001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good evening. I've At this time we don't have a quorum but we going to start with the awards. Good. So Mr. Elias Trevino will will do the presentation for all the awards because we have quite a of people here today that I can see and the parking lot was packed. So, Mr. Elias Trevino. All right, let's welcome our students as they walk on in. State qualifiers, Texas Math and Science Coaches Association. May I bring them? Okay. Let's give these boys and girls a round of applause as they walk on in. >> [applause] [applause] >> SO, TONIGHT WE CONGRATULATE SEVERAL STUDENTS FROM B Garza Middle School. These students recently competed in the Texas Math and Science Coa- Coaches Association State Meet with outstanding results. Last year, three students qualified for the state
002level competition and now seven students qualified. A clear indicator of the tremendous growth in academic excellence. The team placed 29th out of 49 school districts across the state in the 6A competition. We are very proud to have these students represent Weslaco ISD at the state level. Congratulations, students. >> [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand to be recognized as well? Let's give them a round of applause. >> [applause] [applause] >> One more? Thank you. >> Let's give them a round of applause as they exit and welcome the next students coming in. >> [applause] >> We are also celebrating the Weslaco High School talented band students who recently advanced to and competed at the UIL's Texas State Solo and Ensemble Band Contest. We congratulate our talented musicians who put in the long hours of practice to
003excel at this level. The band director is Rodrigo Leal. Congratulations to all of these students. >> [applause] [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand and be recognized? >> [applause] >> Oh. >> [applause] [applause] >> Oh, the last one. All right, there. [clears throat] You're tall enough. Oh, we got some more coming. Okay, okay. One more. You get the middle. There you go. He wanted to be in the middle of it. Aw. Stand up straight. One more. One more. Oh, here he is. There he is. There he is. There he is. Everybody stand up straight. One, two, three. One more? Last one. Congratulations, boys. >> [applause] >> Good job. Good job. >> [applause] >> All right, walk out that way. Congratulations, students. Congratulations. Good job. Good job. I give I give free haircuts. Right? I'll officially
004start the meeting whenever Yeah. Next group. >> [clears throat] >> We had a lot of them today. All right, these are Tonight, we also congratulate the Weslaco East High School Regiment wins. This group of students recently competed at the Texas Educators Color Guard Association State Championship, winning second place. We also honor Marlene Montemayor who was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. She was one of only 12 seniors across the state to win the championship. Congratulations, students. >> [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand to be recognized as well? >> [applause] [applause] >> Let's give them one more more round of applause, and we also welcome the next group of students. >> [applause] >> Tonight, we celebrate the Weslaco High School Mariachi Pantera. The Mariachi >> [applause] >> The Mariachi competed in the second annual South Texas Mariachi
005competition facing off against other 6A districts across the valley, and we congratulate them on their first place win. Congratulations, students. >> [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand to be recognized as well? >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Tonight we are happy to announce the recent accomplishments of the Weslaco High School Dream Its Drill Team during the American Dance Drill Team RGV Dance Spectacular. The Dream Its earned first runner-up in the team palm small division and several members won Division 1 soloist medals. Congratulations students. >> [applause] >> Parents, please stand to be recognized. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Tonight we also congratulate the Dr. Armando Cuellar Middle School Silver Stars, who also had tremendous success during the American Dance Drill Team RGV Dance Spectacular. The Silver Star officers received Division 1 ratings in all three
006routines, and the team also received Division 1 ratings on all four routines. Congratulations, ladies. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand TO BE RECOGNIZED? >> [cheering] [applause] >> ALL RIGHT. CONGRATULATIONS. >> [applause and cheering] >> How come How come you you get to carry the trophy? Oh, all right. Good answer. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Tonight, we also want to congratulate a very talented group of artists. Weslaco East High School and Weslaco High School students recently competed in the Texas Art Educators Association Visual Arts Scholastic Event in San Marcos. The students advanced to the state contest contest after earning a superior rating at the regional event held in March. At the state event, several students received a rating superior medal in the respective respective divisions and were named all-state medalists. Congratulations, students. >> [applause]
007>> Parents, would you please stand and be recognized? >> [applause] [applause] >> One more round of applause as they exit and we welcome the next group of students. >> [applause] >> Tonight, we also want to extend our congratulations to members of the Weslaco High School Golf program. The boys and girls teams both won the District 31-6A championship titles. This is the second consecutive year both teams win the championship. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand to be recognized? >> [applause] >> All right. Who was the number one girl on the district? District champs? Who had the lowest score? >> Oh, you did? Awesome. What was What was your score today? Oh, what did you do? My average score this year was a 74. Hey, very good. That's pretty good. Tonight, we also congratulate
008the Weslaco High School Boys Varsity Track Team. The boys captured the District 31 6A Championship title. Congratulations, gentlemen. >> [applause] [applause] >> Parents, please stand to be recognized. >> [applause] >> Got it. All right. All right. Back to back? Three in a row? Well done. Congratulations. All right. Congratulations. Uh coach, no, something there. Finally, coach Harris. That's right. I get it. All right. Congratulations. Congratulations. >> [clears throat] >> This evening, we want to congratulate the Weslaco High School Girls Powerlifting Program. The team achieved tremendous success this season in the Texas High School Powerlifting Association Division 1 competition. Several Lady Panthers advanced to Regionals and qualified for state. Congratulations, ladies. >> [applause] >> Their head coach is Domingo Vento. >> [applause] >> Parents, would you please stand and be recognized? Picture. >> [laughter] [clears throat] >>
009All right. >> [applause] >> Wait, which Who are you? You are Yes. Jasmine. We also congratulate several high school athletes who were recently named on academic all-state teams. These academic all-state lists recognize high school athletes for their academic excellence in GPA, class rank, and ACT/SAT scores. We honor these students who perform with that highest academic excellence on and off the court or field. Tonight, we have representatives from baseball, softball, soccer, track, and powerlifting. Congratulations, students. >> [applause] [applause] >> Parents, please stand to be recognized. >> [applause] [clears throat] [applause] [clears throat] >> Tonight, we want to congratulate the Weslaco East High School District 32 5A boys track standout, Alexander Nava. >> [applause] >> Alexander holds the district championship titles for the 1600 and 3200 meter runs. Uh he advanced to area capturing the championship title
010there as well. He advanced to regionals qualifying for state where he finished sixth in the UIL state 5A standings. Alexander holds the second all-time record at Weslaco East in the 3200 run. Congratulations, Alexander. >> [applause] >> Alexander's parents, the Navas, would you please stand to be recognized. >> [applause] >> So, you got two more years. All right. >> Mhm. Good. Tonight, we also want to extend our congratulations to the leadership, faculty, staff, and students of Justo Raul A. Gonzalez Elementary. Region one recently designated this campus with an outstanding distinction for the implementation of the Blue Bonnet math curriculum. Congratulations to Gonzalez staff. >> [applause] [applause] [clears throat] >> One more round of applause. >> [applause] >> Tonight, we also want to congratulate the technology department headed by executive director Carlos Martinez, which was recently awarded
011close to $1 million in grants for technology improvements. The district will receive E-rate funding totaling over half a million dollars to safeguard network equipment from power surges and an additional 50,000 for the for internal fiber fiber replacement at Silva Elementary and Guerra Middle School. Weslaco ISD has also been awarded two grants totaling over $400,000 from the cybersecurity pilot program for all our campuses to continue to to security and protect against ransomware attacks. Congratulations to our technology department and Carlos Martinez. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. We have two very special individuals here with us this evening. I want to introduce the district elementary teacher of the year, Orfelinda Salinas, from Rico Elementary. >> [cheering and applause] >> And the district secondary teacher of the year, Maribel De La Garza, from Weslaco East. >> [applause] >>
