001I now call this uh Brian Infinite School District meeting to order. Let the record show that a quorum of board members is present. This meeting has been duly called and notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. The time is 12:00 noon. Uh I wish to extend a welcome to everyone present. I ask that you please turn off the sound on electronic devices. Uh, and I see we've got a scout out there in the audience. And is this for a merit badge maybe or Oh, okay. >> He looks excited. >> Yeah, I was I was a scout and I had to do the same kind of stuff. So, uh, welcome. Uh, I'm going to give you some bad news though here in a
002little bit. We're going to go into executive session. That means we're going to be out of sight for a while. So, you still get credit. Um, and if you want to stick around, we will have an open session after that, but I can't predict exactly how long that will be. So, I just wanted to warn you about that. >> But you'd sign something for him now if you need. >> Yeah. We'll bounce for you. >> I'll sign it for you. >> Not. So, anyway, I And I need to ask if there's any uh public comments. Uh, none. Okay. So I will just say for future reference it if anybody does want to uh make comments about a uh an agenda item or at our uh our our main meeting uh on the third generally on
003the third Monday that you can also make comments on non-aggenda items. So having said that uh the board will now convene in close session to discuss following items. Uh they're actually all listed on the agenda. I won't go through all of them. Uh they are authorized by Texas government code chapter 551.071 0074 00821 0072 and 0087. Uh no voting will take place in closed meeting. Any action the board wishes to take as a result of discussion in close session will occur after the board reconvenes in the open meeting. The time is now 12:02. two. All right. The board reconvened in open session at 212. >> It's in there. >> Uh, no action was taken in close session. Our next item is information item bond steering committee update. >> Dr. Merrill and whoever else you got.
004She's I think she's going to put her stuff down and join us. Um, we appreciate the opportunity to come back in. We're going to move relatively quickly, but please at any point if you have any questions, don't hesitate to stop and ask and uh we'll be happy to to walk you through it. As you're aware, we've been meeting for many, many months now, and uh we appreciate the opportunity to come in last month and uh with our citizens and share out uh the recommendation very much so. So, you could tell from the committee's conversation, they were very, very excited about the work that had been done and um they were excited to be able to make those presentations. Uh we appreciate so much the board's trust and allowing us to put the committee together and
005work through that process. I appreciate uh my guys to my left and my right and all of the hard work that they put into it. Uh the committee was incredible. um they brought their opinions and they brought their thoughts and their attendance week in and week out and um it's not the first time that the committee like this has done that. Um they are staunch supporters of Brian ISD and um I would even go back to uh Mr. Mvish when he uh opened up the taxpayer was in the room at every given moment. Um and not only kind of unspoken but at the first meeting uh Mr. Murvish stood up and and made it very clear that uh we are not only representing ourselves but we're representing uh the taxpayers in every decision that we
006make and we need to keep that into consideration. And so um with that uh we'll get started. >> Good evening, Mr. President, board members and superintendent Caribine. This afternoon we're taking a moment to recap the financial information um that's been shared over the past few months. specifically the distinction between our M tax rate and our INS tax rate. Um for anyone tuning in um or maybe new to the conversation, it is important to understand the difference between the two portions of the tax rate. State law imposes strict regulations on how revenue for each component can be used. For starters, each segment of the tax rate generates revenue for two different purposes. Uh for example, the M rate can only be used for day-to-day operations such as salaries, benefits, general supplies, utilities, etc. And funds generated
007uh from the INS tax rate can only be used for capital projects such as new buildings, renovations through voter approved bonds. These funds cannot be used for salaries or day-to-day operations of the district. In addition, the district cannot transfer pennies around from one portion of the tax rate to another. To provide a full picture of our debt management efforts, this timeline highlights uh the dates of past bond elections as well as the district's scheduled principal payments, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to fiscal responsibility. If you see here, every time you see a red arrow, it indicates the district has made a principal payment on existing bonded debt. This consistent practice has strengthened our financial position and has made it possible to pursue a $400 million bond without increasing the AN the INS tax rate. As shown
008here, the school district has ample capacity within the INS tax rate. However, we are committed to being fiscally responsible by pursuing only what we can afford without increase the INS rate. As a reminder, this bond will be issued in phases with the first and largest sale scheduled for August of 2026. As stated before, it is important to educate our taxpayers about the required ballot language um which states this is a property tax rate, the property tax increase. While the actual rate will not increase, the law requires this language. And as I've stated before, this is the projected bond issuance timeline based on current law, current property values, and existing exemptions. Bond issuances are timed for August to align with the receipt of certified property values, which are finalized at the end of July, and this
009ensures accurate financial planning and compliance with debt service requirements. If we need any further information regarding bond issuance cost, uh cash flow implementation spend down requirements or learn about the new restrictions surrounding uh defeasance rules, we can certainly invite our financial adviserss uh back for a discussion next month. So, some final thoughts here. Brian ISD does have a $400 million bond capacity without raising the INS tax rate. This reflects strong financial management and is one reason the district has good credit ratings which help us sell bonds at lower interest rates and better terms. Another final reminder, the local operating budget is uh designed to support the day-to-day educational and operational needs of the district. It does not have the capacity to fund large-scale construction or renovation projects. So, as a side note, 100% of the
010funds generated through a bond election remain under local control and are invested directly into Brian ISD, benefiting our students, staff, and community. No major decisions related to the bond expenditures will be made uh without input from the bond oversight committee and ultimately the approval of the board of trustees. >> All right. Uh just a walk down memory lane if we could just for a minute. And many of y'all remember this. I think Ruthie was part of it. We had a game called Cahoot. We're not going to play Cahoot, but it turned into I know. I'm sorry, Ruthie. Highly competitive. And that's uh Joel Dunworth. Uh we grabbed that picture off the internet. So Joel, there you are, buddy. That's at Texas State. He was uh the gentleman that closed the meeting out that read the
