason the 22 stuff isn't

135what we're doing in 206 is because the bond passed in May based on what the committee came and recommended to this board. And so certain elementary schools then were passed and the community voted on right sizing certain elementaryaries and so now we're with those elementaryaries the money is allocated to do those things. So I mean as far as why the at one point in time I know when we were discussing it years ago there was talk about a brand new elementary school before Dr. ran before, but that didn't ever come out of the bond committee to us. And so that the reason that's not there is that was decided like we have what I makes sense to me is that we had enough elementary seats and we only have certain amount of bond capacity for

136our community. Why would we go spend a bunch of money on a brand new elementary school when we have enough when we have enough seats because of declining enrollment? And so whether I wasn't in the committee that that obviously recommended which schools get the um addition or not, but the reality is when the bond came, it was decided that right sizing our current elementarymentaries was a better plan for St. Angelo than building a new elementary school. That I mean so that was and let me and I'll let you finish. I promise. Um as far as um the number of staff, the staff that won't be there will be through attrition. They won't no one will be fired. Everyone will keep their jobs just like we did before. But the reality is it's one less school

137resource officer, one less nurse, one less assistant principal, one less principal like and our teachers where we are spending money to the state for our rehire penalties to the state for our rehires hires. If every teacher can have what the state says is 22 to1 in elementary, that would be the most that's how we try to get every kid getting the same support so that then we can have the money to push in the interventionists and stuff that we've seen we've seen growth with. We just got to get it more robust. So that as far as staff like that's where that comes from. And then as far as the lines, I think when Dr. Ran talked last week and my understanding from last week so I want to make sure I'm correct in understanding this

138is that we would redraw all 12 if we closed we would redraw the lines for all 12 elementary schools. So there would not be um the the distances we would the community would get together just like we did for the bond and come up with 12 elementary districts that made sense for every com for the community as a whole that made sense for the people who lived around those schools so that there isn't so it's not as simple as looking at oh well I went to Sano and now I went to Reagan and now I'm gonna go to here like all of our all of our schools will probably be like unless you live six houses from an elementary school you'll probably all I mean everyone's going to be possibly every district elementary district will

139be touched with that and that's so as far as that's how you work to make sure that it's equitable and you get a committee together that you you'll get to give names for and everyone gives names for so that we can have an equitable um districtricting throughout the city that works well. So I just wanted that's just answering the three questions that I heard from in there. But now you had a question for me. >> Yeah, just to clarify those the under the elementary right sizing on that bond committee. Those were the only options we were given. We weren't able to make suggestions. They presented us with those three options and that was it. Final. It's these three and you have to make a decision which one it is what you need to pick. That's

140100%. >> Again, I was only I didn't get to 10 them, but my understanding was that it started big picture and then was brought down to little picture, but like I don't I trust you on that. I just Okay, that's that's Yeah, I just I was I don't know. Anyway, but that's um other questions or comments. >> Just um so the people watching know um the uh 300 being transferred into uh Fort Koncho are the GT kids and the same thing with the um Sanorita um the Santaita kids or the GT program and I know you know that but just because people might be questioning why. >> Yes. No, thank you for clarifying that. My question is, can a G GT campus can the kids be served at any campus? Does it have to be

141Fort Koncho and Sanorita? Do they have something different that other campuses don't? >> I'll be glad to answer that. I I think that's a topic probably for another meeting because that's a that's not necessarily related to this vote. But I will say the goal that I have had and our our team has is that every child on every elementary can receive the high quality education, GT programming and all those things. In fact, Dr. Gomez and I had this conversation last week because um you know, I don't think it's a secret. We've got so many elementary transfers across the district that we've got campuses that exceed capacity and some campuses that are at like 60%. And so our goal is to become efficient, but most importantly to put a great teacher in front of every kid.

142And right now we're not doing that because we've got vacancies. We have 33 teaching vacancies around our district. And the reason is we have too many classrooms. A lot of them are half full. And so, you know, to anybody that'd be concerned, I would say I'd rather put 22 elementary kids in a classroom with a great teacher than 16 kids in a classroom with a substitute. And that's the scenario we have right now. So you asked a question earlier about uh how do we save money by reducing the campuses with the number of teachers and the simple fact is by by closing two campuses we can take those existing teachers and immediately plug them in to vacancies that we cannot fill. And so we'll then have uh more quality high quality teachers in front of

143kids. Um and that's where we'll make the academic gains. We're struggling right now in some areas because we have we've had several teachers this year quit and walk out the door on their classrooms and uh they have abandoned and we're going to hear about two of them tonight. we they've abandoned their kids and we are scrambling to find a quality teacher for the classroom. So, uh with declining enrollment, anybody that understands economies of scale understands that you cannot operate that many campuses if you don't have personnel and you're circling the drain financially because you can't afford the number of staff. About 82% of our budget is human resources. And so when we talk about saving money in St. Angelo, the first thing we look at is staffing. And uh the irony I've said is that

