001Board of Justice to order. Today's Monday, February 16th to 2026 and we're meeting in the Couch Elsa Independent School District Administration building boardroom at 920 West Santa Rosa Avenue, Eouch, Texas. As we begin, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being conducted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. At this time, we will call RO to establish quorum. present. >> Junior >> here. >> Ashley Vasquez >> here. >> Dr. Ricardo a >> present >> Here >> with the chorus established. We will now begin with with >> so at this time because we already did the pledge of allegiance we are going to skip it. But I would like to bring um Mr. Danielle Per uh Danielle Ernnandez Jr. US Army retired to please come up to get recognized. Mr. Daniel Ernandez
002served in the active army with the 1001st Airborne, the Texas National Guard, Michigan National Guard, and as an instructor for the US Army Reserve. served in operation desert shield and desert storm enduring freedom campaign and in co Kosovo. He retired after 27 years of military service. [applause] My graduate 1985. >> I'm ready. >> Great job, brother. Let's see your rice commander. 3. 1 2 3 1 2 and >> [applause] >> Thank you for your service. [applause] Excuse [applause] me. BMW. 1 2 3. [applause] Can you get me in or Yeah. >> [laughter] >> 3 1 2 [applause] >> So I'm going to apologize. Now that I actually have the agenda, but we have so many amazing recognitions that I couldn't memorize them all. And there's a picture of Danny. Look at him. Not a day.
003[applause] So for this next group, um I've had the pleasure of meeting um several of them. uh once when I took him to the tour of um the original heads high school and then uh we met to discuss uh their generosity um for the legacy foundation that we created this year and then today this amazing group several of them and you can see their picture there. Several of them came in from out of town to present this check to us. They literally flew in and we met at the technology uh building. Um Cynthia was gracious enough to treat them to enchiladas. I thought that they would enjoy that. I called her last night. I said, "Cynthia, you've got a huge group coming in and I bet they want to remember the nostalgia of the enchiladas
004and they were so thrilled." So, um, these, uh, fine ladies and gentlemen have not forgotten where we come from and where they came from, and they're here to grace us with, uh, a check for $9,500 for the legacy sponsor. [applause] We're all graduate from [laughter] >> [cough and clears throat] [laughter] >> All right. READY? [applause] ONE, TWO, THREE. One more. Ready. 1 2 3. [applause] Everybody praise Heat. Heat. I Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. All right, good. Thank you. There is like our next um presentation. Um she could not be here today. She has every intention of being here, but she's actually, I believe, stuck in Japan. Um, so she could not be here, but I I want to make sure that we give a huge round of applause to the Tesita Vasquez Foundation for the
005$2,000 donation that is being made uh on that on behalf of the foundation to the Legacy Foundation. [applause] Of course, before I move on to the the next presentation, it would be uh permissive for me to acknowledge um Miss Cynthia Flores, Dr. Canales, and Miss Nia Gonzalez. When the idea of the foundation came up, they have just been so instrumental in making sure that we got project and there were so I just wanted to thank you all for all [applause] Um our next presentation is our platinum uh students are platinum leaders from Garcia Elementary. [applause] So these are our millionaire >> [clears throat] >> There you go. Ready? One, two, three. One, two, and three. [applause] >> At this time, I would like to uh bring Dr. Final and recognize Alice Dona who placed third
006in the Rio Grand Valley art contest. [applause] >> So just to let everybody know, this is actually a first forum. We've actually never entered into an art competition before. So this is the first one. We actually placed third. So out of allbody, [applause] right? So from all the way from she did an awesome job. [applause] If any of her parents can set up a picture, >> don't 1 2 3 1 2 [applause] >> And now um this is our second year that we have our what it's called the CCC program for 18 to 26 state students. Um but we had it last year but this is um the first year that at this juncture we had three of our students complete the program. Um they completed it two weeks ago. Um I will say that
007out of the three individuals uh two of them already got employment and if I'm not mistaken um Mr. Garcia and Dr. Joe, they are already in Michigan working. But we do have one of our very special students, uh, Mr. Heeran. [applause] Tonight, it is with great honor that I recognize three outstanding young men from the college and career center. Ethan Beltran, Samuel Felix, and Jorge Moronis, who are former dropouts that made a powerful decision to return and complete their graduation requirements. Choosing to come back after stepping away takes courage, resilience, and real determination. These students refuse to let their past define them and instead committed to finishing what they started by building a better future for themselves. While only Heather is with us this evening, we proudly celebrate Samuel and For as well. Ether Heather,
008thank you for being here tonight and congratulations to all three of you. Your perseverance is inspiring and your futures are bright. Congratulations, SIR. >> [applause] >> I JUST WANT TO THANK the staff for there to help me do it all. I was able to reach out to all if I needed if I need help with anything. You know, just they wouldn't matter what time. I remember texting that I remember like [applause] >> [clears throat] >> One, two, three. Got it. [applause] >> Next, we want to recognize our very own Mr. Has for being the recipient of the KRGB take five teacher day. [applause] I just want to take a moment first and foremost to thank our board of trust for this recognition. Uh this was recognized by the community out there etc. And uh for
00931 years I've been standing in front of everyone. I'm usually introducing people and usually talking about the spotlight achievements our students are making and introducing dignitaries. I'm introducing someone at some point or I'm at a state a graduation night. We're standing out trying to pump up the night for our undying jacket pride that we have in our community. And so it's very actually it's been very uh overwhelming right now. It's been a little overwhelming. I want to thank everybody. [applause] That's a great day. [applause] One, two, three. I think THAT [applause] >> and now I'm incredibly proud to bring out the eighth grade girls soccer >> [cheering] [applause] >> Yes. Ready? One, two, three. Ready? 1 2 3 [applause] [clears throat] >> right here. All right. Ready? One, two, three. One, two, three. [applause] Thank
010you. >> Thank you. >> [music] >> And now for another great accomplishment from we have our middle school eighth grade boys basketball team for being co-ch champions with the boys. [applause] CONGRATULATIONS. >> We had a game two days ago. >> So, do we have our They can be here. >> Yes. Right. Ready? One, two, three. One more. >> Do you have any parents who would like to come up? Please don't be shy. >> [applause] >> Are we joking? Ready? One, two, three. >> [applause] >> Next we have 35 cosmetology seniors who earn their Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation um certifications. Hello. Good evening. My name is on behalf of High School this year. Very fortunate to have 35 seniors. They all pass both of their exams and THEY [applause] are right here. Everybody here.