011poem. Um they did a phenomenal job and he obviously is at branch. When you look at what percentage of Brian ISD students are enrolled in CTE classes, we have over 80% of it. And you'll see that reflected in the bond. What percentage of Brian ISD secondary students are enrolled in athletics? Over 50% of our kids are in athletics. Um, how many academic credits has Brian Collegiate High School awarded to its students since the first since school first opened, which obviously Brian Collegiates in there. They're averaging 51 credit hours the last two years. thousands and thousands of credit hours uh for first generation college kids is really really remarkable and um the leading high school in the Brazis Valley. So remarkable once again reflected in this bond. How many Brian ISTD students are expected to ride
012a single bus over its full lifespan? You're talking 50 kids a day over 176 days for the lifespan of 10 to 15 years with our incredible uh transportation department. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of kids are going to be riding that bus every single day. And again, uh, Miss Fiddle points out that we structure that debt in a way that would pay that entity, that bus off for the lifespan of that bus. We're not going to pay off that bus over 40 years. We would strategically uh include that to be paid off for the lifespan as with technology as well. Based on projected enrollment and athletic participation, how many students will use the fieldhouse during its expected lifespan of 50 years? over a thousand kids come in and out of that fieldhouse every day. Um, so
013every day you're going to have thousands of kids in and out of that fieldhouse. You multiply that out by not even 176 days like a student would be here. You're talking 200 250 days because it's about to start. They're about to be up there for for athletic practices before the start of school. You're going to have games, uh, varsity games, JV games. you're going to have uh honestly it's it's rare that that fieldhouse what wouldn't be used and again um our life expectancy of our current fieldhouse is 50 years. So excited to think about um the per student cost just drives incredibly down when you think about um what the overall cost is, but how much you're going to be using these facilities, whether it's Bryant Collegiate and and the 400 students that go there
014and the 80,000 plus credits that they've received over the course of of their high school career or whether it's the hundreds of thousands of students that are going to go through a fieldhouse or the hundreds of thousands of students that going to ride a bus. It's an incredible investment in the future of of our district to say the least. Now, um we've got three propositions and we've wanted to spend just a minute talking about what that looks like. Um the first one, Proposition A would be general and it lists some of the things there. Proposition B would be athletics and then Proposition C would be technology. And um Mr. Griffin's going to talk a little bit about the process of what it looks like to build a bond and kind of what those numbers represent.
015and then a few months from now what it looks like uh as we start to hopefully uh get it voted in in November. >> As we've talked about multiple times, uh we have been refining this process since day one. We we identified what was necessary and then we've just been combing steadily back over and over again. What you see here is the suggested alignment from our bond council. And then of course it's up to y'all whether y'all present or how you go from that point. But I do want to remind you that the numbers and what you see here, those are the cost per square foot estimates based off of those refinements. And ultimately that includes soft cost plus construction cost. So reality once this proceeds and if our taxpayers so want to entrust us
016with this financial aid then we in turn will then work diligently to design and then bid the process and we will however vigilantly be working to get that as tight and as close and get his money. So again, we we know that this money is is a large sum, but reality, as I've talked about before, what we don't want to do is promise and then not have the finances to then construct what we promised because it would affect our future for future bonding capabilities. So again, we want to make sure that we can provide what we've talked about and that will come with the hard work further down the road. so much of the bond. It was interesting to start and then see where we ended up. Really came down to involvement. Um it was
017fun to watch the committee and the campuses really uh take a hard look obviously at MEP mechanical, electrical, plumbing and technology. And um that is obviously a major factor in this bond. Every building in this district will be touched in some way, shape or fashion. And then when they got through that, they really looked at our um extracurriculars and um then also uh career and technical education. And you could see the focus on that was uh tremendous. They really wanted to make sure our kids had um just what they needed to be able to be uh competitive and really put them in a position to be successful after graduation. And so we're incredibly proud of the work that's been done. Um incredibly proud of the conversations and the relationships that have been just cemented and
018excited for um the presentation. I really do uh think that this is a a wonderful representation of a committee's work and there again having the taxpayer at the front of this conversation the entire time I think really gave us the guidance that we needed. >> Dr. Merrill before you go or can you go back? Yes. >> It's really interesting and I like the way you've broken this down >> for the general which is pretty much the one that touches every single school. >> Yes, ma'am. and the one that most parents are going to be the most interested in. That's 82% of the bond. I like the way you've broken this down. And then athletics, you'd think it'd be more of a percentage, but it's only 17%. Yet a lot of that 17% affects a lot
019more schools than you think it does because you're talking about intermediate, middle, and high school for things like the scoreboards. >> Oh, yes, ma'am. >> Which which will be consistent, new, high quality. you know, we don't have to worry about leasing it out for something in the scoreboard. You know, you have to have somebody there banging on it to make it work. Not that I ever experienced that. Um, and so I I like the way you've broken this down. I would think that technology would be more than 1%. But that also shows how much we've already done and worked with technology to get us up to the 21st century. >> So anyway, I just think that's really interesting the way that it's broken out. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Any other questions? This
020is not an action item, but this is one more chance for anybody in the audience or for the board to ask questions because some of the committee members got a little more information over time and sort of make sure that every anybody that felt like they didn't get all the answers to their questions could had one more chance. >> Uh, Mr. Fiddle, can I just ask one question? I just want to make sure. So even though even though we're potentially borrowing $400 million and on the ballot it's going to say that this is a tax rate increase in actuality >> just a tax increase >> tax increase. Sorry. Uh it is not. Is that help me walk through that I guess with from a bar from a from a voter standpoint if I see that