012They represent our wonderful teachers who are doing the hard work day in and day out to ensure the academic excellence of all our students. Now, they both advance to the Region 1 Teacher of the Year selection process. Best of luck and congratulations. >> [applause] >> So, you're related to Cari, right? Yes. Yeah. >> [clears throat] [applause] >> See? >> That's it. That's it. For the awards, that is it. Of course, they're all gone, but special congratulations goes out to all the students and of course the parents and of course the sponsor and coaches that work with them. So, congratulations to all the students that were awarded today. Jackie, anything on the comment on this? >> Yeah, well, they're all gone like you said, but it's awesome to see the the seniors that were here that
013are about to graduate this week. Um that are going to move on and be well prepared by Weslaco ISD to go on into their adult life. And then those young ones, the freshman, the sophomores that we have a couple more years with us, it's exciting cuz we know that they're doing great. And also well the fine arts, academics, everything, it's awesome to see. So, great job to everybody. >> Thank you, Jackie. Uh Coach Guerra? Um again, just uh highlights the uh the positive things, the good things about Weslaco ISD and the great job that everybody does. You know, in in this day and time we tend to look at the other things that are very insignificant compared to the to the accomplishments and the great things that are happening. Keep up the good job. We're
014very proud of all of you all and we're here to help you all every step of the way. So, thanks. Thank you very much. Coach Guerra, thank you, Coach Guerra. >> Congratulations to everyone involved. Uh takes a lot. You know, I want to just recognize teachers especially not only at the high school, but you know, you go down to the foundation at elementary, middle school. Everybody plays a part in in the academic portion. It was great to see the middle school kids get recognized for something in academics. I think I hope it provides a little motivation for them as they continue with their with their schooling, but you know, everybody who plays a part, congratulations to all. Proud of the players, you know, that were out of Band, academics, athletics, great job to all coaches,
015teachers, administrators, everybody involved, great job. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Coach and Mr. Los Santos. Um the same with everyone else. Great job to all the staff, the parents, the students, and everybody involved in all the different departments, athletics, and also academics. So, just a great way to end of the year. So, great job. Yep. And we had quite a number of today compared to other board meetings. So, good job. All right. We're going to go back to the beginning cuz we didn't have a quorum. So, now we have a quorum, so we can start our regular meeting. Let me call this meeting to order. I'm Mr. Arrieta, president of Weslaco ISD Board of Trustees. The regular board meeting is being conducted in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. Notice that this meeting has
016been posted online for at least three business days prior to the meeting date. The time now is 6:00. And I will call this meeting to order. I will begin the roll call. Mrs. Stites is here, but she'll be back in a minute. Dr. Jaime Rodriguez is not present today. He's uh off today. Coach Cuellar? Present. Mr. Coach Serna? Present. Mr. Martin Los Santos? Present. And Mr. Ben Castillo is running late. Uh she'll he'll be coming in in a little while. Invocation, Dr. Rivera. Yes. To the venue? Would you bow your heads, please? Ladies and gentlemen, if you're wearing a hat, if you would remove it in reverence to the Lord, Lord of all creation, our Lord Jesus Christ, how great and mighty you are. You are awesome in all of your ways. You are good
017and merciful towards us. Thank you for the gift of life, health, family, friends, strength, and ability to work to provide for our families. We thank you for the many blessings you have bestowed upon WISD and those to come. Father, we will never tire nor waver to ask you to continue to bless and grant greater wisdom to our superintendent Dr. Richard Irizarry and our amazing board. Thank you for their leadership and humility. May your will be done in our board meetings. Help us always to maintain integrity in what you have left in our care. As the 2025-2026 school year comes to a close, there is much gratitude in our hearts for all that you have done, are doing, and will do in the days to come. Thank you for the strength, wisdom, and love you poured
018upon our teachers and staff. Thank you for keeping our students and staff safe. We pray your hand of blessing and protection be upon all our students and staff during the summer so that all may return safely in August. We ask you all this in your precious, glorious, and mighty name of Jesus. And everyone says, "Amen." We'll continue Pledge of Allegiance and take this pledge. Would you please stand, place your right hand over your heart, and face the United States flag. I pledge allegiance 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. Now, the Texas pledge. I pledge allegiance to thee, honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and
019indivisible. Thank you, Mr. Elias Trevino. Public comments. There are none. Thank you, Carlos. We will continue with number seven, presentation, Dr. Irizarry. Yes, we have two presentations and we'll start with the mental health by Dr. Media. Dr. Rivera Rivera Rivera Okay. Good evening, President Nieto, Dr. Rivera, and members of the school board. I'm Dr. Linda May Rivera. I'm a point of contact for the student support services, as well as the lead mental health counselor for the district. I'm here this evening to share our mental health services for our district, and as a response to the request from the board as well. In 2022, we laid the foundation for a comprehensive mental health program. We even named it at that time, which is called counseling and restoring every student, which is the acronym of cares. The
020framework we selected is [snorts] quite compatible to the framework that we use when we address and identify the academic needs and appropriate support responses for students in academic need. That is called the multi-tiered system of support. It is a heavily research-based and evidence-based framework. So, in general, we look at the needs of the students, and we categorize them into three tiers. Tier one targets 80 to 90% of our students' needs. So, we as a district believe that with broad prevention and universal supports, that our students can learn, excel, learn the necessary skills to adjust, and have uh positive interactions with their peers, learn how to manage their emotional regulations, and learn the calming skills that are necessary so they can plow forward with whatever challenges that they are faced with in the school or in
021their home settings. However, there are some students who will not find success with the broad preventions, so they move into tier two, which is 10 to 15% of the students, which we then follow through with targeted interventions. These interventions can be applied through small group setting or individual as well. Despite having tier one and tier two in place, we will then have another smaller population that still need additional supports. They will move into tier three. That's 1 to 5%. And they will have intensive individualized support. This support, what does it look like? Well, we first need to get the parents on board. None of these interventions outside of tier one can be applied without parental consent. So, we talk to the parents. We let them know what their child's needs are, what we have in
022place, and how we believe they can benefit from the services. Once we obtain uh the parents' buy-in, then we can move forward in assessing, diagnosing, and coming up with a specific and individualized treatment plan for that child. These children will receive only individual therapy sessions on a regular basis. Depending on their need, that will adjust the schedule of service that they receive. Click, my note. >> [laughter] >> Um why do we do this? Senate Bill 123 mandates that we have social emotional learning programs in place. The beauty and one of the things I loved about Weslaco ISD when I joined in the '90s is that when we were not even mandated to have social emotional learning programs, Weslaco ISD was committed to having these programs in place for their students. It did not become a
023law till 2010. In 2010, we were then mandated, which not a lot of adjustment was needed since they were already accustomed to applying it. And those continued [clears throat] to this day. Co- post-COVID, we then were mandated to add and integrate a mental health focus in our social emotional learning programs. These are the five components that Texas law requires that our curriculum uh touch upon and teach our students. The curriculum that we have chosen is called Panorama. It is an evidence-based um curriculum based on trauma-informed and very strong teachings in CBT. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Sorry about that. Uh it is also available electronically. Every student, every mental health provider, every staff member is able to log in to Panorama. They all have an account. We, in addition, have district curriculum writers who meet together in
