001test. Okay. Good evening, school board members, superintendent, district staff, and community members. The time is now 6:01 p.m. on February 23rd, 2026. and I call this regular board meeting of the Edgewood Independent School District School Board to order. I'm very pleased that you took the time to join us this evening in compliance with the state government code 551 for open meetings act. Tonight's agenda has been appropriately posted. This is a meeting in a public entity, not a meeting of the public. As our guest, you are welcome to observe and listen. These proceedings are being video and audio recorded and will become part of Edgewood ISD's permanent record. To ensure the recording accurately reflects these proceedings, please silence your mobile devices and refrain from talking while others are speaking. Since it is legally mandate mandated that
002these proceedings are recorded accurately, I may I may have to ask for for order periodically should I notice that disruptions are interfering with our recording capabilities. Once again, I extend to each of you a sincere welcome from the entire Edgewood ISD school board. >> Start with roll call. Miss Bartha Castillia won't be joining us tonight. Mr. Frank Minosa, >> present. Mr. Richard Santoo >> here. >> Mr. Rudy Lopez will not be joining us tonight. Mr. Michael Valdez >> present. >> Mr. Sergio Delgado is on his way. Uh Dr. James Hernandez, I'm present. Let the record show that a quorum of the Edgewood Independent School District School Board is present. That this meeting has been duly called and that notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. Next, we
003have our pledge of allegiance to the US and Texas flags led by Miss Lauren Leven, director of marketing and communications. Everyone please stand for the US pledge and Texas pledge. >> Dr. Hernandez, trustees, stakeholders, and invited guests. At this time, the presentation of the colors is by the Memorial High School JOTC under the direction of Major Timothy Scott. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. >> Thank you. You may be seated. >> Thank you very much. Next we have our Edgewood ISD from goals to greatness recognitions.
004Our presenter is Dr. Kimberly Matkins, assistant superintendent of school leadership. >> Good evening board president, uh, Dr. Hernandez, trustees, superintendent Hernandez, Edwit staff, and members of our community. It's an honor to join you this evening as we celebrate the outstanding work taking place across Edgewood ISB. Tonight's recognitions highlight the student, staff, and partners who bring strategic plan to life and ensure success for every partner. During this evening's from goals to greatness recognitions, we will highlight the individual and collective achievement of our students, staff, and community partners. Each aligned to our district strategic plan and the competencies within our leadership definition framework. Each recognition reflects what is possible when strong leadership, high expectations, and community partnership come together for students. Together, these recognitions reflect what makes Edgewood proud. strong partnership, collaboration, and a shared commitment to
005ensuring that people matter, growth matters, and goals matter. To guide this work, we use the Edgewood leadership definition framework grounded in the core beliefs, values of professionalism, accountability, and communication. This framework defines how we lead, collaborate, and deliver results. Built on three pillars, people matter, goals matter, and growth matter. It ensures our decisions remain focused on students and outcomes. This evening, we proudly recognize our leaders of the pack, outstanding members of the Edgewood ISD family who embody our core values and model the leadership competencies that drive student success. Tonight's honores include Jessica Trillo, substitute teacher and parent volunteer at Roy Cisneros leadership school, Gus Garcia University School and Memorial High School. She was nominated for putting people first, stepping into multiple roles to support campuses to strengthen school communities and ensure students succeed. Our second
006honore is Moses Ramos, school nurse at JFK. From caring for his students health to supporting their daily well-being, Mr. Romos understands that goals matter and that every student deserves the opportunity to be healthy, present, and ready to graduate. And our third honore is Mia Wron, an eighth grader at Brentwood Steam School of Innovation. Mia is a member of the Viking Honors Band and serves as band librarian. She consistently supports her peers, seeks understanding, and demonstrates leadership beyond her years. In addition to her work at Brentwood, she performs with the JFK Rocket Marching Band and looks forward to next season. Mia represents what it means to lead through service and collaboration. Before we invite our honores forward, let's hear directly from them and see why they represent what it means to be a leader of the
007pack. more people would choose Edgewood and know that just because we're a small district doesn't mean that we don't have what other districts have. I feel like Edgewood has a lot more to offer than some of the bigger districts. Um because we're a small community, you teachers actually get to know your students, get to know your children, and um get to help your children more than a big uh district who your child is just a number. >> My name is Moses Ramos, RNBSN. Um and I'm uh the nurse here at John F. Kennedy High School and I've been with the Edwood School District since November 2022. >> My name is Mia. I the school I go to is Brentwood Steam School of Innovation and I've been part of Edward since I can remember since preK.
