TISD Regular School Board Meeting – April 13, 2026

001Good evening and welcome to our regular board of trustees meeting held here on April 13, 2026. Our first order of business is call this meeting. Our next order is the pledge of allegiance with the stand to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for alliance to the under God and indivisible sign up to speak close comments. Um, next item is superintend. >> Okay. So, as we do our recognitions, um, after each one of you, if you want to leave, you're more than welcome to do. We want to make sure everybody has the opportunity to see. So, we're going to start with purchasing. The Templ School District's purchasing department has been honored with the award of merit for purchasing operations

002by the Texas Association of School Board Officials or TAZO. The purchasing department going up. The district submitted the district submitted an application covering eight different subject areas and documenting everything from purchasing policies and procedures to departmental organization staffing certifications, communication with vendors, even the technology and software used by the department. Those applications were reviewed by a team of volunteers and this year Temple IC was one of just 84 educational organizations from across the state to meet the stringent criteria to award to earn the award of merit. This is the second consecutive year Temple ISD has been awarded this prestigious honor. Temple's purchasing department is made up of purchasing coordinator Mark Floyd, purchasing specialist Laura Ledllo, warehouse specialist and courier Todd Copelan, and warehouse specialist Samuel Santos. Being recognized among the state's elite purchasing departments helps

003underscore this team's commitment to following best practices, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and working to get the best value for goods and service to make sure we're stretching our budgets while still meeting the needs of our students, our staff, and our families. Congratulations to each of you for all you do to help in our students, our families, and our community. Well done. We just want to say thank you for the work that you do and we realize that a lot of it happens behind the scenes but the impact is felt every day and we appreciate you. Thank you. Next item finance and tas. >> So the t Texas Association of School Business Officials or TASBO has recognized the Temple Independent School District Finance Department with this organization's prestigious 2026 award of excellence in financial

004management. Come on down finance department. This is the first time that TIC has received the TASBO award of excellence in financial management and the district was one of just 34 recipients of this year's award statewide. The criteria to qualify for the award of excellence in financial management is stringent and is based on accounting and reporting guidelines identified by the Texas Education Agency financial accountability system resource guide. Applicants must submit documents from across 11 key areas which are reviewed by a Tasbo accounting subcommittee. The award of excellence is given to students to Texas school districts open enrollment charter schools and education services that demonstrate professional standards, best practices and innovations in the area of financial management and reporting. The TISD finance department has also been recognized by the association of school business officials international. The government

005the government finance officers association and received the superior financial accountability rating from the Texas education agency this fiscal year. You guys have had a great year and we just want to say congratulations and we're so happy to recognize you. Um we're um the finance department is led by our assistant superintendent of finance, Miss Brandy Stanford, and she knows this is a team effort, so we'll let her introduce her department. Well done. First, first of all, I just like to say congratulations to the finance department. And I'm used to this now. You guys up all the time here. But if you put that into perspective, there was 34 of these awards given out and I think that's,200 school districts probably, 1200 school districts in Texas. So look where we rank it. That is awesome. That's fantastic.

006But again, congratulations. >> So anybody that wants to know that's 02% of school. So I have first with us our accounting supervisor Vicky. I have Rodriguez, Jenna Luna, Donna, our director of budget and compliance, Helen, sorry, Green, Amy, and Terry Berles, our director of finance. Um, these ladies are kind of competitive and so when the opportunity came about and I asked them about applying, I thought they would tell me that takes up a lot of time and we are always busy crunching numbers. Instead, they said, "We're competitive. Let's do it." And so, I'm proud of these ladies because they always put our students first. They really value transparency and financial compliance. They have done a great job and they are a great team to work with. I am honored. Awesome. Thank you. So, if you

007were here for the finance awards, you're welcome to exit if anybody is here. And we'll go ahead and get ready for students. Item C is finance fine arts in UI solo and state qualifiers. >> We are so excited to qualify for the state solo and ensemble contest. Students are required to receive a superior rating on a memorized class one solo or a memorized class one ensemble piece. This evening we are so excited. Good job. We are so excited to have the opportunity to recognize more than 60 of our fine arts students for earning the right to represent Temple at the state solo and ensemble contest. These students represent choir, orchestra, and band. And multiple students have have qualified for both solo and ensemble performances at the state. And so now I'm going to read the

008names. And so students, as I read your names, you come up, shake hands, and we're just going to kind of gather across the front. Good. Okay. in choir. Pearla Allejo, sorry. Kayen Ally, Sam Baron, Ellen B, Zoe Brunes, Malia Caldwell, Victoria Gonzalez, Marabel Castillo, Ayah Deng, Renee Holiday, Sebastian Dominguez, Conor Frasier, Maxwell Jaffers, Adrien Lopez, Elaine Montra, Vanessa Martinez, Gomez, Elijah Mccardi, Hayden Mendes, Netty Royal, Benjamin Russell, Elena Slawson, Kaylee S, Dylan Steven, Colby Tickner, Kelsey Waller, and Aubrey Wharton. So, these are our choir students. Everybody, once we get everybody, let's give a hand. There we go. We got to see your faces. Good job, friends. Come down just a little bit further for a little. Wonderful. >> We are not going to move until every parent gets the picture they want. No worries. >>

009Our choir is under the direction of Cameron and Megan. Do you guys want to join them on stage? Yes, they do. our director. All right. Make sure we have all the pictures we want. Parents, are we good? Everybody got the pictures they need? Are we able to exit that way? Yes. Okay. We're going to exit. Give me just a minute. Oh, I apologize. I'd like to thank all of you for all the hard work and bringing so much joy to us when we get to see you in action. It is something that year after year after year, the faces may change, but the history you can carry it forward and we're so proud of every one of you. Thank you. Good job. >> All right. Now we'll recognize our orchestra students who qualified for state

010ensemble and solo. All right, our orchestra students Mira Steven Jones and Gustavo Sanchez. Right up there in the middle. Did we get all the pictures we needed? >> This is orchestra. Again, just repeating uh choir is one branch of the fine arts. Orchestra is another. And just to hear the beautiful music they make with their strings. And it's just amazing that we get to enjoy our students. And we thank you parents for supporting all that. >> Fantastic. All right. Okay. Now we will recognize our band students. All right. So students as I say your name you go through and shake hands and then line up in front. Okay. All right. Dina Roz, Audrey Lam, Paxton Slay, Amari Dobins, Enrique Cisneros, Dylan Robinson, Ericson Valdes, Julino, Sebastian Guian, Jo Aiano, Hayden Turner, Aiden Lin, Paxton George,

011Malik Badger, Riley Jacobs, Ryan Hackett, Braden Sans, Alandre Suarez, Adalia Lopez, Kayen Taft, Ronaldo Roz, Liliana Ruffins, Nandini, Joselyn Valdivia, Brittany Ortiz, Marissa Rowski, Santos Hernandez, Deonte Nixon, Noah Pñena, Diego Hartness, Julian Luna, and Joshua P. Well done. All right. >> Okay. Our Oh, I forgot. Our temple fans are under the direction of Brent Madison, Marcus Durant, and Peter Milin. And our orchestra is under the d under direction of Mr. Kefir keeper say that I apologize. All right everybody smile pretty we say yay band. Okay everybody stay still just a second. Let's get a picture. Okay everybody make sure every mom's happy. Every dad's happy. Grandma, grandpa's. All right, we have all the pictures we need. Mr. Brown, are we good? Good. Anything else? Okay, thank you so much. You just will exit this way.