011One, two, three. One more. Ready? Oh, she's in there. >> I do want to add that when I found out that there was 35, I automatically asked, "Hey, is this like the first time?" I was actually told that in the last, correct me if I'm wrong, uh, media as well as the last four years, 100% of the students who have tested have passed. [applause] This is the largest I've had, you know, 18, 20, but 35. [applause] >> Any parents here? >> You're welcome. All right. Ready? One, two, three. One more. Ready. One, two, three. [applause] At this time, we are going to be recognizing the mariachi, our varsity mariaching of a division one, our J mariach division one as well. [applause] So right now you see in front of you is actually J and A3.
012Correct. >> It's not Yes. It's Yeah. And not varsity. >> Not varsity. Yeah. Because our varsity is actually getting ready to compete on Friday for state. So they're practicing right now. [applause] WOULD you like to say a few words? >> Yes, if you don't mind. >> Bring them in a little bit more right there. All right. Ready? One, two, three. Ready? One, two, and three. Okay. Yes. So words cannot explain how grateful we are as directors to be in front of Ed Coucha and Kelsa Maria. Um this past week we went to a conference and we got so many questions on how is it that Edela has been so successful with their mariachi programs because they want to mimic our structure. Well, a lot of it has to do with our community first and foremost.
013And that's what it's mainly about. These guys have intubated uh you know the the the culture of family and aside from that they've done a big responsibility with each ensemble. So what I mean by that is that I had my nonvarsity, right? Our nonvarsity went up as the nonvarsity at UIL. Our JP, we had eighth graders play up in the JP. We had one that was playing up in the varsity and being multiaceted because it's about community and they always say, but Liam, what's the word you always say? It's where what where do you like where do you want me and where do you need me? And so that's what it's about. Thank you so much and thank you so much guys. So appreciate you love. [applause] One, two, three, four. [applause] And now we're
014going to be recognizing uh the R&B coaches association east allstar selection Derek Kadina and Israel Campo AND THEIR COACHES. >> [applause] >> THANK YOU GUYS. THANK YOU all so much. Um since uh since we're all here uh you know just coming coming here. Thank you for the invite. But uh since you all do so much for us and y'all are always giving of your time, your efforts and everything that you all do. We have a small district of appreciation for school board recognition month. I know it's a little late, but it's a it's a little package decal that we got together to uh give to everybody. So, the boys have some. You just peel off the tab and it's a brand new. [applause] [screaming] Thank you. >> So, so just uh just the the front
015is you remove it, right? And it shines in gold like this. And in the back, you put a little velcro in the back and you can put it up over your uh over your desk. >> Thank you. >> All right. right here. Ready? One, two, three. Ready? One, two, three. parents. >> These are the last moments, guys. Seniors Ready? One, two, three. Ready. One, two, THREE. [applause] >> SO, I'm going to stand over here for this one. Um so when I started with the counselors last year um I found out about what's called the crest board which is uh given to us by the Texas counseling association that actually governs and facilitates for the Texas education uh uh what parameters what instruction what what basically counts are supposed to be doing in public education. So
016what does it take to get the Crest Awards? It is in fact a very prestigious honor. There was only six districts in the valley and only three that got every single campus awarded and we were among them. It is. [applause] So it it honors Texas school counseling programs that demonstrate outstanding comprehensive and data uh driven support in various domains that ensure student ac uh student academic success, career, personal emotional success and again it is through the Texas Counselor Association and it recognizes continuous improvement and positive lasting impact of counseling departments. rather than just individual counselors. This group was able to go to Fort Worth uh where they received the counseling excellence 2025 uh award second year in a row and I couldn't be more prouder than to lead this amazing team. [applause] I would like
017to recognize by name for high school. Our very own lead counselor, Katherine Lara. [applause] Our early college counselor, Ma Corpus. [applause] She was not able to be here, but I had to say her name. be here. Um, Stephanie Laos is was not able to be here, but she is one of our high school counselors. And Erica Tanguma also received the Crest Award. All counselors at the high school for this achievement. [applause] [cheering] Gabriel Fernandez and Jellybean receive award. Mr. A Gomez [applause] sal, Miss Cindy Bo, our middle school counselor, [applause] as well as Miss Nikki Garcia. [applause] Miss Florinda Elisondo also received the award. Miss Florinda was on FMLA and I just want to give her a shout out and tell her that I'm already crying because she is retiring. after all the [applause] she
018was recognized our RCR counselor and lean who also made me cry today cuz she's going to be retiring Ortiz OVER [applause] um our LBJ counselor Carmen ZENA [applause] COUNSELOR JESSE >> [applause] >> OUR SANTIAGO GARCIA counter Daniela MENDES [applause] and the very person that I would be absolutely lost without is our very own [applause] put Hey. right here. Ready? One, two, three. One more. One, two, and [applause] Okay, so we have a little arrangement for our head people. Danielle, the rock. [applause] and our captain of course Dr. [applause] All right. Right here. Ready? One, two, and three. One more. Ready? One, two, and three. [applause] >> So, we're just going to shower you with flowers. >> [applause] >> AND then even though we broke my heart today, I love her and we're going to give
