BOD Regular Meeting 12/08/25

001I'll think about it all time. Good This is so [laughter] It's so frustrating. >> Ladies and gentlemen, at 6:00 We are going to commence the school board meeting with bracket ID. At this time we have a total of five trusties here today that we have a full quar. Will everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance? My first moment of silence. 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. >> Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. [cough] At this time, my name is Visman. I'll be the presiding officer tonight and uh I'll be requesting Miss Coon's assistant as secretary for this meeting. At this time we are going to do we're going to move

002uh number three to number two and ask Mr. Demetrius to come up for [applause] >> [applause] >> first. >> All right. Good evening board president, board members, superintendent of schools. I would like to welcome everyone tonight. It is a privilege and great honor to intro introduce to you an early graduating senior. Dimmitri Syler is ready to move on into the real world. He completed all the required classes and passed all the state assessments that a may graduate is required to pass. He also earned an industrybased certification in welding. He is ready to move on. Bark High School wishes Demetrius Syler the best in life. We hope to hear of all his future accomplishments. Demetress. Um at this time, board president, board of trustees, Mrs. Diaz family and friends, it is with great honor and my

003privilege to certify that Demetrius Cider has met the requirements set forth by the state of board by the state board of education to graduate from Bracket High School and receive his high school diploma. [applause] That's [applause] good. Congratulations. >> Such a blessing that he has so many of his friends here today and and the neighbors and and just the entire community is here to celebrate his graduation. Thank you again. [applause] Thank you. >> Thank you. We're very proud of him. Thank you. We're very, very proud of you. We love our view. Thank you. Go >> [applause] >> There's a few seats and then open front um front row. Anybody would like to come up. All right. >> The second item on the agenda tonight is public hearing regarding the financial integrity rating systems of Texas.

004So tonight uh for the first rating we do have Miss Amalia Gasa who uh will be presenting the public hearing on the first. The first is the integrity rating system of Texas and this is a requirement of TEA that we bring to you. It's based on the education code whereby school districts are held accountable for the financial management and practices of uh through data. It also encourages schools to better manage their financial resources so that we could provide the maximum allocation possible for direct instructional purposes by means of this uh rating system. So the rating is determined by later grades A, B, C or F depending on the number of points that a school is assigned by TEA on each one of the indicators received. Brackets rating for 23 24 data is uh 100 with

005the superior achievement on the following 21 um indicators. Of the 21 they are grouped number 10 is not evaluated this year and they are grouped in three different um areas. They're critical those if we fail any of the critical um indicators then we automatically fail the rating for the school district. And then there are the solveny indicators. These are the indicators that talk about the obligations of the school district and the financial health of the school district. Then the third division is financial competency which basically grades the knowledge, skills and the leadership um demonstrated for sound financial decisions and actions for financial data. there is a financial report presented um and we're going to be going through this quickly through the uh 21 indicators. So we'll talk about indicators one through four and as I

006mentioned earlier the critical ones are those that if we fail we will um not pass the report card. The first one is did we get our financial report in on time and yes we did. The second one was there an unmodified opinion in the audit financial review financial statements as a whole and this is the opinion of the auditor. So the auditor indicated that our statements are presented fairly and there are no material um aspects that he needed to report. Indicator number three, was the school district in compliance with the payment terms of all debt agreements at the fiscal year end? And um we were rated a yes. All of our bills were paid on time. Indicator number four, did the school district make timely payments to the teacher retirement system, the workforce commission, the

007IRS, and any other government agency? And again, there we met all of our deadlines without penalties. The critical indicator number five was the total net position and governmental account governmental uh activities column and the statements of of net position. Was that greater than zero? >> Definitely [clears throat] greater than zero 14 million compared to the zero that TA requests of us. So we passed that critical indicator. So those indicators all pass with the yes. Moving into the solveny indicators. Are we able to meet our financial obligations and is the district in good health? So indicator number six, was the average change in fund balances over 3 years less than 25% or did the current year's assigned and unassigned fund balances exceed 75 days of operating expenditures. So the second portion is we where we were

008qualified where TA indicates that we have more than we have enough for the 75 days of required operational expenditures. So there we passed indicator number seven and this is where they start assigning points for us. Was the number of days of cash on hand and current investments in the general fund for the district sufficient to cover operating expenditures? We have 263 days according to TEA's um information and calculation and we only need 90 according to their standard. So we get the full 10 points there. Indicator number eight, current assets to current liabilities ratio. Was the measurement of current assets to current liabilities ratio for the school district sufficient to cover short-term debt? The calculated ratio is 12.34. We get a maximum of three points if we're at least at a three. So, we're way above

009TA's recommended. Indicator number nine, general fund revenues equals or exceed expenditures. And if not, was the school district's number of days of cash on hand greater than 60? So, for this one, we do have 263 days of cash on hand. So, we did receive 10 full points from TA. Indicator number 10 uh is not being evaluated this year. 11. Long-term liabilities to total assets ratio. Was the ratio of long-term liabilities to total assets for the school district sufficient to support long-term solveny? We get a maximum of 10 points if the ratio is 6 or less and ours is 0.05. Indicator number 12, debt per $100 of assessed property value. What is the correlation between future debt requirements and the district's assessed property value? We receive the full 10 points. Uh because we do not have

010any long-term debt as a school district. So there is no ratio to calculate there. We don't have INS. We don't have bond issues. Indicator number 13, administrative cost ratio. Was the school district's administrative cost ratio equal to or less than the threshold ratio? So bottom line is the administration of our school districts for a school district with 500 ADA or less should be at less than 24 bracket ICD is 16 with an ADA of 487 and again this is 2324 data indicator number 14 studentto staff ratio over a three-year period did the school district not have a 15% incline in students to staff ratio over three years. In our case, we did not. We had an increase. So, we got the full 10 points. And then the final indicators 15 to 21 are the financial

011competency indicators. Here is where leadership demonstrates skills and knowledge about making sound financial decision. That includes superintendent, CFO, and board. Indicator 15. Was the school district's ADA within the allotted range of the district's banical projections submitted to TEA? In other words, for this year, did the school district accurately project to the state what our ADA was going to estimate rather what our was going to be like? We get a maximum of five points if we were within a ratio of.3 or less and we were just off a 10.005. Indicator 16, the PES which is the data feed that we send to the region compare to the annual audit the data of quality is compared and if there is at least a that 3% or less ratio of difference or discre discrepancy we pass that. In

012our case there was no discrepancy. So we passed that with two points. Indicator 17, material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting. Did the auditors um indicate that we had issues with our reporting or any issues with compliance with state, local or federal funds? Uh the auditors did not write anything in our audit. We had a clean audit. So that was a also passed. Indicator 18, material non-compliance disclosed on the AFR on the annual financial report. Did the external independent auditor indicate the audit was free of any instances of material non-compliance for grants for contracts or any laws related to local, state or federal funds. The uh auditor did not indicate any. So 10 points were received for pocket. Indicator 19 is about transparency. So there is some required information that the school district is

013required to have posted on its website and newspaper and the auditors um seek this information out and grade us on that also as part of the audit and so does TEA and for this we received the full five points if you require to be uh posted in the paper or in uh on our website was there when it was reviewed. Indicator 20 property values and funding. So, did the school district administration and the board member discuss any changes or impact to local, state, and federal funding at a school board meeting within 120 days before the budget is adopted? And we did do that. As you'll recall, in the summer, we bring the proper the preliminary values and then the final values um for your review from the appraisal district. And then the final indicator uh

014repayment of overallocation of foundation school funds. This one we passed because we had none. Some school districts sometimes get overpaid from TEA and so they are required to pay funds back. In our case, we passed because no such existed. And then the next part of the uh management report is basically just some disclosure information. Uh requirements are that we have the superintendent contract posted and it is on our website. There is also uh the second page of the financial report also requires that we um disclose any reimbursements received by the superintendent and the board members for fiscal year 2024 and most of this was related to training or travel related to training. So um that information is included here. Also indicator or number three outside compensation for fees received by the superintendent for professional consulting

015and she indicated zero. Any gifts that were received by the board um in fiscal year 2024 and all indicated zero. Business transactions between a school district and board members for fiscal year 2024 and all indicated zero. Additional information we've included is a historical um listing of the first ratings for bracket ISD and um any questions regarding the presentation um I'm open for any questions and if not miss or I are always available and the management report is in the back for anyone would like to take a copy. I just would like to congratulate Amalia, you know, and and the team for the work that she does. Um, you know, not just is it a superior rating, but I'm 100. So, um, well, it takes everybody. I appreciate everybody um, everybody's work and including the board

016and the staff and, um, even the principles, you know, we have a lot of procedures and policies and everyone's been compliant and very much understands, but this is where we get. So, >> this is 2324. Yes, >> this is 23 24 data. >> Okay. Do you expect that next year is going to look similar to this or is there with the ADA change and all of the differences in that? Do you do you project it to be similar? >> Well, the rating itself will probably be the same. Some of those ratios may increase a little bit, especially the administrative because you have less ADA >> and maybe staff ratios because you'll have less ADA, but I feel like we're still going to be in the same um very uh Well, I think we'll be okay,

017but the the limits, you know how they say you have to be between here and here, we should be okay. >> The range, that's the word for it. However, TA tends to change those sometimes. So, we'll just have to see if they don't um change the ranges to higher and lower values next year. But I don't anticipate any any uh surprises. I hopefully we'll be seeing the same kind of rating as we see in the last year. >> Although we don't get the rating um this rating for this year's audit, we did get this year's audit presented and it >> correct? Yeah. >> Right. So the audit, this is sort of old data if you might, but we did receive exactly the audit and we do come to to the board with information every month

018on the financial reports and so you are getting updated information. This is just tea's way of being behind. >> I'm always pleased that u that our team is so efficient with the local tax dollars. The taxpayers should be very proud of this team and I'm very appreciative. We do we as a team work very hard to uh do as much and as much that we can to not only stay within the limitations of TA requirements but also keep in mind taxpayer um funding for the school district. Anything else? Going to move on to um public comments. We have two individuals [clears throat] who want to speak before the board and I'm very appreciative of that. But before we all speak, we need to read a uh statement in public. [clears throat] The next item on

019our agenda is the public comment period. It is the time for citizens, staff, parents, and students to provide their comments to the board. Before we begin, I remind our audience members of the board's procedures before having public comment. Anyone who wanted to speak during the public comment portion of this meeting was required to sign up prior to the start of the meeting and list the agenda items or topics they wish to address. Each public comment speaker will be allowed to speak a maximum of two minutes totally respective of how many items or topics they would like to speak about. Please keep your comments civil and courteous. Please also avoid using profanity and refrain from making personal attacks on others during your opportunity to speak. Finally, we ask that you do not discuss students who are

020not on who not your own child. If a speaker is seeking board resolution of a specific complaint, that concern should be addressed through the district agreement policy process. Greece forms can be obtained at any campus administrative office or in the central administrative offices. First speaker tonight that has signed up is Mr. Estean. [clears throat] Good evening everybody. Thank you for your time. I wanted to speak regarding uh action number eight regarding the uh uh May election that may be postponed. I stand before you to formally express significant concern regarding the possible action. Our committee is currently operating under under the assumption the terms of the currently seated board members are scheduled to conclude following the time frame associated with the last public vote. The apparent possible decision to implement a significant extension of these terms

021outside of the standard electoral process has led to confusion and disappointment among many district constituents. While I understand and appreciate the district may be considering cost-saving measures as you all just demonstrated during these challenging times that so many families and local businesses are facing. I believe that delaying and extending the terms for a duration of 6 to 18 months is an unjustified election. The cost of postponing an election for such a significant period does not serve our community well as it prioritizes minor operational savings over the essential democratic right of con constituents to have their voices heard at the ballot box. The proposed extensions effectively prevent other dedicated committee members from seeking a seat on the school board during a critical time when meeting residents and parents for the direction is needed. Many parents including

022I an uncle ISD alumni and authorized caregiver for life skill student do not appreciate the current direction and response and atmosphere disregarded by circus school administrators. I believe the board should be prepared to engage in electoral process to advocate for new priorities by delaying the election for the opportunity for this crucial democratic participation uh for potential administrative oversight was severely curtailed. I respectfully request the board provide transparent details regarding the potential financial savings the district anticipates incurring. I committee strongly urge the board not to move forward with this extension or to simply delay after the uh final uh sign up for ballot has passed which I believe according to the state website is February 13th. Um, I believe that that would be fair and and timely opportunity for me candidates to run and represent the

023diverse voices of the district. I look forward to your respondence in a public discussion regarding the resolution that upholds our principles of democratic governance of committee representation within our school district. As a fellow BD alumni, I thank you for your time and for your service to the students of BD and to our community. Thank you. The next u person that would like to uh speak before the board is Kelly Owen and this is in regard to u facility with the school students on 10th to 10th 11th and 12th grade last week. Correct? >> Yes ma'am. Thursday afternoon, my 10th grade son came home from school quite distraught about an assembly that was held regarding the benchmark examinations. He came home uh letting me know that the student body had been chastised and publicly humiliated regarding

024the recent results of the examinations and had been notified that only two students in that 10th through 12th grade had passed both the reading and mathematics portion and were brought down before the student body and applauded. um he was not listed among those two students which confused him because he had printed out his results of his reading exam which had shown as they had shown since um middle school that he had been performing at a post-graduate level. Um he had also assumed that he had passed his math examination since he had just passed his PSAT and performed in the 99th percentile for the state of Texas and the 94th percentile nationally. So he waited for the assembly to end and respectfully approached the remaining administrators and asked if he could clarify whether he had indeed

