001Good to see everybody here. It's uh 6:30 and I call this meeting of the Bastrop Independent School District to order. Let the record show that the quorum of board members is present and that this meeting has been duly called and that a notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. Uh moving into open forum, we had nobody sign up, so we'll move along to item three, which is team uh, building annual training. Uh, and our presenter here is Dr. Eddie uh, Colson. He's a consultant with In2Learning. Uh, Mr. Colson, thank you for being here. It's good to see you again. >> Thank you. And uh, the floor is yours. Great. Thank you. I'll stay here but for a minute, but I'll I'll move
002up and down the uh, in front of you, I'm sure, for a little while. So, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity. Our goal tonight is to really uh, think about as team of eight requires us to is to think about this team building idea and our roles and our lanes that we're in. And we'll do it in such a way where I hope that we can have some really really good and powerful discussion that you will remember, but also will be really informative to you. So, I think I have some good questions and some things that will kick us off and uh, start us down the the the right path. The first thing I always like to remind people of is that um, it's not a secret what good boards do. Right?
003High-performing boards have characteristics. And those characteristics are not a secret. They're proven over time uh, with a variety of different research done by a variety of different organizations. The The question always really is is not a secret what you do. It is are are you willing to do it? And I know you are. Part of that is knowing what that is, right? And then part of it is having the opportunity to really discuss it in a meaningful way so that your leadership of the district can be impacted uh, aligned with the these ideas of what a high-performing school board does. And so, first question I have for you and it's hard for me to sit down too long. So, um, the first question for you is in your role as a board member, who who
004do you serve primarily? Like you have a lot of people out there, I know, but who do you serve primarily? And I'll I'll just let you guys jump in and we'll start the conversation. Who do you serve primarily? Our students. >> Your students, right? Who else? Somebody else? Confirm that. Yes, students. Dr. Lee's. Dr. Lee. >> tells me what I need to do. Dr. Lee tells you what you need to do. I got it. I got it. That's good. That's good. I need Dr. Lee in my life to tell me what to do. Uh telling you. Um being on the school board is a very unique position because the people you serve did not vote for you. Right? The 5-year-old did not go cast a ballot. Now, there might have been some 18-year-olds that did
005cast a ballot, hopefully for you, but that is a small percentage of the people who actually voted for you. So, the school board is really a unique situation. The people that voted for you are not Your primary constituents are your students and are the students in Bastrop ISD. And so, it really creates this conundrum sometimes of I made some campaign promises or I ran on this platform, right? And then you actually get on the board and the people that you serve are the people in the seats of the school, not the people necessarily that voted you in. Now, certainly they are a constituent, for sure, but they're not your primary constituent. I think most people would say it's the students that you serve. And so, it's really it it's an interesting thing to think about
006that that a school board is very unique in terms of its opportunity, but also in terms of uh what your job and what your role is compared to who voted you in, right? And so, as we think about this, couple of things I just want to lay out there in terms of what high-performing boards do. The first one is that you have a relentless pursuit and interest in student outcomes, right? Not so much in programs or initiatives, although certainly lots of conversations about those, but you have a relentless pursuit and a high interest in student outcomes. Those student outcomes might include test data. They also might include career pathway data. It might include college, career, military readiness data, right? It could include a lot of different things in terms of what student data is, but
007it's this relentless pursuit of of knowing the school data and a high interest in that. And that very first thing that highly successful school boards do, that very first one is this pursuit of student data and interest in it, often throws boards, right? Because sometimes board, and I'm not suggesting you have, but sometimes boards um focus on things their primary focus is not on student outcomes, right? And so, I think it's always good to be guarded that as you do your work, you have to talk about a lot of things. There's a lot of interest in the community. There's a lot of interest in the school district, but you really have to guard yourself and always come back to are we focusing on student outcomes? High-performing boards focus on student outcomes. High-performing boards understand their
008role and their lane, right? There's a governance lane and there's an operational lane, right? The the governance lane is pretty clear that it is a big picture lane. There are very specific things that you have to do within your lane. We're going to talk about those in or one of them in particular in a minute. But those lanes are important for high-performing boards. You you have Dr. Lee and she is the operational guru and she works with her staff and and you are in that governance lane. So, when I think about a governance lane, I think about that you are the people charged in the district, not just you, but including you and primarily you, you have a long-term focus. So, high-performing boards have the student outcome, this relentless pursuit and interest in student outcomes.
009And then you also have this this uh long-term view. It is your job to take care of the district now, but more so than that, to take care of it in the future. So, the decisions that you make are decisions that are good for now and good for the future. And so, if you keep that in mind, those two things in particular, or that that that you're in your governance lane and in the governance lane you have a long-term outlook, I think it helps you stay centered as a board member and reminds you of what your job and what your role is. Um any questions about that? Anybody want to push back on that at all or ask a question about that? But those two or three things I think are really important as you
010think about your your job as a board member and what high-performing boards do. Okay, let me ask you this. This is this is going to be the audience participation time. Um as you think about the uh in particular, as you think about the budget, and your governance lane for the budget, what what should the public expect from a school board when it comes to managing taxpayer dollars? What should the What should the public expect when it comes to the school board uh from a school board when it comes to managing taxpayer dollars? Ideas, thoughts about that? Yes, Lee. That the school board is a good steward of the taxpayer dollars and doesn't just doesn't just doesn't waste money. Doesn't waste money. Good steward. Uh a good steward can be defined, right, as not wasting money,
011being intentional about your spending, and so forth. Okay. Somebody else, what what should the public expect from the school board related to taxpayer spending? I think we should be transparent. Transparent. Right, how you go about it, where the money is going, the timing that it's going out, and so forth. Okay. And you hear a lot in our community about being conservative. Yeah. Um not wasteful spending, which good trustee, things like that, really, you know, evaluating and reviewing where we're spending money. Right. You have a conservative community that expects the good stewardship and spending money on things that would make sense for the school district and for the kids in the school district, right? That makes That That's good. What else? What What should the What should the community What should the community expect from you?
