001[Music] Hey, [Music] hey, [Music] Good evening. The Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District Board of Trustees is now convened in the board work session on Thursday for purpose of reviewing the portion of Monday. We held our first meeting on Monday which provided the opportunity for members to get to know each other, review the charge of the committee and establish some foundational knowledge with Dr. Killian presenting the state of the district to be better understand which charge members felt was the most important to address. We asked each table to discuss the charge and to reach consensus on the ranking. Once a consensus was reached for each table, the ranking was recorded using the poll everywhere technology application. On the screen, you will see the priority ranking for all tables. Review and consideration for possible attendance boundary changes
002ranked as number one. I'd like to take this opportunity though to squaltch a rumor in the community that we've made some attendance boundary uh changes uh or decisions regarding that. But I want to reassure the community and you that there have been no internal discussions nor have there been any discussions with the committee about attendance boundary changes. So anything that people are hearing about uh changes that have been made that's total rumor. So just want to make certain I hopefully eliminate some undue stress for people. As I mentioned, all information related to the long range planning committee is posted on the district website. If you click on our district and then committees, you will see the long range planning committee and all the information including meeting dates, members, and other resources. We will post all
003presentations here following each meeting. We will have three meetings before the next uh board update, so I'll have more detailed information uh to report to you next month. And that's the end of my presentation. Told you it would be brief. >> Any questions from the board? >> Um Teresa, do we still have approximately 65 people that are participating? >> Uh we're up to 64 now. Uh Dr. Killian and I, uh based on some folks that were no longer participating at the last minute, uh we now have 64 and I'm waiting on a response from the 65th person. Uh she did not respond to me. uh prior to the meeting, but I do have 64 committed members. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. The board will now review the following consent agenda items during review
004of the following items. Any board member remove one or more items at which time will be addressed on and voted individually. If any board member has a question regarding agenda item, please ask be recognized for the consent uh for the consent agenda item. Aa >> I have a question. >> Go ahead. on um on 8C. >> Yeah, let me let me get AC first. Let me go. Let me apologize. >> Yep. Um 8A, the board consider approving minutes from September 8th. 8B, the board consider approving second reading, additions, revisions, deletions to district policy. 8B1, FFG, local student welfare. 8 C, the board will consider approving construction proposals, contracts paid for funds recommended contractors authorized. 8C1 Bridgestone High School school renovation. Go ahead, Christine. I >> I just had a question and wanted to get some
005understanding. Um, it looks like they're adding an orchestra rehearsal room, some practice rooms, two art rooms, athletics life cycle replacement, safety, and security updates on those last two. Can we get any clarification on that or some additional information that might be helpful? Jesse, you have minute. Good evening. Is this microphone on? Okay. So, this this renovation is part of the 2019 bond program. And this is the last project we have in the 2019 uh bond program. And so, the the safety and security upgrades are everything that all of our other campuses have gotten. additional glass reinforcement, additional lockdown buttons, additional badge card badge readers, everything else that we've gone through all the middle schools and high schools and done. The athletic life cycle, I apologize. I can get you that information, but I I don't
006have that specific list, but I can tell you that it is not the football field turf. It is not the baseball or softball turf. Those are still within their expected life range. Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> And just a point of information, the audio problems we are existing. So, they are trying to work on those problems for the uh viewing public at home. So, uh FYI, any other questions for Jesse while he's up here? >> Jesse, I got a couple questions for Let me move this over here. Not much room. >> Jesse, can you explain explain to the viewing audience? I know we we met earlier this week um concerning the procurement of contracts and bidding of contracts so everyone's clear on on how how they bid on contracts and >> Yes
007sir. >> Can you explain that process? >> Yes sir, I can. So we utilize a competitive sealed proposal bid process. So once a project has completed design, our architects advertise the project in the Houston Chronicle for two weeks before the project bids. We have a set bid date and a set bid time. On the bid date, any contractor that meets our bonding requirements and our insurance requirements is welcome to provide a proposal. So those proposals are received at the facilities and construction department. Base bid is received at 2 o'clock. Alternates are received at three o'clock. We have members of the uh project management team as well as the architect as well as members of our procurement department at the bid location as well. At 3:00 we have a public bid opening. The base bid is
008open and read aloud and then the alternate proposals if they are any are open and read aloud. After that we go into an evaluation process. Every offerer is evaluated by the construction team. usually project managers and directors in the facilities and construction department. They're all graded based on our published evaluation criteria. That process allows us to identify the offer that provides best value to the district. That is our that is the requirement for competitive sealed proposal. We are not obligated to award the project to the lowest bidder, but we are required to offer the project to the contractor who provides best value. Once we identify that contractor, we can then enter into negotiation with that contractor and that contractor alone. So if we have questions or clarifications or if we want to make last minute
009changes, we can negotiate with that one contractor. If we cannot come to an agreement with that contractor, we have to formally end negotiations with them and then we can move on to whoever the second place or the third place uh contractor is until we come to an agreement. Once we've come to an agreement, we make a recommendation to the board of trustees. If the board approves the contract, then we're off and running. >> Thank you, Jesse. >> All right, seeing no more questions, we'll continue on. Thank you, Jesse. 8 D. The board consider awarding bids, contracts, and authorizing purchase orders for recommended post agenda items. 8D1, Food Nutrition Services. 8D2, Council Services for Bonds. 8 D3 Charter Bus and Travel Agency. 8D4 Scyfare High School Innovation Equipment. 8D5 Disclos Disclosure Council Services. 8D6 Financial Advisory
