001At 5:15, I call the meeting of the Mount Vernon Independent School District to order. Let the record show that a quorum of board members is present, that this meeting has been duly called, and that the notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. Do I have a motion to certify the agenda? Motion made by Kathy, seconded by Donnie, all for? That is six so. Uh Donnie, would you open us in a word of prayer? >> Dear Lord, thank you for this day. We come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support and support as we begin this meeting. Please help us to engage in meaningful discussion as we make decisions for our students, staff, community. Thank you for this great sunshine
002afternoon you gave us. Thank you for dying your son dying on the cross for us to save our sins. We ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen. >> Okay, we're going to open with some special recognitions. We're actually going to switch to tonight. We're actually going to start with uh recognizing Dr. McCulla. So, if you will, come stand up. We're actually going to come out here because Kim, where are you, Kim? I'm going to make you come up here, too. So, And I want y'all to just to stand out here so everyone can see. You make everyone else do this. So, we're going to It's It's time for you to Time for you to do it once, but No, uh Camera, I'm so glad that you could come tonight because I want to start with
003you because the backbone that you have been for this man while he has served us so well. Um he would not have been able to do it without you. So, I know you've sacrificed so much, a lot of uh lonely dinners and late nights as he's been all over the place supporting our kiddos. So, thank you for all that you've done for us. And Dr. McCulla, YES, THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> UM ALSO, I JUST WANT TO POINT out you have board members here that started it with you to come and show you the support tonight. And uh we are just so grateful for all that you've done. And before I get to the bullet points of kind of your tenure of what you've accomplished, I just want to take a moment to really speak
004from the heart. Um you guys came in and I say you guys cuz it was a joint effort of y'all came in to this district at a very challenging time. And you guys uh worked in there was brought some peace and unity that was much needed and have moved this district forward ever since. You have led with humility, integrity, and a genuine heart for not just our school and our students, but our whole community. I think your leadership is marked by how how chose to start every day letting um opening car doors for kids and welcoming into the district. That is just the type of man and leader that you've been. Uh and you know you have a good leader when you try to get them to say good things about themselves and it is
005like pulling teeth. I can attest when we were trying to do the press release, I was like, "Okay, Dr. McCollum, what about this?" And he was like, "No, no, no, that wasn't me. That was a That was a team effort." And I'm like, "Okay, yes, it's a team effort, but come on, help me out." That is how you know you have a good leader. That's someone that wants to elevate and praise everyone else around them and considers themselves last. But I do get to toot your horn tonight and and you don't have to. Uh so that is what I'm going to going to take a minute to do. Uh first and foremost your tenure here has been marked with academic excellence. You have grown this district so much academically. A lot of people might not
006know, but right now our district in 60 testing categories, we are above state average and region averages in 54 of those. >> [applause] >> That was not always the case. In elementary, I can personally attest to this. When my oldest started, our campus was a D and we were having to send out probation letters. And they worked their tails off even through COVID and all the challenges that that brought. And in 2024, we're ranked an A campus. >> [applause] >> We're going to have a lot of claps tonight. Our high school is currently ranked an A and our middle school consistently performs at a high level of academic success. Let's see. Um we also we can't leave out the bond that was passed under your leadership. 63.9 million dollars that went across the district and
007really touched almost every level of our campuses and students. You also strengthened our fund balance. I believe it's more than doubled over your tenure here and you've given us more financial stability and security. And I tried to even start to list it and then I thought I'm going to offend someone by doing this, but I do want it noted we have not only had tremendous success in the classroom, we have had it outside as well. We have achieved in our extracurriculars in almost every area going above and beyond and so thank you for not only paying attention to our students in the classroom but outside as well. And also I don't think a lot of people know this either. Other people have taken notice of the successes and what was going on in Mount Vernon.
008In 2021 or the 2021-2022 year school year, Dr. McCullough was also named Superintendent of the year for region 8 and so that was a huge accomplishment and just evidence of all the work that you were putting into our community. So thank you. Now I'm going to take the take a minute and if y'all will, I think we're going to get it on this screen here. The board wants to gift y'all with this personalized entry stone for y'all to put wherever Mrs. McCullough would like. But this is just a mock-up. Y'all will have the final say, but we just want to express our gratitude. You have left us in such a strong position and built such a strong foundation and you truly have made every day a great day to be a tiger. So thank y'all.