012When it comes to managing the dollars. Good stewards, conservative community. The other side of the >> Transparency. managing it is also, you know, watching out for um like our our, you know, tax savings uh things that we do when we you know, refinance and stuff like that, like we've done in the past. So, managing the money that we have before we spend it and that sort of thing. So. >> So, you often have the opportunity to refinance or resell bonds maybe at a lower rate. Okay. Right. >> What about what about acceptable outcomes? So, what about what about using that money in such a way that you achieve the outcome we were hired to achieve? Yeah. Educating students. Right. So, this alignment piece I think is really important. Does the budget align with what the
013district and what you said you want these student outcomes? And so, I think that is kind of the tip of the spear, if you will. Like a a board's role and job be good stewards, be transparent for sure, make sure that you're spending money wisely and if you have an opportunity to save it to save it. And the tip of the spear is are we spending money right aligned with what we want and expect from our students? And so, as you think about that, let me ask you another question. When you are developing the budget, what what should the Bastrop board consider the most? Like you you're in the budget development process right now the district is. So, as you think about the budget and the tip of the spear is are we getting the
014outcomes that we want with the money that we have, right? What what does the what should the board consider the most? Is this uh financial decision going to positively affect student outcome? Is this financial decision going to positively affect impact students, right? Okay. Somebody else. >> Student outcomes. Okay. And student outcome. Just not academic, but discipline. Mhm. You know, a lot of, you know, especially at the whole nine yards. What what it, you know, providing the payroll to manage, you know, the the number of students that that we have. Right. >> Spending that's, you know, that's tough in a growing district in the past to to do that. Especially when you have short you know, falls from the state or different things like that and you're trying to, you know, definitely one thing that hadn't
015been mentioned is is a balanced budget. That's always been important. Uh and how we can do that even though we know we might be going into one with $3 million shortfall. We've had one with $5 million shortfall in the past through the homestead different things like that. So, uh where do you cut? Yeah. >> And I think that's one that we're dealing with this year is where do we cut? The students are number one. And that and that If if you have this relentless pursuit of student outcomes, right? And you know what student outcomes are are you are important to you and you have less money than you need to get those, right? The way you would expect to do. What do you do? Because you're a good steward of the budget, right? You're a
016good steward of the money and that means that a balanced budget or at least close to a balanced budget depending on your fund balance is a real is a important part of the process. Okay? So, what should matter most? The student what we're pursuing and it's not just academics, right? It's fine arts, it's athletics, it's other pieces as well where you're looking for good outcomes in all of that as well. Okay? That's great. That's great. >> want to say something. I just wanted to point something out to you. With the climate that we're in considering declining enrollment um and vouchers, um it is now I think more important than ever to have tremendous communications and marketing um and a renewed focus on why public education is outstanding and important for all of our families. So,
017it's that as part of, you know, a sound budget is we're we're wanting to attract and enroll um as many families as we possibly can and with our, you know, team members who dedicate themselves to telling stories, it it's an incredible opportunity in front of us, so >> it's a different focus than we've had in the past. Right. When you're competing for students, one of my questions, that's perfect, is when you're competing for students and, you know, there's always been some element of competition out there, but it's more so now and it's in the public's eye more than now than ever and I think parents are empowered to make uh decisions for their family and their children more so than ever now. And so when when it's presented as uh you know, this this choice
018piece, how do people know, right, that this is the best place for their student based on opportunity that's available here, based on the level of education that is available here, based on the uh not just the opportunity academically, but the opportunity in other aspects as well. So, it's the high academic standards and the opportunity that are really important and when you think about the budget and student outcomes, you're also now in this mode of how do we make sure that we have students, right, that our enrollment hopefully keeps increasing and not declining. So, it's a great point. It's a great point. It's a different environment than we're used to, anyway. Not better or worse, just different than we're used to. Okay. That's great. Um So, we talked about student outcomes and aligning. So, what's the
019most important student outcomes to you as a board member? So, we're talking about aligning our budgets. What are the most important student outcomes to you? ACT, SAT, athletics, fine arts, you name it. I would actually say safety first. Because I don't think if a if a child doesn't feel safe and secure uh they can't learn anyway. All right. So. Student outcome safety. I like it. I like whole child. Like looking it's not just a test score, it's not just a one day I walked in and took a test. It's a whole child from beginning to end. Right. It's developing people to be smart, good people that can make a difference in the in their communities where they choose to live ultimately. >> Citizenship, yeah. You can know all the math in the world, but still
020not be able to function well in society, right? If if you don't develop that other side of you. Okay. That's great. That's great. Somebody else, what are the most important outcomes to you? When when we went through the strategic planning process, you know, we worked a long time on what our mission and vision was going to be as a district. And I really do feel like I our vision encapsulates what a student who leaves us needs to be able to do. And that is to capitalize on any opportunity that is presented to them because they're ready. They have the skill the relational skills, the cognitive skills, you know, they're ready for that. But also that they can overcome or or address any challenges that come their way. So, we've also equipped them with the the
021tools to deal with the difficult things in life. And so, I think as a broad student outcome it's being able to do those two things. Take advantage of opportunities that are given to you. And and and handle life's challenges that are thrown at you. And so I think that's accomplished through a combination of you know, the academic competencies and skills that that we provide our students and you know, that we'll see that on you know, star results and ACT SAT scores and TSI readiness indicators and you know, all of those things, but those are just micro data points compared to the two overarching things that I think is in our mission. Student walks across the stage, they can overcome what the things that life throws at them, but also they're prepared to go to work
022perhaps, to go to school perhaps, go to the military and not just go, but to go and succeed. >> Yes. Okay. That's great. Somebody else, what what are the most important student outcomes to you? Think about your own children, right? What were the most important student outcomes to you as a parent for your own children or maybe still are the most important student outcomes for your parents or for your kids. >> I've worked a lot with families locally and I think you want your school to emulate some of the family value system that you have at home. Sure. I know as a child I very much felt cared for in a public school environment. I hope that our kids feel like this is a place of refuge, like it's a place that they can come