144we're overstaffed, but yet we have vacancies we can't fill. And it's because we're too spread out. And when when this passes, if it were to pass tonight, then the goal then becomes to take those 12 elementary campuses and create an attendance zone for the kids that live in that attendance boundary to attend that school. So we can provide a teacher for every kid. We can provide great GT programming for every kid. So they don't have to necessarily because we've got parents in our district whose children are GT that don't go to San uh Sanorita Fort Koncho or Hollowman but we should be able to provide great GT programming at their home campus and that's my goal and I think uh for those that know me that know our staff our hearts are in the right

145spot. We have a duty to be good stewards of the finances of this district. And if we continue with uh 14 elementary schools, we're going to go bankrupt as a district. We can't afford to pay the staff we've got. There's too many. And so we're going to have to slim down and be more efficient with our staffing or we won't have a future as a district. And along with that, the A throughF ratings that TEA is looking at, uh, the reason we're in this hole is because we have not staffed every classroom with a great teacher and it's killing us. And so, we've got to fix that. And that's been an issue uh because we've been declining enrollment since 2015. We were at u over 15,000 kids. So, this isn't a new issue. problem is

146as I and I don't want to uh beat a dead horse, but co COVID hit us and for three years we didn't get A throughF ratings. Two years of A throughF ratings were tied up in court cases and so for five years the districts across Texas did not get A throughF ratings and people fell asleep. And the reality is that our staff knew that we were struggling but but with the increase because this declining enrollment has picked up speed for us and um some may think that they're fleeing the district when in fact it's fewer kindergarteners come to school every year. That's the main reason there's a few people that have left but we get a lot of kids transferring in. It's lower kindergarten cohorts coming to us and larger senior classes graduating. So, uh,

147this this recommendation isn't because I want to close schools. It's because this district hired me to be a good steward. And if we don't do something, we're going to go down in a in a ball of flames academically and financially. And we have got to take drastic steps to fix it in a very short time frame. So that's why this is even being discussed. >> So I think the issues within the district started long before 2015 cuz many campuses have have been closed down. Blackshare um Roista uh day all those campuses were deemed unsafe but here we are 20 25 years later they were headart campuses. So issues have been in the district. It's it's nothing new. I get it. I know every single person on this board does not want to close a a

148school or anybody to lose their jobs. But if you're telling me that that is the only way that we will move forward and succeed and progress in St. Angelo, then what else is there to do? >> I have to tr I have to trust my team. That being said, how can we make a sound decision on what campuses when we're given factors of clo considering school closures with no base data and no weighted value for us to do our investigating and seeing what schools make more sense? How can we make a decision if we don't know that? >> Other comments or questions? Um, Dr. Moran touched on something that and and so did Miss Miss Gardinas. You know, like I said, I think I've told y'all before. I mean, y'all know I've been doing this

149for 21 years now. And in 2005, we were called the West Texas Drain out in these areas because we had gotten down to 13,000 kids. Okay? 2013 all the way to 2016, we had gotten up to almost 16,000 kids. I mean, yeah, 16,000. And then the process started over again, but started losing kids. We're back down. We are back down to 13,000 again and maybe even less than that. But in that 21 years, you know, there we had Dr. Pew, Dr. Bonds, Dr. Debt loss, now Dr. Moran. Um, we did everything we could without closing campuses. 20 2012 I think it was Bill or 2013 is when we it was brought to us that look either we're going to start closing some campuses or we're going to start eliminating teaching positions, we're going to eliminate

150programs or our other option was eliminate the homestead exemption which it was a local optional homestead exemption of 20%. And we opted to do that to keep schools open, to keep programs going. And I thought, okay, that's going to help. It did for a period. And now now we have a 100,000 is it $100,000 um state homestead exemption, which if you know that hurts us. That's going to hurt us. I think we're they're going to make up for the money that we're not going to gain because for two years. >> Yeah. For two years. Cuz there's there are house there are I mean I live in a home that is less than 100,000. >> So there are people that that have gone from pl we have people that have gone from paying school taxes to

151not paying any now. And some of these people still have kids in school. And so we're losing money, you know, first by the state and they're and they're not helping any. I mean, I'll be honest with you, the state's not helping public school. They're not helping public schools at all, you know. And so, like I said, this is nothing new. And when I was there in ' 05, it was 22 campuses and they said, "We definitely need to get it down to 12 in ' 05." The bond process started in ' 07. First one failed, second one passed in '08. Oh, and Sanino and Reagan were touched at that time. They were worked on. Okay. And and all the north side schools, we made sure that Hollowman, Bradford, Golad, they were all fixed up because

152you wouldn't believe what condition they were in back then. They were just terrible. But we got through that. But we still kept 22 campuses open because you know what? We can figure this out. And then when 2013 when we got that influx of kids due to the the oil boom in 2013 like all right we're doing great we're doing great money's coming in and then the pole process started again in 2015 started losing kids when the bottom fell out here in the these areas for for oil work people started leaving people started moving people moved to Midland they moved to to down by San Antonio down by Houston all those areas they started leaving here again and now we're back down to 13, but we still had we had 22 schools. We've gotten it down