009>> [applause] [applause] [applause and cheering] >> Okay, I'm going to try to get through this. I think I can. I just want to say thank you to the board, board members who are here that are part of first off believing in me and trusting me and giving me the opportunity. It has been one of my utmost and greatest pleasures to be superintendent of Mount Vernon ISD. Um again, I think we have done great things. It is a we. It is not been Jason McCullough. God has blessed us with great campus leadership. He has blessed us with great board leadership and great teacher leadership. The work that they have done on campuses has been where it's taken place. Our students have been very fortunate to have the leaders in the staff um and the campus leadership
010that they have had. Um that's been a part of this whole time that I've been here again. I've been blessed to be able to work with the board and boards who have trusted me and we've been able to work together to do phenomenal things. And uh I remember So when I started substitute teaching here in 1994, and at the time I was uh going to seminary at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth thinking that God had called me into the ministry. And little did I know that the ministry he called me into was to be right here and be a part of the lives of our students. And every day that's what I've tried to do. I hope that about of anything else, out of all the academic gains, the extracurricular, the bonds and things like
011that, what I truly hope in my heart is that I've touched the lives of our kids. And then I've made a difference for them. And if I have, then I feel that I have done the job that God's called me to do. So again, thank you. It's been my honor to be the superintendent of Mount Vernon ISD, and I will always be Mount Vernon's biggest fan. So thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right, let's see if we can get through the rest of this. >> [laughter] >> I know, where's the Kleenex? Um all right, we do have next our uh CTE students that are graduating with a certificate that we would like to recognize this meeting as well. Uh Miss Wilkins, is she here? Okay, she's coming up. Awesome. Now you can hear me.
012Um students, if you're here for your IBC, I can't see in the in the audience, but if you're here, if you will go ahead and come make your way up. Um I will be calling your names. Um so tonight we're proud to recognize seniors um from Mount Vernon High School who earned their IBC through CTE education program um in the last 4 years. So some of these students earned them their freshman year, some their sophomore year, some earned them last Thursday. Um so it's kind of a continuum of testing. With that said, these are our only um only our seniors. We do have um students that earned them this year that are sophomores and juniors, and I imagine they'll be recognized their senior year. So um I'm going to briefly highlight each one, and of
013course as borrowing from Dr. McCollum, this is Courtney Wilkins did not do this. This is um a testament to our wonderful teachers, our CTE teachers that we have. And so if you are here, also CTE teachers, will you please make your way up with your students. Um the first one on my list, and this is in no order, is TEA Ed Aid 1. That's a certification that prepares students to assist in the classroom. Um as most of them will move to get their educational degrees. Um that class and that certification is offered by Cat Baloo. And those students are Cali Baker, Heidi Hudson, Carly Mears, and Ava Villalta. If they are here. Um in Miss Baloo's class, to to earn your TEA Ed Aid certificate through TEA, you have to be at least 18. Some
014of our students aren't 18 by the time that they graduate, and so those students that still would like an um early childhood certificate take another test. Um it's called the Pre-PAC Early Childhood test, and those students are Gracie Worrell, Lillian Johnson, and Sharon Huerta. Um welding is a huge one. We have um this year we had 30 students total um take and pass their um AWS D9.1 welding certificate. Um it's industry recognized. They can take that certificate to um any entity that needs a welder and say, "Hey, I'm certified to weld for your company." Um those people are and it's a very long list, so please bear with me. Ray Evans, Dalton Saul, Judah Winters, Nathan Worden, Lisbeth Garcia, Giovanni Gutierrez, Kay George, Jesus Gutierrez, Breaux Guthery, Devonte Herrera, Nathan Burton, Landon Bowers, Daniel Castanon,
015Abraham Ham Prasada, Charles Clayton, Cason Daniel, Christian Dennis, Alondra French, um Trenton Neal, Vernon Pennington, Pennington, Olivia Scott, Callaway Sinclair, Angel Ross, and Wesley Salinas. Any of them here tonight? Okay. Adobe Premiere Pro is another one that we offer in our AV and our um photography classes. So, the teachers of this are um Mr. Silvis, which I believe is here. Um, Coach Hayes and also Ms. Hunt who, you know, is on her way to Austin. And so, the student earning Premiere Pro this year or as a senior is Jose Calvillo. Good job, Jose. >> [applause] >> And our Adobe Photoshop um is run through the same program and that would be Caden Dotson and Trent Smith have earned their Adobe Photoshop certifications. Um, next we have Microsoft Excel expert. This is run through our business
016pathway. It's an advanced certification that demonstrates high-level skills in spreadsheets. Um, Ms. Dawn, Ms. Jamie Dawn and Mr. Brent Gardner. I believe I saw Mr. Gardner is here and they're the ones that are responsible for that one. Um, as well as the entrepreneurship and small business certification. And those students, Excel expert and entrepreneurship are um Luis Arriaga, Alexa Copeland, Titus Gable, Hadley Smith, Son Tran, and Haley Mingus. >> [applause] >> I would say one of the most involved certifications that we offer is the TDLR Cosmetology Operator License. Um, this is the license that students have to complete the coursework and a thousand hours while they are here, a thousand clock hours, and pass two certification exams to be able to get their operator license. And once they do that, they um can operate as a
017cosmetologist in the state of Texas and we've had a lot of success in this program. Um, students this year who have tested and already met the requirement are Jacy Hughes, Ashton Reader, and Lauren Skeen. >> [applause] >> And the instructor um in charge of all of that is Ms. KAYLIN NORWOOD. >> [applause] >> AND AS I SAID UM before I started, students are still actively testing. Um and so we do have a few that are finishing out their TDLR Cosmetology Operator License. Um Next we have Foundations of Engineering. This is given by NOCTI, which is um an engineering company. Um this certification validates foundational engineering and problem-solving skills related to design, system, and technology. That would be Ms. Marie Sanders and um Mr. Blake Wilkins are the teachers that are in charge of that pathway.