023to and feel safe and feel seen and heard. Um so yeah, I mean, I think that if we can do anything we're you know, well, we're replicating good family values and and we're an extension of of you know, what's going on at home in a positive way. Okay. Yeah, and and to provide them hope. Hope can be that they can do it. They got dual credits. They can jump into a you know, major university or go to a junior college or go to the military or just you know, there's a lot like Dr. Lee was saying, take advantage of the opportunities that we provide, but give them hope and a direction to when they do walk the stage, what's next? >> Yeah. And you know, and be able to provide them those resources and educate
024them and Okay. you know. Yeah, that's great. That's great. I've heard it said that hope is not a strategy, but without hope, whatever strategy you have is useless. Right. Right. That that one of our jobs in the world is to give kids hope that they can succeed. You give them hope by preparing them, right? Right. Not only academically, but beyond. Okay. Anybody else? What what are student outcomes are most important? I I think about my own children, right? I want you to be able to overcome and Dr. Lee mentioned that. Should be able to solve your own problems. Want you to be a critical thinker. I want you to uh not have be reliant >> to support yourself, support a family. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pay your own bills, right? Want to be able to pay
025your own bills eventually, so. You want your kids to pay their own bills, right? Yeah, that's That's for sure what we want. Um all right, so Dr. Lee mentioned the strategic plan and the thing. So, it just do a little little evaluation of the board. Uh how successful have you been do you think building a budget that's aligned with the student outcomes that you want? Right? Developing good people that can overcome, that have choices, that have hope, right? That are safe. But how successful have you been in building a budget and how conscience conscious have you been of those things as you build the budget? Does it make you nervous, Mike? How conscious have you been of the student outcomes that you want when you build the budget? I think for us one thing that
026I really like about our board is we all kind of have our own input and and come from a different way of thinking about things, but the focus has always been in the classroom. Yeah. And getting those outcomes through the classroom. Um so we've always made a focus to have that money in the classroom. Yeah. Um and and so that's been I think we've been successful when you look at our graduation rates and what and the success our kids are having after school uh entering society. We're just placeholders right now as far as I'm concerned. We're We're the old generation. We got the new one coming in and they're the ones that are going to be taking over and and that's what we're trying to do is prepare them to take over the world from
027us. Yeah. And and I think Dr. Mixon and I being the grayest hair um on the on the board >> You got hair. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. And so but coming into this we you know we definitely had to work with with what we had. And and little alone not being able to pass school bonds and knowing there was a lot of struggles and and having a you know we we knew what our growth is going to be, but you had so much money you could work with and then we were blessed by passing two series of of school bonds that we knew would affect a lot of things like academic success, culture, but there's always been a strive from the past uh two superintendents to continue to try to get the salaries of the employees
028and the teachers where they need to be, rebuild back fund balance, you know, and we're not even try to get into don't get into fund balance if you don't have to. Preparing ourselves for all the things that little alone what the state is mandating that you can do and how to do it and and different things that they passed and and so I think from what I'm seeing being on the board once we pass those bonds, you know, we're able to do some things and getting some buildings in place make some things happen and so it's really been great but then also changing curriculum, you know, which was tough, you know, but that goes along with giving teachers an incentive to try to get to where we need to be to attract the talent and
029and we're constantly trying to improve and and and do those things. So it's and then all of a sudden when you think you're you're you're got your sales out and you're rolling, you know, uh uh enrollment starts leveling out. Yeah. Not decreasing yet but leveling out so then you're into a new budget, you know. Yeah. There's there's thousands of challenges and you know, we talk about the budget like you have all this discretion, right? Understanding that you 80% probably 80 plus percent, right, is spent on personnel costs but the thing that you said related to we want it in the classroom, right? Does that align with the priorities? I'm sure it does but that I think those are the things when you think about the budget from a governance line, it's less about how many
030rolls of toilet paper, right, did we buy and more about are we aligning what we are we doing what we said we would do with the money we have. I think a lot of times we focus on the money we don't have and I think there are some legislative priorities and issues that certainly have impacted student or school funding for sure. But when you think about the money you do have, are we spending it in a way that is aligned or congruent with what we said we wanted to do? Give kids hope that when they walk across the stage, they have choices and they can be successful in school, in the military, or in a career. Maybe all three. Uh that they could do if that was their choice to do it. And so, as
031we think about the governance role in terms of board and and um budgets, I think that is probably the key question. Are we aligned? Are we doing Are we funding what we said we wanted in terms of our student outcomes? Remembering that student outcomes uh student the boards high-performing boards have this relentless focus on student outcomes. Are we spending the money the way that we said that we would do? Um The The other thing that I think in today's day and age, we talked about limited resources, and we talked about the very beginning as well, is that the board has to have a long-term view. And so, it is this idea that is the budget we're passing today setting up the next board to be successful next year and the next and the next and
032the next. If you look across the state of Texas, I think that's one of the things that boards are really struggling with when you're adopting uh deficit budget uh for years at a time, it would be hard to say that we're setting up the next board for success. It's not that you can't ever do that, right? And it might be a couple of years, but it's getting back to that balanced budget that is important so that you're setting up people for the setting up districts and boards in the future for success. It's that long-term pursuit, that long-term outlook that high-performing boards uh adopt and have. Um Okay, so let's ask Let me Let's talk about this for just a minute. You have You adopt a budget. You have the You You have the authority to
033do that. It's aligned with what you said you the outcomes that you want. Um let's just talk a little bit about that budget building process from a governance standpoint. What are the key questions that boards should ask as an administration is developing a budget? What are the key questions the board should ask as you're developing as the district is developing a budget? Needs? What are your needs? Right? Okay. What else? How does this support what we said we were going to do? Or does it support what we said we were going to do? Right? I love that. What else? What are the key questions that you ask? Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And one thing I learned past superintendent couple of years you everything that's renewing we have a choice to renew it or not.
