001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Now call this Brian Independent School District meeting to order. Let the record show that a quorum of board members is present, that this meeting has been duly called, and that notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. The time is 6:00 p.m. I wish to wish I wish a warm welcome to everyone present this evening. I ask that you please turn off the sound on your electronic devices. We'll stand for the pledges. this evening. We have Branch Elementary students and Mitchell Elementary students. Good evening. I'm Ashley Lopez and I'm the proud principal at Mary Branch Elementary and with me I have I am Andronia Huff and I am in fourth grade. I'm Tyler Marshall and I'm in fourth grade.
002I'm Antonio Hernandez and I'm from fourth grade. I'm Luis Fonseca and I'm in fourth grade. I'm Lillian Martin and I'm in fourth grade. I'm Cora Ravello and I'm in fourth grade. I'm Mateo Rubio and I'm in fourth grade. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good. >> [applause] >> Hi everyone. I am Jessica Pena and I'm the principal at Mitchell Elementary. My name My name is Emery Nord and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Ezra and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Teagan Martin and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Fallon Daily and I'm in second grade. My name is Alden and I'm in third grade. My name
003is Jayden and I'm in third grade. My name is Joshua and I'm in third grade. I honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God, one indivisible. Thank you and may [applause] be seated. That's so cute. Good job. Great job. Okay, our first spotlight this evening will be elementary teachers of the month. And we also have Truist Bank representative Alonzo Robles uh presenting our gift cards this evening. Good evening. I'm Ashley Lopez, proud principal Mary Branch Elementary, and with me tonight I have Dr. Allison Martinez. She was selected by her peers for her exceptional leadership of the pre-K team and her dedication to preparing her students for the transition to kindergarten. She is recognized as a hard-working advocate for both her staff and students, consistently celebrating their academic and behavioral
004Beyond her classroom responsibilities, she has played a vital role on the Bare Necessities Committee, contributing significantly to the planning process and school-wide initiatives. Allison is known for her kindness and friendly demeanor. She frequently goes out of her way to support other grade levels and remains a reliable, helpful presence for the entire school community. We are so thankful she is a part of Bear Nation. >> [applause] [applause] >> Hi, good evening. Um my name is Jessica Payne again and I'm the principal at Mitchell and I tonight have the privilege of introducing Ms. Kendra Litson who is one of our fourth grade math science teachers as teacher of the month. So, 4 years ago uh Ms. Litson walked into Mitchell Elementary as a student teacher and it didn't take us long to realize that we had something
005special. Um every once in a while you meet that person who you know was born to be a teacher and um from day one that was Ms. Litson. Um we knew we couldn't let her go, and thankfully um Miss Hetrick agreed and um hired her at the end of that year, and Kendra has truly exceeded every expectation um that we've ever had for her. Um she's an incredible gift for making both basic and complex math and science concepts just click for every student in her room. She doesn't just teach a lesson, she builds thinkers and problem-solvers and confident learners. She meets every student where they are and pushes them forward to make sure that every single child in her room grows. What truly sets her apart is the way that she supports the whole child.
006She sees strengths, builds student confidence, and approaches every challenge with patience, positivity, and purpose. Her classroom is a place of stability, of high expectations, and genuine care, and her students always rise to meet it. Beyond the classroom, she's just as impactful. She's a collaborative teammate, she supports her fellow teachers and myself with technology integration, and she also serves as a member of our guide dogs team. Um Miss Litson, [clears throat] we are truly lucky you chose Mitchell and even luckier that you continue to shine here every day. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations to our elementary teachers. Next, Dr. Desiree Caperton will present our secondary teacher of the month. All right, good evening. I'm Desiree Caperton and I'm excited to honor Annette Kirk from Brighton Collegiate High School and Ms. Kirk is our 10th grade ELA
007teacher. To understand Annette's impact, one student student recently shared, "Ms. Kirk is altruistic. She takes the time to truly get to know us and see things from our perspective. That ability to see through the eyes of her students is what makes Annette so special. Whether she is serving as a senior class council sponsor or engaging with students in the hallway, she is known for her open mind and her trusting ear. Annette is the type of educator who selflessly sets aside her own schedule to ensure her students feel heard, supported and valued. We've seen it time and time again. What begins as a standard 45-minute tutorial sometimes turns into a 2-hour session of mentorship and support. You will never hear Annette complain about the time she gives up for her students, but you will you will
008hear how much the students treasure the time she gives to them. Her influence extends far beyond the classroom walls. As the senior class council sponsor, Annette has been the engine behind their most cherished memories. She has worked tirelessly to organize the homecoming dance, empowering the students to invite a staff member to be their speaker at graduation, the senior sunrise, senior shirts, the senior mural, the senior gift, and so much more. Inside the classroom, Annette is a master of intentionality. She navigates the complex needs of her students in real time, balancing a warm, inviting atmosphere with a high expectations that foster true tenacity. And on those rare occasions when a student might not show up prepared. Annette doesn't miss a beat. She keeps the momentum of the lesson moving providing creative opportunities for every student to
009stay engaged and master the content. In her room, learning happens from bell to bell every single day. If you were to ask the staff and students at Bryan Collegiate to describe Annette in a single word, that word is kindness. She is genuine, energetic, and positive, and she's a force on our campus. She expresses her care not just through words, but through the daily action of checking in on her students' academic progress and their personal well-being. Annette is a vital member of our Panther family and we are undeniably better because of her. BCHS is incredibly proud to announce Annette Kirk as our teacher of the month. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations. Next, we will spotlight our auxiliary employee of the month, Mr. Rick Scott, supervisor of custodial services will present. Good evening. I'm Rick Scott. Uh
010custodial services is proud to recognize Yolanda Gafford as the April 2026 auxiliary employee of the month. She has worked for Bryan ISD school district for 11 years. Um as the head custodian of Rudder High School campus, she leads 12 custodial employees in the cleaning and disinfecting of the Rudder High School campus. Yolanda exceeds expectations by performing extra duty to keep her Rudder campus clean and healthy. She consistently displays her dedication to her job and regularly works additional hours to support after hour and weekend events. She has a strong work ethic and a keen attention to detail when it comes to ensuring her job is done correctly. Yolanda Gaspers outstanding work ethic and attention to detail have demonstrated that she maintains the Rudder High campus in an exemplary manner. Yolanda, thank you for everything you do
011to keep Bryan ISD clean and healthy. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations. Next, Mr. Jacob Justice, uh director of fine arts, will come spotlight our Bryan High School Shy Ants. Are they here? There's so many of them I had to bring back up um to make sure that we uh we can get them recognized correctly. Hey, thanks for allowing us to be here tonight and to recognize another Bryan ISD fine arts group that works hard and proves that we have some of the top talent in Texas. I do want to say before we bring them up, before I tell you about this latest award, um dance is a year-round activity. It's a year-round sport. Uh these kids, not only do they spend a year with us, but they're also involved in studios in the community. Um,
012and they're out there working hard to make it look easy under Friday night lights. They're out there working hard to make it look easy when they go to the competition, but there is very little easy that goes into what they do. And so, the directors, the students, the parents, um, they all have done a phenomenal job not just for one year, but year after year to get these kids to the level that they're at. The Bryan High School Shyannes have won big throughout their contest season this year. Within a month, they competed at four separate competitions, each being more rigorous than the last. Most notably, the Shyannes swept at Ascension State competition, winning first place overall with team, dance officers, and social officers in Texas. The following week at Ascension's national competition, the team won
013third place overall in Ascension's national competition. Dance officers finished out their undefeated season, and social officers became two-time champions as both lines secured first place overall again. The Shyannes also won multiple Apex High Point awards throughout the season, meaning they earned the highest score of the entire competition. The Shyannes demonstrate their talents throughout the year as well, earning Division I rankings, that's the top ranking, at both the fall and spring Texas Dance Educators Association dance and drill team assessments. We want to say thank you to the directors, to the parents, to the boosters, for everyone who is willing to support these students, and to you, the board, for making this a possibility. We thank you that not only do you help us to have dance in 9 through 12, but you a few years ago
014said, "Hey, we'll start it in seventh grade cuz we want to build up these awesome programs." Um, you would think that at they've they've done enough, right? There's all these awards that they've got to be No, no, no. They've got one more show coming up and that is their final performance at their spring show. It's scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd at 6:00 p.m. It's in the Bryan High School Viking Gym and we would love for any of you, any of the community to join us to not only be entertained but to celebrate these these awesome students that we have. And now I'm going to ask Dr. Merrell to say a few words. >> Thank you, Jacob. I appreciate it. First off, thanks to Mr. Justice. He does an outstanding job in leading our fine arts
015department. I appreciate that very much and I just want to take just a little bit of time to recognize as Jacob pointed out a couple things. If you are on the booster club, if you would please stand up. Thank you for your hard work. They are countless hours. >> [applause] >> You're an example and to to the entire district. So, thank you for the support you not only give the school, the girls, just the district. So, thank you so very much. If you are a prop dad, would you stand up because yeah. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Yeah, and I'm not standing. I just happen to be standing. They are amazing. It doesn't happen without those behind us and all the parents that you show up and show out everywhere we go. So, if you're a
016parent, if you would wave, you don't have to stand up. You can see that they show up and show out, no doubt. Um We moved here in 2018 and I didn't you know, we had all the hopes and dreams that this this would be a forever home and we truly believe that it would be. Um we had boys that were in high school and then our girls eventually got to high school and I'm so very thankful that they got to have this life-changing experience of being a part of the Cheyennes family. Um Miss Torres and Miss Encardona, Taylor and Katie, they do an amazing job of leading this organization. Not only in excellence that Mr. Justice did an incredible job in talking about, but just developing young women and young men. And I'm so very