018And Wyatt Folk has passed his IBC in Foundations of Engineering. >> [applause] >> Feedlot certification is another one. This is in our obviously in our Ag pathway. Um Ms. Dixon This is one of the six or seven >> [laughter] >> that Ms. Dixon is in charge of giving. Um feedlot develops skills related to livestock feeding operations, animal care, and ag production practices. And those students are Payton Goodnight, Ricardo Gutierrez, and Madison Watson. Um Ms. Dixon also does our Vet Med um certification. So students that earn the certification demonstrate knowledge in animal health, Vet Med terminology, and basic medical applications in veterinary science. Um that would be Jayden Blaylock, Pearson Clayton, Madison Gutierrez, and Emerson Reed have earned their Vet Med IBC. Animal science is another one that's under Ms. Dixon's care. And um this one
019focuses on animal nutrition, genetics, health, and livestock management. That'd be Mariana Cardenas, Cayden Decker, Marshall Green, Jax Henry, Monica Self, Caitlin Sites, and Kenna Ing. Um one that's kind of shared between Ms. Dixon and Ms. Jones is the BASF Plant Science, um which is knowledge of plant systems, crop science, and ag production. And those students are Jimmy Forbes and Monica Self. And Equine Management is another one that Ms. Dixon takes care of for us. Um there are no seniors this year, um but we do have some juniors that did pass it that will be recognized next year. Floral design is one that Miss Jones does in her floral design class. Um it validates student skills in floral arrangement design principles and industry practices. That would be Garrison Harper, Amber Alford, Micah Barker, Lorena Castillo, Riley
020Holliman, Yuvia Mejia, Ashton Reader, Lauren Skeen, and Lisbeth Vasquez. And Lauren is here. SHE'S ALREADY GOT ONE. [applause] WE'LL SAY STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED TO TEST um for two IBC, well, any IBC really that they want to that they have completed we will let them test for so they can get as many IBCs as they complete. Um next we have or lastly we have our certified patient care technician. This is another one that students can take to nursing homes, to hospitals, to doctors' offices, and say I have this certification and get gainfully employed. Um it prepares students with foundational health care skills used in hospitals, clinics, and patient care settings. Um direct patient care, safety procedures, vital signs, and basic clinical skills are what all is tested on that one. Um Miss Shoe is the the
021health science teacher that was in charge of this IBC. And the students earning that this year are Dylan Bolton, Sharon Huerta, Dalton Rogers, Griffin Standards, Jason Stout, Dane Carr, Reagan Carney, Allison Chiquito, and Meredith Mears. >> [applause] [applause] >> And I will add that we are still testing in in all of these pathways so we could certainly add more by the time that school is out. And these certifications are not easy to get. They range in difficulty and requirements, but all of our students have done such a great job and students were very, very proud of everything that you have accomplished. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Is Jessica doing it? Okay. At this time we're going to administer the oath of office to our unopposed duly elected Board of Trustees. I will read um we
022did have a board member uh uh render their resignation. Uh it says, "Please accept this letter as a formal notification that I'm resigning from the position on the Mount Vernon Independent School District Board of Trustees effective as of May 11th, 2026. This was not an easy easy decision to make, but due to professional and family commitments, I am no longer able to dedicate the necessary time and energy to the board. It has been an honor to serve the students, staff, and of the of Mount Vernon for the last 9 years. I'm proud of what we have accomplished together. Please let me know how I can assist with any transition of my duties. Sincerely, Joshua Jordan. All right, and I believe our um Who Is it Kyle? Kyle and Linda. Yeah, sorry. >> [laughter] >> Okay.