034Is it being affected? Is it being evaluated? You know, is it worth spending the 50,000 again? It It's No, I mean just It could be software. It could be I don't know. Tons of things that we have programs that we have things we're doing that we've invested in to get to academic And they do. Just And they do. They You know, I feel very comfortable that evaluate Do you need to renew this? Always. You know, doing those evaluations every year to make sure that it is you know, we're spending our money effectively. Are we getting the results? Based on what goes back to the stewardship piece that we talked about earlier is that are we being good stewards with the money or are we just rolling it over, right? And then Dr. Lee and the
035administration has certainly a huge responsibility to make sure that the money that you are spending, whether it's on a contract or a renewal basis, whatever it is, that in fact you are being able to do that and they can bring those outliers to you on occasion when they need to do that. So, those those are great questions. What else? What else? You're sitting around at a board budget development workshop. You're asking are we getting what we paid for, right? You're asking what are the outcomes that we want. What else are you asking? Maybe just not on the renewal side of things, like ideas that Yeah, great. Yep. I know we did this last year. What was the result of that? And if it's not what we wanted, are we or we think it's moving in
036the right direction. Yeah, I love that. I think in the past it's due to rising care health insurance. You know, always give raises. Yep. Some sort of either offset it or try to help with the inflation. Inflation. I know we've tried different bonuses, stipends, you know, retention. Trying different things. It's always been on our mind to try to take care of staff that that are, you know, teaching students. Yep. Back that academic And every district around you is having that same discussion, right? And so, there is a huge competition for teachers and staff. And money is certainly a part of it. You know what? And if you ask a group of teachers, the research would say that the pay has to be fair, right? Doesn't have to be the most. It has to be fair.
037And if there are huge disparities, it makes a difference. But if the disparities are small, I want to work in a place that has the organizational culture and climate where we're real learning organization led by a high performing school board. It's It's amazing to me to look out across the state and understand that the school board is really the model for the district and then to see some behavior that you occasionally see from a school board. You You guys are not doing that obviously, but you're the model, right? And people do look and they do watch and they do see. And to the extent that you treat one another with respect and to the extent that you ask really good questions and to the extent that you advocate for the things that are most important
038in Bastrop ISD, people notice that and they want to work in a place where there are high functioning people leading the district in a way that really makes good common sense for their their children, but also for them. And so I I always like to just make this point that within the budget context, you absolutely want to pay what you can pay, right? But when it comes down to it, the culture and the climate of the district is I was going to say even more important as long as the pay is close, right? People want to work in a positive place that makes a difference in the lives of the kids and the family. You You talked about it a little earlier that students need a place to belong, right? Just because they're human, right?
039That just because they're human, they need a place to belong. And so the budgets that you create prioritize this need to make sure that we have a place where kids belong and they can succeed uh with a high quality staff, right? And so when you have that attitude going in and when you have that mindset and and frame of mind of of you know, a board working together and working with one another as a team of eight. I think it does make a difference, especially in the age that we live in where everybody knows everything about everybody, right? They know what this board did and what that board did and what these people did and what those people did. It's just the age that we live in. We're never going to escape that. And so,
040to the extent that you can be that high-performing board, it gives you an advantage over someone else in terms of your recruiting teachers and in terms of uh your opportunity to get people that might you might not normally be able to get. So, I think that's important, always important for a board to remember. Um So, you're asking good questions. You're obviously compliant with the law. You're You're doing the things that you you're you're required to do from the state uh in terms of uh adopting a budget and going through all those timelines and so forth. Um The ultimate question, I think, about a budget is this. Does this budget move us toward the vision that we have set out for our kids? And if so, can I can I tangibly point to things in that
041budget that point us where we're where we're supposed to be going? And if not, what things would I point to that are diverting uh us from that? So, as a governance role, your job in aligning those resources is can you go back and tangibly look at that budget and say, "We're doing this and we're doing that and we're doing this that moves us toward our goal. We're not doing everything we want to do because we ran out of money, right? We don't have all the money in the world, but these are things that we're we're that tangibly move us toward uh where we want to go. Um how do you make sure that the the budget is staying in the lanes that you intended it to stay? Like you adopted a budget, what on a
042monthly or quarterly basis, how do you make sure that you are making How do you make sure that the budget is moving in the direction that it is supposed to move, doing the things that it is supposed to do? What do you check on? What do you ask? What do you ask for? As a board. Month. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yep, for sure. For sure. Are you Go ahead. Yep. here about 60 days this payment or here or there and then different things like that. So, it's you know, just really understanding it, but getting them up to report, direct access, asking some questions. Are Are you getting the things that you need in order to monitor it the way you like to monitor it? Is there anything you would like to have that you
043don't have? You know, codes. And so, I'd have to add remember that. And I'd have to ask, "What's this code? What's that code?" So, yeah, there were you know, that's when we'd reach out and say, "Okay, you got to explain this a little bit deeper." So, they they changed some things when we were >> some of the reports more dashboard type look that, you know, trying to understand where you're at, what's going on, but a lot of a lot of education and and even and paying Mike and past CFOs have when they get up and do the presentations in the workshops to the public, being able to, you know, be simplistic, explain it where where you can understand. Transparent is a huge one. I mean, we take pride in the audits we have and the