153to 14, you know, but and then what I need to know also is how many teachers does that free up from say the two schools? Uh, Reagan for teaching staff and you y'all feel to feel free to jump in, but I think we gained about six to eight teachers per campus when we closed. Mhm. >> And so I would estimate it to be about the same. And the board saw the breakdown, the line item breakdown of savings uh per campus. And I believe our enrollment right now is just over 12,300. >> 12,300. And you know, so that's like I said, I've I've tried everything we can. I have, you know, I have voted to eliminate this to keep this. I've voted to eliminate this to keep this. let's do this to do this. And we

154never closed the campus. You know, we didn't start doing that until we started our our our initiative for the bond and let the community say, "Okay, what do we need to do now?" And like I said, I think I maybe went to two of those because we weren't we weren't part of those committees. I know you were. You were part of the committees, but we weren't. And you know, they came back and said, "We need to close some schools." And I thought, "Well, here we go again." But then, you know, I kept thinking, "What else can we do?" And I just kept racking, what do we do? What do we do? What do we do? And we just have to trust the plan. I do the plan that they came up with that we we,

155you know, asked Dr. Moran and all them to come up with. and we'll go from there. I mean, it's just it it's become a burden to to keep all these schools open and, you know, it's been a burden for 25 years to keep them open because it costs money to to keep them up to keep them updated, to keep them upgraded. Maintenance is unreal on them on some of these campuses. It's just, you know, we you know, we you get the reports we get on maintenance alone and you're going, "Wow." you know, like HVAC is unreal. And I remember when we replaced a lot of HVAC back in 08 and 09, you know, and it's already time to replace that stuff again. And you're talking about millions of dollars. And, you know, it's just it's

156just I feel myself that let's just go with the plan. That's that's how I feel, you know, go with the plan and and and let's get this down to 12 like they told us 20 years ago. and let's see if that works now. So that that's just my take on it. Okay, that's my my 10 cents. >> Well, if you're talking about co campus costs, number one on the list is Beller. >> So that's what you're trying like like I said, I don't I don't want to argue or I don't want to argue either. >> I'm not arguing, but I'm just saying I'm just saying I want to go with the process that we assigned Dr. Moran. And of course, like like you said the other day, you know, you weren't here when we did

157that. you're, you know, but this is the process, the process that the community came up with. This is the bond they told us that they passed. This is the bond that they passed, the community passed. The people in the city of St. Angel passed this with knowing that schools will be closed. And so I'm not going to sit there and say, "Okay, well, we're going to change it all because I don't like it." You know, so that's all I'm saying. >> But you're not changing it. Reagan wasn't >> No, I know Reagan wasn't a part of it. >> It wasn't part of the plan. >> No, back in 2022. It wasn't part of the plan. Back in 22, it wasn't part of the plan when R.J. brought that up. Now, the the community bond >>

158since then. >> Or since then, which was done in what year was that? When was the bond passed? In >> 20 20. >> Last year. >> 25 last year. Okay. 22. R.J. said, "Yeah, that'd be a great spot." Okay. We built a we made a bond committee. Bond committee suggested you got to close some schools. >> We were only given certain options. >> But but that's what y'all came up with. That's what y'all presented us >> off of the options that we were given weren't allowed to make. But but those are the those are the options that were given to us that we entrusted the community to give to us. >> And that's what I plan on doing. That's what I plan on doing because that's what people voted for. That's what the community voted

159for. And you know, can't go back and sit there and say, "Well, you know what? I know y'all voted for this, but we're not gonna we're not going to close any more schools." >> I guarantee Reagan community didn't vote for that. >> Oh, well, somebody voted. I mean, people voted. Like I said, people voted. >> People voted. >> I sure did. Hey, so here's here's here's the thing. >> Um, >> I knew it was going to >> There's so much data and I want to trust the process. I do trust the process. Like I told you all earlier when Dr. Moran looks at us in our eyes and tells us, "I'm going to get these schools passing or A's." I believe him. I've told you that personally. >> It's going to happen. >> And I

160want you to see all of your your plans through. I don't want you to leave us like Dr. Detloff presented this. And where's he at? >> Gone. I really want you to see all of your plans through. And I believe that you can get us to passing. We have so much data that everyone works so hard on, but we don't have no data when it comes to factors of closing the school. >> Well, listen, >> I need that. >> If you boil it down, Reagan's 118 years old. >> What What are we What's the value on that? What's the base? What's the percentage of that? >> The point is there's not necessarily a future plan to replace that building. It would cost about 45 to 50 million to build a new elementary. And Reagan is

161so old that we are not interested in investing millions of dollars to upkeep that old building. >> Who is we? >> Well, we can start with the architects and engineers and the maintenance and the grounds and all the people that spend time trying to make sure that that that school doesn't uh have a significant uh problem like Santo did. >> I haven't heard any of them say that. I'm just asking for the >> Well, I'm telling you the reason Reagan's on the list, the main reason is it's 118 years old. >> The main >> That's the main reason. >> The main building right there, not the remainder of the campus. >> The cafeteria is not big enough to house a larger campus. That's that's >> I'm asking the board to provide me with the data