025passed. They didn't see his name on the report which they could use to address the assembly. So he then pursued further and asked them if they could flip the report over at which point they did see his name and did see that he did indeed pass. They did not apologize to him. They laughed and said, "Oh, I I guess you did pass." And he kind of chuckled and said, "Well, I guess I'll be getting a gift card, too." And that was the end of the exchange. There was no apology, no acknowledgement of misrepresentation of the information that they had just broadcast to the Assembly of Students. He came home upset that they had come in what seemed to be an impulsive response to incomplete information and chastised the student body based on incomplete or unclear

026information. and made a student body feel either lazy or incompetent or both. I would hope that the administrators were thorough in their research. And I would also hope that the administrators held a meeting with the responsible heads of department and addressed why the students were performing below standard and and had a real conversation about how we might be addressing this before jumping to a conclusion that the students didn't put forth the best effort. It's very possible that the students didn't take benchmark exam seriously. And it's also possible that that the students were told by the teachers not to worry about it because it isn't for a grade because they didn't want them to have test anxiety. It's also possible that the students aren't getting the full support from the teachers that they're requesting because that's

027something that I hear is often the case that they're chastised for interrupting the lesson if they have questions. that they're not given full support from certain teachers in those departments when they're asked for support. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> I would encourage further respect of our students and treat them as part of the one team that you proclaim they are members of. >> Thank you. >> Ladies and gentlemen, next item on the agendas is recognitions. Yes. So tonight we have one special recognition already our graduate but we also have a retirement recognition that I would like to do this evening um for a very special part of bracket ISD. So I would like Mr. Sterling Goodlo to come forward [applause] Mr. Good Low present this award to you tonight on behalf of your retirement

028in sincere from the bottom of my heart appreciation for your dedicated years of service to Bracket ISD. We hope that you deserve you enjoy your welldeserved retirement after 28 years of service. [applause] So, he's not leaving us just yet. He has a few more weeks to go. We're not going to let him go any earlier than needed. [laughter] Okay? So, we're going to keep them until the very end. But, we are so very, very grateful for all the different ways you've impacted Bracket as a bus driver. Okay? You've driven state champions across Texas. Um, you have made you've made lots of friends. Um, you've provided a wonderful smile for our climate and for our students and staff. So, you're going to be greatly missed and your retirement is well deserved. [applause] >> [applause] >> I

029just want to say I'm only here because of you. So, thank you so much. >> All right. Yes, we very much appate. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> All right. Let's go fishing. Yes, you may. >> [laughter] >> Thank y'all again. Okay. [applause] >> Additional questions. >> Next item in the consent agenda. Yes. Next. Wow. Mr. DM, would you like for me to read the donations? >> Yes, ma'am. Please. >> So, um, for 6B under donations, we have an amount of $1,90 from the football parents. football parents. Again, we had a donation of $45. Our football parents were very, very busy. Um, SWAT SWAT, Mike and Glenda Flores for a donation of $1,500. And then, um, the last board meeting, we had the donation of the Ten Commandments. And so

030we have the donation um valued at about $850 for the ten commandment posters and the three with frames that were have now been placed in instructional rooms and offices. >> That's very significant contributions from football and the Knights of Columbus. Yeah, thank you very much >> that the consent agenda item does require approval. >> Make a motion. >> Salute. We got a motion for a second. >> Everyone agree with >> discussion. >> I have Um, so item number six C6. C, I think it's the way it's written. Um, consider and take possible action to approve revisions to the board operating procedures. There was a motion on the table to accept administration's recommendation to approve the revisions to the board operating procedures as presented. And then it follows with this motion. by Matthew and seconded by

031Jesse table right there. It should say it rescended. The rescended motion is down at the bottom. So the way the motion is written is incorrect. So what number are you on? >> 60 >> in the in the previous >> page two. So we can um approve with that with a correction to remove tabled from after Jesse Dasa Jr. and then just put resend motion tabled for December meeting at that point. >> It should read motion to accept an administration that says that after Jesse's name it should say um motion was rescended and who rescended the motion and then um new motion was to table. >> There was her motion to rescend it. She did. The motion was made and it was on the table. We had a motion and we had a second. So it

032was at the t it was it was in discussion then it was decided resend the motion and then the new motion was made to table it for the December. >> I'll go back and read the listen to the recording. >> So it's just the way it's written is not um structured correctly. So why do why don't we bring back um we can take the these minutes until the the next meeting so that we all can read the correction. >> You have to we can resend the motion to uh and we're going to pick minute minutes from last month to January. >> Correct. >> Okay. So move to resend. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Motion to resend was Matt and then second was >> we approve the remaining consent agenda. >> You can

033you can approve the donations. >> Okay. All those in favor approve donations. >> So is there a separate motion for the donations >> cuz you just rescended the whole motion. Are you [clears throat] doing now doing a second motion for donations? >> We rescended the second. >> Okay. So there's a separate motion now. A motion. I need a motion to >> I'll make a motion to approve the donations exempt from the previous minutes. >> Second I second for the donations. Okay. All those ages. >> This is good. Number seven, information items. Okay. So, um 7A is the district instructional survey. Um, so at the beginning of the year, um, I had had a conversation with some of the board members in wanting to get a better feel for how teachers, um, were feeling about the

034professional development that was provided, the resources that were provided, um, the provided. So rather than do an in-house survey, we contacted region 20 and they created a survey that was sent out to our staff. Um, again, just to kind of see where we needed to provide additional support and just to kind of get a feel for the climate. Um, so tonight, Miss Sher Ba from Region 20 is here and um, she was the one that sent out the survey. It was all done through the service center and so she will be presenting um, the executive summary and findings uh, from the survey. >> Okay. So, it's great to be with all of you again. Um, so let's uh Okay, I just like Okay. >> And they have it on their computers as well. So they

035have this today, but they're not looking up here. It's >> That's so smart. Okay, perfect. Okay, so the introduction and purpose just a little bit about why we are here this evening. Next slide. Um so uh so the bracket IC instructional staff survey was conducted in October uh as part of a continuous improvement initiative and it aimed at identifying strengths and possible growth areas uh in three critical areas instructional support discipline support and parental involvement. Um the survey was distributed to uh 63 instructional employees on October 7th and it closed on October 14th. Um uh we did provide a reminder the morning of the last day. Uh so they have a little over a week to complete the survey and out of the total staff 63 there were 34 individuals who chose to respond. So

036that is a 54% response rate which is considered a strong response rate for internal surveys. Um the survey included both quantitative and qualitative questions to capture uh staff perceptions and to uh in hopes of identifying actionable feedback. So this methodology ensures that uh leadership can make informed decisions based on a representative sample of staff experiences and the priorities that they identified. And the purpose of presenting these findings to you all this evening is first and foremost really to provide your own fantasy um to highlight successes and then also to identify possible strategies for improvement in the uh upcoming academic year. Okay. So looking at the uh overall sentiment and key themes just an overall summary is what I want to provide with this slide and then we'll dive into more of the details in the

037following slides. So overall the survey results reflected a generally very positive uh sentiment among instructional staff particularly regarding leadership support in the areas of instruction uh classroom management and relevance of the professional development that was provided. Respondents expressed confidence in applying the PD strategies and acknowledge strong collaboration within the district. However, several growth areas emerged that were intention. Um, these include the need for more hands-on subject specific PD sessions, improved transparency um and resource ordering and delivery timelines and consistent enforcement of uh discipline policies. Additionally, while staff uh feel moderately prepared to engage parents, there is a clear opportunity um here to strengthen parental involvement through targeted communication strategies and uh through possible technology training. So, these themes underscore the importance uh of aligning district initiatives with staff needs um to enhance instructional quality, classroom

038management, and community engagement. Okay. So, uh remember three main areas. So, the first one is instructional support. So, let's uh look a little bit closer. Um first off, you'll see um on your computer on the screen. U there were three questions in the area of instructional support. Just kind of want to explain how this is formatted. Uh and then across the top um you're going to see there were really five options for staff responses. They could agree, they could strongly agree, agree, they they could be neutral, or they could disagree or strongly disagree. Um so instructional support emerged as a strong area with 68% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that they feel confident applying uh the PD strategies uh in their classrooms. Leadership and colleague support scored even higher at 74% indicating a collaborative

039environment conducive to professional growth. Um however only 59% and I say only because as compared to uh 74 and 68 it's still clearly majority but um 59% agreed or strongly agreed that they have adequate instructional resources uh suggesting there could be gaps in timely access uh and alignment with subject matter. Okay. So uh after the those three main questions um there was a a qualitative question an open-ended question. Miss wanted to give the staff an the opportunity to add more information if if possibly they weren't able to um express their concerns and the three prior questions. Excuse me. So the qualitative data uh highlighted specific needs such as clear communications about ordering processes, increased budget for classroom materials and curriculum alignment for specialized areas like special education. Um respondents also requested ongoing PD followup and

040um technology tools. While many express satisfaction with current resources, um these [music] uh insights point to opportunities for improving resource equity and ensuring um that all teachers have what they need to implement strategies effectively. Um so what I'd like to for you to do right now is I think you also have a handout. >> You do. So you have it's the one that says >> executive summary. >> So really um I've already everything on the on the first page I've already covered for you. If you'll turn to the second page and um if you look at number four uh so that was the question that was asked. what additional instructional support or recess resources would help you be more successful. And so, what I didn't put all of these details on the slide, but I

041wanted you uh as a board to have it. And I wanted you to understand so as I'm as I'm explaining for example that um you know there was a mention of an increased budget I want I want you to have a clear understanding of the number of people who are requesting these things right um so for example um ordering processes there was one person that commented on that you'll see that in your in your um handout on the increased budget there was one person. So again, there were 13 people that chose to respond to this open-ended question out of the 34 [clears throat] who responded to the entire survey, right? Um and then you can see the professional development followup. Uh there were two that commented on that. There were two that commented on curriculum

042alignment. Um, two staff members commented on timeliness and communication. Uh, one mentioned the need for uh, technology resources. And then you'll notice that there were four, so that's the highest number out of those that uh, responded to this open-ended question who um, said that you know there was none. There were no additional comments. So that would suggest, you know, satisfaction or just a limited additional need that they probably were able to already identify. So with that, um, do you have any questions about the instructional support piece before we move on? Okay. Um, so the next piece is discipline support. Next slide. So you can see here the discipline of support received generally positive ratings as well with 70 73% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that professional development on classroom management was helpful. Um similarly

04374% felt supported by leadership in managing student behavior. And despite these encouraging figures, there is some qualitative data data that reveals concerns about consistency and fairness and enforcing discipline policies. So again, um you can look at um your handout on page two. It's number seven. Uh we'll give you a little bit more detail there. Teachers emphasized the need for equitable enforcement and accountability for all students as well as trust in teachers perspectives when addressing behavioral issues. Additional suggestions included providing specialized training in classroom management and uh access to behavioral specialist. So while several respondents reported minimal discipline challenges or expressed satisfaction with current systems, uh these insights highlight the importance of reinforcing policy consistently, offering targeted support um to ensure a safe and productive learning environment. And then you can see again uh it's not

044on the slide but it's in your notes how that breaks down with the number of staff members who are commenting in those areas. So in areas again there were 16 respondents to this open-ended question. Two of them commented on consistency and fairness. One commented on administrative support. Two on training and expertise. and three on um positive perceptions. And then uh the highest number was eight which was neutral or no feedback. Many respondents indicated none or no additional comments uh suggesting satisfaction or limited additional needs and that was eight. So um quite a few um really showing satisfaction in that in that area. So any questions on the discipline support? Okay, moving right along. Uh parental involvement. Um you can see especially compared to the other two, parental involvement remains a challenging area for the district.

045Only 21% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that parent or guardian involvement has increased uh while 53% remained neutral and 27% uh disagreed or strongly disagreed. Um but the qualitative feedback address uncertainty uncertainty with effective strategies to boost participation. So there literally were comments um you know not sure what to do. Um so recommendations included providing parent training on accessing digital tools like student portals for Google classrooms, improving communication and transparency uh between school and home and creating engagement opportunities such as booster clubs uh or classroom information sessions. And respondents also acknowledged external factors that may limit parental involvement, indicating that solutions must be multifaceted and adaptable to community needs. And I think it's not just community needs, but it could be different household needs. What works for one household may not work for

046another. These findings underscore the need for targeted outreach and resource development to strengthen family school partnerships. think that it's number 10 on your um hangout has some of those details there. So, the 12 that responded, one commented home parent training, one commented on um communication and transparency, one no excuse me, two commented on engagement opportunities, two commented that there are challenges that are beyond the school's control, and then in the area of neutral or no feedback suggesting satisfaction or uncertainty about possible solutions are applied. in that area. So, any questions on the parent? >> Okay, go to the next one. Uh, and then last, so we've covered the three main areas. Uh, so then Miss Diaz wanted to um conclude with one last opportunity uh to gather some qualitative data. Just an open-ended question. Is

047there anything else you would like to share about your experience with the professional development uh or just your current needs? And there were 11 respondents who provided comments about professional development experiences uh some satisfaction or no further needs. Um while others voiced a desire for more relevant uh discipline specific learning opportunities and inperson sessions. And so uh If you look at page 11, excuse me, number 11 in your handout, you can see how that broke down. So, there were two people that commented on a preference for inerson face to face training. There were two that commented on uh perception of redundancy. Um, and I think it's important to point that out this morning. When I first saw the data, um, when I'm thinking about it being redundant, I'm thinking, oh, well, that happened last year.