010Services. >> Go ahead. Um I do have a question regarding 8D6 uh the U bid for financial advisory services. Um I see that we uh and we discussed this actually in our finance committee meeting that uh there's a primary um uh organization that is awarded and then a secondary um as well. My my um question is that uh there's uh the secondary firm that was selected actually was third in the evaluation by a significant uh score. So, um I have some concerns about that selection for a secondary provider for financial um advisory services. >> That's because of me. Um so they did the rankings and then um I ended up asking for uh two people and I asked for the third bidder because I had experience with that particular person. Just like with this disclosure
011council, I had experience with um the secondary person there too um from a pre a previous district. So all the ones that are being awarded um are all ones that I've had specific experience with. >> Um thank you Dr. Killian and and I understand that. And on the other um uh uh award, the firm that was chosen to be the secondary provider was number two in the evaluation process. My concern has to do with this one being not just the third um choice, but um almost 20 points below the primary. >> Um my personal experience, a really good firm in terms of him. Um it's a new firm though and I can see why it would be rated low. >> Okay. Thank you. Actually, mine was the same question I did ask and I think
012Martney said she's already sent a few things but I haven't got to look at my email. Um but the question I had was similar to Julie's and I think that it raises the same question that um maybe maybe a year ago or so when we talked about the architects the I wanted to see the rubric um we get a level of detail here but not the actual rubric itself. So to me I wondered why would a firm who's done good work not rank and you've just started saying part of it which is that it's a new firm. Yeah. Um, but just I wonder about the comp like if we're limiting the the number of people who can bid or win in our rubrics by experience with the district or age of the firm and and
013rep, you know, I so I just asked to see the rubric. That was my question because I wonder why would they show up so low in the rubric when you have had a good experience with them and just make sure we're not limiting those who can do business with us so that we can get the best price and best value. >> Yeah. And but with uh um RFQ though, we're not really looking at best price. We're looking at qualifications, right? >> So >> yeah. So I'll look at the rubric and see it's got the criteria, I'm sure, in the different categories. So >> yeah, I just that is something that has come up before with the architect firms because >> um we had 14, you know, four.3 billion dollars of bond. Well, that's a debt
014I guess three, four, five, whatever between 20 the last two bonds. And I think only like five architect firms could pass our our um rubric. And so I know that we had I know I was uh approached at a a meeting in the city actually for HCC. And it was a a femaleowned architect firm and she said, "I've built for HCC. I've built for HISD. I've built for Fort Bend ISD and I can't even get even a chance to have it looked at in in Scyfare ISD." And >> so that's what made me ask the questions and I couldn't figure out eventually I realized it was the rubric and so this is the next time like where I'm seeing maybe the rubrics and the categories are are limiting who can come and and and have
015us look at it or work for us. >> You know the way I've approached well the way I've approached a lot of that in other district is I mean you have to give extra points for stuff like that. So, um you would give extra points for a veteranowned or you could give an extra point for um a group that might be a historically underutilized business or something like that. And that would be included in the the the rubric. I I don't know if we have those points in included in the rubric. The other thing too is um one of the practices of I've seen before too was when you um when you hire architectural firms, you might hire three, two, three, four architectural firms, especially if you have the kind of breath of work we
016do. Um and then maybe you save a spot for um a firm you've never used before or a firm that might be smaller and might get smaller work to try out, that kind of stuff. So, >> and so and I know um for example, I was out at Bird for a campus visit this week and it could not be more beautiful and I mean we have some incredibly lovely facilities and well-maintained facilities and I do know of course this when u Matt shared before with like some of the same footprint and then the economies of scale just being able to build a couple of the same um and then but I could you could I get a list of which architects we have worked with in the last two bonds and not right now you
017don't have to initial ready but I just was interested interested in in that. And then I would like to see in our practices in procurement whether something like you're mentioning could be um you know like a a line that allows maybe a few people into the market to work for us and it may actually drive pricing down is my hope or make it um you know a little bit more competitive because if you're the same group then you kind of know how each other prices and it might be that you never really bring the price you know like we don't get someone to come in and niche the the pricing we have and I know we're in a a cool down in our building phases um but just to you know there's still a lot
018of work that could be coming out of the planning committee. >> Well, in a district our size two, I would just I'm sorry, Dr. Blessing game, we're we're we have seven architects under contract. And when we do an RFQ, we don't negotiate price. The district sets the price. So regardless of if it's a new architect, an architect that's been working with us, we set the percentage that we pay them. So there would be no, we would not receive any value. So really the qualifications are what we focus on. We set the price. >> I think what I'm wondering about is the regional pricing function that happens in architecture. So I is it true I might be wrong but um is it true that sort of the way they price in the region as new like
019for example the lakes area out there is really growing right now. There's a lot of building and so they look they set the price according to regional like what the regional pricing what's been happening in in the region. So, it's a chance to maybe not um driving the whole project price up could be something that it's not their margin, but it could be something or is that not accurate? >> That's not accurate, ma'am. The architect the architect doesn't set the price. We set the price. It's a percentage of the project and we set that percentage and we're pretty cons we are very consistent, maybe even more conservative than most of our surrounding districts. We've always gotten very good pricing on architecture services. >> So, we set our price of the project but not the price
