2026-03-26 Arlington ISD Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

001Good evening. I will reconvene into open session this meeting of the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees for March 26, 2026 beginning at 6:36 p.m. Thank you all for joining us tonight. Our board meetings are open to the public and we welcome everyone. We appreciate your participation in public education. While our meetings are open to the public, this is a meeting and we have business to conduct. Disruptions will not be permitted. Anyone who disrupts the meeting or speaks when others are speaking may be asked to leave or escorted out by security attending the meeting. We welcome civic input, but insists that we remain respectful and civil. Thank you for your cooperation tonight. I want to note that um our board president, Justin Chapa, is unable to join us tonight. He is going down to

002Austin right now for a state level Texas Association of School Boards meeting. We're going to begin um our meeting with the pledges led by South Davis Elementary student Barbara Lemon. 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. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. You may now be seated. Please join us at this time for a moment of silence. Thank you. to learn a bit more about the student leading us in the pledge this evening. I'm going to turn it over to our chief communications officer, Miss Tyena Northington. Thank you so much, Vice President McMurro, Board of Trustees, and Dr. Smith. I

003want to introduce to you Barbara Lemon. She is a sixth grader from South Davis Elementary School, and she is her mother's shining star. She is one of three two brothers, Carlos and Miguel, who are also looking up to her constantly. Um, personally, she says she loves math and her teachers. She says while they are strict, it's a good thing because they're guiding her to do the best that she can do. Um, when she's not at playing volleyball or at school, she's likely enjoying time with family. And if it was her night to choose dinner, she would choose wings, lemon pepper, and spicy, in case you're wondering. Uh, one thing that she does on the side also is our UIL oral reading, and she plays the viola. So, she's already got the both sides of her

004brain engaged in learning and in extracurriculars and we're excited to see where she goes far in Arlington ISD. It's a pleasure to have you tonight. Wonderful job, Barbara. After our recognitions this evening, we will take a short recess to take pictures um with our honores in the boardroom in the lobby. And now leading us in the recognitions portion of our agenda tonight, I'm going to turn it back over to Miss Northingington. Thank you. If trustees would go ahead and make their way around the dis evening, we're excited to recognize a team that works very hard behind the scenes to support every single campus and apartment right here in our district. And this is our purchasing department. For the fourth year in a row, I'm proud to share that they've earned the purchasing award of merit

005from the Texas Association of School Business Officials or TASBO as they refer to it. This is a really meaningful accomplishment for our department and a reflection of the care and consistency that they bring to their work every day. Attention to detail matters most in when it comes to purchasing and using our fiscal dollars properly. The TASBO purchasing award of merit honors school districts that are committed to high professional standards and how they purchase goods and services. Districts go through a detailed application and review process. And for 2026, only about 14% of districts across the entire state met the criteria to actually receive this recognition. And for a district our size, that's saying a lot about this department. While much of their work goes unseen, you only see it when you get something and need a

006signature. um it actually is felt across our entire district and so we're so grateful for all they do to celebrate. At this time, please put your hands together as we invite the members of our purchasing department to come forward for the purchasing award of merit for Taspo. >> As they're coming up, I want to thank Lisa and her leadership. The u some people might wonder how much actually happens in all of this. If you think about 76 campuses and 50,000 students and 8,500 employees and the supplies needed, the furniture needed, the things that we order from an office to a a school just to get everything here for the sake of our students, it is no small feat. And so we're extremely proud of the work that Lisa and this entire team have done and

007grateful for the the obviously high quality work that sets them apart from other purchasing departments in the state. So y'all, thank you for what you do each and every day, not just for uh our this this group here tonight, but honestly for our students in our classrooms as well. We appreciate you. This concludes tonight's honors and recognitions. Thank you all and congratulations. At this time, we will now take a brief recess to celebrate those receiving recognition tonight. I invite trustees and our honores to join us for photos in the hallway. Please gather on the right Oh, sorry. Nope. Are we still going to gather on the right side of the room? We already did that part. All right. The time is 6:43 p.m. and we are now in recess. Let's take until 6:50 p.m. Thank

008you. >> Are we good? Okay. The time is 6:51 and we are now back from recess. The next portion of our meeting is the open forum for agenda items. As stated on the posted agenda, members of the public who desire to address the board regarding an item on tonight's agenda are required to register at www.isd.net/board meeting speaker request. www.istd.net board meeting speaker request no later than 3:00 p.m. the day of the board meeting. Miss Aosta, do we have any requesters registered to address the board regarding agenda items tonight? Vice President McMurray, we do not. >> Thank you. Since we we do have two speakers tonight for non-aggenda items, I will go ahead and move them up um in the agenda at this time. Miss Aosta, do we have any speakers for non-aggenda items this evening?

009>> Vice President McMurray, we do. We have two. Thank you. At this time, I would like to invite up Jonathan Stevens. Jonathan Stevens, are you here tonight? >> We may need to check at the end. >> Okay, thank you. And we we will um check again at at in um at that time since we are going out of order in tonight's agenda. Um our next speaker is Mr. Steven P. And Mr. Pool, as you are walking up, I know that you're familiar with our procedures. I'll go ahead and start reading them. Welcome, Mr. P. This is a routine part of the board's agenda for regularly scheduled meetings. This segment of the meeting provides citizens with an opportunity to share their views with the trustees on items that are not on the agenda tonight. It is

010not intended to be a discussion or debate and trustees will not reply to the speakers. Derogatory comments aimed at an individual will not be tolerated. Personnel matters are not appropriate subjects for open forum. You will have three minutes tonight to speak. When Miss Aosta notifies you that your time is up, please end your presentation. Thank you, Miss McMurro and members of the board and Mr. Smith or Dr. Smith uh for the opportunity tonight. I wanted to address an agenda item from the last board meeting. You revised the uh uh board policy DEEC local and added a bereavement leave policy for all employees in Arlington. So, we can talk policy all day long at the 10,000 foot level, but there's a lot of hearts behind this policy. Uh, I've had a lot of conversations with every

011single one of you to talk about culture of the district. This is the words in action. Um, adding a bereavement leave policy really makes a statement, your leadership, Dr. Smith's leadership, that you're going to show up for employees and sometimes the lowest part point of their personal life. So, I'm really proud of our association for our work advocating for this. I'm very grateful for Matt and Scott's partnership and working on the policy and thank you all for adopting the policy. Um, you know, not many districts, believe it or not, actually offer bereavement leave for their employees. The attitude is they can just use the days that they've had acred, but life doesn't always work that way. A lot of times that acrude leave is is spent taking care of the loved one before the ultimate

012death of the loved one and they're lot left in a financial bind at that point too. So this is a good strong statement toward your employees of the culture that you expect and uh again thank you for everything that you do and thank you for this policy revision. I appreciate it. >> Thank you Mr. pool. We'll now turn to the report portion of tonight's board meeting. Item A is our finance and academics committee report and that is me. Um our finance and academics committee recently met um regarding several items. We got a briefing from Dr. Hill about Senate Bill 546. We also had an update from Dr. Wartz regarding instructional materials and we got um an overview on the recently adopted TIA plan from Scott Kale and that was our finance and academics um most

013recent finance and academics committee meeting. Item B is our financial futures committee report. Dr. Smith >> trustees as you know I'm gonna invite in invite boy I can't get words out after today. Invite Mr. Rivas up to the podium. Mr. Rivas has been uh our liaison with our financial futures committee and he'll introduce our guests that we have here this evening to present a report to you all. >> Thank you Dr. Smith. Good evening vice president McMurray and trustees. I had the opportunity to work with the FC as the district leazison for the past few months. Um I just want to take a moment to sincerely thank the members of the committee um for their hard work and most importantly for the time they put into the process. They were always engaged to they were

014always engaged and were always curious, asking questions, wanting to learn more. Um, I also want to thank the members of the board community engagement committee, Trustee Richardson, Trusty Haynes, and Trusty Will Banks. Um during our time together, the group covered a wide range of topics that was kind of built in a way to build on from their recommendations last year and also to kind of look forward um for that long range financial planning that was part of the charge. So these topics varied and there was a lot of working sessions. So with that said, I do want to acknowledge the committee members that are here and I do want to present our committee chair, Mr. Blake Davidson, who will be sharing his presentation. trustees, Dr. Smith. Uh, it's an honor to be here. Appreciate it.