008My name is Jessica Thri. I've been involved with Edward for the last 4 years as a substitute. I sub at uh different schools, elementaryaries, middle schools. I've lived in the district my whole life and I do have three kids that attend Edgewood schools. My typical day here at school is different every day. Um I go anywhere I can be in a prek class all the way to middle school gym. It's just dealing with kids all day, no matter the situation, whether it be in a life unit with kids that need more support versus third grade. It's just giving the kids attention and the need that they need. A typical day usually starts with me getting here pretty early and then I set up my medications for my students that receive scheduled meds. I'll review paperwork,
009usually try to see if there are any new students whose immunizations need to be input into the system so that they're not flagged as being delinquent. It's basically a pop quiz of triaging. Um, you know, trying to figure out what's going on to make sure that they're healthy enough to stay or they need to go home. I have always wanted to play an instrument, so I decided to join band. It seems cool and I really like to um play it. They show us a video like on what instruments they have and what it sounds like and I just really like it. I chose the my clarinet because well, it really inspires me. I really like it. The music we play, I get to see some of my friends that are also in band. We both
010share the taste of music. Um I just really love it. It's like my second home. >> What it means to me to be uh selected as leader of the pack is phenomenal. Like I wasn't expecting this. I I don't do what I do for recognition, but it feels great that somebody recognized and sees all the work that I do throughout the district and out throughout the schools. >> I'm really honored. I'm also really excited and nervous um because like it's a big deal and I'm flattered and I'm really honored. >> It's flattering for sure. Um, but when I think about what I do as a nurse and and how the pillars of uh Edgewood uh align with that, they're actually kind of there's some overlap. Um, you know, the the core principles of nursing and
011the um uh provisions within those actually align really really well with with Edgewood's standards. I don't think many of the other nurses wouldn't be in this situation. I think I just happen to be lucky enough to to have the the team here that would recognize that within me. >> I'm excited to go to high school cuz I get to see some of my friends that were here last year. Um I'm ready to like experience new things. I'm going to go to Kennedy for this um class that they have. It's early college schools. Now I'm really excited to be a high schooler and um yeah I chose Edroid because well my mom put me in Edgewood and also because my dad and my deal also were part of Edward when they went to school and now
012that I'm able to choose like if I want to stay or not. I like I would want to stay because I like it. My friends are here. I just like it where I am. I'm really fine where I am. I choose Edgewood because they have a lot of opportunities, not just for staff members, for students too, just like my older son. Um, not very many districts offer uh Trinity Upwardbound or for kids to be able to graduate high school and college at the same time. Um, so Edra to me may be a small community or a small district, but they have a lot to offer as long as you're willing to take the chances and do the work. uh the sense of community and uh camaraderie that each campus builds. And then within my department,
013we've um always felt like we are a family for sure. Um and that I know that word comes up a lot, but it really does feel like we can rely on each other in that way. Um you know, not just here, um within the professional setting, but also like in our personal lives. You know, we we become fast friends. >> At this time, we like our honores to step forward, please. Congratulations again to our leaders of the pack. Next, we are proud to surprise and recognize one of Edgewood's very best. We invite Miss Jennifer Ramirez to the front. >> Yes, Miss Ramirez is a fifth grade math science teacher at Parales Steam Elementary School and is in her 21st year of teaching. Miss Ramirez, congratulations because you are Edgewood ISD's district teacher of the year.
014So, not just for your campus, for the district. So, let's give her a big hand. She represents instructional excellence, commitment to growth, and dedication to students that define Edgewood ISD. This spring, she will represent Edgewood ISD as nominee for the Trinity Excellence in Education Prize. Please join me in congratulating Edgewood ISD's teacher of the year, Miss Ramirez. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. Staff from Parales, if you guys want to come up, her fan club, if you guys want to come up and any family members, please feel free to come up. We'll take a picture. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Congratulations again. Edgewood ISD will be represented in the Business Professionals of America State Competition next month. 24 students from Kennedy High School qualify in events including business law, accounting, graphic design, and publishing. They
015will travel to Dallas in March. Join us in congratulating them and wishing them continued success and hopefully they'll win and we'll be recognizing them soon here in front of us here at the board meeting. Let's give them a hand. We're proud to announce that the fine arts academy music program will send will send 11 entries representing um students in the UIL state solo and ensemble contest in Austin this May. Their dedication reflects the discipline, creativity, and excellence that define Edgewood Fine Arts. Let's give them a hand as we recognize them. We extend our s sincere gratitude to Edgewood ISD staff for supporting the annual United Way campaign. This year, Edgewood increased its contributions by 3%, helping raise more than 46.8 million. These funds strengthen services that support families and remove barriers so students can continue
016to thrive. Thank you for supporting our community. Now, we'd like to invite TSW Graphics and Beverly Leeski from the Edgewood Education Foundation to the front, please. through t-shirt campaigns this fall. A portion of proceeds support the education foundation. Tonight, we are proud to present this contribution of $65 directly to support classroom innovation and student opportunities. And I missed your name. I'm so sorry. Alejandro. Okay. Thank you so much. So, we'll Yes, we can take a picture here. Oh, please stand. If you are here, please stand. We want to recognize everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you. Educa Edgewood Education Foundation. Edgewood ISD is celebrating 75 years as an independent school district and part of this milestone, the district hosted a community celebration at Ren Middle School in recognition of Black History Month. We want to
017thank Patricia Wallace, former board member Timothy Payne, and other student groups and community partners for honoring the history, contributions, and legacy of black leaders while inspiring future generations. Across Edgewood this month, partnerships and experiences expanded learning beyond classroom, beyond the classroom. UT Health San Antonio dental students provided checkups for our elementary students, St. Mary's University donated athletic lockers to Loma Park Elementary School. Kennedy students explored medical careers at UT Health San Antonio. Memorial seniors visited Angelo State University and community uh volunteers participated in the readaloud day. These experiences strengthen learning, expand opportunity, and inspire, excuse me, and inspire future pathways. Parent and community engagement remains essential to student success. One way that parents can get involved is through the United Voices Council. And at this time, I'm going to ask Mr. Joe Hosa, senior director
018of educational operations, to join us to tell us more about the UBC. >> Good evening, board president, members of the board, Superintendent Hernandez. Once again, my name is Josea, director senior director of educational operations and tonight I want to highlight uh our unified voices council seat at the table with Dr. Nandis. Uh this is an initiative that we started this year and it's rooted in advocacy. When we talk about advocacy, we're talking about our parents at the schools that were selected by administrators as we start to have a discussion about the work that's rooted in advocacy. And one of the things I really want to make clear is our families deserve strong representation in public education at the district level, in our local community, and in the state conversations that shape funding, policy, and opportunity.