012Well done, man. Parents, we're so glad you came. understand if you'd like to exit. Thank you for being here tonight. >> Good job, man. Great job. Make a little shifting. Stop. So cute. She's so precious. Okay. >> Okay. >> Our next item is item D. Texas&M University. Very important counselor Christy B. >> Temple High School's Christy Burke has been recognized by the Texas A&M University Division of Enrollment Management as a 2026 very important counselor. Come on up there, Mrs. B. Mrs. B. serves as a college and career advisor in the counseling department at Temple High School. And she devotes her time to ensuring that Tipple High School students are prepared for and aware of their options as they move into college or the workforce following graduation from TISD. The very important counselor recognition acknowledge acknowledges

013her outstanding service and invaluable contributions to guiding students along their journey to higher education. In addition to recognizing Mrs. for her contributions. Texas&M will also honor the pivotal role she plays in shaping the future of students and embodying the spirit of excellence that defines Texas&M by offering a $1,000 very important counselor scholarship to a Temple High School student who will be attending Texas&M in the 2026 2027 school year. I know that's special to your heart, isn't it, Miss B? Thank you, Miss B, for your commitment and dedication to serving the students of Temple ICD. And we celebrate you alongside Texas&M University as a very important counselor. Well done. And I just want to say um we have an outstanding counseling department at Temple High School and having Mrs. Burke there as someone dedicated to helping

014our students explore the possibilities and navigate that road towards what happens after high school has been incredibly valuable for our students and for our parents. Um I've had several tell me personally what a difference she's made. So, um, Chrissy, you have such a heart for our students and, um, we we recognize how very hard you work to ensure that they have the best chance of success after high school. And I'm so pleased that Texas&M noticed as well. So, congratulations. under the athletic department grant grant beyond the game team award. >> The Temple High School athletic department was one of just 21 athletic departments or teams from across the state of Texas to be recognized by the Grant Taff Foundation with a Grant Taff Beyond the Game Team Award last month. So, I'll let you guys

015join the board up here. The grant tap beyond the game team award includes a $1,000 grant and specifically mentions Temple High School's athletic athletic training, football, and volleyball programs. The award recognizes the department's community service initiatives and servant leadership. Temple High School staff members and student athletes volunteered at the city of Temple's annual Christmas center for the 14th time this year. They served meals, conversed with community members, and participated in events, activities to help create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for those in attendance. Student athletes and student trainers also visited local care facility to deliver socks and handwritten notes to students. These projects are part of the athletic department's focus on reinforcing a culture of service within its programs to positively impact both the community and the student athletes and staff involved. As TISC athletic

016director Steven said, these experiences not only provide meaningful support to our community, but also help shape the character, leadership, and integrity of our athletes. We are incredibly proud of the way they represent Temple High School and our district. We're also incredibly proud of the student athletes for the way they represent the department, the school, and the district. Tonight, we want to recognize, and he doesn't want to go up there, he is Steve Apprentice, Wendy's, Chad President, and Anna Smith from the Temple High School athletic department. Congratulations to each of you. Well done. I'm not going to pull out any stories from the past, but I will say there is not another group that doesn't care more about our kids here in Temple. So from being a student to an employee co-orker and now on the

017board like really honored to know you guys and to work with you guys and I feel like it's been more than 14 years. I feel like when I was in high school we did some of these things but I'm glad that Temple is finally getting the recognition that they deserve. Truly Temple athletics is second to none. I've seen a lot of athletic programs and no one does it better than we do. So proud to stand along with you guys. Got it. Thank you very much. Next item up is Rotary Educator of the Month. >> The Rotary Club of Temple supports teachers and Temple IC by recognizing an educator of the month at club meetings throughout the year. The district is proud to recognize Nicole Taha at Kennedy Powell Elementary School as the Temple teacher recognized

018for the month of March. Mrs. Taha is the self-contained third grade teacher in all subjects at Kennedy Powell. She has seven years of service at Temple and her nomination highlights how Mrs. Taha is known for her strong parent relationships. So much so that when family that families requested her when she's changed grade levels, she's also both a team lead and a lead learner on campus. She organizes fund raers raisers, plans, field trips, coordinates campus events, and even displays that celebrate students and build a strong campus culture. She also leads the campus scripts national selling bee and just had a student compete and finished in the top 10 in the regional level. Her commitment to students, staff, and families make her an outstanding choice for this honor. Miss, we are so happy to recognize you and

019to join the Rotary Club in celebrating your excellence. Well done, Miss Taha. I tell you what, I'm I'm so proud to be an alumni of Kennedy Elementary. Um, you know, I Jill, you're growing them good over there because this is the second one that has been the Rotary Educator of the Month. Just last month, we had one as well. So, um, we have heard wonderful things about Miss from parents and the students absolutely love her. Her commitment to the students and to the entire school community is second to none and has a lasting impact. So, we join Rotary in celebrating you and we're proud to have you. Thank you for all you do for our kids. Wonderful. Thank you. Item G is T communication department TSRPA Stars. >> The Temple Independent School District's communication department

020has been recognized with five gold stars, four silver stars, and five bronze star awards represented by the te Texas school Public Relations Association. and they really hated it when we bragged on them. This year's Star Awards recognize work produced during the 2425 school year. The awards recognize the work of John Wen, Eric Larson, and Amy Fry Brown of the TISD communication department. Temple is won honors for all 14 Star Award submissions the department entered. The department was awarded Star Wars recognition in a variety of categories ranging from feature and promotional videos to photography and published news releases. I like it and electronic newsletters. The 14 the 14 star awards won this year are the most in a single year in the history of Tumble IC. That's something to celebrate. T competes with districts across the

021state with 15,000 students or fewer, meaning that Temple has to compete against some districts and departments that are almost twice their size. The communication department gets to tell our story, your stories, and every day their news releases, their photos, their videos, their social media posts are seen by an ever growing audience of stakeholders. And the department is so grateful to see its work recognized by their peers. and we're just really amazed by what you do every day to tell the story of Stumple. And so, thank you so much. Congratulations. >> So, for several consecutive years now, uh this department has won uh statewide honors. This is the first time that they've won 14, which is it's unheard of really um and maybe even unre repeatable. Uh this is the first time this last year that

022I actually went to the Teesp conference. I was asked to show up to do a keynote and I've always heard that Temple um you know is revered at the conference but it wasn't until I went and I interacted with communication professionals across the state officers of the organization and then it really hit me on how the school district is represented and viewed optically across the state in terms of communication occasions. And the three things that came to my attention when I was talking to people at this conference over and over, storytelling, transparency, and creativity over and over and over, and Amy, Eric, and John, they all represent that bundle extremely well. This may be the very best that we have had in this department ever. uh this combination of these three individuals I am I

023am so proud of you three you know you don't you don't pass bonds and vaders you don't have community trust that we do you don't do those things unless people feel connected and that is in large part due to communication and relationships and they carry a lot of that they carry a lot of that so we are very grateful for the three of you and what you do for temple ISD congrat Congratulations once again. Very proud of you. >> Let's get a picture for Amy. Thank you. under executive requires consideration approved to hire assistant principal superintendent services Hudson. >> Okay, thank you. Um, thank you guys. The hiring committee consisting of Steven Frenis, Jill Owen, Isaac Hernandez, Katrina Beach, Lisa Williams, Michelle Rhodess, Tiffany Vessel, Kim Lady, Vance Willis, and Dr. Jason Mayo interviewed six

024candidates on March 4th, 2026 for the position of assistant superintendent of student services and selected their top three candidates to interview with the senior leadership team. The senior leadership team interviewed the top three candidates on March 13, 2026 and selected Miss Kana Hudson as the lone finalist for the position of assistant superintendent of student services in Temple. Miss Hudson earned a bachelor of science and education from Emporia State University in 2000 and a master's degree in counseling from Texas&M University Commerce in 2006. She obtained her principal certification from Lamar University in 2014 and her superintendent certification from Temp Texas&M University Commerce in 2026. Miss Hudson currently serves as the executive director of student services for campus support in Dunville. She previously served as a math teacher, school counselor, assistant principal, and principal in Dunville. Throughout