017thankful for their influence, just the direction that they gave. And also the dance skills that they learned, but more importantly just life lessons. And I said family at the beginning, I truly do mean that. It's the reason that you see the parents back here, it's the reason they travel as well as they do. And I would be remiss if I didn't point out >> [laughter] >> Mr. Torres, Danny Torres, cuz he's actively involved as well. And you see that with spouses as they get really involved and Danny is everywhere as well and he shows up. So I can't thank you enough for the leadership. Just the the incredible program that you've built and the lives that you are changing. Not only that are represented over here, but in our in our homes. And so I'm
018just proud and so very thankful. And I had no idea that we would get the opportunity to be a part of something so special. So thank you for just everything that you've done from the trips to the conversations to everything. And she tells them all the time she loves them and I know they understand that immensely. So thank you for that. All right, I think we're going to take a picture. Is that correct? We're going to bring y'all up and we're going to take a picture. If you would give the state champions a round of applause. >> [applause] >> That is a lot of A lot of yeah. A lot of girls. Uh-huh. Yay. Ready second row. Congratulations. You've already had enough. Don't need any more injuries tonight. That was like perfect cuz you're like
019tall as you are. And they keep coming. They're still going. Hey Liam. I didn't eat anything. Uh-huh. One name Terrier will do for us. No. No way. No injuries. No. I got a window. >> I got one. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, you can hold up your rings. Yeah, HOLD UP YOUR RINGS. >> [cheering] [applause] [laughter] >> ALL RIGHT, LET'S SEE YOUR RINGS. >> TO SEE YOUR RINGS. >> [applause] >> WOW. SLEIGH. Oh yeah, that's awesome. Okay. It's heavy, too. It's heavy. Oh, sorry. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Thank you. Thank y'all. Thank y'all very much. Congratulations. Sorry. >> [applause] >> That's awesome. Thank you guys. Congratulations. Look at the bling. My gosh. That's unbelievable. Okay, next we will spotlight a celebration of Davila Middle School's partnership with Texas A&M University. >> [snorts] >> Dr. Leslie
020Holtkamp, director of school leadership, will present. It's always exciting to share and celebrate about our partnership with Texas A&M. And we're particularly thankful for Dr. Julie Harlan and her leadership in making this partnership possible. And we're here today to celebrate that partnership. So, I wanted to share um Ms. Sarah Rueda and brag on her also for her leadership at Davila Middle School. And she's going to share out some more information about the program. I'm not going to take any of your time. I'm going to let just uh Julie and my teachers is uh Robert Wilson. He's my CTE teacher. I also have um our department head um Sproul's here, David Sproul's. And I'm going to let them kind of share the experiment and what we did. Come on. What is it? Okay. Cool. Mhm. All
021right. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. I'm Robert Wilson from Davila Middle School representing Davila TSA along with our lead advisor, Joshua Trevino, and our advisor, David Sprouls. This year our students competed in the Presidential AI Challenge, a national competition sponsored by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, and the US Department of Energy focused on student-developed artificial intelligence solutions. Our project, AI on the Fly, was developed in partnership with the Texas A&M University College of Engineering, Galaxy Unmanned Systems, and through an NSF supplemental grant led by Dr. Julie Harlan, >> [clears throat] >> excuse me, and her team. While we are grateful for the mentorship and support from our NSF fellows, students, and fellow colleagues, that actually made this level of middle school engineering work possible. Students designed and tested a system that
022uses sensors and data to make real-time decisions allowing a robot to safely navigate its environment. You can see this if you look at the QR code, you can watch this video later. The ex- this extended extends beyond coding and applied artificial intelligence as verified by Galaxy Unmanned Systems. While we did not advance this year, our students competed against more than 2,500 teams nationwide and produced strong work that positions us well for next year as we would like to continue our efforts at the middle school and now high school levels, showing what Bryan ISD students can achieve when given the access to real-world engineering and research opportunities. But this success extends beyond AI on the Fly. This year our students competed in VEX Robotics, SeaPerch, Future City, and TSA competitions at the locals, regional, and state
023levels. At state this year, we earned 25, sorry, 24 first place finishes, 28 second, 28 third along with 34 additional placements and qualified for TSA Nationals for the kiss fifth consecutive year. Uh this is not to mention we also earned top of Texas. Uh we were the only middle school out of five schools recognized at state for this award. Also, AI on the Fly, we broke our code up into two sections. Uh one section was >> [clears throat] >> Uh the color response system and then uh the course correction code was separated up. They came in first and second place uh in this competition as well. Okay. What we're What we are seeing is not just program success, but evidence that when students have access to applied STEM experiences early, they persist. And when that
024continuity breaks, so does the pipeline in advanced pathways. When that continuity breaks, gaps form. Those gaps limit the student pathways and impacting college and career readiness outcomes and ultimately affects funding tied to those results. Okay. At this time I'd like to invite our TSA president and AI on the Fly [snorts] student team leader, Karen Jamal, to share her perspective. Hi, my name is Karen Jamal and I'm the Dobie TSA president. I have been in TSA for a long time now and honestly, I'm dreading high school because I know these opportunities don't come easy and it takes a long time to acquire them. My brother had the chance to try TSA, but unfortunately, it didn't get supported like our middle schools. If you want to learn more about our projects, you can scan the link in
025the bottom of your pamphlet to learn more about us. Thank you. All right. Our students have once again earned the opportunity to compete at the national level reflecting our level of work as they are capable of when given the access to these experiences. As we move forward, our focus is on ensuring that this level of opportunity remains available and sustainable for students across multiple years and grade levels including this year. Thank you for your time and continued support. Our students uh honoring the Bryan ISD philosophy of children first, always. Now, Dr. Harland, if you'd like to say a few words. Well, it's been a great honor to work with Bryan ISD in this way and I'm thrilled to not just have worked with Karen and Robert and his other students, but we had students from
026Texas A&M who are in doctoral programs and they're at different stages of their programs, but tonight we have Chase and Reza and Johnny. You can do a little wave. Um but they have taken time out of their very busy academic and research schedules to be here tonight and I was thrilled that they also are the group that showed up at Davila High School on holidays. We I think we worked over Martin Luther King Day. Um so, at times where they didn't need to be doing anything, they showed up. Um and it was great to sit at the table and see our high school or our middle school students engaging with our doctoral students. also had a few faculty come. So, it was a great way for us all to learn together and remember that, you
027know, we're just in the quest for learning more and figuring out how we can work together to solve these complex problems. So, um very appreciative of our very appreciative of the district and to Robert and his team and our students for engaging in in this wonderful project. Thank y'all. Woohoo! >> [applause] [clears throat] >> That's stuff nice. Thank you all. Next um Mrs. Sarah Braden, director of Bryan ISD Education Foundation, will uh spotlight our Community Partnership Award. With Tommy Roberts. >> [laughter] >> Tommy Roberts. Good evening. Um it's a distinct honor to be here this evening to recognize recognize uh Stylecraft Builders. Um while they're widely known as a reputable premier home builder in our region, um their true legacy lies in their deep community roots and their extraordinary generosity here in this community. Um
028every spring, as you know, Bryan ISD celebrates excellence across seven key sectors of our district, honoring everyone from rookie teachers, teachers of the year, um dedicated to our to our dedicated auxiliary staff and administrators. Traditionally, these winners are surprised with a trophy and a monetary gift from the Bryan ISD Education Foundation. But thanks to a landmark $10,000 donation from Stylecraft Builders this year, we were able to continue those awards by providing each honoree with a $1,400 check at their award ceremony. This gift is more than just a check. It's a powerful thank you for the heart and soul these employees pour into our students and our schools. In recognition of this incredible partnership, we are here tonight to present Stylecraft Builders with the Bryan ISD essential eight community award. We are profoundly grateful for your
029support and look forward to building a brighter future for our community together. >> [applause] >> Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Okay, next we will celebrate the Bryan ISD Education Foundation's Outstanding Achievement Award from the Texas Education Foundation Network. Executive Director of School Leadership Linda Montoya will present. All right, thank you. Good evening. Please help me in celebrating and congratulating the Bryan ISD Education Foundation team on receiving the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Texas Education Foundation Network. Our district is thankful and grateful that the Bryan ISD Education Foundation has done all all the hard work in connecting with and bringing the pause program comfort dogs to Bryan ISD. Thus far, we have three campuses that are benefiting from the comfort dogs. Camp Ross and Neil campus welcome welcome June, Ross has welcomed Reese and Neil has
030welcomed Mochi. These dogs have become a vital part of each of their school families. We are excited that three more of our Bryan ISD campuses will be welcoming comforting comfort dogs. Johnson will be welcoming Georgia, Branch will be welcoming Pearl and Bryan High School will be welcoming Thor. This past Saturday, the Education Foundation hosted the Paws in the Park event and it was a tail-wagging success. The community got the opportunity to meet our Bryan ISD comfort dogs and the many generous sponsors that make the Paws program possible. We see the difference that these comfort dogs are making daily with our students and staff and for that we are so thankful and grateful for the Bryan ISD Education Foundation and our community sponsors. It is my pleasure to welcome uh our executive director, Ms. Sarah Brighton
031and our Bryan ISD Education Foundation team. >> [applause] >> We're just super excited to have received this a statewide award. The Texas Education Foundation Network has been around for a very long time and what they do really well is they bring together education foundations from the entire state of Texas together annually for a conference. And when we found out that we had won one of the coveted outstanding achievement awards for our Paws program, we were we were thrilled. We believe in this program. We've seen the impact in a very short time that these pups have been on the campuses from attendance rates, behavior referrals seeing a decline to just overall emotional well-being being improved and for us it seems like a small thing we can do to make a really large impact on our Bryan
032ISD campuses. So, we were thrilled to accept the award and just appreciate the support from from the board, from Bryan ISD administration for giving us the green light to do this because I think what we'll see over time is this will be a a real culture changer for our campuses and a joy bringer and we're excited to welcome home the new group. We also have Raven coming to Houston in the fall, but she's too young to be placed this spring. So, that'll bring us to seven out of the 23 campuses by Christmas. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We certainly appreciate the Education Foundation and all the work hard work you're doing new ideas you're bringing to our district. It's It's fun to see. Next we will celebrate powerlifting competitors from Bryan High School and Rudder