020of the building. that comes from them, right? >> No, the price of the building is determined, they give us an estimate, but the price of the building is determined through the CSP process, which is an open market process. Any any contractor can bid on it, and that is the market price. >> So, that's the regional pricing is the CSP. Okay, I'll do a little homework on that. Maybe you can share a little bit about that or I can do my own homework and come and ask you if I'm getting it, okay? Because you always teach me. Thank you, Matt. >> Dr. Blasting Game, you might Are you talking about like Davis Bacon wages? That's the only thing I can think that you might have heard where the regional does determine the >> well when you
021have uh >> that's contractor price >> Davis Bacon but that's with a federal program and we don't do any federal construction projects. We have uh RS means which is through jock which is a regional price that is set and we if we use jock services we usually procure that through a purchasing cooperative and then they give us their rs means pricing and we usually negotiate below that >> and and I was just going to add so when when I've used um smaller firms in other districts um normally that's for just small projects right so just to try them out and um in particular we had one architectural firm that the people that were going to be doing our work on a very small project uh was going to be their a team because it was
022going to be their owners. So we we just got that extra attention from the owners on some stuff that normally in a bigger firm they they wouldn't give us um the owners of the company that were architects. So yeah >> and I did see a few new names like coming in on some of the projects in the last couple that were so I wondered if maybe we were doing that and looking at some new folks >> from the contractors. >> Yes. on different construction. >> I think on this bid, Jesse, we had eight responses. >> Yeah, we saw them on here. >> We had eight responses and the contractor that we awarded to had great references, but I don't believe we've done a project with them before. We're open to and we we promote this
023with the district. We are open. We want new partnerships. We want competition. So, there have been several projects in the last couple of phases that we've awarded to contractors that don't typically bid on our jobs, but they all had good references, qualified subs, great superintendent, so we we welcome that. >> I did notice and I was pleased to see that maybe smaller um that project wasn't one a huge one yet. >> It's not a really big project. So, I was actually I was kind of surprised we got that many responses because usually the smaller the project, the fewer responses you get and you've seen some projects come through where we may have three or four. This was a little over six million and we had eight responses. So, that's very encouraging. We meet with new
024contractors frequently to encourage them to bid on our jobs. We want more partners and we want more competition. >> Well, I'm really pleased to see that number. I know there was one time when Tom Jackson was still here and I think we only had two and we were like because Yeah, >> that depends on the construction market. If if a lot of districts are bidding at the same time, contractors have to choose which job they're going after and they go after the big jobs. So, it depends on what's going on in the market at the time, the size of our jobs, that really helps determine or sometimes determines how many responses we get. >> Well, really good job, um, Jesse and Matt and your team, because since we're not in a less in a declining
025enrollment situation, which we're almost in I've watched your your state of the district about seven times this week, maybe six, maybe not quite, but as we see that we're filled out, um, Karen feels like temperature, but as we fill out, we're going to not have maybe as big of jobs. And so the point is that's really good to see that they're coming and that you guys are courting them and um that they feel welcome to work here. Thank you. >> We'll now proceed with the non-consent agenda items. 9A. The board consider taking action on a resolution to nominate two candidates for the position of board directors for Harris County Appraisal District. I have a question about so we are being asked to fill the position for the terms that are expiring December 31st 25 correct
026so there's two positions >> correct >> okay and the only two people seeking the nomination are the existing board members do we have any other names >> okay just out of curiosity >> I was given a name but I have not made contact with that person so I can't nominate them at this Very good. Thank you. >> 9B. The board consider approving district instructional material recommendations for math, kindergarten, 8th, and algebra 1. Dr. Gory, presentation. >> Good evening, President Henry, Dr. Kllin, and board of trustees. After an extensive review process and thoughtful feedback from elementary, middle, and high school math teachers, we are recommending the adoption of Accelerate Learnings STEM Scopes math for grades kindergarten through 8 and algebra 1. This resource incl is included on the state board of education's instructional materials review and
027approval list and is 100% aligned with the Texas essential knowledge and skills. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to two of our committee members. Holly Hamlin from Reed Elementary and Michelle Perkins from Cypress Ridge High School along with um the two assistant superintendent from curriculum and instruction, Dr. Vivian Bennett and Melissa Martin. They will share additional information with you. >> Good evening. We are pleased to present to you the recommendation from our CFISD teachers for our next math textbook adoption. The information we share with you this evening is reflective of many months of effort undertaken by our CFISD math teachers and district math instructional team. We want to begin by walking you through the process as a whole. Last spring, with an adoption on the horizon, members of the CFISD curriculum team
028reviewed possible State Board of Education approved adoptions, priority prioritizing those with approved materials ranging from grades K through 8 up to algebra 1 to ensure vertical alignment for our learners. Of the materials listed on the SBOE approved adoption list, Accelerate Learning STEM Scopes and Blue Bonnet were the two options with approved curriculum available across all grade levels. Due to the farreaching impact of this adoption, we wanted to ensure a significant teacher voice was embedded into this process. We solicited teacher representatives at each campus and across a variety of grade levels. Over the summer, these teachers attended a materials presentation evening with the providers of each curriculum and worked collaboratively at their campuses to vote for the curriculum they felt best meet the needs of our district. In addition to teacher representation, we hosted three days