023Yeah. There is Raise your right I I'm so sorry. that I will faithfully execute >> [applause] >> Okay. At this time, it is only agenda two for the reorganization of the officers of the Board of Trustees, and so I will take the opportunity. Do I have a nomination for Board President? Okay, we hang on just a second. We have We have a nomination for Leanne. Do we have any other nominations for Board President? Okay, so we have Leanne. Linda made the motion or made the first. Kathy Robinson made the second. Okay. All in favor of Leanne as board president. That's 6-0. Okay, I'm going to turn this back over to Leanne. >> Thank you guys. Um we will now do nominations for vice president. Do you have a nomination for vice president? All right, any
024other nominations? Okay, second. Donnie raised his hand, all for. 6-0. And the position of secretary. Is there a nomination for secretary? All right, any other nominations? All right, is there a second? Seconded by Kathy, all for. All right, that is 6-0. And Donnie, if you'll assume this seat over here and you get to start taking notes. All right, uh we are now moving on to our information items and information item A is our SHAC summary. I believe is Ms. Decker here for that? Okay. >> Hey, I'm Tracy Decker. I'm the SHAC advisor. That's the School Health Council. And I'm going to give the summary of SHAC activities for the school year. On September 9th, we had a SHAC meeting that included information concerning SHAC bylaws and updates. Suicide Prevention Week was September 8th through the
02514th. There was a speaker, Karen Gage, from Lake Regional and Suicide Prevention training was discussed by Dana McAdoo. On October 15th, there was a SHAC meeting. Topics included information on the following. Ed Cotta presented current substance trends and prevention [clears throat] efforts. October was also Breast Cancer Cancer Awareness Month and Titus Regional Medical Center provided handouts on assessing breast exams. >> [snorts] >> On October 27th through the 30th, each campus participated in Red Ribbon Week, the nation's largest drug prevention program. They were The campuses hosted various activities to promote substance abuse prevention and making healthy choices in youth. On October 28th, the Fantastic Fantastic Tooth presentation was provided for first-grade students and the Masons of Mount Vernon provided each first-grade student with a dental hygiene kit. On April 28th, there was a SHAC meeting. Topics
026included internet and social media safety, human trafficking protection for kids from online predators and local law enforcement and area cell phone carriers and MBISD technology staff were available to assist and answer questions. On October 29th, Aurora Health provided students and staffs with flu shots and there were 70 participants. November 6th, elementary hosted the PE annual Turkey Trot for students. On November 12th, there was a SHAC meeting. Um topics included information on tobacco and vaping prevention, Alzheimer's, and esteem, the abstinence and healthy choice curriculum. January 13th, there was a SHAC meeting and topics included human trafficking and social works advocacy group. >> [snorts] >> During the second semester of school, uh esteem lessons were provided to ninth grade students with parental consent. Students learned about topics that are important to physical, emotional, and social development. February
02710th was a SHAC meeting and topics included uh information presented from about the PATH program and community resource coordinated groups. February 12th, Franklin County uh Rural Health provided flu shots for students and staff. April 10th, UT Health mobile mammography unit was on uh campus for mammograms for the ladies of the district. April 14th, uh SHAC meeting and topics included uh information on the program for kids, for families, FACE Community Health Core, safety team, dating violence, and Open Arms Children's Home. April 15th through May 7th, students in grade 7th through 12th grade were provided the opportunity to participate in the uh re- optional online uh Stop the Bleed training course and complete the in-person hands-on skills training to help prevent significant blood loss resulting from traumatic injury. On April 28th, Franklin County Rural Health offered immunizations
028for seniors for uh to meet college um immunization requirements and for sixth grade students to meet immunization requirements for the next school year. On April 30th, uh CPR and AED AED training were provided to seniors to help meet graduate graduation requirements. Some additional information is um the district has added some additional AEDs to the um the campuses and bleeding control kits. Um let's see. There are about 17 AEDs throughout the district. Approximately 57 staff members have uh received CPR and AED training. And um we purchased six um LifeVac choking rescue devices and they'll be located in cafeteria and in the nurses' stations. And the recommendations for the following year or the next year >> [snorts] >> uh is to offer CPR, first aid, and AED training as needed to students and staff. Host um immunization
029clinics for students and staff. And um the free asthma uh screening bus should return this year and offer mammograms for the ladies of the district. That's it. Any questions? Thank you. >> Next item is our marketing update for athletics. >> So, Coach McLainey is here as well and I'm going to have him come on up and talk I'll say a few words as he's on his way up. He is He is still in um back-and-forth conversations with um several companies in regard to um the marketing plan for the athletic fields as well as the field house and gymnasium. Things that have already taken place is they have already We've already placed the order for the state championship uh basketball monument that will be outside of the gym uh as well as I believe the one