048Like, we did the same training last year that we, uh, that we did again this year, or maybe just in the last couple of years. But, um, but these two comments were really more specific to, um, just teachers in their years of experience. I've taught for 20 plus years. there really isn't a PB that I haven't been a part of. Uh that would that would be helpful to me which might be a little bit concerning and we want everyone to be lifelong learners, right? Um anyway and then the last uh the last option there was that neutral or no feedback which uh there were seven um seven of the 11s you know they had no additional or no none which kind of really suggests satisfaction or limited needs. Um so any question any any comments

049or questions about that last section? Well, um I will just say that in general, how often do you get a fullthroated commentary on these kinds of responses? >> Well, I will say that I think over time um teachers time is valuable, right? And so when they see that leadership uh cares enough to ask and cares enough to act on that data that I think you may begin to see more. But like I said I know when you initially excuse [clears throat] me when you initially see the number that there were what was it again 63 staff received it only 54% responded. So, you might be a little bit disappointed in that, but I actually reached out to um HR at region 20 because we do two different surveys and they and they said, let's see,

050I actually show up this card. A good survey response varies depending on the context, but generally a rate of 30 to 50% is considered good for most surveys with anything above 50% being excellent. So, but with that said, I do think that if this is something uh that the district's going to continue to do that you will most likely see an increase in in the response rate. >> Thank you for asking. I think one of the things that Miss Ba shared right now that would that's really stood out to me is um the fact that we act on the data that's collected so that the teachers feel like okay I was one of those 34 people that participated in the survey and now I'm seeing something come from that and so this is the first

051time that we do a survey like this so Miss Ba actually met with myself and the two administrators and Miss Price because she oversees the professional development and we really looked at even if there were only 34 uh people because I was kind of like oh 34 that's not very good at all and then she shared no actually 34 is is good and I was like okay so we're going to take those 34 um responses you know take those 34 surveys that were completed and develop some sort of action plan and next steps so that I think is the the next slide and So what we're looking at next one more >> and so what we're looking at is truly looking at our professional development plan to ensure that we do have some hands-on and

052subject specific sessions. We use our district advisory for this. So um usually in the springtime um we meet with district advisory and they let us know here are some things that we need. Um what happens is that the state requires so many requirements on an annual basis. So I feel like if I had a chance to ask a teacher, what redundancies are you talking about? We have to do bloodborne pathogens every year. Yes, you do. We have to do the, you know, allergies and Yes. Yes, you do. So in addition to what they want, we always have to find ways to put in what's required by the state on an annual basis. But we heard them and so we'll bring this up to district advisory so we can see what hands-on and subject specific sessions

053we can provide. Um improve the clarity and ordering processes. Um at the beginning of the year we go over the processes but there's a lot going on at the beginning of the year. So maybe we need to build in refreshers or do it in smaller groups instead of a convocation where it's everybody. You know, maybe it's it's too big of an audience. And so if we do it with a smaller audience, um again, we always want to be consistent with discipline enforcement. And then we are struggling with parent engagement. You know, um I'll share with y'all here in a little bit our the state of the district and the number of parental opportunities that we've provided this year. and we get less than a handful of parents, you know, that that show up. So, continuing

054to to work to work on that. So, some of the immediate next steps are uh to present this information to you all so that way you all know that we did do the survey. We did ask teachers for some information. Um we'll present it at the district uh faculty meeting in December, which will be next Friday. So we'll share this with all staff so that way if they didn't do the survey they see that look but we did get good data and and we are using that data to make some decisions moving forward and then we'll review the information again with district advisors during the second semester as we start planning for PD for and then we want to do another survey in the spring. Okay. um because if they thought like, oh, they weren't

055going to listen to us the first time, we'll do another one in the spring to get even some more depth. Um by that time, the year will almost be over. So, did we target some of these things that they mentioned? Um what are the plans for moving forward? Have those plans been shared? So, I continue to look forward to working with region 20. I think they're a great asset to help us in creating these climate um surveys to just as another tool for us to be able to work forward and and improve find ways to improve. >> I have a couple questions. >> Sure. So, this is was administered similar to the one we did from our team of eight, correct? >> So, we have a Google form >> that went out to them, but

056it came from region 20. It didn't come from the in the district because we wanted them to know that it was confidential and and if you're interested uh miss can share with you they emailed that one out that explain that this is a confidential survey. It's part of a continuous improvement effort. Uh so so it is a little bit different in that aspect. It was a little bit more formal the way it was sent out. The original email did come from me. So, it was just letting them know that they would be receiving an email from region 20, the process that we would be using, um, and really outlining that it was region 20 that was going to be reviewing the data, looking at the data, and that we wouldn't know who said what. >>

057Now, outside this meeting, if the teachers are not here, they're not watching, do they get the results of this survey? Do you just double I'm questioning just for record, just making that they're um that they all have the opportunity to discuss. Yeah. >> Yes. So, it'll be discussed on Friday, December 8th uh 19th, whatever that last the last Friday [clears throat] facation will be shared with them. >> Okay. >> Hopefully that'll give them more want to participate because if you go over then they do feel her seen and I think that's a good step to get more participation. >> [clears throat] >> And I'll just say kudos to the board and tennis Diaz because as she said in it here and she had shared with me initially it was after some conversations with board members

058trying to think okay like how do we get more information and so by you all having those kind of conversations you know with your superintendent um and then you know for her to take action and to make it happen. So, um I think anytime you can let your staff have a voice, you know, um you're never going to go wrong with that and you're always going to appreciate that. >> Any other questions? >> Is monies or backup monies affect training at all? Are you guys going in our budget or you coming soon? >> Um I I think we do a good job. Um I think we've also been very fortunate that a lot of our um supplies and trainings come out of grants. >> So we use like our stronger connections grant to do the

059mindset training. Um so there's a lot of trainings that we're able to get because they fall under grant requirements. >> You know when it comes to the the PD when you were explaining how you know teachers have to uh do the same trainings every year like bloodborne pathogens. Well, US board members kind of know that pain, too. If you've been on the board for a while, like you have to do ISO every every other year and human trafficking. Yes, sir. It's a matter of explaining the why. Like here are your annual >> um training sessions expected and separate from that have a focus group to develop trainings that are going to be applicable to their um field of of study of what they're teaching. >> Yeah. And the other challenge I think that we face

060is that we try to it is the time. I mean there's there's no other way to say it's the time. You know, they don't want to be pulled out during the school year for trainings. So then we tried to frontload everything, but then they're like, "We need days in our classroom to get our classroom ready." So it's kind of just it it really has been the last two years a juggling act. Um because one year we did more of the trainings they requested but then they had one day in their classroom and so that was like no way we don't want to do that anymore. Um so it's just kind of finding that that happy that happy medium which we're not there yet. I think every year we get a little better. >> At one

061board meeting it was discussed about having um individuals go through the training and then train they go to train the trainers. So has that been um received well by those? >> I think for the most part um yes. So not only so we sometimes like for example one that comes to mind is lead forward. We'll send teachers out to the two teachers out to lead forward and they come back and they turn around the train. Um, we also have a lot of veteran staff and so we've also um encouraged our veteran staff to do the presentations because it's it's stuff that they've done with our kids, you know, and they've been successful with it. So, I think they've been very well received and I will say this is not just a challenge for the IC.

062This is a challenge for districts everywhere. um you know how to make how to make PD work for everybody and you know frontload it or spread it out for a new year. So yeah it's >> thank you so much >> thank you for having me. >> I love celebrating the graduation that was awesome. Thank you. Thank you for making the the trip over. You're very welcome. >> Next item uh strong foundation. So, the strong foundation planning grant is a grant. Um, it's actually one of the grants that I we just mentioned. So, we've been able to use this grant to get the materials for our math department. Um, however, anytime you have a grant, you also have requirements. So, um, one of the requirements for this grant was that we would be having these regularly

063scheduled math meetings to build a math framework. So, what does secondary math look like um at Bracket ISD? So, we've probably had I'm going to say six um different meetings with our secondary math department 6 through 12 and together with the help of a consultant from Carnegie Math um we've been able to develop a vision statement for our math team and um a belief statement and a couple of belief statements. And so if you look at the belief statements for our math framework, it's based on growth. Okay? Um so we've got the belief that we want our kids to grow. We want them to make progress. So we believe that growth comes from the instruction of foundational math skills. We believe reaching grade level teaches will come from guiding students to deeper understanding. We believe

064opportunities for progress are best when things are aligned. and we believe students will have the willingness to work collaboratively um through mathematical struggles. The great thing about this grant that we received, okay, is that not only does it provide us with materials, okay, um curriculum for our secondary math program, um not only does it provide for opportunities for them to build the framework, but it also provides for coaching. Okay, so we've had somebody from Carnegie come over to work with our math teachers. They do lessons, they watch our teachers do lessons, they provide feedback um on how to best implement the um curriculum. So the framework is one piece of a document that must be submitted to tea. Um again which basically puts together what our math department believes and then in order to make

065those beliefs come true okay we have to have expectations for all the stakeholders right so what are the students expect what are the expectations for our students well they're going to work through productive struggles they're going to demonstrate grade level proficiency they're going to take ownership and they're going to actively participate that's what we need our students to do what do our teachers need to do and so again the math department back together and said, "Well, we need to provide those opportunities. We need to make sure that when we're teaching, we're we're providing opportunities for students to to struggle and practice strategies because then they can think through that to provide meaningful and rigorous instruction and then to foster learning and provide opportunities for students to make connection and to commit to the implementation of

066highquality instructional materials. Um, and when we're talking high quality instructional materials, we are talking about our Carnegie math curriculum, which was purchased from the Strong Foundation's Planning Grant. As leaders, what do we need to do? Well, we need to support our teachers. We need to make sure that we're supporting them, that we're giving we're getting the materials that they need, that they're having time for training, that they're having time for planning, um that they're getting to meet to discuss vertical alignment, and then monitor the implementation and have that coach come in and be able to provide feedback. And then the last component um which is also a very important component if our math curriculum and implementation is going to be successful is to have that partnership with parents. So communicating with teachers and understand the

067math curriculum is rigorous and find ways to support math instruction in daily life. So we want parents to communicate with us. We want them to partner with us. Um we want them to assist students in connecting old math knowledge to new math concepts and to participate in the opportunities that are provided to help motivate students. So again this is um the bracket ISD secondary math instructional framework. Um it will be submitted to TEA as part of our grant compliance and very proud of our secondary math teachers. Um they've given up a number of hours um to work with the grant facilitators to to develop this and create it. And I think because it came from them, um, it's going to really come to life in their classrooms because it wasn't something that was handed to

068them and told to do, but rather something that they created um, and to be able to implement. So that is our secondary math framework. For this grant, we're required to provide the baseline and Um, no, not yet. Okay, but we're barely in year one. So, year one was like create your framework, okay, and purchase your curriculum. And so, I possibly in year two, but we have not had to do the smart goals for year one. >> And expectations is is misspelled under student expectations. >> Oh, sure is. We'll correct that before getting it submitted. Thank you. How much dollars are we >> hoping to draw down? >> Um, it was 200. It's on It's on my slides. When we get to the um when we get to the state of the district, it's on one

069of those slides. It's a little over 200 grand. Anything else? >> 7 C review attorney representation options. >> So 7 C is um basically I'm bringing it to the board tonight um because I was asked by a board member um to place something on the agenda just as a reminder that school districts do have the option to review their legal services. Um, our current legal services retainer agreement is with Wash Bay. Um, Missy Bunny's reached out on my behalf to two additional legal services providers, Leon Lala and Powell. Uh, prior to Wash Bay, we did have Powell. Um, at this time, this is only being presented to the board members as an opportunity to review other um, legal teams. We can also put out an RFQ um, if that is something that the board would

070like to do. Um, if further information would like to be requested or if you would like to take action, um, then you just have to send me an email and we can get it on the agenda for January 2026. Um, all three service providers are willing to make presentations or provide additional information information if necessary. Um, and then I provided the websites for you to review. And then they all did send in possible agreements if it was something that we wanted um to look at. Again, um if a board member feels like they'd like to go with a different attorney, um all we have to do is is put it on the agenda as an action item for the next meeting to discuss next steps. So, the next step may be put out an RFQ

071and let's see what we get. you know, um the next step maybe, um you know, we'd like some more information on one of the ones that I provided um to you. It was basically just I was asked by a board member to put it on there as something for information. >> Well, the whole point of changing representation is that a we're not satisfied with it. A b administration is not satisfied with them or they're costing us too much. Is it all the above? um not necessarily. Um it has this year has been a lot more costly. Okay. But we've also had a lot more um concerns. So I would say in my first 2 3 years of superintendency, we had probably zero to to one grievance. So we didn't really have a whole lot of

072need for grievance documentation and paperwork. Um we know that we started this year pretty pretty rough which on rocky waters and so we had more grievances probably in the first three months of school than we had in the last three years. Um so that is that is a little bit more more costly >> but is the one dealing with them on a regular basis not us I mean we get the information from you all. that there's they represent >> they yeah the the the representation of our legal team is for the school district is for the board >> I mean we could I have no objection to discussing I just don't know what the problem is no big problem just information >> yeah this is just information if you want >> like for for instance

073in one of the I guess a submitted letter I see here from War they in fact can call a question of charge. I imagine some farms they can discuss that session business contraction >> Robert. >> All right. >> It's just information. >> Anything else? >> Next item. Memorandum of understanding of so state international university. So, I am very happy to present to y'all tonight anou that we went into partnership with Saul Ross. Um, we do have Dr. Garza and part of his team here from SOS. So, I'm going to ask him to to join me. Um, I received an email from Dr. Garza back in May um where they were talking about some changes that um Saul Ross was undergoing um into becoming an international 4-year um university. And so in the uploads um you

074do have theou in which we have already contracted with them. Um and then just some of the new things that they're doing um specifically what caught my attention was the teacher academy um because we all want more certified teachers. So um I'm going to turn it over to the expert here and let Dr. Garza share some of that with you. Thank you, Mrs. Diaz. Um, board members, board trustees, board president, I'm obviously not here today, but thank you for giving us an opportunity to be here. Yes, I've known Eliza for many, many years. I have Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am um a uh an administrator. I was administrator in Del Rio for many years, 34 years. My last position was deputy superintendent and I did work with Mr. Jimenez,