033High School. Executive Director of Athletics Derek Rush will present. Good evening. It is truly an honor to take this moment to recognize some outstanding student athletes and coaches. Through their hard work and commitment these athletes from Bryan High School and also Rudder High School have represented their school with great pride at the state powerlifting tournament. So, at this time we're probably to recognize our head coach uh Tim George as he comes up. At this time, coach George will introduce his student athletes and say a few words about them. Uh good evening. Um just uh first and foremost, I would like to thank my assistant coach Caleb Reed for stepping in and helping out. Um this year was a outstanding year for our powerlifting team. Um we represent a total of 10 student athletes to the
034regional powerlifting meet and we sent um uh four total athletes to the state powerlifting meet this year. Um I'll just talk about the girls. Um Kim Kimberly Sanchez Lozano placed fourth this year. She moved up in weight class and went from the 132 to the 148. Um she had an opportunity to get second. Um it always comes down to deadlifts, so she ended up missing her last final attempt on deadlift at 320 lb, I believe. Um and she missed that one. Um and Kayla Kayla Pineda um went down in weight class. She went to the 97 weight class and um she ended up getting second. She missed first by 20 lb and also came to came down to deadlift. This is as close as you ever can get. Um she pulled 275. The judges flashed
035one green and one red and then the last red flash and she missed it by 20 lb, so she ended up getting second um with a total of uh 560 lb. And then here with us tonight is Shon Cadoy. Um it was his first year powerlifting. Um he ended up placing second at regionals and he missed um fifth place by 10 lb posting a total of 1,400 lb. Um so that was the highlights of Rudder's powerlifting season this year. >> Woohoo. Awesome. Thank you. >> [applause] >> If you have any parents from uh Rudder High School, you guys come on up and get a picture as well. So at this time we want to recognize coach Wheel now. He's the uh head powerlifting coach at Bryan High School. Coach Wheel now let's come on up
036and recognize his athletes as well. Uh first of all I want to thank the parents these young men are whole team uh just for raising outstanding young men um and good people. Um you know I'm proud of all their hard work and dedication. Uh did a great job for us this year. Um two of our state qualifiers uh couldn't be here this evening. Uh Zachary Henry uh he's a freshman for us uh competed in the 275 lb weight class. Uh very proud of him. Um you know he's he came in pretty raw and really picked it up. So pretty proud of him. Uh Hugo West uh competed at the 220 lb uh weight class. Uh he's a senior for us. Uh it was also his first year uh competing in organized high school powerlifting. Um
037so very proud of him as well for accomplishing that. Um first of the people that are here um Ty was here for us qualified at the 181 lb weight class. Um he had a total of 1,260 lb at states. Shows up every day. Works his tail off. Uh coachable, respectful young man. Um looking forward to have getting another season with him on our team. ALL RIGHT. >> [applause] >> NOAH QUALIFIED AT THE 275 LB weight class. Uh had a great season um for a freshman. Um another guy always getting in extra work. Um anytime we have a break or anything like that he's always in the weight room um doing good stuff like that. Staying after. Um showing up early. All that good stuff. Um excited to see him continue to grow and continue to
038compete. >> [applause] >> Uh this last young man um his accomplishments kind of speak for themselves, Um but I'll say a few words about him. He's unequipped state champion at the 275-lb weight class. He had a total of 1,670 lbs and had a deadlift of 740 lbs. >> [applause] >> WITH THIS BEING THE FIRST time that the Texas High School Powerlifting Association had the unequipped division, he did set the total record and the deadlift record for his weight class. Something that I think will stand for a long time and I know he'll be checking on for years to come. Um With that last deadlift, like like coach George said, the state meet often comes down to that that last deadlift, and it certainly did for Chester. That last pull is what got him the state
039title, so very awesome to watch him step up and get that done. He's grown so much in the short time that I've known him. Excited to see him continue to grow, and I know he's a bright future ahead of him. That's it. Goodbye. >> [applause] >> Coach Rush, do you want to mention that Chester's taking his talent to the next level to play football? If you want to give him a shout out for that. >> Chester to come up. Can we tell people where he's going to school at? He's going to play football, but I'll let him talk. Uh I'm going to Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth to play football at the next level. Great. >> [applause] >> Great young man. Great parent as well. Dad, come on up. Get a picture. >> [snorts] [laughter]
040>> You guys want to come up and get a picture. >> [laughter] >> Yay. Anybody that >> Yes. KB, you need to get in this picture, too. So, Derek, is Chester the only senior? The others are coming back. >> [applause] >> Congratulations on an awesome year. You're making us proud. Uh next, we will recognize the Bryan Youth Sports Association. Uh Coach Derek Rush will also present. Okay. Uh at this time, I would uh also would like to spotlight the Bryan Youth Sports Association. Uh this organization has been in development for the past year, and I'm extremely excited about the experience and impact that we'll bring to our elementary and intermediate students across the district, especially in fostering sports fundamentals and character development. So, at this time, I would like to invite Coach Sherrill up and
041come and uh say a brief up Give us a brief update and also introduce his team. And while he's coming up, if you guys know anything about collegiate football, we have three of the top collegiate coaches in the nation standing right here. Uh even though they might be retired, but I'm pretty sure they they they they are still I consider top coaches in the nation along with uh Kathy, who is the brains behind this operation. So, Coach uh Thank you, Derek. Uh howdy. Howdy. I normally say howdy to the Aggies, but everybody else I always say hello. But, anyway, uh I'm here tonight to bring you a uh update. And first, I want to thank uh Superintendent Ginger and Joel Bryant and Felicia for your help as well as AD Derek Rush. And there are
042a lot of other things uh other people that have been helping in starting uh the Bryan Sports uh Association. We have a dates uh date set on May 9th to have a combine with the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The reason we're doing fourth, fifth, and sixth, it would give the junior high coaches a chance to see the sixth graders and look at them and maybe try to help get them out for junior high football, but give them the fourth, fifth, and sixth cuz we'll have a combine for 4 days. It'll be the following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. And the go back. The kids will have an opportunity to be instructed by the junior high school coaches, by the PE coaches, and also by some of the top coaches that are retired in here. Of
043course, I want to introduce Phil Bennett. Phil was a head coach at SMU, defensive coordinator for Texas A&M, Iowa State, LSU, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, and Baylor. [clears throat] I don't know what state he had in coached in. And course, Daryl Dickey, offensive coordinator at A&M, SMU, Mississippi State, LSU, Memphis, and Oklahoma. We will have some of the A&M players as well that will be out there to monitor, to mentor, and to help with the kids. And some of the kids that need the physical, and I'm very honored to be in with Felicia. And we also have another lady, Georgette Herring, that have offered to be there. And what I didn't really, really realize is how indebted the kids are, the people are to you, Felicia. She offered to be there on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and
044anytime it needed to do the physicals for the kids. We will do a combine. We'll get their height, weight, measure them in the 40-yard standing broad jump, vertical jump, do a 5-10-5 cone drill, and another cone drill, three corner. And then distance distance and accuracy of throwing the football. The project is is this one. It will eventually be for all sports. And that's what we're working. The mission to give the youth of Bryant the opportunity of be part of these sports programs, to develop their athletic skills, as well being instructed by the coaches that will use the same system that the high schools at Bryant and Rutter are using. So, they will have an opportunity to start out in as a youngster in the fourth grade and go all the way up. Now, when do
045we see the benefits? It'll be probably four or five years, but it'll be something that will help Bryan ISD. And certainly the athletic the BY I call it BYSA short >> [clears throat] >> is not for profit. It is a 501c3 to include all youth in Bryan. And hopefully to give them part of their dreams to go to college and maybe even to pro football. I will be asking for business and individuals to help with the project. And the first sponsor for the kids was one of Bryan's own, Rod Bernstein, which did not say yes, but he said, "Coach, hell yes." Yeah. And I want to introduce uh Kathy Capps. She's the real boss of of this organization and the person in charge. She's retired assistant athletic director at Texas A&M. And also she ran
046the Letterman's Association for many years. She will tell how to help, how to navigate the uh website cuz I cannot do that for you. Well, we have GAs. Thank you, coach. Um honestly, I'm just the tech help. They're the stars of the show. But um our website is live. It's bryantxyouthsports.org. So, you can go to that website for more information about the program. You can sign up as a sponsor. We're asking um Pardon me? We're asking local folks to sponsor an athlete for the combine and mini camp. So, um the registration fee for the combine and mini camp is $40. And we did that basically just to keep it affordable, to cover the cost of the physicals and a bit of the gear. But, it doesn't cover everything. So, um folks have an opportunity to
047sponsor an athlete for $250. You can sponsor a team if you like. >> [laughter] >> That would be even great greater. Um you can find that information online. Um we have corporate partners already in the books. We've been working with CC Creations. We've been working with InTech. We've been working with um um BSN, which is an equipment provider, a sports equipment provider. So, um Coach N has connections are amazing and we're parlaying that into whatever we can for this program. But, um thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Thank you for sharing the exciting update. I know there's a lot of hard work that's gone into where you are today. Thank you, Kathy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. All right, item number five uh is five and six is
048public comment on agenda items and public comment on non-agenda items. Citizens may make comments about topics relevant to district business. Topics should be limited to 3 minutes. Comments concerning specific student or personnel will be heard in closed session. We do not have any um public comments this evening. So, we'll move to item number seven, which is our superintendent's report. Thank you, Mr. Bryan. As you can see tonight, we had a packed house shining the light on so many of our students and their uh teachers, coaches, and sponsors, and directors. So, uh it is the absolute most busy time of the year, and we are grateful for these opportunities. Uh but most recently, we'd like to uh say a huge congratulations to our Bryan ISD employees of the year. Each campus and department uh selects It's
049a peer nominated process for uh the best of the best among their campus and department. And from that, they advance to the district-level competition and selection process. So, tonight uh help me congratulate elementary teacher of the year representing Jones Elementary, Ms. Daisy Rodriguez Mejia. Our administrator of the year representing Ross Elementary is Aaron Nighting. Paraprofessional of the year is Leah Falden from Bryan High School. Rookie teacher of the year is Abigail Orand representing Sadberry. Professional specialist of the year is Toy Davis representing Ross Elementary. Auxiliary employee of the year is Ms. uh Torrado representing Neal Elementary. And finally, our secondary teacher of the year, Rachel Wolfe representing Davila Middle School. We could not be any more proud, and we look forward to seeing if any of them advance to the next level in our region.