029of review opportunities for our parent and community stakeholders. As part of the adoption process, teachers had the opportunity to evaluate each curriculum offering based on defined criteria. These slides contain examples of key areas considered alignment with the rigor of TEACS, clarity of content for teacher delivery, opportunities for teachers to formatively assess to ensure student understanding, differentiated strategies and resources, and concrete models and visuals to aid with conceptual development. The outcome of teacher votes are reflected for you here, broken down by elementary and secondary with purple shading reflecting votes for accelerate learning stem scopes and the yellow shading reflecting votes towards blue blind learning. Next, we would like to invite a teacher from each category as we shared to share the why teachers represented found value in STEM scopes. Miss Hamlin, board of trustees, I'm grateful
030to share the elementary teacher perspective with you this evening. As a TIA master designated teacher, I'm very invested in ensuring that we are providing our CFI students with the best instructional resources available. A key aspect of the curriculum that I found beneficial was the overall framework. Each lesson cycles the 5e model, which you see here. The 5e model is currently used in science classrooms in CFISD and allows for students to build background knowledge and interact with resource material through authentic experiences. Because this model is used in science, teachers already have a high degree of familiarity with it with the lesson cycle, which lessens the learning curve that comes with a new curriculum. Additionally, one of the key strengths was the parent student supports. STEM scopes provides teachers with scaffolded small group resources to differentiate and
031extend for all learners. Explanatory videos and letters provided for parents will support the homeschool partnership. Other resources such as text to speech and vocabulary cards will assist teachers in providing language support to specific student groups. The resources provided in STEM scopes were a definite benefit as well. Student workbooks are available for paper and pencil practice along with printables that can be digitally displayed for students to reference during instruction. Students will have the opportunity to practice answering various question types which are accessible online and prepare students well for digital district and state assessments. Finally, each learning concept contains real world connections for students that can assist with the retention of concepts and skills. At this point, I'll turn it over to Michelle Perkins, who can share the secondary teacher experience. >> Thank you very much. Good
032evening, board of trustees. I serve as the algebra 1 team leader at Cypress Ridge High School, go Rams. And am a recognized TIA teacher. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you all regarding the technology features, the quality of stem scopes teacher resources and the rigor the of the student materials being considered. The technology that stu stem scopes offers integrates seamlessly with our learning management system schooly. This platform provides true digital resources like manipulatives, visualizations for students along with real time data which will help teachers easily differentiate instruction. As for teacher supports, STEM codes provides a comprehensive teacher guides that meet the needs for new and experienced teachers. For example, the guides include facilitation tips, sample answers, video lessons, teacher prep notes, and ensures the delivery to ensure the delivery of high quality instruction and
033offers a calendar tool that allow teachers to efficiently create and manage lesson plans ultimately saving teachers time. I found that stem codes stem scopes offers supports for conceptual development and provides extension activities for students who are already mastering um content as well as there are embedded student discourse resources that promote critical thinking through peer discussions. Based on these factors, I truly believe the curriculum is well suited to support our secondary learners. The totality of votes with both elementary and secondary combined is reflected for you here. We would like to conclude our presentation by expressing our sincere gratitude to our teachers for their instructional leadership and dedication throughout the process. >> We're now open for questions. >> I have a question. So, I'm excited. A thank you to you two and then all the teachers that
034have been involved in this process. I know a lot of dedication went through this and I'm very excited uh to see this come to conclusion. Uh I got a couple questions. I'm passionate about parents being able to tutor their kids at home. So when I look here and I see parent videos, can someone explain more deeply what that statement means? >> Yes, for sure. Um this was definitely one of the the big benefits that we saw. Many teachers voice this. And so what it is is actually there are parent videos for every grade level and every unit um and skill that is taught that they can view at home that reinforces and shows the skill that's being taught. And so think about it, you take it and it's an at home practice. They even have
035a QR code on the um at home homework practice sheets that they can scan if the student needs additional support or for the parent to understand what is being taught at school. >> Yep. And to add to that, it is a certified teacher that is in the videos that students or parents would be able to access. >> This is so important. I can't tell you how many times over the last few years, cuz my daughter's now in fifth, gone through K all the way through with us or or first grade rather. And um Dad, that's not what the teacher says. I mean, that is how most of my evenings begin. Um so I'm excited to hear that. That's an incredible resource. our PE our parents are the best tutor in many cases for our kids
036are the most motivated to give them that instruction. So, it's a it's a great resource for us as we're trying to figure out how to close the gap is equipping them to be able to do so. So, I'm very excited about that. Next question. Um, small group, can you explain that a little bit? So, I'd like to hear your perspective on what that means and how it's embodied in the classroom. >> I'll let the expert speak. There it is. Um so are you asking specifically about how the STEM scopes provides for small groupoup instruction in the classroom? Yes. Again another benefit that we saw with this curriculum. The first is that it does integrate um at the elementary level which I looked at the that small groupoup instructional support for all grade levels in in
037that. And then the really huge benefit is that it provides scaffolded and differentiated re resources for students of all of your learning types that you can think of um from below all the way to above. One of the huge um benefits is the amount of resources and the ability for teachers to navigate and to find those resources easily because if a teacher can't find it um it doesn't matter how great it is, it's not going to be used. And so they provide um ideas of activities to do, small group lessons to to implement um again for for all learning types. Is that >> Yep. That's great. for both of our experts here this evening. What are the biggest changes you guys see in an improvement over what we have today versus what we're contemplating now