015Um, looking forward to presenting the the results of our work. Oh, man. You got some coffee over there. You're ready for it. So, um, we will start with the charge. We uh we got together to provide findings and recommendations from community stakeholders to the board of trustees relating to budgets and long-term financial planning to support the district's strategic plan. And then last year we got a little asterisk added to it, asterisks, something like that. Um and it was just in uh recognition of the current state of school finance in Texas. And that was to focus on budget reduction recommendations. So find areas for um that we would recommend where the district can save money. And then around it was October or November, I think the the board, the trustees, y'all had a charge or a

016recommendation or a I don't know exactly what it's called, but it was to reduce the general fund deficit by 33% while maintaining the general fund operating fund balance threshold at 25% and maintaining 60% of total adopted budgeted funds in instruction and instruction related services. And I I think this number was about $70 million. And so us as a committee decided we wanted to align to this as well. So as we met and we discussed and we thought about areas we could recommend, it was always through this lens of trying to bring something valuable of what you were working on. Um believe we had about 17 committee members. Uh here is a list of them. And we met I believe it was six six or seven total times including working sessions. And so we learned uh

017about school finance and then all of the different areas that impact where the money in the district goes. So I did want to really quickly review last year's recommendations. Um one of the main reasons Mr. Rivas was awesome. Uh he brought us tons of data, tons of reports. He did a lot of math for us. Uh but he also held himself accountable to the recommendations that we gave last year and gave us continuous updates of how the recommendations are actually taken. So we talked about campus consolidation. Obviously, that's something that's decisions have been made, conversations continue to happen. Um, as well as budgeting and spending with kind of the big one there being the, um, zerobased budgeting that the district has implemented. And again, um, Mr. Revas kind of showed us where those savings were,

018what the district was doing. We really appreciated it. But we also realized as we're looking at a pretty large number of 70 million that staffing is where we wanted to focus this year with I think 86%. Did I get that number right? 86% of our spending within the district is tied to staffing. And so most of our conversations pretty quickly started uh to center around this and better understand it and better understand where we could give recommendations. And so with that uh we just have one recommendation this year. Um I think this is my fourth year on it. I think we've always had three, but we decided to break from the trend. And so our focus areas, um I'll just read the statement. Staffing is the district's largest budget driver as the financial environment shifts.

019The committee reviewed peer districts and industry benchmarks to identify where Arlington ISD stands and developed targeted recommendations around staffing ratios that reduce cost while protecting the classroom. And so we by the end we ended up and I'll just go to the recommendations ended up focusing on the staffto student ratio within our district. I believe the current number is right about 6.2. Um which in a perfect world I think we all want more staff for our students but we just recognize that that we need to rethink how we staff within the district. And so, uh, we looked at these ratios compared to some TEA benchmarks as well as the districts around us to find numbers that could get us closer to, um, closing that gap in our current budget. And so, we did come up with

020some specific numbers. Again, Mr. Revas did some preliminary math of roughly what the financial impact would be around these ratios. And so we kind of worked backwards understanding we probably needed to get around to 7.3 over the next three years to to get close to to filling that. And so but we also knew that that isn't going to happen within one year. And so our recommendation is the staggered approach to um better align staff to student ratios with the districts around us in the current budget that we have. Um okay, last slide. This is that's our recommendation. I'm sure we'll have questions on that, but we did have a request for next year. So, the whole idea behind this committee um Mr. Rubas talked about it earlier. We want to keep building on it so

021that the committee members continue to to get deeper into the data, deeper into what we can do for the district. Um and so one of the areas is a district position analysis. We we saw some highle numbers and we really appreciated that. But as we think about being able to bring um more specific recommendations if we want to in the future, we just need to know more that we weren't able to know today. So that's it. One recommendation, one request, and yeah, that's all I got. >> Thank you, Mr. Davidson. Do I have any uh trustees with questions or comments for um Mr. Mr. Davidson? Mr. Will Banks. >> Thank you, Vice President McMurro and Mr. Davidson and to the whole committee. When I was on when I was in your role, the superintendent at

022that point came to me and said, "Look, we want to change up financial futures. We want big, bold, and broad recommendations that affect districtwide." And it was challenging but I don't think anything that we ever did came to this one important recommendation that is big bold and broad and laser focused on the one area where we do know we need to try to gain efficiencies in the system and our num numbers point that out. I really appreciate the work. This number is also analogous you know in the private equity world where I consult um we look at revenue per employee for industries when looking at doing deals and this is the equivalent in the education world is how many employees do we have per the one important resource that we're serving and that's our students

023and um so this is a great one I think this allows us as a board to be laser focused and we I really appreciate this. Even though it's one, it's mighty. So, we appreciate the work. We appreciate the recommendation. >> Thank you, Mr. Wellbanks. Miss Haynes. >> Yes. Thank you. So, I first just wanted to start by thanking you guys for the work this year. I've enjoyed being on the committee with you and listening to the dialogue. Um this was probably the first year where in those committee meetings it got a little heated um because you were charged with um such hard hard rocks to move and very sensitive topics and it brought out people's emotions. And so the one thing I said to you guys in multiple meetings was that whatever recommendation comes forward

024as a parent in the district, as a trustee in the district, as a member on that committee, I asked that you guys stand by that recommendation if we move with it and support us in the community because any recommendation you were going to come to us with was going to be sensitive and hard. Um, and so the blowback or feedback from that might not be pleasant, but I ask that you use the insights and knowledge you gained from this process to speak to the why behind it if we get to that point because I know that there was a lot of discussion to get here. Um, so it will be helpful to have your voice on the other side of it. >> So, but thank you so much for the work that you guys did.

025>> Thank you, Miss Haynes. Any other trustees with questions or comments for our FFC chair, Mr. Davidson? Miss Richardson. >> Thank you, Mr. Davidson, for what you guys did and the way you've invested into this work. I want to tell you that I appreciate that you have one focused goal right now because one of the things that we are trying to do as our district is trying to make targeted approaches that are really going to make big dramatic changes to what we need. And one of those things that we are is having to make changes to our budget. We know that in our world that we are not fully funded by the state. If anything, we are constantly playing catch-up and trying to figure out the best things to do so our students don't lack

026their experience being amazing so families don't feel the pinch, but also so teachers in the classroom also don't feel it. I appreciate you giving a tangible reach that we can do and not just we recommend you looking at utilities or you do this is a direct approach that we can do. But what I really like is that at the end of it you say um requests for next year to know what do you want for next year. When you talk about this I would like to challenge you and the people who served on this committee. Start thinking about do you want to serve again? And if you don't, who do you know that could take your place? Community members are so important to make this process happen. And I think you know because we called

027you and said, "Blake, can you please serve? Will you please do this again?" We want to make sure that we have community members who are involved but want to be here. So as we move forward for next year to just start thinking about what does that look for our community and let them know that we would like to have their voices apart. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Richardson. Mr. Davidson, I just have a couple questions and then a big thank you for you and your fellow FFC members who who came out tonight on uh this presentation. I know that um your your request for next year and your one big recommendation is a great one and it has to do with us reducing our deficit. What conversations um did you guys have whether it

028was in the work session or prior to that about generating revenue? Because I know as a board um we've had lots of conversations with Dr. Smith, Mr. Rivas about generating revenue, not just thinking about reducing our our deficit, but also bringing more funds in for our school district. Um what were some some topics around and some ideas around that for your committee? Yeah, I I I'm not going to be able to pull any specifics for you right now from my memory. Um, we we did have some of those discussions um about generating revenue or just even like how we recruit, creative recruiting ways to find teachers and those types of things. So, uh, one of the things we we started to talk about was and I believe y'all >> the teacher aotment. I forget what

029it was called. Um it's just I mean >> the truth we did meet six times but you know each meeting was an hour and a half and so we just once we kind of >> probably by meeting three we we started to realize staffing is where we were going to spend our time. Uh that was where most of the conversations went. We kind of kept getting >> uh more data. So there were conversations about generating revenue. I couldn't give you specifics now, but uh >> and um your um your big recommendation to us tonight actually aligns with um something that we recently discussed with Mr. Rivas in our um most recent budget workshop. Um so thank you for that. And since it has been about four years for you being on the FFC, what's been

030most eyeopening for you? I mean, just how um school finance is is uh bonkers. I don't really know another word. I I have a finance degree. I've been in the world a little bit. Um but the first year I got on it, I was like, "What?" Um and so just each year it's just um that's why I think there's so much value kind of to what Mrs. Richard was saying is getting other community members in here because obviously like the recommendation is about cutting a budget. And so we came here, it's not the most fun recommendation, but what we want to do and I feel like what the takeaway is we want to advocate that we don't have to have as many of these conversations and we want to properly fund public schools. And I

031think that helps when people who don't understand it, and I I've been on this committee four years, and I don't even know if I could say I understand it, but I have like a sense of how it all works, gets in and really gets into the meat of it. Um, so that has been eye opening to me. It's just all the moving parts and how little control a lot of you in the staff have over those moving parts and it's just kind of you're handed something and it's your job to figure it out. Um, so that those have been eye opening. >> Yeah. Well, you're helping us figure it out. So, I just want to sincerely thank you. Thank you, Mr. Davidson, for your leadership. Thank you to the whole FFC, whether you're here tonight

032or watching later on or watching the live stream right now. And just for anyone watching, our financial futures committee is comprised of several stakeholders from educators to small business owners to parents, but you all come together every year because you really have a heart for the school district and in in each of your own unique ways, you have a vested interest in the way that the future of our finances. And so I want to say thank you. I also want to um thank our trustees that are on the community engagement committee because this was mentioned earlier, but you guys attend those meetings not to be part of the committee or to drive the committee, but to be on hand when context is needed and to also stay stay current with what what your recommendations are