050We've been really busy lately. You know, family and community make engagement is uh critically important to Bryan ISD. And for family engagement, we rolled out the red carpet. We called it Ready, Set, Enroll. And we rounded up our pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students, and we had a great turnout. Uh lots of fun events for the families and the students to get connected to the Bryan ISD family. And we're proud to say that we registered over 100 students that day. So, we can't wait again for them to start with us in the fall. Speaking of celebration, which was bittersweet. We're happy for our Bryan ISD retirees, but very sad to see them leave. We transformed this boardroom to make it a magical night. And again, a special thank you to our event sponsors, E3 Solutions, Tremala Construction,
051M&M Apparel, ESS, and Laser Answering Services for sponsoring all of the night's advance including our food. We were also very grateful that our very own keynote speaker from Kemp Carver Elementary, Mr. Marcus Turner, delivered a heartfelt, very inspiring message. Again, congratulations to all of our retirees for 2026. You've heard it already how much we love and support our Bryan ISD education. I had the good fortune of attending their Paws in the Park on Saturday morning, and we had a full turnout from student groups representing Bryan High School, Rudder High School, SFA and Davila Middle School, as well as lots of parents, community, and staff members. We were able to meet and be reminded of how much we love Mochi from Neal Elementary, Reese from Ross Elementary, and June from Kemp Carver. We cannot wait to
052welcome the future dogs, Raven at Houston, Georgia Johnson, Thor at Bryan High School, and Pearl at Branch. I think the cutest thing ever is that these dogs were present that day, and when the Bryan High School cheerleaders and Shayans found out that Thor would be joining the Bryan High School family, they were more than excited. So, many, many photo opportunities. Not mentioned on the side, but also that day, we were really busy on Saturday. Several of us had the good fortune of attending the second annual Bags and Bugs event sponsored by Bryan High School's Athletic Booster Club. That was a lot of fun. Mark your calendars for next year is a It is a must-attend event. My partner in crime, Ms. Ruthie Waller and I, maybe we didn't win it all, but we will be
053back next year for sure. We're in off-season now. We're We're training. We're in off-season. We may or may not have been beaten by um high school students, but uh that's okay. Uh it was a huge turnout. I know some board members were present that day, but the community and family engagement was on full throttle. So, family members, community members, students and staff alike uh had lots of great crawfish and played a lot of cornhole. So, a great way to celebrate uh Bryan High School in particular. And then finally, come one, come all, save the date. The Bryan Bryan ISD Showcase is loading for May 1st. Uh believe it or not, this is our seventh year to host this event. It began as just a dream at SFA. We quickly outgrew that campus in 1 year.
054We moved it over to Rudder. We had it there for a few years, and then on the heels of the pandemic, Bryan uh Downtown Bryan Association and Destination Bryan invited us to join their effort at First Friday. So, we are um crossing our fingers for great uh great weather. Last year it was rained out. So, um please join us. Come one, come all. Starts at 6:00 uh 6:00 p.m. and it ends at 8:00 p.m. and it is uh absolutely the best way to learn about and celebrate Bryan ISD. So, thank you, sir. Awesome. Thank you. Board member reports. We'll start with teaching and learning. This is Ruthie Waller. Our last committee met April the 2nd. Uh we had a Zoom meeting at 10:00 a.m. The staff members present, Miss Carabine, Dr. Barbie Eubanks. The board
055members present, Dr. Julie Harland Wolf, and David Stennis, and myself. >> [clears throat] >> Dr. Eubanks spoke about the Texas Instructional Leadership. Uh it is a part of the learning acceleration support opportunity grant through TEA. This year all intermediate and middle schools are participating. Texas instructional leadership called till develops campus and district leaders through coaching and professional learning focused on observations, feedback and data driven instruction to improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. The program will expand to elementary and high schools next year. Then Dr. Ybarra talked about instructional materials adoption for mathematics 9 through 12. The district has been engaged in a comprehensive review of instructional materials for high school mathematics and will present recommendations for the board's consideration this evening. The last time TEA approved materials for secondary mathematics was in 2015. So we're
056due an update. >> [snorts] >> First [clears throat] grade, again Dr. Ybarra presented first grade standard based report card. This is a change based on feedback from parents, teachers and campus leaders, the administration will bring a recommendation to the board for consideration to transition first grade to a standard based report card aligning with kindergarten which already uses a standard base system. Uh, teacher incentive updates, again Dr. Ybarra. The teacher incentive allotment or TIAA renewal application was submitted this month based on feedback from the district leadership team and the TIA steering committee, several updates have been incorporated into the plan. This is really important. Additional teacher groups will be added to the list of eligible subjects, including special education, self-contained teachers, credit recovery teachers, and physical education teachers. In addition, minor adjustments have been made to
057the weighting system to place greater emphasis on student growth outcomes. That's it. Thank you. Mr. David Stazny will provide our city school joint committee update. Thank you. We uh met a little less than 2 weeks ago in this in this room. Uh the district had uh Ms. Carabine, Dr. Merrill, uh Ms. Friddle, and board members were uh Joel, Brian, and myself. We also had uh Bobby Griffin in attendance. Uh city was represented by uh Councilman Ray Errington, had two uh recently promoted folks uh to uh assistant assistant city manager Lindsay, I'll probably get this wrong, Gindy, but however that's pronounced, and and Kevin Russell. And they also had Brad Stoffer Stafford and and Joey Dunn were were also present. So, it was very well represented by both the city and and the uh district. Uh
058Ms. Carabine started out with some uh kind of the state of the district, talking about um where our enrollment is, and various celebrations, uh and district updates. Um Ms. Friddle uh presented some information on status of budget development, complexities of school finance and I think provided some very welcome details that many of the city folks acknowledge they really did not fully appreciate what we deal with as school districts. She also provided them with some TASB information that's some pretty well done resources that they have prepared and and they got copies of that. And our our challenge is of reducing expenditures and trying to generate revenue as we try to deal with our deficit that we're we're having to work with. Again, it was very detailed and I think very much appreciated by the city folks.
059Dr. Merrell and Mr. Griffin provided some information about the bond, where we are, status of that. And then we kind of dominated the meeting, but the city folks became went ahead and and told us a little more about about where they are with city projects including the ever ever continuing work at at Midtown Park. That uh I think we're as a district very excited that they're they've been making that such a showplace because we as a district obviously are going to get some real use out of that and for we already have of course in many ways especially with the Legends Event Center. Uh As always this has been a great opportunity to build the relationship with the city and and we've worked together very well in many ways in the past and and I
060think we're headed towards newer and better relationship with with with the city staff. So appreciate their willingness to meet with us and we've been meeting about every 2 months and we hope to continue that. That's all I have. Thank you. Uh next we'll have our CTE fine arts and athletics committee update, Dr. Julie Harlan Wolf. Thank you. So, the CTE fine arts and athletics committee met on April 9th at 10:00 a.m. on Zoom. We had Ruthie Waller, David Stennis, myself, Ginger Carabine, Brian Merrill, Derek Rush, Laura King, and Jacob Justice there. Um from fine arts, we discussed a shared budget reduction strategy focused on sustaining student opportunities including limiting travel and implementing a rotating professional development model. Celebrations included both the Bryan High and Rudder band um earning UIL sweepstakes honors. We've also had strong
061theater advancement and ongoing spring performances across our campuses. In athletics, we highlighted some major student achievements including our state qualifiers in powerlifting and jet and gymnastics with Chester Gooden winning the state title and setting that 745-lb deadlift record. Um upcoming events include the district track meet, spring football, and the BYSA combine. Staffing adjustments are being made through a plus-one model alongside expanded middle school programming and new league opportunities. And lastly, for CTE, they've reported significant student success at the Brazos County Youth Livestock Show, SkillsUSA, and Technology Student Association competitions. Budget planning efforts center on maximizing current staffing through strategic scheduling, new program offerings include exercise, nutrition, wellness, and digital communications are expected to span expand student access and increase participation. And the Brazos Valley Career Demo Spring Contest will be held April 23rd at the
062Bryan ISD Administration Building. Thank you. Thank you. Um information items will continue our budget development series with Chief Financial Officer Ms. Norma Fritel. Good evening, Mr. President, board member, Superintendent Carabine. Uh this evening, I am back to uh talk about revenues and how they fit into our overall budget development process. As we build the budget, there are a few key drivers that determine the resources that we have available. Um in reality, there's not a lot of flexibility on the revenue side. Our funding is largely driven by student counts, property values, our tax rate, uh which ultimately determines our tax collections. Tonight, I'm providing a high-level overview of these main revenue drivers and how they shape our budget development process. So, here is the TASB toolkit that I have been referencing throughout this series, the resources
063that our informational sessions have all been based on. As I mentioned at our last session, we started this work back in December and have been following the table of contents in sequence and I have been teaching directly from this guide. As you can see in the table of contents, our last information item focused on staffing considerations and tonight's topic is all about budget planning and district revenues. So, here we are in April moving right along and tonight we are focusing on budget planning, more specifically district revenues. So, this pie chart may look a little familiar. We have shared it in previous sessions. It is a quick reminder that the majority of our general fund revenue comes from two main sources, state funding and local funding. We will drill down into each of these categories to
064see what they're made up, and we'll also look at some historical data to help guide us and as we look ahead. So, here are the key drivers of revenue. We've touched on these in prior training sessions. State funding is driven by student counts, student characteristics, and average daily attendance. That information is captured in the state funding template, which applies various formulas to determine to determine how much funding is actually generated. Property values, tax rates, and tax collections are looked at together as one component. To determine tax collections, we have to know both the property value and the tax rate applied per $100 of valuation. That's what ultimately drives our local collections, which is another key input into the state funding template. From there, the system works together to generate the amount of total funding the
065district is entitled to on a per student basis. So, here is a snapshot of our current ADA. As you can see, we have experienced a steady decline since the start of the school year. This trend is consistent with what other districts across the state are seeing. We originally built our budget on an ADA of 14,450, and we have recognized that we are tracking below that level. In response, we've begun we have begun making internal adjustments to better align our expenditures with the potential reduction in revenue. When you compare our budgeted ADA to our current actuals, we are projecting a revenue impact of about $2.3 million. And that's why we've been very intentional about reviewing every expense that comes through to help reduce the impact as much as possible. When we talk about district revenues, it's
066important to understand our district's property value trends. Bryan ISD property values have increased by 9 and 1/2% over the past decade, even as the state has significantly increased the homestead exemption to help shield homeowners from those rising values. And here you can see a snapshot of our current tax rate over the past 9 years. Over that time we've experienced tax compression driven by House Bill 3, Senate Bill 2, resulting in an overall decrease of about 30% over the last decade. Now, as a reminder, our tax collections are calculated by applying the tax rate to every $100 worth of property value, which ultimately determines the majority of our local revenue. So, what does all this mean for Bryan ISD? So, what? Ultimately, all of these numbers lead us back to one fundamental truth. Our students are
067at the heartbeat of our budget. In a system where the state constantly adjusts funding formulas, exemptions, tax rates, the financial noise can be distracting. That's why it's critical for us to understand those key drivers behind our state and local funding, the engine room of our overall revenue. Based on our current ADA trends, next year's next year's revenue is expected to remain flat at best, but will most likely decline. And in addition, we are entering the second year of the biennium, which means no new funding levels will be introduced. The legislature will not reconvene to address school finance until January of 2027. In essence, we are on autopilot, so there is no new money coming. That's why it's important to understand our revenue framework. We have to build everything we do within the reality of the
068revenue that our students are generating. So, here we are continuing down the road. We have learned a lot about a variety of school finance topics, and they all play a big role in budget development. Some of it is challenging, some of it is encouraging, but the most important thing is that we are talking about it, preparing for it, and working together to stay ahead of it. As we move forward, our next session will focus on expenditures, and eventually we'll bring it all together to see where we land. We are looking forward to our upcoming budget workshop, where we will take a deeper dive into the expenditure side and continue those discussions. Be happy to take any questions at this time. I don't know if everybody This isn't a question, but it is a quick comment.