162that I need that we need to make. >> I'm telling you why it made the list. And then buoy is inadequate. It was built in the round. You have to go through a classroom to get to another classroom. The cafeteria is pitiful. The kitchen's pitiful. That there's there's uh six portable classrooms on that building that have been there since the 80s. Um there is a there are some outer buildings on those campuses that we could repurpose and use. But that's why if you're looking for why, that's why I >> I I need the data. We need the data before we make the of this decision. >> Other comments or questions? >> I have some comments um that I think I decided to write it down before the meeting because I um Buoie is a um

163look just like Reagan and Santa Centa was special for Miss Cardinis. Um Buoie is Buoie is my special school. um all four of my kids went there and so um this decision has been really a difficult one for me. Um and just bear with me while I read through this so I can get it out. Um so um all four of my children attended Buoie for over a span of about 20 years. Um when this agenda item appeared on social media, my oldest son called me and um when I and asked me about it, when I explained all the things that we've discussed at these board meetings over the phone, he started singing the buoy fight song and he's 28 years old. Um so many of my family's memories began there. There are special teachers,

164fall festivals, performances, friendships that have lasted a lifetime for my children and for me. in Buoie, where my kids learned important life lessons. Um, how to stand up for what they believe in, how to work alongside classmates who are different from them, how perseverance matters. Um, it's where I insisted they stay in the hard teachers classroom and then they later thanked me for keeping them in that classroom because now they love that teacher still to this day. Um, Buoie isn't just a school building, it's a family. And I know that that's true of many elementary schools. And this year, this those early years are where our children learn to love learning and where they experience their first time academic successes, where they and where trusted adults help shape them into who they become. My children's

165teachers still to this day celebrate their milestones on social media and ask about them when I run into them at HB and that says everything to me. Um, but at the same time, I've we've known for many years that our district has many more elementary campuses than our current size can support. And when our neighborhood schools were built in the early to mid 20th century, schools were funded very differently. Communities supported our local schools almost without qu our local public schools almost without question. And today funding structures have changed. Enrollment patterns have changed. Families have more educational choices. And while school choice is every parent's right, it does come with a cost. And with declining birth rates, homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, public school districts lose funding incrementally, have lost funding incrementally, and public schools

166will always be here to serve every child who walks through their doors. But we can no longer operate the way districts did decades ago or even in the the way we did in the early 2000s. So, I hate the idea of voting to close the school. And yet, I'm hopeful that this deci what this decision means for our district. Combining campuses would allow us to concentrate resources, better support our teachers, reinvest savings into the schools that remain open, and create more opportunities for students and stronger learning environments overall. Sometimes, in order to grow stronger, we have to make painful cuts. I truly believe I truly believe that reducing the number of campuses will allow our district to stabilize and flourish in the years ahead. And with a heavy heart, but with confidence in our responsibility

167for the whole entire district, I'm going to choose to vote yes to close Buouie and Reagan elementary schools. >> Do I have a motion? >> Dr. Keman for uh several years this board's been on a mission to help ensure the long-term sustainability of SISD and I appreciate the data present but we continued since then we've continued to hear from experts and receive reports in in the areas of demography facility conditions academics finance as well as several communities. The goal of this whole endeavor is to long-term put kids and also our employees in better learning environments while ensuring that we remain committed to our constituents and to the sustainability of this district. This will require change which also create some temporary disruption. It's my belief this change will produce positive results for the kids that attend

168SASD not only in near time but also in years to come. Our community voted to support a bond election that helped address the needs of SASD. This bond committee committee also supported plans to address the situation of declining enrollment much like many other districts across the state are facing the drop in attendance within the district continues to pinch an already tight budget. The fact that SASD has been able to maintain a balanced budget while many of the public schools uh are adopting deficit budget is a testament to this board's diligence concerning fiscal responsibility. With decreased funding, it's become absolutely necessary to find ways to increase more efficient operating procedures, which has led us to deciding whether or not to close some of our aging facilities. Extensive studies have been done to assess and identify those

169facilities. With closure and consolidation, we create some greater personnel efficiencies as well as shed the district of increased maintenance costs on some of our raging facilities. So with that said, I'd move to identify bully elementary and regular elementary forclosure prior to the 2027 2028 school year and authorize administration to take further action necessary to implement those closures. >> What what are you all afraid of? I need we need basic data. What's the problem? >> I think everyone else feels like they have the data. >> So why why don't I I'm the newest board member. I think we >> and I would really like the respect of providing the base data that was gone off of so that I can be more secure in my answer. If you all have that, please share it with me.