019Our intended outcomes. Tonight's presentation outlines who we are and why family voice matters in public education. What we've heard directly from our families and community, how engagement translates into action within the district, why family and community partnerships are essential for student success, and how families can stay connected through ongoing district events. So, our intended audience uh that we've looked for through our administrators. So, one of the things that we asked our administrators is to look for legacy builders. What do we mean by legacy builders? Individuals within their communities that they see as advocates, but maybe there's some of our members that haven't gotten out there just yet. They're interested in advocacy. They don't know where to start. And so, we've asked our administrators, can they identify those individuals from their campuses? And so, we ask
020for two representatives from each campus. A lot of it is in the effort of collaboration, communication. But here's the thing about the advocacy piece that I'm really excited about with our individuals is that when they came to the first meeting, some of them probably, why am I here? What are we doing? What are we talking about advocacy? And so at this point, as we've gone through three of our meetings, we have parents and that are here tonight that are stepping up. They are learning about the things that are essential not just within Edgewood ISD but what is essential in our local government what is essential at the state as we move forward into our 90th legislative uh session. So insight in insights that we've heard from our community at our meetings and this is just
021not from the UVC. I want to highlight these are also parent talk sessions superintendent community council and the student leadership networks is more consistent communication. Families want to feel heard, informed, and welcomed. Offer more familyfriendly events and activities. More parent sessions on campus. Parents understanding staying connected, engaged in benefits for our students. And then one of the things that came up that we kept hearing at all these different events was could we have more full-time leaison on campus, our family engagement, our parent engagement. And that is one of the things of the biggest takeaways in this is that with that, we're proud to say that we've been able to increase that at the campuses. And so part of the UVC that we're learning from our parents is we're having discussions in different areas, but we're
022also taking what are the nos, what do we know about our district, but what are some of the things that we need to learn more about? And we're getting this information uh from our unified voices council, which is just one part of the different information that we gather from all the different events uh with our families. So, this is an area that's really special to me that uh I've had the the opportunity to go to legislative session in the past and you can see a picture there. That's me with different leaders from around the state of Texas and I will tell you going up there being in education stand in front of all of you today it may seem easy but you go up there and it's very difficult and so one of the challenges
023that we look at is how can our parents have the opportunity? What is it that we need? Because I'm going to tell you right now, legislation, they want to hear from our parents. They don't want to hear from other individuals. That feels like the educators. They want to hear from our families. And so some of the areas topics of discussion that we've had to have with our UVC already is over special education, parent engagement, mental health, and safety. Those are big topics that are going to be coming up. And I just want to say that those are areas that we've had uh focus on to start with. But our last session revolved around the advocacy where we had uh Council Rick Galvan's office come and speak with us and then also Julia Gazar from the
024Bear County Education Coalition. These are all very important pieces because we have our families learning where does it take to start when it comes to advocacy. And our goal is that we're getting these families, these individuals ready for the next 90th legislative session so that they're going to feel empowered not only to represent public education but to represent Edgewood ISD. So why is advocacy important? So it's one thing to hear from me a district level individual that I've had some experience going up to the capital. at the same time the advocacy piece. So I want to bring up Miss Jessica Rodriguez who is one of our co-chairs uh what advocacy means to her as a parent and what she can share of what she's also learned through these sessions that we've had. So Jessica would
025you mind coming up please? Good evening everyone board members Dr. on this parent fellow um advocacy council. As a parent, advocacy for me, it's not theoretical. It's personal. My children's education, their dignity, their opportunities, and their future. Um when I advocate, I'm trying to not to be difficult. I'm trying to be faithful to my responsibility as a mother. So when there are issues that happen at school that extend beyond a local schoolboard level that you guys can address, advocacy requires us to step into larger arenas like um Mr. Nosa um spoke about. It's engaging city, state, governmental leaders to ensure policies align with the needs of our children and our communities. Um because real change requires us to move from the classroom to the boardroom to the capital even and of course to the state
026to the US capital. And the same way that our kids are expected to be held accountable, it's holding teachers, administrators, organizations, governing bodies, elected officials accountable, respectfully but firmly. So advocacy has been described as being the bridge between what is and what should be. It's old school neighborly justice mixed with forward thinking change. Grandmothers marching parents testifying. Community members not being silenced. Advocacy is the act of speaking up, standing beside and taking action to support a person or a cause, a group of people when those people's voices aren't heard. When they're ignored, dismissed, or pushed to the side. Like I said, in our schools, it's asking the hard questions with respect. It looks like reading policies, understanding rights, building relationships, and ensuring every child, not just our own, has access to opportunity. Advocacy is contagious.