069I I don't know if everybody still realizes uh that uh there's no particular logic to or fairness associated with funding public schools on ADA because of all the fixed costs we have. Almost none of them maybe the cafeteria food, but I mean even that's going to be prepared for the same number of kids, but anyway, that's it's it's uh the funding for every child doesn't stop if that kid doesn't show up for school. So, so yet we lose we lose significant amount of money. As you've said, it's a lot of money if you project that over over an entire year. And and what what makes it more curious, I'll use that term, I'll try not to be too harsh, uh is is that the uh we'll just call it the voucher system that is now
070in the works and will be implemented next school year is funded on enrollment, correct? I mean, in other words, it's that doesn't it's not affected by whether a child shows up for school or not, correct? That is correct. >> So, uh anybody out there who lives next door to a legislator or or if you know good friends with the governor, please please uh maybe pass along the question about why why does that need to be why why is that being why is that continued? Because certainly there've been attempts to to get that uh corrected, uh but it has not been and and of course uh it won't be there won't be another session till next year, but um the planning for what happens in the next legislature is already in motion. It was now and
071we're we as a district and and individuals out in the community all can help in that regard by by having making sure your voice is heard. Thank you, sir. You know, Mark, I got a I got a question. And >> [clears throat] >> and maybe this is just a point of clarity is that when we set our budget or our our projected enrollment, it's not like we go to the state and go, "Hey, here's what we're thinking." And they go, "Sounds good. Kind of here's your check." right? I mean, it's over the course of the year we've built that budget, but then as the average or as our enrollment goes has declined and our ADA declines, um they do not give us as much as maybe we had originally budgeted for, correct? Cuz I guess
072where I was going with that is I saw on your slide it mentioned 2.8 less in revenue uh uh based on our enrollment and so I just want to make sure everybody knows is that you know the state goes, "Hey, well, if y'all went down, then we're not giving you as much." Um it's not we go, "Hey, here's at the beginning of a year where we go, 'Hey, here's where we think our enrollment's at.'" They go, "Okay, here's your check." That's a >> [clears throat] >> simple simplified version of it, but >> Um we simply don't get as much. Um and so I think that's just an important distinction that for everyone to understand is that um throughout the course of the years that as that number goes down, um what we've initially budgeted for,
073which is is is out of our control in terms of enrollment uh to some degree >> [clears throat] >> is that we don't get that money. Correct. Much of our budget assumptions on the front end of the process are based we we put our trust in a lot of the assumptions that we make on the front end of the process. Especially with July 1 school districts, we're really looking into that um into that crystal ball, so to speak, because we we adopt a budget blindly, really. Uh we look at preliminary values, which we'll be getting those on April 30th. We have to adopt our budget by the end of June. We those values don't get certified till July. So, we have to make adjustments as we go. Again, all on assumptions. We make assumptions on
074property values. We make assumptions on average daily attendance, and we make assumptions on tax collections because they're tied to those values. So, as we move through the process, we amend our budget up, we amend our budget down. Uh it's it's a constantly it's it's a fluid situation where that's one of the reasons why the budget to actual uh model forecast, you know, was was born so that we could look at those numbers from month to month. Yeah, and I think to just anybody listening, I think that it's important that um uh you know, that again this the structure that's set up and again this it's it's budgets and they're made to be amended and all that other stuff, but I do think that's just important for the public to know that again when we set
075our projected enrollment on what we think, they do not give us a check and say, "Hey, if you spent less, stick it in your savings account and and you know, ride it out, you know, maybe save it for a rainy day." Um it's [clears throat] that we don't you know, if they say, "Hey, that's not what you finished with." Then then then that's not what you're getting. And so Correct. >> just important to know that you know, they they don't give us as much and and it's not like we're, you know, sticking the surplus in the savings account or anything. So >> Correct. Yes, sir. No, that's actually a good point. So Bryan ISD is what's called in payment class three. Um which means we only get three state payments a year. We get one
076in September, one in October, and then the last one in August. So depending on how our average daily attendance is trending, we really only get three shots at this. So they'll be adjusting our revenue as we go. So I anticipate that our final payment will not be as high as originally anticipated. Um so again, we make those adjustments internally and just um you know, we have to align our expenditures with the available revenue in that fiscal year. So that's why we have to be watching the budgets and watching the payroll cuz when 85% of your budget is payroll, obviously that's where it's going to be um very [clears throat] important to make sure that you're monitoring what's happening and you don't have any overruns. Um I think we've done a good job on the non-payroll
077side now to kind of stop those budget overruns from happening. So it's not going to be, you know, anything more than we actually budgeted for cuz we're not allowing for those expenditures to pass through if a budget line does not exist. So, that's been one of the tweaks that we've made from last year to this year. So, I'm I'm I'm confident that the entire process has has been improved in in that manner. Thank you. Very good. Thank you. We'll move to our consent agenda. The board can remove any item from the consent agenda if applicable. If there are none, I will entertain a motion. I move approval of all the items listed on the consent agenda. Second. >> [laughter] >> Um motion was made by Mrs. Benford, seconded by Mrs. Waller. All those in favor
078say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. I'm sorry. Yes. So, um moving to action items in consideration of our transportation staff who have a very early morning to prepare for our students, we're going to take our final agenda item number 11K out of order and move it to the beginning of this section. Um and so, if we jump over to 11K, back there. So, this will be to consider approval of required reporting on three-point seat belts for school buses. Um Mr. Bryant Washington, chief financial director of transportation, Mr. Pat Corbett, direct executive director of operations and chief financial officer Ms. Norma Fertal, will present. I'm going to be Pat Corbett. I'm going to do my best Pat Corbett, so uh he's not here today. So, absolutely. Uh I we're very I'm I'm just
079going to say great things about Mr. Washington. He's been here for a short period of time, and in that period of time has made such a tremendous difference in our transportation department. Uh outstanding uh administrator, honestly, and has just brought uh such um a wonderful culture uh to that department. So, I'm incredibly excited. He's leading uh in a visionary way, which I'm thankful for, and um he's going to come up and share just a little bit about what's up here. And if you don't mind, Brian. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Hello, everyone. Good evening. I'm glad to be here. Um again, tonight we're going to talk about Senate Bill 546, which requires that all school buses be equipped with three-point seat belts by September 1st of 2029. Bryan ISD has um a recommended life cycle
080replacement of school buses for 15 years. Um although buses are frequently operated beyond 15 years, um we we would like to try to phase them out over the a 15-year period. Um Bryan ISD is currently operating six buses older than 15 years. Uh Bryan ISD currently has um about 121 school buses in service. 130 buses are needed to support the operation effectively. Um with the 2025 school bond, we hope to purchase about 29 school buses over the next 3 years. The average school bus cost is about $165,000. Um so, that's about a total of 4.8 million to replace 29 buses. Brownsville has 50 buses without three-point seat belts. Um in 2029, a 2014 model bus will be about 15 years old. We have 19 of those. Um Um I have [clears throat] gone through and
081I've identified each bus that we would have to go in and uh retrofit, put seat belts on. And we're we're recommending um retrofitting 30 buses. The cost to retrofit the bus uh each bus is about 30,000. And so we're looking at an average cost of about 900 thousand to replace I mean, I'm sorry, to retrofit those school buses. Again, we're not necessarily even asking for approval to go out and do it. It doesn't have to be done before the following date. Uh but we wanted to bring it up. We have a requirement that we bring it before a specific date, and this is the board meeting before that. Um I'd like to point out a couple things. Mr. Stadsny, you you talked about a little bit about the budget. Um I think Mr. Sinise did
082as well. This is one of those unfunded mandates. When uh you see it, it's an example of they make a decision, and then they hand it down, and the the money doesn't always follow. And So, for example, you're talking about $900,000. They're uh saying that you have to make a decision, and it has to be done, right? And so, obviously, we want our kids to be safe. We never want to put them in um an unsafe situation, whether it's on a bus or on a campus. Um but we're asking that you fund these things when you require them. Uh we're already at I believe it's a $6 million deficit when it comes to just uh transportation, over $6 million. So, what it takes to run transportation, That doesn't even count the the purchasing of buses
083and as Mr. Bryant talked about, you know, they have a life cycle to them. 15 years and in some cases they're running more than that, which just points to the amazing maintenance department and our transportation department, the the workers that are out there maintaining those buses to be completely honest with you to keep them road worthy. And so, we're so very thankful for the community supporting the 2025 bond. We've been in here I think three times already, four times asking and purchasing bus buses. He's increased not by himself, but the department has increased ridership across the district. So, we've got more students taking advantage of transportation. We've got buses that are expensive and so, you can see that formula and I think Mr. Stazny mentioned it as well. So, I just wanted to point that
084out that as we're talking about these things, these are the unfunded mandates that kind of go in and around public education. So, are there any questions that you have? I don't have a question, but you know, retrofitting all these buses and everything, it's it's really depressing that the state kind of pushes it down the line to us and say figure out how to fund it. And it's it's safety first of course with kids and and and I believe that and thank you sir for everything that you do and your your department. We have lots of kids that depend on that transportation every day. But I just think it's ridiculous for the state to push it to us. Absolutely. Thank you. So, question. Our our motion says that we're submitting a report. Here's our report. Yes,
085ma'am. Are we are we spending the money? Like what are we doing? We're submitting the report to the state You want to You can either either one. >> [laughter] >> So, we have to submit a I've I've been submitting a report Just about every other month I had to go through and say, "Hey, we have about 50 school buses that need three-point seat belts." Then I had to go out and obtain a quote, how much it cost. I had to submit that and then we will submit the this report to the state. Then the state will come in and say, "We may help you all with this much of it. We may not." It's still in the air. >> And when does it go into like when do we have to have the seat belts?