033and and what your um what your nuances are that need to be brought to our attention. So, thank you, Miss Haynes, Mr. Willbanks, and Miss Richardson for serving on that committee. And Mr. Mr. Davidson, is there anything else you'd like to share? >> No. >> Okay. Well, we appreciate we appreciate your leadership and we appreciate y'all's time. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Moving on to item C. Item C is our bullying standards prevention and reporting report. Dr. Smith >> in reporting report. That was probably my error on that title. I noticed that just a minute ago. Uh Dr. Hill is coming to the podium tonight. Trustees, as you know, Dr. Hill and other leaders across our system, a few of them sitting right over there, um did a good job this year

034really diving into a bullying task force for us because we wanted to truly understand the problem and what next steps we can take because uh obviously we would like to have a bullyfree environment in our schools and we know we need to continue to work on that. So I'm going to turn it over to Michael to talk a little bit about that and recognize his team. >> Thank you Dr. Smith and Vice President Mamura and the rest of the board. I'm uh delighted to be here to kind of share what the uh task force kind of landed on. And so I'll just get right into it. Uh two purposes here. One to provide you with an update on just the work of the task force and how that aligns with uh the minimum standards that

035are identified by TEA. But then more so to focus on compliance uh improvements for clarity, accessibility, and accountability. And then just systems alliance for basically campus supports to address bullying across our systems. We try to anchor everything we do and and align it to our values and beliefs. And the two that were the center of this work were the inclusive culture and the learning environments that were very important to to us in this work. I'd be remiss if I didn't really identify and recognize the the group that really led the efforts. And you see here good cross uh reference or cross uh pollination if you will of uh campus administrators, district level staff, executive directors. But I do want to call out the three directors who kind of led it and they're sitting here. Uh

036Tisa Brown, our director of guidance and counseling, Demetrius Reed, our director of Title N uh compliance and investigations, and Katina Henson, our director of student services. So they were really integral in pulling this group together and really tasked with going through and making sure that what the standards were, how we aligned to those standards, and and if there were gaps, what were the recommendations to actually fill those gaps? So I want to recognize that team for their leadership in that. So the focus again on state compliance providing campus PD learning and supporting and accountability looking at a lot of data to review. Most of all, building capacity so that there's capacity throughout the system on how to address uh this this bullying and the both victim and the and the perpetrator, if you will, in

037those cases to promote consistency across the district and the review processes and procedures and just update where where it's necessary. So, our anchor, if you would, would be the TEA minimum standards and it broke it out into six standards. Standard one being integrated instruction. Standard two being school culture. Standard three being the local community requirements. Standard four uh policy for reporting. Standard five researchbased interventions. And then standard six the rubric or checklist. And then I also wanted to highlight what we do here in Arlington ISD that this team identified was I I call above and beyond what the standards call for. So, we'll get into each one of the standards and I'll just kind of uh let you know the the layout here. On the left or on the top in some of them, you'll

038see the actual standard and then on the right is our evidence of that standard. And so, with the integrated instruction, researchbased instruction designed to help students recognize various forms of bullying, understand what cyber bullying is, know how to report these incidents, and learn healthy social interaction and coping skills. And so what you see on the right there is a screen grab of something out of curriculum central that actually is evidence of how standard one is is uh actualized in Arlington ISD. Standard two school culture uh positive school culture will be measured including surveys on bullying and cyber bullying. And as you can see this is no uh stranger to you. It's one of our uh student survey of the district report. That's how we kind of gauge where we are with regard to alignment with

039this standard. Standard three, the local uh committee. Each campus must establish a committee focus on bullying prevention and wellness. And the committee must include parents and secondary students. On the right is a screen grab of what is actually we've got documentation from each campus having to complete that. And it's more than just checking a box. It's how they actually get in and develop those committees and and uh work toward making sure that bullying is addressed and identified and addressed in an appropriate and timely manner. Standard four is a policy for reporting. Uh it must we must have an anonymous uh reporting option and we must track those incidents. And what you'll see on the right is a screen grab from our stop it bullying app which is prevalent in all of our schools. It's an

040anomalous way for students uh to report that and it is monitored by the appropriate staff on campus and immediately investigated. We go beyond that. It's not just about the anonymous reporting. We want students to be able to address any issue with any staff member. And so they don't have to go to this app if they don't want to. They can if they want to remain anonymous, but any staff member will take a bullying report and take it through the proper investigations and the outcomes. Standard five is researchbased interventions, support uh services for students who engage in bullying and supports for service for students who are targeted by bullying. And again, it's more than just the consequence. Consequences are important. Uh but we look for ways to actually uh train the students or teach the students

041or or address the issue in more than just a consequence way. And so we have those two screen grabs of what some of the links that are in the administrator's uh quick links to support all of that and then how we uh address those targets of bullying. Standard six is a rubric or the checklist uh should be structured an assessment tool that determines if the conduct meets the definition of bullying and guides in response uh to those decisions. You'll see the checklist and the and the links on the right. I I want to spend a little time here in that we get a lots of reports of bullying. Uh it's I don't want to say it's a term that's thrown around, but it's a term that's used a lot. Anytime we hear that, our administrators

042know that we have to take the time to thoroughly investigate that that claim. Many of them come back as not bullying, but that still doesn't mean that there's not some sort of violation of student code of conduct for which we still address, but it may not be strictly determined as bullying. And so that I wanted to kind of bring that because that that checklist basically is our administrator's guide to say okay is this meet does this meet the state's definition of bullying or not? And then just again above and beyond every one of those standards within our internet system which has uh which every staff member has has access to there are links there are resources there are things to support them uh to determine where there's bullying to determine what resources to determine what

043uh uh consequences and things that there are that are necessary to be uh acted on as as they investigate their reports. And so that being said, I'm here to answer any questions that I can. Uh if I can't, this dynamic trio of ladies back here, they are they're ready to help us out. Any questions or discussion? >> Thank you, Dr. Hill. And to our leaders that served on the bullying task force, thank you all for your leadership and all your work. Do I have any trustees with questions or comments for Dr. Hill? Miss Fowler. >> Thank you, Miss McMurra. Dr. Dr. Hill, I think I might know the answer to this being a teacher, but which what age group seems to to get the most or or the bullying happens the most? >> Uh the

044I would say it's likely probably going to be at the junior high level. That's where we see a lot of the reports and a lot of the investigations. Doesn't say that it doesn't doesn't mean that it doesn't happen at other levels, but the junior high level is when they're still in those formative years and that's that's where we see a lot of it at. I taught at the junior high level and that was my guess. >> Thank you. >> You bet. >> That's reassuring knowing I have a seventh grader starting junior high next year. Any other trustees with questions? Miss Richardson. >> Dr. Hill, um, can you go back to slide 11 that you were talking about with the Stop it app? How do our students know about this app and how are we getting

045the word out to them? because it's great that they can do this, but how do they know and how are they accessing it? >> So, depending on what grade level you are, there are uh guidance and counseling lessons, there are other lessons throughout the classroom uh that we actually talk about bullying as as a requirement and that's pretty much made available to those students at that level. Uh there are posters throughout the schools, there are announcements that are made consistently throughout the secondary campuses and uh we get a lot of reports. Okay. >> So, it's it's available to >> Can I add one thing on that too? I believe that you know um this last year we went to class link for the student signin. So basically when the students sign into their devices at

046the school and and we have a saturation of devices at most of our schools the app for that is actually LinkedIn for um students to use as well I believe at that time >> because one of the things that was interesting in all of this is a few years ago we were required to make uh it accessible so students could report it and do it on their phones and everything. Well, now they've taken away use of phones in schools, so we had to make sure that there was an opportunity for students to address it that way. Um, but we're going to continue to think about ways that they can access and how we could talk about that more for them. >> Thank you. Um, funny you mentioned away for a day. How have you seen

047that change our bullying situations now that we don't have um personal cell phone devices out on campus use? We should not at least. >> There we go. So I think there was a report earlier by OSL that kind of talked about an update on how a way for a day was going. Anecdotally uh it was going well. Uh teachers uh reported there's a lot more uh genuine studentto student conversation and not everybody on a device and so I don't have any true data on that today but anecdotally that's kind of what I've been hearing around. So >> okay thank you so much. >> Yeah. >> Thank you Miss Richardson. Are there any other trustees with questions or comments for Dr. Hill? >> All right. Thank you for your leadership, Dr. Hill, and thank you again

048to our leaders who serve on the bullying task force. We It's really important to us as trustees to oversee um not just the physical safety, but the psych psychological safety of our staff and students, and I'm just really grateful for y'all's work and for bringing this to our attention today. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Item D is going to be our Arlington ISD learning acceleration support opportunities or lasso grant report. Dr. Smith, >> uh Dr. Works is at the podium tonight to walk us through uh a plethora of opportunities that we were given uh for TEA grants, also called lasso grants, cycle 4. And we've mentioned them a few times to you all and wanted to make sure that you knew um what these entail. And we at this point and Stephen