038in this in your recommended source? So we have math before in our current curriculum. What's the biggest step change that you see going forward as far as a benefit? I think one of the biggest step changes that we see or the biggest like that helps is the fact that we get to take home and you have those online resources at home >> especially for our students >> and it speaks to all ours all learners exactly what Miss Paulie said from all from below to masters. Okay. Yourself? >> Yes. To piggyback on that, I think there's two big things for me that are um the big difference. One is that it does have digital resources. It has a digital platform where it has teacher guidance, student resources. It has digital assessments that right now we have
039a wonderful, but it's an in-house uh math curriculum that doesn't have that online platform that brings all of the content together with the variety of assessment types and such. And then the second one is it has a vertical alignment of TEICSS. And so this is huge as a teacher of thinking of those different levels of learners and the ability of yes the TEICSS are out there you can go and get them but this puts it with each lesson with each concept that you're looking at. And so I have a student who is below like grade level and I look at what supplemental support what skill do I need to build from a previous grade level. The teak is right there the vertical alignment of that. And on the flip side of it I have a
040student who is showing mastery already. All right. How can I help them extend that learning so that they continue growing and don't pace out? Great, great resources to have. >> Thank you both very much. My question to you to give the mic to somebody else. >> I again thank you for everybody involved in this uh very thorough. We appreciate your time and evaluating this. So I'm looking at the slide that says teacher representative insights or in essence this to me seems like the judging criteria. So alignment, clarity, assessment meets the needs of various learners, variety of resources and concept development. Of those six criteria, were they all equally weighted or how did y'all evaluate those and how were they weighted? How were they scored? >> So teachers were given uh when they came to the
041presentation the vendor night, teachers were given a rubric and each of those areas was equally weighted. uh they were able to provide a rating from zero to four for any of those areas and they turned in their vote giving us that information. So we were able to see where discrepancies lied between each of the curriculum offerings. >> Okay. So uh and going down into both the elementary insights and the secondary insights and I'll ask you Miss Hamlin and Miss Perkins as well. Were there any individual insights that jumped out to you as being particularly strong um in favor of um stem scopes? Were there any of these particular insights that really got the group excited and that really kind of drove the bus a little bit? >> There is the real world connections. I am
042still excited about this. I can still tell you the um example lesson that they gave us back in June which had to do with bottle flipping with a water bottle and think about fourth and fifth graders and getting excited and then doing probability and graphing. So every single um unit or module of it has a real world connection. It answers that age-old question that kids ask. When am I going to use this? Why is this important? Right? And so that's things like some of the examples I looked at is uh it was kids playing video games and it was talking about how are you going to know who's going to have the higher score and then it led into a lesson on comparing numbers or it was for the younger grades they had a waffle
043and talking about how are we going to have equal pieces and leading into a lesson on fractions on that. And so the huge thing is that real world connection, the hook going to back to the five E that engage. It's the hook that gets them in, but then it's reference throughout the rest of the cycle of the lessons. And so a huge benefit that's something that we haven't had um to the same extent and that isn't seen in all curriculums. Miss Perkins, >> as for secondary, um, one of the things that majorly stood out for us was the fact the ease of how easy this platform is to use for students and teachers and just staff and parents, which is most important. Um, not only that, it has so many teacher resources, especially for our
044new teachers that don't know how to process just yet how to maybe deliver the best instruction. It provides scaffolding right there for that brand new teacher that just starts out that needs that extra support to make sure that we have that quality teaching for our students. >> Very good. Well, thank you again for all your work and thank you for your presentation this evening. >> Can I ask >> Dr. Gorie? Um, one of the things that Christine asked, which I thought was really interesting at the the event on Monday, um, was, okay, for first of all, whatever we select, is there a way that if there's something we want to supplement from the other, um, piece, can we do that like with Blue Bonnet with some of the material since it's isn't that open source
045and all that? >> So, there are open education resources, what they're called. um and those are available and we actually use those now. Some of the for example we use the FL fact fluency which the teachers have um quite a bit of experience with and like the the use of that uh fact fluency resource. So anything that on that open education resource list any of those things we will supplement uh can use to supplement the curriculum. I think this should be a feature of every single board meeting is having teachers super congratulations on being TI masters and recognized teachers and uh that's an incredible accomplishment and for those who don't know what that takes that means their um a couple of criteria but the fact that they are their their actual teaching actions the craft
046in the classroom is one aspect of it and the actual outcomes of their students from that and the outcomes and then a few other local things that really say that we're super professionals in the system. So that's an incredible accomplishment. Congratulations. Um the we three are on the academic safety vision and planning committee. So we uh participated in the session with the math teachers which was a delight because the amount of passion and the amount of knowledge and insight and just just giving that extra bit to the to your district and to the kids and the families. Lucas, I did bring up your issue because you've we've been I think it's been given to us at ASVP and it's been a hard one to get to to how we've discussed it several times at ASVP,