025her career, Miss Hudson has developed expertise in professional development and student service, student support systems. She is recognized for her ability to align people, processes, and data to improve attendance, behavior, and academics performance, academic performance across diverse school settings. She leads with intentionality, humility, and a deep belief in developing people, strengthening relationships, and creating environments where both students and educators thrive. As a former military dependent student who attended schools across multiple states and overseas, Miss Hudson brings a personal understanding of the importance of stable student center. Miss is excited to be named the finalist for the position of assistant superintendent of student services and looks forward to working with our students, staff, and families for approval. Madam, we have a motion. >> Motion by Miss Cook. >> I'll second by M. All in favor. >>

026All post same is approved. >> Awesome. >> Congratulations. Good evening. Um, President Boees, Dr. O, I want to thank you for this opportunity and for your trust. I'm really honored to be standing here this evening, and I want to thank the interview committee for the time, the care, and the intentionality that they brought to this interview process. What first drew me to Temple ISD was its visible investment and leadership through whole work. That told me a lot about this district. But what really confirmed things for me was the people. There is a close-knit feel here and every conversation that I've had including today has just felt real. There's also been consistency that I've experienced that makes it clear that this is a place where people are aligned and working towards the same goals. That matters

027to me because it's how I lead. I believe that relationships come first and that leadership at its core is about service and creating the conditions where others can thrive. As I step into this role, I plan to spend time listening, learning, and partnering with campuses to ensure the work of student services is clear, aligned, and truly supportive. I'm not coming to change anything that's working, but instead I'm here to build on it, strengthen it, and contribute to theum that is already underway. I'm really excited to become a Wildcat and to continue to serve and fully invest into YSD. Thank you again for this opportunity and I'm honored to serve Temple and excited for the work ahead. And I do have some family members here, so I'd like to introduce them. My mother is here. Um

028I have a cousin's here. And then one of my friends from college um is here as well. So you all want to stand up. Thank you all so very much. I'd like to make two comments. Uh first of all, I want to thank you, Miss for trusting Temple, uh for your growth and development and um you know, continuing your journey and your career. I want to thank your family for sharing her with us ahead of time because she will be shared. I promise you that. Um and uh we really look forward to having you on our team and welcoming you and we're excited. I also want to thank your predecessor. Not yet, but uh there'll be another time for this called a retirement um reception or or get together. But I want to thank Eric

029Hogber. Would you hold your hand up, please? I can tell you that when Eric took the department, um to when he leaves it, um it is drastically different than it needed to be. Uh and he's done it steady. He's done it quietly. Um he's done it in a very dependable way, in a very consistent way. Uh and we're all really grateful to have you as a teammate that we have. and you're not going too far because you live in the area. So once you're a wild cat, you always are. So we appreciate you. Thank you. Our next item is consideration for approval of the principal at Samson Howard Elementary. >> Okay. The senior leadership team interviewed the candidates for the position of principal at Samson Howard Elementary School on April 7th, 2026 and selected Dr.

030Zachary Klein as the lone finalist. Dr. Klein graduated from Stephen Fost in 2010 with a bachelor of music. He received his masters of education and administration degree in 2013 from Lamar University and he graduated from the University of Mary Hart Baylor in 2016 with the doctorate of education. Dr. Klein currently serves as the dean of instruction at I'm sorry at Dr. Jim Don AO Middle School in Ken ISD. Prior to that, he served as an assistant principal at Parker Heights Elementary and Rio Middle School. He's our student as head band director at North Belton Middle School, assistant band director at Belton Middle School, and music teacher at Sparta Elementary. Outside of his professional role, Dr. Klein values time with his family and playing board games. He is married to his wife Tiffany and they have

031two beautiful daughters who are here to cheer them on. I've seen their pom poms. Um Addison 6 and Skyler four. He enjoys staying active aviation and finding opportunities to learn and grow both personally and professionally. Dr. Klein has a passion for education and student learning as well as fine arts and is excited to join the team as Samson Howard Elementary Cougar. It is with great pleasure that the committee recommend Dr. Zachary Klein to the board of trustees for approval for the position of principal at St. Har. All in favor show hands. All oppose same is approved. Thank you. I've had my eye on this building for quite some time. um two of my my passions collide and I can't ask for uh anything better and I'm so blessed to be here and humbled by the

032warm welcome everybody has given me. There's the old Japanese saying uh fall seven rise eight grit is the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is way different than I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that pretty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with giving up again. As a former music teacher, I'm passionate about the arts. You see, whether it's practicing a difficult piece, revising a painting, or rehearsing for a performance, success does not come quickly or easily. It comes through effort, comes through failure, and trying again. In art, mistakes are not the end. They're part of the process. And that mindset builds resilience, discipline, and confidence. Skills that extend far beyond the studio. I believe school should

033be a place where every child feels known, valued, and inspired to grow. Together with the incredible staff at Samson Howard, we will continue building a culture that honors Mr. Samson and the Howards enriching student experiences and fostering strong academic outcomes. You don't get to stand here today on your own with me. I have my family and friends. My mom and dad are here with my wife Tiffany and our daughters Addison and Skyler. Thank you for your vote this evening. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve the families and staff at Samson and Howard and the civiliz community. There's no party a few comments. Um, Temple IC is no stranger to hiring clean evacuees. I was one 14 years ago and u and no longer live the professional gypsy life. I found a place to

034stay and love it. Uh Dr. Klein, I will tell you that you are joining and you know this already an amazing staff. Uh when you walk on the campuses, you know, in the first five minutes and Samson Howard is that place, you know, in the first five minutes. Um it's a place that people desire. They've done an incredible job. um build relationships with families, with each other. And as big as that campus is, it sure feels small. It feels like a family. Um and I know you know that and I know that you're excited about it and you're ready to ride with that family. I do want to thank the person behind the Cougar mascot because that is actually the current principal, Dr. Crystal Thomas. Um, and uh, she is such a champion and has

035been and so appropriate that she's wearing that mascot because she is a true true Googler through and through. Uh, and Crystal, you've heard me say this because we are keeping her in the district. She has been promoted to executive director of elementary. Uh, but I'm so proud of you and uh, every time you drive by Samson Howard, I know you're proud and uh, they're going to continue making it a proud place. So, congratulations. >> Our next item is consideration for approval of the position of principal at Alternative Education Center. >> Okay. Senior leadership team interviewed candidates for the position of principal at Weatley Alternative Education Center on April 10th, 2026 and selected Mr. Lauron Slay as the lone finalist. Mr. Sle graduated from Howard P University in 2001 with the Bachelor of Behavioral Science and

036Biology and a minor in psychology. He received his master of educational leadership in 2018 from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mr. currently serves as an assistant principal at Lamar Middle School in Temple ISD. Prior to that, he served as an assistant principal at Temple High School and an eighth grade science teacher in clean. Mr. Slay love spending time with his family, going to church and all things sports. He and his wife Amanda Slay, who is our principal at Jefferson Elementary, have been married for 22 years, almost 23, not quite, and have three children. Max is nine and attends Jefferson Elementary. Paxton is 15 and attends Temple High School. And Braden is 19 and is a freshman at Temple College is one of our fine arts recognizer. Thank you. Recognize Mr. Slay has a passion

037for mentoring students and is excited about the opportunity to lead at Weley Alternative Education Center. It is a pleasure that we the committee recommend to Mr. Ron to the board of trustees for approval for the position of principal at weekly alternative education center for approval. Got a motion by war. >> Second by this is an action item. Can we have a show of hands? All in favor? All oppose. Same sign is approved. Thank you. Good evening. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to this selection committee, the board, Dr. Dr. Adams and the senior leadership team for placing your trust and confidence in me weekly alternative education campus. I received this opportunity with deep appreciation and a strong sense of responsibility. I truly believe that God places people in our lives

038at just the right time to help guide, support, and refine us. And I'm thankful for the following people who have been on this journey with me. To my mom who's here tonight, thank you for being the foundations of the foundation of perseverance and strength in my life. You took the challenges life gave you and turned them into opportunities, never allowing your past to define your future or ours. Your sacrifice made this moment possible, and I am forever grateful. To my wife, my best friend of 22 years, Amanda, thank you for your unwavering love, grace, and guidance. You have walked this journey, ahead of me in so many ways, modeling excellence and leadership at every step. I would not be standing here today without your constant support and belief in me. I am also incredibly proud