170I >> I think it's the same data you have shared with us tonight, Miss Cardinas. >> I need to know the base data. I need to know the weighted value of the criteria of the factors when considering school closures. We don't have that. I asked for it and we do not have it. I'm asking for respect, please, as a new board member to give me that before we make a decision on which campuses to identify for closure. What what what's wrong with that? Please provide me that respect. >> Uh and again, so we received an email with the rankings of how it was done and with each CR category weighted equally is my understanding and then given a score. Oh, it was weighted equally. >> I think that was in the email. I I I

171don't want to It wasn't. But if it was weighted equally, then a lot of the points that I made today changed the change the game. >> I I don't think it changes the game based on the fact that we for me, I will only speak for me. I did sit at some of those bond committee things. I don't and I know at one point in time was discussed new elementary schools. Do we want to build new elementary schools? I I I know it was Carla Mes and I and people said why are we going to build new elementary schools when we have enough seats and so agreed after that it didn't get talked about again but that was made by that committee and so when it said okay when we look at how we're going

172to do it next if we're not going to build new elementary schools which is what the community came and passed as a bond was to rightsize elementary schools the it was talked about school closure with the bond. Like all of that was said when we went to pass the bond and the community passed it. So now we're at the point where we have to choose which campuses to close. And like Mr. Dindle has made a motion about what to close and then there will be an opportunity for a second and then there will be a vote and then if it's and then we move on from there. I mean that's just how this work. That's how it all works. And then if it if it's it may be it may be that it's not I

173mean I think I've heard three people say that they are in favor of that's all I've heard so far. I mean like my point is like but that's how elected things that's how it works as far as being an elected official. >> Yep. That's exactly how it works. >> I like to make a comment Dr. um obviously like like Miss Miselle for you know these I grew up here. I went to actually went I may be the only one on here that went to Buoie. I went to Buoie 20% of my elementary because we got pulled out for the GT program. So I was there one out of five days. So I Buouie that's where I saw my wife for the first time. She went all five or all six years at Buouie. So well

174I don't have the same sentiment towards Reagan. I I certainly understand the emotion that comes with these schools and how much they impact you and how much weight they carry within the community and and how much we identify with them and I so I I certainly understand that and I you know I wish there was I wish we were in a different circumstance as a district. Um, but you can't, or in my opinion, you can't be so focused on the nostalgia and the great things that something provided that you lose sight of the ultimate goal, which is to progress forward as a district and do what's right for the kids. Now, you know, it's it's not about the wonderful experiences that my wife had and that I was actually in those those portable buildings back

175in the 90s, so they're probably still there. They were junk then. They're probably not in great shape now. But, you know, that's that's what we've done. We've we've tried to keep these things going as long as they could because we care about them. We want we we know what they've done for the city. We know what they've done for us and we we've tried to maintain that. But we're at a point where we've lost 3,000 students as a district or close to 3,000 students in the last several years. And and with that, you have less students. You need less classrooms. And if you are spreading your staff too thin, ultimately you can talk about money and and all that and that kind of comes into play, but ultimately you're spreading your teachers and your staff

176too thin and we're not able to teach these kids effectively. And I think that's where we're at. We have we're spreading our support staff too thin. We're trying to maintain too many schools. and and Miss Cardinas, she you make some great points and some of those some of those questions and concerns I think will be in my opinion will be in those reszoning process as far as you know where kids go here. So some of that is not necessarily decided tonight. So, some of those concerns are valid and I I I think those need to be flushed through the resoning process, but ultimately there's I don't know any other solution to less students other than to reduce the classrooms and reduce the schools as part of that. And all that is an effort to get,

177like Dr. Moran mentioned, get the best teachers in front of these kids. the the class sizes is not going to a parent approached me and said, "Well, I don't want my student to be crammed in another class. The class size is going to be the same. We're we're we're shooting for an optimal class size that research has shown to be the best for learning. So, that's that's not going to change. We're moving teachers to make sure that happens. And ideally, like Dr. man mentioned when you have more teachers together you can have a better support system stronger PTO's which I I know I talked to Miss Cardinas like that is as important part of this as I mean teachers are the the the lifeblood of what we do but PTO support that and the more

178students you get together more parents you get together the stronger those those systems are so while uh there's no real way around getting rid of small classrooms other than closing schools to Mrs. Cardinz's point about I think some of the questions is about what school to close. Um and I think some of your concerns are related to specifically the selection of Reagan and and I know some people have mentioned uh what the committee has decided but even even myself I it doesn't make any sense whether a committee came to us and said or not it doesn't make sense to build another school when we have adequate classrooms. Would I love, and I've I've said this to other people, would I love to build a new school for that side of town? 100%. I I would

179love for someone to come forward and say, "I have $45 million. I want to build a new school over there." And I would we would I think we would all take that happily and build a new brand new school, but that is not going to happen. And we can't pretend like we can still use that building long term. I'm talking about uh Reagan specifically, the main building, the the important part. The other buildings are classes and stuff, but the the core of the school over there is the main building. So whether the rubric is provided or not, it doesn't matter to me personally cuz I I can look at that situation and realize that that building based on other stuff we've been provided over the years. That building and that campus is is not the