030for softball um has has one for softball been ordered as well? >> Yeah. >> Do we know that? It's ordered as well. Okay, so both those have been been ordered. Um Coach McClain is still working on some things. I've asked him with the next couple weeks to have a a full presentation ready to kind of show what what the plan is and what they're looking at for each of the three fields as well as the field house and gymnasium to go with that per in a couple weeks for you to to view and take a look at and he wants to share another project he's working on with you right now. >> So um to go with you know Leanne mentioned earlier the the bond that was passed and all of the upgrades to facilities
031that took place across the campus um we were presented with the opportunity and approached by a company uh to upgrade our scoreboard situation with um a full-size live video board and what this company allows the district to do is state-of-the-art um video and potentially sound but we do with the sound system that came in we're focused mainly on the video uh adding that to the complex at zero cost to the district. So there has been some legwork done uh by our coaching staff along with Fieldhouse which is the name of the company to put together some uh multi-year sponsorship agreements with local and national companies uh to run advertisements to buy permanent ads on the the physical board itself um but the board will be 18 ft 10 and 3/4 in tall and 32 ft
0329 and 8 or 9/16 in wide um and it will be edge-to-edge full video board and as I said, it will come at uh a $0 expense to the district. The The company Fieldhouse partners with us to help raise this money, sign these companies to multi-year contracts. Um it is a 10-year warranty. It will be um it will be financed over a a maximum of 5 years. And so every dollar that comes in will go straight become a revenue stream for the district um as a whole, which allows us to to do some great things with our CTE um AV department and um get even more kids involved in the production that is a Friday night. Um this will also be able to be used for uh boys and girls soccer and then any track
033meets that we host um potentially graduation productions um any type of community events that the district wanted to put on. Um it just creates a a very nice centerpiece to go with the the stadium that has already been built. I do have some information here. I only brought one of each. Sorry. You guys hopefully don't mind sharing. But you don't want to pass those around. And all of this information I do have and if you have any questions, you're more than welcome to reach out with me to me. I will share it with you whenever. >> Thanks, coach. Thank you, coach. >> Yes, thank you, Coach McLain. That's very exciting news to hear. So thank you you and your team for putting that together. That's awesome. Thank you. Our next item is our enrollment totals.
034>> So as of May 5th, our enrollment was sitting at 1516, which is down a little bit from April. If you look at previous year, that is um consistent with what usually happens for us for some reason, but we uh usually lose a few students going into May toward the end of the school year. Uh so, current as of May 5th, enrollment is 1516. >> Um and then our campus department updates. I can't Whoever wants to start, I can't really see y'all. So, Oh, it looks like it's Mr. Glover. >> It's me again. All right. So, we got a few things going on at the high school this time of the year. Um just in case you weren't aware. Um so, I'll I'll go over some of them and uh as always, I'm sure I'll
035leave a few things out. But, uh we're not totally done with academic stuff yet. Uh we're working on our TSI testing this week um tomorrow and Wednesday and that's where we're we're testing all of our honor students in ELA. Um and this is mostly 10th and 11th graders. And then we'll do math on on on Wednesday of this week. Uh so, that is all happening um there. Planning for summer school has begun. We'll uh get our star results back here in a couple of weeks and and we will get that all uh squared away and ready to roll in the summer. I want to go back to just a minute what Ms. Wilkins was talking about. You know, she's she's obviously done a good job this year of getting our students and our teachers squared
036away on the IBC thing is that's kind of taken a a higher priority over the last couple years in our accountability measures. I don't remember she said the exact number, but we had 81 IBCs this year with our seniors. And then to go a little bit further with that, 96 96% of our seniors have met their CCMR indicator for this the class of 2026. So, that's 109 out of 114. So, uh kudos goes to her and the teachers and the students for getting all that organized and and making it happen because that's no easy task and there's a lot of a lot of different ways that can go and there's a lot of different indicators and just a lot of data to keep up with and to track. So, they've done a really good job
037of taking care of all of that. Excuse me. Most of the other stuff on my list is revolved around our seniors um as we get geared up for graduation here in a couple of weeks. We had our senior award banquet hosted by First United Methodist Church the other day and this was last Wednesday maybe I can't really remember but they've been hosting that event for a number of years. 15 20 years I believe it's been a long time. So that's where we gave out all of our cords and our stalls and we announced our top 10 graduates for the class of 2026 and we have validated Victoria Miss Cayden Decker this year and salutatorian is Cali Clark. [snorts] Also congratulations to them. We'll be putting out a a video here in the next couple of