039of my children, Braden Paxton and my princess Maddox, who has also turned nine today. So, she's waiting to celebrate. So, I got to make this quick. My family is my wife. It means so much to have you here with me sharing this moment. But also in attendance, I have my sister, I have my stepdad, my mother and father-in-law, friends and former colleagues, my former principal, Miss Bradford. Thank you for showing up and surrounding me with your encouragement and support. Your presence means more than words can express. And I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my current principal, Miss Rose, and my partner, A Reynolds, back there, bringing the energy as always, and the entire staff of Lamar Middle School. Over the past six years, you have become the family like family to me,

040and I'm grateful for the support, growth, and relationships we have built together. And I don't see Mr. Pleasant here. did call me and tell me that he might not be able to make it or he might be late, but I do want to honor him as well. I want to honor Wheatley's current principal, Mr. Pleasant. For the past 19 years, he has shown the Temple community what it truly means to lead with grace, integrity, humility, joy, resilience, and above all, love. His impact on generations of students, family, staff, and colleagues in this community is immeasurable. and he's carried that responsibility with a sense of purpose that inspired us all. Mr. Pleasant, wherever he is at this moment, thank you for not only being a mentor, but also a trusted friend and a constant source of

041inspiration. I am deeply grateful for the example you have set, the path you have paved, and the legacy that you leave behind. I would like to close by honoring my personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As a master craftsman, he has used every step of my 48-year journey to refine and prepare me for this moment. And I step into this new role with humility and purpose. It is both an honor and a privilege to serve students with some of the greatest needs in our district. and I am excited to learn and partner with a dedicated staff who share a passion for changing the trajectory of students and families in this community. Thank you for sharing this special moment with me and my family. God bless and good night. I'll just make one comment. So, um,

042first of all, Ron is 100% correct in recognizing Carl Pleasant who's not here. Um, what he has done in this community is u very hard to match. Um, it would take someone extraordinary and we found that person. Lauron is an extraordinary man. He's ears his country and many of you know that. Uh, he honors his family. And where's your mother? Right here. I usually don't do this, but mom, I'm going to tell you, he bragged about you in the interview. After 48 years, you still inspire your son. And that's a fact. He honors his family. And I'll tell you to be a DAP principal. Uh that can't be professional. It's personal. This is mission work for Leon Slay. He identifies uh with with students uh in that situation and he has a heart for doing

043everything possible to write their trajectory. He's got a great team over there to do that with as well. We're proud of you, Lon. Uh proud of your family uh in this district. His wife's principal in Jefferson and his kids are they're in this boardroom more than I am in terms of being celebrated. Uh they're all over the place. Uh they church it up in the community. They grocery shop. They do it all. Uh they poured into the community. So we're just very blessed to have your family as part of the temple. Thank you. Next item is consideration for approval of superintendent recommendations regarding employee employment and contract status for administrative personnel. >> Yes. So if um tonight we're bringing for you our principles and our directors to re um sorry I'm a little distracted. Good.

044Good. I want to be So, our principal, you'll notice we are missing two principles on the list. Crystal Thomas is moving up in the district and Carl Pleasant is retiring. So, they are not on that list for a reason. And then, um, our directors are all coming back. You won't see on there because you just approved her. So, she is good to go. >> Any questions? This is an action item. Do we have a motion for approval? >> Motion by Mers, second by Miss. All in favor, do have a show of hands. All sign. >> All right. Thank you so much. You're welcome. The next item is a announcement of school board training credit. And I will read our continuing education here too. Under the state board of education rules, completing required continue education each

045year of service is a basic obligation expected of any board member. As board vice president, I am required to announce the names of the members of that are member anniversary of each appointed to board has completed the requirement continue education has exceeded the required continuing education and is deficient in meeting the required continuing education. All TD board members Dan Posey, Ronnie Gains, Virginia, Shannon Dean, Shannon Myers, Don Cook, and Malaysia all has completed and exceeded the required continued education. Thank you. which is important. Okay, board members, we are in a back stretch. I think 29 days if I'm not mistaken. Uh or close to it until graduation. A couple important dates coming up this Thursday. Uh we have sensory night at Merida Dunar 5:00. Uh would like to encourage you to be there if you

046can. Uh we have our board retreat April 23rd and uh I'll just tell you ahead of time. I think Monica may have reached out or will soon uh but that one will be um driven by facilities items. So we will not have a facilities committee meeting the week after. Okay. So this is more or less sufficing for that. Um if you have the opportunity um next Friday to join our ROC ceremony that's I started going to that about three years ago that's really an extraordinary event if you have an opportunity uh to celebrate with our students and families. Uh I would certainly encourage you to do that. That program has grown a lot in the last three or four years and you know some of the programs they've added whether it's archery marksmanship or what

047have you. So they've done a great job. It's a great opportunity to um to um celebrate with him. May 4th is our senior top 10% banquet. That's a Monday Temple High School 6 p.m. I'm going to encourage you to be there for that event. Um and then we have the TVI silver recording ceremony. I think I sent you the digital flyer today uh about that. I know Miss Boy will put it in your calendars as well. That's also a great event to attend. And uh the last one is our TEF Impact Celebration top 10% of Western Hills Church of Christ to 6:30 p.m. Uh and that's May 7th, which is a Thursday. It's put on and hosted by Temple Education Foundation. I think they're changing up the event a little bit this year. Um I

048Yeah, that scholarships don't thank you. Um I just show up. So um thank you foria she's been involved in that as well as far and that's all I have. Thank you Mr. >> Next is I consent agenda Adams will be the board's pleasure when I consent agenda its due to an affiliation with Temple College. I abain from agenda item H memorandum of understanding between Temple Independent School District and Temple College dual credit program. I move we approve the consent agenda items A through G and I through K. >> We have a motion. It's been moved and approved. All in favor have a choice. All oppose same sign. It is approved. We noted that Main I'm sorry item H. We need to approve uh we have a motion. >> I move to approve consent agenda item.

049I'll second that motion. We have a second on that motion. All in favor? Can we have show hands? Opposing books. >> Good evening, Vice President Gains and Dr. school board members. On October 14th, Daniel Armstrong presented to the board the math textbook process timeline and committee members. Tonight, I'm here to share the results of that process. As a result, throughout the fall and into the beginning of the semester, our committee members evaluated all the teacher and student materials carefully and thoroughly. In January, members then attended district presentations from several of our publishing companies and continue to evaluate the materials. Concluding this process, our members voted and recommend service learning for instructional materials for K8 math, algebra 1, algebra 2, and geometry. Tonight, I would first like to ask if you have any additional questions about

050this process and then respectfully request your consideration and approving the recommendation from our committee members. This is a motion. >> It's not item B is report of property tax collection activity. Randy Stanford as you very well know districts are funded through local property tax collections and state funding and for temple ISD our total budgeted revenues are approximately 123 million for this year with about 59 million or 48% of that being represented from local property tax collections. A small portion of our local revenue is supported through delinquent tax collections including penalties and interest and the district continues to maintain very strong collection rates consisting of um approximately 99% of our annual tax levy due to the work of MB. Additionally, this firm has been instrumental in securing state funding through multiple tax appeals. And at this

051time, I'd like to hand it over to Matthew Ter, who is the president and attorney with NVA, and we'll provide the board with an update on the deal with tax collections. Before I pass it over, there is a presentation that was put in your um book. Would you like Thank you very much. Stefford, uh, Dr. Vice President Gains, the rest of the, uh, the rest of the school board and everybody else in the Temple ISD community. Uh, our law firm has been honored for many, many years to do the delinquent tax collection, uh, for the Temple Independent School District. Uh, most of the work that we do is really done in conjunction with the tax appraisal district of Bel County who collects the taxes uh, for the school district. Uh but the work we do