180best for the future of the district. There are other schools that are in much nicer shape, have much more long-term viability that could that could have these school these students there and and teach them uh just as good. And I hope that all the wonderful things that Buoie and Reagan have as far as culture and you know the the wonderful I mean Buoie pride is as strong as it gets. I I hope that gets uh that can be brought to whatever school they those students go to because ultimately the teachers that are at Buoie that have done a great job of maintaining this culture and those teachers can be spread out and we only hope that that will continue to spread the wonderful things that they've done and same for Reagan. So, you know, I

181know that's long-winded and uh it, you know, I I guess I'll conclude with I I will second the motion that u Mr. Dindle has proposed to close uh Reagan and Buoie. >> And I know it's easy for for those who are not directly impacted to make statements like you just did. I am directly impacted and that's why I'm making the statements I am. I need to be clear that none of the facts that I presented today were based off emotion or memories or anything like that at these schools that you know that seems to keep being brought up. It's not about any of that. I'm asking for solid facts, for solid data. That's all I'm asking for. Why can't I Why can't I be provided that? And so we have a motion, we have a

182second. Um, you have had heat scores and all those things just like the rest of us have for six months about campuses. You they've been >> not these Dr. You know which ones I'm asking for? I I don't I I don't know exactly what you're asking for because I think the data you're asking for is stuff that was just a compilation of what the the admin thought recommended and I I mean this very nicely like that's not who's voting like the seven of us are deciding which who to vote right >> and so like for I think what Dr. Bills was saying is like it's based on the he like the same data they used to rank it. We should be that was just what how they ranked it. We've seen the data over the

183last 6 months or 3 years about what it would cost to um keep campuses up and make what their viability is for the next 20 years. And so I think what we have at the moment is that Mr. Dindle and Dr. Mills have made a motion in a second based on their own accumulation of that data of what two schools should close and it's the board's decision to then vote. It's my job to bring us to a vote and that's and then after um after that we go with whatever the next steps are. So, um, as you recall, after the state legislature, everyone has to raise a hand or, um, uh, or we have to do a roll call. We'll do a raise of the hand. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All

184against say the same. >> I. >> Motion passes 61. All right. We are going to go back now to our consent items which are consent items A through E. So that's consider donations, our minutes from our December 8th and our December 15th pre-aggenda and regular board meeting, our library book purchase, our maintenance transportation and miscellaneous supplies adder, and our 25-022 which is miscellaneous supplies. Do I have a motion to approve consent items A through E? >> Make a motion to approve consent items A through E. >> I have a motion from Mr. Gigos. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. I have a second from Dr. Mills. Do I have any further board comments or questions? All in favor say I. Please raise your hand. >> I. All against say the same. Motion passes.

18570. All right. Next we have action item A which is to consider the approval of our 2425 audit report um that was presented to us this evening. Um so do I have a motion to approve the August 31st 2025 annual financial report and auditor's opinion? >> Dr. Keman according to ID Bailey we we uh received an unmodified uh statement and that's the best you can receive as far as an audit statement is concerned. commend commendations to uh Mr. Gro and his staff for job well done again this year and we're going to move on with that. I'll move to approve the audit report for 2024 2025. >> Second motion for Mr. Dendle and a second for Mr. Gyos. Any further board comments or questions? >> All in favor say I. I. All say the same.

186Um sorry I didn't raise my hand. Motion passes 70. Next we have consider bills, accounts and financial statements. Um that was um also that's for December. Do I have a motion to approve the bills accounts and financial statements? >> Dr. Cayman again we reviewed these reports earlier in the uh in the meeting and also uh beyond that all these reports were replaced are placed online where the public can see and review uh and it's under SSD. There's a board tab or there's a tab called financial transparency where all these reports can be found. With that, I'll move to approve the bills and accounts financial statements for December 2025. A >> motion from Mr. Dendle. Do I have a second? >> A second from Mrs. Meisel Flint. Any further board comments or questions? As we talked

187about earlier this evening, all in favor say I. I. All against say the same. Motion passes. 70. Next we have bid 25-020 McGill Elementary Edition phase two. Thank you for having me tonight. The McGill Elementary Edition phase 2 was one of the proposed projects in the 2025 bond. With its passage, the district began working on plans and specifications for the 26,574qt addition. With the assistance of Park Hill Architects, an RFP was was prepared for companies qualified to do this type of construction. Bids were received from five companies qualified to perform this work. References were checked and subcontractor lists were reviewed. The scoring criteria was applied and Cole your construction not only received the highest score but also had the lowest price of 12 million $350,000. At this time the administration recommends Collier Construction for the

188construction of McGill Elementary. And I want to thank the guys from Collier uh are here today. They've been waiting patiently to to see this. Thanks for coming guys. That's a question. I'm not sure. >> What was the budgeted amount for this project? >> This budgeted amount was >> I can clarify that >> it was 15 million I believe. A little over 15 million. >> And Mr. Henry, yes. >> The approval is for 1235. And maybe I'm seeing >> 1265 >> I'm seeing 1265 on the on the >> proposal that was scored. >> I would have to double check that. >> Can you get that to us in the next little while? >> Absolutely. >> How about we table that for a minute? >> Good deal. All right, we're going to keep moving. I'll come back