019you this [applause] 17 years as a castor. The rest of his life Right there. Ready? One, two, and three. One more. One, two, and three. >> [applause] >> Yeah. Thank you everyone. Thank you. So you want to start next. So the next se section is actually a new section that you'll be seeing for the first time as part of the lonear governance initiative that we have um um for the the the board and the collective staff. We've added a board monitoring section and we're going to start with our CCMR goals. >> Correct. To collaborate a little bit. So what we did was we listened to our LSG coach, our lonear governance coach and uh basically just came up with the uh board monitoring section to monitor the lonear governance goals. Uh we are going to
020begin with a presentation on the HB3 CCMR goal 3 which uh will cover goals 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. Right after that, we will uh ask the board to accept the lonear governance progressing mon progress monitoring report that you just listened to. And then after that, we'll go through the go progress measures and approval approve those. Also include the approval of the Lonear governance theory of action and the Lonear governance calendar. But we're going to begin with Leroy Garcia who's going to be going over the CCMR3 status. So, uh, good evening board, uh, uh, madam superintendent and members of the community. Uh I I will be covering CCMR which stands for college career and military readiness which is a Texas accountability measure that evaluates whether a high school graduate demonstrates preparedness for post-secondary success by meeting
021at least one of the state approved uh indicators in college readiness, career readiness, or military enlistments. And this is how well we're preparing our students for for life after high school. So, as you can see, CCMR plays a big big impact in our accountability system. Uh, for our high school students, it's almost about half of our accountability system. We're always hearing about STAR, right? But C CCMR uh does play a big impact. As you can see, for domain one, student achievement, it it it's uh CCMR is 40% of our domain one, which is huge. when it comes to uh domain 2b relative performance it's 50%. And for domain 3 closing the gaps is 30%. So it's very important that we address this that we that we have good outcomes for our students when it comes
022to CCMR because we are held accountable for this and we do have to show progress and show that students are performing well when it comes to CCMR. So, how do how do we gain a point for for CCMR? First of all, we need to have we need to be sure that our students are college ready. So, they have to meet the the TSI criteria through either the ACT, the SAT, the TSIA or the college prep courses. And they can also do this as well by earning dual uh credit and dual dual courses. Uh meet the criteria when it comes to our AP and IB exams. uh earn an associates degree or qualify for on-ramps credit course. When it comes to our students being career ready, um you know, that involves them uh earning an industrybased
023certification or graduate with a completed IEP and workforce readiness or graduates with an advanced diploma plan and receive special education services or receive a level one or level two certification. When it comes to our students being military ready, uh, in order for us to get a point, a student must enlist into into one of our armed forces. I just wanted uh to display uh three years of uh our CCMR outcome data. As you can see, we did take a dip from uh our previous year. Uh so we did take a 4% dive. So we want to be sure that we address that and we improve uh our CCMR outcome. Uh you do see that that TSI is bolded. Uh the TSI uh our TSI exams are very important for for college entry uh but also
024for our outcomebased bonus and I'll talk about that a little bit later on. Right here these are our LSG goals. Okay. uh this year as as uh to repeat again we did get a 68 and we are looking uh to increase by 2% each year up until the year 2029. So uh I am tasked with increasing CCMR and I will ensure that we do put the measures in place to increase our CCMR outcomes. It's very important for our students. >> Currently, if if if if a year were 10 today, we do have a 50% uh of our seniors with a with a a CCMR point. Now, this data is always consistently changing. As we're updating our systems, uh this number will increase. And so by the end of the year, we will see an increase
025in this number as our students are finishing uh their college prep courses. They're still testing for TSI and a lot of our students still need to uh complete their IBC's by uh passing those certification exams and getting that uh getting those points for us. Now I do want to talk a little bit about uh outcome bonuses. I did as as I mentioned earlier uh I did highlight TSI um because TSI is one of the components that will allow us to get our outcomebased bonus. So how do we get our outcome based bonus? By getting uh passing scores in TSI and math plus uh completing uh what are their industry based certifications or receiving a level one or level two certification. So that's one way of receiving outcome based uh bonus funding or also by passing
026TSI in math and reading and enrolling in a university which also gives us our outcome based bonus. I do want to indicate that this past year we uh we did leave a lot of money on the table which was around 1.5 billion. So we do want to focus on our students passing our TSI and gaining an industry based certification or also enrolling in a university. So that's one thing that we'll be focusing on as well. So this uh this table shows how much funding we we can get per student. So after we reach uh our 11% threshold for economically disadvantaged, we do receive $5,000 per student. Okay? So that's a that is a lot of money. Um, for our non-econ economically disadvantaged after after we reach our 24% threshold, we do receive $3,000 per student.