049will go into this. I don't think we've accepted them yet. Um but we have these opportunities in front of us. >> Yes. >> Good evening, Vice President McMurro, members of the board. Dr. Smith, I'm here this evening to talk about lasso cycle 4, which is a series of grants that we've had the opportunity to apply for and have been awarded. And as Dr. Smith indicated, we're here to share with you what those grants are. Um and we have yet to actually accept them. These um these awards really align to two specific district priorities that we want to elevate today. One is working on systems and supports to help promote academic growth in the classroom and then also building capacity really helping to grow and develop our talent here in our district while maximizing the resources

050to do that. So what is Lasso and um how does it actually work? The lasso grant is basically a single consolidated application that districts can participate in and those that application combines grants and aotments and inind supports for systems. It bundles them around uh key initiatives that are focused around academic growth and they're focused on curriculum and instruction, professional learning, increasing uh learning time and also for the implementation of innovative school models. There really the way we kind of think about it there are two buckets that you would kind of think about. One objective is around how do you strengthen a school system by implementing highquality instructional materials and how do you pair that with building a robust pipeline to ensure that each classroom is staffed with a well-prepared teacher. And so there are seven

051actual uh grants that we're going to talk about here tonight. And they're really aligned under three specific pillars. two of them which are are called Lyft and I'll explain what that means in just a second are really focused on the instructional foundation component. So the implementation of quality curriculum. The second one is really focused on developing an educator pipeline and making sure that our classrooms are staffed with high quality teachers and that they're prepared. And then the the third one is really about expanding opportunities for students um in terms of programming and also giving them extra time in school. So, the first one I want to talk about today is called the Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas grant. The the acronym is Lyft. And this grant is actually a one-year grant for actually this

052is a three-year grant that's been awarded to us for in the amount of $1.3 million. And this really focuses on planning uh combining two parts. The u implementation of a high quality instructional material and also building capacity around strong instructional leadership in the classroom. Um, this grant supports us by allowing us to implement uh coaching with school leaders, with teachers, um, implementing feedback cycles in the classroom, and really trying to establish routines that try to ensure that researchbased instructional strategies are embedded in the instruction that's happening in the classroom. The companion to this actual grant is what they call the school improvement PLC support or the lift add-on grant. And this grant is actually designed for um targeted title one campuses that are already participating in the Lyft grant itself. It awards about $120,000 per

053of each of those campuses or up to $120,000. And it's focused on building a capacity by enhancing instructional systems that really ensure that high quality PLC's are in place. Uh that observation feedback cycles are occurring at the campus and that there are opportunities to really monitor and support implementation of curriculum in the classroom specifically through reinforce planning time, instructional minutes and really helping teachers in terms of implementing the scope and sequence. When we think about Lyft, these two grants, they go hand in hand. Um they are companions to each other. The next one I want to visit about is actually um one that's connected to enhancing opportunities for students. Um computer science careers are high demand and high wage and this grant actually allows students to explore this pathway outside of high school. um students

054who take the AP computer science principles course are actually u known to be three times more likely to major in that field in college. And so we actually have this this uh course right now um at four of our high schools and 77 students are currently participating in it. This grant awarded us $26,000 to help enhance that access or give more students access to that program. So these funds can be used to purchase course materials. um they can be used to help provide professional learning to teachers who are delivering that instruction and also to provide an opportunity for all students who participate in that course to sit for the AP test at no cost. The next grant is connected to the next pillar which is about building the pipeline of ready educators and this one

055is called the preparing and retaining educators through partnership or the acronym prep um program aotment and basically it's called the residency pre-ervice program. So the prep aotment what it aims to do is to improve teacher recruitment, preparation and mentorship and to increase the overall effectiveness of educators and their retention through the partnership of an educator preparation program. Um this program actually embeds paid pre-ervice teacher candidates. So think of uh when a teacher to student teaching, this would be paid pre-ervice teaching um candidates and they would be linked directly into classrooms and be uh attached to a highly qualified cooperating teacher um for the full academic year. Teachers who participate or are selected to be residents in this program uh are paid at a minimum of $20,000 per year. So $10,000 come from the grant and

056$10,000 would come from the district. And then the cooperating teacher would receive a minimum stipen of at least $2,000. Um, and those uh teachers and uh residents would be working in conjunction with our educator prep program that we would select as part of the grant. The next one that's um that's similar is called the prep grow your own program and this program is designed to create innovative staffing pipelines specifically about recruiting and retaining high-quality educators that live within the community. So there are two targeted populations that are connected to this program. The first one is employees who currently work in Arlington ISD who are interested in becoming teachers but either lack a four-year degree or don't have a certification. And the second group are high school students that are part of uh a CTE program

057like Ready Set Teach who want to become teachers. This program actually allows us to work with those individuals through a uh partner of higher education and an educator prep program to um help them with their tuition costs. So, um the the amount for this grant, um each participating person receives somewhere between $8,000 and $12,000 and it caps at a total of 40 employees that are in the system and they receive 50% of that those dollars on the front side and then 50% of their dollars upon um successful completion of the program. But the main idea is it helps supplement the cost of their tuition and fees. The the next one is a partner of the residency grant that I mentioned earlier. It's uh it's called the TSS grant. This grant is for $58,400 and it

058really focuses on um supporting staffing and scheduling decisions um by really helping us think about our short-term and our long-term instructional needs. It also is designed to provide funding to support one dedicated staff member to help lead and coordinate the residency program that I was mentioning a little bit earlier and also to fund instructional roles like tutoring or substitute teaching and pair professional um type duties. And the last one I'm I'm going to visit with you about tonight is called ATSIE or additional days school year. So, if you'll remember on the front side of the presentation, I mentioned that one of the objectives of Lyft, not of Lyft, of of um lasso grants was to provide extended time to students learning andor innovative school models. This would be considered an innovative school model. And we're

059specifically looking at two schools around this grant, Thornton and South Davis Elementary School. And the this is a fullear um year redesign program. So, it would be a school that is on a completely different calendar that's designed to take students through school over the course of a year um different than the traditional school um year that we have. Um this model specifically is designed for elementary campuses to build strong foundational um skills specifically in literacy and mathematics. Um it is a three-year grant and the first year is planning year. So, nothing's actually implemented in terms of the specialized school model. Next year it would just be a year of planning. Um so what would happen is the campus the campuses that are participating would have to operate at a minimum of 175 instructional days as

060a baseline. Uh our current calendar that we adopted for next school year is 172. So they would need three more days during the planning year. And at that time we would also gather a steering committee for community buyin and also they would help us design what their calendar would need to look like because it would need to be three additional days as well as the structure for what the whole program would be that would be implemented the next year. So a little bit about what that looks like is um there is the 175 base days and then there are 30 additional days or between 25 and 30. And so the program, the ATSIE program takes the 175 base days and then adds at least 25 additional school days for a total of 200 plus days

061for students. The the additional 75 75% of the additional ATSE days are front-loaded. So students participate in those additional days specifically between the months of August and March. And the redesign days must include at least three hours of core instruction. So math and literacy and at least one hour of TICS align enrichment. And one interesting important part about this as part of the planning year is we uh must develop and implement a strategic master schedule um that includes two critical shifts that are part of ATSE and those are structured brain breaks for students and enrichment. Um this grant offers $250,000 on the front side and then the following year it's 200,000 and the next year is 150,000. And then once the 175 base days are done, all the extra 25 plus days that students participate

062in, for each day that's at least four hours in length, the district receives three4s of a day's worth of the ADA for those um those days. So you receive the grant and then the the state also reimbures reimbures you three4s of the ADA for all the additional days that you actually participate in. So those are the grants that we've applied for. Um, it's several million dollars worth of opportunities for the district and we're here to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you, Dr. WS. Do I have any trustees with questions or comments regarding the lasso grants? >> Miss Fowler. >> Thank you, President. >> Okay. So, the I'm really interested in the additional dates. Okay. >> And I think that will be very helpful for some of our students. A couple of

063questions. Will we have bus service available? >> Yes. >> Okay. What about cafeteria? >> Yes. So, these are regular school days. So, um while you redesign the structure, those additional days, so they're they're the actual model of the school will be a little bit different. They'll still do regular instruction, but we'll build in also enrichment and brain breaks as part of their daily experience or the experience during that calendar year. But the way you would kind of think about it, it's it's school and school is still open and school functions the way it does. It's just a completely different model. And they go on they go extra days. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fowler. Any other trustees with questions or comments? Um, Miss Richardson, >> it's not a question. It's

064more telling you how excited I am to hear about paid teacher residencies. I think that is amazing because we've heard so often teachers say or people in the profession have said how they could not afford at times to be able to go to school, do it, to do the hands-on teaching and then at night to have to it's old school example, but I remember a teacher saying she had to go work at U Bed Bath and Beyond and that it was exhausting because she would go and do a night stocking job. So then she could then turn around and go be a teacher and get her training in. So thank you. I cannot wait to see what happens with these paid residencies. If nothing else, it's going to add to the positive culture that we