189to that one. Um, the next is bid 20-024, Rio Vista abatement and demo. With the movement of Head Start to out of Rio Vista and our declining enrollment, it has left the old Rio Vista campus vacant and no longer needed. With the assistance of King's Consultants, specifications were and drawings were produced to abate and demo the entire Sam Houston campus, I'm sorry, Rio Vista campus. Bids were received from seven companies capable to to perform this type of work. These were reviewed and scored and First Priority Environmental Services LLC and AMX Environmental received the highest scores. The administration recommends approval for AMX environmental LTD to demo the building and first priority environmental services for the abatement of Rio Vista. The total cost for demo and abatement is $289,500 which includes a $40,000 contingency. Do you all

190have any questions over that? will you won't have that answer for us until we decide on this >> what's the timeline do you know >> 30 days >> okay >> I have a suggestion to bring to the board's attention uh while you all know I don't I don't um like to tear down buildings and history and all that there is a building adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club that I'd like to maybe look into possibly saving that for the Boys and Girls Club. I think it could be something valuable to them, maybe storage or whatever they want to use that for. But I think it's a nice little space along with the playground and the little pavilion that's nearby. If we can look into something like that, maybe the Boys and Girls Club would

191>> That's a good suggestion. We're actually coordinating with the Boys and Girls Club and the city because they've got a park in that area. So any decisions made will be in full coordination with them. >> Any other comments or questions? It's good. All right. Do I have a motion? I'll make the motion to approve for AMX environmental LTD to demo the building and one priority environmental services for the abatement at Rio Vista Elementary. Total costs for all demo and all baitment is $200,000 $289,700 which includes a $40,000 contingency. Motion from Dr. Mills. I'll second. Any further board comments or questions? Um, all in favor say I. I. Raise your hand. Sorry. >> All again say the same. >> I motion passes 61. All right. Dr. Gomez, non- business days or Dr. Brandon or No, sorry.

192I think they're going to go here. Thank you, >> Dr. Keeman, Dr. Moran, and members of the board. Um, this is pretty straightforward, but it's always important that we know the why. Um, during the 88th regular session of the Texas legislature legislature, excuse me, important provisions were made to House Bill 3033, which impacts governmental responses to public information request, including the definition of a business day. So, this was effective September 1, 2023. So, we've done it a couple of years since then. Um, this defined a business day as a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday, a national holiday or a state holiday. Additionally, a governmental body may identify no more than 10 days each calendar year that the governmental body's administrative offices are closed or operating with minimum staff as non-business days. These

193days do not count when counting response deadlines. So, just for clarity, when we pass these, remember it doesn't align with the school calendar. It aligns with the actual calendar year. And so, with the board passing um the calendar year for next school year, we need to define these PIA days for the 2026 calendar year. You received a copy in your Friday facts. It's really hard for me to to display this on the screen. So, I put a copy at each one of your seats as well, and you can see the proposed dates in blue that have been designated as non-business days. Then you see the state and federal holiday and the regular weekends. So, it's the administration recommendation that the PIA non-B businessiness day days are presented are approved as presented. Sorry, that was a

194tongue twister. And then um if approved, these will go up on our website and they will be posted outside the communications office. Are there any questions? >> Any questions for Dr. Gomez? >> Do I have a motion? >> I move that the PA non-b businessiness days are approved as presented. >> Have a motion from Mrs. Mazel Flint. Do I have a second? I have a second from Mr. Gagos. Uh any further board questions or comments? All in favor say I. I. All against say the same. Motion passes 70. All right. Dr. Lam Master I think is actually doing this. Um and this item G is consider sanction on educator certificate for abandonment of contract. And that's Pearly Garcia, >> Dr. Kingman, Dr. Moran and board members, tonight I'm bringing forward an item for board consideration

195regarding two educator resignations and potential contract abandonment and whether the district should submit a written complaint to the state board of educator for educator certification or ESPEC for possible sanctions. Board policy provides that educators may resign without penalty at the end of the school year if they submit a written resignation by the required deadline. However, resignation at any other time requires board or designate consent. In these two cases, the district did not consent to the resignations and after review, administration is recommending the board make a finding that good cause did not exist and authorize the submission of a written complaint to ESP. It is important to note that ESP makes the final determination and may consider mitigating factors as part of the review. At this time, I respectfully request a motion to approve administration's recommendation

196to submit written complaints to ESPEC regarding these two educators. >> And I'm going to take those motions separately since they're separate items. So, let's start with um Miss Pearly Garcia. Do I have a motion? >> Can I just ask a quick question? So unlike most positions, they there's no two weeks notice for a teacher. So >> because they're contractual. >> Gotcha. Okay. So it's sort of like because we're depending on their presence for the classroom that we can't replace within two weeks. >> That's right. And if I can make a comment for the board's sake, we really work hard to use common sense and work with employees if they've got a life-changing uh and there's a list that TEA has given us. Uh if they have a life-changing event or there's a health issue or