086Well, we have to have it September 1st of 2029. >> Okay, so we still have some time. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, and I'm just thinking little kids on a bus, like how do they Well, put their seat belt on? Well, it's a three-point though. It's not like an easy thing to >> No, not like a lap. to do. >> No, sir. Yeah. I mean, can they like is so will there be someone on the bus to assist them with buckling and then unbuckling? I'm I'm just trying to think through logistics of how this even works. Well, we're we are as well. This is sort of just I don't part of the course sometimes where they enact something they ask if you're going to do it and then they may decide whether to help fund it and
087they give you no direction on how this is going to take place. So, you know, our bus drivers are balancing so much as is and they start so early in the morning and you know, I Yeah, I mean 50 kids on a bus, I mean that's you know, driving around. I mean that's that's tall order and they do an amazing job. And again, we want them to be safe, but I don't know the right answer to that. And we'll make it happen, but I don't know the answer to that. >> But there's not like you know, when you get in your car and >> no buzzers. No, [laughter] there's no buzzers, nothing that would say, you know, Mr. Brian took his belt off today and won't put it on. It doesn't say that. So, he
088would definitely be a challenge on a bus, I'm sure I assure you. But I I guess the point of the report is that I mean, we have I'm just scribbling down numbers and notes, but I mean, it's 4.8 million. Yeah. Yes, just about if we were to as those cycle out over the next few years, we'll be back in requesting buses or purchasing buses, and then it would be 900,000 if we just took the 30, I believe it was, and retrofitted them. So, that's not even a new bus, right? That would just be 30,000 to go back on the bus and put those seat belts. And so, we we have more that we we think would be that would need it, but they will be out of life cycle by the time they get here
089in 2029. >> Yeah, I mean, I think just when I hear a number like that, I'm kind of going, "Okay, well, how do you navigate through that >> [clears throat] >> without waking up one day and go, 'We got to spend 4.8 million dollars tomorrow.' You know what I mean? And so, I You can anticipate coming in every Yes, it's per the bond. Like, it was B2025. So, all of this would come out of the bond 2025. [clears throat] It was something that we anticipated that we brought to the committee that they saw coming into the future. So, it's there, and they've already accessed some of it. We've already purchased, you've already approved. We've already gone through that process. So, we, you know, as he needs them, we'll be back in saying, "You know, we
090need six more buses." This year, it was because of ridership. You know, even though we we shared the maybe overall you know, our enrollment across the state of Texas is down, we have more kids riding than we did last year. So, even though our numbers may be down 200, we've increased I I want to say eight 800 to 1,000 just in ridership. So, we need some of those were unanticipated. We just I mean, we improved it, and the more kids got on the bus. And so, to your point, Mr. Pavlos, they depend on it. And you know, we've got a vast geographical area, and a large number of our kids riding the buses, which we're thankful for. At the same time, when you're negative $6 million just in the expenses and what comes in and
091that's just Those are pure numbers. I don't want to speak for Ms. Friddle, but she shared those. That's substantial just in what it costs to run the department and what we're receiving is I mean, it's upside down. And that's not by mismanagement. That's just simply gas prices, personnel. That's not even factoring in like new buses. That's taken out of bond. That's a completely different fund. And so, that's where you start thinking about, man, $6.5 million. I mean, you know, that that can go a long way. Uh just to get to get kids here. And again, we want them here. We want to We want to do it, but at the same time, just fund us uh like we need it to be funded. >> But I mean, I I guess the [clears throat] takeaway is
092is that any expense related to this is coming out of bond. And For the purchases, yes, sir. For the bus purchases, for the hard Yes, sir. That's exactly right. That's a great point. >> Would the retrofitting of that be >> Yes. under the bond? Yes. Okay. I believe so, yes. >> Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Uh-huh. Great question. So, when you start doing this, Mr. Washington, how long uh would it take for the bus so we don't have buses out of circulation and we need them? About how long do you think it would take to get the To retrofit each bus, honestly, uh Ms. Benford, I'm not sure because every school district in Texas is doing it. Um so, >> High demand for retrofitting buses. >> Yeah. Right. Right. So, I I I'm not sure. I've
093talked to vendors. They suspect that it'll take anywhere from a month to complete a school district. I'm unsure, though. Wow. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. No, it's okay. And again, we wouldn't have to do that till 2029. At some point, they've got to decide if they're going to do it and then we've got to decide like where it's going to get done and hopefully vendors will pop up and be able to take us up on it, but you know, it's not to your point uh I'm assuming it's not a quick process. It's not going to be something you can do it overnight, but it is something that if they say, "Look, it's going to happen. We're going to fund it this much." We'll get ahead of it as much as we can. Are our new buses
094being manufactured with with three-point seat belts in place? Yes, sir. As of January of 2018, every school bus we purchase has seat belts on them. Okay. We just got some old buses. Yes, ma'am, we do. So, has the state said "If you don't If you have no money to do this, what is every kid in the district got to walk?" I don't know I don't think so, no, ma'am. That's I hope not. But I don't know. You know, again >> know we will. We'll make it happen. But you know there's not districts that have people as frugal as we have and as forward-thinking as we have. >> Thank you. You know, there's going to be districts that can't afford this. >> Yes, ma'am. I I don't I mean, I don't have I don't know. Yeah,
095it's it's good questions, for sure. Gosh, I'm stumping you today. >> [laughter] >> Well, I you know, I have questions we probably can't answer to you about. So, in in Texas or around the country, how many accidents happen >> Yeah. >> with children on a bus where they're injured severely or like Where they needed it? What problem are we solving with this? So, I mean, you know, I I I hate to point something out, but I will take a opportunity. A few years ago, they had a requirement where we had to practice exiting the bus, right? There were districts in the state of Texas that didn't have a bus, but they still had to their students still had to practice getting on and off a bus in a in an emergency situation. They had to
096go out and rent buses to bring them on to then train the kids, and then the buses went back and those kids never rode buses. So, I don't I mean, that's a silly example, but that's the kind of thing that we see. And when one size fits all, I don't I've I've been doing this 20 years and I've never had an accident where knock on wood where a kid needed it and we pray that that happens. I've never had it. And so again, you know, I've been teacher, principal, all the things and I oversee this department. I have yet to see it. Again, we want the kids to be safe but those things are huge. I mean they're massive. They're they're not easy to move and you know, so Lord willing we won't have ever
097ever have one. >> Okay. Thanks. So just one more question. Didn't the state have a massive surplus this last budget? >> [laughter] >> Budget surplus? >> Yes, sir, they did. And and so this is very expensive for all the all the school districts that are providing bus transportation and we get a small fraction of the cost and I'm just confused. Why is that happening? Do you know? >> [laughter] >> Never mind. Never mind. I appreciate that, Mr. Stover. Okay. We're supposed to have passed something. >> Yeah, we did. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. I got distracted. I move approval of the seatbelt reporting information required under Texas Senate Bill 546 as presented. Second. A motion was made by Dr. Harlan Wolfe seconded by Mrs. Waller. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion
098passes. All right. Jumping back to 11A. Thank you, Mr. Washington. Dr. Merrell. Um 11A is to consider updates to board policy EIE. Um this will be presented by Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Bobby Ebarb and Director of Curriculum and Instruction, um Joylene Bricker. Thank you, Mr. Bryan. Good evening, board. As Mrs. Waller foreshadowed for us earlier in the meeting, we're here this evening to take a look at a minor adjustment proposal to EIE local, which would allow us to introduce standards-based report cards for first grade students. With me is Dolan Bricker, our director of curriculum and instruction, and I've asked her to speak about the change and for your consideration. Thank you for your time tonight. Curriculum and instruction is requesting a change from a first grade numerical report card to a standards-based
099report card. Currently, our pre-K and kindergarten report cards are also standards-based. For this change to occur, there must be a slight change to the local board policy. First grade would join kindergarten with a standards-based report card, and grades 2, 3, 4 would continue with numerical grades. This change to board policy will, of course, require your approval. With your approval, curriculum and instruction will make a plan to ensure successful implementation of the new standards-based report card. Resources will be developed by our team to ensure consistent evaluating by teachers across the district. Teachers will receive training in the back-to-school training and follow-up trainings throughout the school year with collaboratives and our PLCs. Parent information on standards-based report card is on the district website, and this will be updated to include first grade information. I do want to
100point out that this change was requested by teachers repeatedly over the last few years and our elementary principals. And the feedback from teacher from parents has been very favorable and in support of this change as well. Can you share why it would be important to move to a standards base? One of the main reasons why we would like to make this change is that a lot of our TEKS are standards that we need to teach especially in ELA require um it says with adult assistance. And so it's really hard to say, "Oh, you got a 95 on this with adult assistance." And so with a standards base report card we could accurately evaluate how a student is doing on the standards that we are to teach. Any other questions? So what are they what are
101they currently? Remind me again. What do they currently get? So right now they get a grade. They get just like a 75 or 93 and we would like to change to a score where how well do they do on identifying sight words. >> Got you. Okay. Thank you. So this will align with what we've been doing in pre-K kindergarten. >> Pre-K and kindergarten are already on standards base. >> grade levels. >> And interestingly enough recently at one of our parent leadership team meetings one of the feedback items was that they wish they had kind of an inventory so to speak at the younger grades of what the student needs to know at the end of each six weeks. What what should they be able to do? What skills should they have? This aligns very directly
102with that request from a parent. I I think my child was starting first grade when this change to grades and that was like a big deal. So I remember he got a bad grade on something and I thought this is ridiculous. So I think this is >> [laughter] >> This is awesome. Sounds like we're giving our parents more information. Yeah, yes. Where where students needs are and it sounds like a great thing. Yes. I move approval of the updates to board policy EIE local as presented. Second. Thank you very much. Motion was made by Dr. Harlan Wolfe, seconded by Mrs. Benford. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. 11B is to discuss and consider approval of instructional materials for high school mathematics. And I think we have the same
103presenter. It's a lot of the same people. Okay, good evening. Uh this evening we are here to bring to you a recommendation for the adoption of 9 through 12 mathematics curriculum. Um you might recall there were some pretty massive changes to the adoption of instructional materials in the 88th legislature. And so last year we came to you and explained what that new process, think of this as the old textbook adoption process. It's now called instructional materials. Um and there's no longer a set year or date or time that it happens. The State Board of Education essentially approves each year whichever publishers put forward um a sample document or a sample resource. And and they look and see if it meets the provisions that are approved by the state. So each district has to create their
104own adoption sequence provided the state has something you can adopt. Well, this is the first year since 2015 that there are really are multiple publishers or anything out there for secondary mathematics. So Mrs. Waller mentioned that earlier this evening, that's a really important um bit of information that the teachers in grades 9 through 12 have gone without a formal adoption from the state of Texas since 2015. And so it is definitely definitely necessary to provide to them um something that meets the needs of the students and the standards. Um so on the screen um when we came to you last year, we said we would be developing our own district review and cycle. Um you might remember that the the funding for instructional materials comes directly from the state. It's a separate bank account, so