044awards that we get and things like that. So, Is Is there Go ahead. Pardon me for 1 second. We have a request, uh ladies and gentlemen, if you would turn your mics on when you speak. We're having a hard time to get your audio into the feed. Thank you. The uh As long as you're getting the things that you need, then that's that's a thumbs up. I guess the the other question that, you know, when you're talking about monitoring the budget and making sure that it is aligned to the things that you said that you were going to do, is that you know, but as we just review review and refresh, that is certainly part of a major responsibility of the board to make sure that you stay aligned to those things. Reviewing results, looking
045at student outcomes, and so forth. Do you ever find as a board that you find yourself debating line items on the budget? A particular staff member, a particular program, do you find yourself doing that very often on a regular basis? And >> ever feel that way because we have hired an expert to run our school district. Right. And she's charged with seeing that all the other experts get hired all the way down the line to where every teacher that's teaching a student is going to be in charge of that. And and so I have a lot of faith and trust in what we've done so far to have that go so we're not micromanaging anything. >> Yeah. That's not part of my governance role. Correct. That's true. Yeah, and I think we've been open to
046when we've had cuts and we've gotten feedback that you know, it's had it's it's affected say the classroom or that campus, we've been very receptive of that, try to put that back in the budget or and even before that, what other resources can we provide you know, during that that time frame. Um and and so um you know, and then as we go into the next budget, realize that's one that we need to possibly keep in place. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think I do. I mean, I debate them in my own mind for sometimes, for sure. Yeah, I debate them in my own mind for sure. Um I mean, it's never going to be perfect, obviously. We're never going to make a perfect decision. Um but yeah, there are times where I question And
047what is the question most often running through your mind that you may or may not speak? I mean, you know, just ordinary things like are we you know, are we allocating enough in curriculum and instruction and you know, where does that have to come from if we need to put more there and so it's just you know, ordinary thoughts that come into my mind and so all of that um I'm a big fan of fine arts so I love fine arts so I would like more to go to fine arts. So like in my own mind I have my own personal Yeah. Yeah. bias um on certain areas so that's you know, collectively I think that's where we help each other. No, and that's great. And uh one of the things I was going to
048say earlier and I didn't is you know, the worst board member is the one with an issue, right? Even if it's a good issue. Like if their relentless pursuit is one program, even if it's a good program, or one thing then that that diverts everyone's attention from all of us, right? From all of the students. And so it is that discipline, right? You debate these things in your mind sometimes and then you are disciplined in terms of is this a question that I need to ask? And if it is, you ask it, right? You absolutely 100% ask it. But if you find yourself constantly asking about really specific line items, then you kind of have to check yourself and say, "All right, am I am I taking the bigger picture? Am I looking at the
049budget as a whole? Am I am I am I too focused on one particular area than another?" So questions are not bad, questions are good, right? Cuz it helps the district refine the things that they need to do to present to you and to know how to do that. But it is when when you have a particular issue that budgets get in trouble when that conversation is dominated by a person or just questions about that one thing. So, you have to guard yourself and check yourself. And again, it's that long-term view. The best board members are disciplined. Like you all have your individual interests, right? I mean, I do. I I'm serve on boards. Uh not on a school board, but I serve on boards. So, I have my individual interests. But, the best thing
050I can do is be disciplined in the questions that I ask. And if I ask a question, it needs to be, you know, aligned with what it is that we're about and what it needs to be aligned with the budget conversations that we're having in that governance lane. Um that's great. Thank you. The um So, we're reviewing the budget. We're we're making sure that we don't get too much into the weeds in terms of the conversation the the individual conversations or staffing decisions or minor line items. The the questions the board should be asking or what we talked a little bit earlier about and that is what outcomes does this spending support, right? How do we align this with our strategic priorities? And what are the tradeoffs we're making? And so, that's I wanted to
051camp out there for just a minute as you think about your governance role. Do Have you had to make tradeoffs over the course of the last several years anyway in terms of the budget and how did you do How did you go about doing that? How did the board go about doing that? Well, I'm Define tradeoff. We only have enough money for one program, not two. Which one should we do? Yeah, I think we have a a good example where we had to cut those s- assistants that were in the classroom. Yeah. And but again, that was our administration coming to us saying, "Look, we just don't have the money this year. The money ran out." But, as soon as we could, we got them back in there. Yeah. And and and because we knew
052that it was so much more of a success story having those particular people in the classroom. >> Yeah. Yeah, and and I think another trade-off, too, when you talk about discipline was was the curriculum change. And past superintendent kept telling me and the board just stick Please stick with us. Please stick with us. And you had to have discipline cuz we were hearing it from the staff. We were hearing it just left and right. It goes, "But, we got to get some results. Watch. It's going to take 2 years, okay?" And and just encourage them and, you know, we had people retire. They weren't going to you know, just in people we knew really well. And it's made a difference. And it but it was all focused on we had to do something to move
053the needle for for, you know, student academic outcome. And and it and it has worked and it is working, but it's taken all hands on deck, but it took a lot I feel a lot of discipline and support from the board to stick with the administration to to do that. What is it about the Bastrop board where you were able to do that where other districts have failed in that effort where they are not able to be as disciplined? What what is it about you guys and your love for the district or the community that you live in or just who you are as a board member? What is it about you that allows you to do that? I go back to Kelly's comment how transparent it's been. I haven't been on the board as
