001Good evening everyone. There we go. We're going to make this audience participation. Um, I now call this regular meeting of the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees to order. The time is now 6:02 p.m. Mrs. Guy, was this meeting properly posted? >> Yes, it was. >> And do we have a quorum? >> We do. >> Mr. Samson says barely, but he has friends. I promise you Mr. Samson has friends. Um, I'd like to start tonight by welcoming everyone to this meeting and being part of the Goose Creek Independent School District process and taking your time to come uh and learn, listen, and speak about what we're doing here in Goose Creek, especially the students, family members, Dr. Rodriguez, and your staff. Uh, with that, I will turn it over to Dr. Conklin for opening exercises.
002>> All right. Good evening, President Campy, board of trustees, and superintendent Dr. Rodriguez. Um, we have the wonderful Ashville Smith uh students here as our opening exercises. We're going to have the pledges cited by Camila Agular and Sage Doyle. But prior to that, we're going to have our prayer led by Mr. Samson. So, if everybody please stand. >> You have a hat on. Take it off. Unless you got a bad haircut. Let's bow our heads, please. Father, first of all, I want to thank you for everyone who's here. And by that, I mean made it here safe. Father, bless our kids, our families, our trustees, our administrators, our teachers. Father, we start in a new year and let us make it a great year. Let us get past turmoil and destruction. Thank you for each
003and every day that we wake up and we can see another day in front of us. Thank you for all of this in his name. Amen. >> Okay, please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the standice. >> All right, we have select students that will be playing the following songs on the recorder. They're going to play Hot Cross Buns, Merrily Wei Roll Along, I of the Tiger, and Count on Me. We have Camila Agular, Isel Avalos, Sage Doyle, Anthony Garcia, Gerono Loredo, Messiah Pototts, Joselyn Sto, Eduardo Vodka, and Eileen Weber. That was an amazing performance. Thank you, Ashel Smith, for coming out tonight. This was by far my favorite part of the program. And before the students run off, stay there for just
004a moment. I know you didn't come here alone. Are the parents in the audience or relatives? Please stand and be recognized. Thank you so much for bringing them out. >> I'd like to quickly also acknowledge that these students are under the direction of music teacher Miss Shannon Chance and their principal, Miss Lacy Gordon. Thank you all again. Great job. Does that conclude? Okay. Thank you, Dr. Conklin. We'll move on to item number three on the agenda. Citizens participation. Citizens participation is the time that the board will hear public concerns or public comments from those who have properly signed up to address the board. At regular board meetings, the board shall permit public comment regardless of whether the topic is an item on the agenda posted with notice of the meeting. General public comment is limited
005to no more than 30 minutes per meeting. At all other board meetings, public comment shall be limited to open session items on the agenda posted with notice of the meeting. Each speaker is reminded that he or she is limited in his or her presentation to a maximum of three minutes, which can be further limited or reduced by the presiding officer, and that he or she should respect confidentiality concerns and refrain from attacking the personal character of any individual student, staff member, or board member in addressing concerns or comments. Pursuant to state law and board policy be legal, the board cannot consider or take action on concerns at this meeting unless they pertain to an item on the posted agenda for this meeting. Any deliberation or decision on an item that is not posted for consideration
006at this meeting shall be limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda of a future meeting. With that, I've been advised by Mrs. Garcia, we have one person signed up to speak today. Is that correct? Thank you so much. Our speaker is Tama Lewis. I'm sorry if I mispronounced that. If you would please come to the podium on my left, your right. Once you begin speaking, Mrs. Guy, our presiding secretary, will keep time. You will have three minutes. When you get to the one minute mark, she will advise you. One minute remaining. Please keep speaking at that time. Please introduce yourself and the topic that you're speaking on. The floor is yours. Uh Tamaya Lewis, I'm concerned about the uh walkouts and the punishments and the emails that we're getting about the
007walkouts. Um my daughter comes home just about every day talk to me about the walkouts and you know the punishment they're going to get, how they have to sign up, uh um if they're attendant or not. And every student isn't going to walk out of school And it makes me feel like when you bunch everybody together, you're putting all the students in one bunch. And that's that's that's not the case. And how I feel, if a parent lets their child walk out of school, it's not right. Because if you're walking out because someone wants freedom and you're giving up that freedom that you're asking for is It's it's wrong. And uh I just want to know, you know, why is all of these um all of the uh rules thrown on just everybody at one
008time and and that's basically it. Do you say anything back or >> generally citizens participation you can address the board we do not make it an interactive conversation is one way and then uh we have the prerogative of making a comment at the end. Oh >> okay. And another thing is, and I just feel like, you know, uh it's it's hard for the kids right now, you know, in the environment that we're in, you know, uh all I can say is, you know, that finish school, get your education, and go to Washington or Austin and change the laws. You know, walking out of school isn't going to help. finishing your education and doing what you need to do to get out of school is what's going to help. >> Basically, what's going on is >>
009is disrupting the whole school. >> I understand everybody's scared, but I'm scared for my daughter when she goes to school >> cuz I don't know what's going to happen. So, that's it. >> Thank you, Mr. Lewis. With no further speakers, we'll move on to item number four, recognitions and acknowledgements. Dr. Conklin, the floor is yours. >> Excuse me. We have uh Dr. Ramirez coming up to recognize the Luin All-Star Journalism student staff. >> Good evening, President Kimzy, Dr. Rodriguez, and members of the board. It is my honor to introduce a truly outstanding student from Rossa Sterling High School, Lee Nuin. Lee has been named to the UIL allstate journalism staff one of the highest honors a high school journalism student can receive in Texas. This distinction recognizes not only talent, but also sustained excellence, commitment,
010and competitive success throughout the school year. To qualify for the all-state staff, students must earn at least 50 points through participation in top performance in UIL journalism contests. These points are accumulated through comp competitions held at invitational meets at the district, regional, and state level. Earning 50 points in a single school year is no easy task. Even more impressive, this is the second consecutive year Lee has earned this elite recognition, making the all-state journalism staff in 2024 and 2025. Lee's achievements extend well beyond journalism. She was inducted into the National Honor Society during her sophomore year and has been recognized as a QuestBridge College Prep Scholar. Distin distinction is awarded to high achieving students nationwide who demonstrate outstanding academic ability, leadership, and perseverance. As a college prep scholarly was selected through a highly competitive national
011process and received specialized college admissions preparation, scholarships, and access to summer programs. Additionally, she is an AP scholar with distinction. We're also proud to state that Lee has been accepted to Yale University on a full academic scholarship. All right. Achievements like this do not happen in isolation. I would like to recognize Lee's journalism sponsor Scott Sickle for his outstanding leadership and dedication to UIL academics. Mr. Sickle is currently serving his third year as Sterling's UIL academic coordinator, his third year as UIL journalism coach. In addition, he is in his sixth year as a UIL and case debate coach, supporting students in developing voice, argumentation, and competitive excellence. I would also like to recognize campus assistant principal Kelly Congden for his leadership and continued support of advancement, academics, and extracurricular excellence. Once again, please join me
012in congratulating Lee for this exceptional achievement. Okay, at this time I'd like to invite up Amanda Kennington. She's going to talk to us about the 2026 Healthier Texas Community Challenge. Good evening, trustees, Dr. Rodriguez, and community members. Goose Creek CISD is excited to once again take part in the 2026 Healthier Texas Community Challenge. Baytown City Council member Laura Alvarado and I are especially proud to share that last year, our district in the city of Baytown placed second in the entire state of Texas. The challenge is easy to join and fun to participate in. Community members, staff, students, and families can register online through the Healthier Texas Community Challenge platform and earn points by tracking healthy activities like walking, exercising, attending wellness events, and building healthy daily habits in the new gamified mobile app. Every step