021um that it's a property tax increase. >> Yes, sir. Yes, that is a required ballot language whether or not the the the tax rate goes up because in essence if if we were to not pass the bond then we would have to take the tax rate down. So we we have to we have to be able to say that. Okay, >> that is required language but >> and and the reason just to clarify because I I know what you're asking is either we go down or we keep it the same. So I think that's why the legislature requires us because we would have to give a reduction if we didn't pass a bond. Correct. Because we can't keep the extra money. So >> or if we didn't have a board approved defeasence to stabilize the
022tax rate and keep and keep it stable. Yeah. Which is what we have done historically uh in order to keep uh in order to have that bond capacity. It's because of those defeasences, those principal payments that we've made that have um given us the opportunity to be here today. >> So So we wouldn't have to give a >> that slide with the red arrows. >> So we wouldn't have to give a refund. I mean we wouldn't have to bring the tax rate down. We could just keep paying our debt down. Absolutely. Yes. So, so to that point, it really isn't isn't a tax increase because we would just keep it the same. It's not I want the public to understand it's not either we do a bond and we keep it the same or we
023don't do a bond and your tax rate goes down. We would just continue managing the money very very well like like our y'all have done a great job >> use that for principal reduction. >> That is correct. As you can see here on this slide, every time you see a red arrow, we have avoided millions and millions of dollars in interest simply by defasing debt or making principal payments on that mortgage uh so to speak. So, we have avoided interest, millions of dollars in interest. So, keeping a stable rate has been the philosophy uh of of of the school district. And it's because of that practice that we have the ability to um to be here today and and to be able to pursue a $400 million bond without increase without an increase to our
024tax rate. >> And even though it's going to say on the ballot that it is. >> Yes. And that is simply an education piece. It is very important especially if you're new or you're tuning in to this conversation brand new. It's very important to understand that. uh community, taxpayer, staff, employees, please know that when you do come up to the ballot, you will see that in bold lettering. This is a tax increase. And as we have explained today and several times before, this will not increase the INS tax rate. That that is required ballot language. That's not anything that we can do anything about. We have um during our bond committee here at several board meetings, we have explained that. So, please know community, if you're new or you're just tuning into this conversation, please
025know that you will see that valid language, but there will be no in increase to the tax rate. >> And and that's why I wanted to clarify that when our our public, especially our new people, see that that it's not an eitheror. I just want to say that one more time. It is not you pass the bond and we keep it the same or you defeat the bond and you're not going to get a tax decrease necessarily. We would simply use it to keep paying for a future bond when we're ready to run it again. So I I don't want people to think that they're making that decision, that election on whether they want their their taxes to go down and not pass the bond or or keep it the same by passing it. So
026>> that's correct. Yes, sir. It has been the philosophy of the district um to keep that tax rate stable so that we make continue to make those principal payments. >> Thank you. Yeah. >> And the language of the tax increase is a state law, a state requirement. So all districts have to have that. That is statewide. Yes, ma'am. >> Right. >> Okay. If there are no other questions, thank you very much for your presentation. >> U we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Uh the board may remove any item from the consent agenda if applicable. Uh if there are none, well, let me stop there. I'm sorry. Does anybody want to remove something from the consent agenda? >> No, sir. Mr. Stazzy, I move approval of all the items listed on the consent
027agenda. >> Second. >> Motion made second by Miss Benford. All in favor say I. >> I. All oppose. >> I will say that that is unanimous. 60 with one absence. All right. Uh moving down to action items 8A, consider approval of student code conduct uh for the 202526 school year, including statewide ban on student use of personal communication devices during the school day. And our presenter is Dr. Merrill, Dr. Ibara, uh, director of student of school leadership, Linda Mononttoya, director of school leadership, Dr. Leslie Holamp, and I don't know, maybe got some other. >> We got a whole bunch of folks here. Yeah, they're they're in the back. Uh, they'll be coming up here shortly. We appreciate the opportunity to come in again. This is a yearly thing where we talk about uh, code of
028conduct and what it looks like. And, um, this year is no different. Um, and it does have some significant changes as we've already kind of learned about that we'll go through pretty quickly, but uh, we're excited to be able to share it. Um, some general updates to the code of conduct. There is a streamlining of language, a remov, uh, any redundant language and then adding clarifying language, for example, prohibits unauthorized use of artificial intelligence. >> And then it addresses new provisions from the 89th legislature. Parent involvement when students are placed in DAP. This is a change although we've sort of even been doing this to some degree with some of the placements. Uh so we're this is not anything that's uh not new to us but it's a new law obviously new part of the
029code of conduct but parents of students placed in DAP or expelled may request a behavioral agreement and following the agreement can reduce the disciplinary term but not the placement type and all that means is it's a possible reduction in days if they put that behavioral uh agreement in place. And again for certain offenses we already had uh this in place uh for um various things we had worked out with DAP. Uh so again um if they had gone for a certain uh u con behavioral incident they were offered it and in this case it's just expanding it reduction is at the discretion of the administration requires full compliance of that behavioral agreement. Updates again to uh the suspension out of school suspension may not exceed three days. Um that's been the practice forever. Uh but
030um it is it's there it is. We inschool suspension ISS is no longer uh subject to any limit. That is a change. I would point out to the board that we went um we are moving from the language of DMC and DMC 1 and two to ISS. Um and that is in alignment with what the state does. So um you will hear it I guess if any chance we come in we'll talk about ISS not DMC. Um, however, the principal and appropriate administrator shall review the ISS placement of a student at least once every 10 school days to evaluate the educational progress of the student and to determine if continued ISS is appropriate. So, you can tell they put a lot more parameters on um a lengthy placement. And again, that makes sense because they're