024the summer to sift through the hundreds of lessons that are available in the Panorama Playbook. They will choose those that are rated highly. They will choose those that are appropriate for the age groups that we're targeting. And they will divide the Panorama Playbook into three separate curriculum, both manually and electronically. We have an elementary curriculum, a middle school curriculum, and a high school curriculum. And everything is uploaded and easy for the teachers or the counselors, whoever delivers the lesson, to be able to engage the students in a lesson without a lot of prep time. How we deliver it is we focus on having at least two to three social emotional learnings per month. We integrate also the college career military readiness lessons twice a semester. We also review and teach them about the appropriate use
025of social media, how they establish a positive digital footprint, and of course the dangers, and things to be cautious of for navigating the internet world safely. The last week, week four, is reserved for anti-bullying awareness. Uh here I have I won't click on it now, but you'll see an example of Weslaco High School's SEL calendar. So, every campus has their own calendar. So, their lessons are not going to be identical because we target the domain first that our superintendents have selected for the district. For the last couple of years, it's been emotional regulation. And then as far as the campus needs, the counselors and the social emotional learning committees, they decide which domain they feel is the most crucial for their students' needs. So, those domains may differ one from another. So, the lessons will
026also differ. In tier one, we're not only focusing on the population of the student. So, those are all the different activities that are going on year round from the very first month of school all the way till May. We start off with suicide prevention awareness month. And this month we're ending with mental health awareness month. We have activities pretty much every week and every month uh touching upon the different challenges that they face. In addition to that, we have now collaborated with Erica Garcia in the parent and family engagement center. And so, we also will align our students SEL lessons with the parents uh what the parent specialist do on a monthly basis. We'll try to align as best we can those topics. So, the parents are learning what the parent what the children have
027learned that particular month. But, you'll see at the bottom I put two in bold because that was new that we implemented this year. An increased collaboration with other departments in the district. We collaborated with the bilingual program. And we attended and presented their bilingual parent symposium. Talking about the fears, the anxieties that our students have developed based upon all the immigration law changes and how they're reacting to it. In addition, we collaborated with Erica Garcia and we uh held and presented at the mental health conference for our parents. And that was a huge turnout and it was I think it was a great success collaborating with our departments. Lastly, our staff Sorry about that. Our staff we train we start from the beginning of the year before our students even arrive teaching our students and
028reminding our teachers what are the most common mental health disorders that well developed in the age group that they're teaching. What does it look like? What are the symptoms? And what are their appropriate responses as teachers? How can they support their students? And if necessary, how do they get them additional help? So, we talked to them about in-house services as well as outside services. We also edited and updated our crisis manual which had not been done in a while. We have a crisis management team that is comprised of our six district uh social workers and myself. We edited it, made it more clear and concise so it can be easy and friendly for our admin to follow when they have a crisis on campus. One of the other parts of tier one is a new
029mandate, which was House Bill 3. That is a mandate that requires all employees who have regular interaction with students to have an intensive mental health training program. So, it's not like the Senate Bill 460 that was just a quick review. This one is more in-depth, where they learn of all the mental health disorders of our students, appropriate responses, how to keep them safe, and how to get them help. So, the mandate was last year we had to train 25% of our staff. So, we met that goal. This year, we have to train 50% of our staff before the first day of school. So, we're on track and we will be able to meet that goal after next week's PD, as long as all of our I guess attendees uh follow through with attending the training.
030This is the curriculum we use. It is called the Youth Mental Health First Aid. It is not a quick and dirty uh training program. It is lengthy. Our teachers and staff attend an 8.5 training session, but at the end, everyone is nationally certified. To date, we have certified 750 employees. We are a team of three that are in-house. When we first started, we used to have to contract with Region One or Tropical and other individuals, and they would charge us like $3,000 per training. We trained our own staff, and now it's not quite free of charge, but you understand. It's covered by the or the district. Those are our team members, our LPCs, our intervention specialist, and our stronger connection staff. Moving on to tier two, which is going to be shorter than tier one.
031Our Panorama, they undergo surveys, our students from third grade through 12th. And twice a year, our counselors, social workers, and LPCs, we meet together and we analyze the results of our students' surveys. We then are able to look at all of our strengths, all of our weaknesses, where we have grown, where we have not. But most importantly, what the counselors are looking for is they're looking for their particular students who are in the low-performing [clears throat] range with the domains that the dis- their campus is targeting. Once they identify their students, they form groups. They form the small focus groups. And then they decide what the schedule of services, and they go forward with that. You'll see in the link the action plan. You will find the action plan of every campus and their goals
032to serve the students in with at-risk behaviors. Number two. Uh they don't have to wait till their counselor calls them in or refers them. They can self-refer. We have mental health posters throughout the district. We have a QR code. They can call the hotline. Or they can do it the old-fashioned way, the way we did it. We just walked into our counselor and said, "Hey, I need to talk." So, they can self-refer as well. A third type of intervention for tier two is the wellness checks. Counselors and all of us, we have a list of students that we check in on a regular basis. They're not like lengthy sessions or anything. Just, "How are you doing? You need any help with someone? You having trouble with anyone or a teacher that you need us to
033communicate with? Give you extra time for work. Whatever it is that's causing them stress, we're there to assist them. We also have students that are often or they feel that they are forgotten cuz they're [clears throat] at JJAEP in McAllen. These are students who have been expelled for either discretionary behaviors or mandatory behaviors. We provide services to them and have for 3 years now. One of our LPCs and our intervention specialist, we drive out there and we provide them with not just instructions, small group instruction, but more than anything, we provide them with hope. That we're proud of them for sticking to it and getting their days knocked out. And we let them know that you all love them, miss them, and want nothing more than to receive them back into the district when they
034complete their days. And we want to make sure that they're okay cuz they're mixed in with many other cities and districts. Uh so, we make sure that we are visible as Weslaco ISD representatives. The next is students who make a crisis outcry. We have a screening process in place. Every single counselor, LPC, and social worker was retrained this year. We go through it every year uh because we know everybody's skill levels are different. And you can freeze when you have a crisis right in front of you. I would like you, if not now, on your own time, to look at the crisis log. This is the documentation that our counselors, social workers, and LPCs have kept on campus, which tell you the number of times they have had a student in moderate to severe emotional
035distress or who have made an outcry. So, they are providing non-academic services to all of these students. The numbers are large, but I would like to take a close look at that. The need for mental health services has not gone away. It is great. Lastly, we kicked off this new program, which is Think Smart, with the collaboration of Mr. Roger Bettis and Erica Garcia. It is an anti-drug and alcohol support for students who have been placed in CAPE or in the South Palms Garden Center. It not only touches on anti-drug and alcohol, it has a lot of mental health topics as well. It is off to a great start. Our CAPE teachers have all been trained. They teach the lessons Monday mornings. I think they said about 8:40. They're real specific with the time, so.