013and every activity adds up for individuals and for our community. Board members, you've been provided with a flyer that includes step-by-step instructions on how to register. We also invite each of you to sign the community leader pledge at this point which is the top page included with your materials showing your support and leadership for health and wellness across our district and city. So I'll run it. >> Thank you Amanda. I appreciate the opportunity to keep coming back and and highlighting um this challenge and the partnership with the city. Uh coming in second every year. I know one day we'll reach first place, but second is still phenomenal, you know, knowing how many people and how many school districts are signing up. So, um I appreciate y'all continuing to put the message forward about being healthy
014um and active in our community. And I did realize there's a new app this year as well. So, we need to make sure that we download the right app. And so we all know that this challenge brings together different neighborhoods, communities, um individuals, the school district, the city, um just anyone who can part can partner together to make this a more healthier uh Baytown and include our pride is, you know, we see those numbers climb. I asked about Sam tonight because he's usually here with us and I'm like, where's Sam? He's working out. So, he's already he's already putting numbers on the on the score for us. So, we just appreciate everyone um taking the time not only to register, but also being active and logging everything that you do from drinking water to just
015walking around the block or just doing jumping jacks in your living room, whatever it is, any of that can be logged. Um, I'm also here honored to um speak on behalf of the mayor who couldn't make it tonight. Um, I know we have a proclamation that that we want to present for this healthy um healthier challenge and the mayor is actually watching his daughter rake up points because she's at a track meet tonight um and couldn't be here. So, I just want to once again thank you all for your continued leadership and partnership. And so, on behalf of the city of Baytown, we're proud to present a joint proclamation recognizes our shared participation in the 2026 Healthier Texas Challenge. And this proclamation reflects our commitment to health collaboration and community pride. and we look forward
016to continuing and building um on that success and inspiring even more participation across Cous Creek CISD and the city of Baytown. So hopefully this doesn't fall. I'm going to take a moment a privilege to read the proclamation. I hope I don't speed through it. I've had a little bit more tea today. Um, I know that I don't think that's going to give me any points with the sugar, but um, so this is a joint proclamation whereas the city of Baytown and Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees share commitment to fostering a healthy, engaged, and successful community for resident, students, and families. And whereas community health and student wellness are essential to academic success, economic vitality, and overall quality of life. And whereas the Healthier Texas Community Challenge is a statewide initiative encouraing
017in encouraging individuals, families, schools, and workplaces and communities to adopt a healthier habits through education, physical activity, and community involvement. And whereas the 2026 Healthier Texas Community Challenge provides an opportunity for the city of Baytown and Goose Creek CISD to work collectively to promote wellness, increase community engagement, and model healthy lifestyles for all ages. And whereas a unified approach between local government, public education strengthens outreach, expands participation, and ensures inclusive access to wellness opportunities across the community. Now therefore, be it proclaimed on this 9inth day of February, 2026, the city of Baytown and the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District hereby recognize and affirm their joint commitment to the 2026 Healthier Texas Community C Challenge, encouraging our community participate in activities that promote health, wellness, and stronger, more connected Baytown. So, here's the proclamation. In
018a minute, we'll we'll have everybody come up and sign it. We have um three individuals, right? >> If we could have President Campy and Dr. Rodriguez come up to the front and we'll have you sign the proclamation. And then we invite our board members also to come up and bring your signed pledge so we can take a picture. We actually are going to use this as a registration event so that way we can earn 5,000 points for our city and our district. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Alvarado. We will move on to item number five of the agenda. Dr. Rodriguez. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, next we have the required public reporting for accelerated instruction program for the 24-25 school year. And we are going to call up Ginger McKay who oversees our
019federal programs. >> Miss McKay is one step ahead of us. >> There she is. All right. I was looking for her over there. Yeah, that was that was fast. >> All right. Good evening, President Campy, Superintendent Rodriguez, and board members. So this is the part of the year where I get to read to you like you always like to hear. So uh this is the required um accelerated instructional program which comes from our state comped and a school district um shall appropriate the funds for an accelerated program of instruction to plan and implement intensive instruction and other activities aimed at helping students satisfy state and local high school graduation requirements. And uh a district shall evaluate the effectiveness of this accelerated instruction programs and annually conduct a public reporting that requires and provides information regarding
020the expenditures in the district program evaluation in reducing any disparity in performance on assessment instruments or disparity in the rates of high school completion between the intended beneficiaries and all other district students. The district must budget supplemental funding to support district and campus developed accelerated instructional programs prior to other program budget planning and our reporting is this. So what I do is I go through all of our state comped funding and I pull and categorize it and so you will see that on the different uh slides that we have and I included last year's information so you have a general idea about what we spend between the two years. So last year for our supplemental funding for our campus and district intervention staff, which means the teachers and the specialists, um, there was about $6.6
021million, which is a little bit more than what we spent the prior year. For our alternative education program at Peter Highland, we spent $2 million last year approximately and the year before about 1.9. for our alternative points program which is our discipline alternative site we spent about 1.5 in 202425 and the prior year approximately the same our supplemental funding that we have for before school during the day school after school and Saturdays which includes all those things in the parenthesis there um was approximately 1.672 672 and the prior year it was a million. I also want to add that our elementary and junior highs through evaluation processes have determined it's more effective for them to have students where they're working with them during the year because we oftentimes do not have them come during the
022summertime. Our student wellness interventionist and social services component spent about 1.2 last year with about 1.6 the year before. However, we have 420,000 that comes from title one in the federal side to help to complement that. The supplemental funding for our training that is other things for academics and behavior and other interventions was about 442 last year with about 1 million the year before. and our summer school program, which is basically our high school uh program, was about $900,000 last year and about 874 the year before. So, our total expenditures for last year were approximately 14.6 and the prior year was about 14.1. And so, you'll see some information about the other pieces on our aotment. uh the district brings in approximately 27 million from the state and uh the prior year we brought in
02328 million. Now um there are lots of things going on with state comped. Um just in case you've been listening in the news, I know that we've had conversations about spending requirements. State comped no longer has a spending requirement. However, it will be very important for us to continue to look at what we're spending on our state comped because of our at risk numbers. So, I included that information tonight so you can see it. And um as you're looking at it, and I know you've all seen it a few days before, you may notice it looks like some campuses really increased. And when you look at those numbers and you see increases, you're like, "Well, gosh, that doesn't look good." One example would be Crockett Elementary. They are at 65.5%. And I know that would