197a change in family status or perhaps a spouse is moving and they have to move, we are gracious and we work with employees. But when we bring you one, it's because they left us high and dry and did not work with us at all. We're we're absolutely willing to work with employees if they've got something valid. In these two cases, they just quit and they quit on their kids and it's a shame because those kids came back and didn't have a teacher. Any other questions? >> Yeah, I have a question. So, I I read the emails from these two employees and I don't know how how much I can say, but when you say they just quit, um there's there's an interview process. Are we talking to them? Are we trying to dig deeper than

198just maybe what they're telling us? >> Yes. Yes, ma'am. So, we we have a process that we go through. um that includes not only written communication but in-person communication with each employee and like Dr. Moran said, we do try to work with them and consider mitigating factors or personal factors um because each of these employees is a person and has a family and a life and we want to be very considerate of that. Um, but it's also important to note that all all the board is voting on today is whether or not we send the information to the to ESPC and then ESPC makes the final determination. >> Yeah, I take that into cons consideration also that they have a family that they're trying to provide for and who knows what the real issues are.

199One of the employees I think was with the district for many, many years if I'm not mistaken. In my interviews with both employees, I explained the entire process and potential um >> tried to >> ramifications. Yes. And they understood what the conversation would be tonight. >> Yeah. And I'll say as a teacher that has signed a contract before, um when you sign your contract, it is very um detailed and explained very deeply that it's a year contract that you're committing to a year and um I mean you're committing you're committing to children for a year and it's like I agree with you if there's something that and Dr. Moro said it's life. Yes. But if you can't provide that, it it's it's I mean, you know that from the beginning that it's a year contract.

200>> Other questions or comments? So, do I have a motion regarding Mrs. Garcia? I make a motion to consider the sanction of educator certificate for abandonment of the contract >> for per Garcia. >> Yeah. Sorry, I think I have to say the name out loud. Um, so I have a motion for Mrs. Duncan. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a second for Mr. Gos. Any further board comments or questions? All in favor say I. I. All against say the same. Motion passes 70. Um we next have consider sanctions of educator certificate for abandonment of contract IDP loose. Do I have a motion on that one? I'll make a motion to uh that good cause did not exist for Miss is it how do I say Panel Lucay to abandon her employment

201contract and authorize the superintendent to submit a written request to the TEA to sanction educator certificate for abandonment of contract. A >> motion from Dr. Mills. Do I have a second? >> Second. A second from Mr. Gagos. All uh any other board comments or questions? All in favor say I. I. >> I. >> All against say the same. >> Motion passes 70. We're going to go Thank you, Dr. Master. >> We're going to go back to item D, bid 25-020. >> My apologies. I had a discrepancy on my presentation. The total cost for the 26,574 square ft is 12,650,000. The budgeted price for that from the bond committee was 15,830. Get that page back. All right. So, do I have a motion regarding phase two of McGill Elementary? >> I'll make a motion for contracting

202with Collier Construction for phase 2 at McGill Elementary School. Total cost for the addition is uh $12,650,000. >> I'll second motion from Dr. Mills and a second from Mr. Dindle. Any further board comments or questions? I have a question. >> Yeah. >> There's some community concern about this particular bid. Maybe it's a total line, maybe not, but I have to ask. Um, does this bid include removing or demolishing the current playground that's there in order to to complete this project >> at McGill? >> Uh, at McGill. >> Yes, we're going to replace the playground. Matter of fact, they're going to tear it down. They're going to put two more new ones there and then a new one across the street at the Tiny Texan. >> So, the new playground will be removed. >> No, the

203old one will be the old one in the back. >> I'm asking about the new one. >> Oh, no. The new one. >> Totally out of the way. >> Absolutely. Good question. Any other questions or comments? All in favor say I. >> I. All say the same. Motion passes 70. All right, we're going to go into close session under Texas Education Code 551.074, which is um personnel matters, and then we will be back. All right, we are back from executive session. We took no votes. Um, all right. Um before we move forward with our last item, um there were um several votes that I recorded as 70 after the um which included consent items A through E. uh approval of the audit report um which is action item A um bills, accounts and financial statements

204which is action item C. Um the was it was the McGill did Miss Gardinius did you vote on the McGill edition? Yes. >> Okay. So, um the public information act um item F. Did you vote on that one >> before? >> That was right before um the certificate for abandonment. >> Okay. So, just the other ones I listed, we're going to list um Mrs. Cardinz is abstaining and that they were 6, not 70. My apologies. Um so, now we have consider midyear superintendent evaluation. And I'll make a motion that we approve the midyear superintendent evaluation as discussed. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. Do I have any further board comments or questions? Um, everyone will just make sure they raise their hand until I look at them. All in favor say I. >>

205I. >> Motion passes 70. Um, announcements. Our team of eight training will be uh February 5th, 2026. Our finance and pre-aggenda workshop will be February 9th. And our regular schoolboard meeting will actually be >> February 16th. Um not February Monday. >> 23rd. That's a Monday. Um >> 16th. >> Yeah. 16th. >> All right. And with that, we are journed.