075Miss uh Diaz and also Miss Welch. So I I know them very well and thank you Miss Diaz for giving us an opportunity to come and talk speak a little bit about what Saul Ross is doing with me today. We have uh our staff here. We have Miss Sarah. I think you all know Miss Sarah. Uh Cynthia is in charge of uh student services. Aurora is someone that you're going to be talking to because she's dual credit. Aces is our publicist. Alejandra is our students director. And I'm sure you all know Dr. um and since we started with the teacher academy, you'll see here in that one sheet there is differentmies, but the one that I brought up to uh Miss Diaz is a teacher academy. And I am I cannot give credit where credit

076is due. Dr. San is the one that actually created this. We started with this in Eagle Pass, Texas and now it's in Crystal Springs. It's in Comtock. It's in Crystal City and now we're starting with you guys. Uh it's a great opportunity for our freshman cohort. They start with classes. So this document right here is extremely important because when I come to the districts they don't have to be guessing where we are actually connecting the dual credit forces with the district. It is extremely important for you all to get the credit in something called CCMR which is funded. It's something that is extremely important. This will give the district an opportunity to work with us and at the end of something like this, which is the teacher academy, a student can come out with 60

077credit hours, which is fantastic. I don't know if you guys have that right now. I know you have a partnership with St. Angelo, but we're here. Another exciting part that we have next fall, we will have a 4-year university. It will be uh based in Eagle Pass, but the instruction is so different now after co a student can be in Utah in California taking classes with us in hybrid mode. They don't necessarily have to be in Eagle Pass, but they can they can be face to face. We have some uh student services in uh and also in Delvio, but your sons and daughters from this community can take the classes at home and be part of us. Uh our our major major important contribution to the community is that we have a university that will

078get you a bachelor's degree. I know that we have a pay attention to associates degree but the major major thing that students should be paying attention to is bachelor's degree. >> [clears throat] >> But I got to say one thing. I'm an alumni of S Rossi University in Alpine. I'm an alumnest of of S Ross University International. Now here with my educational leadership, I got my doctorate in UTSA. I have a prime example and I'm going to pat myself with the fact, but I have a prime example of of that little university. How much of a difference that university makes for this community. It's extremely important. Um, and I can keep going. I know it's a long meeting for you guys. The one other important part uh I'm surprised that she didn't bring it up,

079but the one question that the board or any member of the board is going to ask me or CFO is going to ask me, how much does it cost the district? Zero. Nothing. We do not charge any courses. If your professor, if the professor is a high school teacher, that that's great. But if if it's one of our professors, usually what happens is they charge tuition. We will bring the professor, we will provide the professor for any of the courses that are necessary for the district and it's at zero cost. So that's extremely important. The other thing that I wish more parents were here, but few parents are here. So I I would likely Oh, I forgot Jose is one of our I'm sorry. He is a recruiter. is a very important point in the

080university. Um, uh, it's if if the household is making less than $80,000, which is probably most of the people in this community, they qualify for all the grants, which is Texas grant, uh, PEL grants, all kinds of grants, which means for that student, they get 14,000 new dollars. We're the most inexpensive university in Texas. it will cost $7,000 for that student to go fulltime for both semesters. >> So, it's extremely important for our parents to know that because yes, our our sons and daughters want to go to&M when they go to UT, want to go to UTSA. Both my kids went to&m. So, I paid $30,000 a year for them to be in&M, which is great. It's a great university and if nothing else, let's get educated. Um, so it's extremely important for parents to

081understand that that our university will cost $7,000 and more than likely they'll qualify for all aids funding and we also have something called promise which if you don't qualify for uh some financial aid we will provide some scholarships and one more thing right now your seniors are taking classes with uh uh Angelo State University right we have a scholarship that's a transfer scholarship and they get $1,000 for the fall semester, $1,000 for the spring semester. Most of the credits that they're taking here in the credit for you guys are transferred to us. We will gladly take those credits, but they will also get a financial uh help with scholarship to us financially. >> So board members on your in in your upload um it's the teacher academy is there um also the nurses academy and

082the business academy. So those were themmies I think that really sold it for for me um because they it's it's as Dr. Barza mentioned beautifully outlined what they need to take their freshman year, their sophomore year, their junior year and then their senior year. And so they follow the pathway. Um but then when they graduate from from Bracket ISD, they're ready to go straight into their last two years. Um so I know when I met with Dr. I think it was like that could mean you're 20 years old and you graduated from college and you're ready to start teaching um or being a nurse or you know the business academy um in visiting with Dr. Garza and Mr. Himenez next steps okay after tonight um I know they've already been having conversations about a parental

083meeting where Dr. Garza will once again come and and bring his team um and share this great information with our parents. Um, I know that sometimes the concern is, well, what if they already started with Angelo? We're not dropping Angelo. Okay. So, we're going to continue with Angelo for for right now. Um, because we have some things set up with them where kids that want to go to Angelo State and they started those classes and they get automatic admission. That's fine. We're not going to cut them off and, you know, they lose what they started. Um, I know Dr. Barza has some great transfer programs, so they'll have some options, but that's basically what we're doing. and we're opening up another avenue, another option um to make sure that we're meeting the needs of all

084of our of all of our students. And as he mentioned, the fact that they can be here and take their classes here, I think, is is a big plus. Not everybody wants to go away, you know. Um mine did. Mine, I think, pointed on the map and said, "Let's see how far I can go." But but not everybody wants to go away. So, I think there's lots of good opportunities. >> One more time. Uh she did bring in bring up nursing. Nursing is extremely important for this community too. This is not CNA. This is not this is not just RN. This is bachelor's of science in nursing. So by the time they 20 they're 20 years old they can have a bachelor's of science in nursing which includes RN but they're ready to be administrators

085in hospitals which is extremely important. And yes they can finish by the time they're 20 years old. and for some reason they don't want to come to small state university it's okay all those credits that they took they can take them to UTSA they can take them to state with any state school we they they should accept all those trans credits you all have any questions so so we could potentially a freshman a freshman coming in next year could potentially get into this program and have their their high school diploma and their associates by time they graduate >> yes sir which we don't 60 credit hours off hours by the time they're seniors. Yes, sir. >> Is there any criteria that they have to meet to be accepted for this program? >> That is up

086to the district. We accept any student that the district is willing to uh to give us an opportunity to educate. It's not up to us. Now, if you go to the degree plan, it shows you there most of the courses at a freshman level are preap courses, higher level courses. But that doesn't mean that a student that's taking regular courses cannot be in some of our programs. They will qualify as long as the district is willing to uh to u help that student or that parent be in the program. We're more than willing to take it. And this status right here, they will be a support for your sons and daughters. They won't be left alone because there's something called TSI for them to qualify to actually uh be college ready. If they don't pass

087TSI, we have some courses called College Connect that will be, for example, if they're taking English 1301, they will take it on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But college connect is Tuesdays and Thursdays. And if they pass that course, they're TSI qualified >> and TSI also helps us with accountability. So that is something that the state looks at. How many of your kids are meet are mastering TSI? So we want our kids to do well on on TSI. Right now we're doing dual credit for junior and seniors. How would how would be would the curriculum have to be adjusted to include those classes like that be like electives? >> Um so if you look if you look at the the the sheets that are there it actually breaks it down um for you of what they

088would be taking. So like their freshman year it's it's an introductory college class you know it's art 1301 you know art appreciation. So, they take their regular classes, but then they take an elective. Um, you know, then by the time they're taking their sophomore year, it's the communications class. So, it's their speech class, but they would be taking speech at the college level. They would be taking government at the college level. So, it substitutes um a high school credit class for a college credit class. >> And I'm glad you brought that up. I was an administrator in Go. I remember being at an avenue partner and college partner with us and the goal of some past and the the partnership that we had was just to take credits, get a bunch of credits, but they

089meant nothing. These plants right here are not like every single course that you're taking is leading the pathway to education, nursing, uh business administration. >> Okay. Have y'all partnered with other schools in the surrounding area? >> Yes, we're we are a partner with Eagle Pass. We have about 500 students there. We're partnering with Pres City, uh Alisa Springs, Comtock, and um Am I missing? and how it >> there's no wrong answer but have you noticed any particular challenges? >> The challenge the biggest challenge that we have is when uh a teacher is teaching for example 1301 they might have had already a curriculum that they were using from another university or college or their own curriculum. So we open the doors. Our deans and provos will come and have meetings with your high school teachers

090that will become our professors that will we will give them an opportunity to chime in of what is it that how uh that they need to create the curriculum. That's probably the biggest challenge that we have. >> Other than that we're we're here. I mean this staff will come and help you out. I know Aurora and Mr. Himenez will be talking to each other a lot. >> One more question. If our teachers are teaching and we don't have to have masters to be teaching college level courses small percentage, >> we would we would partner to make sure and and that's where he Dr. Dr. stated that if we don't have someone that can teach it then they would do it um >> and one more comment on that in the nursing program we have our

091dean Dean Co Pepper that in Eagle Pass uh he has become the teacher of record and the students are taking um anatomy and physiology [clears throat] >> they are connected with him but they are the the teachers that are in that classroom are the teachers and they're they don't necessarily have the masters or 18 credit hours because they're connected with our team >> horses. [laughter] >> Well, I appreciate all of y'all coming from the university. This is a very impressive turnout. >> We want to make sure that we showed you that this staff will always be here and whatever you need. >> Thank you, Dr. Rosa and your team. >> Thank you. >> We look forward to continue working together. Another >> great option. Thank you. Oh, you have some gifts. You want to get

092that? I hope you don't mind a little bit. >> I know that you're on the presser, but I would love for you to pull this out. This is the shirt. You are now a member of Sarah State University. And everyone will get a shirt and a cup. That's all. >> Thank you. >> Shar is a bracket high school alum. So good to see her do a If you have two extra, we'll we'll take them for the two that can come. >> And we want to get the board numbers there. Thank you so much. >> Y'all drive back >> safely. department reports >> there for y'all to review. >> Um if anybody has any questions on any of the email today and then Jerger was able to join us. So if yall have any questions we'll

093take questions. If not we're ready to move on. under the maintenance report. Um I know we lost the Jed or someone else. >> No, actually Mr. first because um kind of begged the schedule and so we're going to try to see how we can work moving forward not filling that position. So if you recall um the last couple of years we talked about how we would be looking at staff um and not replacing them based on attrition. So that's just an opportunity to kind of evaluate the position and see do we need it, do we not need it, how can we maybe do away with it based on attrition. I just think it was a lot um a lot better situated for the Thanksgiving lunch. >> It was great. >> I think it was better

094than last year. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Um it it was a team effort. Um we had uh the secretarial staff meet with myself and this red eye and kind of brainstorm ways to make it better. So I agree. Thank you. We did get quite a bit of positive feedback. Anybody questions? >> All right, we'll move on to action items. >> 7F I'm sorry. 7F. >> State of the district report. So in December is when I bring the state of the district report um to the board. So I do have a slideshow to share with you all um this evening. Um brush one is just kind of an intro. Um you know when I came on board the summer of 2022 um we really started the one district one team and as I've said several

095times it's a work in progress. you know, um I think it's it's if it's a true family-like setting, you know, you're going to have your ups and you're going to have your downs, but we are committed to excellence. I think there's not a person that works for this district that isn't committed to wanting to bring the very, very best type of education for our students. So, the first slide is basically just a comparison of where we've been and where we are in regards specifically to demographics. So if you look at student enrollment um you will see the decline that we've been talking about. So from 2022 2023 557 to current we're sitting at 492 students. Um again I will say that the decline is basically being seen at our primary grades. You know the prek

096kinder classes are the smallest classes that we've had in a in a really long time. Um so our our high school is maintaining and and steady. Our junior high is maintaining and steady. It's it's at those um lower grades. Um district attendance, if you look at where we were in 22 and even in 23, we were at 92 and 93%. Um it doesn't seem like a big gain when you go to 95%, but it but it is um it is it is a significant gain and we've been able to maintain that 95.6 95.5 and again um this year we're at 95.56. So, right right at about that 96%, but I think we've all learned as a board that it's not just about the attendance percentage um but it's attendance percentage tied to the enrollment. Um

097and so with the decline in the enrollment, it still impacts our ADA. One of the things that I did want to point out to you all is that um looking at personnel, um this is what it should look like. it should match. If our enrollment is going down, then our personnel number should be going down. Um because if we have less students, then we have to re-evaluate staff and positions and and what's necessary. So, we've gone in the last 3 years from 125 total staff members um to now we're at 117, which is what we want to see, you know, um because we don't want to have an abundance of staff if our enrollment is going down. Um, so you'll see our teacher counts have gone down, our parent counts have gone down, [clears throat]

098and then the other ones are where we've talked about attrition. You know, um, we're not going to let people go. Um, but we are going to re-evaluate positions as people um, maybe start to retire or resign. Under the accountability rating, um, you'll see where we were a B and then we it was released that we were a C last year, but we were at that 79. And then this year um it was released that we were a B as a district. We were at 81. So we did see we did see a climb there. Um our first rating continues to be an A superior. And so that should have gone all the way across. And then the other thing that I think is important to note is what did our demographics look like? What do

099our special programs look like? Um, so we continue to offer more and more courses for CTE, career tech and and um career and technology. And so you'll see that that number has significantly gone up. And that's what we want to see. We want to promote college and career readiness. So that number has gone up. Um, special education has has maintained. Um, 504 has maintained, dyslexia has m maintained. um our GT students. If you look at where we were three years ago, um we've definitely done a better job at identifying GT students and making sure that we're providing services for them. And then our average students has maintained. So there hasn't been too much of a change in our special programs. So the first goal um that we set as a team um was that through