027When one parent speaks up, it gives another parent courage. When a school district listens, it builds trust. But advocacy doesn't end at this podium in front of a school board. There's a long list of concerns that arise beyond the district's reach. And so for us, true advocacy understands that chain of responsibility and when necessary, not to create conflict, but to seek clarity, fairness, and solution. Basically, for me, advocacy is love and action. It's responsibility lived out loud. And when it's done with integrity, humility, and persistence, it changes systems and shapes futures like the futures of the children here in the Edwin School District. Thank you. pretty passionate. That's awesome. Thank you again, Miss Rodriguez. So, why does partnership matter? One of the things that we've learned and these are things that we've talked about but
028we understand that partnership matters to stronger student achievement when we have school to home home to school the shared responsibility with our families access to more resources uh real world real world learning opportunities and improve school climate support for diverse needs. Once again the UVC is just one avenue of parent voice. One of the the things that are coming up on staying connected you'll see here is a calendar of events where parents and community are able to come and uh speak to any of us that are there and we just welcome the opportunity uh for family engagement as we continue to move forward. One of the things I also want to highlight is we have George Garna and his team here as well and I just want to highlight them for the UVC efforts and
029everyone else. But I'd like to also have our parents, our UVC parents, if you don't mind standing up please. have y'all come up to the real I like to have y'all come up. This is just a small group that was able to make it tonight. But while they make their way up, I just want to say one more thing about this group of individuals. They are passionate. They have belief and we're so excited for everything that they bring to us and the conversations that we're having because through this engagement we are finding empowerment in Edgewood ISD and we're going to make our voice voice heard at the capital at the 90th legislative session. So thank you Let's give them another hand. Thank you for your time and your talent that you're providing here advocating for
030our students. Enrollment for the 2026 2027 school year is now open. Choosing Edwood means choosing opportunity, innovation, and a community committed to every child's success. Enrollment information is available at eisd.net and on our social media channels. School choice and choice and course cards um are due for current students are due this Friday and our prek and kinder enrollment begins next week. Please help us share this message and welcome future Edgewood ISD students. Now uh to our career and technical education spotlight. This month we feature the cosmetology program at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy. Students complete over five hours of coursework and must both pass MS pass both the written and practical licing exams to become statelicicensed, excuse me, cosmetologists in Texas. Programs like this ensure students graduate prepared for college career and life. Let's take a
031closer look. Hi, I'm Miley. And I'm Zoe. And welcome to Cosmo. Heat. Heat. For more information about the cosmetology program, please contact Miss Sandra Falen or Miss Stephanie Costro. For additional CTE programs, contact Mr. Javier Urei. And now I'd like to invite Miss Yuribbei uh director of career and technical education to share more about the opportunities available to our students. Good evening, Mr. President, trustees, superintendent, distinguished guests, uh colleagues, and members of the community. Thank you for uh the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I'm very proud to share the progress, opportunities, and visions of our career and technical education programs. Allow me to introduce our department, our coordinator, Miss Gloria Ramirez, and I, Javier Ube, director of career and technical education. Our students continue to excel in their craft by acquiring the necessary industrybased
032certifications. The data in this slide shows that in 23 2024 the students earned 276 uh IBC's and uh last year they they uh total 354. Uh this DISD is on a very positive IBC. Our students are taking advantage of great opportunities provided by CTE. This slide demonstrates increased enrollment. Enrollment in all combined programs was 2,825 in school year 2324 and for the current year we are at 2863. We have been focused on creating strong industry partner ties. We continue seeking out opportunities for our students. This year, our advisory meetings produced over 51 members, generating over 33 strategic partnerships. Several of these partnerships have begun to provide work-based learning opportunities and job shadowing for our students. The 51 strategic partners represent a 28% increase over last year. Here are a few spotlights of our programs. On
033the left we have Miss Amirez de Lopez, CTE education and training teacher at Memorial High School. EISD is currently one of three districts in Texas to pilot teach Texas program. Miss Lopez has represented EISD brilliantly. The developer of the pilot program and the TEA monitor have marveled at her work and have commended her for producing a model implementation of the program. In the center is Alonso Arnandez, great kid, a senior at Eduate Fine Arts Academy in the CTE welding program. He has earned a certification in American welding services uh D9.1 sheet metal welding. He is currently in an internship with at Bolt Steel and Welding and is a member of the welding program of study advisory committee. On the right, as Miss Matkins already said, this is our Mighty Rocket Business Professionals of America team.