031not in uh instruction. They're out of the classroom and they're in a in school suspension room. And another change that we uh used to DOI but we're no longer going to be able to district innovate is a first-time offense of possession or use of nicotine delivered product or ecigarette. Um this is going to be a big change. U it may place a student in a discipline alternative education program for the first time offense of possession or use of a nicotine delivery product or an ecigarette. again. And if the student who possesses or uses the ecigarette is not placed in a DAP educational program uh for the first time offense, the student shall be placed in school suspension for a period of at least at least 10 school days. So that's saying you you it's mandatory
032to either place them at a DAP or they're going to go for 10 days into ISS. And so um the legislature has taken a real hard stance on ecigarettes. We agree we don't want them in our buildings. They have no place. Um, and so that will be the work of our principles to really really make sure uh that they're educating our students because they knew they would get consequences. I don't think they they've always understood that they're going to be um this severe. >> Pretty severe now. >> Yeah. And so um they are going to have class meetings at the beginning of school and uh we do that every year to talk about changes in dress code and anything else. And this would be the code of conduct. So this is going to be discussed
033fairly. >> Dr. Merl, before we move on, I'm so sorry. If I may ask you something about the ISS not having a limit anymore. >> So, what is the limit now? >> Well, we before we we weren't I mean, we were going to limit it se uh substantially. So, uh we in years past it had been up to 30 days, but we're not doing that now. So, um this obviously has taken the cap off and so we've got we've got some internal conversations >> and and this is from this is coming this is >> from the state. we're forced to do this. I just want to make that clear that it's not we're not making this decision >> uh unilaterally. This is this is something that we we must do in order to Yes, to
034do that. Thank you. >> Yeah. And that's I was going to ask is there a way so that parents understand whether we feel it's appropriate, maybe we feel it's too much, maybe we feel like it's not too much, whatever the case may be that we put say for instance uh like first time offense possession use talking about vaping placed in in school suspension for a period of at least 10 school days as per state >> law. Da da da. And and literally name it >> so that if parents have a problem, we can explain to them and then we can if they re, you know, they can refer to it. Not that we say, well, just go look at state law, but it does explain that some of these things we don't have control of.
035>> Exactly. >> Yeah. I so obviously with any type of disciplinary consequence the assistant principles principles will be calling home so there'll be parent contact made um so for that that is a great way to explain it for 10 days that's going to be obviously two weeks at least out of uh normal uh classroom instruction so that's a substantial uh placement to be completely honest and so obviously you'll need to communicate that to the parent and and they'll help help them understand what's going on >> so Brian when it says the principle of the approp corporate administrator. Who is that person? >> Assistant principal. >> And so after 10 days, they can go and evaluate that student and determine if the suspension is lifted. They go back to class or what? Yes, ma'am. >> Because
036my problem is, I mean, and I understand it's the law, but I look at this and they were just so that's just saying don't come to school anymore. Mhm. >> That's what that's saying basically. Cuz if you put a child in there and no one comes and evaluates me or they come and evaluate me and they're busy, they don't have time. I sit there, I sit there, I sit there, eventually I'm not coming back. So that's no child in a seat. So that's a hardship for the district. That's that hurts us. >> Yes, ma'am. The the each of the secondary campuses where this is primarily going to be most likely impacted has an associate principal. And so I'm confident that the principal with the associate principal for discipline is going to take a hard look
037at this. And I mean I'm I'm speaking on behalf of them. They're sitting behind me. But um just knowing the way that they operate, that's going to be the way that it happens. And again, um, they our our principles do an incredible job of enforcing and the code of conduct and just the building in general, making sure that not only are we frontloading the expectations and um, and what we expect of the students, how to behave from the moment they get uh on the bus to the minute that they leave. Um, and our teachers do a phenomenal job. And then they also were working with and instructing uh when they violate the code of conduct. That's what a referral is, right? And so they'll talk with them about how to learn from this and not
038just simply assign consequences to it. There's a growth moment. Now part of that uh is you know consequences sort of reinforce the the learning in a lot of cases. And so they'll they will measure that at the same time really considering whether or not the students academic success um is in jeopardy. And so they are going to monitor this because they want to be successful and they want the student to be successful on state accountability and just in life. And so they're really going to monitor that I think very very heavily. And and I'm sorry to ask get into the weeds too much, Dr. Merrill, but would you explain, you know, my concern is if you have unequal treatment, you have one principle that says you're going to go for 60 days and another principle
039that says you're going to go for three days. I know we have that problem all the time. you and I know it's hard also to come in and say you're going to have mandatory if you do a it's you know but how do we keep from having disparities like that and what is the average do you have an average on on what they're how long they're placed in ISS >> I I don't have an average of how long they're placed in ISS and I don't want to speak for the principles uh but I can tell you that they do alignment so when they're talking the one of the jobs of the associate principal is to align so they would spend time talking with the other APS who are administering consequences to make sure that they're
040fair, that they're um equal. In addition, we have assistant principal PLC's where those kind of conversations happens as happen as well. And so um in typically if a student, now this is ISS, if it was DMC2, we would get those requests and we would look at them to make sure that they were appropriate and that they were um again um equal uh among campuses and then even between the same campus. So, um, again, this will we won't get those, but it will be the job of the principal to make sure that that's taking place. >> So, will you get I mean, again, my my concern like Miss Benfords is if you get somebody that's stuck in there, you you can really do a lot of harm. And I understand that these children are disruptive. Probably
041they wouldn't be in ISS if they weren't disrupting the other 20 kids in, you know, what we got to look at their education as well. But I do I do have concerns that you lose a child in the shuffle. Especially I always felt really good that you guys had your eyes over the whole the whole system anyway. So if you saw an anomaly, you would it it would come to your attention regularly and automatically. So it is a concern to me that that may not necessarily happen now or it won't happen. You won't see it. >> Right. I I want to clarify two things. One, if it's an ecigarette, also known as a vape, it's a minimum of 10 days. You can't get out early. uh you could if you choose to do more for