054long as everybody else has. And and and I'm very aware of what what what's going on, you know. Um just because of the transparency and everything. I mean, we get presented every month what what what's happening uh academically, athletically, um fine arts, everything. And it's it's And you you we all we're I Speaking for myself, I always feel like I'm very aware with what's happening monthly. Yeah. Uh And you feel really good overall. You feel really good well informed and >> the communication we have. Yeah. And just not, you know, one thing is just not monthly, it's weekly. You know, the superintendent's giving a report at the end of the week and and hearing the success stories, hearing you know, looking at results, seeing where things are going, encouragement to hey, stick with us, we
055are making a difference. We know some folks are struggling with this. No one likes change. I mean, you could take any bank and they go or an insurance agency and they go to a new software or they go to a new program and man, it is Change is good for the other guy, but not for me. That's right. And why are we doing this? Because we need to. We need to upgrade our servers or our system or switch to a different one to be more effective. There's a reason and a and a goal. And our goal here, that's what we had to keep reminding ourselves is where we're going, what we doing. We got to try something. The needle wasn't moving and this got the needle moving. Okay. I I've been in other districts where
056the board uh the the board does not function very well. Sometimes there was animosity towards uh you know, between trustees. Sometimes there were, you know, significant disagreements that were uh talked about with every other person except the trustees themselves and and so what I have seen since being in Bastrop for the last 10 years is that these are are individuals who have respect for each other. And so they disagree with each other. Um but they have respect for each other and that's a community value. You know, these are all people who are known in the community and and respected and so they're not going to come to the board table and you know, make a mockery of the board meeting or or each other. And so that's another reason why I do believe they've been
057able to come to consensus and work through problems, support a budget, ask questions about a budget, um and so on. And And really blessed to be able to to help and be part of this team because that we've had some tough decisions and and you can't take it personal. Uh you can't get emotions into it. You got to stay focused on what the goals are, but but also can you know, if it's the recommendation of the superintendent or the administration and anything, they're the ones that got to administer. They're the ones that got to to push to get the objectives accomplished because then we do an evaluation with the superintendent and you know, are we moving forward? What type of results do we have? So it's it's really understanding your role and I feel that
058we've done a you know, this whole board has done a really good job of of going to SLI and understanding what is your role and also policing ourselves, trying not to cross that administrative line, but also be there for one another just to listen and respect how others feel and at the end of the day, what's best for all students, all staff. It's the key question for it all. What's best for all? And when you find yourself just in a category for one group of students, it's not that you can't advocate for them. Obviously, you can. It's that what are you doing overall, right? Is this dominating the discussion? Is it domin- denominate uh I can't even think of the right word, but is it dominating your perspective? And you have to you have to
059step back and take that wider view of it. So what is it? What gets other boards in trouble? All right, you you the respect I think is really critical and huge. Your willingness to listen was talked about. What What is it that gets other boards in trouble? One thing that I didn't hear mentioned yet um that might answer that, too, is you know, uh, being reactive versus proactive. And that's one thing I think our board and the admin, especially, is really good at. I mean, we know what the numbers are going to look like before the state tells us with regards to academics and Mike knows what the, you know, that, hey, there's going to be a budget, certain thing, yeah. And so, and I do, when I look around other boards, I see a
060lot of reactive measures. They wait, you know, way too long to make decisions. And that's one thing that I I I, you know, really appreciate is how quick that we make decisions, you know, when we see the writing coming down the wall versus just waiting on it. And so, that reactive nature, I think, is horrible for a school district that I've seen other school districts do. That's right. Well, and I think along with that is Mhm. when someone in the community comes to me as an individual board member with a concern, Right. and I'm able to pass that on to the administration. Yep. And the administration addresses it and follows up on it. Um, that just gives me that that confidence to know that everything's moving in the right direction. Um, that that that that,
061you know, yes, we're being supportive of our administration, but our administration's being supportive of us by taking care of any of those issues that come up. Because it's not something I can address on an as an individual board member anyway. Right. Yeah, and I think across the administrative line Yeah. is is where you get in trouble. And and that could be I want this football coach hired. Or I want this football coach fired. And the board's not going to hire or fire football coaches or principals or, you know, all those people, you know, that they have someone they report to and ultimately it's the the superintendent's responsibility. And and that superintendent can listen, can advise, and if it's if it's the right time and and that's what needs to be done or if there's reason
062for that and and it's unfortunate most of the calls we get is the superintendent has to take this direction. You're like, man, that was banging my head. to hear that. But, it's what they That's what that superintendent got to do to Right. to run the district. I I I find that when boards forget who their primary constituent is, is what gets them in trouble a lot of time. When you think that you serve the parents primarily, and you do serve the parents. You do. But, your primary constituent is the students and what's best for all of the students, not a group of parents or community members. And so, when you let that group influence your thinking when it has to be the thinking of all, that serves It doesn't serve a good purpose ultimately on
063the school board. That's why you come back to those high-functioning school board members or school boards, they're willing to give up personal agendas for the greater good, right? Which requires discipline, requires long-term thinking, right? I'm setting up future boards for success, and it comes back to what do I most want for our district, and that is these positive student outcomes, however we want to define them. Developing people who are going to be successful in the world because they're smart and also because they're creative, critical thinkers, and they can overcome issues, right? And so, it's that keeping that in mind, and I think when you use that filter that budget Think about this just through your lens of being a huge part of the budget of Bastrop ISD, not because of how much you get paid,