065adopted in our strategic goals. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you, Miss Richardson. Dr. Wor, I just had one question. Can we go back to the slide about the leadership and instructional foundations for Texas grant for the instructional leadership coaching and feedback cycles? I think it was towards the beginning. >> The first one, >> page seven. >> Yes, sorry, slide seven. um who would provide the instructional leadership development and like how would that look with our current staffing structure? I'm just curious like who would be responsible for the development and then would it be our coaches? How would that work? >> So, we actually partner with a partner. We select a partner and that partner comes and works with us and then they provide support to our coaches. Our coaches still do coaching,

066but there's also support for coaches, support for principles, actual direct support for teachers. It's almost an additive. So, they help us in terms of planning for our implementation and then wraparound supports to make sure that implementation is effective. So, the big idea really is it's they do provide direct coaching, but it's really about building capacity so that you can sustain long-term when they're not there. >> Awesome. Yeah. >> And I love that this is part of the grant. How would we be able to make sure that that is aligned with our district goals and and internal um operational procedures? >> We have complete control. So the the one thing that's important to know about the people that we can contract with, they customize their response to our system and our needs. So when we meet

067with them on the front side, we talk about the structure that we're looking for. Then we they do a help us with our own needs assessment and then we customize and design what that's actually going to look for uh look like and actually it'll be customized to meet the needs of the individual schools so that they're actually addressed the way that they need to be. >> Awesome to hear. Thank you. Any trustees with other questions or comments? >> All right. Thank you, Dr. >> You're welcome. >> We'll now move on to item E, our benchmark academic progress report. Dr. Smith. >> The two that are presenting are walking away right now, which I don't quite understand. Dr. WS, >> Dr. WS and Dr. Champion are here to present. As you know, we completed uh benchmark

068assessments at the end of February and um they are here to give you an overview of results and next steps. >> Vice President McMurro, trustees, Dr. Smith, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share this brief report. We are going to take a deeper dive at the next meeting looking specifically at our schools that are that have a D or an F in the state um state accountability system. So tonight we're taking a a big look and then at the next meeting we're going to actually dive in. We're actually going to hear from some principles at the next meeting and so we're giving you a taste of that in advance and then we'll get into some specifics with them um at the next meeting. Uh so tonight we're going to do this report. You've

069seen this report uh in the past. Uh this is specifically the House Bill 3 requirements. Um and here we're looking specifically at third grade reading and math and are pleased to report that on our benchmark we have actually hit the goal um of 41% in third grade reading and we are actually above the goal in third grade math. Um which is slightly above where we were with STAR last year. in our college, career, and military readiness. I'm will say when I first looked at this slide, I was a little nervous. Um, and then went back and looked at last year's data and the years before and talked to lots of folks. This is exactly on track. Um, students haven't taken their test yet. There's a lot of lot more movement to happen. Last year, we're

070right about 77%. So, we're still right in that that window. Um, so no surprises with with that data. As we look at our district improvement plan um update, these slides are slightly different. This is actually looking at um um the approaches, meets and masters is what you're looking at with the dark blue and that greenish color in the middle and that pinkish color on the right. Um and so that's what those those three are. And so as we look at our benchmark scores as compared to our star scores, um we actually outperformed um in specifically in in the reading um here that you're you're looking at. So our goal was 72% in the approaches and we're at 71%. Goal at 49% we're at 47 and goal of 18 and we're at 17. So we're right

071on track uh to to make that progress. The second one is math. Same same outlay out outline. Um and you can see that our benchmarks are tracking well slightly above our star for our approaches. Um, right at the same in our meets and right at the same at masters and the same in science in all three of those where we are are close to our goals and meeting or exceeding where we were in star of 25 and then finally social studies as well. The same same pattern you're seeing them on on all of these pieces. These are these are all good signs that we are seeing as we look toward our state accountability results. as we looked at these benchmark results compared to last year's benchmark results um we are above in actually every single

072category um except for I believe one and so what what we're seeing is is progress and so I'm excited at the next meeting to dive more into our highest needs campuses at the next meeting um but I will certainly am glad to take any questions that you may have tonight >> thank you Dr. champion. Do I have any trustees with questions or comments regarding our benchmark data? Mr. Will Banks. >> Thank you, Vice President. Um, and thank you, Mr. Ch, Dr. Champion, for this. I also want to say thank you to the staff for providing us with access to the data across the board. Um, that was very helpful and insightful. There were some nice big wins in there. I look forward to next time's discussion. Um, one of the questions I had for you

073is kind of preview that is going through the data campus by campus. I noticed there were some big winners and then there's some still struggling campuses. What are the lessons or have we been able to to look at the lessons learned and figured out what were the drivers that drove that huge growth at some of the campuses that saw the biggest growth like Bllandon Elementary School? Um, phenomenal phenomenal principal. Um, what have we been able to draw some conclusions and figure out how to apply those to maybe those that are still struggling? So, so some of our campus it's it's you know this that um the notion of nested variables is very real and so there are these variables inside variables that we all look at but there are some strands that we know were

074successful u bllandon being very specific one of one of them and you you named it um which is a highquality principle leading the building consistently for a number of years the idea of a silver bullet principle, a silver bullet curriculum, a silver bullet of anything uh doesn't exist. It is always about application and looking carefully at some some very specific things like what is the actual work that students are are doing in the classroom. Looking at the experience that students are having. Are there is there actually we've talked about productive struggle a lot. Is there actually productive struggle? Is there actually rigorous instruction? and is the student engaging deeply with that material. And then and then one of the things we've talked about a lot is is coaching of teachers. And so at Blandon, we

075have curriculum and instruction specialists who are there helping with with lesson plans and and working in PLC's. We've got Bailey Education Group coaches that are specifically coaching um and even working with students when necessary. and and at the end of the day a unified team that are all on the same page and and rowing in the same direction. And so in in that particular situation, all of those pieces fell into place. This is now McDalia's third third or fourth year at that campus and has a staff that is aligned and and moving those pieces forward. And so that is a that is a place where all of those have been true. And so you'll hear next at the next meeting, not next week, you'll hear from a couple of principles who are doing very similar

076things at their campuses and and so much of it it is I mean at the end of the day it's about a high quality teacher in that classroom teaching rigorous lessons for students that are aligned and and we're able to to to see the work and be able to work with those teachers in that regard. >> You you sound like you're echoing this framework that I think that exists in the state. Uh so I guess this isn't really rocket science after all. It's those five key levers that are really responsible for effective schools. >> Yeah, it's true. >> And um my second add-on question is we're I'm really excited about the opportunity to learn index and that whole paradigm shift that we've made as a district. is what we're seeing now at those campuses I

077mentioned a result of that focus with the opportunity to learn index >> I believe so I think um whenever we went through um staffing and and the process we call leveling um after the numbers come in and the actual number of students come in working with HR um as one example one of the things we did was actually use the campus needs index to help us make decisions about where we were not going to touch some low class sizes in this particular case. We know we know that again no silver bullet with low class sizes but we were very intentional and HR was an incredible partner and led this work um to ensure that we looked at the campus needs index as the first the first filter to make some decisions around around things like

078class sizes. So absolutely we also are using that campus needs index to to generate what kind of support gets poured into the campus. What does that look like? Um conversation about next steps. I mean all of those pieces. Campus needs index is a very real tool that we're using here in Arlington ISD. >> Yeah, that's good news. Um, I will probably save my last question for next time because I'm curious to see where we are in closing the gaps between our subpops and I've been just started to look at that data and so I'll save that for next time. But I I I'm hoping the answers we're making progress. >> You bet. That's exactly the answer. >> So yeah, I I don't need to say anything uh on to Mr. willbank stuff, but I'm going

079to be the broken record that I will say every time we talk about some of these things. If you go back to the 2017 legislative session, the titles or the um labels for star proficiency, the approach is meats and masters were changed in the legislative session. They used to be at the college and career level, I believe it was, and they changed that to meats that time. Fast forward a few years later in 2022, I believe it was, and they changed the level of rigor of that test as well. And so, the broken record of Matt Smith, I want to point out once again, Approaches is actually passing the test. Approaches is actually passing the STAR test. You don't need to have students retake the STAR test if they earn Approaches. They often only talk

080about the meats level in newspapers, and I understand that that's an important piece. We want to strive to hit that meats and masters level. But I also want to be clear that we've had a decade of things changing on a regular basis regarding how they label these categories, what legislative changes actually happened to uh change the tests and to change some of these labels. And then all of a sudden in 2022, we found that more schools were failing across the state of Texas. And so I will stop my soapbox moment at that time. >> Thank you, Mr. Mr. Will Bankbanks. Thank you, Dr. Smith. Do I have any other trustees with questions or comments regarding our benchmark data report? All right, seeing none, um just one one more uh piece of context. Dr. Smith, you

081mentioned um the difference between approaches and meets. And I do want to reiterate that when we look at third grade reading and math and our House Bill three um areas, we do report out meets because doc as Dr. Smith mentioned, that is where we want our students to be. But approaches does mean passing. So when we see percentages like 41% that that causes the heart to beat but our approaches is is always going to be higher. That percentage will be higher. Also can you please go back to the CCMR slide Dr. Champion? >> Sure. >> Because you you touched on this and I I thought this was a very good point. This percentage will grow throughout the year. Correct. Okay. So, um I I have no doubt that we're going to meet or surpass our