034They will compete at the state championships in Dallas March 6th through the 8th. Winners will advance to nationals to be held in Nashville later this year. Last year, we advanced uh to Orlando, Florida. It matters. EIS programs of study are aligned to high wage in demand jobs in our regional economy. As per the Texas Workforce Solutions, we support career and college readiness. CT strengthens graduation rates through increasing attendance. We are job ready. EISD students gain purpose, soft skills, and workplace ready competencies from industry based professionals as aligned in the Texas essentials knowledge skills. Our middle school programs, we have a robust CT program in middle school. Starting in seventh grade, all seventh graders take general employability skills with embedded career and college exploration. Benwood offers engineering, video game design, and information technology, while Gus Garcia
035offers health science, business, and culinary arts. Our high schools also have 11 programs of studying and are very well equipped. We are very proud that JFK has a four bay shop for their automotive, the engineering classroom, has a lab, a classroom, and a shop. The web development and the AAV programs have fully MAC fully uh equipped Mac labs. The business and law enforcement have large classrooms for projects, handbased projects. At Memorial High School, we offer health science has a medical facility. Culinary arts has both a restaurant and two prep kitchen classrooms. Education and training has a classroom and a lab. And business is well equipped. At Fine Arts, we have two beautiful cosmetology studios and a newly upgraded electrical wel upgraded electrical on our welding shop. We are planning upgrades in the near future for
036automotive, education, culinary, welding, and cosmetology. We celebrate growth as shown here where our elementary and middle school teachers plan for the next generation of students, providing them with ERIC, the Edward Robotics Invitational Competition. Our teachers are focus focused on finishing strong and pushing for certification by seniors. We will have a spring showcase this year where we will continue to strengthen opportunities by showing our industry partners that our students are certified and ready to work. I'm proud of our teachers, students, and staff. I appreciate your time, your leadership, and your continued support for the work we do for our students. Thank you. Tonight's recognition um reminds us that when people matter, growth matter, and goals matter, students thrive. Thank you for your continued partnership and ensuring excellence for every Edgewood scholar. At this time um we
037can pause so that if any honores are in the audience they can commemorate their recognition in front of our new uh background. >> Yeah. Mr. Rodz, did you want to mention something about one of our awardes? >> Oh yes. I just wanted to uh thank Mr. Ramides. Uh she was my in my elementary robotics coach when I was at Stafford. So, I I've seen her throughout the years and um I'm just glad that um she's here in the district and she's still teaching and uh she's doing an excellent job at all this now. >> All right. Thank you. Uh also, while we're breaking, also for the record, Mr. Delgado arrived at 6:05 p.m. >> Yeah, we'll take about one minute and then we'll we'll keep going. While you guys are standing up, please please do
038look at our new uh backdrop that our marketing and communications team set up for us uh in case you want to take pictures back there before you go. Thank you. All right. Next item on the agenda is communication from citizens. This is a time for the community, staff, and students to provide their comments to the school board. to have your comments heard tonight. Your name and specific agenda item must have been submitted in person or signed up online with the board operations manager. Oh, you know what, Mr. Spinosa, you can read this. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm stealing your thunder. You go ahead. >> Okay. Each speaker will have three minutes or less depending on the number of people who have signed up to speak. Non-English speakers who require a translator may receive up to six
039minutes to speak. The presiding officer of the meeting may modify or wave these limit these time limits as appropriate. In accordance with Edward ISD board policy beed local, the board shall not tolerate disruption of the meeting by members of the audience. Speakers or others who engage in disruptive behavior may be ruled out of order by the presiding officer. Disruptive behavior and action include but not limited to racial slurs, insulting profane, threatening, derogatory, or abusive language, making violent or threatening gestures. Public comment is not intended for the speakers to make allegations of employee or student misconduct, request for employee or student discipline, personal attacks on individuals, or disclosing information about district employees or students. If an individual makes a complaint, the presiding officer will interrupt you, ask you to stop and direct you to seek resolution
040of your complaint through the district's appropriate formal grievance policy. DGB A4 employee complaints FNG for student or parent complaints and GF for public complaints. If after at least one warning from the presiding officer, any person continues to disrupt the meeting by their words or actions, the presiding officer may request assistance from law enforcement officials to have the person escorted from the meeting. By law, the Edgewood Independent School District Board of Trustees cannot lawfully discuss, deliberate, make comments, or make a decision on any matter raised in the public comment period that is not included on the agenda posted with notice of the meeting. Specific factual information or recitation of existing policy may be furnished in response to inquiries, but the board shall not deliberate or make decisions regarding any subject that is not included on the