047but how to help families know how to teach the concepts and the fact that this has it so readily available. In fact, it was there was discussion at one of the tables about how teachers can use that with flipped instruction and really just they don't even know how to handle such an amazing resource yet. So, um I I really am um pleased. I did have a couple of questions. Um, one is I don't I didn't ask you ahead so and I try to look it up just in case, but I don't think the IMRA process at TEA was in place yet, right? When they passed this one, um, we ran into that with science and science had a lot more like controversial topics that went against this the new state law and didn't go through
048IMRA. I don't I looked at the math rubric and it doesn't seem to me that it has some of those like state law issues. Um, but I would just want to make sure that if this didn't go through EMRA, could we go through a process of checking? Um, I think that it says that the math 2026, let me just see it here. Math 2026. Um, the this is not this is AI, right? So 2026 has not yet been approved through the instructional materials review process in Texas. I guess because it was going it really begun for 2728. So my question would just be I see no concerns. The teachers love it. I just want to make sure we take a minute to make sure there was nothing that's going to catch us in the um
049the review of the EMR process. >> It's on the 2024 list. The new list is not it will not be posted until November. I don't anticipate there will be any changes because it's 100% aligned with the TEICSS. >> Yeah, I saw it was actually a really great rubric and everything y'all called out as a a strength in it is is in the rubric. And so I really congratulate the state board of ed for really coming through and that having that parent piece in there as well. Um the next question I have is just that and I think that um the qu the question Christine had posed we um um we have to trust the process of the state since we have a new law for the star test right and so I was always concerned
050that the state's chosen curriculum might be the most aligned to our state assessment and especially now that it's going to be three little bites or whatever during the school year. So I thought that was a really good point. U I would want us to make sure that we look at the scope and sequence and blue bonnet make sure because it we can't even benchmark anymore correct and we haven't gotten all the rules but maybe Dr. Martin you can talk to that a little bit or or Dr. Gury or whoever wants to I just want to make sure that we pay attention to what the states presenting in its order so that when our kids sit down before their test we've taught the same things. >> So this the the adoptions are created for the entire
051state of Texas. Think about how many school districts there are. And so we've always prioritized those heavy concepts for our students, making sure that we teach them early so we can spiral back and have reteing opportunities so kids have more time with critical content to master it. So we can adjust the scope and sequence. There's no rule to the scope and sequence has to follow this order. We use we really use our data. And what does our data tell us? We need to hit heavily and then spiral back to again to make sure that our kids master those concepts. guys, this is why we have no DNF campuses is this these teachers teachers are the lifeblood these incredible support um professionals that help. Um so I would want to make sure too in that obviously
052teachers are used to that but does this curriculum and maybe I'll ask the teachers who reviewed it is this curriculum have that flexibility where if you needed to move will will the ease of use be impacted at all if you have to change concepts around or will it still be very easy and accessible for you guys? >> Um no I don't see any impact. I actually see it being easier because of how streamlined it is because of the five E and so you're following through the same thing and then supplementing in with any of those those resources as needed. >> Awesome. Same from high school. Excellent. Okay. Very good. Thank you so much to you guys. Thank you. I see another couple of teachers who served on the committee over there. Um and definitely appreciate
053everyone your process of getting out and and really showing um uh getting teacher voice and then coming back with something so thorough in your feedback. Thank you. I I also wanted to echo, thank you very much. There's a long list of teachers right here that invested in this and so we really appreciate y'all taking the time uh to go through this and to give the feedback. The feedback uh for us to be able to witness was so extremely helpful. Um just that there are more resources. It's better for teachers. They're not having to create things from scratch. Um that it does have different modalities and the teacher can review the grades. Um, they have anchor charts, supplemental aids to help with the fact fluency. Um, this is great for the teachers and it's even better
054for the students that this is something that's going to be able to benefit them and help parents um whether students are emergent, bilingual, gifted and talented, on level, below level. I mean, that's what we heard uh from some of the uh feedback and that it was just very wellreceived. Um, I I want to thank y'all so much for the work. It was so um inspiring and invigorating to be a part of it and hear the energy in the room and what y'all were sharing and why why it was so important to you. Um super helpful. Um one question that I do have is that um do we know like the mix of the the teaching that you're doing? Do we know the mix of how much is handwritten paperwork versus what's on the computer? Do
055we have a breakdown of that? So, all of the resources that are available in the student workbook are also available through the digital version. Um, the student workbook that accompanies it is really designed to give kids an opportunity for um as they go through the 5e model and they're working independently to have a paper pencil um uh engagement activity at each point during that prescribed part of the 5e model. And and just also to note, your booklets are editable by y'all. You can put in there the content that you need for that student, which is amazing. Actually, that um I did have another question. I do wonder um just back to the paper and pencil. I do hear a lot of sentiment out of families about really wanting to get rid of um computers for
056the young kids. And so the fact that there's a workbook option. I also wonder though we've done in the district over the past years we've always been we've tried in a few places some things you know to see how it worked and I just wonder about if there was a school that was interested or a set of parents maybe a little choice program that we could create after our parents survey where you know we have a lot of people saying they're looking for a few different things would we be smart to try blue bonnet somewhere in a limited uh manner maybe I know even my own child is taking a class at the university now that's she only notes no computers allowed no phones allowed no technology ology. Um they're learning to like a like