036Lastly, our tier three. This is our one-on-one services. Uh only So, even though we are engaged in all tier one, tier two, tier three, the counselors can help in tier one and tier two. Social workers can help in tier one and tier two. LPCs are the only ones can help in tier one, tier two, tier three. This is the highest level of therapeutic and clinical services. These are our students who have made suicidal outcries, that have a mental health diagnosis, that need regular therapy, that have had behavioral threat assessments, because they are deemed of being a danger to self or others. We also have a contract with uh Weslaco PD and with Hidalgo Sheriff's Department. It is called Handle With Care. Uh through the help of Mr. Daniel Reyna, they will send the referrals through
037him, which he then forwards to us. This alerts us that we have had a student who was exposed to a traumatic event in the eyes of that law enforcer who responded to the scene. We then do our follow-ups. If we have an inclination that it may lead to a PTSD or some further mental health issues, we then pull them into regular therapeutic services. These are the providers for tier three. We only have five. There are two district-wide LPCs. We have three strong connections LPCs, but for the last couple years they had fidelity to those three campuses. So, we had same page uh some MOUs with our outside providers. We had five clinical providers that had MOUs as well. We with the help of technology, we were able to make our referral process electronic. It is
038available through eSchool. So, that is it provides an ease for our counselors and social workers to refer to the LPC team. You look in that area that's highlighted white. You know, a few months ago it was asked, you know, are we still contracting with outside agencies? Most definitely. Uh we have the largest number of contracted agencies than ever before. I used to be one of those contracted ones on the outside, and there was only like five or seven of us most of the time. Today, we have 55 contracted vendors that have all been vetted through our HR department. And they all have different levels of expertise, which is kind of what how human nature works. Not all of our students have the same challenge. They sometimes have quite unique needs. So, when we see the
039referrals, we see their need, we're able to match them to a provider that will most likely be a good fit for that student. >> [clears throat] >> All right. So, overall, these are the students who have benefited from mental health services. Not since 2022. This is just for this school year. Of course, tier one we targeted all students. Tier two, you'll see the elementary individuals. Those were 231. As far as elementary groups, 266. Secondary individuals, 1,000 and 53. Secondary small groups, 1,000 713. Secondary large groups, 6,945. So, in total, 10,208 students benefited from these tier two services. Now, going on to tier three, those more intensive services where they're lingering on developing a mental health diagnosis, that is the first one. Or they do the suicidal outcries as well. We got 2,512 in the elementary,
0402,984 in the secondary. A total of 5,498 mental health interventions that were conducted. And lastly, those who were referred and solidified with a mental health diagnosis and receive regular therapy for this school year, you'll see elementary, 141. Secondary, 673. [clears throat] A total of 814 students were or are on treatment plans this school year. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Thank you. >> that uh Mrs. Sustaita and Coach Serna had brought up mental health before. Uh any comments or questions, uh Mrs. Sustaita? Sure. Thank you, Mrs. Ybarra, Thank you. sending that very good information to us. Because I was wondering how many kids do we have in our district who received the services. And I'm especially looking at the tier three because those are the ones that are more individualized one-on-one. So, uh on
041your presentation, it said tier three the one-on-one was how many kids do we have that that 810. 814. And it grows every day. We receive referrals every single day. So, it's like a live database. So. Okay. And then when they are referred, um how long does it take for them to start receiving services? Depends. If they're referred in-house, they receive services quite quickly. But if they're referred to an outside agency, uh all we can do is refer. And then it's up to them and their case management. Most of them will get back to us and say, "Thank you. We are in receipt of this. We have scheduled the intake with this parent." But uh their goal is 2 weeks to have them in services. Okay. And then I guess my last question would be um
042have we seen improvements in attendance or behavior with those children that are receiving the tier two and tier three services? >> Yes, I know the first years we were keeping that type of data and we did see an increase in their attendance, in their grades when they were having success in receiving mental health services, and when they're graduating out of counseling, they're doing great. You know, but informally, yes, I see the majority are able to learn, get get back on track, get refocus with their school, and plow forward. Do we still have that data ongoing or was it just before? No, it was it was requested that that particular year. Okay. All right. Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Heather. Mhm. Uh Commissioner Yeah. >> [clears throat] >> I guess my my thoughts are
043the impact. We are having an impact on our kids. Is is this having having an impact on our kids? I mean, because I see numbers and there's a lot of numbers. Who's monitoring this and how we How do we know? Yeah, I mean the impacts again, if they are If you're talking about tier three, if they're exiting from the program, which many of them do exit, that means they have met their treatment plan goals. Which means they have shown success to be able to function. Uh so, if we have a child that is experiencing suicidal ideation, the goal is for them to not have any suicidal ideation. So, when they get to that point, they report that. And the parents agree, then they're ready for dismissal or for a longer schedule of service. We may
044drop them to one time per month, continue to monitor them. They continue to do well, then we dismiss. That is a positive dismissal. Now, if they're kicking and screaming, they don't want services, well, that's not a positive dismissal. The majority of our students are graduating, which means a positive dismissal. Okay. And they're in middle school kid middle school student. Is he seen from by the same counselor as he goes into high school when when you're in when you have your interventions if it is a tier three? Is it the same counselor? Is it a different counselor? How does that work? Right. Again, if we only had two two LPCs that were mobile. I was one and then Ms. Sierra was another. So, as far as following them, if they cross from east to to high,
045that's difficult cuz we do have our assigned campuses. And we have to go with assigned campuses to maximize our efficiency. If not, we're going to be spending the majority of our time driving, parking, finding space. And so, that's why I clustered them to where they would have assigned campuses. The good news is next year, we will have all five LPCs that can visit the entire district now. So, that's going to help. So, we are going to be revamping their assignments. And uh do they follow them like a Gear Up counselor? Uh not typically, but if they're quite severe and they've already developed a very strong bond with that student, we do allow them to continue. But most of the students, what we want is we want them to adjust to the new counselors. We will