052ultimately is meant to benefit uh this school district and everybody who participates in it. Um in your workbook and pass out the paper copy uh I have a few charts that show how the delinquent tax collections have been going uh for Temple Independent School District. And in my opinion when you are looking at tax collections there's really two numbers as a school board that you ought to be very interested in. The first one is whether or not you are getting enough money in every fiscal year to pay the bills that come due for the Temple Independent School District. And the second number that I think you need to pay attention to is everybody who owes taxes to the Temple Independent School District ultimately paying the amount of money that they owe. Um, if you turn

053to page three of uh of our report, I've got the total revenue from tax collection numbers for the last four fiscal years. That is the chart that tells you whether or not you are getting enough money to pay your bills uh in a given year. And what you can see for the most current year, the fiscal year 2024, which ended on June 30th of 2025, there was an adjusted levy of $80,654,000. And throughout that fiscal year, your total tax collections were $79,978,000. So 99.16%. Uh if you go back and you look at 23, we actually got over 100% in 2023. That's because we have current year taxes, delinquent year taxes, and penalty and interest. So it is possible to get over 100%. 2022 we were right at 99%. In 2021, we were at 100.87%. So

054I think that shows that in every fiscal year that the Temple Independent School District has, you are collecting the tax dollars that you need to meet what the levy is that you put on. If you turn to the next page, page four of the handout, that is the chart that tells you how many people how what is the total amount of tax collection for each of the last four fiscal years. And the difference between these two charts is if you look at the 2021 number, the 99.85, which is all the way over to the right, the adjusted tax levy for tax year 2021 was 60,391,558. In the time since those tax bills went out in October of 2021 up until February 28th of 2026, 60,33,640 have been collected. That means for the 2021 tax year,

055there are only $87,918 worth of taxes out of a $60 million levy that have not been collected. And I will tell you the reason that that $87,918 hasn't been collected is because most of that is uncollectible. Some of those are accounts that are bankruptcies. Some of those are amounts that are owed on homesteads for people who may be over 65 or uh disabled and have a deferral that we can't collect it. Some of it are taxes that were assessed on manufactured homes where the manufactured homes are now dilapidated. So there's nothing we can sell and the people who own them are judgment proof. Uh some of them are businesses that went out of business and we can't find their business personal property. But over 99.85% of the taxes that were levied are collected. That's virtually

056every dollar that was assessed by Temple Independent School District was received. Now for 2024, we're only at 99.27%. Those tax bills only went out in October of 2024. I hope that when I'm standing here in two or three years giving you the report for 28, 29, and 30, I'll be able to tell you that for 2024, we got to 99.85 or possibly a little bit higher. So, in looking at the that fouryear span, roughly 1.2 million is remaining somewhere in there. Um, do we have out of that 1.2 you had mentioned what's what's available to be collected? Do we have an idea out of that total amount remaining to what the specific number is that's collectible? Yeah, I don't have that number in front of me right here. I can absolutely generate and get you.

057I would be curious about that. And then the other thing is on tax remaining due does that include the penalties or not? No. The tax remaining due is just tax. And what I would say without being able to necessarily give you a breakdown is to how much is in deferral, how much is in bankruptcy, and whatever else it is of that $1.2 million roughly. You can see $586,589 of that were 2024 taxes. So those taxes were build in October of 2024. They weren't turned over to our law firm until July of 2025. And so we are going to work on that. And what you can tell what was originally turned over to us for 2024 was uh 1,456,647. And in the eight months that we've had it, we've already collected 870,000 of those dollars, leaving

058that 586. If you look at the year below that, the 2023, we've had 20 months to collect that. Turn it over us in 2023 was 1.63 million. We've already in the 20 months we've had that collected 1.3 million of that. And so while there is $1.2 2 million out there. That's not all going to come in in one giant swoop. But what we're going to do is we're going to bring that 586 down significantly in the next 12 months. We're going to bring that 316 down significantly in the next 12 months so we get it down to a number where it's everything that could be collected. The bad part of that is we're also going to get the 25 taxes turned over and the 26 taxes. So that number will probably remain fairly constant around

059that $1.2 million because as we start collecting the old taxes, the new taxes, which is actually a lower number because a percentage that's uncollectible, right? It's not going to be 100% of but we will end up we will end up getting a getting a portion of that. And also the other thing is because of the way that the state has been messing around with school finance and changing the amount that comes from local collections and the amount that comes from the state through compressed tax rates. Your school tax levy at a local level is going down. And so that also ought to bring that number down as we collect the older years uh when you were able to collect more dollars locally uh than you got from the state. Does that answer your question at

060least a little bit? But I will get you some more detailed information on the breakdown after so that you and your staff can look at that. Um, we feel like these numbers are good. 100% of the taxes collected on the fiscal year, 99.85 collected by the end of the year and collecting 80% of the taxes in the first 20 months after they are turned over to us. Uh, none of this happens. We have a full-time staff that works out of the tax appraisal district of Bell County, works for our law firm. We send out notices, we file lawsuits, we take judgments, and we post properties for sale. Those efforts put pressure on people to encourage them to pay their taxes. Uh if you turn to page seven, you can see that we mailed out in

061the last couple of years 18,582 notices on 23,533 properties. Uh we ended up filing lawsuit on 324 lawsuits on 519 properties, taking judgments in 127 cases on 167 properties. We ended up posting 107 properties for sale and we ended up actually selling 37 properties. So, we sent delinquent notices on 23,553 properties and we ended up posting and selling at the courthouse steps 37 properties. And to me, that is the sign of a delinquent tax collection program that is working because ultimately everybody who owes the tax is paying it. And the properties, the 37 that we sell, they're properties where they are underwater. They're properties that were bought by families two or three generations ago. there's nobody left that is really interested in it. Anybody who makes a solid, honest, good faith effort to pay their

062taxes, we are going to work with them and try not to sell their property. Uh we also provide a fair number of other services to Temple Independent School District. Uh we do a taxable value audit for you. Uh try to make sure that you get the maximum amount of money from the state that you can get. Uh we also help if the appraisal district ever comes up with bad values for Temple Independent School District. We help with a property value study. We have a bankruptcy department. Uh we're active in the foundation. And so we try very hard to be a very good partner in every way that we can for Temple Independent School District. We really appreciate the partnership we have and if y'all have any other questions, I'd be very happy to try to

063answer them. Thank you so very much. We appreciate all you do. Everything counts. I understand that. So, thank you very much. Appreciate you. Next item is consideration for approval of authorization of unlimited tax bonds and unlimited tax refunding bonds. Stanford. >> Thank you. So as we look ahead, we have the opportunity to refund a portion of our series 2018 bonds as well as move forward with the sale of bonds that were authorized by the voters in November election. This process is similar like we've talked about before of refinancing a mortgage when market conditions are very favorable. That's when we can refinance existing debt to better utilize taxpayer dollars and while also issuing new bonds to support projects approved by our community. Tonight represents an important step in that process as the board considers the authorizing

064the delegation and pricing of these bonds allowing us to move forward when market conditions are favorable. And now at this time I'd like to introduce Jennifer Ritter, our financial adviser with the special public finance. Jennifer will provide an overview of the current bond market as well as the timeline and next steps for the issuance of the series 2026 bonds. And our bond attorney is also here this evening available to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. The Stanford has our books u for you all to be able to follow along um if you would like to do so. uh just as she's um thank you for doing that distributing those I will point out that the bond market has obviously been a little bit turby the last few weeks since um you know

065what's happening globally with the engagement in the Middle East and so the action tonight as a reminder it's what temple has done the last few bond sales it isn't a requirement that you sell these bonds on their schedule it gives you the opportunity should the market be favorable for you to do so within parameters by the board tonight. It allows you to move forward as Mr. And mentioned at the best time in the market. So otherwise, the alternative would be to have to come to you on a board meeting date, which is really restrictive uh given that we don't know if it's going to be a good day in the market or a bad day in the market. So anyway, that's that's kind of the the action tonight. I sort of point that out before

