Edgewood ISD- Regular Board Meeting: 10-21-2025

001Members, the time is now 6:04 p.m. on October 21st, 2025. And I call this regular board meeting of the Edgewood Independent School District School Board to order. Again, thank you for coming uh tonight. I'm very pleased that you're able to make it 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 accur accurately reflects these proceedings, please silence your mobile devices and refrain from talking while others are speaking. Since it is legally mandated that these proceedings are recorded accurately, I may

002ask to uh I may have to ask 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 for the entire Edgewood ISD uh school board. Next, uh, call to order. Roll call. Miss Martha Castillia, >> here. >> Mr. Frank Espinosa, >> present. >> Mr. Luis Gomez, >> present. >> Mr. Rudy Lopez, >> present. >> Mr. Michael Valdez, >> present. >> Mr. Sergio Degado, >> here. Excuse. >> Dr. James Hernandez is present. Let the record show that the 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. Now, next, Miss Lauren Leven, uh, director of marketing

003communications for our pledges. >> Good evening, Dr. Hernandez, Mr. President, Ed Board members, trustees, stakeholders, families, and students. Please rise as the as the Brentwood LOTC presents the colors for this evening. They are under the direction of Ralph Mora. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. 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, Miss Livven. Uh, next is our uh, goals to greatness recognitions by Dr. Kimberly Matkins, assistant superintendent of school leadership. >> Good evening, board president Dr. James Hernandez, trustees, superintendent Dr. Hernandez, Edwood staff, and

004members of our community. It's a a privilege to join you this evening as we celebrate the outstanding work taking place across Edgewood ISD. During tonight's from goals to greatness recognitions, we highlight the individual and collective achievements of our students, staff, and community partner. Each aligned to our district strategic plan goals and the categories and competencies within the leadership definition framework. This framework is built around three key pillars. People matter, growth matters, goals matter. Together, they define how we lead, collaborate, and hold ourselves and one another accountable in the pursuit of excellence for every student. This evening, we are proud to recognize the leaders of the pack, outstanding members of the Edgewood ISD family who embody our core values of professionalism, accountability, and communication, and who model the categories and competencies outlined in our leadership definition.

005Our first honory this evening is Mr. Juan Padilla. Now in only his third year in the Edgewood ISD, Mr. Padilla is already making a remarkable impact, inspiring a deep love of music and creativity in our students. As a band director at Brentwood Steam School of Innovation, his passion for teaching, and unwraing commitment to his students shine through in everything he does. Mr. Padilla's humility, servant leadership, and genuine care for others exemplify the spirit of Edwood. Our next honore represents Los Palmus Leadership School for Girls and she is the definition of a lifelong learner and purpose-driven leadership. With more than 20 years in service at Edgewood ISD, Miss Genevie Rodriguez Kionis has devoted her career to showing that people and goals matter. As the international balorate coordinator, she works tirelessly to ensure teachers and students alike

006are reaching for and achieving big dreams. Beyond her work and campus, she leads by example. Currently pursuing her PhD and showing every Los Palmus school scholar that the pursuit of knowledge truly never ends. We are proud to honor Miss Rodriguez Fion this evening for her unwavering dedication and inspiration. And our final honore this evening reminds us why community matters so much in Edgewood. Mr. Vic Victor Poente, a beloved volunteer at LBJ Elementary, is known for being one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. Always ready to lend a hand, offer encouragement, and put students first. His selfless spirit, reliability, reliability, and genuine love for the school family he serves are a model for Edgewood, for the Edgewood way. Mr. Poente's dedication reminds us that students are truly at the heart of everything

007we do. So tonight, we celebrate each of these individuals not only for what they do, but for who they are. People who lead with purpose, compassion, and pride in Edgewood ISD. Before we invite our honores forward, let's take a moment to hear directly from them and to see why they represent what it means to be a true leader of the pack. I think I make a difference in school helping the teachers like this. I make a lot of difference and I notice when they ask me where are you? We miss you and I'm back. [Music] My name is Geneo Rodriguez Kinon. I am currently the international balorate uh coordinator here at Las Palmus Leadership School for Girls. I have been at this campus for 21 years. I served as a third grade dual language teacher,

008an interventionist, facilitator, and a literacy coach. So most recently I'm the IB coordinator. I've been with the district for 23 years. >> My name is Victor Poente. I've been here in LBJ for 16 years. >> Hi, my name is Juanet Padilla. Um this is my first year at Brentwood Middle School and I've been with Edward ISD for 3 years. >> A typical day here for me at Laspus Leadership School for Girls includes greeting students every morning. Um I love to see their smiles when they walk in. I also support um some of our leadership students that are part of the communication crew. So they broadcast every morning um our daily announcements. So my day then transitions to working with teachers um either through professional learning communities. We get together um our collaborative practices in daily