041agenda posted with notice of the meeting. Signs, placards, or banners shall not be allowed in the boardroom. If you have any handouts to distribute to the board members, please hand them to the board operations manager to my left. >> All right. And our next I'm sorry, our first speaker is Miss Melodya speaking on items 8B and 8 C. Thanks for having public comment item number three 45 minutes after the meeting has started. Good evening president trustees. I'm speaking on agenda item 8B and 8 C regarding the approval of travel of Edgewood ISD board members to attend Hazby uh summer leadership institute in Fort Worth from June 17th to the 20th and Holdart Center Texas Board Institute in Austin from March 5th to the 8th. I strongly support board training. Leadership development is essential. Trustees oversee
042budgets, policy, academic outcomes and the superintendent. High quality governance training strengthens compliance, improves decision-making, and ensures the board operates as a unified team focused on students. You want to finish eating, Mr. Hernandez? The summer leadership institute provides critical updates on legislative governance practices and policy development. The Holdsworth Institute focuses on the board superintendent alignment and long-term leadership capacity. These are not privileges. They are investments in effective governance. However, I want to be clear. I hope the approval includes travel for all trustees. All board members represent our community. Together, they form the governance team alongside the superintendent. Every elected trustee has both a duty and a right to represent the constituents who elected them legally. Excluding any trustees from devel personal development weakens the board and undermines public trusts. Our community supports all trustees being included
043in all trainings. No trustee should be excluded because they ask hard questions or they advocate for transparency. Ethical leadership should not be met with retaliation. If there are disagreements, there should be resolved through policy and professionalism, not exclusion. Continued retaliation against any board member could create unnecessary legal and trust issues for the district. This is not something that Edgewood needs. I also want to add if this travel is approved, I hope all trustees fully participate in trainings and stay till the very end. If we are approving travel on taxpayers dime, I hope each trustee commits to completing the sessions in full and then comes back to the community to report what was learned. Our families deserve to know how these trainings translate into stronger governance, better policy, and improved outcomes for students. Transparency, accountability, and
044teamwork must go hand in hand. I urge you to approve this travel for all trustees equally and to demonstrate through your actions that this board is committed to professionalism, inclusion, and serving the entire Edgewood community. Thank you. >> All right. Thanks. Um, next, our next and last speaker, Miss Lisa Owens, speaking on prayer. What? Okay. What agenda item is that? I believe it's six. >> Item six. 6A. Okay. Item 6A. I was confused. I said prayer. Okay. Go ahead. >> That's okay. Um, as we all know, public schools have always been forbidden to talk about Christianity. I understand that not everyone in this room is going to believe in God. But just because you do not believe does not mean that our students should not be given the opportunity to learn about our Lord and
045Savior. We talk about providing an education, making sure that students have everything that they need. In addition to that, the best thing that we can do for our children is introduce and provide spiritual nourishment. My family has always been blessed in so many different ways and so many times. I've seen the miracles with my kids. At the age of two, my oldest was diagnosed with severe autism and was told to institutionalize her because of her disability that it was so severe. But it was through the belief of God and through prayer that we have a different story to share about her. Um, public schools refuse to talk about God. Yet, we celebrate other non-Christian beliefs. Those beliefs are taught through social studies, history classes, and even literature classrooms. You know, there's talk about Greek mythology,
046the fake gods, and they talk about Hanukkah, Hinduism. We even teach our kids about karma, and we teach them about Ramadan and the Holocaust. Yet we also talk about the religious freedoms and how our nation came about. But as long as we do not talk about Jesus, it's a, you know, we don't want to offend anyone. And that's a big problem because it's painful to hear when young children do not believe. We allow people to demand that there be a separation between state and church. If you're a Christian and if you truly believe in God, you know that those are demons telling you to keep your kids away from God. You know this, I have spoken to students and they ask me why their home life is not so good. And I explained to them
047that you have to have a foundation in the Bible and God. You have to have that foundation because if not, what ends up happening happening is a lot of these kids are repeating the same cycles that their parents have. Would it be financial, emotional, or physical struggles, these struggles are known as generational curses. I believe in that. During the Yubaldi shooting, a teacher told her stu, his students to pray. And I wondered, did these kids even know how to pray? Do they know who to pray? That was I mean that just really seriously crossed my mind. You know, I do believe that parents should get permission because our kids are most of our kids are minors. But once a student reaches 18, they can make that decision on their own. An hour is not too
048much to ask for. And if you're worried about attendance, then schedule it during the morning time because we always seem to have those group of students that are always coming in late. But I've seen where students once they're introduced, they want more because they see the difference. I've seen the difference in some kids that I have taken to church and for the the before and after is a completely it's it's amazing. It's amazing what learning and believing in something that spiritual what it can do to somebody. you know, it gives them hope and that's what we want. We want our kids to have hope because we want them to make good choices. We want them to hang around the right people. Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Okay. Next, uh, superintendent report, Dr. H.