066we move through. So on the first page here of the booklet that we handed out is the interest rate market. Obviously, interest rates um a little bit like gas prices have been up uh as we kind of work through what's happening globally. Uh gas prices are actually kind of driving inflation and so inflation the bond market is not good. So that's been a little bit of why interest rates have increased. This is a one-year history. We're on the far right hand side of it. Even though rates have gone up since the start of the year, really the last six weeks. You can see that compared to last year, we're still in a relatively good position. quite frankly were better than we were when we actually passed the bond or you passed the bond back in

067November. So all that to say um you know it was better two months ago but it certainly could be worse than two months from now. So we never able to time the market perfectly but it still looks like a good time to sell. So the next uh page here is the timeline. I know that uh you've been raised on this before by Miss Stanford but essentially that the action tonight would be the formal action by the board assuming that you decide to move forward we have a rating call standard course set up for next week the district is currently rated double A minus standards which there's AAA and AA plus A is next right you're very high to to a very strong perfect AAA rating so we hope to be able to maintain don't see

068any reason why you wouldn't maintain that rating but we of the process with your administrative team here to make sure that rating is is kept. So that'll be assigned on April 24th. We've already applied for the permit school fund guarantee which takes your rating and plants the AAA guarantee in the state of Texas on top of that for a very minor fee. So we have applied for that on top of it already. Um we do want to wait until you receive preliminary values from the appraisal district. That's why the timing of this is tonight as opposed to you know the last month or a couple of months from now on April 30th the appraisal district will send out their preliminary values obviously because we're selling new money we want to make sure that if we

069have the values that we expect to be the values of temple ISD when when the role is certified we want to make sure that so we can structure the new money portion of your bond issue with the least amount of impact on the tax rate so having that value in hand allows us to to hopefully aim forward and I don't see why not and no impact on the tax break which I know is what you talked about with the voters as well. So assuming that that all moves forward, we be in a position ideally to price on May 7th. But again, the action that you'll take tonight will allow us to say, you know, the seventh isn't good, what about the 8th or 9th, it'll give us flexibility. But currently the timeline is is to

070go with the 7th. And then if we did price that and we'd be in a position to close on June 4th, that would be when the money would be on Temple's accounts for you all to start spending. On the next page there, I just wanted to show you as we talked about the tax rate a little bit. This is very a lot of stuff happening on this page so I won't delve too far into it but we did project out that with the refunding with this sale which essentially we're talking about selling one half of the authorization the voters gave you back in November for that 119. So it would be approximately $60 million that you would be selling currently on the new money sign plus the refunding and that would be no change to

071the tax rate. So you're able to do that without increasing the tax rate more. So we went ahead just for modeling purposes and let coming back next summer and selling the remaining $59 million again with the growth that we projected to hopefully is pretty conservative in the tax base. No increase in the tax rate there as well. So we want to make sure that we're we're planning for the future to be able to to go out and do what we told the voters you you could do with the least amount of impact on the tax rate. The refunding that we've talked about. So, as interest rates, as she mentioned, uh, go down, there's an opportunity to go back and refinance for savings. We're not stretching out the term, all you're doing is taking the old

072debt, replacing it with higher interest rate with the new current market, lower interest rate. So, on this page here shows you the 2018 series that you sold has interest rates ranging from four to 5%. There's about 25 million of that left outstanding. The current interest rate would be about 3.75%. So we would take that four to 5% that you are paying include this refunding with the new money and by including them together as one issuance we save on cost of issuance. So there's efficiencies there and savings back to the taxpayers as well by doing it all together. Uh but by taking that old 45% interest rate replacing it with a 3.75 far right hand side here shows that you'd be in a position to save about $300,000 a year for a total of approximately $2.4

073$4 million simply by good fiscal management, your finance staff looking at these things, seeing when there's an opportunity to save money for the taxpayers and and exercising that when that becomes available. These bonds weren't callable until February of this year. So, we couldn't have done it before now, but they are now available. So, if it makes sense to move forward, obviously if interest rates move up, we'll we'll talk uh to to your finance team about whether or not it makes sense to move forward. But right now, it looks pretty good to have that $2.4 $4 million of savings. I want to point out in the first year there that it shows a loss of $2.2 million. It's not a loss. What that means is we're contributing. She's, you know, we got a pretty good uh

074reserve there of money in the interest and syncing fund that can't be used for anything like paying debt service. So, we can apply that to this issue. It downsizes the issue. It makes it more efficient. We're actually borrowing even less than we would have to otherwise. So, it shows up as a loss, but essentially that's a contribution of existing money that can't be used for anything else. that service. So that's what you'll see that loss is on the right hand side that is included in the total savings. Were it not for that you actually be saving roughly you know almost $5 million. So it is incorporated into that. So the last page here just to kind of wrap up the parameters that you looking at considering tonight show that the pricing officer superintendent esie financial

075officer under your assistant superintendent of finance Mr. F your attorney he said either term will apply. So either of them will essentially act as your delegates. We'll visit and say, "Hey, the market looks good. Can we go ahead and price on this date? They'll give us the go ahead." But until they actually receive the bids and see what the underwriters will offer, they can then sign on your behalf, but only if these other parameters are met. So the aggregate principle that we can sell will not exceed the 158055. um which includes 119.7 million of the new money and then 38 million of refunding. 119 is what we intend to sell. That's the full amount that was authorized by the voters in November. We're intending to only sell half of that. But just to give yourselves

076flexibility should it be that in the next couple of weeks you realize, hey, we need an extra $100,000 that we didn't think about for something or other. We have the ability to go up should we need to. sets the cap, but you can go as low as you want. Right? So, the intention is not to sell that amount, it's to sell less, but just gives you flexibility should things change between now and pricing. And then on the far right hand side of that line two as well, 38 million, we're only intending to refund 24 million. This is picking up all the eligible bonds that you could refund. We're not including those now because currently they're not generating savings. So should the market interest rates go down and we could generate savings. We've given yourselves the

077flexibility to increase that amount to increase your savings. Uh the maximum interest rate here that's determined it can exceed 6%. Currently we're at about 4.4%. So that's that's high. But that's to give you the ability that should interest rates go up you have the ability CFO excuse me superintendent superintendent have the ability to to make that call for you. We don't want to be too restrictive. uh refunding must at least 2%. Currently, it's 5.2%. So again, we probably wouldn't want to only get 2%, but we trying to be um give you some flexibility here. Item five, the final majority of the bonds can't exceed February 1 of 206. The new money is structured to be 25 years. This is 30 years. The only reason we would do that is if you really want to move

078forward, if you see interest rates are rising, maybe we can't hit that tax rate target 25 years. Maybe we need to do 30 years instead. We don't intend to do that. We hope to do 25. But again, this is binding and so we can always do within these parameters that use that tonight. If for some reason you don't like these parameters, you have the ability to dice at night to change them. But again, we try and give you as much flexibility as possible because we can't anticipate especially in this bond market what's going to happen from day to day. So that's the item before you. The refunding I'll point out the final maturity is for the whole bond issue because it includes the refunding of the new money. The refunding will go to the term

079when the original bonds would have matured and that's 2041. We won't stretch that out to 206 or 201. It will be 2041 regardless of that. So happy to answer any questions. I know it was kind of technical on some of those pages. Yes, sir. So, um I know when we went out to the community we on the tax rate said it'd be a penny for 119 million um 119 I think. Um, and you know, we're going to say that to be conservative because obviously if we're growing every year by a certain percentage, then the chances of it being less than a penny or nothing at all are very high. Uh, the question I have is breaking the bond sale up into two sales. uh one theoretically in the next couple months for about half them

080out and then the other one you know maybe the in the next year. It's easy to see on the second bond sale whether it's in 2027 or 28 due to the projected growth of 5% or 8.54 that's in column C that it would cost nothing for the remaining amount. help me understand the empty space in column C in 2026. If we were to sell 60 million in the next 2 months, how is that not costing anything? What's the what are we using for growth in the space that shows I'm trying to understand that is it are we basing it are we basing it on what it was when we were going out and talking to the community the growth from then to now is this have to do with the defense is that >> I'm