024be one that might jump out. And I would tell you that you can't look at these numbers exactly as they are because of two big factors that play into this for this year. One is resoning. And I picked Crockett on purpose because I would tell you the principal said, "Please speak loudly when you talk about my school because 50% of my school has changed and my numbers have that's why my at risk are as high as they are." I said, "That's exactly right." So that's important. Another piece you also need to know is two additional atrisisk indicators were added by the state of Texas to our list which also impacts our 2526 which is the last column. So it does have some differences. If you feel at some point you need information regarding any of
025those type of things I'll be happy to provide that to you but I didn't do that in this presentation. So the next piece is our junior highs and you can see their at risk numbers and then we have our high schools and then as a total I wanted you to see it across the board. We haven't significantly gone. We're about in the 50% range. And so the last piece is the district and campus accelerate instruction programs and costs were evaluated through an ongoing process with our needs assessments we do at the end of the year, our formative reviews we do each quarter and then the end of the year. And through those processes, we try to tweak what we're doing. We look at things. um implementing accelerated instruction has to be determined and has to
026be incorporated into our our plans and we have to monitor it. And so we are still working on the roles of our specialist whether they're in specialed behavior intervention CNI to make them be more robust in how they're working with teachers or working with students. And we are continuing to have the process for intervention planning as well as monitoring with any type of materials that we're buying, any supplies or related products. We're also have the implementation of review for specific intervention activities to increase what's what's effective we go with what's not effective we try to decrease. So now is an opportunity to have any questions if you have them. >> First we'll entertain questions from the board and I think Miss McCay we also take comments from citizens as well during this part. Is that
027correct? So if any citizens wish to speak if you'd make your way to the podium. Uh we'll start with the board and then go to you. Hearing none from the board, are there any citizens that wish to make a comment hearing and seeing none, Mrs. McCay, there are no questions or comments from the citizens, so we are good. >> None from the board either. Okay. Thank you. >> Great report. Thank you so much. I know a lot of work went into that short report. >> Try to talk as quick as we can so we can move. >> Excellent job. Uh board members, back to us. We'll move on to item number six, approval of minutes provided before this meeting. You received a copy of the minutes for the January 20th, 2026 regular board meeting. Do
028I have a motion? >> I'll move to approve. >> I'll second. I have a motion by Mrs. guy and a second by Mr. Martinez to approve the January 2026 regular board and meeting minutes. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Seeing four, four, and zero against, the minutes are passed. At this time, we'll move on to discussion item 7A, superintendent report. I will turn it over to you, Dr. Rodriguez. >> Thank you, Mr. President. At the last board meeting, there was a request to uh begin conversations regarding the marshall and the guardian programs that are available. So, what we have done is we've put together a presentation. I'm going to ask that Dr. Price uh come up along with Chief Russell so they can go ahead and
029provide some information to the board. Uh this item is going to um provide details about the guardian program and the Marshall program. Uh so that way there's an opportunity for the trustees to ask any questions. Uh once again, this item is just for discussion and I'm going to kick it off with Dr. Price and his presentation. >> Good morning. Good morning. Good, good evening, uh, President Kapzy, board members, Superintendent Rodriguez. Going to do a short presentation over the Marshall and guardian program. At this time, uh, it will be an update and review. We will also look at House Bill 3, which is armed security officer requirement and the good cause exception and update. I'm Dr. Price and we have Chief Russell with us also, uh, our chief of police. We're going to do an overview
030looking at the overview of the Marshall and Guardian program. The Marshall program is more rigorous. It has more loss uh law enforcement training. Um Guardian has a faster and more flexible local uh model to it, but they're both aimed at stopping active shooters. If there's an active shooter, that's what these programs are set up to stop prevent. So, we're going to look at the weapon storage of these two and compare the two. Weapon storage. The marshall is required to have the weapon storage somewhere in their vicinity so they can get to it quickly if an event happens. Now, due to House Bill 407 and Senate Bill 870, the marshals can now be in uniform. And if they are in uniform, then they can carry openly carry their weapon on them. So they can either store
031it in a lock box in their vicinity for easy access or they can uh dress in a uniform and open carry their weapon on campus. Okay. Now some of the key details reason we have House Bill 407 and Senate Bill 870 is identification. The uniform will be used for identification uh for the open carry for other law enforcement and for um to deter potential shooters or anyone who will come on trying to harm the uh students. Open carry uh wearing the uniform meaning they can open carry. Regulations will be set up by the school district, charter school or private school. Uh the application is set up by the public school district also and ammunition is followed by the Texas Commission of Law Enforcement. Continuing with the overview uh for storage on the Guardian program, the
032weapon is concealed on the guardian at all time. It is concealed, but it is carried on the guardian at all time. That's for immediate uh on body defense. So that's the storage. Now, we're going to look at the funding. The funding for the two, the Marshall program was previously supported by state grants. The Guardian program is entirely funded by the district. The Marshall uh was previously funded by grants and we'll have to see if there's any grant money coming back to that program, but at this time there was not. And then the Guardian uh program is funded entirely by the district. And then let's look at some of the key comparisons. Okay, looking down at the chart that we make it a little bit more easy. Okay, if we look at the chart for the
033marshals, we're looking at training hours, weapon location, and primary oversight. Marshall program, they have 80 plus hours of training. That's dealing with all kind of psych psych evaluations, all that. And the guardian program offers 16 to 20 hours of training. Weapon location we just talked about a lock box nearby or if unformed they can uh openly carry. Guardian is carried on person but it is concealed but it's carried on person. Primary oversight for the marshall is cold or the state. Uh for the guardian it is the school board and local. Oh okay one more time. Uh, I do want to point out that in the state of Texas, over 100 school districts use the Marshall program and over 300 use the Guardian program. So, let's talk about an example of the Marshall program. Plano ISD
034in the Dallas for Worth metro area started their program in 2223 school year. They have about 82 schools, uh, over 48,000 students and 6,000 staff members. They do not have a ISD police department. Okay. They use the Marshall program. They hired about 55 personnel, stricter requirements for training, licensed and regulated by the state. Tikico uh set up hiring parameters. They're looking at or they looked at retired law enforcement. Okay. would not need to be year round. They are in uh they are they're working only in the school session. Okay. Um deployed at every elementary school uh DPS firearm schools uh safety course alert training. Must possess a uh LTC must pass psychological. must complete school marshall 80 hours plus uh licensed and regulated through TCO and must complete refresher training every two years. So that's
035the Marshall program that Plano ISD is using. We're going to look at one of the guardian programs and this is closer to home. Pasadena ISD uh which is in the Houston area. It was started in 22 23 school year. They have a total of 67 schools uh over 48,000 students and over 8,000 um staff members. Yes, they do have an ISD. It was started in 1981. Uh they have ISD police department uh school guardian program. They chose to go with Chico, which is a retired police officers. They have have a license to carry DPS firearm safety course and alert training. Uh when we get to the question section, we can ask more of Chief Russell because he was instrumental in starting this program in Pasadena. Alternative standards. Now, the board of trustees of a school
036district that claims a good cause exception under section subsection C uh of House Bill three. Uh that's meaning that we want to arm personnel on each and every campus. must develop an alternative standard with which the district can comply which may include providing a person that acts as a security officer who is a school marshal or a school guardian. Okay. Now the school uh board of trustees of the school district must develop and maintain the documentation of the district implementation of this compliance. meaning we have to turn in the paperwork if we're going to have an alternative uh plan set up. The good cause exception is what we uh have set up for that. On September the 11th, 2023, our board, Goose Creek uh board of trustees approved the good cause exception for armed security