105to speak, different from anything in our bank account. And so you have to be very frugal and cognizant of when you're going to be adopting those materials so that you have enough money in your state account to pay for those materials. Um so the team behind me has worked very hard to look at the needs and the replacement cycle for the most critical um based on how long it's been since they've had a refresh of those materials. Um with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Winzel to elaborate. Thank you very much. So this uh chart really outlines what we think will be needed um over the next coming cycles. And so we're here to to look at 9-12 math, but as we kind of move along on the cycle and look at
106what where and when we're going to need to possibly adopt new materials for our various subjects that are outlined on the left there. We want to look ahead at when um the biennium funding is going to be received, and you'll see that highlighted in green on the years at the top. And we want to make sure that we are being frugal and that we're planning ahead, especially when we get to that 29-2030 school year. Well, where we will be looking at adopting in K-12 English language arts and Spanish language arts. And towards the bottom down there are social studies adoption K-12. I'll just point out that the last time social studies K-12 was adopted is 2015 as well. So there they're not going to see an adoption for quite some time even to come. The
107state also gives us a little chart in a multi-plan preview of what we expect to see in terms of approved materials moving forward. So, that just kind of gives you a little glimpse and uh an outline. It helps us determine when we need to adopt, how long to uh purchase subscriptions for, and we're also taking in consideration on that previous cycle that we created when our TEKS our Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are being reviewed and revised. So, taking this information and considering the need of the district um is where we landed on that previous chart. >> [clears throat] >> What is instructional materials allotment technology allotment? So, instructional materials and technology allotment established as Dr. Ibarra said by the legislature and the funding is set aside by the SBOE out of the available school
108fund. We can purchase instructional materials, which we're talking about today, technology equipment, which we do, this funds our teacher uh laptops, and it's some related software and systems that we um have to renew annually. So, moving forward, we have um an illustration that I think you've seen before. We're we're going to talk about the different uh buckets of money that this particular funding source um includes. So, the initial bucket we receive every biennium, so every 2 years, and that is based on uh funding per student. And we're currently getting a little over $171 per student at each biennium, and a a around $15 for each emergent bilingual student that we have in that particular bucket. In the first year of the biennium, which we're ending right now for this particular funding stores, we can spend
109up to 80% of the available funding. But again, with those previous charts, we're looking ahead and trying to plan for what we need now and what we're going to need in the future. So, we received in this current biennium a little over $2.8 million and we still have in that bucket $2.3 million. That next bucket you see is our pre-approved instructional materials entitlement. So, for the list that Dr. Ibarra talked about when our State Board of Education approves a resource, it gets added to that list and with this $40 per student per year, we can use this piece of the we can use this piece of the funding to purchase those resources. And the materials we're bringing you today are on this list. This $40 accumulates, so whether we spend it or not, we can
110just keep adding to the bucket. And then that third bucket there is to be used for state developed open education resources. So, if we were to ever bring a decision to adopt state developed resources, we would also be able to leverage that additional $20. It does not accumulate, it expires annually. Now, let Ms. Breaker talk a little bit about the process. We do have a detailed adopt process that we follow whenever we do have a new adoption to consider. In our adoption process, as usual, it began with a committee of teachers and instructional coaches that reviewed all of the TEA approved resources. We used a district resource and this committee's top choices were selected. These top choices were then shown through publishers showcase to all the secondary math teachers. This was held on Zoom and
111we had a very good response from all of our teachers to attend. They heard detailed um explanations of the materials and when they voted, we were very excited that it was unanimous by all teachers choosing the same one. Great. So, my name is Lauren Waldridge. I'm the secondary mathematics coordinator. I'm just going to talk a little bit about the resources that um came out on top for during our showcase. Um for Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2, um when we started this little adventure, we wanted something that was a consistent publisher. That way we could ensure vertical alignment. And so, McGraw Hill was selected uh by um the math teachers as their top choice. Um the great thing is that it's available in English and Spanish, which is kind of rare for high school because
112it's not required that Spanish resources are available for high school students, but we have a large number of emergent bilinguals and new arrivals that can really really benefit from this. Um the teachers really enjoyed the scope and sequences. The overviews, one of the best things that the State Board of Education did when they created their rubrics by which to approve publishers, was that they really made sure that the publishers spelled out the teacher resources. Um that is required that they have uh that they build teacher content knowledge, that they have a strong scaffolding design, um and this publisher went above and beyond. So, in addition to our state standards, it also includes support for all of the college readiness assessments that our students in Bryan ISD might encounter in their high school career. We're talking
113PSAT, SAT, ACT, TSIA. Um and so having that additional support, which is right in line with our district initiatives, is a beautiful and it and the teachers really enjoyed that. We're not having to scramble and find those things. That was really amazing. Um it has very detailed lesson plans. So if I'm a first-year teacher and I walk in and I look at all of those teacher-facing resources, I can really get a good idea of what it is that I can expect for my students, whether they're below grade level, on grade level, or below or above grade level. How can I support each of those individuals in my classroom? Um as well as um assessment items. Uh what do I do when a student understood this lesson? Here's Here are Here are actual things that you
114can do. What about if they didn't understand a lesson? How can I continue to go back and reteach and uh build their knowledge? And so this resource did a great job of lining that out in an easy, accessible way for teachers, which was really important to um our staff members. Um it all of those tools allow for the internalization of how Yes, this is the content, but not everybody understands mathematics, especially in high school. And so most All of our math teachers know the math, but teaching math to students who have never seen some of these things before is incredibly difficult. And so with those teacher supports that are included in these resources, I think it's going to put us on top. And so that's really um great. The other great thing about McGraw Hill
115is that they are very um responsive to teacher feedback. There's a very easy process by which if we see something that needs to change or the state changes something about our standards or the way that an item is assessed at the state level, they are very responsive and already have a process in place by which to make those corrections and changes. Um the other thing that this product allows is everything's digital. So, it allows teachers to take their library of content and customize it to fit the needs of our students. So, it's not just something that's print and go. It could be print and go, but if a teacher or a team of teachers chose to customize it in a way that best meets the needs of the students that they actually are serving in
116their classrooms, this product allows them to do that in a very easy way. So, that's adoption number one for Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. Then, the state of Texas, um several years ago decided that they would create their own course that's only taught in Texas. And it's called Algebraic Reasoning. So, this was a solution to help students who are struggling mathematics learners. It is essentially a pre-algebra 2 course. It is only taught in Texas, and there is only one state approved resource or even there's no unapproved resources either. This is the resource that is um that is available. It is from Consenza and Associates. And again, just like um McGraw-Hill, they um have Algebraic Reasoning content. They're also throwing in additional support for Algebra 1. And so, this will be another resource for our
117students who are who are re-testers for Algebra 1 EOC. Um the course itself and then in addition to all of those additional um Algebra 1 uh titles. Again, dynamic teacher support um guides their internalization of and lesson planning um and it's a digital and it's customizable and um obviously our teachers who teach this course were like, yes, this is what we want and it's going to be really exciting to have something very usable to put in their hands. >> So just looking at next steps, what do we need to do next? Um pending approval of these resources for 9-12 high school math, we would in our next board item complete the certification of provision of instructional materials. And that document is just going to say that we are offering instructional materials that cover 100% of
118our standards for each of our content areas. And then we can move forward with finalizing the order and using our instructional materials eMAT uh system to order those materials. Um we're looking and making a recommendation for a 4-year purchase of these materials, which would be approximately $390,000. And we anticipate the materials arriving during the summer and ready and in classrooms by August. Any questions for us? Thank you. I can tell that y'all it's like coming back from this huge shopping trip. You know, you're so exciting and all the things I'm just yes. It was great to see the teachers >> [laughter] >> Well, okay. I have to ask this question. So the last time social studies and English I mean social studies mathematics was adopted those kids were first graders and they're now seniors. So
119what what did we get then that we have updated cuz history has changed and there's a lot to be taught those first graders that are now seniors. So I know we've done a good job, but what is surely we're not going to go another almost 11 years. No, for for this. For mathematics, no. So at this point, the state is moving to approved vendors that they And again, if you go back to this one right here, this is when the State Board of Education will consider materials for each of these subjects. So, at that point, they'll stay on the list until there's a revision of the standards at the state level. And so, when Mrs. Wenzel was talking about Like, for example, this one we're looking at a 4-year adoption and we're looking at 4-year
1204-year adoptions in general because there are anticipated revisions to those standards, and we don't want to get into an 8-year commitment and then have the standards change midway through it and have to readopt. Social studies isn't up for the State Board of Education until the 2029 school year. So, the state won't even consider those materials until 2029. So, there's nothing that's on the approved list right now. So, instead, we do supplemental materials. So, from 15 to 29? Yes. Yes. So, 20 We the school year that we would implement those resources would be the 2030 31 school year. So, but our cycle >> match the standards-based curriculum. Currently. Correct. And Mrs. Bricker could speak to this. Uh what the state requires. >> In lieu of having a state adoption, the district and many other districts sought
121out materials that are aligned to the standards. Okay. So, they don't take care of us in math, but we they want seat belts in for every child that or they're going to walk. >> Yes, ma'am. In keeping with the thing theme of uh school finance, do you believe that the uh allotment for instructional materials is adequate? No, ma'am. Um so, in fact, if you might remember, during the COVID years, they completely um reduced the technology or the IMTA allotment. Um it's back up to some of the funding, but it's still less than it was previously. Is that correct, Ms. Winzel? We we are getting we got closer in this last legislative session to what it was prior to that time, but we're not quite there. So, when we don't have enough money in our state
122allotment, what do we have to do? So, we call those gap year purchases. Um, it's effectually known as the gap year. And when the state doesn't have funding for us to cover the gap between a new adoption coming up or an ours has expired, then the district's local budget has to cover the cost of the gap year. Um, if there's no additional funding in this allotment at the state level. Um, it is a challenge to cover all of the materials. And then that's why Mrs. Winzel was uh foreshadowing the year 2029-2030. It is no small thing to adopt K-12 ELA materials. That is a highly um sought after and expensive purchase. Um, necessary, but expensive. That is coupled with social studies and others as well. And at that point, the four year for mathematics will
123also be up. Um, and so just making sure our savings account at state level has enough money rolling forward in it to be able to cover those future purchases so that it does not hit the local budget. Um, it is a it's a balancing act and I'm very thankful for Ms. Winzel's leadership in making sure we stay ahead of that. Different kinds of math. I move to approve the selection of instructional materials for high school mathematics as presented. Second. Motion made by Dr. Harlan Wolfe, seconded by Mrs. Waller. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed, say no. Motion passes. Thank you. I think we're on 11c. Mhm. Uh now we'll discuss and consider approval of the certification of provisional of provision of instructional materials survey 26-27. Thank you, Mr. Bryan. This is an