038days about our top 10 graduates that you'll see on Facebook. So we're really proud of all the things that they've done. We had our other banquet that we take the seniors off campus to the Masonic Lodge last week. Again just the Mount Vernon Masonic Lodge honors our seniors every year again it's a little kind of a long standing tradition and one of the things we do there is that they recognize They recognize two of our seniors as kind of our top all around seniors and these are just the kids that that their classmates think represent their class the best. You know who who would you send to represent your senior class as a as hey this is what Mount Vernon is all about. So the winners of that award this year was Addison Norwood and
039Jesus Gutierrez. So if you know either one of them you know that that's two really really awesome choices right there. So congratulations to them. We had our annual Rotary banquet here in this very room the other day when we didn't have the food in here but we had the awards presentation in here and that's always that's always a good time giving away thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of scholarships to the seniors who deserve it. So that really went really well and then of course this is banquet season so we've done the FFA we've done the band next week we got the Taffy we've got the athletic awards coming up next week. So just one thing after another this time of the year. A couple other little things last last couple of things here.
040Baccalaureate service that's hard to say. I don't even know if I say it right. I say Baccalaureate. I've heard it said several different ways. But anyways, Sunday, May the 24th at First United Methodist Church 6:00 and then following that we have our senior week leading up to graduation May the 29th 8:00 Don Meredith Stadium. And then last but not least, one-act play compet- uh state competition 15th time, fourth year in a row. I don't know how many schools have been more than 15 times, but I know it's not many. Uh so, congratulations to them and that's on Wednesday night at 8:00, about 8:30. So, we'll see how that turns out. So, all right. Other than that, thank you very much. That's all I got. >> I am the sister that loves microphone. But I'll be
041quick. Um don't have near as much going on as the high school. Really, what y'all need to know is that the fifth and sixth grade teachers won the dodgeball tournament last week at Tiger Games. That was a huge success. Um it was our first annual Tiger Games. We ra- raised approximately $1,500 doing that fundraiser raiser. So, all that's gone back to gifts for the kids for our drawings that we do at the end of the year that they get excited about. Um also celebrated teacher recognition or teacher appreciation last week and each of our teachers got to leave campus for an hour for lunch, which is a big deal um if you're teacher. So, we uh Coach Kaylee bused them over to uh Tags. They got to sit and be duty-free for an hour. So,
042we were super excited to spoil them with that. Um so, anyways, we're in survival mode as I'm sure most everybody else is, but um yeah, that's what's going on at the middle school? >> I feel like I should have brought my tap shoes. It brings me back to my dance recital days. Um, I would just like to start by thanking Dr. McCollum for his support of the elementary school and for me personally and taking a chance on me and it means a lot. So, you're going to be sorely missed, but thank you for everything. Um, as uh, Ms. Butler mentioned teacher appreciation week, we we try to celebrate big at the elementary school. I made a Facebook post yesterday about everything. We try to give them a little food every day, a little treat every
043day and just let them know how much we love them every day of teacher appreciation week and hopefully they feel that every day, not just at teacher during teach- teacher appreciation week. We had um, our cup stacking tournament. That is a big thing and boy, they're fast. Uh, I don't think I could quite do that and hold up under pressure like those kids do. It was fun. Our first annual talent show is May 20th. If you're looking for some fun, come down and watch that. Pre-K and kindergarten enrollment, I think I mentioned last month. We have had three opportunities for that and then they can come in at any time, schedule an appointment or just show up to make it or to as get registered with Aurelie. Our numbers are currently down right now for
044pre-K and kindergarten. So, if you know of anyone, please let them know to come and register so we can plan accordingly. Um, let's see. Fourth grade university, so our fourth grade teachers and staff members are offering activities for our fourth graders. They can sign up. They do a little rotation a couple of times a week. So, some of the things are disc golf, yarn crafts, pickleball, sign language. So, it's just a chance for them to to kind of dabble in some extra things that they normally wouldn't have a chance to do. Lots of field trips going on. Um, there somebody's going somewhere each day it seems. We have two positions left to fill. We feel like we've got some really good quality candidates in to start with us next year. And we are going to