027And for our special education students, they do not have a threshold. So, if they do uh follow that the criteria, we will be getting $4,000 per student. I also do want to indicate that there is a two-year lag. So, the work that we're doing this year and the outcome based bonuses that we get this year, we will not see to the till 2028. So it is important that we do prepare our students now so we can get this bonus money in the future for our future enrolles. So this is something that I'll be focused on to make sure that we do bring some money back to the district. So currently right now this is our plan uh to improve CCMR. So when it comes to our uh industry based certifications we want to ensure that
028students remain in the coherent program of study. We want to verify service ID to ensure accurate PE's reporting for IBC's. We don't want to leave any money on the table due to any coding errors. That's very important. Increase the number of uh industry basis certifications earned. Uh and strengthen tracking and coordination to prevent students from falling out of a program of study. Sometimes students change their mind, you know, uh halfway through their uh high school career. So, it kind of knocks them out of the program of study. And we want to be sure that they complete that program of study because now in order for us to get our CCMR point, students need to be completers. So they must complete the program uh of study in order for us to get the point. For TSI,
029we are currently uh developing a framework with progress monitoring targeting TSI tutorial Saturday camps and teacher professional development. And we also want to implement uh early identification and intervention and intervention systems to address TSI gaps before the testing window. Um when it comes to our college prep courses, we want to ensure accurate college prep co uh coding during submission. Ensure and ensure all seniors who have not met TSI standards are enrolled in college prep courses and progress monitored throughout their senior year. So the what the college prep course is if they haven't passed their TSI unfortunately this is our kind of our backup plan to get our CCMR point. if they're struggling, we'll by the time that they're seniors, we will put them in in a college prep course. And uh by passing in both
030reading and math, they will get a CCMR point for us, which like I've mentioned before, it is a a big part of our accountability system and it's a big chunk being the high school, you know, has the the biggest enrollment. It is important that we do uh address CCMR and we do uh hold it in the same measure as we do STAR as well. Do we have any questions? Thank you guys. >> That's all. >> Next item is a superintendent report. >> No. Um CCM. >> So good evening again, Mr. Vice President, Dr. Chan, members of the board. At this time, we're going to ask you to uh accept the lonear governance prog progress monitoring report that Mr. Garcia just uh reported on. >> President, I mean, I just have a question for you. We
031It's a sign of discussion and action item. We can still make take action on this. >> Um yes, I believe so. These are the items. Yeah. >> Okay. I'd like to make a motion to approve. >> Second. So, anybody say nay? >> All right. >> I good. >> No, it passes. >> Thank you. >> A motion and a second on those. >> Thank you so much. And I know it's out of sequence. I know that we spent some time with the LSG coach, but he said that this is the way they've done it in other districts, but uh Dr. Jo and I are going to be discussing this with him uh this week actually to see how and maybe legal. Uh next item. So uh the next item again good uh evening Mr. Vice President
032uh Dr. Otto members of the board. We are bringing to you the approval of the Lonear governance goals progress measures. As you know uh I think we're familiar we presented the goal progress measures with you before I mean to you before. We actually have them right here. Three of them which are required through House Bill 3. Uh reading goal number one is our reading goal. This is where we monitor the third grade students who are achieving uh at the meets level or above through the uh using the A throughF accountability for the STAR reading test. In 2025, we did yield a score of 27. By June of 2029, we're raising that to a 35%. Uh if you look at goal uh number two [clears throat] which is the another house bill 3 requirement in the
033area of mathematics we uh and the district will increase the percentage of third grade students who achieve meets grade level or above as measured by the A throughF accountability system [clears throat] and we are moving that from a 28 to a 36 in June of 2029. And then the actual goal that you just press uh heard the presentation on was goal three on the CCMR and we're raising that from a 68 currently to a 76 in 2029. And of course, goal number four is a district goal that we created as an administrative team where we were monitoring the sixth grade students who achieved meets uh grade level or or above on the STAR math test from a 32% in June of 2025 to a to I'm sorry from a 28% to a 32% in June
034of 2029. As you know these are the outcome goals and if you change next slide we have to then create our goal progress measures. So our goal progress measures are in line with our outcome goals and bas basically what they do is they show early signs of progress or lack of it provide data that can be monitored regularly help identify where our adjustments are needed and then keep the board focused on outcomes instead of day-to-day operations. So if you look at the next slide, we have created our goal progress measures which are you are approving today. Uh these are the measures that we shared with you at the last board workshop where we talked about the goal progress measure. We're saying that we're going to increase from a 27 to a 35. Well, how are
035we going to monitor? And as you can see, we have we're monitoring the different grade levels that are below the third grade. For example, goal 1.1 is the kindergarten and how we're going to be monitoring those. Uh goal 1.2 is first grade and how we're going to be monitoring the first grade students and 1.3 which is second grade and how we're going to be monitoring those. And what the instrument that we're using for the go progress measures is the uh Renaissance star learning uh program that we have actually purchased for this uh reason. And if [clears throat] you look at the next one, which is goal two, again we break it down for you. We start off with kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and then go progress three, which is the next slide. We have