049>> All right. So, I'm just going to do a little bit of highlighting because I think, uh, there's there's been a lot of information that's already been shared tonight and some of these are uh items that I want to make sure I highlight. Um, so as always, first of all, thank you to everybody that's here tonight and that sat in to the presentations. Everything we talk about tonight, I hope it's been perfectly clear that it is around our number one outcome, making sure that our students are highlighted in the right places and our staff, too, because obviously our students can't perform without a quality staff surrounding them. Um, you heard earlier tonight, uh, we are very proud of our, uh, programs that we've had this month around our Black History Month programming in in the
050district. Um, hats off to I don't see Mr. Garika here anymore, but I do like to give credit where where it's due. Uh, hats off to Mr. Garika and everybody else who had anything to do with organizing our Onigos program at REN uh, last week. It was a great program. Uh, we had a lot of people come out and of course just different folks uh, from different departments including our CTE students are in education as well as our students who are in health sciences. I know that because they actually did a glucose check on me and did blood pressure. So, it was all good, thank God. And so I do want to thank them. This is as I mentioned before uh CTE month. Um we you heard earlier from Mr. Reebe who is still here
051I think uh our director of career and technical education of all the different programming we have in our school district. You've seen these before. These are just the highlight videos that we've done each month for cosmetology. Also the one for culinary arts and then tonight you saw the one uh for cosmetology. So, I'm going to bring those. I'm going to keep sharing those with our community in our different meetings because, of course, we try to put our information out as in as many places as possible. During the month of February, we also had National School Counseling Week during the week of February 2nd through the 6th. Uh we schools did plenty of opportunities for their counselors to be highlighted. In fact, next month at the beginning of the month, we are going to do a
052breakfast for our counselors and our social workers uh just for all the work that they're doing across our school district. but I did not want to lose out an opportunity to highlight them. Uh tonight you find yourself at our regular board meeting for the month of February. I do want to thank the board for the numerous hours that the board has spent with us this month. Uh not just in the workshop but also board performance planning meetings where we got to visit Stafford visual and performing arts. Thank you to the board members who attended. uh we got to spend a few hours at our schools walking classrooms and just checking on the investments that the board has made over the years to include everything from software use to actually the teachers in the classroom and
053how the students are learning. It's important for the board to do that and we're going to continue that over the next few months. And so again, thank you board uh for the amount of time you're spending with us as always. I do like to share with the community the amount of information you've been getting as I mentioned workshop board updates and then tonight our regular board meeting. And so this is I don't think I've ever had Amelia's picture up uh early. So I do we keep talking about the board operation manager board operation. Well, this is our board operation manager. So uh this is Amelia's contact information and she can help you with anything associated with this type of evening or our workshop meeting as well. And so as I mentioned earlier, I'm all about
054showand tell. Thank you board members. These are just some highlights of our board members visits to the classroom. Uh got to walk around with the principal of uh Stafford that morning, Miss Machado. and then of course some of our other staff that's that's there. So, thank you again board members. And then I also want to share with the community that uh this is the second time I've shared this. I think I I shared it at the workshop. Our campus turnaround plans were approved by TEA for our campuses that have a turnaround plan. And so that letter was submitted to myself and the board president. So I did want to share with the community that TEA has approved all six of those. Uh, also once again, I talk about this every month, but I do want
055to continue to remind folks that attendance does matter at our schools. Uh, we are shooting for 92% attendance every day. It has not we have not reached that goal this last six weeks. These are the only three schools that reached the goal. Now, mind you, I understand we we had school closure of school because of the weather, but that was one day. And so, I'm going to continue to advocate and remind our parents, please send the children to school. But we need them in school every day because if they're not in school, they're not learning and so we want to see them in our school. So help us by sharing that information out. And uh as you heard earlier, we are already starting our enrollment for next year. So thank you for sharing these on
056your social media pages. There's also updates on scholarship availability. Uh we have that information available, contact info for that. If you could if you have a student in high school, they don't necessarily have to be a senior, it can be any student in high school. Please share this information. And then of course a distinction award. Um, I'm going to bring this group next month, but I do want to highlight that some of our students from the academy were highlighted by the Texas Theater Organization as students of distinction because of their grades and performances. You see those students here. In fact, one of them's here, Jackson's here, uh, in the audience. And so, we are going to bring this back next month because this isn't easy to to get. So, again, thank you uh to you
057guys for your hard work and of course other folks, Miss Castle, the principal, and everybody else who does a lot of work with our kiddos. I also want to highlight one of our other students, Gab Diaz. Um I believe we put this out on social media, but if you when you get this PowerPoint, you click here where it says click here, uh you'll get to see how remarkable this young man is with the piano. And why is this so important? He's only been learning for six months, but he is showing some some real progress uh in just the work he's doing in our schools. Uh, and so hats off to our again our staff at the fine arts academy to just forgot her name. Dr. I forgot her name. She's one of our teachers. She's
058actually going to start teaching dual credit next year. And so Dr. Pia. Yes, thank you Dr. Pia. Uh because she's been working a lot with this young man and and not just her but other folks too. So I do want to thank Diego even though he's not here for all his hard work. The rest of the information you see here are events that are happening across the school district. Uh we're having a community rumage day with our with Mr. Garinka and his troop. We will continue with our book study that is tomorrow night. Uh we had a good turnout last time for our book study. If you're available, join us uh tomorrow night. We're also going to be online for folks who can't make it at some of the feedback we received about having that