046encourage them to try out the new counselor cuz it's just like a teacher, they're not going to get the same teacher year after >> But this is a special case. This is mental health and and you know Mhm. if I want to develop a relationship with the middle schooler and then and then it goes on into high school, I think it would be positive for me to stay with that student unless I'm no longer working with the agency. >> Yeah. I mean, I understand what you're saying, but in the mental health world, we try not to keep a child from elementary and take them all the way to graduation. We do try to exit them. We want them to adjust [clears throat] to other adults and trust other adults. The purpose is to help them
047generalize those learnings with other individuals and not follow them and follow them, so. It's kind of like tropical. When tropical comes in, uh you're not sure who you're going to get. You may have them for 3 months and then switch to another >> I just want what's best for our kids. I want to I want [snorts] to I want to see an impact that's going to be beneficial to our kids. I don't want to just try something. So again, our services are majority for general education students. They are not intended to be long-term. If a student needs long-term services >> That's I guess that's why I'm looking >> more at special education. Those students have four uh I guess special education counselors. Those counselors do follow them year after year after year. Our goal is
048for short-term. Those who their parents divorced, they had a breakup and they're feeling like they don't want to go on. So, they're more short-term. [clears throat] Okay. So. I was having an impact, positive impact. Mhm. I believe so. And then when we have our Panorama surveys, that also helps us to know if they're learning from the lessons being taught. And what's being focused. And so far so good. They are growing. So. Good points, Coach Arna. Coach Graham. I just um We're very fortunate to have you there and and uh you know, anything you need to um make make this successful, we're here to help. So, just uh Keep doing a good job for for students and and I know that this goes beyond students cuz you know, we also have adults that uh that have
049issues. So, we appreciate your uh your diligence [snorts] in working with them. So. Thank you. >> Keep up the good work. Thank you. Good evening. I just have one more one more thing. I know anti-bullying is also That was That was You took my question. It's okay. No, you're good. You're good. Well, no. And And again, is this elementary, middle school, high school, all the way through on the fourth week, everyone's doing the same thing? I walked into a classroom of of with cares they're doing Well, I should say every counselor is instructed to do anti-bullying awareness lessons on the fourth week. Are they doing it? That would be up to the principals to go and monitor. I'm at Westbury High. So, I can tell you that Mr. Ornelas and Mrs. Nettles, every Wednesday, 10:00
050a.m. You know, it's 2:00 a.m. They will get on the intercom or they will send an email to every teacher, remind them to stop their regular instruction and to engage the students in the social emotional learning lesson that has been uploaded for them. And [clears throat] they don't stop there. They will do random walk-throughs to make sure that their teachers are engaged. I know the same schedule is followed at Weslaco East. I would love the other campuses to do that as well, to have a specific time. Unfortunately, elementary, they have what they have sign-in, rotations. So, I do have to share this with you. One of the challenges that our elementary counselors and second middle school counselors have is they spend so much time in the classroom teaching the SEL lesson class by class by
051class that they're not accessible all the time when they do have a crisis or they have a parent that's seeking them. I would love for these campuses to take a page out of the playbook of Weslaco East. What takes a counselor 25, 30 hours to cover takes our teachers 30 to 45 minutes a week. Remember, these lessons are TEKS aligned, Texas Essential Knowledge Skills. A teacher can deliver these. It does not have to be the counselor. Then, ideally, we would like to have counselors. And And we have elementary schools that are pushing a thousand students. >> Correct. >> With two counselors. We take a hard look at that and help the elementary schools. Yeah, so I mean, if you look at the lesson, you'll see these are soft mental health lessons. It's not like the
052therapeutic lessons. It can be done by a teacher. And our teachers are also surveyed for their growth. They will grow once they learn what they're what to teach the students as well, cuz they're learning those techniques at the same time. How many counselors do you have at high school? We have 10 at high and nine at East. Right. 2,200 students. 2,700 and 2,200. Yeah. And then again, that's good [clears throat] points, Coach Hernan, cuz back when we started this program, we actually on Wednesdays had a what we call FAS lessons or family advocacy system that we every Wednesday, every teacher and every counselor and the majority of administrators provided whatever the lesson was for that particular week. I mean, it could be anti-bullying, it could be discussing drugs. For sure, every third week was progress
053reports and the six weeks was grades. So, to focus with those students on how they were doing in class, if we and if we needed it to have them attend Saturday school or whatever. But, the focus was on lessons every Wednesday. But, that was back, I don't know, 2009, 2010, whatever Yeah, yeah, that's how it's done. So, if we have a principal like Mr. Hernan, if he sees a certain pattern of behavior that's becoming a concern, he can bump one of our SEL lessons and put in a specific lesson to address the need of the campus for that particular week. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Any other comments? One more thing, I was just thinking now that summer is coming around the corner and kids won't be in school anymore. And I as a
054parent of four Wylie ISD students from second grade to 12th grade, I have four girls in the school right now and I tell them, at school you're the nicest person. As soon as you get home, I'm like, >> [laughter] >> "Why are you so mean to me?" But, you know, it's just they have their emotions. As a parent, I'll be the first to say I'm not an expert at being a counselor to my own kids. So, the support for parents after school, out of school hours, during summer school, are are we doing anything? Cuz I as a parent, I don't I don't know. Yes, we >> Like, what what do we offer? Of our 55 contractors about 40 plus are available for summer services as well. They're available for summer services as well. Would that
055be good to let the community know? >> it's in there. It's one of our newest ones. They actually go to the home and and work with the parent and the family and the student as well. Mhm. Yeah. That's a great idea. >> we do have different specialties in our providers. All right. Yeah, because if Yeah, the parent shows interest in that, then that's who we're referring to. Yeah. As a teacher, I know when I have my curriculum and it has what to say, what to do. You know, you don't follow it exactly to the T as a teacher, but you have those SEL little lessons in there with what you're teaching in math, but I feel like it's it's at school, but it's also needed at home. We can't educate parents to do what they