064but by ultimately the the bottom line approval of the budget, then then you you know, I just come back to your role in that governance line is to ask really good questions um to make sure that the work is aligned to what you said you were going to do, what the district said they were going to do. And then constantly coming back and checking that on a regular basis. Are we doing what we said we would do? As you think about your role on the board, what are questions that you have like you've never been able to ask necessarily or you haven't asked related to your role as a board member? In particular related to the budget, but not even limited to that at this point. Is are there questions you have related to your
065role as a board member? Uh in particular to the budget or in any aspect of being a board member? I have to say that like first thing when I when I got on the board I don't know how long ago that was. Um the first thing they did is brought I I came in for training and they were like they I I would I met with Sandra who was our who was our CFO at the time and and she gave me a really great overview, answered questions. We've always had an open We have an open door policy with with our superintendent, with with any of the um we can pick up the phone and call anybody. So I don't I don't think there's ever been questions I had that that I couldn't get an answer
066to. Um Yeah. Pretty And I I don't I think also we don't expect Dr. Lee to have the answers to everything either. Um I think that the people that serve on this board are pretty proactive and there's probably a lot of A types. Want to get stuff done? Yeah. What what? And so You you know, we don't wait for Dr. Lee to to come up with, you know, you know, kind of a macro level response to things. And in fact, she does a great job of communicating. You were talking about the difference between, you know, functional and well, I would say functional boards, but also like high-performing boards. And I consider us a high-performing board. And one of the distinctions that's always made with high-performing boards is that the superintendent is in lockstep with those
067board members every single time. And so that means over communicating in a lot of cases. And so she has, you know, kind of a a a leg up on a lot of superintendents because she's always been a phenomenal communicator and she hires phenomenal communicators. So she knows what's important. Um so on a weekly basis, we don't struggle. We know what's happening week to week. And if you want a one-on-one with her and it's a standing monthly that you do with her, you're going to get it. Yeah. Um so it's, you know, it's kind of carte blanche in that way. Um what I will also say is that um if she is struggling with something, I think that she realizes that we're a force. And so if there are some things she's looking into and she
068has questions and I see those things or one of the other board members sees those things, I mean, we're going to get after it and we're going to help, you know, do some research and Yeah. find some information and get that back to her. And and you know, that's not anything she would expect from us, but she'll get it anyway because it's a relationship. And this is a relationship business. Yeah, and and close session is is definitely helped. That that's probably where a lot of the questions that that you're able sticking to the agenda item in close session, but you're able to ask and the trust you have and it stays in there and and, you know, and that's that's really crucial. That's very important and it gives you some explanation, and you may not
069like the answer Yeah. that you leave with, but you know what? You're in support, and this is a direction, and the administration is the one that got to administer that. They're the ones that got to make those things happen and do those things. And And so, uh you know, every year we I think we strive to improve all these things that we're talking about and what's effective or what's not effective. You know, during the summertime, I think we only get communication every 2 weeks. So, that's okay. The number one priority is not in school. Could you make it 3 weeks? Just save all the issues I think I think this is more of a comment for me, but you know, I think we're all very active board members, and and that active piece is not
070just because we show up monthly or we communicate, it's we're really involved, you know, uh in the community as well as our district. And I I mean, I love that about it. I mean, it makes it a whole lot easier to work and be a part of this. And I I want to say this to everybody around this table. You know, a lot of times, and I've learned this, is I just pass it on. I can hear things, and I can hear things before she's going to hear them. I hear things sometimes before Chief's going to hear them, okay? But I I know this, once I pass it on, what do I say after that, Dr. Lee? I don't think I'll say exactly what you'll say. I say I say good luck, you know? But
071but I know they're going to take care of it. What whatever whatever it is, you know, if it's something needs to be communicated that there's a facility problem, if there's something going on, being able to have a great team and a cabinet, it means a lot because, you know, once you pass it on, they're going to run, they're going to go deal with it, and you you know, that that helps a lot. We have not always had that, and so, I think we probably got one of the best teams we've ever had today than since since I've been on the board. It's, you know, sincere about that. It's It's awesome. That's great. Can I Can I also want to just caveat all of this with we we do struggle. We definitely have places where, you
072know, we we um are still learning ourselves every single day, but I I I feel like we've taken some really significant turns here lately and you know, passing two bonds, you know, within >> yeah. a couple of years or a year of each other. I mean, and having a a community, I mean, own that, I mean, you really have to have onus to to be able to Yeah. do um to be transparent even because if you don't have community support and and a good number of community Yeah. uh members supporting um these initiatives then, you know, and many of us were not on the board when those things were happening. So, you know, it takes It takes a long time. Yeah. And And being able to talk to one another, you know, just one-on-one with,
073you know, each one of us, you know, if we need to say, "Hey, help me understand." or "Hey, am I looking at this wrong?" or "Hey, what are your What are your thoughts? I just want to be able to talk about this." You know, and and things like that and and so that that is definitely over the years has helped as well. Yeah. And I'm just encouraged you that as as you do your business, that that's exactly I mean, you have to have the respect. You don't always have to agree. You you have to have respect for one another and understand that somebody else's viewpoint may be different than yours, but it's not wrong, right? It's different. And that when you come together as a board, you have to be able, even if the vote