036uh ninth grade that we're going to be monitoring. As Mr. Garcia shared with you, we're monitoring closely as where we stand with nth grade, then 10th grade, then 11th grade, and then of course our outcome would be the 12th grade. And then the last goal that we have is goal four, which is the sixth grade mathematics. So what are we doing in third? What are we doing in fourth? What are we doing in fifth to make sure that the students are scoring at that level? >> So at this point we're just asking for your approval of the Lone Start uh goal progress measures. >> So second >> um motion uh any anybody say I >> I >> any nay? Passes. The next item of the agenda is the u the theory of action. Also another
037lonear uh governance requirement that we approve our uh theory of action. And I know that we've read this uh the last time we're not sure. Uh but you'd like I'd read it or if you want to take some time to read it. I know that you're familiar with this. >> I can read it for the audience. So if the Edcow Chelisd board and superintendent maintain a unified focus on academic excellence by ensuring highquality instruction through effective teachers and instructional leadership, aligning curriculum and assessment [snorts] to TIESS consistently using data to inform instruction and interventions, providing multi-tered academic, behavioral, and social emotional supports within safe and culturally responsive learning environments, and partnering with families and the community. Then all students will experience increased engagement and achievement, [snorts] reduced achievement gaps, improved attendance and graduation outcomes, and
038be prepared for college, career, and life while the district sustains a culture of continuous improvement and high expectations. Mr. >> Chairman, I can make a motion to approve the Lonear governance theory of action. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. The next item is the approval of the Lonear governance calendar. As you can see, I know that we took some time to review this last time. Uh the our Lonear governance code has reviewed this information. Um and he also has assured us that we can always have some flexibility on some of the items that are here, but we do need to approve the calendar. >> Second. >> All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries. >> Thank you. Thank you. >>
039Thank you, Dr. >> Next item is the superintendent report. >> At this time, um um I I felt that it was necessary. We've already had a few uh truency courts, so we did compile some data and I'd ask that uh Miss Vela and Miss uh Olivarees please uh present the data. >> Good evening. uh vice president Dr. Ooa, superintendent Dr. Ooa and members of the board. So yes, this evening we're presenting to you our truency data. So we have held we've continued with the currency truency court days. We have held two this year, one on December the 12th, the other one being recently on February the 5th. We have some data here that we're projecting and we have that's going to go into some details with it. Good evening, Dr. Otra, members of the board.
040So, here as uh Miss Olivis would say, we have had two court dates. Uh one being December the 12th, the other one February the 5th. So, I'll start off with the first one uh with Carlos Fuan. Uh so, on December the 12th, we had one uh court case, zero appearance, so it was uh basically a no-show. So uh the next column is uh the student that one student had 10 absences before truency court then after has now accumulated 51. Uh no discipline referrals. Uh student well a parent was fined and was also uh mandated to sign up for parent trainings. Uh the student still remains enrolled in our district and the student received four home visits. So the next one for Carlo Sephruan the next date on February 5th we've had uh we had 11
041cases three appearances eight no shows and 11 of those students accumulated 123 absences before truency date. So the next column the number is low the four uh because this uh information was collected on 210 so basically it was about three school days so that's why it does you know it is low but I do feel that it you know this uh all these efforts are working uh there were four discipline referrals 10 of them were fined 10 of them were uh courtmandated uh parent trainings one has withdrawn and out of those for those 11 cases there for 37 home visits. So I won't go through each number but you can also see at high school uh we have some uh decreases on u abs absences before truency as to uh after truency. Uh so some
042of the the next upcoming uh court date is this Friday and as of now no fines have been collected. So what are some of the things that we are doing? So there has been numerous home visits and calls by truency officers, attendance clerks and community, excuse me, community aids. Uh we also have parent conferences, email notifications, referrals to counselors, social workers. Students are also court ordered to attend Saturday Academy and after school tutorials. Um uh students are also uh there are to report to attendance card to check in and uh follow up with principal and truency officer. So the next uh column it's no show action steps. So what uh the information that we collected is okay how many were uh have a court cost of 598. So we have 53 students that on [clears
043throat] their orders have the court cost of 598. We have 54 students who have a $200 fine for failure to appear. Uh the next one is file motion of contempt. So that's the next thing that happens if the students do not comply with their with their truency orders with the dispositional orders. So we have 10 of those who are going to return to truency court. The next one, the truency officer will conduct weekly follow-up with social workers and uh real essential I'm sorry can't say that real essential classes. So on the dispositional order the students are court ordered to uh visit where they're referred to the counselor to the social worker to attend these classes. We have a parentmandated uh trainings. So all this it's uh a follow-up is required and that is done by
044that is done by our truency officers. Also uh parents are to call in on Wednesdays just to see if you know students are on track if they're attending class. There's also parent student conferences uh credit rec their uh credit recovery. So we refer students to um academy for credit recovery. And so the followup, we have four students, I'm sorry, the credit recovery are to make up hours. So we have four students who were court uh mandated for credit recovery. We have referrals to CCC and again it's a follow-up just making sure that um we are keeping up with their attendance. We're making sure that you know they're attending school on a daily basis. Uh the next one is the options program. So we have two students who have been court ordered to the options program.