045celebrate the retirement of two long-time educators that are going to be very missed. Uh Christy Key and Stephanie Rott will be celebrating them tomorrow starting at 4:30 and they've touched a whole lot of lives and we're really going to miss them but super proud for them for as they start their next chapter. And then I told you that um last month that I would bring some data for you. So I have a sheet for you to all to have just for our end of the year in class. Our kindergarten group, they're the one that we are really going to be watching as our new curriculum as you know as they grow into the grade levels. At the beginning of the year in our below and well below categories, we were at 67% and that's not
046I mean they don't they're not required to know a whole lot when they start kindergarten but we decreased that um to 41% at the end of the year. So super proud of all those kindergarteners. They are working really hard. Overall as a campus, let's see. At the end of last year 2024-2025, we were 51% below and well below and that's what we knew we didn't want that. And so we have decreased that this year to 41% um below and well below um and our target was 40%. So we we all we missed it by 1% but I again I've said this every month. I'm super proud of our teachers for taking on a challenging curriculum and they all weren't on board exactly at the beginning of the year but they've seen the growth. We're going
047to be much better next year. We know where the weaknesses in the curriculum are and where we can fill in and so I can't say it enough how proud I am of our teachers and our students for stepping up to the challenge and we'll start with math next year. So thank you all for your support. Do you all have any questions? Okay. >> Really not much update from from last month. They are still continually working in our cafeteria and our fine arts in the ag building. They're still on schedule to turn that over to the district mid-July if not a little bit before. As soon as school is out, whether it be that Friday that students are out or the following Monday, they will begin demoing the current cafeteria to have it ready for us
048when school starts back in August as the library of media arts. Um think the high school offices, they are moving as soon as school is out during that week if not a little bit before into the Kate building what were the special ed offices and the special ed offices have moved over into the fifth and sixth grade hallway where admin was while administration was being worked on. So, a little bit of shuffling going on until we can get everything finished at Christmas. You will see the entrance of the admin, that new park ground start looking better as we begin to get some a little bit of irrigation and landscaping put in there to get that cleaned up. >> Um and do we have anyone signed up for open forum? >> I would need to get
049real quick. >> Oh, sorry. >> Um looked at um the possibility of needing to move the June and July board meeting. Looking at moving the June meeting instead of the second Monday to the third Monday, which would be June 15th. Okay? And the July meeting instead of being on the second Monday, um moving it to actually the Thursday before, which would be July 9th. So, the June meeting will be June 15th and the July meeting will be Thursday on a Thursday, June the 9th. Sorry, July 9th. I said June, sorry. July the 9th. All right, very good. Have birthday cake. That's right. Okay. >> Okay. So, no open >> What? I did not see any Greg, would you double check for me real quick and make sure there's I didn't have any Double check for
050me. Make sure we didn't miss anybody. >> Wait. >> No. >> Awesome. Thank you. Okay, so now we'll move on for the approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? Motion made by Linda, seconded by Donnie. All four? Six so. And then we'll move into our action items. And the first action item is to consider and approve proposed change to policy D-N-A local. >> All right, what this policy is is it is about our teacher evaluations. Our current policy stated that a teacher a teacher could be appraised every 3 years. The only change that what this will be will be for any teacher who is in a TIA um subject that is available for TIA recognition. They do not have the option to go every 3
051years. They will be evaluated each year. Okay. So, that would be that's the proposed change to local policy D-N-A. >> Any further questions? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the proposed change to policy D and A local? Motion made by Kathy. Seconded by Linda. All four? That would be 6-0. All right. Action item B, consider and approve district compensation plan. Believe that's Mr. Craver. >> Kind of cold down there. You walk up here and it's like 20° hotter. Wow. Okay. The attachments were put on late. Has anybody seen the attachments? No, that's what I thought. Okay. Um the consideration is to approve the teacher um salary scale for the 2026-2027 school year. Um there are no changes to that on there. Um and also to consider the teachers receiving their step raises and
052all other staff with a 2% salary increase. And any questions with that? I brought my laptop just in case. >> Does anyone have any questions? Okay. >> All right, is there a motion to approve the step raise compensation plan and 2% for all other staff? Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Motion made by Donnie. Seconded by Kyle. All four? That's 6-0. Thank you, Craig. All right, our action item C is to consider and approve procurement of elementary materials submitted on March 4th. >> Those were posted on our district website for the time that was required. Ms. George and her staff has reviewed that and so that list of books is presented to you um with a recommendation to approve as presented. >> Were there any questions over any of the materials that were posted? Okay.