056have to, obviously, but any little help, even when their kids are at home all summer, I think that would be a great idea. Mhm. So, thank you. All right, thank you. Thank you, Dr. Rivera. Uh second part, virtual learning program for 2026-2027 school year, Dr. Rivera. >> Mr. Solano. Oh. Uh hi, good evening, uh President Nieto, trustees, Dr. Rivera, and members of the community. So, uh Weslaco ISD is happy to announce that for the 2026-2027 school year, we will be offering virtual learning opportunities through our FlexPath program. The the leader in this program is going to be Mr. uh Javier De Anda. The program will operate at CCDC, right at the College and Career Development Center, where it's housed there. Uh those educators themselves will also be part of this virtual learning option. So, we
057are going to start uh the 2026-2027 cohort will start currently only with our uh ninth graders or students who are at risk to include some of our eighth graders already identified. I know Mr. De Anda shared with the team he's had multiple meetings with the high school principals with Mrs. Tina Wells as well. We wanted to make sure that we brought a program or offered a program that we are currently not offering a service to those students. So this is going to be for students who are identified leavers or who are no longer in our school system, right? And are still identified freshmen. Right? This is where we see the transition from middle school to high school where we see a lot of the need. So we wanted to make sure that we target this
058population. There is there are over 175 students identified at the moment that would be eligible. We are offering an opportunity to 50 students, right? And this will be a program so they still fall under the Weslaco High and the Weslaco East High School >> [snorts] >> school, right? So students would be able to apply. Weslaco High and Weslaco East would be then referring them to the Flex Path program with Mr. DeAnda. So they will be serviced to them. Again, the goal is to increase graduation rates. So when a student is transitioning from middle school to high school and they get discouraged is recapturing those students back and getting them to graduate through one of our high schools. And then we will evaluate the the program, the interest, the growth, right? And hopefully grow every year
059after that. So we'll start we're starting with ninth graders next year. With ninth graders? Okay. Mrs. Stover, question? Yes. What what will be the is that I see they're accepting 25 students but it's 50. 25 and 20 25 and 25. And again, if let's say there's minimal interest, let's say at Weslaco High and Weslaco East is showing that interest. Our goal is right now we're prepared to um capture 50 students but you know as we evaluate also the staffing and where there's over staffing and we then staff Mr. DeAnda accordingly too maybe the program will grow. That was going to be my question. What if we have more people who want to join? Will we limit them and say no you can't or is it yes everybody's welcome? >> again to right size right size
060his staffing accordingly to the interest. So far we've identified possibly 50 right our goal is from the 175 let's say all of them cuz we will be this will be a blended learning approach. Most of our freshmen are still in need of testing their EOCs their high school test so they'll have still two days in person to get that um test prep sessions right with an in person tutor a teacher and then the other curriculum or the other portion of the curriculum will be self-paced through online learning. Okay. And if the kids say you know what I want to go back to school there is a transition to go back. >> right because they'll still be enrolled either at East or at High. Okay. Yes. Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you. Coach Guerra? No you
061you took care of my my concert. >> Yes. Any impact on UIL athletics? They're allowed? They can still continue to participate in our programs. Okay. And [clears throat] uh will it be different than COVID remote learning? Most definitely. That's why we are still requiring the in person Mr. Setna because we want to make sure yeah we want to make sure that they still have quality instruction right because at the end of the day they still have to test. >> learned something from remote now we're going to tweak it and make it better and Yes. Yes and TEKS aligned curriculum most definitely. So you're targeting freshmen correct? >> Freshmen. So freshmen that don't pre-register or register for a district after they left eighth grade. That are coded right, that are coded as leavers basically, drop outs.
062Were we capturing that population? Okay. Cuz I know South Palm Garden targets the sophomores and juniors and [clears throat] seniors that Correct. And we already have South Palm Gardens that targets those. That's why where we saw the gap after, you know, months of studying this data is freshmen. Okay. Any other comments? Thank you. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Thank you, uh, Mrs. Solano for the information. Uh, let's go to item eight, consent items. Hopefully you had an opportunity during the week to look through all the consent items. And if you need to pull any for discussion, please let me know when I ask each one of you. The, um, phone has been empty, but the executive director for budget, she's not here today? I don't know. >> Could you get her on
063the phone? She's ill, but she's in her office. Oh, she's sick? Yes, but we should get an answer through the, through my phone. >> No, I don't want to call. She's got COVID. >> I can Oh, she's got COVID? Oh, okay. No, I I'll save it for For the next. Okay. Any items that, Mrs. Stackel, that you need to pull? Yes, I wanted to just ask some questions on 8 I F. 8 I 8 I 5 F. Sorry. Okay. That is the, uh, about approval to renew the specific aggregate stop-loss insurance for the self-funded medical RX employee benefit plan. Okay. Uh, Coach Quigley? None. Coach Sheldon? Mr. Los Santos? Mhm. No. No, she's sick. >> Until the next, uh, on on that area. Okay. Uh, do I have a a motion to approve the consent
064agenda items except for 8 1 5 F? Move to approve. Second. And I have a second from Mr. Stata. All in [clears throat] favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, motion carries. All right, let's discuss 8.1.5F, approval to renew the specific aggregate stop-loss insurance for the self-funded medical RX employee benefit plan, RFP number 250553. Uh Mr. Dr. Rivera or uh Yeah, whoever. I just I wanted to just ask questions on this because of all the insurance, you know, talks we've had and the stop-loss, how it didn't kick in. And I am not an insurance agent. Uh I do not understand what all those numbers were on that page. Can you explain Did we change anything about the the stop-loss insurance to protect us more than what we've had? Or like, what's going on? Yes, when
065we're talking stop-loss insurance, we're we're looking to find a balance between being underinsured and overinsured, right? So, when we're overinsured with stop-loss, that means that we pay a really big premium because we have um a lot of cases or we have a very low deductible. So, the lower the deductible, the higher the premium. But really then there's a true cost of it because you're going to take the premium that you have. For example, in 2022-23 before I came on board, the premium was uh I want to say it was $4.1 million. But then we ended up with reimbursements of about 3.something. So, the true cost of that was about a million dollars or because it was a $4 million uh uh premium, but then we got some reimbursements. So, we still left a big gap.