045And again, it's also, you know, that constant communication with the attendance clerks, with anybody who has contact with the parents and students just to make sure that they are in school. >> Um, any questions on tourism? >> Yes. Just just to make sure we're up there on the high school, I see that the absentism, but understanding is that absentism in high school counts period, correct? >> Yes. >> So, you might have one student that's responsible for 7 to eight absent. Correct. >> Yes. For the purpose of this report, it's only ADA. >> All right. So, this is only >> it's only ADA. We that practice was stopped. They may go to truency if it if if they're caught skipping a lot, but for the purpose of initially taking them to the court, it's that ADA
046mandated uh uh time that they must be in school. >> So, these are actual absentes then. >> Yes. >> Actual students >> who are not in class at from 9:40 to 9:50. >> All right. [cough] Thank you for that. >> Yes. >> Any other questions? >> I I do want to make one one comment that as you can see at the high school um there are there were 43 cases. Um and of those 43 there was 27 that are no-shows. Um I met with Miss Vela. She is calling the um judge. those 27 no-shows that did not come are going to be remandated to show up. If they don't show up, then the um the severity of what happens is is is much heavier. And if you just very quickly want to say some of
047the key things that can happen. >> Yes. So, of course, some of those that don't comply with the judge's orders, uh we file a motion of contempt. If um they don't pay the fines, eventually they go to a collections like the they get noticed for collections. They could have their license suspended. Uh they could have benefit suspended and at uh vehicle registration time. That's where they'll they'll have some trouble registering their vehicle. So, those are just some of the things that that could happen. We may not collect it right away. It may take a year. It may take longer, but eventually it just it does catch up to them. Good. >> And I only bring that up because um it's going to get very real for these parents because um they can't be in contempt
048because then essentially the truency court for the purpose of supporting the the the children and their families is not being effective. >> Is it still judge or what do we ask Gary? >> Yes, it's judge. >> Any other questions? Not >> they are doing home visits. >> Yes. Yes. So down here uh just for these 55 we have 170 home visits just for these students but yes we have logs of calls of visits and all that. Yes. >> Do most parents answer the door or they're still giving the the girls a hard time? >> Well they do. Uh I think that after the third fourth time they see him they you know they kind of not answer the door but for the most part it's just sending out that uh messenger that throw share calling
049sending out texts emails anything they have to do but you you know they they exhaust all efforts before we get to truency. >> Is there a commonality when they do answer like within what parents are saying on why their students or why their children are not going to school? a lot of them is that they're sick and a lot of them are valid, you know, excuses. Uh now they're starting to bring in more excuses, more doctor's excuses and so that prevents them from going to truency, but really it's um just the illnesses. You know, we've had a lot of flu and kids getting sick, but uh there's still a lot of work to be done. I I agree because you know, we have our ADA is not where it's supposed to be, but again, all
050these people that put all their efforts into this, you know, we're getting there. I think my my visit to LBJ was very enlightened. You know, I think that Samantha Gonzalez uh did a great job explaining everything as far as teams. I think she did. It's it's nice to know that the people responsible for the data entry are very well uh trained and very well informed on the process. So, I was very impressed with that. >> I'll ask Mrs. Variel to take that back. The staff, you know, the great school of LBJ was very impressive. >> Good. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I just want to add if any of these students are out of district transfers and let's say uh they fail to to show up. So let's say they're trying to come back
051to us next year and reenroll. So there we've had some incidents where where some student where the judges order that the students go back to their [snorts] district. It it does come back to them. They are not. But if they withdraw from our district and go somewhere else, does that follow them also? >> Yes. >> And they send them back to us. >> Thank you. >> So, I do have an update on uh regarding the fencing and gate security initiative at the high school. I did meet with uh the region one safety and security team that collaborates directly with tea. Um they're basically the ones that come unannounced and um either say that we are in compliance with safety or uh report that we're not and we have to have a corrective action plan. So
052I felt that it was important that we um get ahead of this. So we did we started at the high school. I had a tour with them and I showed them what um some of the areas that were potential hotspots. They agreed. So, right here, what you have is a diagram of a proposed area where we're going to be using safety grant money to put uh erect a fence. Uh it is from building A and B. And we can show you the image. And so basically it's from the north uh the end of the north campus up all up until the the the where the Kate building starts. So it's going to be a 6ft fence. It's going to have an electric gate and the purpose of that is so that we can monitor what
053vehicles are going back there. Um and so that students we were seeing that students were jumping fences and hiding in the back where there were vehicles parked. So that um is going to be a safety measure not only to make sure that vehicles don't go back there that are not supposed to be uh back there, but also so that students when they're traveling from one one building to the other have nowhere to deviate other than straight ahead to the designated um area where they're supposed to be. So I just wanted to let you know that, you know, we're very much u trying to work on uh increasing safety measures. Doc, >> could you check if resurfacing of that road or that little stretch and all the way to the back? I know there's a bunch
054of potholes in the back. Could you check if that could fall under this improvement so we can use some of that grant money? I mean, I think if we're doing that already, we might as well just to see. I mean, we can >> Yes, of course. >> Like two birds, one stone. That'd be great. >> I've got one for LBJ safety. There used to be a sidewalk in the front of that fence cuz you're inspecting the city. >> That's it. That city ement city ement. >> Yeah, >> I want to talk to you. >> City monitor. >> Yeah, >> I think I know. >> And then on on this next one, I just want to uh present to you the law of 4. This is preliminary information. Um so basically laws of four cycle. It
055does provide the key four areas for curriculum, instruction, education, training, and innovative models. Um very pleased uh to show you that on this graph that's the different awards that we got. Some of them have already been awarded. So the leadership and instru uh and instructional foundation in Texas 812,000 has been awarded. Uh the AP computer science principal that's 15,000 that has been awarded. This one is one that we talked about in de December about the uh residency uh pre-ervice uh the grow your own and even the mentoring program. We were a little concerned about that when it came to the interns. We're happy to announce that we are awarded um we don't know the amounts yet but that program will be um in effect. So this is for the lasso for um correct >> and
056that's the end of the superintendent report. Thank you. >> We will now move on to the consent agenda. All all items under the consent agenda will be acted upon in one motion unless a trustee request to have a spec specific item removed for separate discussion and action. >> Are there any items a trustee would like to pull agenda for individual consideration? >> I had a question about a 8C5. Oh, which one was it? >> 8C5 >> the interlocal addendum for temporary campus leadership >> and support staffing service region. Which one? >> The interlocal add agenda for temporary campus leadership and supporting C5 >> C5. >> Miss Oliv, >> the interlocal addendum for temporary camp campus leadership and supporting staff services with region 1 ESC. It's 1882. >> The other way. >> Keep on keep going.