081just clear in 2026 that is 256 the year we're in So in column B that 72 7.2 billion actual assess valuation. So that's there is no growth rate that can be applied because that's actual and so we are closing before June 4th so we can make a down payment of the was it 2.4 million um 2.2 two million because we have some excess. We're going to apply a payment early before June 30th so that way we can maximize the refunding part of it on the back end. So that was where um on the next chart um Jennifer was talking about how it shows a negative of 2.24 for the first year. We're going to up early to hold that tax rate steady. >> So settling 16 million in the next couple months. Am I thinking

082about that right? We're doing half half the bond sale 60 million say in the next couple months. We're making a payment up front and that's what's going to keep things flat. >> That is plus we're projecting a conservative 5% growth. >> Jennifer said we wanted to wait until we receive preliminary values on the 30th. >> So this is hopefully the most conservative model we've got. Um we wanted to split it in half because one we don't need all the funds right now. Um, and we want >> I totally understand that. Yes. None at first because we're looking at the current year because we want to make a payment. >> That's what I was wondering. I was wondering how I mean I understand there's no adjustment there in growth but I was wondering how is it

083flat and the reason it remains flat >> it's because like you mentioned that's >> which was a decision the board made two consecutive years the last two years or two >> it might completed And this is the very last year of it. >> Okay. So that makes complete sense then. Okay. All right. Any other questions? Well, thank you guys. Y'all do a great job always with helping us with our bond sales and helping us maximize the amount we get out of them and and in helping us keep our tax rate flat. We really appreciate all that. Thank you very much. >> Did you pick that up? Temple daily. I just wanted to make sure you picked that up. We split the bond sales. So, we're not selling all 119. We're splitting in half into two

084bond sales for the purposes of managing the tax rate, which the first piece of it will for sure be flat and the second would be projected to be flat. So, in other words, even though we said we were going to raise the taxes a penny, it will be far less than that, maybe nothing at all. I'll be happy to break that down before it's too late to >> This is an action item. This is an action item. Do we have a motion? >> Motion by second. >> Second by M. Dean. All in favor? We have a show of hands. All sign is approved. want to thank Jennifer really appreciate your help. Next item is the teachers time stud. >> Okay. So um back in 2122 the Texas education department agency realized that we are losing

085teachers at an enormous rate. Right? And in that year, 41,000 teachers exited the profession and about 66% more according to a survey they put out or thinking about leaving the profession. And so they created a uh vacancy task force um to to learn why teachers were leaving the professions and and they established three goals to help keep teachers. And one was to increase their pay. The other was to create support systems through mentoring programs and the other was to find out about why um the working conditions that teachers have that are driving them out of the force. So CIA reached out to a handful of districts to participate in a pilot study, a teacher time study and was one of those chosen pilot districts and so we obviously said yes, we want to be a

086part of it to help discover why teachers are leaving. Um we created um We asked three of our teachers to be part of the study and we have two of those teacher leaders here today to present our time study um study that we did. So I'm ask Mr. Davis and Miss Hannah to come on up and I would like to also say thank you to Sandra Amar. She's the one that keeps us all on task. So I just want to say to the board uh for this presentation twice now um and I want to thank both of you ahead of time. Of course thank Mrs. that are like I said, one's a wild cat, always a wild cat. She's not going anywhere. Um, first of all, these these two teachers are extraordinary with our students.

087Uh, many of us have been in their classrooms and they are incredible, but they have taken a leadership position here um in what they've done with this time study for the agency and for us as a um administrative team and leadership team and making decisions on how to better support teachers. this is the right thing to do uh is to have your teachers spearhead these conversations. Teachers talk to teachers a lot more freely than they would to maybe administrators. Uh and so I really appreciate both of you and your hard work and effort. And I hope that if I talk long enough, you won't be nervous. Uh because you told me you wouldn't be going in here. You shouldn't be. Uh but anyway, uh congrat just I'm very proud of both of you for what

088you do in the classroom, what you've done here. Thank you. >> Thank you. I am used to walking around and talking so I hope that's okay. I will try this but this is my goto mode. Um so as Dr. mentioned about a year ago we were approached to do this piling program tea and we are extremely grateful to be here and share the stage with you guys and just talk about why teachers are leaving in the profession though they say they love Oh yes thanks that's fun. That's That's perfect. Okay. Does this work? Okay. U teachers love this profession. They love their students and yet they are leaving at a rapid way. Right. Um and so we were grateful to be a part of this conversation. I'm Stephanie Hannah. I teach at Temple High School

089advanced English 2 who have a test tomorrow. So if you're thinking about us, thoughts and prayers for tomorrow morning. >> My name is I'm sorry. My name is Brandon Davis. Uh I'm a fourth uh year teacher. I teach fifth grade math at Western Hills as much as teaching overall. >> And then we also had Dr. Deborah Davis who was with us and she did extraordinary amount of work as well. So we wanted to give her credit too. So when we first started this study, there were three areas of inquiry that we were told we could need to kind of go through and think about. And those three were teacher isolation, um lack of resources and an unsustainable workload. And as the leadership team and the teachers, we decided that our biggest issue that we were

090having was unsustainable workload. And so with that we came up with some goals for studying quantifying how teachers are spending their time. How are they working throughout the day and then what are they taking home and on the weekends. Also we wanted to think about um identifying time related concerns. What are the barriers that teachers were facing that was keeping them from quitting when the bell rang? And then also we wanted to think about capturing teacher experience and perceptions. As Dr. said teachers love to talk to teachers about education and such and so we wanted to get that feedback as much as possible and do something with it with teachers love to talk uh we conducted uh three uh sorry uh we did three collection methods when we're collecting data one being focus groups where

091we invite the teachers in ask them questions uh and I had to ask them to stop talking at some point. Um the teacher time diaries, we ask teachers to log their day uh in five minute increments. Uh and so we categorize how they're spending every minute of their day, not only at school, but if they worked after school or if they worked on the weekends. Um and then uh we had observations where we went into planning times. um and in some in some some class class times uh I just to back real quick to the teacher uh focus groups we had 62 teachers participate which represents about 10% of our teaching staff um the time diaries we had 26 teachers uh participate uh which that is about 4% of our teaching staff uh and then

092observations was very very small amount probably not even measurable was very small. >> So my favorite data collection was the teacher focus groups. Um some of the teachers even told us they wish we could do this every year just get together and talk and vent and discuss. And so with those focus groups we were noticing three themes that were emerging. One was the need for protecting PLC and instructional time. Um this took place the data collection took place during testing period so just about a year ago and so obviously teachers were a little stressed um but they had other duties they were proctoring they were monitoring right and so with that um they were being pulled from those PLC's and instructional time and so that became one of the themes that emerged with the focus

093groups another theme was a relief from the overwhelming workload and administrative paperwork um and we noticed we got some feedback extra feedback from that. Um the extra emails that teachers were having to do progress reports before progress reports, um failure analyses, uh teachers were having to do a little bit more that seemed to have no beneficial effect on the actual student or student growth. And so there were complaints about there's there was a bit too much. Another thing that emerged was the request for more teacher input in instructional and Canvas decisions. As we all know, um teachers would love a little bit more autonomy. We know that we can't always give that extra bit sometimes, but teachers still wanted a voice in what was happening inside the classroom. One of the quotes that some of

094our teachers said, "There isn't enough time built in for me to make the best plans that I can." And we saw that repeated throughout many of our focus groups. Unfortunately, >> um what we saw was a lot of committed and passionate educators um kind of looking for assistance like they they're not going to do less of a job. They're going to figure out how to do the job. Uh what they're looking for is time and space to to do the job where it doesn't burn them out and they're not doing it 100% of the time. um going into our our time diaries where we asked the teachers to log their their time um the things that stuck out to us um in sufficient time to work at school. Uh so we need to protect their

095planning time. Uh we need a realistic workload for teachers. Um if it's an 8 hour school day and they have a couple of hours uh conference or planning, uh the work needs to mirror the time of the day. I don't think that this has been the case for a long time with teaching. Um I don't want to get back too much, but uh when we were preparing for this, Dr. Ward asked me a question. She said, "How she asked me to how old are you?" And I Yeah, I clutch my teeth and I said, "Look at my grade. I usually this grade is teaching kids, but what you meant was that today's teachers today. The teachers that are entering into the industry today are not like the people in this room. There's a lot of

096uh old Chevys in this room that they look good, you run good, you don't take much to run. You don't take much to run. Some of these younger teachers, let's learn about uh doing what being as educated as we are and putting what we put in. It's kind of natural to some of us. It's It's what it takes to be successful. It's what it takes for your students to be successful. Um out get back to this. Uh so realistic workload. Uh and then also less instructional overage. They're very passionate. Um they have a pulse on what's going on in the classroom more than any walkthrough might tell you. Um so they want a little bit more trust there when it comes to uh guiding the student success. Our last data collection method were the observations.