074is four to three, once the vote is done, it's done. Yeah. And you you push forward with being like-minded. The other thing I would just And you said it earlier Ashley and that is this that the board has to police itself. All right? There's nobody else to police you other than the voting, right? That somebody can vote against you or for or for somebody else. But the board really has to take that ownership of talking to one another even in disagreement when you have that and you know, talk to me and I see it differently but I understand where you are, right? And so the board has to be able to be willing to do that and so my encouragement to you is this that that within the budget framework where we started it is
075you know, it seems to me anyway, you guys have a really good understanding what your role is and what that should look like and I would just encourage you that to take that big picture look all the time. Are we serving all of the students? And are are we aligned with what we said we wanted to do? And are there tangible things that you can point to to say, yeah, we're doing this because we said we were going to produce this kind of student or develop this kind of student, right? And so there's always a limit to the resources. You would always like more and I guess my last encouragement to you would be yes, advocate on behalf of the school district for legislative change in terms of funding relief but concentrate on the money
076you have not on the money you don't have, right? The money you wish you had. Uh and again, that's not an excuse to to back off the legislature however you guys choose to do it and then have legislative priorities but it is just the reality living in the reality is let's spend the money that we have the right way not and aligned with what we said we would want to do. I have a question. Sure. In your expert advice and opinion Okay. um how do you see successful boards um either independently advocating or as a group advocating uh legislatively? You know, what have you seen that's good, bad? Yeah, it's a great question. Um, I see that boards have less influence than they should with the legislature because you're not often seen as an unbiased
077person, right? And you're not unbiased, but you're not you know uh not all legislators listen to school board members, but all legislators listen to the general public and to the parents that are out there. And so, your role partly in that is to rally the troops as a grassroots effort in Bastrop ISD to say, "Here's what our parents believe." And if it comes from the parents, I mean, which many of you are uh parents, you're you're probably all parents, but you might not have kids in the district right now, but from the parents that have kids in the district makes a much more of an impact probably than it is if it comes from you as a school board member. That's a little sad to me, but I think it's a reality. It's just like
078when I was superintendent or Dr. Lee being superintendent here, the legislature's going to she's going to have less influence with the legislature than she should because she is a superintendent, right? And sometimes it's seen as you're protecting and which I don't think is the case. I think it's the case of fair funding. So, to answer your question, I would say it's to rally the troops as a grassroots effort to uh get people to talk to their legislators about the issues. And so, to that end, when we rally troops as far as focused effort, do you find that being focused on you know, like one specific legislative priority and maybe hitching our wagon to something specific in terms of funding is better than you know Yeah. going gangbusters and you know after like the whole Yeah,
079no, that's a good It's a good question. I think it's kind of like a strategic plan. You would like to do more than you're just physically able to do or that you have the resources to do and so you really have to determine what are the two or three or three or four things that we need to be able to do or need to do. If you believe everything, you almost believe nothing, right? And so it's identifying those three or four beliefs that you have about what the legislature ought to be doing that it's not doing or not doing to the extent and identifying those three or four things. I think funding is probably at the tip of the spear related to that and and it's not just funding, right? That's a big term like
080a how? How are you going to fund it? It is It is this this idea of funding per pupil, right? We need more per pupil that we have in our district. That's one thing. The second thing I would say is that most states fund based on enrollment, not based on attendance. And so if the state could move to an enrollment based funding as opposed to an attendance, it's very easy to understand, right? And and and if enough people talked about funding based on enrollment and not just on attendance, I think there was some conversation and there was even a bill last year. It didn't didn't take off at all, but I think those are two very tangible things, right? The per pupil funding and then the and based on the whole >> was kind of
081going I was more along the lines of you know, unfunded mandate, things that have been put upon schools by the legislature that have never been funded and really that's sort of a no-brainer in my mind, but as you rally the troops, it may not be the entire, you know, we're not asking for the Yeah. for for everything all at once, but at least we're we're going after the dollars that I think it would have to be any and you would have to talk about specific unfunded mandates. Because if you just talk about them in general, it's kind of like No, yeah. I'm meaning specific. >> Specific unfunded mandates. Yeah, and and I think piggybacking with the chamber here, we have a very large chamber, very successful in the Central Texas area, and they have a
082they have a they at the capital. And if we can if they're going there with three or four items, maybe we can have one of them and being very specific, uh, Trustee Reese, in what that is. You know, that that we would get behind and even possibly going with them or, you know, handful >> I just want to make a point to that to you because is you is it your thought, because this is what I've heard, uh, just being around the state, that her Dr. Battle, because he happens in the interim period? Yeah, I think I mean, it happens both >> at the capital. Like what's done is done by the time you go there and testify. I think there's probably some truth to that, but there's a lot of there's a lot in
083the interim that you should do. It's an ongoing conversation. It's certainly while they're there and about to take a vote, but that being said, there's a lot to do in the interim as well in terms of communication, for sure. You guys are great. I've gone over my time. So, you not only have team of eight training, you have team of eight training plus 10 minutes. Awesome. Put that on Put that on your resume. >> Can we bank that? Put that on your resume. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to come in here and and visit with you a little bit. I really appreciate the opportunity to do that. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Yes. All right, any other items, uh, for this evening's meeting? Any objections to adjourning this meeting? There are
084none, meetings adjourned. Thank you.