057>> It's the 1882. >> It's 18. >> Keep going. >> It's above that. Go, go, go, go, go, go. >> By the way, >> I think this must be listed differently because it's seven on that. >> Yeah, go ahead. >> It's It's 8 8 C5 under consent. >> Yes, I'll read it to you. I'll read it to It's the 1882 approval interlocal addendum for temporary campus leadership and support staffing services with region 1 ESC. Would you like me to explain it or would you like to explain? >> Um I I'm just wondering which specific campus needs uh leadership. So basically what this is is um Dr. Dr. King uh was gracious enough to offer if we have situations where um we've got um some vacancies for example and um if if if we want to
058we can access some of their staff and depending on what the salary would be if what we have on our compensation study is less than what he is paying the individuals that currently serve uh the regional center, they would pick up the difference. This is just an agreement if we would like to use it. If we don't want to use it, we don't have to use it. But if we were to run into a situation where suddenly we had someone leave and we needed to bring someone in and and the individuals were available to start immediately, then it's just there. We don't have to use it. It's just something that he offered. >> Are these just for the 1882 campuses? >> Um, actually, he would be willing to offer it to any campus. Thank you.
059>> Any other questions or comments? >> Nope. >> I can make a motion to approve consent agenda items as presented. >> Second. >> We have we have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor, please signify by I. >> I. I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. >> Uh Mr. Vice President, Dr. I'd like to see if we could pull item A from discussion and action to executive just cuz I have some questions for legal as to how to go about the actual nomination. >> Okay, >> that's okay with everybody. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> So we move on to AB discussion to approve 2024 2025 annual financial audit. Good evening, board of trustees. Uh, superintendent Dr. Oro. Um, we have, uh, with us today, Alfred, um, Vera from Cascos and
060Associates who will be presenting the 2425 annual financial report. Um, you have a copy before you that has been updated since the the the agenda was posted. Um, it is in draft form. So, u, Mr. Betta can explain a little bit more on that. Good evening, Vice President Dr. O Choa. Uh, superintendent Dr. Cha. Uh, my name is Alfred Vera. I am the principal at Kaspos and Associates, and I'm here this evening to present to you the annual financial and compliance report for the year ending, June 30th, 2025. As Miss Garza mentioned, there is uh still some areas that are that are draft format. the numbers will not change. That's why if you look at the report uh the the actual financials do not have draft on them but uh they are still reviewing making
061cosmetic changes uh to the notes uh disclosures to make sure that everything ties out perfectly before it is submitted for the uh federal clearing house. So what I will do I will go through a couple of items here. If you have any questions I can answer that. anything more detailed, I'll turn it over to to Miss Garza. If you'll turn with me to page two. Page two contains the independent auditor's report. As independent auditors, what we do, we come into an entity, we review policies and procedures, we pull samples and we request supporting information for the items that we have pulled. We then tie that back to the general ledger and review the processes and then we form an opinion based on the evidence that we have reviewed. Then we form an opinion and the
062opinion is that we provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements are fairly stated and free of material misstatements. However, we do not provide absolute assurance as that would require us to test 100% of the transactions. So for the year ended June 30th, 2025, Edcouch Elsa Independent School District has earned an unmodified or a clean opinion on the independent auditor's report. Congratulations on that. [applause] This is reflective of the work that is done here not just by the the administration and the finance group but you all as a board uh having the oversight on that. So congratulations on the good work that is being done here. Over on page five you have the management's discussion and analysis. The management discussion and analysis otherwise known as the MDNA contains some financial highlights, some analysis to prior year
0632024 and it contains comparison for the capital assets and the long-term debt as well to prior year. Now, if you'll turn with me over to exhibit C1 on page 15. Page 15 contains the balance sheet for the governmental funds. For this evening, I will be going over the the general fund. At June 30th, 2025, Ed Couch Elsa Independent School District had total assets of 17,669,000 [snorts] and total liabilities liabilities of 1,438,000 and total deferred inflows of revenues of 1,78,000. and the general fund ended with a total fund balance of 14,523,000 of which 13,81,000 is the unassigned fund balance. The unassigned fund balance is what we call the rainy day fund. This is what the district can use for anything it wishes that is uh proposed by administration and is approved by the board. We recommend
064that you use this for oneshot items such as construction or equipment, renovations, things that are that are one-time. We we do not recommend that you use it for any things that will be ongoing such as salaries and raises because you will deplete it. And this number is very important because it plays into your days of operations which I will give to you in just a bit. [sighs] Two pages over on page 17 you have the statement of revenues expenditures and changes in fund balances for the governmental funds. And again I will be going over the general fund for the year ended June 30th 2025. Ed couch Elsa Independent School District had total revenues of $55,690,000 and total expenditures of 62,358,000 for deficiency of revenues under expenditures of 6,668,000. Now, if we take your total expenditures
065of the 62,358,000 and we divide that by 365, you get $170,843. That is what it is costing the district to open its doors each and every day. Now, if you take your unassigned fund balance that we just talked about and you divide that by the 170,843, you get 81 days of operation. This means that should the district have no more money coming in for whatever reason, it would be able to operate for about 81 days. We normally recommend anywhere between 60 and 90. So, 81 days is is very good. Congratulations on keeping that good days of operation. On page 22, page 22 uh begins the notes to the financial statements. The notes to the financial statements contain accounting policies and procedures. Uh some more detail on capital assets, details on long-term debts and the right