100the implementation of district instructional initiatives the percent of students who show progress and growth in the areas of reading and math on the district and reading math screeners will increase by 5%. And then we did add the note that students will test at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year and the end of the year to indicate that we are on the right path to making that progress. Um things that we discussed looking at were benchmarks, star scores, um reading inventories, the PE plan, uh what resources are we purchasing, how are we closing the gap, what are we doing with CCMR, and how are we using the district advisory. So if you go to the next slide, um I addressed some of the common strategies that we're using to help meet that

101goal. So um at the campus level we have provided a common planning time in addition to the conference time for teachers. So teachers still have their 45 minutes for conference but we've also given them some common planning time. Um we've also designated time during the day for interventions. So in addition to afterchool interventions, teachers are doing small groups. Teachers are working with students during the day for those identified students. And we've provided a platform for teachers to be able to document their interventions and tools to assist in identification of intervention time and focus needs. So two screenshots there um come directly from the platform. Um, one is where teachers can input their TES that they're addressing, the learning target, the assessment that they're using, and then on the bottom corner, I blacked out the names,

102but a teacher can see um their list of students. Okay? Um what they scored on STAR last year, um and then what they need to score this year in order to show progress. Um, and then specifically you can open up a different area of that screen and it'll show what areas the teachers need to address. I'm going to keep going, but y'all feel free to jump in and ask questions as I as I go. Um, the next slide is our reading data slide. So, again, we were looking at wanting to show 5% growth. Okay. Um so what we did is we used the star ren um to see where students were in uh regards to two or more grade levels below at the beginning of well two or more grade levels below one grade level

103below on grade level and above grade level. So if you will just kind of follow with me and look at sixth grade. Okay. So if you look at sixth grade at the beginning of the year, so when they tested when school started, we had 13 students that were testing at two or more grade levels below. Students have made enough progress by middle of the year that that number has dropped to now eight. So that's what we want to see. We want to see kids going kind of up and over, right? Then you look at the one grade level below. Okay? and we had seven students and seven students remained. Now, please keep in mind that these aren't necessarily the same seven students. So, just because the seven is there, it's not necessarily the same seven

104students because some students from the two or more grade levels below jumped over to the one or more grade level below. And then we had kids that went up and over, which is the goal, right? We want them to to continue to show progress. And so with sixth grade, if you go all the way across to the end, there were nine that were above grade level and now we have 14. So there's been a significant amount of progress made at the sixth grade. If you look at the chart at the top, um, we went ahead and put how many were on or what was the percentage of students on or above grade level at the beginning of the year and how many are on or above grade level by the middle of the year. And

105so you'll see the increase the increases and and decreases. Now, the thing about these reports is that you can look at them in so many different ways. Okay? Because the only way these students counted as progress is if they went up a whole level, okay? You could have a student who was two or more grade levels below that still made progress, okay? But didn't make enough progress necessarily to push them over. Does that make sense? And so, um, this was the first year we have the goals written this way. So it was kind of difficult to figure out how we were going to show um show the data. Um but I think overall in the area of reading um our students are moving in in the right in the right direction. Like I said, they're

106going up and over from being two grade levels below to being one grade level below and then um eventually being on on or grade level. So that's our reading data. Okay. So, our math data is the one that's um gotten a little bit of um publicity. Okay. Um so, we are using the I itself for math. Okay. And so again, um with the math data, it shows two or more grade levels below um and then one grade level below and then on or above grade level. So it it combines the on or above versus the reading program separates on and above. So there's just three levels, three levels here. So when we did the preliminary one that was shared with y'all in September, okay, there was already some concerns about 9th, 10th, and 11, 9th,

10710th, 11th, and 12th. Okay? Because if you look at the section in pink, okay, um you'll see that we're really starting since junior high. 75% 80 83 87 82 96 96 and so it was like okay wait a minute that's almost that's a big portion of our kids not on grade level well it's the beginning of the year let's see what's going on let's see you know kind of what happens so I was like okay well worst case scenario kids are going to show improvement right so we're going to show big big gains is what we thought okay well we didn't show big gains okay it it actually got worse Okay. Um, so look at just I don't know um 11th grade. So with our 11th graders, um, 40 kids tested, okay, 40 out of

10840, okay, um, sorry, yeah, 40 out of 40 came out to two or more grade levels below. So we were very concerned about the validity of this test, especially at the secondary. And I think that in having some conversations um it was that students rushed through it. Maybe the teacher didn't put emphas emphasis on it. We didn't want it to be tied to a grade. Okay. But we did want the students to be taking this seriously. >> Is this a test that they're not prepared? >> Yes. So this is the test that we wanted them to retake. Okay. So, we did send we did meet with the students and we did let them know that they were going to have an opportunity to retest um to retake the math test. However, the IXL program didn't

109allow for a second midyear test. So, we have some meetings set up with people from to see what we can do programwise um because we really want the kids to retest because really everything that's highlighted in red disaster. >> It's kind of disastrous, you know. Um it's I think that's the perfect word for it. It's it's just not it's not valid data, you know. It's it's not valid data. >> It is valid in the sense that that's what the results >> correct. Correct. >> So it is valid. >> It's just not a true representation of >> it's not a true representation of their ability. Uh how can you be certain of that? I mean where is the data and light? So so star tests are on grade level. Okay. So when when a student takes

110a star test um the test is on grade level. Okay. And we had 76% of our students pass >> the star test. >> So which they took last year. Right. >> So that's the baseline that's noted in the peak here. No, no, no. Because we gave this because we didn't have star. >> This was in the beginning of the year, right? >> So, and remember, we didn't have STAR. We knew we wouldn't have STAR at this moment for the state of the district. So, we said we'll have to use another tool to be able to test beginning, middle, and end. But we have students that do very well on the SAT. We have students that do very well on the TSI that makes them eligible to take dual credit classes. We have students whose grades

111are excellent in their algebra class and their geometry class. And so I guess is it valid? Like is this their score? Yes. Okay. Is it their ability? But even if they scored high on their STAR test last year, in the beginning of the year, there's still a a high number of those that scored below two or more great grade levels below. So if we look at, for example, 11th grade 25, which is 96%, it just is your 75% passing grade on the star level. an aggregate or is it specific to a grade? >> It's specific to a grade. So there's another site where you'll be able will be able to look at star scores. And when you look at the star scores, you look at the sixth graders that are now seventh graders. So at

112the end of sixth grade, you took a sixth grade star test and you passed. Okay. At the beginning of seventh grade, you're taking a test that's at 6.97.0. It's you're taking it at the beginning of your seventh grade. So if you were mast's on your star test, that shows your above grade level. So when you started your ongrade level test, you should have it. It should have been an awesome score. >> So the kids have tested this test before. >> Yes. >> Okay. They did. That's the beginning of the year. That's what you see in the light post. >> Okay. So where I'm having a bit of a disconnect and confusion for the numbers part is that even if this was administered as a pop quiz, we should see an increase or even staying on

113baseline, we didn't. We saw a big decrease. So hearing that, you know, they weren't ready for it. it wasn't specified that a grade I still feel like the importance of the test has been like the numbers are very revealing and discouraging because even on a retest there they're this is baseline this is stuff that they should know and be given at any point and be able to pass >> correct so it's very discouraging to see this >> absolutely I I I agree with you 110% okay and there's there's another attachment after the state of the district that I attached there. That's actually our 10th, 11th, and 12th grade sports. I whited out all the names so you couldn't see the names, but it is extremely discouraging. Extremely. >> Now, I'm sorry. During the assembly, >>

114did some of the students make admissions as to maybe why they didn't do as well? >> Um, there were several that just kind of said, "Oh, well, it wasn't for a grade." So we talked about it's does it matter if things aren't perfect grade if your teacher asks you to do something you should put in your best effort. We talked about doing your best even when no one's watching you know and you're making good you know good decisions. Um we had I would say the majority of the students say that the results are from lack of effort. Um Mr. Himenez was was present, Miss Welch was present. um I had a few teachers, you know, um present and that's why I say I I even though they're valid, this is how the students did. I

115don't think it's a true picture of their ability. Let me ask this question. Has this test been taken? Was it taken last year? >> No. So, we've never done a beginning of the year assessment. So this is the first time they've done and when they when the students were given the test the beginning of the year was it explained uh what what they were doing is it so so not being in the classroom I I would have a hard time answering that question. I can tell you that it was explained to the staff at a staff meeting that we were doing ISL and we were doing it at beginning of the year, middle of the year and end of year and we were going to be using this for progress monitoring. So was the staff

116aware of the of the why? Absolutely. I have I I without a doubt can say that. >> Was that information then in turn shared with the student? I I can't say with 100% confidence >> and I know this year we're using a different model or are math specific. Um is that an indicator that maybe having that model that that >> the Carnegie curriculum? Y >> um I don't think there's a correlation and and the reason I feel comfortable saying that and maybe Mr. humanist can chime in as well is because gradewise, okay, um like the six weeks grades that we see and progress report grades that we see, students are doing well. So that's why I go back to because we didn't dangle that this is for a grade. I don't think this was taken

117the way it should have been taken because when it's for a grade, okay, the grades failure rates are actually lower. kids are being more successful on six weeks grades on formatives. So I feel like in my conversations with Mr. minutes the issue may be a little bit more of number one I excel itself okay the way the screener is presented the way it's done um number two the way it was presented to students and just to to add to this uh we also administered a benchmark which is a release assessment and today I met with the department head not department head and uh she feels very confident with what she sees on the bench So, um I guess we're going to have to compare the assessments to see what what went wrong. >> Yeah. >>

118But, uh we did complete another benchmark and uh like I said, she she's pretty comfortable where where the kids are at right now. >> I'm just going to bring up my concern is the gap on the education. Are the kids unable to perform? Are they I mean, in my in my opinion, a piece of paper with questions on it. Whether I want to do it or not, I'm going to do what I know. Okay? They could be at their sleepiest time, whatever. You hand them a paper, you say, "Answer this." They should be able to produce something. And the fact that it was so low, is it their lack of effort? Is it lack of knowledge? Is it unable to answer question? >> I mean, that's it. The numbers are it's just so obvious. than

119what we're expecting at this stage that it's it's it's just hard to explain. I think that looking at the January benchmark is going to be a much better piece of data. Okay. So, if you recall, this is the first year that we do a goal like this to do a beginning, middle, and end. We've always used star data. So, comparing last year's star to the next year's star. Okay. Um, but we're it's almost like every time we're doing that, we're going to be looking at star data that's a year old, which is what we've done in the past. Okay. So, we I would have been presenting today star data from 2425. >> Didn't the body change that process? Didn't we request for change in that process? >> And then we requested to change the process

120of the >> goals and so looking at progress monitoring. So, we wanted kids to show progress. what can we use to show progress? So we adopted the star ren for for AR to see how the reading progress was and I itself it may be the tool itself you know that needs to be re-evaluated. It may be. And like I said, visiting, I was astonished at how poor these results are because I know the kids. I know the kids. I know their SAT scores. I know their TSI scores. I know their history. And when a kid has been masters on STAR, all of this math life, you know, and then two grade levels below, it just didn't match up, you know. It it it just didn't make sense. >> That's why it's not It's not a

121relevant argument to say, well, it's because this is now being asked for them to do. If you're showing consistency and this is what they're scoring in star, it doesn't matter that now this is being asked of. If you're a master student, regardless of when you're taking that test or what kind of test, >> You should be a master student. My concern is um is in the matter in addressing and how the student body was addressed and I and I'm speaking from FURa. Um I'm familiar with HIPPA, familiarizing myself with FURPA and understanding that there is I mean you're in a group. It's hard in the small school district such as this and that to identify, oh, you failed, you didn't, and are we in violation of any sort when it comes to Furpa? So, I

122was concerned about that because that was brought to my attention. So, number one, when we had the meeting, okay, we didn't specifically say anybody's name that failed. Okay. Um we did congratulate two students who did very very well. Okay. Um and that would be like recognition at an all a assembly. We did not acknowledge anybody who failed or provide scores. However, I was concerned after after the fact and so I did reach out to Hannah and I specifically asked her a question based on what we did. Okay. and her response was that Furba permits a school district to disclose without consent that type of information that is of educational interest. Okay? So, we can share it with teachers. Okay? We can have those types of assemblies and we're not in violation of now. Had I

123gone in there and said, "Student so and so you made a 60, student so and so you made a 54, you know, but that did not happen. it was in general terms for educational interest and so um our legal team that said we were not in violation of by having that. Do you feel that based on y'all's discussion with the with the class um as a whole boosted morale with the individual dated you know perception is reality >> and these individuals are young >> right >> and um some are shy some are introverts and we're not saying that may not be outspoken as others are what what was the feel of the of the room when >> a sense of urgency >> is how I would put it best because I did let them know

124that we use this data to determine tutorials interventions after school plans and if 100% of my sophomore class junior class whichever class it is is not on grade level okay then we need to make some changes because we're in the business of teaching. So, we may not be going to basketball games. And I did make those comments. I said, "My focus is to make sure that by the time you leave here that you are on grade level." So, I will tell you that I feel like if anything, they left with a sense of urgency and an understanding that they probably should have paid a little bit more attention to the test. Okay? almost I I won't put a percentage or a number to it, but several of them were saying, "Well, can we retake it?