037officers. Okay. So, we have already put that in place and at this I'm going to turn over to Chief. He's going to talk about the police department in security. >> Uh this is the plan that Goose Creek approved in 2023. Uh it was to establish one police officer at each school. Uh it involved using training providing training for select security officers so that they could be trained to carry a weapon. Uh the security officers have are level three officers that the district currently employs. Uh we also employ level two which is unarmed but for this program level three is what's important the armed part. Um also in 2023 the school board decided that we would also consider any other options to the district. Uh which is what we're doing right now again. And also we've
038made a commitment to ensure that campuses that were in close proximity that we would have at least somebody at that location for the schools that are nextdoor neighbors to each other. So where we're at right now, the next screen So, this is where we currently stand. Uh, we have 19 full-time police officers to service the district. We have one time one part-time police officer. He works two days a week because he retired from the district and then regretted retiring and has come back. So, due to uh being TRS retired, he can only work 20 hours per week there. We also currently have 13 armed security officers and 16 unarmed security officers. So we have five open positions for police officers uh that we are actively trying to recruit and hire. So if anybody has anybody
039that is a police officer that's looking for a job, we would love to hear from them. Uh I'm very happy to say that tomorrow we have interviews with two candidates for police officers. Uh we are still looking for one time part-time police officer to pick up the other three days that officer Fontnet is unable to work being part-time from TRS. Uh we also have five armed security officers that we are looking for. Uh I believe we have one currently in the process of HR. So I'm got my fingers crossed that that will be four uh sometime this week. And then we are looking for two armed security officers. So our goal as a school district is to meet the requirements of House Bill 3 and that is to have an armed police officer at every
040campus. Uh we are working diligently to fulfill that need. Uh we also will continue to ensure that police officers are present on all campuses u performing random patrol of the campuses that do not have a full-time police officer or armed security officer. And at this time we'll entertain any questions. So what are we currently leaning one way or the other? The pendulum of are we trying to look at hiring uh what we have regular police officers or are we looking at just hiring people to be on campus being an LM. >> Uh Mr. Samson, we are diligently trying to hire police officers for every campus as the bill requires from the state. Yeah. >> Uh we're looking at every possibility to provide an armed presence on every campus until we can meet that goal. So,
041this presentation is we're not really leaning one way or the other here. We really wanted to provide you with information so that y'all can make the best informed decision. We wanted to bring all the facts so y'all can make a decision on that. >> Now, what is the dead? Is it a deadline next month for this or we still have enough time to go >> further down the road? >> As long as we do a good cause uh exception, then we can continue the way we're going. But we do want to show improvement as we're going forth because we have to do that each year. >> Okay. That's That's all I have. >> Okay. So So I'll start at the end and then work backwards depending on your response. Dr. Price and Chief Russell, thank
042you for the uh in-depth uh presentation. Um kind of put you on the spot a little bit. Could Goose Creek benefit from either Guardian or Marshall program in your opinion? I think that that's a good question for the board to decide and what the community feels. U I can tell you that we are prepared to do to implement whatever whatever decision this board and this community decides whatever they're let me rephrase the question. Are there benefits? Are there benefits in your opinion to this program? Either the Marty and And I'm not saying whether you're for or against it, but are there benefits uh given our situation? >> I think that there benefits to both programs. I think there benefits to the program that we're trying to implement. um our armed police officers and our armed
043security officers and our unarmed security officers provide a tremendous service to this school district which I feel is greatly appreciated by the administrators in this district. But could there be benefits to these programs also? Quite possibly there could be. Okay, thank you for that. And it wasn't really meant to put you on the spot. Um but let's let's work backwards a little bit now because the general public really doesn't understand the Marshall Guardian program other than what they see on the news media and there's a lot more to it. Um I'd like for you to talk either one of you a little bit more about what that would look like in our district. Um I know a lot more than most do because I've researched it a lot. uh if we were to adopt the
044Marshall program that satisfies House Bill 3 automatically. Whereas if we were to begin the guardian program that would fall under the good cause exception similar to the way we use armed security officers. Am I correct with that? >> Yes. All >> right. Thank you for that. >> So what I'd like you to do is kind of talk a little bit about that. And if we were to um let's look at guardian first. What does that actually look like? Because a lot of our public thinks the guardian program are people walking around with guns, everybody knows who they are, everything. There's more to it. If you can kind of touch on that side, I think you know where I'm going with it. Just kind of touch on that uh and give a better picture of what
045the guardian program looks like. Uh in your best unbiased uh >> the benefits of the guardian program is really it is board established on what that is going to look like. Uh at Pasadena, the school board decided that it was going to be people that were in uniform. We hired retired police officers and they were in distinctive clothing to denote that they were guardians. Um there are a lot of other school districts that go the other direction where a guardian is a current employee, could be a custodian, could be a principal, teacher, it carries a concealed firearm and very very few people know who they are. When you say very few people, basically nobody except yourself and the superintendent for the most part. >> It could be that way. It's whatever program we desire. The
046beauty of the guardian program is that it is localbased versus the Marshall program is mainly through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. TOL is the one that sets the regulations there. So, it is much more restrictive down to the kind of ammunition they can carry, what kind of guns they can carry. It is very detailed versus the guardian program is really anybody that y'all the board choose to have given the authority to carry that that that firearm. So it can really be crafted in any way that we want to. >> And if we were to use either one of those, this would help us meet compliance for putting an armed person on every campus. >> That is true. >> Yes, sir. And sir, I think there's someone um if he doesn't mind if Dr. Rodriguez
047could tell us a little bit about the program that they had in his district, which is the Guardian program. >> But before I turn it over to you, Dr. Rodriguez, um I'd like to touch just a little bit more because a lot of people talk about there's only 10 hours required for the Marshall program. Um that's a requirement, but if this board were to go with not the Marshall, I'm sorry. Thank you for shaking your head. The guardian program. Um >> 16 to 20. It's really again whatever this board decides. >> This board could dictate that you're going to follow the guidance for anything above that. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. I just want to clear that up and make sure that that's uh I want to paint a good solid picture of what
048it is because a lot of people are fearful for what they don't know or don't understand. And that's all I'm trying to do is paint a clearer picture. Dr. Rodriguez, I'll turn it over to you. >> Yeah. So, I have the opposite experience that Chief Russell had. So in Freredicksburg uh we did begin the guardian program and the way the process worked is we had uh employees um volunteer. Um there was then a selection process based off of past experiences. Uh there is a psychological exam and there was a final decision made uh in the superintendent's office as far as who those individuals were going to be. there is uh required ongoing training. That was a request uh from the board at the time. So there is ongoing training. Uh there is training with local