097We had 18 observations 15 were of PLC's and three were inclass observations. Uh the things we were noticing that we needed to limit the repurposing of PLC's and what that means is we were noticing that PLC's were being used for department meetings or administrative meetings rather than teams being collaborative with one another. Um and though that might be the case, we need to have communication with our admin with our district. We were noticing that some of these meetings were happening spur of the moment that day. We've got five or 10 minutes. Let's meet real quick. and it was never five or 10 minutes unfortunately. Um, and a teacher will do what they need to do. They will go to the meeting, they will be there, they will take their notes. However, when they plan to

098have that PLC at the beginning of the day and you took it away, now they have to put that time someplace else. Um, so we were noticing that coming up in observations. Also, less PLC interruptions. There was a case where we had um two people in a PLC and one had to go to a 504 meeting which is mandatory. It was helpful for that student but he had to go to the 504 meeting because he had to sub coverage during his conference later on that day. He was not going to get a time to plan that day with his team. So we were noticing that there was no clear distinction of what PLC should be and the opportunity and the purpose that it originally was for our campus. Therefore we need for we have a

099need for stronger structures for PLC. If we had a better understanding and intentionality behind PLC, we would be able to protect it more and use it for what it was really intended for. And we noticed in some of those PLC's though when we were setting agendas, when we were setting timers, when we were being cognizant of the time spent in there, they were aligned. We were getting things done. People were collaborating. And so we noticed there were things that were working with the PLC's that we wanted to still maintain. So what this told us uh the things that that popped up across uh our studies um insufficient protected planning time uh excessive administrative task and competing priorities uh and then limited teacher voice and decisions impacting their time and their role uh in the classroom.

100Um also we shared uh just some information from our study and kind of had to trim down uh the study. Um there is uh a lot of information from the teacher time uh teacher time diaries. So ultimately what we recommended um throughout all of this data is that we need to protect and strengthen teacher planning time. It's the biggest bang for our buck. Um it will impact the most teachers as well as the most students with uh the intentionality behind PLC and what can actually occur in it. And so we wanted to redesign schedules and staffing, prioritizing, protecting, planning and instructional time and deploying staff strategically so that they can be in there with us planning. With that, we also wanted to establish clear PLC structures, letting teachers know what actually occurs in PLC. It

101might not be the same thing that happens in your conference period, but that it's still um it's beneficial to be collaborating with your team. And then finally, revising operational practices. um limited interruptions, repurposing and then streamlining administrative processes. Uh and to that end, we and the district leadership team created a plan. It's the simple districtwide PLC improvement action plan uh with a goal to establish a consistent, protected, and effective PLC process that empowers teachers to plan collaboratively, improve instruction, and positively impact student learning while respecting teacher time and wellbeing. Uh there are a couple of objectives. Uh protect PLC's power from non-instructional interruptions. Define clear structures and expectations for PLC's and build leadership capacity to design training and communication strategies that do not interfere with PLC's. Uh the metrics for success um 100% of PLC's

102uh framework implementation with strong instructional alignment. uh GSDs are productive and protected reported to by teachers and uh improve teacher satisfaction and retention tied to uh effective time use. So the things that we have done thus far uh the leadership team reimagined the KLC framework that we've had this um for as long as I've been here u they reimagined in such a way that would be more understanding for um sorry teachers and you all understand and be on the same page of what PLC actually is. We redefine roles and responsibilities for the instructional leadership team. We protected PLC time embedded into the master schedules and then campus leaders trained on facilitating high functioning PLC and then teachers were introduced to this new framework in August. Um kind of changing the way we thought about PLC

103knowing that uh the impact that it has needed to be seen as we're in those meetings. And then we had a teacher input um which was surveyed in December. >> All right. an ongoing and improvement uh of what's going on currently are walkthroughs, observations. Uh the feedback for those walkthroughs and observations are given back to leadership so they can refine their PLC practices. Uh campus leaders u sorry um feedback loops such as surveys, pulse checks, reflection protocols are being monitored for effectiveness and support is adjusted as needed and then celebrations are shared. uh PLT success stories such as spotlights, newsletters and opportunity dates. >> So I have the I have a fun slide. What is going well with all this um with the teacher time study survey? We noticed that teachers appreciate PLC and they

104see that there is collaboration. They understand the purpose and they are getting something from it. Uh collaboration is growing. Um even at the high school where sometimes you know people just don't want to they are they're collaborating they're working together and it's it's beautiful what is happening structures are strengthening through clear agendas calendars timers we have everyone in our PLC they're on a timer now and it's lovely everything's on time it's great leaders are reflecting identifying barriers and adjusting to improve outcomes uh there were walk reflections PLC's are structured and aligned we have those agendas and we're sticking to collaboration is centered on student learning and instructional planning. We're having those conversations and they are focused. Okay. So, where we can continue to improve um I think the big thing is that we need to

105make sure that everybody in the room is getting something out of it. They need to see some value in being present in the meeting. Um so, we need to have more balanced focus. um not only just on the internalization but also on the data driven part. What do you do next? What do you do when they get it? What do you do when you don't get it? Um planning still is still happening outside of the school day. Um increase quality of the voice and engagement across teams. Again, some people are in the room but they're not actively participating. um which then that makes them feel like they could be using their time better elsewhere. Uh so differentiating PLC structures would really help um at the beginning of the school year new new curriculum. Everybody was

106kind of starting together. Uh I think teachers have shown that some of them have a good grasp of of the curriculum and they would like a little bit more latitude uh when it comes to getting the type of support they need. Um so I think we need to be a little bit more cognizant of what teachers need when we're asking for them to come into a room and and work. So the continued work that is going to be taking place uh we're still going to be monitoring PLC across campuses and eventually we will push this out to the district uh strength and facilitation to ensure equitable participation as Mr. Jav was mentioning including everybody in that conversation. Uh reducing non-instructional interruptions which I think is already working really well um from last year alone. I

107think these are working pretty well. Balance lesson internalization with data driven response. Having both of those conversations still not just the what but the how and then how again and then continuing to gather teacher feedback and adjusting. And honestly this is a great start to this. Just having a teacher voice in the conversation, having us here today, I think is a great step in the right direction. >> Questions, comments, any questions? Put a lot of work into a lot of time. I guess would have one question. Did y'all sample all the teachers that are just a part of them from each school? because there's a certain done in different schools. >> There were three schools as part of the piloting program and we had volunteers help us with the data collection. This these aren't from

108like exit surveys or anything. >> Okay. I think >> thank you guys for all you put into all the hard work you guys done. We really appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great job and good luck on the star. Next item is a board committee reports. Uh policy committee meeting was cancelled. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 29th at uh 4:30 p.m. Facility meeting was also cancelled. The next meeting will be Thursday. Okay. Both the facility may be cancelled. And if no further bids, we at 7:46 p.m.