066And what we're trying to do is is try to find that balance between paying too much premium for overprotection or paying too little for underprotection. And right now uh because [clears throat] of uh the number of claims that we've had, if we were to keep it at a $200 uh $200,000 deductible, that would increase it by about 29% if we stayed with the regular or with the current uh company. So, instead of keeping a deductible at at 200, we're going to be moving that to 250 because when 250, right? So, when we end up with um three or four people that went over 250 compared to the nine that went went went over at 200, there's a cost to that. I saw you go Yeah. >> Right? So, there's a $600,000 savings by moving. And
067really we would retain that savings until we hit like 13 people that crossed the 250 cuz really what we would be losing would be between 200 and 250. So, the the balance point we're getting closer and closer as we move this. Otherwise, we're we're paying up front for insurance that we may or may not need, right? Instead of uh essentially excluding it over into the into the claims if we need it. Okay. I don't know if you all have any questions on the stop loss. Anybody have uh questions on the stop loss? Mr. Losantos? Coach Arena? No, sir. No. Uh this is it's [clears throat] really hard for me to understand because I'm I'm not like I said an insurance agent and but if you think that's what's going to save us money and you
068think that's the best decision for Westlake, then I'll trust you Thank you for trusting >> was that was the question. I don't understand how how we were uh going from 200 to 250,000 and how are we going to save? >> So, the 250 is the is the threshold when somebody gets ill and they have a a major surgery and the bill comes in higher than 250 or aggregately they've been ill for a very long time so their their bills keep coming in and it it crosses 200, we get money back at the $200 or $200,000 mark. Right? We're going to move that mark to 250. So, we're taking on further risk by about $50,000. For us to lose the savings, we'd need 13 people to cross that threshold at 250 to say we've lost 200,
069you know, the 50 the 50,000. So, I adding all of that up, right now we we stand to save unless we have 13 people to cross that 250,000 threshold. And right now we only have three that have crossed. So, we do see some savings there. Is it guaranteed? Nothing is guaranteed when we talk about health. Tomorrow's not promised. Now, is I know we have Blue Cross Blue Shield right now. Are they on the hook for any claims that are paid in error? Yes, of course. Is that in the contract? Um I'd have to review it and I can get that to you. Do you think you could send it to us we can see? Yes. Cuz I'm just I've I've read so much about sometimes claims don't get uh processed processed correctly and I want
070to make sure someone is on top of that because it also affects our stop-loss. Um What else was I going to ask? >> [sighs] >> There's an actuary looking at our plan, right? >> Yes. Actually, we have a Well, OneDigital and also we have McKenzie out of San Antonio Benefits or SA Benefits. McKenzie is with this SA Benefits? >> Yes. So, they're looking at the plan making sure that >> Yes. And and just to be clear, we went for RFP last year, but every every year we go through what they call a market check, right? So, we're not going to stay with the same carrier because the same carrier was going to be a lot more expensive. They do a market check meaning that they go out to the market and say, "Okay, this is
071the situation. What are we going to find?" Essentially, it's a mini RFP that that SA Benefits is doing for us. They They went out to 15 companies. Of those, only eight replied. The other ones were either 100% more. In other words, last year we paid uh 2.4 and this year other companies are charging us 4.8, right? So, either it was so expensive that we didn't even consider looking at them. We had five that came in and all the options are there in the backup. So, you'll see option one is to stay at 200, move it to 225, or move it to 250. Okay. And right now, um I It's being recommended that we go up to 300 or 350. For a For a district our size, that's the recommendation, right? We would pay a lot
072less in premiums. Um We would We would also get a lot less in reimbursement. But at the same time, we're paying less in premium, so we So, we absorb some of that risk. Instead of paying it up front whether we use it or not, we only pay it if we need it. Okay. I mean, doubt I'm I'm not really a doubter, but I just want to make sure that somebody's looking at our plan and making sure that there's no claims paid in error that and that somebody's actually looking at this plan. So, I'm assuming it's in the contract, right? If they're on the hook if some claims are paid in error, the Blue Cross Blue Shield? So, I I would just like to make sure. I trust but verify. I just want to make sure
073that that it's in there. Yes, ma'am. All right. That's it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve this item? Yes. Mhm. I I I I can I'll I'll make a motion. I have a motion by Mr. Slater. Do you have a second? >> Second. We have a second by Coach Ware. To approve the to renew the specific aggregate stop-loss insurance for the self-funded medical RX employee benefit plan. All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed, motion carries. Item number nine, discussion items, update on trainings, conferences, events, and consider future agenda item requests by the Board of Trustees. Dr. Evatt? Yeah, none none this month. >> Okay. Mr. Nieto, I have a question. It says here about a board member, I guess, discussion. Graduations, I've got I don't know about
074you guys, but I got on some calls, excuse me. Graduation for Thursday or Wednesday, it's going to be bad weather. Thursday and Friday, actually. Uh they're saying that you know they might be in the gym for some Yeah, there's a plan B. Yes. >> we'll go into the gym. Mhm. So, I Somebody had said if we could move them to Tuesday or Wednesday or something, and I don't know if there that was no, yes, or what's going on there. Because I know all the kids >> yeah. Tomorrow is set for early college, I mean, sorry. College career. Right. CCDC >> And then Wednesday is South Palm Gardens. >> Where is there's going to be at, or where are these? At the PAC. At what time is that at? Mhm. Wednesday. So, those two, Tuesday and
075Wednesday, are inside. At the PAC. Yes. >> [clears throat] >> And they usually takes about what, like an hour and a half cuz there's a lot less kids? Yeah, it's about an hour. Yeah, about an hour. South Palm takes about >> we would start earlier, let's say 6:00. Wait, that's the PAC. We couldn't do two graduations in one in on the same day? Just to make sure that the kids have all their family and all their That's [clears throat] a big one. I'm telling you because I'm a mother of a senior, and I've had a lot of people calling me that the kids want, uh you know, more than two people to be there for them. And so, I don't know if that's possible to think about. >> to make that change, isn't it? We
076still have time. Sometimes parents plan though for Friday or Thursday with people coming in. So, It can create problems either way. I I think we're we're in How do you say it? I know it is in Spanish is incomodar. How do you say it in English? >> [laughter] >> Inconvenience. A lot of people that are going to the high school graduation, I think you have a lot more people that are going to be inconvenienced not going to a graduation than you are going to have people going a little bit earlier to the graduation tomorrow. I think you know what? Those are good points, but I think with the time element >> Yeah. Now, if we think about it and plan for next year and say because a few years ago uh we mentioned that we
077wanted a a venue uh either McAllen or Bert Ogden Arena and I believe the survey from parents they didn't want that cuz they didn't want to travel over there. Correct? >> Yes. So, uh again, we can look forward to next year and that way we don't worry about those things by planning ahead and say, "Okay, at the convention center you can sit 10,000 people." At Bert Ogden Arena, you can't sit 10,000. You know, uh it's limited. So, over there I think it was going to be four per per family, if I remember correctly. But, there's something that we can plan ahead for next year. Yeah. It'd be difficult now like for you you know, having [clears throat] it uh in separate dates. And then the thing too, I mean, I have experience in my firm
078with my employer in the past when they've had inclement weather and they had to kind of move around that. I think and it was years back, but one year they did move it. But, then it was the reverse because then you had kids that were leaving, people that were moving, all the graduates and stuff like for college. >> Yes. Uh other than reservations tables and parties. And then on top of that, the flip side is it too, you have to look at the inner mechanics of the school system. So, looking at maintenance and looking at all their schedules and set up and platforms and resources and and subcontractors that you already have uh on invoice with contract and like it's it's huge. When that was small district and so small district than Weslaco. So I