057a classical course basically. So I'm just wondering if that might not be something that we couldn't op offer to some families that would be interested since it's freeear. Um and I don't know what that would look like and when. Um but just I just asked the question. Scott Tucker, do you mind coming down and talking about the free um resources? >> And at that, what is the cost of this with the $50 million budget that we're whole we're fun um facing? Of course, teachers and kids and parents with math are worth every penny we spend on math. I just wonder about the cost. >> So, I'll try to answer your question twofold a little bit and I'll speak up because I know there's a little bit of audio. Um, obviously there's challenges if you are
058certainly we use different elements to supplement curriculum and instruction in the classroom because we want to provide a holistic view to all the students in there. If you're using two separate instructional materials, there can get to be confusion there on what students are learning. And then in our environment where you have the ability for students to move from campus to campus or environment to environment, that could create a deficiency for those that may be on a different topic level or a different subject level. And as you heard the teachers the ability to vertically line integrate that curriculum the real world examples the overwhelming number was there to support I think the reason for why they want to do it. Now it doesn't mean as Dr. Gory said that you can't also supplement the instruction with
059those OEER materials that are out there which we presently do with some of the materials which are there which may be blue bonnet and maybe others. And so I think as as they've communicated the plan is to continue doing that moving forward. uh when you talk about cost um give me a little more clarity so I can answer you correctly in what you're asking about >> um what is the cost in the projected cost for this math adoption and from what that instructional material aotment and then is it over time um or is it paid all in one year how does that look >> great question so the stem scopes uh plan that they're looking at they are considering a four-year cycle for this um and this is based on current enrollment. And as you
060know, as we get closer to the actual purchasing piece, we'll get a little bit more close to that, but we are pretty sure this is within an accuracy of, I'd say pretty close, 99%. You're looking at about $7 million, $7,30, 496 for this adoption that will be paid all at one time. So we purchased that from the current um IMA all aotment that we get for the bienium which was funded to us September 1, 2025 and will run us through August 31 of 2027. I got to get my dates there right. This aotment will come out of the bucket two of money because it is an I am IRA approved material. So we're able to access that funding source. Um believe when I talked to youall and to clarify that a little bit there are
061three buckets of money. You have bucket one, which is a general fund money that you can use to purchase essentially any instructional material that your district determines is appropriate for providing education for your students. You can access that bucket one. Bucket two is reserved just for those materials that are on the IMRA approved list. Um, so that allows us to utilize that funding source to fund this. And then bucket three is a small one that allows you to purchase certain open educational resources that may be available. And as that list evolves, that money is there for us to use on those materials should they determine whether it's for math, whether it's for science, whether it's for social studies, whatever it may be. >> Excellent information, Mr. Tucker. And you do I know you know the
062instructional part. You um serve my own child over there at Langanger Creek High School. But that was a really good answering kids with we do have mobility. So making sure that we would take care of that. But I still keep the question if you could have a choice program that someone may enjoy a paper driven program. Uh it sounds like this has the workbook. So it can be a paper driven program. Not that I need teachers signing up for that right now. Um but anyway, I just I just want to keep always the questions open for what else can we do for someone that is if something is interesting to a family um it can just be an empty, you know, one of the buildings by my end of the district where we have a
063lot of space. Could you not just say, "Hey, we're going to do um this math program at this school, and if you're interested, um you know, drive your kid over and and come get it." And and one thing too when you you mentioned paper driven program, the unique thing about this is all of the digital items are able to be printed as well. Whereas if you remember the first adoptions when a lot of stuff started going digital, we'll talk about proclamation 2014. the the interfaces weren't as user friendly to be able to print those lessons to provide those students the ability to practice or parents to be able to print from the parent things to do the pen and paper or pencil and paper now as things have evolved with technology the interface of this
064as I think they are able to attest to is much more user friendly allows you to print those so you can have that tangible hands-on stuff to be able to support that >> thank you so much that's really valuable information from everybody. I appreciate all the effort. >> Um I just want to say thank you to the teachers that participated and to uh and the teachers back at your campuses I know that you engaged with to get their input as well. Um there were over 150 teachers that took part in this process and Dr. Reek Gory I can't imagine the amount of time that they invested total. Do you have an idea of that? The teachers spent roughly 2,320 hours um preparing for this uh collectively um preparing for uh this adoption um going through
065the different um resources, going back to their campus, filling out the rubric, getting votes from different grade bands. So, they've spent quite a bit of time and we do appreciate their time and effort. >> Well, definitely. And I think it also shows that the district really does invest uh significantly in making these big decisions about curriculum. And so um it shows how thorough the process is and how valid the process is. Thank you. >> Also should mention because both you ladies are new to your roles. You both came out of being really strong instructional leaders on your campuses, leaving them with A's and incredible gains. And so um I'm hoping you enjoyed the the uh process of being able to get feedback from more teachers across the district. So, congratulations to you guys as well,
066>> Todd. >> Yeah, I just wanted to again extend my congratulations and and and uh thank you for all the teachers that that participated in this across the district. I know it was additional time u this this this is a huge sacrifice and I just wanted uh to tell Miss Hamlin, Miss Perkins, thank you so much for for uh your presentation today as well. So, thank you so much uh for participating. I I got a couple questions. um or or more comments again more on Luke's point, making sure that our parents are interacting with their student. Uh you know, I hear throughout the community, it's like, hey, you know, I'm I'm not I'm not understanding. They need help, especially in the math math portion. I'm uh I'm guilty of it as well. But um getting