049law enforcement with the different agencies. Uh so that way there's a a good understanding as to who the employees are. Now when it comes to safety and security as far as the two different programs, they bring both strengths and weaknesses to the school district. We do have a uh police department in house which is uh not what was occurring in my previous school district. So we do have a focus on ensuring that we hire all the police officers, all the unarmed and armed security guards. So that is priority number one. But there are situations in which individuals are ill, individuals resign, individuals retire, and there's always a potential to have a gap uh when it comes to safety and security at a campus. So these programs do offer uh if done appropriately, they do offer
050an opportunity to ensure that there are individuals that are able to fill in the gap when it comes to safety and security at some of our campuses. Um there was um I mean well there were individuals that uh were guardians and they concealed uh they are now openly carrying. Uh there was very few individuals who actually knew who they were and like I said it was the program that at that time worked in that school district. >> All right. Thank you. questions from any other board members? Any other closing comments or remarks? >> Our number one priority is student and faculty and staff safety. So, whichever program, we're willing to work with it to make it safe. >> Thank you for that, Dr. Price. I agree with you. Um when when I was walking numerous
051blocks and talking to many people across this community, safety and security was my number one priority and that's why I'm spending so much time on this. Uh Chief Russell, I appreciate everything you and your team do. Without safety and security, we don't have school. So, thank you. >> And I do want to say, Mr. President, and to the members of the board, uh this was a request once again. And it was a request uh that was made at the last board meeting for tonight. We just came with some information uh to present so that way there was a better understanding of the two programs. If it is the pleasure of the board, uh the administration can be prepared or will be prepared to make a recommendation. Uh but once again, tonight's uh focus was just
052to present information to the board of trustees regarding both programs. >> Thank you, sir. Thank you, >> Mr. President. Next, I would like to call up Dr. Bowlinger. He is going to present information to the board of trustees regarding Senate Bill 11. Okay. Good evening. uh board president Campey, Dr. Rodriguez, board members. Uh we're here I'm here with Monica Wararez, our director of HR for elementary, and we are here to present Senate Bill uh 11, uh which is a uh a district-led and managed uh daily prayer. So, we're going to get into the logistics of that. It's a part of new legislation this year, and a required vote is uh is coming up by March 1st. that we're presenting tonight and then you'll have an option to to vote on it on February 23rd, our
053our next board meeting. Okay, this is not showing up here. >> It's all right. >> Yeah, I'll get it. the AC. There we go. We're good. Okay. All right. So, starting off with uh Senate Bill 11. So, what it is, it allows um a school board to to vote on a daily prayer period. Um and so, we'll talk about what that means. The vote has to happen again by March 1st. And so, uh each board is in Texas, each public school board is required to vote on it. Uh yes or no. And so, we want to make sure that uh we we present what what the uh Senate Bill 11 legislation requires. And so, here's what's required for Senate Bill 11. First of all, required consent. And so a district the district must uh have
054a consent form uh that they hand out and then for students who submit that consent form, they can participate in the daily prayer period. Um if if you have not consented, then the student is not allowed to participate. So that's that's the first requirement. The second uh item here is that only consenting participants um can can hear their prayers or readings. Which means that if I have not consented as a student, then I do not have to be coerced or or forced um to be exposed to someone else praying or someone else rel reading their religious text or the Bible or the Quran or whichever um uh religious text they're referring to. And so there has to be some sort of uh separation between those who consent and those who cannot consent. Uh for example,
055uh you can have this out in the open and it has to be in a in a contained room. And then the third requirement, it cannot happen during the instructional day or during instruct instructional time. And so most districts are interpreting this is before school, a daily period before school or after school. Okay. Okay. So, here are some considerations of Senate Bill 11. So, so why Senate Bill 11? Um, what it does is it allows districts to support the right to affirm uh re religious liberty. If uh Senate Bill 11 is passed by school districts, then there is some legal protection. So, the attorney general will um provide protection if there's any type of again litigation or lawsuit that may uh ensue as a result of the bill. And also there's clear legal framework meaning
056that there's been very clear guidelines that have been put forth for school districts on what we need to do to be in compliant and those guidelines were what I referenced earlier. Okay, Miss Wararez. >> Okay, so what is the difference between current policy on prayer and Senate Bill 11 requirements? Voluntary prayer is currently permitted at all campuses in Goose Creek. We have organizations like Fellowship of Christian Athletes and staff is already allowed to um conduct Bible study. So for example, here at Admin, we have a group of staff members that meet once a week prior to the start of the workday um to conduct Bible study. We have events like see you at the poll and prayer after football games. And all campuses already participate in a moment of silence uh during morning announcements. Adopting
057Senate Bill 11 creates a district- orient uh operated program. So it shifts the responsibility to the district for things like managing consent and maintaining ongoing compliance. So for example, if I had a friend who wanted to come to the daily prayer period with me, the district uh must ensure that that friend has prior consent before participating. Also, the district has to make a space for the daily prayer period so that non-consenting participants can't see or hear the daily prayer period so that they don't feel forced to participate. So, it can't be in areas like the commons or the cafeteria. Would our district be banning prayer if the board does not adopt Senate Bill 11? Voluntary prayer is already allowed and the district will continue to comply with the existing state and federal law. Students may
058continue to pray individually or in groups as long as it's non-disruptive to the school day. And this board vote isn't about allowing or denying prayer. This vote is about managing the daily prayer period. >> Okay. So, uh in conclusion, here are some of the responsibilities for Senate Bill 11, just so you have have a good idea of what it would look like. First of all, schools would be required to uh pass out, collect, and track consent forms. And so that's one one uh requirement or responsibility. Also, schools would need to be required to schedule um space logistics just like Miss Wararez alluded to as far as um you know, not not consenting uh individuals, not exposing non-conenting individuals to their personal beliefs. And so that's that's that's one item there. Um staff training and compliance
059would be important. making sure that the staff understands what's going on, what is the daily prayer, how it's being implemented at the school so that they're aware. And then also um another consideration is is supervision and coverage. And so if there's a group of students meeting in a classroom, of course, we'd have to have an adult in there uh for safety reasons. And so figuring out those logistics, there may be compensation. If I'm having to stay uh before my contracted day begins or after my contracted day ends, then um then there may be some compensation involved as well just to make sure that we have coverage. So that's uh Senate Bill 11. Again, we'll have an action item at the next board meeting um as required. And at this time, if you have any questions,
060we'll be glad to attempt to answer those. >> I have a question. So let's say that we have students of several different religions who want to partic who their parents give permission for them to participate in this prayer time if we were to approve it. Would we have to have separate spaces for each religion? >> Yes. >> And then so on the permission like even even different Christian um >> denominations. Thank you. have different practices, right? And so what if I give permission for my student to participate, but my student's participating in the group that's either a religion or maybe a do denomination that I don't agree with. Like are we going to have to say my student can participate, but only if they're participating in this specific group? >> Good question, Miss Guy. So,
061so it's if Senate Bill 11 is approved, it's up to the district to figure that out. So, they'll have to figure out and manage um how they're going to separate denominations based off of what my child can be exposed to or what what I don't want them to be exposed to. Right now, um we don't manage that. And so, if there's a Christian organization, they meet with a sponsor and then um if those con if there's concerns, of course, those are brought to the principal. And and so currently if we have a group of students who want to do Bible study or any type of prayer time or whatever and they have a little space in the cafeteria that they meet in the mornings before school, they can do that and nothing stops them from.