042whatever reason that might be you have to review at 10 days and what I understand that the principles do quite well is they calibrate with their teams so they'll sit down especially if you have a new administrator to say let's look at offenses look at let's look at uh consequences length of stay placement etc so that we're consistent to your point both of you make a valid point um so the the other thing is I think it's going to be critical that if there's an assignment for 10 days outside of the ecigarette because that's it has to be at least 10 days but for some other events um that we're consistent so we don't want to do uh pit one school against another school. So with those professional learning communities uh the principles talk with
043each other so that the they make sure that the consequences are matching the offense as much as possible and within reason when it comes to alignment. So it is very important to our principles and they they're here today. They elaborate when they come to the podium but um they are very uh collaborative u okay to to u to address your point >> the kids will talk to right so that they there's some internal >> three days I got kids and parents will be the first >> there's some internal accountability that takes place that they're very familiar with um and they'll they'll speak up. I will say this just to point out um most of the time it's one to three days Mr. Gonzalez. So when you when you think of ISS, uh that's why it's
044even odd that we're saying ISS more than 10 days because when we we all grew up in being um assistant principles, it was always three days. You didn't extend beyond that. And so this idea that it's going to be 10 days is like, okay, I kind of have to pause just a second because this is really it's never it's it never has happened. >> It's not it's not a common. >> No, it never did. And so now instead of it just being you could suspend for three days and then three days of ISS, now there's a whole different um system in place. Okay. Again, we're not jumping to the most restrictive situation where you're assigning 40 50. That's not what we're >> Miss Leighton used to used to send my kids away for months on
045end. >> Months on end. Yeah. >> No kidding. But that that is when you read this, it kind of seems pro 10 days at them and then we'll we'll adjust from there. So that I thank you for making that point that it is not >> ecigarette is the only one that's defined. The other ones are our discretion and so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's one to three days typically. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> All right. And I'm going to uh bring us to House Bill 1481. And this is the the new Texas law uh banning cell phones and other personal communication devices which includes smartwatches, earbuds, tablets, and laptops. And this is in public school uh during the school day which is bell-tobell. And this affects every
046Brian ISD student. And this will start on the first day of school uh on August 13th. And this also includes uh the law also includes that we must have uh defined consequences in our in our student code of uh conduct by beginning of the school year. So I know we've all seen in on news channels and social media all of the information that has come out about uh the cell phone ban. Um but TEA has also updated some implementation guidelines um saying you know that we must adopt a policy and in adopting the policy districts must must authorize uh use if a student has a specific any kind of a medical issue that they must be able to use their phone and that it has to be uh documented by a medical doctor um and
047placed in there either whether their 504 plan or their IEP and the school districts had the flexibility on how to secure the devices and um on June 20th, you know, this house bill was uh signed into law and that school boards have 90 days to adopt the cell phone policy. So, a little bit about the timeline. Uh so, like I said, June 20th, Governor Abbott signed House Bill 1481. uh in July. Uh here in the district, we've been refining the student code of conduct. Um we've gotten feedback from parents, administrators, and teachers uh about the cell phone policy and consequences. And uh we had a draft policy uh FNC local and the board approved that on July 21st. Um, we've been communicating out to parents, you know, that this is coming starting the beginning of
048the school year. And then today, we're here to uh consider uh approval of the student code of conduct and this will include the consequences in regards to cell phones. >> Okay, just briefly because we've already covered this before and thank you, Mrs. Mononttoya. Uh, the device itself is pretty broad. It's just anything that's capable of electronic communication. And I think we've pretty much understand what that is at this point. Um, the board of trustees, as you know, had an option either to prohibit them from being brought on property at all or to allow them to be stored while they were on property. And in alignment, thank you, the board uh with the parent advisory committee and with campus and district administrators, uh, the board voted with FNC Local to move towards storing the devices rather
049than a a full prohibition of bringing them on the property. Um, I also want to make one note that I I neglected to make um at the last meeting. This House bill also removed any fines that can be assessed to students for having those devices confiscated. Previously in statute, you could find up to $15 um that has been stricken from that from the statute. You can no longer do any fines for confiscation of cell phone devices or other devices. Once again, the board approved FNCE local which put those provisions in place is why it will begin with the first day of school that the items must be stored during the school day and that is bellto bell. So they can have them before school during breakfast and they can have them after school with athletic
050activities or wherever else they're at after school doing activities and volunteering. U but during the school day must be off in your backpack in your purse in storage somewhere um where you're not pulling it out. Um, and as stated previously, and I know we're anxiously, um, I think people are anxiously waiting what's going to happen. How will we determine what those consequences are? So, I'd like to invite Dr. Leslie Holamp as well as our campus administrators because they worked as a team to pull all of this information together so that we were absolutely consistent and in alignment. >> Dr. Baron, I just want to confirm to to parents and students that during the school day includes in between classes, includes lunch, includes recess. It does. In fact, if you're on a field trip, >> it
051includes on a field trip during the school day. >> Really? >> Yes, sir. >> Ouch. Okay. >> Now, outside of it, >> yes, >> absolutely. One other point of clarification. When we say uh locked away, such as a backpack and handbag, etc. Uh this means not on their person. So, not in their pocket, not in their jacket, not in their not on their person. Correct. Is that what you >> Is that how we're we are that is the intent? >> Yes. So we don't want to see them or hear them turned off, put away except for before school or after school. >> So is there consequences if they keep ringing? I mean, so if they're ringing in a backpack, it's the same as having it out. Is that is that how we're going to treat