066to use leases. and it contains detail regarding the pension and the OPED which is the other postemployment benefits that is the the TRS and then towards the very back the last two items the first one being on page 80 page 80 contains the independent auditor's report on internal control over financial reporting and of compliance and other matters based on the audit financial statements performed in accordance with government auditing standards. Through our testing that we have done on the internal control, we found just two significant deficiencies which um finance has been made aware of and they are already working on that this year to be able to correct. But there was nothing that required a material weakness, which would be something that would really have to be addressed immediately. And then two pages over on page
06782 is the independent auditor's report on compliance for each major federal and state program. Because of the threshold that the the district had this year, there was a state single audit as well. Ed Cow Elsa Independent School District earned an unmodified opinion on the federal programs and a qual a qualified opinion on the state programs. The qualified opinion means that we we found a couple of um a couple of costs that were recorded to a grant that shouldn't have been recorded. So they were um the the adjustment has has been made already and has been fixed and that will be going back to the to the general fund and the funds that have been received from the state will be sent sent back. But then again this is also it's not a material weakness. It
068is just a a significant deficiency. So this is still it's still good. It's not something that is that will that will affect the financials for the district. One of the other things I'd like to say is that you all have a really good group here for finance. They have work worked really hard. I know that they have uh spent many many late nights and days here, but um it's it's good to have a a group that y'all can know that that cares about what they what they do. within the within the report is the communication with governance that lets you know that that we didn't have any any issues with them. They provided things. They would get emails from me at midnight and sometimes they would even respond at that time. So, you all are
069very lucky to to have such a a good group here and I know that next year they will do a lot better and have clean opinions on on everything. Um, if y'all have any questions for me, >> I'd like to make commentary. I mean, I've been here 16 years and I don't think I've ever had a report read to that clarity. I think that's after 16 years I can say. No, thank you. Uh, so you and your team, I know that you've been here a short time and you came into Firestone, but thank you for what you've done with your group. Uh, but yet we know that the the journey's not over yet. There's still a lot of things that need to be done. Well, thank you and thank you for your time as well.
070>> Thank you all very much for having us as your as your auditors. We look forward to hopefully being your auditors again next year and working with your group. >> I'd also like to thank the administration and our staff. Thank you all for for the hard work unmodified cleaning and we're always striving for and I know it's very hard to get there. Uh so yes, we are aware you are appreciated and know that you are noticed and we know we do know and we appreciate your hard work. So, thank you all administration and uh business office staff. Thank you all very much for everything. With that being said, I'd like to make a motion to approve the 24 2020 uh 2024 2025 annual financial audit. >> Second. >> All those in favor, please signify by
071saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. >> Thank you all for watching. Thank you. Next item is AC discussion action regarding SB letter prayer procedures. >> On this item, the members of the board will be required to take a roll call vote on whether or not to adopt a resolution um approving a period of prayer following the specific procedures laid out in SB11. Um so just as a reminder, you do have to take a roll call vote one by one. State your um your vote on this. >> Great. Okay. I have a quick question though. >> It is not uh in other words prayer and again I know for the majority we're all Catholic here but or Christian but is it for any religion or I mean SB11 is it is a
072blanketed prayer right? >> Correct. >> Because we're approving SB11 we're approving if we do have some Muslim children they do have set aside time to do their prayer as well. >> Uh yes. So, uh, under the approval for for this item, um, what it would look like would be each individual, uh, person who wanted to participate in the prayer would have to be essentially segregated from everyone who was not opting in. Um, and they would engage in their prayer on their terms, whatever that looks like. Um, but it does place a burden on the district to provide that daily time for any student regardless of religion to participate. >> I'd like to make a motion to opt out of the adopting the resolution. >> Second. >> Okay. So, the then the roll call vote then.
073Yes. >> All those in >> favor. >> I'd like to opt out. >> I would also like to opt out. Our district already um offers moments of silence and opportunities for individual prayer time. >> Okay. >> Does that agree with you? >> Yes. >> Good. Good. So that passes. >> So it passes. >> Yes. >> We will now convene to executive session present to the Texas opening meetings act chapter 551 of the Texas government code. The board will meet in close session under the following provisions 551.074 personal matters 551.771 for consultation with legal council. The time is 802. The board will now move into executive session. >> [laughter] >> I love JFK. And my other school was JRG. SO [laughter] the time is 8:32. The board is now we come in in open session. So
074at this time you'll bring back item 8A that was pulled into session. >> So Mr. Vice President on uh on item 8A discussion and action to approve the resolution nominating a candidate for the vacant of appointment appointed seat of the county district board of directors. I'd like to recommend the nomination for a We'll give a second. [laughter] All in >> favor. Say n. [laughter] >> Okay. At this time, we proceed with any action items discussed in close session that require a vote. I like to make a motion as discussed in executive. >> Second. Mo the motion for everybody's approve it. Say I >> I >> motion pass. >> I you didn't ask for oppose. >> There's one post. >> I vote no on terminating Robert Elisondo. I don't think there's enough evidence to end somebody's
075livelihood. >> There's Yes. All right. There being no further business to discuss, I do I have a motion to adjurnn this meeting. >> Second. >> It's been moved and second to me. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? >> The motion carries. Time is 8:34. All right.