067getting back to a a system where where you have more support at home instead of just in the in the classroom because I know our teachers do a fantastic job of of supporting with with not only in-class instruction but also a after hours tuto tutorials as well. So I I want to tell everybody thank you for that as well. Uh but one of the one of the other other things I want to kind of touch base on you know I'm I'm reading studies uh about the amount of screen time that we have. Uh I know you know Dr. Gory and I spoke on the phone yesterday and that was even after I wasn't expecting a phone call after hours from you. So thank you. Um but uh making sure that that that we're going paper
068and pen and and using that technology as um um not not not as a crutch but using it in addition to um you know what what we're what we're trying to teach. Do you have any any comments on, you know, the the amount of screen time just for, you know, community members that are that are worried that we're spending too much screen time? Um, you know, again, one of the things that our state legislators did was get rid of cell phones, right? I know we we had done this previously the previous year, right? Um, getting getting rid of some some of the distractions. Um, can you kind of touch base a little bit about that that screen time and and to make community members feel a little bit more comfortable about this this new curriculum
069that that we we may be adopting? >> Absolutely. Um, I think we've taken some steps towards that this year. We've heard that feedback as well and in particular in our math classrooms. Um, we've integrated a a tool that we refer to as the Bloom and Math booklets at the elementary level so that we have more paper pencil practice daily and that we can show that resource to parents to give them kind of evidence of student learning over time. When everything is digital, sometimes uh that information isn't as easy to convey to the parent community. So, we've started that K through five this year in an effort to address that need. And then in addition with this resource, um I think it's very valuable. We've talked a lot about the student workbook and Scott mentioned that
070those digital resources are printable. So there is an opportunity uh for teachers to to send home uh at the end of the week or at the end of the day the evidence of student learning paper pencil that parents I think are um looking for in greater volume than um than digitally we've been able to provide. Again, thank you. Thank you so much for for the presentation. Um and and again to all the teachers that participated. I mean over 2 thou over 2,300 hours. Is that right, Scott? 2,300 hours. Is that Dr. Gory? Uh over 150 plus teachers. Again, phenomenal job. Thank you. >> I just had a couple of quick questions. Um, you know, you talked about off the shelf earlier, uh, using supplemental material. I was actually at elementary this week and seeing actually
071using the blue bonnet material for the paper and pen, which I do appreciate how we're supplementing our material. We all we all do the scyfare way, right? We always supplement our material and I appreciate that. One one question I did have, I know they were doing a lot more skill and drill and that. Is there more of that baked into this material? Is there more of the the math facts? Because I know when my kids were in there, we didn't do a lot of that. I know we've now shifted back to that. Just curious on your thoughts on that. >> At at the elementary level, and then I can let Dr. Bennett speak to secondary. At the elementary level, we um have placed a greater emphasis on fact fluency. Um, we in previous years had
072different programs that we were utilizing, but we very intentionally integrated it into part of our lesson cycle this year, leveraging those open education resources and giving um a familiar cadence and structure to that time. So that way teachers can anticipate what that period is supposed to look like and then stop it when it's time to move on from fact fluency. Um, so it is it we've gotten good feedback on it from teachers. >> We know that math again for students to solidify those concepts, the spiraling and and the fluency and so those opportunities are available at are used as well in in our curriculum for secondary. >> Perfect. Great. And to our two teachers, thank you for being here. Uh, you're the reason why I'm here. I apologize. And all the other teachers, I did
073ask for y'all to come here and speak on your behalf. So, thank you for being here staying late. I do appreciate that. I know it's part of your job, but I do thank you for being here. And to the 150 other teachers, 100 plus teachers, thank you for all your work as well. And to our administrators, thank you for all your hard work y'all put into that. It does not go unnoticed. We are very thankful. With that, we'll continue moving on. Thank you very much. 9C, the board will consider approving um acquisition of procured or donated library material that been posted district website for at least 30 days. Any questions? Seeing none, we'll continue moving on. 9D. The board consider approving on first reading additions, revisions, or deletions, district policy. 9D1, EAC, local basic instructional
074material, required instruction, secondary revise. Any questions on this? Seeing none, 9E, um, by the way, board 9E and 9F, um, are two close session items. If you require to go in close session, please let me know. We'll more than happy to do that with Deborah and team. 9E. The board consider making termination of good cause do not exist for required by law for the individuals listed in posted agenda item uh to resign the respective employment contracts. This item may be discussed in close session. Then 9F the board consider approving the superintendent recommendation to give notice to the individual listed here pursuant to 21.104 the Texas educator code that her employment with the district under probationary contract is terminated. Does anyone need to talk to HR about the items were in your packet? If there's not,
075but we will not go into close session for that. Uh 9G, the district consider a level four appeal swift of decision of level three decision. We will go into close session following uh the end of our session and go promptly. So we'll ask our audience members if you would please leave after we adjourn uh after of course but five minutes. We'll take a fivem minute break. Like to thank everyone for being here. I apologize. guys have heard our video is not working nor is our audio working but I'm sure this will be recorded later if you want to go watch uh this content. Thank you for being here. I'd like to thank all those who are watching from home if you watch it later. May I please get a motion to move into close session?
076>> So moved. >> Second. >> All those in favor. We are now going to close session again. We'll take a quick fivem minute break for bio and then we'll go into our close session for a level three hearing. Level four hearing.