052that? >> No. Okay. >> So that's what we're going to talk about. >> Thank you. Okay. I will wait for this presentation. >> I'm sorry. If it's ringing, yes, that is disruption. But if it's in their backpack, no. >> Gotcha. Yes. Disruption. >> Okay. So my name is Leslie Hullamp and you may have associated me with the CNI team. Um and I have been with CNI team for uh 11 years. Um last year I started supporting middle school campuses and this year I'm now supporting um these principles here, the high school principles and two high school principles and the middle school principles and working with school leadership. Um so today I wanted to send out a big brag to this team. Um Miss Leighton from Ruter High School, Greg Dr. Greg Boheis from uh Brian
053High School, Becky Luna SFA, and uh Miss Sarah Rua at Davala have all been working very hard in developing our implementation plan for our um communication devices. And we started by looking at different school districts across the state of Texas and what they're doing. Uh, so we looked closely at them and worked on developing an implementation plan that's fair and consistent for our district. I know Miss Montoya reached out to her principles that she supervises and we also reached out to other principles so that all principles had input in the um process. Um, I wanted to just start by uh looking at historical perspective on what we did last year and previous years regarding electronic devices or communication devices and I'd ask Rachel Leighton if she would share what they did at the high school
054and uh Miss Rua is going to share what they did at middle schools. >> All right. Thank you. So last year and years previously obviously cell phones were not okay when they disrupted learning. And so the first two times that they had them out or they rang or anything like that. It was a warning from the teacher. We have a system called branching minds and that is where that is documented so that we can see if cell phones have been a continuing issue for the student. And so that would be documented in branching minds. The third time in that class, a student uh had an issue with a cell phone. Either it was out, texting, the various ways it can be used. Uh that phone was collected by the teacher and a parent contact was
055made. Uh what we sometimes dealt with was students did not always want to turn the cell phone over. And so when that happened, the teacher would call for assistance from an administrator and then the administrator would go to the classroom and would um bring the student with them with the phone. And because at that point you're really looking at more non-compliance uh issue in the classroom as well as the cell phone issue. And at that point they could get something from an afterchool detention ISS and then hopefully doesn't go there but sometimes um to out of school suspension but just kind of depending on the severity of it and then had the student ever been in trouble before. And so historically um that is how we handled the cell phones in the past. And in
056middle school it was done very similar. Um so cell phones were not allowed during the instructional time. So that meant they could use their cell phone before school, after school, or during lunches. Again, this is last year what we had done. Um, if the cell phone was used during instructional times, then we were able to pick it up. We did have a parent conference. We did charge the $15 um when they collected the cell phone at the end of the day. Um, again, so students who refused to turn over the cell phone were assigned ISS. Those that refused to go to ISS were then suspended. But very similar to kind of what the high school did where during the school instructional time that cell phones were not to be used microphone. >> Dr. Boheis is
057going to talk about our um proposed implementation plan for our district. So getting into the the plan that we have, one that we give a line with um across all of our campuses is that we want our staff to understand that it's the administrator's responsibility if there is an incident so that we're having to take those phones. Um our goal is that we don't have to take a student phone. We know that we want them to be able to keep it within whatever storage that they have with them, their backpack, purse. Um so our goal is to to make that happen through educating our students. Um, and so one of the the methodologies that we're going to use is to have our teachers on that first day talk with the students about the expectation and
058rules that are in place. Uh, when we do come back to school next Wednesday with our students, we're going to give them time to acclimate. And so we want to make sure that we have class meetings with our our students so that they understand that when this policy goes into place, what those expectations are and then what the result may be should there be a violation of that policy. Um, we have different ways that we may be doing that on the 18th. And so, some campuses are having an assembly. Um, at Brian High School, I will be making a video that will go out to all students. Um, my plan with that is that if a student is coming to us in October, November, even into the next semester, that we're going to have a
059video that they can watch. Um, and that we can verify that the student has seen a video to understand our expectations. Um once we've reached the 18th and we are able to have those class meetings with our students, um the policy does go into place, that very first offense that comes up is a referral into the system and that that referral will notify the parent that there has been some type of incident at the school. Um the student will receive a warning. The expectation then that the students administrator assigned to them will communicate home to and indicate that a warning was given. Um after that first incident, communication devices will be collected from the student. And so each campus has been working with their administrative team so that we have a policy in place that
060we know what that looks like. um it does gradually increase on what that that consequence could look like. Um so that second incident and that third incident the phones are taken up um and then the student is able to pick up that device at the end of the day um for the the 30 minutes after school is over. there will be a time period um and so during the day if it has been taken up um this we don't want it to disrupt the learning environment of the classroom. So if there's a call made to an administrator and AP principal will go to the classroom they'll ask the student to come out into the hall to to turn that phone over and then we have a verification process where a student and the staff member
061is signing off that the phone has been taken. When a student is able to pick up that device in the afternoon, they are signing off that they have picked up their device. Once they've reached the fourth and fifth incident, at that time a parent will be required to come and pick up that phone after school hours. Um, we understand that there are going to have to be differentiated approaches with fine arts, with athletics. Um, and so we're going to work with our families based on the events that we do have taking place. Um, again, our goal is to not keep the phones. We want the phones to get back to the students and to the parents so that they have those devices when they're leaving our campuses. >> Dr. Bohis, if I'm sorry, go ahead.