062>> That's correct. >> Yep. >> So um what are some of the financial costs that would come along with um Senate Bill 11? So the the financial cost I think minimal cost are the consent forms and so we would have to create a consent form that's you know probably run it through our attorney to make sure it's legit. Um I think the biggest compensation if needed is for coverage for super supervisory coverage. And so if we have to pay someone like an aid uh their hourly rate to stay one hour later to cover a certain group that would be the the cost that I can expect. If there's any type of litigation according to the bill it's it's covered through the attorney general. So I don't know if that would be an expense. So I'm
063I'm mainly thinking the supervision and any type of resources that we need to provide. Okay. So, if we have um a student whose parents wants them to participate in this period, does the um aid or the the person that's looking after the children that are doing this prayer, do they have to u believe in the same religion, follow the same denomination, or is that like a point of conflict possibly? >> Yeah, I think I think that's a that's a good question. We've thought about that. So, we we would have to have they don't necessarily have to have the same religion, but they would have to be willing to cover. I don't think we could force someone to cover uh a daily prayer period if it's something against their beliefs, but if someone's willing to cover
064just to have an adult in the room, that I think that would suffice. on time frame. If you have it after school, then the person riding the bus and they want to participate. Now, when you talk about financial, then you get into that. Can we say if you're going to have craft service or whatever, it has to be in the mornings before because they say in the bill that you can't disrupt uh class or whatever because I was thinking it was going to be if you know if you Catholic you do this you do in the classroom in other words everybody get to their particular group and you do whatever you do prayerwise and then class starts but I'm not because you know the bill is kind of crazy. >> Well, well, it's uh it
065cannot happen during the instructional time. So, so it would have to be either before school and after school and it's a voluntary program and so we would we would not provide transportation. And so, um if if the buses run early for most of the schools they do, then then that would probably be the better option as far as having students there. So it would be more like you got uh the situation where you have if you in a prayer group that meets so many times then if you're Catholic or Baptist or Presbyterian or whatever you would have that group and they can meet at any given time that they want to decide. It's like a club. In other words, >> the the difference is it's a good question because right now they they can do
066that right now. Uh then they can have clubs or they meet before after school. Right now the the difference is Senate bill um first of all it allows the district to express uh you know their rights to religious freedom. And then what it also does is it it puts the uh the management component on the district. And so it's up to the district to decide logistically how they're going to organize and facilitate the daily prayer. And so I think that's that's the biggest shift that that we've researched is it it's it's a already it's voluntary prayer, voluntary religious reading. Um Senate Bill 11 requires the district to manage that. So basically they would basically us as the district uh say we vote on it and you saying you know have do we have to actually
067schedule things for this group this group this group or when they do the consent form it's left up to each individual to determine what group they going to pray with at that time because you you giving them consent or are you giving them consent to as well as to opt out also? So, so the consent form is to opt into the daily prayer period >> and they can opt out at any any time. And so if they choose to opt out, they're allowed to do that, of course. But by opting in um they have to fill out that form. And so the district does have if Senate if Senate Bill 11 is approved, the district would have to manage um who's who's provided consent and making sure that if you have not turned in a
068consent form, you're not allowed to participate. And so it's it's very structured in that sense. >> The the burden the burden will be placed on administration to address. So the responsibility becomes the district's responsibility when it comes to consent forms, tracking, supervising students, ensuring that they are, you know, they will still be on campus ground. So there's an obligation for us to ensure that they are >> that they're safe, >> right? >> And so the burden is now going to be on the district. So many of the questions that are being asked at this moment in time, we are not prepared to have a response for every single question because those are all things that we would have to have a discussion about when it comes. If the board does approve and votes yes, then
069administration would proceed to identify uh you know some of those details. And every campus is different and it's very unique. You know, what works at a high school or a middle school is not necessarily going to work at an elementary. So uh there's a very unique structure that will be have to be in place at every campus. >> Yeah, that's I was thinking about all the different campuses and how you going to arrange it. So, a lot of times every two years our legislature puts out a bunch of laws, uh, Senate bills, House bills, and then the rules come later. Is that the case with Senate Bill 11? Do they publish rules specifically to this, or is it just the language that's related to the bill? >> Uh, my understanding is it is the language
070related to the bill. And so that the bill was passed I think September 1 was was the start date and then districts have six months until that date to to vote on it. So that would make it March 1st. And so um that's why that March 1 deadline is in place. But to answer your question, it my understanding is that's the language of the bill and how it was written >> which doesn't answer all the questions that we have. >> Yeah. uh TASBY did put out some guidance and so a lot of our presentation is from some from their their interpretation of how it would be implemented. >> Okay. Dr. Rodriguez, I think I'd like to ask if you can have that guidance forwarded to the board members prior to our next meeting so we
071could review as much information that's being provided even though it may not be much more. I honestly didn't have the answer to that. I didn't know if there was rules put out was were rules put out after the uh law took effect. >> I have not seen rules put out on the bill. >> Are there any more questions or comments from the board? >> All right. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. >> Next, we have Bridget Clark. She is going to be presenting information regarding uh the budget. As you all know, we are in budget season for the 26 27 school year and Dr. Bowlinger will also be joining. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, Mr. President, Dr. Rodriguez, and trustees. Um we're at that time again. The budget season is upon us. So, um
072this particular meeting is going to be our kickoff meeting. just given an overview and outlook of the upcoming budget and the process related to it. All right, we're going to look at um where we've been in terms of our budget and where we're going in terms of our budget. Also, uh talk about the budget committee and how that's going to function. 2627 outlook and then next steps. So, what have we done over the last several years? We're in our fourth year of budget reductions. Um we've accomplished quite a bit over the last few years. It's been difficult uh arduous work. Um but we've we've made lots of progress uh going back to 2024. Um we reduced $12 million and provided a 2% onetime salary adjustment for all full-time employees. 2025 we offered a 4% general
073pay increase and we had 13 million in budget reductions. And last year we had a 2% general pay increase for uh most employees with teachers receiving anywhere from 2% to 7.6% and we reduced $5 million from the budget. So lots of hard work over the last few years. This is year number four. So it gets more difficult every year because you get that lowhanging fruit on the reductions and then anything beyond that becomes you know very difficult. But the work has been done and uh we've accomplished quite a bit during the process and I will now turn it over to Dr. Bowlinger. >> Okay. So as the as part of the budget reduction process each year for the last three years we formed a budget reduction committee and our our goal is to have representation
074and voice from a variety of departments within the district. And so each year we have uh teachers, principles, various department representatives from the departments listed up here um on the slide. And we typically meet three times. And then as we meet and go through the process, we identify uh according to the committee areas that are that are high priority, areas that are up for consideration as far as budget reduction, and then those recommendations are brought to executive counsel, then also to Dr. Rodriguez and ultimately to the board. And so that's that's been a a helpful process in just getting feedback and getting input as we consider budget reductions. Like Miss Clark said, the first year there was is pretty clear what what could be cut and and lowanging fruit, so to speak. And as a