082CCMR goals. I know that there have been a lot of efforts towards that. Um and I just wanted to reiterate that as well. So, when we look at benchmark data as far as academic performance, it's easy to see that as a projection, but this is going to keep growing. It's not necessarily our our projection. I appreciate you pointing that out and Brett mentioned this earlier, but the TSIA, which is the Texas Success Initiative assessment, that window is actually in the spring. So, you will have more students, these are a lot of students that have already passed the test, but you will have more students passing the test as the TSIA is initiated over the spring. >> Thank you, Dr. Smith. Mr. Wilbanks. >> Thank you, Miss Marorrow. Uh, real quick for our secretary, I do

083have one request related to this. Um, when answering questions on our HB3 goals, I found it kind of hard to find them. They look like I think on our website, they're buried in our DIP. And so, we used to have a nice chart with our HP3 goals and even breakout by subpop. Can we get that published again on our website? Make it easy to find. So, >> thank you, Mr. Wilbanks. Any other trustees with questions or comments? Thank you, Dr. Champion and Dr. Williams. >> All right, our next report tonight and our final report on this part of the agenda is item F, our AISD strategic plan report. Dr. Smith, >> Dr. Collins is here tonight to walk you through an update on where we are on strategic plans and to gain some insight and

084feedback from you as trustees as we hope to take the next step and finalize this in the very near future. Good evening, Vice President McMurro, Dr. Smith, and trustees. Um, as Dr. Smith mentioned, we are going to just talk quickly about the proposed strategic plan aligned with our vision and district priorities. I'm going to walk you through um each one of the areas, and we're going to talk about it in a little bit of detail, but I want to give you a little bit of foundation. So, a couple of meetings ago, you may remember that we had a big celebration when we passed um as a board the um new district vision statement. And so as you think about a strategic plan, yeah, we can all celebrate and clap for that, right? Um whenever you

085think about a strategic plan, that is really is the grounding or the foundation for the work that you want to see happening. And so I hope that you will see um that reflected in all that we're doing. But we have other guiding documents that are important to us in Arlington as well. So we have our priorities document that the board adopted last year. And then we have our key progress measures that annually we come back and we talk about. We have the values and beliefs that were adopted at the beginning of this school year. And it's a lot of really important work that has happened and where we've struggled is to help people make sense of how all of this aligns as we think about improvement planning. And so we had some conversations with our

086communications team and they helped us design a graphic um that looks like this to help us make a little bit of sense. So we'll start um at the top of the document. So, as we mentioned earlier, we would want to start with our new district vision, and then we have our values and beliefs, our district priorities, and then our strategic plan. And those first four pieces stay relatively constant over a longer period of time. You want to see some continuity with those pieces there. And then after strategic plan, you'll see our DIP and SIP action plan. So, our district improvement plan and our campus improvement plans. And those are annual plans that we would be talking about. And then our key performance measures are those most important pieces that we identify that we want the

087board to hold us accountable for. We're going to come back and talk about those regularly through the course of the year. All of that is wrapped into the plan do study act or the PDSA continuous improvement cycle because we want to have that cycle happening throughout our system over and over and over again. This is our vision for improvement planning in the system. And you guys know that there's a lot of data behind each one of these pieces. You know that there are a lot of conversations that are happening behind each one of these pieces. Um, but it's really that strategic plan there in the middle that defines the work that's happening in our system. So, I'm going to orient you here in priority one and that'll help us go through the other priorities a

088little bit um more quickly. Um but the way that each of these slides um are organized is that up at the top you'll see that priority of academic growth and then you'll see the goal statement that the board adopted a couple of years ago. Then what we did was we had conversations about the objectives. What are the things that we believe we could accomplish that would be considered evidence for meeting that goal. So as an example, we believe that if we can cultivate the student experience, if we can improve academic performance and we can elevate student voice and choice, those three pieces of evidence would help us to show people that we are ensure positive we are ensuring positive engaging experiences for every student that promotes academic growth and ignites a passion for learning. So

089that's kind of the way that this is organized. And then it's almost like we have some we will statements underneath. So with cultivate the student experience we will ensure that every student experiences joyful meaningful learning that fosters curiosity and belonging builds confidence and character and prepares them with future ready skills. So those are the objectives then that over the course of about five years we would have lead and lag measures tied to each one of those objectives with strategies and key performance measures. we've already worked out about a five-year plan that takes us through 2030. And so all of that is embedded up underneath each one of these. So th this is kind of the uh 50,000 foot view with lots and lots of details um underneath. So that's just kind of the way um

090that this is oriented. I don't want to read each one of these um to you um over and over again, but I do want to talk to you a little bit about some of the big things that we're thinking about. So, as we think about academic growth, improving academic performance, elevating student voice and choice, and uh cultivating that student experience, of course, our focus is going to have to continue with math and literacy. We know that that's the big work in our system and that will continue as we move forward. But we also want to continue conversations around things like signature programs. So, what are those programs that we already have in our system that we want to market in some new and different ways? And then what are the additional kinds of programs that

091maybe we don't have yet that are things that would keep people um interested in Arlington ISD or would attract them um to Arlington ISD? And then we've had additional conversations about things like capstone experiences. So whenever students are um getting to culminating um courses um in their careers, what are the kinds of experiences that we would want them to have or projects that we would want them to do that would be a part of that? So those are just some of the kinds of examples that we've talked about moving forward. So, any questions with the format or any um of the um I I guess the structure before I move on to the other priority areas. >> Any trustees with questions or comments so far? >> All right. Okay. Let's keep going. >> Awesome. So

092then um I'll move us on to priority two culture. So the statement is the same the goal statement there and then what we believe is that if we prioritize student well-being and boost employee engagement that that would be evidence then of achieving that goal. We want to strengthen the overall student experience and we want to cultivate an environment that strengthens our employee commitment. And so a couple of examples there would be um ideas like um onboarding kinds of activities. So, we're thinking about as students transition from elementary to junior high and from junior high to high school, what are the kinds of experiences that we want kids to have and that we want families to have um as students are transitioning and what does success look like? So, thinking about that culture, also thinking about

093things like uh campus and district staff and onboarding for them. And so whenever you're new to the campus, what does it look like to realize that I am now an employee in Arlington ISD and these are the things that are important here in this district. Priority three, safety and discipline. We have broken up into two buckets to strengthen safe and supportive learning environments and to strengthen safe and supportive physical environments. And so you'll see a lot of overlap um as we go through each of these different priorities because they really are kind of inter uh woven together. But here as we think about safety and discipline, thinking about our staff survey, what is it that our staff tell us over and over again, not only in the formal staff surveys, but also as we think

094about things like our exit interviews and then thinking about infrastructure. So not only physical infrastructure, but also cyber security kinds of infrastructure and what are the things that we need to be paying attention to and so we have some goals written specifically around those areas. Priority four is around marketing and engagement. And the objectives there would be to maximize student enrollment, to empower family advocacy, and to expand community partnerships. And some of the things that we've been talking about for each of these areas include uh branding packages. So, you'll see here in the picture, the great job that we did in opening Rodriguez Junior High and the branding that went along with that and just the pride that that brings to the campus with the branding. And so wanting to make sure that that's a

095focus for each of our campuses moving forward. The idea that net promoter score, we want people to say that Arlington ISD is not only the right place for their kids, but that they're encouraging other people to bring their kids into our system. And then uh finally to adopt um school programs um some adopted school programs for every campus. And so some of our campuses already have some community partnerships where maybe a church community or a business community supports those schools, but not all of our campuses have that. And so just thinking about goals regarding making sure each one of our campuses is adopted by a community. And then finally, priority five, talent and resources. Um our objectives would be to ensure fiscal stability and to build that talent pipeline. And so thinking about um with

096fiscal stability, not only the work that we heard FFC uh talk about tonight, but also things like program evaluations and having a robust program evaluation system so that as we're making uh really difficult decisions, we have the data that we need in order to be able to make informed decisions. And then thinking about the talent pipeline, I know our HR team has some goals around things like going from being a high school student all the way to being a certified teacher and how can we support our students in getting their certifications or from becoming a paraprofessional to a certified teacher or even just different leadership uh pipelines that we have in the system. So maybe I'm working um on the cafeteria line and I aspire to be a cafeteria manager one day. And so what

097do those pipelines look like? And so there's lots of goals um and strategies around those kinds of things. So again, that's a very high level overview of about 20 pages worth of details that we have mapped out over the next five years. Um but this is what our improvement planning would look like. And so our next steps are to take um our current information that we have around our strategic plan to our principles and our key leaders next Tuesday at a meeting. we want to get some feedback uh another layer of feedback from them on these goals and really that's kicking off our district improvement planning process and our campus improvement planning process at the same time. So we're really excited to be um a little earlier um so that our principles can already start