079could only imagine uh Mr. Garza's uh item list, right? Of all these different components that have to be moved as well, too. So you have the parents, like other than just a small percentage, right? That are saying, "Hey, I have issues with it." Which of course I understand. But then you have all those other parents, too, that they their kids are leaving, things like that. May not May not be here next week. Or Saturday. If you would change it to Saturday. Yeah. How many >> being I mean, I don't know about the principals that are here. I don't know. >> How many tickets do uh Mr. Garza's do the seniors get? Four or two? Two if it's inside the gym, right? >> and dad. >> [snorts] >> Yeah. But like in construction, we don't talk
080about inclement weather. And that way it won't come. So hopefully we'll have a uh you know, hopefully I'll tell you right now, I was joking about it though, but I'm being serious though. I was telling somebody, too, I said the cementeros they're still ready to throw by by the by this week. So they they have faith that it they won't rain as much. >> And a couple of years ago, actually, East Weslaco High went through graduation. And then it rained on the on the evening of East. So they had in the gym. And you know, everything worked out. >> Hopefully we won't have that one. Principals, I would like to see I don't want to put you on the spot, but I mean, you're the ones that are there with the kids. You're the ones
081that know what's going on with the parents, also. And I know one year that I I believe either East or Weslaco High uh some were situated in the in the library and they had the big old screen. Uh uh that was one one of the things that we had planned for just in case it would rain. So we uh Weslaco High had it had it ready just in case. We were fortunate that it didn't rain. Yes, Mr. Enelus. We'll have it >> Right. That sounds like a good plan to keep the kids in school. >> Remember one year two we had it was purple skies and we thought we were going to have to move it and luckily it just went right by us. >> Right. Cameron County unfortunately got hit with hail and rain
082but but we were able to have a great night that night. Yeah. Hopefully that's the case this week. >> So let's hope for the best. Yep. Okay. Things to think about for the future. Uh 10. Discussion possible action item for the Board of Trustees to consider approval of changing the date of the regular board meeting schedule for June 15th, 2026. Dr. Ybarra. >> To June 22nd. It'll be one week later uh due to the budget make sure that we're on task to get the budget approved. So it's from the 17th to the next Monday, the 22nd. I recommend approval. Good. Mhm. Oh, I'm looking at the wrong one. They're They're looking at the >> I thought it was a Friday. I was looking at the wrong month. No, I'm fine with that. I mean I
083agree. I think you know, that's why I kind of refrained from my questions to give you more time to have more accurate numbers. Yes. Okay. Mhm. June 22nd is what day? It's a Monday. >> Monday to Monday. Keep it a Monday. >> Yes. Do I have a motion to approve? >> Motion to approve? I'll second. We have a motion by Mr. Losanto seconded by Coach Guerra. To approve uh changing the date uh regular board meeting schedule for June 15th to June 22nd, 2026. Correct? All right, all in favor please say I. I. All opposed? Motion carries. All right, let's continue. Item 11. Closed meeting uh 11A personnel matters discussion regarding Superintendent's recommendation of contracts for certified professional, non-certified professional, and non-contractual per- personnel. 11 A 2 Discussion regarding resignations, retirements of certified professional, non-certified professional,
084and non-contractual personnel. 11 A 3 Discussion regarding superintendent's recommendation for renewal of contracts for district administrators, principals, and assistant principals for the '26-'27 school year. 11 A 4 Discussion regarding superintendent's recommendation for proposal or renewal or letter of assurance for pair for pair professionals and auxiliary personnel for the '26-'27 school year. And in 11 A 5 Discussion regarding superintendent's recommendation for the position of principal for Clear Lake Elementary School. 11 B Consultation with attorney regarding Texas Government Code Section 551.071. 11 B 1 Pending or contemplated litigation. 11 B 2 Settlement offer. Matter of what's the duty of the attorney of the West Oso Independent School District under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. Texas Government Code 551.071. It
085is 7:00 and we will be going into executive session. >> Mhm. >> It's uh 7:35. And we reconvene in open meeting. Possible action necessary in the items discussed in closed meeting. 1281. Discussion possible action regarding superintendent's recommendation of contracts for certified professional, non-certified professional, and non-contractual personnel. Dr. Rivera. Uh recommend approval. Would you approve? I I We have a motion by uh Coach Guerra, second by Coach Serna, correct? Whoever. Mhm. Oh, okay. Uh any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. I. All opposed? Motion carries. 1282. Discussion and possible action regarding resignations, retirements of certified professional, non-certified professional, and non-contractual personnel. Dr. Rivera. >> You have the list. Recommend approval. Would you approve? I. Congratulations to all. We have a motion by Coach Guerra, second by Mr. Ben Castillo. Any discussion? >> [snorts] >>
086All in favor, please say I. I. I. opposed? Motion carries. 1283. Discussions possible action regarding superintendent's recommendation for renewal of contracts for district administrators, principals, and assistant principals for the '26-'27 school year. Dr. Rivera. >> You have the list. I'm recommending approval. Would you approve? The motion by second by Mr. Serna. >> Any discussion? Yeah, yes, I'd like to make a statement for the record. Thank you. >> Okay. You know, I just want to make this statement for the record to the public and to my fellow trustees cuz we have a high standard here and we hold bus drivers, maintenance employees, staff, nutritional staff, teachers, administrators, and whatnot every single day to a high standard and accountable. And action has been taken over the years when necessary just as any responsible employer would do. And
087yet right now we have a situation could I ask for for items to be tabled and for more time and for more space just to get everything together cuz we still have another report as discussed in the back that's still pending, but you know, we've had a very large loss last year and when this year is going to total, you know, close to $40 million and at the end of the day I just feel that we need to do what's right as far as accountability cuz it can only apply to the people at the lowest levels. It has to apply to everyone equally across the board. And then this is a very large concern to many employers to many employees and many taxpayers. This is a huge concern that we're currently looking at and facing
088and I just feel that there should be a level of accountability. And I'm asking, like I said, you all to really look at the decision about more time because I'm not in any way and I've said this in the back I'm not in any way okay with the changes from non-exempt contracts changing to the chapter 21. And I don't agree with those changing from chapter 21 to non-chapter 21 and I feel that in a way like I said, I had questions in the back and there was answers provided, but it's something that I would really think that you reconsider and that's why I'm not going to vote no. That's why I'm going to vote no on this item tonight. Thank you, Mr. De Santos. So, we have a motion by Coach Guerra, second by Mr.
089Eddie Sena. I have a quick question, sir. Okay. To the legal counsel, on the recommended conversions, are those legally required or are they optional? When you're talking about folks that have certification requirement in their job descriptions, they must be on a Chapter 21 count. Okay. Correct. And then what about the non-chapter the Chapter 21 going to non-chapter? Are those district are those required or is that preference? District preference? It's it's it's not required. And it it can be potentially a policy where the district can approve something, but it's not required by law. By law. Like the other ones. Right. Thank you. Okay. So, we have a motion to possible action regarding superintendent's recommendation of renewal of contracts. All in favor, please say I. I. I. All opposed? No. Motion carries. 12:04 12:08:04 discussion possible action
090regarding superintendent's recommendation for proposal renewal of letter of assurance for paraprofessional and auxiliary personnel for the 2026-2027 school year. Recommend approval. [clears throat] Motion. Okay. Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion by uh >> [snorts] >> Mr. Castillo second by Coach Guerra. Any discussion? All in favor, please say I. I. All opposed? Motion carries. 12:08:05 discussion possible action regarding superintendent's recommendation for the position of principal for Kleberg Elementary School. Dr. Rivera. The committee's recommending Myrian Myrian Zamora to be the new principal at Kleberg Elementary. Motion to approve. Second. We have a motion by Mr. Castillo second by uh Mr. Eddie Serna. Any discussion? I have one question. How many how many applied for the position of principal? Uh there were three. Three? Yes. Okay. And she's a current assistant principal [laughter] right now? >>
091Yes. >> [snorts] >> Okay. All in favor, please say I. I. I. All opposed? Motion carries. Is she not here today? No. No. Okay, so you'll move to adjourn. Well, congratulations. >> Congrats, sir. Oh, yes, definitely. Uh 7:40, uh motion to adjourn. All right. >> All right.