075years have gone on, I think this is year four. It it's just been more challenging as far as um what areas uh we need to cut to to balance the budget. It's not a and we tell the committee it's not a decision-making committee but they are providing input and recommendations um for the board to consider. Our goals uh overall are to decrease expenses and so that's expenses with with programmatic cost uh payroll um anything else that we can identify maybe under operations. And then while we're decreasing those expenses the goal is also to stay competitive and this has been a challenge. We know that we're in an area, especially on the east side of Houston, where where districts are very very competitive for for teachers. Certified teachers are are becoming harder to find. And so
076so we're we're doing all we can to attract and retain certified teachers. And every other district around us is doing the same thing. And so we want to make sure that we can position ourselves as a district so that we can offer raises and we can offer a compensation package. Um, also up here on assumptions, we know that our average daily attendance um has decreased slightly over the last few years. And so we know that this is an area that that needs to be a targeted focus on what we can do to to shift that that tide. And then our our primary budget drivers, again, uh our revenues primarily come from property values and also our average daily attendance. And so um if we can leverage that average daily attendance, that will that will help
077with the revenue side. And then also we know that when when it comes to expenditures, 80 to 85% of our budget is payroll is personnel. And so we know if we're making reductions, if we're making cuts, um it most likely will that payroll and personnel will be part of that reduction. And so we want to do that strategically to make sure that our our primary goals are not compromised. >> Okay. So budget variables are still waiting to be refined. um additional funding requests. Those are mandatory type requests such as, you know, increases in insurance policies, um increases in technology maintenance agreements, increases in utilities, those sorts of things, safety, um anything that that comes up as a mandatory increase. It's really not negotiable. We have to include that. Taxable values won't be available, certified values
078won't be available till July. will receive preliminary values in April which we'll we'll base some of our projections on. U we're still waiting on the Texas Association of School Board compensation staffing studies. Uh the staffing study I think was just submitted, but we're still waiting for the compensation study to give us um information on what's going to what other districts surrounding us and our peers are doing and and what's going to keep us competitive. Um, and also of course, uh, exploring any raises that we might offer and also we're keeping a close eye on average daily attendance numbers because those do tend to drop later on in the semester in the spring particularly. So, we're keeping an eye on that. We are seeing uh overall decreases in enrollment of about 750 right now. So, a
079lot of our surrounding school districts have responded to um one of the group emails saying that they've had a lot of withdrawals in the last few weeks. So, I think some of that might be ramping up a little bit in some areas, but um right now here it's held pretty steady for the last month or so on about 740 750 students. So, we're keeping a close eye on that. Uh average daily attendance, you can see 2019 was our last base year before COVID and we did have 94.9% ADA percentage. Uh our total enrollment was 23,837. 8 our last time to hit ADA. Um 2020 was kind of a it was it was a number that was inflated because of the way the formula worked that year because of COVID and our shutdown. So we got
080a little more than we normally would have gotten. Um but you see we have not hit that $22,000 ADA mark since 2019 2020. And our percentage of ADA is 93.96. And that's probably going to go down as we go through the rest of this year. And you see our enrollment has decreased also. It's actually decreased from 2019 from 23837 to 23 uh 407. So um we're seeing those declines and when that happens, we have to follow with staffing reductions. It it just it's unsustainable otherwise. So just to let you know the trend on that. the budget challenges. Um again, uh we received additional funding thankfully uh with House Bill 3 last year and the the school finance bill, but a lot of that those dollars were highly restricted like you had to spend it on
081teacher raises and and so forth. Um we did get a little bit of extra a little bit extra leeway um on some other things which we were happy to get but uh nonetheless there are no new revenue sources of course coming our way this year because there is not a legislative session. Um inflation has been continuous 25% over the last 5 years. Teachers continue to leave the profession. It becomes like uh Dr. Bolinger said more difficult to attract and retain. Uh it's very competitive. the highest paying school district in the state is right next door to us and so um it it can be challenging and then of course we now have the charter school voucher program coming online uh starting next school year so we have to see what's what's going to happen with
082that as well. All right. So, the good news is the challenging work that administration and the committee and everyone in the district basically has really paid off over the years. As as you've seen, we've cut quite a bit. Um, without includes that said, without including a raise, we have a budget that is essentially balanced. However, as we get further into the year and more information comes about, we're only at the beginning of February right now. we're going to receive the items that I discussed in a previous slide, plus any additional information that we get. Um, a 2% raise would cost us just over $4 million. And then, of course, we have any increases and mandatory costs that we're going to have to accommodate. So, we're looking at charging the budget committee with uh coming up
083of for reductions of around $5 million. and it's essentially to be able to cover a raise and any additional costs to balance our budget. So, we're in a we're in a very good position. Is it going to be easy? No, it's it's never easy, especially when this is year four of cuts, but we're in a much better position than we have been in years past. We still have our um capital improvement uh program fund uh that we could use in emergency uh should we want to and we did plan for that in years past that we would use those funds if we needed to. But if we can reduce it and balance the budget without that, that is the path to take. Because what will happen next year? We will have to make up that
084however, let's say we transferred in $5 million from capital improvements, which we could do to balance the budget right now, even including a raise, but starting next year, we'd have to make up that 5 million plus an additional four million if we wanted to give a raise. So we'd be looking at N. That's why every year it's millions of dollars that we have to try to find reduction for in the absence of no new revenue streams. So just to kind of give you that layout. So let's look at the calendar. Um similarly uh the color coding it's a little bit busy but the the yellow is all the board meetings. Um the purple is the um budget committee meetings. um anything in that activity right-hand column that that has red font that is where board
085action is happening. So um on the 23rd we'll have another uh budget update uh HR update also. Um then on the 23rd we're going to present the budget reduction plan to the board. I penciled in March 30th here in case the board wants to have a special meeting. That's the following Monday um after the 23rd and that would be the latest that we could do that due to the posting requirements. So um because we now have um a new law that requires us to provide taxpayer impact statement and access to a budget document at the same time that that is posted uh by board services. So which is the Tuesday before the board meeting. So, um you can find those documents under um popular links uh if you need to see those, but we're complying
086with that new law for posting. And um April 6, we'll have the board approve the budget reduction plan. Um June 1st, we'll be approving the compensation plan and then June 15th, we'll be approving the overall budget with the public hearing. All right. So next steps, further refine estimates as we receive new information just like we talked about, you know, not receiving the uh preliminary values till April 30th. Um continue budget planning and reduction measures um and assisting campuses and departments with their budgets. And then of course the committee will be completing their work and their recommendations. And that's the end of the presentation. I'll open it up for questions. pretty cut and dry before we get into the the details of of the numbers, but it it's nice to see that we're starting balance this
087year. And that's the first time since I've been serving on this board, and I know that didn't come easily. Um, not for you and not for our employees, and certainly not for our community. >> Uh, thank you for what you're doing. We're going to be monitoring this closely and we look forward to seeing u what you present as we get through the budget process. >> Absolutely. >> Last chance for questions from the board. >> That's all we have. Thank you. We'll see you in two weeks. >> Thank you so much. >> That concludes superintendent report. We will move on to item eight action items 8A consideration of consent agenda. Dr. Rodriguez. >> Yes sir. Thank you Mr. President. We have nine items beginning with number one which is the donation from JSW Steel USA. Next