098working on that work moving forward. So I'll open it up for any discussion. >> Thank you Dr. Collins. Are there any questions or comments regarding the strategic plan report? That surprises me. Oh, okay. Here we go. Mr. Will Banks, >> I'll bite. >> So, uh, Dr. Collins, thank you for presenting this, and I think we're well on our way to have a really solid plan. I do have u some general statements but a couple of questions about some of the goals and I think um priority one if we can start with priority one. So I think the most important one for us in what all districts in this state are facing is 1.2. And to me that's the most important. The other ones are important, but when we talk about a academic growth, this is

099what we have to be laser focused on and what that means in terms of unpacking where we are and how do we get to where we need to be and a lot of stuff that I think we've been given a lot of updates and great presentations, but when I look at this plan, I want to see that codified and split out over that five-year plan of we need to work on this. This is going to take three years to do and this is the timeline. So, um I the devil's going to be in the detail, but one I want to make I you know I want to check in with my colleagues and make sure that we agree 1.2 is the one the most important thing out of all of our priorities. 1.2 is it

100uh but I like the set of priorities we have. we adopted them and for good reason. Uh so we can go to uh the next important one to me anyway is in priority two. I wished 2.2 to me is yes I like how we kind of think both about the student experience but also our employees. Uh, in a lot of these we talked about the student experience, but what the adults in the room need to do to get the academic achievement and and one I like that um but two, you know, the reason we hired the person we hired is we knew we needed to work on 2.2 and we read the book culture code. Thank you for that, Matt. and also multipliers. And to me, the culture of this district for us to achieve

101what we need to achieve, we've got to be have the best culture that the best teachers and educators across the state, across the country, but across the state, and certainly in the metroplex want to work for. Um, we want a district full of leaders that are multipliers, not not diminishers. And we want we want people to go, "All right, I want to work for the best. The best is Arlington ISD." We need to be crystal clear that that is our objective with this priority. We've come a long way and I really appreciate all the work and the team that Dr. Smith has put in place, but we don't need to lose sight that we're not going to achieve the academic performance and create a premier district if we don't mind that with laser f not

102laser focused, but with intentional attention and not take our eye off of of it. So, I would love to see this more elevated. Uh, and again, I'm looking forward to seeing how this unpacks in a five-year plan. >> Uh, and what that continues to look like and what kind of um, and then, you know, the student experience, too. Again, see what kind of cadence we have on on um, and how we map out the work ahead to um, create kind of student well-being and that student experience that um, we're looking for. Um those are the that's you know in general that gives you a taste of kind of where I'm at and what I'm anxious to see when we get to see a full plan um so that um we can quickly adopt it. >>

103So I do want to add one thing and I I want to leave it right here on 2.2 to in particular and then I'll go back to um academic growth and I I want to be clear and Amber's here tonight so she can attest that I talk about this often with our principles as well and I want to be clear about what Mr. Wilbank said um regarding culture. We absolutely want what he said but we also want a culture of high expectations as well >> and I don't believe that those two things are mutually exclusive. I actually believe that they can live together and work together, but that does sometimes mean that we're asking people to improve. And I what I want to point out about this one is sometimes when we talk about culture,

104and I think the culture code and multipliers both really deal with this, sometimes people think all sunshine and rainbows all the time. And that's not the type of productive culture that you find in the highest achieving organizations around the world. It doesn't mean that we can't have a positive culture, but it can also be a positive culture with high expectations side by side in that. Sometimes that's going to mean we're we have to push to improve, and sometimes that's going to mean we can celebrate all of those improvements, but it doesn't mean that there's stagnation and just happiness all the time. And I I wanted to be clear about that simply because um I think that everybody in this room, everybody that we saw today at State of the District, we all want the same

105thing. We want each and every student in our system to thrive. In order for us to get there, we have to be able to push because we believe, again, I'm going to use that word I used earlier today, relentless. We have to be relentless about pursuing excellence day in day out, every minute of every day. And sometimes that requires an improvement effort. And that that feels tough for some people, but we can do that and still treat them well and hold them to high expectations and support them well. And I just want to be super clear with everybody at the DAS and and in our public that when we say this, it doesn't just mean that sunshine and rainbows. It means that we're going to pursue things hard. We're going to treat people well. We're

106going to treat them with dignity and respect and support them well, but we are going to hold ourselves to a really high standard through the whole process. >> Amen. Going back to um priority one if we could real quickly Jennifer uh on improving academic performance. This is the only part that I disagree just a little bit and the only reason I say that is I absolutely want to make sure that we improve academic performance but we know the star test is changing again coming up and we know that the subsequent accountability change will come as well and I think handinhand with this has to go uh number one and that idea of a joyful experience imagine this if our kids in our classrooms went home and talked about how much joy they experienced in the

107classroom that day imagine how our parents and community would be talking about our school district and imagine how excited they would be to learn at the highest levels if they felt uh they they had that um a passion for learning ignited that day in their experience in the school. So I think these two both have to go hand inand because if we can foster curious learners in the classroom that are that desire to learn more the academic performance will go up as well as long as we're ensuring that we're teaching them at the highest levels as well. So, I think both of those things I I agree with David on a lot of that. I just wanted to make sure I point out those high expectations we have to hold ourselves to and sometimes that's

108going to feel that's going to feel tense or and we that's okay. We I I guess the word is intense. We want it to feel intense but not tense in our system. And in this idea of the student experience, we actually want to cultivate joy and have them learning and increase those academic scores that by whatever measure the state comes up with in the future. Thank you, Dr. Smith. Are there any other trustees with questions or comments regarding the strategic plan report? Dr. Collins, I had a couple questions. Um, so if we um go back again to priority two, um Dr. Smith and Mr. Mr. Wilbanks, you guys um had some really good dialogue about the employee side of things when it comes to culture and um you both made me think really hard about

1092.2 and what's in this and what's not. And I just um I really respect what both of you said and I I think that when this comes out in the wash, clear is kind. And um under boosting employee engagement, I wonder if there is an opportunity because we're already naming strengthening employee commitment, satisfaction, and promotion of the school district. And those are wonderful and that is what we really want to strive to to see. I do hope that we can consider adding in well-being because wellness is already something for our staff that we have a lot of um intention around. Every year we do our um employee engagement survey and psychological safety is a big part of that and we also have a lot of efforts to make sure that our teachers and staff are

110taking care of themselves. Um Mr. P came earlier um today and talked about how we have changed we have created a new bereavement policy. We want our staff to be able to take care of themselves, their immediate family, because we know that when our staff shows up well, they can achieve everything and be their best selves for our students. So, I would love to consider adding well-being to 2.2 because if we can do it for students, I think we should do it for staff. Um, one more thing I was going to ask about when we Mr. Mr. Wilhanks, you mentioned this and I um I just want to circle back to it just to be um make sure I understand. When we get around to um our KPMS, are we planning to name when and

111who is responsible for each KPM? How will that look when when all of this is done? >> Yeah. So, we've already um designed we call them RC charts. So, it's the who's accountable, who's responsible, um who's consulted, and then who needs to be informed as we think about each one of these um different objectives. And then we have five years worth of strategies and potential KPMs already mapped out with who those owners would be. So, yes, that's work that we've already um engaged in and feel pretty good about. >> Very good. And um can we just go to the marketing? >> Can I add one thing on that before we move off of KPM? So, so I want to also be clear though is when you adopt this plan, you won't adopt KPMs for every

112year at this point. We want to do that on an annual basis. So, you'll have the strategies and you'll see all of those things, but we want to do that on an annual basis because things change over the course of a year. And we want to make sure that those priorities uh stay right. And remember, we align the KPMs, the key progress measures with my evaluation as well. And it can't be everything on there. The key progress measures have to be a few things that we're going to say this is the biggest lift. This is the most important work that we believe that's going to drive this priority forward and those are what we're going to commit to adopting for on an annual basis. So while you will see the whole plan, I just want

113to be clear that we're still going to come to you every year and we're going to say based on what we've uh seen over the last year based on our data here are the KPMs that we're proposing for the next year. We're going to ask you for your feedback and approval at that point and then we'll all commit to those to be the focus for the upcoming year. They will all be in line with the priorities and the strategies that you see, but that will still be on an annual basis uh adopting those KPOMs. >> Makes perfect sense. Um and then can we go okay thank you for going back to that slide for marketing and engagement. I love the idea of expanding community partnerships, but for the campus specific level. We have so many

114amazing partnerships at the district level. In fact, today at State of the District, we we received a very generous donation from the Texas Rangers to help um reduce the deficit for our outstanding lunch um account budget for our students. And when we think of, oh, we have a partnership with the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, all of the amazing community partners, they do partner with us at the district level, and we absolutely need that, but all of our campuses have specific needs, too. And we have learned that through our campus needs index, and we're learning it anecdotally every day. And so, I just love the idea of 4.3. Um, making sure that we're expanding those community partnerships and also like you mentioned, Dr. Collins, doing so at the campus level. Um I know that that's done