059available for folks. We're going to have that. If you can't make it, you can always listen in. Uh but this was a good first start. We got a good great feedback from our parents who participated. This is what we're going to do tomorrow. also kind of here's your little cheat sheet of what we're going to talk about tomorrow. And then of course everything else is just some of the events that we have across the district that not only support parents but also support mental health, healthy relationships. Our high schools are doing these report card nights uh which are tomorrow night at at JFK. So again, this is just continued information. If you need to get a shot, we're going to have Christ Santa Rosa available for shots and then of course these other events that
060are going on. And so I think the only other thing that I wanted to report tonight was that we do have a new principal. I saw her here earlier, probably gone already. Uh we have a new principal at Cisnerto Elementary, Miss Melanie Perez. Miss Melanie Pettis is not new to Edgewood. In fact, uh I would say she is a legacy member of our district. And let me tell you why. Her mother was one of our principles for many, many years. She's no longer with us. Uh but her mom was one of our best principles in the early 90s. I want to say in the '90s. Uh but now she's on the other end. She just got her first principal ship. So uh she has chosen to stay here in our school district. She's been an
061assistant principal at HBG for a few years and now is at the helm of Royce's Net Elementary. So we'll bring her back and introduce her to the group. But I just wanted to make that announcement publicly. There's my contact info, uh meetings for next month, and then this is the information that the days that the board will be getting updates for the month of March. Uh you'll be able to scan this later and get these PowerPoints, but that brings my PowerPoint to an end. So I'll turn it back over to you, sir. All right. Thank you, sir. That was quick. All right. Uh next is our um consent agenda. As per board policy be local, unless a board member makes a motion to withdraw an item for individual consideration, and such motion receives a second
062and is passed by the majority of those present, all consent agenda items shall be acted upon by one vote without separate discussion. At this time, we move to our consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items A through I? >> Mr. President. >> Yes, sir. >> I move to approve the consent agenda items 5A through I. >> Okay. Mr. Valdez, motions. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Delgado seconds. Is there any discussion? If we have no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I. >> I. All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. Okay, motion carries. Next, uh item six, our action item. Superintendent, do we have discussion or information regarding the action item? >> Yes,
063board members, we are bringing to you this evening a recommendation on item 6A uh this evening. This item was discussed with you during our workshop earlier this month as well as you did receive uh updates through the weekly board update that you receive with regards to this item. So we are ready to make a recommendation on this item and we are we can move forward on that. >> Mr. Board President. >> All right. Is >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the Edgewood ISD school board resolution? >> Mr. President. >> Yes, sir. I move to accept the district's recommendation to deny or reject the adoption of a resolution establishing a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts pursuant to Senate Bill 11. >> Okay, Mr. Ald's motions. Is
064there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Espinosa seconds. Is there any discussion? If we have no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I. >> I. All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. Okay. Motion carries. Next is our close session. The time is now 7:03 p.m. and the Edgewood Independent School District School Board will go into close session as authorized by the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapters 551.071. The board is now in close session. The time is now 7:37 and the Edwood Independent School District School Board reconvenes from close session. Is there a motion regarding item agenda item 8A? >> Mr. President, I move that the Edgewood Independent School District Board of Trustees render a finding that good
065cause would not exist for term contract employees Christina Perez and Erica Lopez to abandon their employment contract with Edgewood ISD pursuant to Texas Education Code section 21.105 105 and 21.310 and to authorize a superintendent to file a written complaint with the state board for educator certification for contract amendment by Christina Perez and Erica Lopez and to issue written notice to Christina Perez and Erica Lopez. Okay, thank you sir. Mr. Espino some motions. Is there a second? >> Second. Okay, Mr. Ro seconds. Is there any discussion? If there's no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I. I. >> I. >> All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. Okay. Motion passes. Is there a motion regarding uh item 8B? >> Mr. Mr.
066President, I move to approve the Edgewood Independent School District School Board of Trustees travel to the Texas Association of School Boards Hazby Summer Leadership Institute SLI from June 17th, 2026 to June 20th, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas. Okay, thank you. M Espino some motions. Is there a second? >> Second. Mr. Dalo seconds. Is there any discussion? Okay, if we have no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. Okay. Motion carries. Those are all the motions. Okay. Are there any other motions, Mr. President? Item 8 C. this item. I make a motion to table this until next month's board meeting. >> Okay, Mr. Espinosa motions. Is there a second? >> Second.
067>> Okay, Mr. Valdez seconds. Is there any discussion? If we have no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining raise your hand and say abstain. Motion carries. Any other motions? Mr. President, item 8D. I move that the Edgewood Infinite School District School Board of Trustees approve the district's teacher certification compliance delay plan pursuant to Texas Education Code 21.0032 and House Bill 2 and authorize a superintendent or designate to submit the approved plan. any required documentation to the Texas Education Agency. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. Mr. Espinosa motions. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Delgado seconds. Is there any discussion? If we have no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand and say I.
068>> I. All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. All those abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. A motion carries. All right, the time is now 7:41 p.m. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> I move to adjourn this board meeting. >> Mr. Alz motions to adjurnn. Is there a second? >> Second. Mr. Delgado seconds. Is there any discussion? If we have no discussion, all those in favor raise your hand and say I. I. >> I. All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. Those abstaining, raise your hand. Okay, motion carries. This meeting is adjourned.