062I should wait for this wonderful presentation. I apologize. Go ahead. >> If which we're hoping it doesn't reach a sixth offense and more again, we we reach a point where is it a cell phone or is it a non-compliance? because we've now gotten to a point where we're at a sixth, seventh or repeated offenses. And so at that point, there are notions of after school detention that take place in school suspension. Um and then repeated offenses could result in an increased days of those. Um but again, our hope is that students are not reaching that level. >> Okay. I think we can all agree that it's really important that we ease the anxiety and the questions that the community and parents have. Um, so moving forward, Brian ISD is developing a comprehensive list of frequently
063asked questions that will be posted on our website, but you'll see on the screen the top four that we've received so far. So, where will devices be collected and stored? That's going to depend on campus and what works for each um principal and campus administrative team, but they will be secured in a location that is locked. Um whether that's a safe, a file cabinet, whatever that may be. Um parents are really concerned about how do they get in touch with their students during the school day and so most of us went to school pre- cell phones um and our parents still got in touch with us. But each classroom and office is still equipped with a landline. So, we're going to make sure that parents can still communicate with their students. Um, this law does
064not apply before and after school. So, we do encourage students to touch base with their parents before that instructional belt in the morning and then obviously after school, especially in terms of extracurricular activities. Um, and then the big question, what happens if a device is lost or damaged? And then Brian is not going to be liable for that. But we are going to take very extra care of the devices that are collected and put those in the secure location. >> May I um first of all um Miss Leighton, thank you for always taking my brunt of my jokes for training Bella. I don't want you to forget about them. So I would just like to thank y'all for putting the disciplinary procedure in place. You some people may say it's a little lenient. They don't
065get in trouble till further down. But you know, as you said, we didn't grow up with phones, but our children these days it is a part of them. So it's not going to be an easy transition. I wouldn't think. And I appreciate that it does get harder and harder until the point where you're like, look, you're just you're non-compliance. You're not going to do it and we have to we're going to have to step it up. But I really appreciate the the foresight that went into this to make sure it's not punitive to not really just come down on our students unnecessarily, but I think it's really I think y'all have done a really good job at ramping it up. You know, you get the slaps on the hand a few times and mom and
066dad got to get involved and then and then there's real consequences. So, I just wanted to tell you thank you. I do appreciate that. I know a lot of the parents have expressed concerns about such a radical policy or what what their what their kids are used to and what the parents are used to and again I just want to say thank you >> and then to round us out. So the question is is does this law apply to staff members? While um as professionals the new cell phone law does not apply to staff um you know staff and educators are expected to model appropriate and professional use of that technology. Um, so there are times when technology use, you know, that we're talking about is acceptable. That could be access um, accessing instructional materials.
067You know, we all have to log into the Duo authenticator thing every day. U managing classroom technology or tools. You know, I think Mr. Gonzalez, you mentioned about a field trip earlier. You know, teachers will have the ability to take attendance straight from their cell phone on a field trip. um communicating with administrators, matters pertaining to school safety or documenting learning for district approved social media. Um and of course then we have unacceptable um times where uh use is not really um acceptable. So personal messaging calls or browsing during instruction um usage that distracts from supervision or instruction or student engagement or of course filming or uh photographing students without parent consent. Um, you know, we all, um, want to be able to tell our stories. So, that last bullet point there, we, you know,
068great example would be the cheer coach. You know, we want the cheer coach to be, you know, telling the story of of the organization and being able to post a social media during her conference period or before and after school. >> And this is not a new Ginger told me this, this is not a new policy for our >> This is not there is language, Mr. Gonzalez, in our employee handbook. And as we have been onboarding new employees for new employee orientation, the ladies in my office have been talking to employees and reminding them about cell phone usage and what that looks like and what it should not look like. >> Thank you. >> And you didn't introduce yourself, but the person that just talked about staff use is is over most of them because
069he's our HR director. Yes, ma'am. >> Tommy Roberts. So, it's appropriate for you to be representing >> uh the issues with staff. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Uh, okay. Two things real quick. And of course, I was a a teacher and a coach and a AP before cell phones when we baby let kids have them. And then we had some kind of over-the-top uh discipline code of conduct for them. And then it was kind of like anything goes. If you're a good instructor and you're a good teacher, cell phone usage in your room was probably never an issue. And that's what we expect anyway. Even I mean now that it won't be used in your room, but we do expect our teachers to be to use the golden rule. You treat students like you
070would want your own children treated. And the same thing with, you know, when you're dealing with a parent and because this is a real learning curve for them, you know, we want all our staff administration uh not to and like you say and and I think our code of conduct expresses that this is not a gotcha thing. you know, we we might be tweaking things, but again, this is a state law that we have to abide by. And we might have eased them out if we thought it was not necessary in our ISD, but we would have never gone to this kind of extreme for our parents and students all at one time. But because we have to, we're trying to do it with as much grace as we can. And I think that that
071having them having them available to themselves and their parents by saying, "Okay, you just can't have them seen or used from bell to bell is the fairest thing that we can do with what we've been given to to do as administrators." And um you know, we want our students to comply even though it's like be obedient. Well, uh, they have to because it's the law and we have to do what we have to do as administrators because it's the law and but I think our ISD is being very fair about our attitude. We want to help parents. We want to help coaches. We want to help everybody uh with this issue. And something that we talked about a minute ago, we said that over 80% of our students are in career and technology. We said
072that over and it's probably closer to 60% of our students are in athletics. one, if I'm a teacher and I have this the quarterback in my room and he accidentally looks at his phone for whatever reason, besides probably contacting the parents and doing what I have to administratively, I call the coach and I let the coach know, hey, this is an accident. I'm sure of it, but maybe if you could remind him, it would help it not not happen again. And so I am like the grandmother or the big sister to a lot of people in our district. And I would suggest to them that they also let somebody on campus that's very involved with that child that may be habitually forgetting either their CTE person that they have to be eligible for their cheer