124annual requirement from the Texas Education Agency that each Board of Trustees consider and approve what we submit to TEA saying that we have materials necessary to cover the K-12 standards put forth by the state of Texas and the State Board of Education. Following the certification of the Board of this provision of instructional materials, we're able to order the materials in the in the in the survey there so that we can actually put them in classrooms. Any questions? I move approval of the certification of provision of instructional materials survey as presented. Second. Motion made by Dr. Harrell and Wolfe, seconded by Ms. Benford. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed, say no. Motion passes. Thank you. Okay, item 11d, consideration of and possible action on a proposed contract with ARCADIS. And this will be
125Deputy Superintendent Dr. Bryan Merrill. Well, I appreciate the opportunity to come back. We've done this now a couple of times [clears throat] and so we're back in here tonight. We just to remind everybody we put out the RFQ for architects. We had 22 different folks that submitted it. We went through the application process, went through all the RFQ, selected 11 to interview, and did those interviews just a few months ago. We had wonderful opportunities to meet a one bunch of wonderful architects, but I'm excited to bring the following to you today. We've been in obviously before with PBK Sports, PBK, and VLK. So tonight we're looking at bringing the recommendation of ARCADIS would be the first one. And you'll see the campuses up there, Fannin, Jones, Navarro, Long, and Rayburn Intermediate. And it's for the
126estimated amount which includes all the fees and everything that's associated with it, and that includes renovation and restoration to to include the multi-purpose and teaching rooms. In many of these cases, those spaces are original to the building, and to bring them back up to you know, kind of standards, that's where we would like to take it. And so, this one is obviously pretty straightforward. All those campuses are included, and um I've got my crew in the back if you have any specific questions, but they're definitely the multi-purpose and teaching rooms. So. I have a a statement and a question. Um statement is, you know, I'm looking at the agenda and you know, on action items 11D through H, and [clears throat] and some of those firms that are on there are are a lot of
127the local Mhm. guys, and so I think that that's important to note that um we're kind of showing showing some of the love on on this work to some of the local firms. I guess my question is is to actually the the board in this group is that on action items D, E, F, G, and H, uh we we already unanimously approved for the negotiation on these all all these to take place, correct? >> Yes, sir. So, I don't know if it's possible that if we can just do a a blanket motion to accept to approve >> [laughter] >> all of these. >> Well, you know, I I I'm I'm thankful for that. So, I'm I'm thankful >> I hope that, you know, I didn't, you know, I know you put your slides and presentations
128in. >> I mean, I don't have to go through them. They're just I mean, I can. They're just all the same. They're different amounts and different uh projects that they're working on. And I would like to point out this is not all the projects. As we bring other things into the campuses, we'll be doing something similar. This is not all the money that's been allocated. We wanted to go ahead and move forward. It's just I identified these as sort of the priority projects. Um and again, I mean, for example, and I'm not moving ahead, but you'll notice this one uh the very first school's branch, that's when you look at it, floor finishes, that's a sophisticated word of saying new carpet. And um I'm sure Joel Dunsworth is watching right now, and he's going to
129want to make sure this gets through. So, you know, all of these are near and dear to the campuses. And again, pointing out that all campuses will be touched by the 2025 bond. So, uh again, this one is those campuses, and um for 2 and 1/2 million dollars. So, I appreciate it. >> my guess is to address your question of can we do it just, you know, like, shall we by general consent approve all these things? Our attorneys, you know, there's specific language that's put in here for So, maybe we just go through them quickly. >> Yeah, I appreciate it. So, hopefully >> just to do them one at a time? >> so. Yeah. So, we'll we can take a motion on the first one unless there's any questions. I'll make a motion. Uh let
130me read it. Hang on. Sorry. Are we on Acadis? We are. Yes, sir. There you go. Uh I move approval of the contract with Acadis for the design and construction administration services for the interior renovations to include multi-purpose rooms and other collaborative learning spaces identified in the 2025 bond as presented. >> Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Mr. Stazny. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passed. All right, our second one is our Architect Studios for 3,595,751. And the the schools are listed up there and it's renovations and restorations to include include floor finishes. And again, happy to entertain questions, but you can see the attachment as well. I move approval of the contract with Architect Studios for the design construction administrative services for the priority first floor
131finish improvements identified in the 2025 bond as presented. Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Mr. Stazny. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. And for example, this is one of the local studios, so we appreciate that. Yeah. GLS Architecture and Engineering Surveying, 4,627,787,000. Included the following schools renovations and restorations to include restrooms. And they have a local office as well. I move approval of the contract with GLS for design construction administrative services for the restroom finishes identified in the 2025 bond as presented. Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Mr. Stazny. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. All right, next one architect for consideration is SZS Architects, 5,311,437. Renovations and restorations to include the restrooms. I move approval of
132the contract with SZS Architecture for the design construction administration services for the restroom finishes identified in the 2025 bond as presented. Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Mr. Stazny. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. They're a local firm as well, if I didn't mention that. I apologize, Mr. Brown. Uh Pack Design Group, $3,743,281, another local design uh group, another local architectural firm. Renovations and restoration uh restorations to include wall finishes. I move approval of the contract with Pack Design Group for the design and construction administration services for the priority one wall finish improvements identified in the 2025 bond as presented. >> Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Mr. Stasney. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. I'm happy
133to field any questions. Also wanted to share at the May 4th board meeting, which is coming up, we're going to have the uh opportunity for kickoff. We're going to invite all of these architects to be here, and hopefully they'll all be able to attend. We've also invited the schools. We'd like to invite the community to come and meet the the architects and then the projects. And so, we're very excited about it. Bring your ideas that you're going to have be able to talk to them and uh give them some input into the various projects. So, again, we appreciate this very much, and we hope that you'll turn out. We'll have uh can uh I students as well here to uh kind of welcome them to the family. So, of the five we discussed today and
134and approved, Architect Studio, GLS, SZS, and Pack are all local. Local. Yes. >> Great. And we were very impressed. That was uh they earned it. Completely earned it. Uh not only in um the whole entire process, but then in the interview process. We're excited to work with them and uh just know that they're going to do a great job. Well, just in case anybody's just now tuned in, just to reassure [clears throat] the public that really quickly, what what it's not like you're just are throwing this at us and we don't know what's going on. >> No, sir. You've done a You've done a lot of work. >> Yes, sir. Uh very quickly, uh yeah, what's the process? >> We started back months ago. We we put out the RFQ. Again, we had over 20
135different architectural firms that submitted their documentation and submitted their work. We looked at it and selected 11 to interview. We brought them in this very room, went through one round of interviews, and in some cases we went through another round. The panel that not only evaluated their materials also conducted the interviews. They we all ranked them and then brought them back and then you gave Ms. Carabine the authority to negotiate the fees with it. And they came in and had it the final round where they came in and had to impress us again and Mr. Griffin in the back each time communicated with them and really made it abundantly clear they needed to bring their A game and they have. We're very pleased with the work that we've already started. PBK came out to Bryan
136Collegiate High School spend an entire day with our kids and just followed them and shadowed them, asked them questions and they identified the uniqueness of that campus and really wanted to capture that in the build and so we know that we're going to get that same type of personal treatment from our local folks. And it's been fun as we've shared with the city you shared out a minute ago about our involvement every two months with the city. They've had work with all of these groups and their feedback when we identified them was you're going to love working with them and so not only did we anticipate that but it's good to know from our local folks that they feel that way. Thank you. Thank you. Item 11 I consider approval to the update to the
137minimum prevailing wage schedule. Chief Financial Officer Mr. Norman Firtel will present. Good evening Mr. President, board member Superintendent Carabine. We received guidance from our legal counsel on the appropriate method for establishing prevailing wages including the use of a Texas A&M wage survey. Prevailing wages are typically pay rates are typical pay rates for construction workers in a local area. They exist to protect fair pay and prevent undercutting on publicly funded work. For school districts using these rates helps promote quality work, supports a stable workforce, and ensures we're operating ensures that we are operating in line with the established labor standards. Because we use public funds for construction, we are required to follow these guidelines. And to ensure full compliance, we are aligning our practices with the Davis-Bacon Act, which sets the wage requirements for federally funded
138projects. Our legal counsel has reviewed this and is recommending this approach so that we remain compliant, reduce risk, and maintain consistency in how we manage our construction projects moving forward. Be happy to take any questions at this time. Uh I move approval to adopt the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates excluding fringe for all construction projects related to the 2025 bond as presented. Second. Motion made by Mr. Stennis, seconded by Ms. Benford. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion passes. Uh 11 J, consider approval of a purchase over $50,000 for the replacement of the boiler at Neil Elementary. Uh Dr. Brian Merrill. Absolutely. So, we're here tonight to ask approval for a new boiler. Uh and obviously that includes a multi-heat exchanger system, approximately 125,585. We also have down and always do
139our due diligence to look to repair it. Um and we felt like at this point going ahead and spending a little bit more and guaranteeing that we have a lasting system as opposed to just repairing it at 68,574. And so, we don't believe that would be a valid long-term solution and we may be back in the board room needing additional parts and everything. And so, we appreciate the maintenance department. I appreciate um Bobby and Jody in their work just to make sure that we get the best value for the district. And even though it may be a little bit more expensive, in the long run, we're going to take uh care of our kids in a better way by making sure the system is ready to go. I move approval of the replacement of the
140boiler for Neil Armstrong Elementary in the amount of $125,585 from Will Banks Contractor as presented. Second. Motion made by Mr. Well, are there any questions? What's the average life of a boiler? Just out of curiosity. About 12 to 15 years normally, but these again are our multi-stage, so what you do with these is you can actually keep them running and replace just one at a time. And you don't have to rent out an alternate boiler, which is one of the things that has cost us a bunch of money. I agree with that. And we'll be funding using remaining 2020 bond funds. >> Absolutely. Yes. Okay. Thank you for pointing that out. Okay. A motion was made by Mr. Stazny, seconded by Mrs. Benford. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed say no. Motion
141passes. And we did 11K earlier on. So, the board will now convene in closed session to discuss the following items as allowed by the Texas Government code chapter 551.074 and 551.0821 no voting will take place in the closed meeting. Any action the board wishes to take as a result of discussion in the closed session will occur after the board reconvenes in the open meeting. The time is now 8:15 p.m. >> Mhm. >> The board reconvened in open session at 8:51 p.m. No action was taken in closed session. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:51 p.m. >> Thank you.