115here and there, but being intentional about that I think will really take care of every school community. Um is there anything else y'all want to elaborate on? Because I just I'm crazy about that one. I know that our downtown Rotary Club, they've taken it upon themselves to partner with Web Elementary and they really work with the staff and principal to stay current for what their current needs are. And just imagine the opportunities there if we double down on campus partnerships. That's awesome. And last but not least, um we now have a district adoption vision statement. And I I said at the very beginning of the strategic planning process that my biggest hope for our new strategic plan is that every single person who plays a part in our Arlington ISD family will be able to

116articulate not just what our vision is, but how the work they do or the learning that they do contributes to the work of our school district as a whole. And they're able to take a lot of pride in it. So Dr. Smith, are we still planning on having um each department and campus create their own specific mission statement in alignment to our district vision? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Awesome. >> So, uh the goal has always been to make sure that we help point everyone in our district in the same direction, but realize that each campus has some unique needs and also it has been doing great work along the way already and that we can use that and build off of that. So by adopting a district vision and having every campus say, "Okay, if

117this is our district vision and where we're going as an entire district, let's look at the mission of our school and see what we need to do to continue it, to tweak it, to to reimagine that mission so that we're all in alignment across the district." So that will be a next layer of work coming. >> That's exciting. I know that this has been a lot of work to get us up to this point um where we are in our strategic plan. I love where it's going. Um, do I have any other colleagues with questions or comments for Dr. Collins or Dr. Smith? >> Can I ask Jennifer? So, when do we want to bring this back to the or when are we intending to bring this back to the board? >> So, I think

118after we get our feedback from um principles on Tuesday of next week and then we'll do one last round with SEC the following week. I think that we could bring it back next month. >> So, trustees, what I would just ask for you is if you have questions or concerns along the way, talk to Jennifer, talk to myself. Um, we will be providing you some information before that next meeting, but it sounds like we could be coming back as soon as April 9th with entire details around this all for you all to consider. Um, because we do want to get this moving. The alignment that Jennifer talked about is really important. By having this done in in April and beginning our district and campus improvement plans now, what you have is the ability for every

119campus before they all head out for summer break to have a really good draft of their campus improvement plan so that they can plan highquality professional learning for the summertime when all staff comes back. And that is a key lever for school improvement for us. So, um, just know this timeline is super important for us to hit coming up. And if there's anything in the next few weeks that you see or hear or feel on this, please let us know and we we want to make sure we turn that around. >> Thank you, Dr. Smith. Mr. Wilbanks, >> tagging on to that, Dr. Smith, uh you know, I know several of us have done the hold for training and outside of hiring the superintendent, the adoption of the strategic plan is one of the most

120important things that we can do. And I think given the gravity or the importance of the plan, I think it I would like to have a workshop to really unpack it and have a free flowing discussion amongst us to make sure that we're all pointed in the right direction with it and that we can be ready to adopt it um when we get up on the dice. What we can do if it um um madame vice president, what we can do is we can bring that to board officers in the next officers meeting and talk about uh how we could pull that off in the next month or so here uh if that works for you. >> Thank you, Mr. Wilbanks, for the suggestion and we will we will have that discussion. Any other trustees

121with questions or discussion? >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Collins. >> Thank you. >> That concludes tonight's reports. Let's move on to the consent agenda. Does anyone wish to pull an item from the consent agenda for further discussion? >> Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Motion. >> I have a motion from Miss Richardson. Do I have a second? >> Second from Mr. Wilbanks. Now we'll move to vote. Trustees, please vote. Yeah. Five in favor. >> Okay. Thank you. Five in favor, one opposed. >> Motion carries. Now, we will move on. I want to circle back to our open forum for non-aggenda items. Since I chose to go out of order with the agenda, um I want to give our registered speaker one more opportunity if we missed him at

122the beginning. Do we have Jonathan Stevens present with us or or joining us virtually to speak? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Dr. Smith will now give us his superintendent report. Dr. Smith. >> Trustees, I just want to point out that uh last time I went to present to you, it was past midnight and tonight it is 8:21. So, I will actually give my superintendent report this time. Uh I appreciate you all attending our state of the district today. Um it was a phenomenal experience. We look forward to talking about that a little bit more in the upcoming weeks, I believe, ahead. Uh in my superintendent report for this month, I really want to hone in on safety and discipline. And then I have one add-on along the way that I want to

123mention. Obviously, when we talk about safety and discipline, we had uh Michael's presentation earlier. We we know this idea of student safety and well-being in the classroom, but he also mentioned that it also includes the physical structure and Jennifer alluded to that as well when we think about safety. And I think it's important to point out that this district has done a lot to ensure student safety thanks to support from the community over a number of years. One of the ways we are constantly working on safety is providing safer facilities in our school district. You can see that most recently at John's and Miller elementary schools with their new gyms funded by the 2019 bond recently opened. The new spaces replace old tiny gyms and give our students a much better physical education experience, but

124these gyms are also storm shelters built to accommodate the entire school. We've built seven of these new gyms and storm shelters under the 2019 bond, and we're about to start the next at Swift Elementary School. I also want to uh give a shout out here. Some of the people who keep us safe often fly under the radar. All of our facilities employees from HVAC techs to custodians work day and night to ensure our buildings and campuses are safe and working. As you know, this team also worked hard throughout the winter storm to take care of our facilities and get them ready for students and staff to return. Our great partner, Texas Trust, wanted to thank them. So, Texas uh Texas Trust employees wrote handwritten thank you notes to every single one of our facilities employees,

125all 450 of them. and they presented the notes at a facility staff meeting earlier this month. Thanks to Texas Trust and Tyena Northington who helped make this happen for our staff. And then finally, one add-on I want to highlight a special opportunity that 40 of our CTE seniors got to experience recently. They took a field trip to the Grand Prix, but it wasn't just to see race cars, which obviously they did. It was to explore all of the various careers that go into making a motorsports race happen. They saw everything from engineering and design, communications, event management, logistics, and health services. I hear that they had an outstanding time, an outstanding learning experience, and left inspired for the future. And that concludes my superintendent report for this meeting. >> Thank you, Dr. Smith. Now, we'll

126move on to trustee comments and reports. Are there any trustees with reports this evening, Mr. Mike? Thank you, Madam Vice President. Uh, as y'all can see, I have on a purple Crow Leadership Academy Cougar shirt that was gifted to me. Uh, when I went to visit Crow Academy, uh, this week I was able to u, thank you to, uh, Principal Morales, uh, librarian Lisa Bell, and and the rest of the staff there. Uh it was 8:45 in the morning and they were able to corral fifth graders that were the most respectful. Um and so I had to hype them up to get them going. But I told them about my life story. Brought out old military uniforms and my old uh federal agent uh raid jacket that they got to try on. I thought that

127they would be wowed by the stories. Um, but they were most wowed when I started pulling out drug testing kit samples. Uh, it seems like a lot of elementary kids love that. Yeah, I like to show them cuz test them. >> No, not no I didn't drug test them. But but you know they they read my bio and they had a lot of questions on on what I do. U but with the drug testing kits, I always bring them and show them and then ask them, hey, what do you think this is? And I'll I was shocked because I pulled out a breathalyzer and they were like, "That's a breathalyzer." I'm like, "How do you know that?" But they're like, "We watch videos." Uh, and so I think at fifth grade, I I don't think

128I was that knowledgeable. Um, and of course, we didn't have the internet, and so they were wild by the fact that I grew up without internet and uh cell phones. So, very great class. I as much as I love every single school in this district, there's something special about being able to go to an elementary school, um you know, they're still learning, they're still just loving life. Um but it just reminds you of why you're here and how important this this work is. Uh so once again, thank you to Crow Leadership Academy. I I promise you I wear it. Um and and it's it's super soft. So thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Mike. And for context, that testing he was talking about is part of Mr. Mike's line of work. So important context. >>

129Thank you for clarifying. >> Do we have any other trustees wi with reports tonight? >> All right. I'm sure we will get more information about today, but I just want to commend um Tina Northington, our chief communications officer, and Dr. Smith and everyone, which is a lot of people involved in a wonderful um innovative and new state of the district. Um I really I the whole board was there, so many community partners, our chamber of commerce, everyone was there. Um and I I was just blown away with how with one day we can tell our story so well and experience it all together. Um, and it was inspiring and I hope we can get um get a future superintendent report on on that because I'm still on cloud nine from today. All items on tonight's

130agenda have been addressed and we have no matters no further matters to discuss in close session. There being no further business this meeting >> Oh, I apologize. >> Um, >> oh, I'm sorry. Trusty Richardson, Secretary Richardson, >> Trusty Will Banks requested that our HB3 goals um that are buried in our DIP on our website if we could break out them break them out by our subpop groups, but make sure those are back on our website and easier to locate and find. Um his second request was that he would like a workshop on the strategic plan brought to the board as a whole to be able to discuss and vice president McMurro said that that would be discussed in board officers meeting. >> Thank you. Thank you, Secretary Richardson. I apologize for missing your report. All

131items on tonight's agenda have been addressed and we have no matters to discuss in close session. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned at 8:28 p.m.