053Do you have a motion to approve the elementary library materials as presented? Motion made by Kyle, seconded by Linda. All four? 6-0. All right, action item D, consider and approve revision to policy DC local regarding superintendent superintendent hiring authority. >> Sorry, this has been a practice we have done even before I got here from what I understand and as Craig was looking he said, you know, that's actually not in our policy. So, this is an opportunity for us to put that in policy. What we have put in here as as an opportunity or as a recommendation to you would be basically it states that the superintendent after the board the super- the board would give the superintendent hiring authority after the May board meeting starting the day after the May board meeting up until the
054beginning or up until the September board meeting is what it states. That is policy DC local. >> Now, is this action item just to revise the policy or to revise and act? >> By uh revising the policy you would be acting giving the superintendent authority to do so. >> Okay. So, and to clarify the board wouldn't have to approve this every year. It's just going into written policy that it will be that. Okay. Um Do you have questions on that or anything we want to discuss on that? Um and to be clear to expectations of the board can be set on far as what's communicated to us during that time. Um whoever is in that role. Okay. Any other questions for that? Okay. Is there a motion to approve the revision to policy DC local
055regarding superintendent hiring authority? Motion made by Donnie. Is there a second? Seconded by Kathy. All four? Would be 6-0. All right, action item E is to consider uh possible approval of the guardian program. I'm going to turn that over to Dr. McCalla. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay, we've spent several meetings talking about this and going through and talking about the framework that has been provided for you as well as the overview of the guardian program itself. Um some changes that were um brought to us that we are adding to the program itself would one be that the guardian program will be reevaluated every 3 years for re-implementation or certification. Also added to it was the um working in contracting with uh Franklin County Sheriff uh to be able to um make sure that we always
056have three at least three officers on campus at all times. Uh and actually that we're working through that agreement we'll we'll bring to you um if there has to be any change to that agreement with them uh to be sure that we're on the same page with that. But what that would be to be like if um Leo is at a training not able to be there, that he he works with uh Franklin County Sheriff and they'll have a fill-in person who will come to be sure that we're always there. As well as like on days as was brought up in our safety meetings when we have uh additional events taking place and there's a lot of people here to also have an additional one or two officers on on site during those times like
057field day, things like that. So we still have officers on campuses as well. Uh another conversation we have and we're continuing to look at uh that was brought up by the board was as well as trying to provide counseling opportunities or even have a counselor additional counselor on staff. Uh that is uh that is still something we're having to work through because that person's hard to find, but that's still part of the plan of what we're looking at as being a part of the Guardian program as well. >> And we do currently have counseling services available. Um and so maybe trying to better make that known to our students and community of what we're offering to um proactively approach our mental health of our students. It's very important, so. Okay, are there any questions to
058the Guardian program as it's presented? I believe it's in our board book, yes. Okay. With that, is there a motion to approve the Guardian program as presented? Motioned by Kathy. Is there a second? Seconded by Kyle. All four? That's five. Against? That is one. Motion passes with the majority five to one. All right, we will now it is 6:12. We will now convene to close session for personal matter matters pursuant to Texas Government Code section 551.074 and to address legal concerns, implications and questions regarding the posted agenda items pursuant to Texas Government Code section 551.071. Thank you. At 25, we are reconvening back into open session. Uh Dr. McCollum do you have some personal contract personal contracts? >> Recommend the hires of Jennifer White, Ashlyn Gamblin, Edward Groter, Jenny Logan, Maline Flewelling, Robert Flewelling, J.C.
059Grove and Sarah Graham. >> Any questions on that? Is there a motion to approve the personnel contracts as presented? Motioned by Donnie, is there a second? Seconded by Kathy, all for? That would be 6-0 and do you have resignations to acknowledge? >> acknowledge. Need to acknowledge the resignations of Lauren Johnson, Cheyenne Shoe, Louise Contreras, Carly Crow, Christie Key, Stephanie Wright, Jason McCollum, Pam Willis, Haley Padillo, Jordan Jones and Nakisha Robertson as well as before we end this I want to let you know that we will be doing a reception uh retirement reception for Ms. Willis and myself and that is >> May 20 >> May 21st from 3:30 to 5:30 in the administration building. >> I meant to say that tonight after this recognition. >> [laughter] >> I know. >> We'll get it to you.
060We'll make sure you get there. Yeah. Okay. >> 21st, 3:30 to 5:30 in the admin building. >> Yes. >> All right, it is 7:26 p.m. This meeting is adjourned.