125Can we can we retake it? Can we retake it?" The minute that I started saying, "If you're two or more grade levels below, how can I let you be doing this if you can't do bas your math?" I said, "I'm going to have to give you an extra math class. We're going to have to work on schedules. You know, we need to make sure that you're getting the instruction that you need." And they did go to athletics. I don't know if coach is still here, but they did go to athletics and they were like, "Our season's going to be over. We're not going to be able to have athletics because Miss Dia says we're going to have to go to tutorials." Yeah. And so they were wanting and willing to retake their test the next

126day. Okay. To prove that they weren't two grade levels below. is the excl um I know you mentioned that they're not able to retake it, but there is another one that comes out in January that they'll be >> So, Miss Prices actually has a meeting scheduled with them and we're working on some different things that we might be able to do. Il has a screener. They have a different they have several different tests in their system. So um the other thing is is that the timing of this presentation and needing the data and when we give the test was very challenging. You know I think moving forward we may want to do the state of the district in September so we I'm sorry in January so we can truly have a week to look at

127the data and have some time for the kids to take the test. They took the test Wednesday. We were trying to calculate data on Thursday to be able to try to have the data up by noon on Friday, which it it just that our time frame was was too short. >> Was was too how long? And then if they know they were taking this test >> um that I'm I'm not too sure. >> Depends on the teacher, >> but they were they were notified about the dates the window. they were notified the window for the middle of the year um test at the beginning of the year. This is your window for for beginning of the year and then um because Miss Ashley helped me with the reading and so she knew going in that

128the window was going to be tight like we're going to test the 2nd through the 5th and then we need the results back by the 6th because we're putting the report together by the 7th, you know. Um >> and it happened right after Thanksgiving >> and it happened right after Thanksgiving. Then my other question is is it an electronic test or is it >> Yes, it's online. So I have to log in my own credentials as a student. >> Correct. >> It's electronic and the kids were tight. They had certain amount of minutes to answer a question. >> So that's another factor that would consider. >> We're not sure about this test. I I I think I think we're not sold on on ISL just yet. who re I know this was this particular test

129I excel is it used in other school districts is it highly recommended by other >> um it's it's one of the recommended ones yes um it's also one of the recommended ones for the teacher incentive aotment you know to show progress and so that would be another one that if if we were at TI if we were a TIA school >> it would definitely have impacted the teachers earning their teacher incentive aotment you know So I think that we're this is the program that we're learning. Okay. Um star ren we've been doing it for a long time. We haven't been necessarily doing it to put a report like this together, but the kids are very familiar with that test because it's used for AR for the math curriculum tool that we're using the online. I'm

130sorry I keep forgetting. >> Is that one also um individualized where I'm logging in doing my assignments? >> Yeah. >> Under my own credentials. >> No, that's curriculum. So that's for teachers. So the teachers are using it and then assigning the work and then assigning the test. >> Correct. >> So so Carnegie is a curriculum. So basically it says you teach this TE introduce it this way present it this way. Here's some here's some ways to teach it. There is a workbook that the students get that matches with what the teacher's curriculum is um that they can work out of. But Carnegie is more of a of a teacher framework, a teacher curriculum. They do have a component that is an online component called mathia, but it's not what the teachers wanted to use for

131progress because it it it doesn't show the same things like the teachers are actually the ones that chose. They wanted and maybe not realizing how the screener for 9 through 12 is going to work because the screener for 9 through 12 works a little bit different than the screener for 6 through 8. That's two different y'all were able to demo this system. The teachers were able to demo it and then this I I really feel there were again I think there were a lot of factors that could have been handled differently. Um, I think that there were some teachers that said, "Oh, it's time to do midyear diagnostic, get it done, okay, >> without the emphasis of get it done. I'm going to use this data to see who needs tuto tutorials to see what

132interventions, you know, it's not for a grade, but it's for me to know how to best help you. So, take your time and do well." That's how it should have been presented. I can't comfortably say that it was presented that way by every teacher, for every student. In the spirit of transparency, my daughter took the test. Number one. Number two, what happened at the assembly was her only concern regarding the issue of the assembly was they might cancel my basketball season. That was her biggest concern. As far as being upsetting her father, her experience was totally opposite of what they were saying. And like I said, I think the other thing too is if you look at if we go back to the presentation and you look at kinder through fifth grade versus 6 through

13312, okay, you can see that at the elementary the data shows improvement. The data shows that kids are moving. The data shows that kids are making progress. Um again you can look at second grade you know going across the way I did for reading and kids are going up and over you know um we went from 12 that sorry 15 that were two or more grade levels below to five you know so kids went from the lower end now to a little bit of the higher end and continue to make that progress um 11% of the students in second grade showed progress on this test so I feel a little bit um I think that some of those external mixed emotions because at the elementary it shows that it was the emphasis possibly was there

134you know elementary kids still want to please their teacher and work hard and you know so I I think that there are external factors of how the test was implemented and done by students and staff that probably caused some discrepancies at the secondary level. >> Moving forward >> from this from the discussion that we're having. What is what is your uh next step? Because if they cannot retest because of the the >> and we're not sure of that yet. We're still working on that. So everything just has happened so fast. So we found out Friday that they couldn't retest. So we have So our next step is to have a meeting with ISL. Okay. To see is is there something that we can reset to allow them to retest. That's step number one. Okay. Um

135then it's visiting with with secondary staff. Okay. And letting them know how it needs to be presented to the student. We already met with the students. They already know that this is serious, you know. So I think the next step is meeting with um secondary staff which is something Mr. Himemenz um will address and then hopefully working it out to where we can give the another midyear um assessment. >> Would the retest be across the board or would it be just for because I mean we just talked about health first and second? >> Yeah, I would do just second. Theirs is a completely different program. >> Theirs is called I Ready. >> Okay. I look uh for the future to see how we get reports back on this particular subject and see yes we'll see

136how how we can correct some of these external factors to really get a more true picture >> true picture because if it is in the testing that's one thing but if it's in the teaching, if it's in the the information, if there's a disconnect there, then we have a bigger problem, which is that our children are not getting the education they need to to be successful. >> Agreed. >> And that's where I look forward to seeing movement and progress to see how we can actually get true clarity on this. >> Agreed. >> Very concerning. >> Absolutely. So if we go on to the next slide, staying with superintendent goal one, um in addition to showing progress, um one of the key some of the key indicators discussed was of course closing the gaps um groups

137and CCMR. So Bracket High School is the one that um is the one that collects our data for us for CCMR. And so we were at an overall rating of an A. So that indicates we did do very well in increasing success in the areas of CCMR. Also, TEA did give three awards um to Bracket High School for comparative closing the gaps, which means they basically look at subpopuls and how they do how they do compared to our regular population. And so um they were given a distinction a distinction award for being in the top 25%. Um they also received a distinction award for their academic achievement in reading language arts and their academic achievement in mathematics. So, um, our kids at the high school do very well. Yeah. Um, >> except on that test.

138Um, the STAR data has been shared with you previously. Um, so you can again you can just kind of see across the board um where we continue to make gains in green where we've shown some drops. The other thing about doing the state of the district in December, okay, is that the official taper report, okay, which is the Texas assessment performance report, isn't even scheduled to come out until December 15th. Okay. So, that's kind of why I I would like for the board when we meet again in February to reook at that calendar and perhaps kind of shift everything back just a little bit to where we're doing evaluations in December, getting our reports in December, and then presenting to the board in January once we have um a total a total picture of of

139where we're at. Um again continuing with goal one, the overall bracket ISD rating um does show that we were an 81 um from 79 previous years. And then it shows us the percentage of our district population. So 58.5% of our population is economically disadvantaged. 20% of our population is special ed. That's a very high percentage. And they are required to take the test just like all other students. So that does that does impact us and then the 4.2 of our English learners. I've included our professional development plan um which through the survey even though it was a small sample um most of the people I think felt like we did a fairly good job with professional development. We did have those one or two people that said you know they wanted more hands-on but that

140our professional development plan is there for your review. And then every year we've cleaned up our instructional resources. Um, probably when I came on board, our instructional resources was three pages long. Okay, we had three pages worth of resources. Um, and so what we've really done is looked at high quality instructional material. Is it material that's being recommended? Is it material that's aligned to the teach? and we narrow down what teachers use so they'll be good at implementing what we have instead are having so many things that we're not really being very effective in implementing anything. So I know the list seems long but there's a lot of stuff that's just for science just for CTE and like I said we we've really trimmed this down. Um I did include for the board a list

141of the district facult advisory and faculty meetings. um we start with our district advisory planning for the following for the upcoming year in February. So our February meetings are really already about the next school year because we start looking at calendar. We come to them for professional development. We talk to them about budget training processes and timelines. They're also our safety update update teams. We look at new legislation. And then there the SHA committee as well where we look at school health and nutrition. Um, districtwide faculty meetings are held on the last day of the six weeks. Um, goal two has to do with certified teachers. So, by closely monitoring the district's DOI program and the implementation of support services for non-certified teachers, the district will reduce the number of uncertified teachers to less than

14210%. again. Um, when when I first came on board one of those first years, we were at 25% of uncertified teachers and some of those teachers weren't even a degree because we had the intern program. Um, the following year, we dropped a little bit, 24. Um, we are currently sitting at 14% which is seven teachers. So, seven teachers um are not certified, but 100% of them are degreed. by the end of the year we should be at our goal um because we should be at 6% because we have teachers that all they need to do is take the test. Some additional highlights is that we have started the CTE pathways for educational aids. Um so last year was the first year that we actually had two students get their certification in um teaching aids, you

143know, being an instructional aid. Um the partnership that you just heard about with Saul Ross I think is definitely going to help our community with that 2 plus two 2526 no teacher interns were hired and then Mrs. Price continues with the DOI check-ins and we did purchase the 240 support um to provide our teachers with assistance for their certification test. So I think we're really really moving in a good good direction with there. we're way way below the state average um for uncertified teachers. Um superintendent goal three has to do with ADA. Okay. And so we're we've all learned a whole lot more about ADA and how the attendance percentage and the enrollment is what puts together ADA. But some of the key performance indicators that were put in the evaluation is that we monitor

144and report on six weeks attendance which I can bring to the board at the end of the six weeks. I think the second bullet is one of the most important ones is that we implement district development procedures for the use of local funds and budget planning. Also that we apply for grants when suitable and that we effectively plan for the use of state and federal funds. So this is a document that um that Amaya helps me put together just to kind of track historically. And so the part that's in under the blue area is the actual audited schedule. So we started with June 30th of 2022 because that was the summer that I was interned. Okay. So that was right before I got hired and shows what our fund balance was at the end of

145that of each of those summers. Um audited fund balance. So the ones that came that actually came from the auditors. And so we started at in 2022 at 5.8. It was our fund balance. Then you kind of look you I I I want you to kind of go down to the green because then every summer we would meet and we would plan for our budget and I would say in order to function I need $1.4 million right out of fund balance. But then you go back up to the top and it's like okay we were able to not use the 1.4 million and we actually were able to have good procedures and good alignment and look at different things. So that way we were always looking at different ways to do cost savings. So even

146though if you look at summer budget approval under the green that we said 1.1 million 1.4 million 1.4 million 1.5 million. Okay. If you look at the change in our actual fund balance from 2022 to 2025. I'm going to use the word only, but I know it's still a lot. Okay, it's only $647,516. Okay, and again, a lot of that has to do with bullet number two, implementing procedures for the use of local funds, number one. And then number two is if you look at this section right here under the grants, um we've been able to supplement some of our funds through grants. So the stronger connections planning grant um it was 120 that was in at one in one area and then 357 um out of another area. So that's 400 plus,000 and then

147the ACE program has brought in $285,000 which we are able to use for summer school to whereas prior to ACE summer school came out at 199. So now that we have ACE, we're able to use ACE money instead of regular 199 money. So um I think that overall I know that yes, we operate on a deficit budget, but every month we are meeting and we are talking to administration to staff about what can we do to to help um decrease that request for for fun balance. Um and again, it's evident in our audits, okay? and it's evident in our first. So we have a presentation today where um our rating for our financial system was superior achievement with a district score of 100. >> Was it in 22 that y'all received u co funding? >>

148We received COVID funding in 21 and 22. Yeah. Because it was two two years of grant. >> Yeah. when we lost Eser funds that was a that was a big hit. Um district goal four was in order to improve transparency between all stakeholders and the district a minimum of two parent community engagement meetings will be held throughout the year. Um, so some of the key performance indicators that we discussed was conducting the parent meetings, providing opportunities for per parental involvement or community involvement, making sure that we're using methods to communicate, planning for community events. So, of course, through ACE, we're um able to do lots of parental programs, trainings, engagement opportunities. Um, Miss Linda presented last um month on all the things that she's done to help bring parents in as partners. Uh parental meetings

149are also held as part of our stronger connections grant. Um we do have business parents and community members that sit on district advisory. Um one of the things that we did do was we did update our website and then community events would be our community pep rallies, our fall festivals. We have our college and career events um and opportunities for them to volunteer and tutor. Um these are our current meetings that we have held to date. Um on August 27th we did coffee with counselors and we actually even held that offsite. Um again using the um strategy of maybe parents don't want to come to the schools, maybe they'd prefer to go offsite. So we did the counselors did have that um at the library. Um then in September we opened up a parental meeting

150to go over all handbooks, meet the administration, um kind of kick off to to back to school. Um then on October the 29th, third grade had their parent meetings. The elementary parent meetings are highly successful. Okay. Um but because we do a a student program, so the kids perform first and then the parents will come to watch to watch their kids perform. Um we are required by law to provide event awareness um training to parents and students alike. So we have those for two days. And then just last week we did a parent and family engagement training which was on mental health and um calming strategies and um just building peace and in your family and your household. Um and so that was offered um last year. I know we talked about it earlier. >>

151This last meeting on December 3rd, what was was there 20 parents there? >> There were uh four. And that came about for the August 27th meeting. There was two now one of them. How about the rest? >> Um the handbook meeting I would say we had maybe eight, >> you know, less than 10. >> So we never exceeded 20. >> No. Oh. Um at the elementary parent. >> Oh yeah. Third grade program. >> Yeah. The the the elementary parent meetings. Um those those do go up because we in invent a a meeting with an with a student event. >> So we are reaching out inviting temple times. >> We put it on Facebook, we put it on the website, we put it on dojo if it's elementary if it's secondary and then we usually do