088we have donation from Baytown Police Department. Donation from the Goose Creek CISD Education Foundation designated by Joe V's Smart Shop. Low attendance waiver for Carver Elementary, Desabala Elementary, and Hopper for January 27th, 2026. Next, we have the 2627 budget planning guide, followed by Goose Creek CISD annual comprehensive financial report for the year ending June 30th, 2025. Administrative contracts of outside employment, award for a competitive seal proposal for a detention pond, maintenance, repair and service, and last we have award of request for proposal for cafeteria serving lines at Cedar Bayou Junior School. >> Thank you, Dr. Rodriguez. Are there any items that any board member would like to pull for discussion or separate consideration? Not cool. We got a question about uh the detention. Is that all of them? >> Excuse me. >> What What item
089number is that? >> Number eight. >> Okay. I'm going to go ahead and stick with Robert's rules and I'm going to pull number eight on behalf of Mr. Samson for clarifying questions. And I will also pull number six for clarifying uh information as well. Are there any others that we'll look at separately? Okay. So before us, we're looking at consideration of consent agenda items 1 through five, number seven and number nine. Is there any Oh, I'll entertain a motion at this time. >> I'll move to approve >> and I'll second. >> I have a motion by Mrs. Guy and a second by Mr. Martinez to approve consent agenda items 1 through five, number seven and number nine. Any discussion on these items? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Seeing four,
090four, and zero against. Motion passes. We'll go on to item number six. Mrs. Clark, would you come forward for just some clarifying information on that? Dr. Rodriguez, would you read number six again, please, sir? >> Yes, sir. Goose Creek CISD annual comprehensive financial report for the year ending June 30th, 2025. >> And basically, Miss Clark, could you just kind of give a little u just a real quick overview on that? >> Absolutely. I would direct you >> just super fast, just hit the highlights. >> There are two two important things that you would need to know from this report. Um, the first one is the um the board of trustees letter from the auditors and that is um I don't know if this has a page number. I apologize. It's page five essentially. It just
091you just can't see it. It's in the bar down there at the bottom, but it's page five. And you see in that third paragraph, it says the very first uh sentence uh the end of the sentence says free of material misstatement. That's that's very important uh phrase to see. um that means that our our records are correct, our report our reporting is accurate and um free of material misstatement. And then also towards the end of the paragraph, the third it's the third line up from that same paragraph, it says it's um the independent auditor concluded based on the audit there was a reasonable basis for rendering an unmodified opin opinion. unmodified opinion is the highest level of opinion that you can receive for a school district audit. So, we've received an unmodified opinion for as
092long as I've been here for sure, probably way before that. So, many many years. Um, so that's that's number one is is the audit opinion. And then also an important page is going to be page number 40. And that's going to show you what our general fund um revenue and expenditures were and what we uh had as a fund balance surplus, which if you look at the third line from the bottom in that first column, you see a change in fund balance of a positive 1.688 million. So now on a a 278 million budget, that's uh you know less than one one half or 1%. earns about 1 half of 1%. So, it's it's essentially breaking even, but it's in our favor. We're adding about $1.7 million to fund balance, and that's important. Um, we
093have worked very hard to protect our fund balance, and we've we've made that happen. So, we're very proud of that. And our other um legally adopted budgets, uh, debt service and food service are also, um, very much in the black. Um, we're working on a spend a spin down for our child nutrition funds and we um are working with our refunding numbers for this year to um to uh draw down some of our debt service uh fund as well. But but we're we're sitting very uh positively in in all of our fund balances right now. >> Okay. Thank you for that. Um that confirms what I thought I read. It was a very lengthy document. >> Yes. U but but of note is that we put a remarkable amount back into the fund balance. Correct.
094>> Right. >> From last year. >> Yes. 1.7 million. >> Thank you. Are there any other questions from the board? Hearing no further questions. We we started with discussion before the motion. Is that >> I think that's okay. >> I'm sorry. >> I think that's okay. I think as long as you have a discussion period either before or after the motion. >> Mr. Clem is not here to keep in check. So with that being said, I'll entertain a motion now. >> I'll move to approve uh consent agenda item number six. >> And I'll second. >> I have a motion by Mrs. Guy and a second by Mr. Martinez to approve item number six of consent agenda. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Seeing four, four and zero
095against. Motion passes. Now we will move on to Thank you, Mrs. Clark. >> Thank you, Miss Dixon. >> I keep looking to my right, thinking somebody knowledge is you, Mr. Samson. Uh, we'll move on to item number eight, Dr. Rodriguez. >> Yes. Award for a competitive seal proposal for detention pond maintenance, repair, and service. I know Dr. Price is in the audience, but is Sheila Ku here? Sure. Oh, there. >> I keep on looking over here. So, >> next time you look. >> Yeah, exactly. So, >> okay. So, I'm going to correct Robert's rules this time. Now, I'll entertain a motion on item number eight of consent agenda. >> I'll move to approve. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mrs. Guy and a second by Mr. Martinez to approve item number eight of
096consent agenda. Mr. Samson, the floor is yours for your question. Detention pods. I just had one question. Was this uh complete put for all the detention ponds and maintenance and everything on them or just one? >> So, we have 26 detention pond locations. Okay. >> But this particular contract only includes 16 ponds. >> How many? >> 16. >> Okay. >> The other 10 are maintained inhouse because they require lower maintenance than the other 16. Okay. I read it early and I thought it said 26. >> That's the total uh detention that we have districtwide. Yes. >> Okay. Cuz I thought it was like we was doing all 26. >> No, just we we're our grounds department maintains 10 of them. The other 16 are contracted out because they require more detailed maintenance. >> So is
097Yellowstone the contract? They has the contract. >> So we awarded a primary and a secondary. The primary vendor is the storm water professional and then Yellowstone comes in as secondary. Oh, >> okay. >> Yes, sir. >> Because I knew they didn't they did m grass maintenance and stuff. I didn't know they did detention pond. >> Yes. I believe they um excuse me have a contract with Katisd. They they have very good references as well. >> Okay. Okay. That's it. >> Thank you. Any further questions before us? We have a motion and a second to approve item number eight on the consent agenda. Any other discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by raising your hands. Seeing four, four, and zero against. Motion passes. Thank you, Miss Clark, Miss Ky. Moving on to item 8B,
098future board agenda items, board training and board meetings. Um before us and future board items that are already being planned are the academic update middle of year. Uh a board requested anti-bullying update is forthcoming secondary master schedule and we will have our regular monthly financial update at our next meeting. Are there any other items that this board would like to see added to the agenda for future meetings? Hearing none, we will mark that as complete. Um, make note board training coming up governance camp March 4 through 7, 2026. That'll be in Galveastston, Texas. If you have not yet planned u notified Mrs. Garcia that you plan to attend and would like to, please do so ASAP. Registration and housing is already underway. Our next board meeting is February 23rd. Same place, same time. Following that
099will be March 23rd and April 6th. At this time, the board will now recess into close session pursuant to one or more of the following sections of the Texas Government Code. Sections 551.071 073 074 076 082 083 084 087 and 089. No action will be taken while the board is in close session. The time is now 7:40 p.m. >> which you sent me on paper the other day. Okay, that's why I did. That's what I did. The board will now reconvene in open session. The time is 8:35 p.m. No action was taken while the board was in closed session. We are moving on to item number 8E, consideration of personnel. Dr. Rodriguez. >> Yes, Mr. President. Uh, administration recommends uh that the trustees approve the teacher new hires. >> What is the pleasure of the
100board? >> I move to approve. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Martinez and a second by Mrs. Guy to approve new teacher hires as presented. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? Show of hands. Any four? Seeing four four and zero against. Motion passes. >> Mr. President, the next item is uh consideration of personnel. Uh number two, accept resignations/retirements and administration recommends that the board approve. >> What is the pleasure of the board? >> Move to approve. >> I'll second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Martinez and a second by Mrs. guide to approve uh resignations and retirements as presented. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor, please signify by raising your hand. Seeing four, four, and zero against. Motion passes. With no further business before this board, we are
101adjourned. The time is 8:36 p.m.