073sponsor, their choir director, somebody who's got a lot of good influence on that child. remind that person that they can help remind their base, their all state bass choir guy, well, it could be a girl, but uh guy that um they need to remember the rules. So anyway, just wanted to throw those two things in. >> Thank you, Miss Waller. I know this starts the first day of school. We don't want to see or hear the phone. It has to be locked away in a backpack, etc. But I do recall that you guys talked about uh we start school on a Wednesday. So Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you're doing your grade level assemblies. You're reminding them of all the rules, not just cell phones, but IDs, dress code, etc. Is it a true statement that you
074landed those first three days as you train up the kids and you make this transition? It's a warning. Do anyone of you want to speak to that? Just so the parents understand, they've got a three-day I mean, they're not allowed to use the phones at all. I'm not saying that, but warning, warning, warning. And then that Monday, we go full force with the >> So that first three days coincides with when we um allow and help kids get to class with tardies. And so we typically don't start any consequences for tardies until that Monday. Um also you can have new students coming in. So we're still making IDs at that point. And so typically all of that is taken care of by that Monday. And so this is just going to go with a new
075system now to go with the other things uh that we work with the kids obviously um trying to get them were different buildings at rudder if you're out in the a building you know some kids don't even know there's a building out there and so we're working with tardies and we working with um IDs at that point and so we will also be talking about the no cell phones and then the Monday like with all the other things tardies you know no cell phones and the consequences will start. And so I know with the kids while we talk about not having ISS and different things five and six down, I can promise you taking that cell phone from that kid is probably the biggest consequence they can receive. So that is going to be very
076effective. >> Yes. >> So I know the policy we talk about cell phones, but it's any electronic device. Is that correct, Barbara? >> Laptops. Because I'd be one of those kids that would say, "Okay, I can't have my cell phone, but I got my tablet." So, I think we better >> I thought you'd bring your pager. >> Hey, that too. >> That's correct. It's any communication device. >> Any communication. So, I think we need to make sure we tell them because a lot of kids don't have some kids don't have a cell phone. Some just have the little tablets and the iPads and whatever those things they have. >> Yes, ma'am. And I think it needs to be made clear that I mean, I'm sure y'all will, but that it's the sound even because even
077I think my kids always have it on on silent because they don't want me to know when they're getting a message. But, you know, I would hate to just have people getting in trouble for not realizing it's ringing or it's dinging or or whatever. So, I'm I'm sure y'all will make that amply clear to them that it's that it's any kind of indication that there is a device in there is going to be the problem. Yes, the s suggestion is going to be that you power off your cell phone, but if it's put away and it doesn't make a sound, we're going to consider that non-disruptive. >> Okay, fair enough. >> Well, good luck on those warnings because if my kids >> Thank you. >> my kids if they were going to school still, which
078is they're they're all grown. He said, "It's only warnings. I don't care how many warnings I get. That first day is going to be Yeah. Okay. Warn me again." So, >> I'd be picking them up every day phones up for a while. Well, anyway, good luck with that. Hopefully, you'll get good compliance. >> Thank you for your support. >> I I agree that we need to do the warnings. That's that's important. >> Thank you to the principles. They spent an inordinate amount of time on this. And we did talk about the good from all of this. I can I can confess that I am distracted by by my phone at times. So, I think there will be a lot of good once we settle into the new law uh and that kids can be more
079attentive in class and the teachers can teach without interruption. So, there will be a silver lining in this. I'm I'm optimistic about that >> and I think I don't know that it's been made clear but u we've talked about it as a group that or some of us on committee whatever anyway that that if it if if it's a true emergencies identified all bets are off we're going to the kids are going to be able to get their cell phones and call and say I'm okay or whatever and that's the message that that I expect I don't think anybody on the board's going to disagree is we're not going to say oh well you know we don't >> there's a tornado you can't call anybody We still can't let you use your phone even though
080it's an emergency. Yes, we're gonna we're gonna I don't know if that's specific that exception. >> It it is an exception. If there's a true emergency, we absolutely would encourage kids to use their device if they feel compelled. That's why I think so many parents were happy to hear that the board adopted the policy version where it could be in the backpack and and readily available should there ever be, god forbid, an emergency. I don't think this on this particular item we have a proposed motion, but it's kind of pretty simple. It's about approving the >> May I make a motion, Mr. S? >> Sure. Go ahead. >> Uh I move approval of the student code of conduct for the 2025 2026 school year, including statewide ban on student use of personal communication devices during
081the school day as presented. >> Second. >> All right, we have motion made by Mr. Gonzalez, seconded by Miss Benford. Any discussion? Uh all in favor say I. >> I all oppose. That is unanimous five that will vote but we have missing two board members but uh and we have only one other item and it does not require Thank you very much by the way and y'all did do an awful lot of work. We appreciate that. Uh this doesn't require board action per se, but I I'm need to appoint somebody to to be our delegate at the uh convention. And we have two people who aren't here. We could appoint them. >> But uh >> I say Joel and Julie. You know what? If you leave early, I would I would make a motion for
082Joel and Julie. >> Uh does anybody want to volunteer? I've done it several times, so I'd love for somebody else to have the opportunity. You've done it. I think Felicia have >> done been the alter. >> Okay. Anybody want >> takes up all the you >> you're not exactly >> all that day that Saturday instead of going to sessions. That's where you'll go >> to the >> Yeah, that's the only reason I'm not jumping at it is I don't like those sessions. >> I'll go. >> You go. Oh, >> I'll go. I'm sure I got enough. >> Way to go. Well, I'll >> I nominate Felicia and Mr. Stazzy. Does anybody want to be the alternate? >> Mr. Stley, would you like to be the alternate? You're the president. >> Why? Why are you asking
083me that? How many times have you done it? >> All right. I'll I'll be the alter. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, that takes care of that. Y'all y'all you and me are officially appointed. >> Barbara got that down. And there being no further business, this meeting is adjourned at looks like about 3:13. Thanks.