152school messenger. >> Maybe we can explore more options to try and combine what's working for our elementary because something's working and it's not working with our secondaries. So maybe trying to find some way to bridge that might be a good a good way to see if we can have more interaction with our parents. >> I I've seen it on Facebook. I've seen all the efforts that they're I mean we see success one way and we're not seeing. So maybe that's another opportunity to grow. And and I think too we could tie things to like the band concert. Maybe have a little parent meeting before the band concert because that's when they come. They come for band concert. They come for >> pep rallies, >> you know, pep rallies. I'm going to start the pep rallies

153with a with a parent meeting [laughter] >> and then they're going to be like, "Oh no, she's going to talk to us about something." Um, so moving forward, um, again, all of this is is is information. It's data. Um but but it's nothing if we don't use it to move forward. It's nothing if we don't use it as a as a long-term plan. Um so I want to continue using 20 to do the surveys. Um I think that if they hear that we're using those surveys and they're helping us as a planning tool that we'll get we'll get better assessment data to make improvements. Um instruction that's number one. You know I think it's great that our band went to state. I think it's great that our football team does so well. I think it's

154great that our UI is going to do fantastic tomorrow. Um, but if our kids are not strong in reading and math, then we're not doing our job, you know. So, we need to focus on that instruction and promote that high academic achievement. Um, we know that tied to the high academic achievement is the social emotional support. So, are our kids happy? Are they comfortable? Are they loved? Are they valued? you know, all all of that impacts learning. Um strategically planning for safe, healthy, engaging, and inclusive learning environments. Um being fiscally responsible and then continuing to improve communication, you know, um it there's no other way to say it than um it hurts my heart every time I hear that our district isn't transparent, you know. Um, every time that comes up that we're not transparent,

155it hurts my heart. Um, because I do feel like my administrative team and myself, we we really do try hard to be, you know, um, transparent, but we're not there yet, I guess. So, we'll continue to work on improving communication. You know, we're we're we want people to feel like we're transparent. We want people to feel like they're welcome. We want parents to feel like they can come in and and talk to us. The want is there, the desire is there. I can 110% >> um that we'll we'll continue to to work on building that communication to build transparency and trust. So where did all this information come from? It comes from TEA, comes from historical performance reports, it comes from teams, it came from the first, it came from financial audits, from the campus

156improvement plan strategies that they're working on, things from our DOI. Um, and so this put all together is is our our state of the district of of where we're at right now. >> I just want to go back just real quick because you started on the BISD year comparison where you have the year 2021 and you um on here it includes um staffing teachers from 22 through 26. But when we get to Paris, custodians, maintenance tech, counselors, nurse, district, admin, transportation. There's only data for 2425 and current year. So, we just didn't have it historically. We didn't start building it until 23 24. So, I've been adding to it. Um, and so I didn't include it the first two years, so I didn't have it there. And so, I started including it all in 23

15724. Um, it is something I can go back and and do a little bit more research and pick it up. [snorts] >> Interesting. Interesting. I mean, that this is when we talk about transparency and stuff. I don't hear that we're not being transparent, but these are kind of things like, well, why are you providing all this information? >> I know, but for this group, you're I you're not. >> Yeah. I think when we started putting this together, the only the top part was shared. So when we first started this report in 2022, that's all that was shared. And then I added more and and more and I just didn't go back and fill in the holes. >> Okay. >> So the report has just kind of grown. >> Any other concerns questions? Do we need

158a motion to accept the uh >> No, it's it's it's all right. >> Action item eight 88. >> So, I'd like to begin 8A with just overview of how we got here. um because I think that that that's important. So I I put that together for us just to kind of show that um because I know that there was there was some concerns of like oh this is a little bit rushed, right? So back in September was the first time that I flagged this for you guys as a board. So in September, this was actually information item 5E where I actually put that the election house bill and Senate bill was not applicable to bracketist. So this isn't applicable to us unless okay the board would like to discuss it at a future meeting. So

159we were updating each of the new house bills as we went and this specific house bill on elections was not applicable. Then I did receive a request from a board member for the election to be placed on the October meeting. Um so September 12th I reached out to Hannah and said, "Okay, one of my board members wants this. What do I need?" And so she provided the verbiage. And so we put it on the October 20th. And so we talked about doing this for a couple of reasons. So, um, I think the first reason that I brought up was timing and knowledge levels. So, having board members come in in May, we discussed how that was a challenge because you come home on board in May and crash course on budget and then having to

160pass the budget by June 30th. It was it was a crash course. And then we talked about four years increasing continuity. You know, people have had time to to to really get in and learn. And then we talked about some cost savings. So the board did take action to move forward with the change um unanimously. We did have two board members absent at that meeting. Um so then we um asked Hannah, okay, what are what are next steps? Okay, met with Hannah October 28th said, okay, my board said yes, we're moving forward. What do we need to do? And she admitted, oh well, we needed to do a resolution and we needed to do this. I was like, "Well, I just used the verbiage that you gave us and so now what?" She was like,

161"Well, go back, do the resolution that needs to happen and then let me provide you with the updates." And so that is when it was brought to our big attention, right? That um what it meant for the terms, you know, >> because initially it was limited information. >> Correct. Correct. >> Correct. So it was like, okay, yes, we're going to do it. And then we got more information, right? So now we got the resolution and now we got the um this the the terms, okay, how it would how the terms would be impacted. So then we had the November board meeting and it was like, you know what, let's table it till December. Let's get some feedback. Let's see, you know, how our consu several of you use the word constituents. Let's see what what

162the community um is feeling. So, we put it on Facebook um on November 12th um just kind of a little a way for them to provide feedback to me and then a picture of how it would impact um the the terms and then basically show the six months extension for certain board members and then the the board members that are kind of in the middle are the ones that that have to do that 18month um extension. So, this is just kind of how how it all came to be, right? We've had lots of discussion on it. Um I did share with the board um two speakups that um came in. Um and so those were emailed to y'all on Sunday. Um hopefully you've had a chance to to look at them. And then our two

163officers could not be here today. Um but they did provide something for me in writing um for action. So basically um both of the board members that are not with us today said they'd spoken to community members um there in regards to the move of the general election um they expressed that there was some opposition to the change. Um many of the people that they spoke to felt like they could want to use speak up okay or email. They preferred to to stay anonymous. And so the two board members that are not present did ask that I share with you all that had they been present that they would vote against um moving moving the general election. So at this time okay the background information has been shared with you. Um we do we can

164change the bracket ISD May election to be held bannually in November by resolution. Um terms will be four years and would be joint with Kenny County. Terms would be as follows. May 26 would be extended 6 months. May 27th would be extended 18 months and May 28th would be extended um six months. Elections will be a full three split and no longer a 322 split. Um to proceed with the May election, legal posting begins on December 16th. Action must be taken at this meeting to implement any changes and to ensure continued legal compliance. So we do have to take action um tonight. Um it is a recommendation of the administration to approve the resolution changing the bracket ISD trustee elections to be held bianually in November and adjusting the trustee terms changes as presented. >>

165I make a motion for discussion. >> Okay. So since we're going through the historical, >> I just want to make a note that it was brought up initially limited and that was one of the things well you're you're elected in May and you're expected to vote on the budget in June. I personally was elected in May and when the budget was presented in June, I >> I abstained because I wasn't in the and you we each have a right to abstain and we're not in voting for something. Fast forward, we had our next election, our next meeting, and I voiced my concern. And I said, "Hindsight, I drove home that day and I'm like, what the hell?" Because at the end of the day, the constituents voted for me. And it is not my right.

166And this is my opinion. You all speak your opinion. And I stated this at the last meeting that it is my opinion that it is not my right to take that from them. When the board when the constituents voted for me, they voted for me with the imp with the understanding that I was going to serve three years. That doesn't mean that the constituent was going to feel comfortable in voting for me again should I decide to run again for election. So, um, and it was questioned when we were actually going over the bylaws of the the board operations because that's where I identified the language was written in there and they're like, "Wait a minute, wait until it's discussed further." So, because I questioned the operations and then it was discussed further and that's

167when it was revealed that actually mine and Matt's would fall under the extension of the 18 months. Um, which again I still stand and I was ready to vote that night against it. Um but the final decision was hey let's um table it and readress it in December. So I still stand on what I what I'm going to vote on um because that I'm not going to take that from voters without giving them fair um maybe a town hall. Yes, we posted it on Facebook. Yes, they had an opportunity. But there's still a lot of confusion out there to really as to why and understanding and the rush. >> And I will add to that when it was presented, I did not know it was a board member that had brought it up to be

168put on the agenda. I thought it was something that was being introduced as some of the new rules were coming out and I wasn't totally clear on how that was brought up. So now that I have more information on that, I have a very clear direction on how I want to vote. >> I don't recall it being mentioned that it was important >> Just right now >> on in September. So in September in yellow it said that we wouldn't take and I actually put on there it would be nonapplicable to bracket ISD unless a board member brings it forward for the next meeting. So the reason it made it to the next meeting was because a board member brought it up because I had actually listed it as not Yeah. And I going back and

169researching and watching videos, I mean it's my opinion is is changed. So, >> okay. >> So, are we having a discussion right now? >> Yeah. When I got on this board, I was I've always understood the importance of flexibility. It's not anybody's fault on this board at the current time that the law changed. The law changed for various reasons. Um, it does I understand when you say transparency is stated that we're not transparent. It hurts my whole being when we're not when it's being stated because this board if anyone's paying attention is incredibly transparent and you all provide information when requested. Almost three years that I've been on the board, no one has ever there has ever been an inkling of saying I requested something for the school and I never done it. So things

170have changed. times that we all went in different time at this moment and um somewhat above my above my favorite thought he was at least to give us the option to change it and for nothing else and we just talked about fund balance but I think I agree it's very important the issue of the learning curve number one but every year we have the same issue on the street and usually oh they're starting off to and their money is because we don't have enough money. So here we have an opportunity to save money for not for me for the entire community and all this will level out in about a year or so. This is not you know we're not we're not requesting a you know lifetime appointment like a federal court. It's an extension

171because of the time we have to implement it. It's not permanent. And our service, I see my service, I come here, my free will, but at any moment I don't want to be here, I'll pack up my bag and leave. So whether I stay an extra 6 months or whatever, it's totally on me or God calls me home, then I'm out. So I think there's two big reasons why we should consider it. Number one being the issue of the learning curve and number two money. We talk about money at every meeting that never changes just about and squeezes dollars out of pennies as I've said it before. So my position is we ought to consider it because in the long run the one that's going to save the most is going to be the taxpayer.

172The taxpayer is going to be the bene beneficiary of all this and we're we might get more participation in the election. I hope I hope no one's worried about extra people voting in an election. I mean that's just the way it is. I think that the uh the election participation is should be a huge concern. Uh, I think the savings are are worth considering, [sighs] but I want to make sure I understand properly that if we don't do this now, there's no revisiting and taking the option a year from now. >> That's my understanding. >> Well, we can do it next year. We just can't do it this year. >> Yeah. And I think I had asked um, did we get a response on that one? if it didn't revisit. >> It can be revised

173any time that the board chooses to to adopt a resolution. >> Now, I think that as a way forward that respects the uh very well expressed and written concerns of people that are uneasy with this is that future elections going forward be for four year terms and not three. But those of us presently serving would be ineligible for that consideration until standing for another election with everyone voting knowing that this is going to turn into the longer engagement. And that's I think that's probably the only the only way I see of of bridging these concerns. And you're going to look at delayed savings, delayed participation, but a lot, you know, people are uh if that's what we need to get a proper buy in. I think that's what you guys one more question in regards

174Mr. How much do you say we might say we the election? I know it was mentioned at the first meeting, but more or less. So, VO and I have worked on some information because there are some things that would remain that we'd still have to pay. If I'm reading this correctly, uh we would still pay 3,000. >> No, if we if we um contract with the county, we're still looking about 6,000. 6,000. So savings will be just on the basis of every four years and not every instead of every three would flatt if every cost remains the same but you're paying those costs every four years instead of every three. There is a small >> No because not every election we're not all voted in at the same time. you're going to have. >> So,

175it's not um >> I think because if we're confused on what the cost savings is, I think it's good to have a breakdown where [clears throat] we clearly see there is true cost savings. If we're looking at $6,000 cost savings, is that a material? If it's $3,000 cost savings, is it a material where there's more opportunity for you're looking at other areas where you can have maybe a more significant cost savings. >> And we do have it by material. We we did do a breakdown. >> I broke it down to what we spent for the 25 May election, it was 9,700. And then the last time that we contracted with the county, we paid 3,100, but that's because we split that between four entities. It depends on how many exactly you just like to I'm

176a visual. So to have a chart up there to say, okay, if you're if you're having an election with the if you're piggybacking with the county, this is what our expected cost would be. This is what our cost is right now. This is what our net savings is. If we're not piggybacking with the county, you know, something I >> we don't have $100. Okay. >> We know it's $9,700 when we just do our own election. >> When we do our own >> Yeah. >> And when we do with the county, >> the bond election for instance, we paid 6,000. >> The last election that we it was this bracket city recognized state city of bracket, the municipality, the mud and city of sponsor. That was four entities. We paid 3,100 because it was divided by

177four. So you're going to pay based on the election contract is a 2,000 deposit. And then he adds everything up and then divides it the remaining balance. >> So we still have an expense. >> Yeah, of course. >> So if it was just there's always going to be an expense. The only thing is that this time around when every election is different this time around because it was four entities in a May election and the county only has so many election machines to run out, we had to combine. So between those four entities, each one paid a $2,000 deposit and then he divied the rest and we ended up paying 3,000. And how often are we combined with four other entities? >> It just depends on the other entities have elections. So sometimes the city

178bracket doesn't have election because the incumbents don't have an opponent. We've had to cancel election before because the coinists didn't have an opponent. The same thing for mud and the same thing for Spart. It just depends if they have enough who are on the ballot. >> So the election by ourselves is 9,000. >> So Miss Perez's election was $9,700. >> I'm sorry. >> Mrs. Perez election 9,762 was 73 centime. But that's not always the case because if you have an election where you're paired up with the three other entities and you're splitting the cost in four. So to say to say that we're going to save 9,700 every year is not an average. >> That's that's the highest if you that's how much we spend. >> So the average is about $3,000 >> of savings

179>> when it's combined with other entities. >> That that would be the low end. >> The low end. And then just with the county it's about 6,000. >> So anywhere from anywhere from 3 to six just depending >> depending on how many count who's on the ballot. >> I just have one clarification. >> Um I I know I heard um Mr. Bman mention that the law just changed and I keep hearing that. I just for clarification purposes, my understanding is that this has been a law and that it has it does require that you do have to give a resolution within a certain period before the end of So this isn't a new law for us to change the election period. something. It is something new >> because this this part right here, okay, was

180sent to us by our legal team as a new law with this um legislative session. So this part right here, House Bill 3546 and Senate Bill 1494, there was something new with the November election date which permit school districts to change to the November uniform election date and adjust terms. So any of the anything that was on this spreadsheet that I provided was provided to to me by Wash Goss as new as new law. So spreadsheet, we received that SLI was all new. But is it because you just said the word something? >> So there's something within that law that changed something that's new. >> So So Beville, will you um open up election date change process? >> So the way it was provided to us by Walsh was different things that have changed and

181so sorry that's okay. So, House Bill 3546 and Senate Bill 1494, go back. Okay. No, was a November election date was what was impacted. And it says permit school districts. So, I don't know, maybe school districts weren't permitted in the past. I don't know enough about the law. Maybe other elections could be changed. But this one says that this new House bill and Senate bill permits school districts to change to the November uniform election date and adjust terms. >> It's been in vain made my entire life the school districts. This is the first time they they allowed for the school district to have some flexibility. And on a side note, the city of San Antonio is desperately trying to do the same thing because of the cost savings involved with the city elections. Just a

182side note. And that's where on this one it was added but not applicable for us that we would continue with the May elections unless the board would like to discuss in a future meeting. So just for just for clarification because we're writing down our notes I believe memo motioned and then did you make the second did you second it to start to start the discussion to start the discussion. >> He just made a motion to start discussion. There hasn't been no motion on the table. Okay. >> His his comment was he made a motion for us to go into discussion. >> So there does need to be a second for discussion. >> He went straight into discussion. >> Discussion doesn't take a motion. >> Yeah. >> I don't know. We can look up that one.

183I don't know. So it was it was always do I have a motion to accept the administrator's recommendation? Is there any discussion? So the motion >> you just want to straight into discussion. >> All right. Well, let's go ahead and make a motion. I'll make a motion right now to uh entertain accepting the administration's recommendation uh pending discussion. >> I second. >> Okay. So now we actually already have the discussion. >> Pretend we're having that discussion. we already have right now and let's uh we uh >> any further discussion >> I think I think having you said [clears throat] you're able to bring me back again right whenever >> but it just needs to be done >> but not for not for this >> not for this >> yeah and to me I just think

184that the 18 months it's if if it was all 6 months don't really see but like you know 18 months more We are >> He stand next to me that long. >> He's in discussion. >> I uh >> I'm done. >> Oh, go. >> I know one of the letters someone said stated. Uh well, you can find savings somewhere else. At this moment, I can't think of anywhere else we could find savings. Well, we can save up to $3,000. That's what I think. >> I'm going to in my opinion, I don't think that it's broken to have to fix it. And I think unless it's broken, unless it's an immediate half fix to put funds into it. I I mean, I don't think it's emergent. I mean, it's gone this long for this long, this

185far. And although I voice my opinion the struggle of coming in as a new elect, it was brought to my attention I could abstain and I could wait until I was comfortable. So that actually made a lot of sense to me a couple months later. It's like yes, if I'm not comfortable, I can choose. So the the money has been spoken to for me. The um my own hesitation on voting has been spoken to for me. I've gotten that validation and uh I think if it's not a re I'm honestly guys the recommendation is to to move forward with with them >> but the board just needs to make a decision that we need to >> so yeah >> go ahead >> so it is a recommendation of the administration to approve the resolution a

186motion was made for discussion now now y'all vote on that we already have two for it on the table. So, we're discuss for the two offer just to discuss it. Now that you opened it up for discussion, >> what did you what was your motion? >> The motion was to uh consider [snorts] the >> adoption of second to discussion again. So now m we need to say any further discussion. >> Any further discussion? >> No further discussion. Those in favor? >> I I'm in favor of this as general principle, but I I don't think we can. >> We're voting. Go ahead. >> Yeah, I can't vote for it. >> Okay. Now, the last are those in in opposing the recommendation. Wonderful. >> Next item. >> Okay. Thank you guys. >> Consider and take possible action

187to approve revisions to the board operating procedures. >> Okay. So now we can move forward with the board operating procedures. What I asked Benonica to do when we updated this was to go ahead and include both. So that way we would say that we would be approving it with uh what's yellow is in new and so if we keep scrolling down. >> Okay. So we would be going we would be approving we would be approving this with option two which states that the May uniform election day each year held on the first Saturday in May. So um everything in yellow is what we discussed at the team of eight. And then um because of the action taken previously, we it is the recommendation of the administration to approve the board operating procedures utilizing option two

188for the election of board officers. >> Okay. Um, I recommend that we uh take a vote on uh option two here and um Oh, open for any discussion. >> Are we doing that already? >> Do a second. >> Oh, do we have a second? >> So, we're we're because we just did both. >> Okay. >> So, we want to clarify >> now. Take a vote. I'll look forward to group as present >> the yellow >> yellow is is what we discussed at team of eight which is all new revisions remember there were some things with wording um in regards to like the um the rumors remember we talked about that rumors um district regarding district operations would be informed y'all would inform Then we didn't we had some changes to the Texas Open Meetings Act.

189Um that was a new bill where we had to do everything three full business days. So everything in yellow was already discussed as required. Um the reason we hadn't approved him was because we were waiting on how we were going to go with the board officer elections. So it would be approved with the new changes and option two. Yeah. So, so green has options one and two in it, but because of our previous action, option one's got >> correct. >> So, I vote to approve >> With option two, >> you got it. >> Now, all those in favor We're going to get through today, [laughter] guys. We're going to make it. >> 8 C. Consider take possible action to approve public resolution related to one-time retention incentive stipen to eligible employees. >> Okay. So, I'm

190not sure if everyone has had a chance to to look at this. Um so, every year for the last couple of years, um we have had a retention siphon um which is provided to staff in December. The staff retention stipen requires the staff to sign a letter indicating they are receiving the stipen to encourage employment until the end of the school year. If an employee leaves prior to the end of the school year, repayment is required. Um every year we put something out and if you look at the attach the attachments basically um it's letting them know that this is something that we look at in an annual basis. It's not something that is guaranteed. Um so the resolution states that the board adopts um the the resolution where bracket ISD values its employees both

191certified and non-certified exempt and non-exempt and believes they have frequently gone above and beyond what has been required of them in order to carry out their employment duties for the district in terms of both effort and time. Um, as a result of the uncertainty surrounding school funding and mandatory requirements, the district compensation plan did not include a retention incentive statement as part of the budget process to ensure that the employees will remain employed for the 2526 school year to allow for smooth operations for our schools. Basically, we've reviewed the budget, okay, and there has been some cost savings, okay? So there is money where we did less siphons this year. There's money where we did less personnel this year. Um fewer teachers hired, fewer parents hired, fewer siphons, you know, that have that have gone

192out. And so, um, in reviewing the budget, there is about, um, $121,000 in salaries, um, that is not going to go to salaries or two sipments that we had budgeted for. Um, so if every [clears throat] agreement and the board considers the incentive, um, we would pay out about $105,000, um, to teachers. um and all staff members um as a retention incentive um statement. So it wasn't budgeted for per se. However, there is money in the budget to allow us to do this. Um in the past we've used er funds. Um last year we used zero solar funds and this year we would basically be using savings um that were allocated for salaries. So it is the recommendation of the administration to approve a resolution related to a one-time retention incentive site for eligible employees.

193>> Did the two >> Oh, yes. The two absent did have please make a recommendation. >> Yes. Are you sure that discussion? >> Yes. During discussion. Yes. So I guess first motion for >> motion. Second. >> Okay. Motion [clears throat] and then so um Mr. Deas um stated that if he were here um he would vote in favor of the retention stipen um as a way of showing um gratitude and appreciation for the staff. Um Mr. Massenill wrote he's always been strongly supportive of our staff and our teachers. They perform a demanding and often thankless job and any opportunity that we have to show appreciation, gratitude or recognition should be taken. Um, if I were in attendance, I would vote to approve the onetime retention incentive stipen. We may not always be in a position

194to provide the additional financial support, but since the funds necessary have already been included in the budget, I believe the benefits of supporting this retention incentive clearly outweigh any potential drawbacks. Uh for me uh we you know it's very rare to get personal feedback unless there's something really negative to be discussed but this is one of those positive things I hear about in the community and you know we're we're very desperate to fund raise savings if we can we're just talking about 3,000 versus 9,000 on elections. Um, but this is I think this is one of those things that if we can do it, we we probably should, especially so long as it is so uh greatly appreciated by the staff. [snorts] >> Yes, the teachers are are are the core of this whole school.

195So, any way we can give back and if we can, I think we should they're hard to come. I have 100% support of our staff, our teachers. We wouldn't be here without them. So, yes, any chance we had to give back. Absolutely. Yes. >> Any more discussion? >> Okay. We have all those all those against. >> Thank you all very very much. It is greatly appreciated by all staff. So >> continue to take uh possible action regarding budget. So, we don't have a budget amendment this time, but because we did pass the red incentive resolution, we will have a budget amendment for the next time just to make sure that the funds are in the right function to be able to pay out the statement. The funds are there. We just need to make the

196amendment and put it in the right place. >> Okay, you're up 9A. our revenue expenditure report um for November. If you'll notice, the revenue is up a little bit compared to last year. So, our tax collections were um very good this month. Uh and then if you look at the expenditures, we're at about the same place. So, that's always good to be higher on revenue than expenditures. So we have been um watching that expenditure and thermometer and keeping it as low as we can. Um we've been discussing that throughout this whole meeting you might say. So those that's our revenue expenditure report and then there's the if there's no questions the check run if you have any questions there. >> Thank you for staying on top of others. My pleasure. Thank you for asking and

197keeping us accountable. So does TEA do a good job. >> Are there any questions on Tim's reports or I'm just getting sh Everybody good? >> 10. >> Oh, 108. Sorry. >> So, um, again, I've been trying to keep y'all a little bit more up to date by the with the Monday's messages just because there's so much stuff um going on. So, it's just u we've had lots of past events that happened, but we just jumped straight into upcoming events. Um, tomorrow our elementary and junior high UIL students leave for fall city. Um, Mr. Miller will be going with our students along with Mrs. Donette and Mel secondary. They're looking for a fulfilling fun day tomorrow. Um, and December 10th is our kinder Christmas program. Um, it's going to be a great program. Um, they're even

198doing a a surprise um pro park with the seniors. So, if you have a chance, come by and see that. That's going to be a very special event. Um December 12th um is was our dinner theater, but there was another event that was conflicting I think at the historical society or with some other community um event. So they cancelled the dinner, but they're still going to do um the show. Um so we have a Miss >> Nelson Nelson is missing. So that should be that should be a fun show on Friday. Um, next week we'll do the band Christmas concert on the 16th. Um, December 19th is the end of the six weeks and will be our faculty meeting as well. I sent y'all an email today regarding um a Christmas gathering um the Christmas

199committee. Miss Ils came by and wanted to make sure that y'all were aware of that. So, >> yes, if you haven't checked it, please please feel free to to join us. Um, also not listed there, um, is the CCMR event, the college and career, um, showcase that we do, and that's scheduled for December 11th. And that's all day, Mr. Himemenz. >> Uh, no, it's in the morning. >> In the morning. And so, Miss Welch and the secondary admin team put that together. And then we get to go on Christmas break. So, um, December 22nd, we kick off our Christmas break. Uh, January 2nd, we, um, ends it. January 2nd and 3rd, that weekend before we come back, is the Kenny County Junior Livestock Show. January 5th will be a curriculum planning day for teachers, no

200students. January 5th is also your special call meeting. Okay? And you should have received a brown envelope. Okay? Um that has the evaluation tool in there that is provided to you all. Um so that way anytime between now and January 4th, you can write your notes on there, you can fill it out. Um I've always felt like our previous boards the more that they come prepared on that form then the shorter your time is um on that on that day. Um then so then you'll meet on January 5th to discuss that evaluation tool. Um I am not present but dinner is provided. So Miss Fed will make sure that there's food for y'all so that we all can discuss the evaluation tool. Um January 6 is the teacher work day. um no students and then

201the kids come back on the 7th and then we'll have our regular board meeting on the 12th and then we're already talking about January 19th. So it's crazy um but exciting. So we'll be talking about now 26 27. Um so that's all I have and then we are ready for responsibility session pursuit tax government 551074 discussion regarding the employment employment evaluation employees discipline or dismissed employee employee but not limited to now as of 909 we're going into close session. Thank you so much for being here. Okay. Okay. You turn on return from close session. It is now 9:17. No action for taken at during during close session. At this time, the meeting is adjourned. >> Thank you everyone. This is really cool. It's going to be so good. I'm really I'm really excited about it.

202Now, this is I hope it works in four years right there.