009lesson planning. I also get to spend time in their classrooms in their development of IB um inquiry based lessons and just get to spend my time with students and with teachers. >> A typical day for me is to take my kids to school, then come back from uh dropping off of school and then come back to to the school tree every day to start volunteering all day to the school to the end of school day. I do lemonating. I do die cuts. I do copies. I go sometime to the to the classroom to pick up the paperwork for them to do or me to do for them. >> Typical day looks like uh I come here at around 7:45 in the morning, open up the band hall for the students. Um and then throughout the

010day just teach mainly beginning classes and one honors band class. It's a lot of fun. Students are always ready to play and to perform. I like our students to perform individually a lot. And um I think it just helps them build confidence in the classroom and around the school. So that's kind of what I like to do in my classes. And then I usually close up the band hall around 5. And a good majority of the students stay after school to practice and just get better at their instruments. Well, it means a lot cuz I was shocked. I mean, when I sent when I when they sent me the email saying that I was the leader of the practice. It makes me proud. It makes me feel proud. It makes me feel like at least

011I know that I'm helping people as a teacher do what they need to do. >> I honestly can't believe that I got chosen to to to be the leader of the pack. Sometimes I get so focused on what I'm doing. I don't really pay attention to who's watching or that I'm going to be recognized in that way. As a teacher, I try so hard to recognize my students because I know it validates them and it makes them feel seen and it makes them feel good about what they're doing, the work that they're doing. To be selected as leader of the pack and to be selected as a pillar of this community, this district, it just validates my performance and it it tells me that I'm doing a good job and that I should keep doing

012it. To be recognized as leader of the pack for Edwood ISD was really a meaningful recognition for me. I think it affirms the work that we do here as a campus and the community that I get to be a part of. So it was exciting to read that email to get that email and to see that I know as a coordinator as a mother an educator and a doctoral student it's kind of hard to balance all those things. So, it was really affirming to see that the work here we're doing really matters and that um I'm excited to be a part of that, thankful to be a part of that journey. >> I choose A2 because I my kids came to school and I'm I live in the in the HU district area. That's why

013I decided that's why we choose HU. >> I choose Edwood because I was born and raised in these neighborhoods. I began my educational career here at Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary. I continue to live in the community that I serve in. Uh my son is also a student here in the community. So um I choose Edgewood because our students deserve the best and I want to be a part of that journey. I really do believe that the work that we do here matters. >> I choose Edgewood because it is my home away from home. Being from Laredo, Texas, a very big Mexican Hispanic culture, I feel like I'm back in Laredo. I look at these students and I see myself. I look at these students and I see my friends that I made when I was

014in middle school and high school. Um, Edwood is just a very special place and I'm very happy to be here. I'm very lucky to work with these students because I know that these students need really good influences in their life. Let's give our leaders of the pack a hand if they come forward at this time. And as they come forward, if we can have their village stand up. I know several of them have families here with them. If they want to stand and be just be recognized. We're so proud to have you here visiting with us. Yes. Thank you. And if we could get one more picture just with the board behind our leaders of the pack. One more picture, please. Yes. Thank you. [Applause] Next, we're proud to recognize some of the best young

015actors in Texas. The Edgewood Fine Arts Academy Acting Company, Truth 7382. Each year, they do deserve a hand. Each year, the te the uh Texas thespians honor high school theater programs that show excellence in performance, service, and leadership. Under the guidance of theater director Miss Claudia, our students rose to the challenge and earned the highest distinction, gold honor troop. Please join me in congratulating troop president Sada E Masias and Miss Kaso for their outstanding accomplishment. [Applause] Thank you again. Let's give them another hand. Quite an accomplishment. [Applause] Tonight, we're proud to share that Edgewood ISD will be represented in the upcoming San Antonio Sports Allstar Game. From Memorial High School, John Alzando. and from Kennedy High School, Andrew Lopez, have each earned the honor of being selected as all-stars, a recognition uh reserved for student

016athletes who excel in both both on and off the field and in the classroom. Please join me in congratulating these exceptional young men who are actually involved in an athletic practice tonight and they couldn't be here with us, but they will be back in January after the All-Star game um for representing with pride and excellence. The All-Star game is January the 10th, 2026, and tickets to the game are available now. So, let's please go out and um congratulate these young men. [Applause] Tonight, we proudly recognize five Edgewood ISD campuses that earn distinctions from the Texas Education Agency. If you'll please join me um at this time, Miss Benvitas, the principal of Fine Arts Academy. Each campus will receive a nice banner and we'd like for you to take a picture with the board and then

017we'll do our handshake. So if you can see here, fine arts academy achieved academic achievement in science, social studies and postsecary readiness. [Applause] That'll be great. We have four more to do. Yes. Which is awesome. So, let's give uh the staff at Fine Arts Academy and if any of them are here in the audience, please stand. Want to recognize you as well. [Applause] That will look awesome, but it's hung on your building. Do we get a Okay. Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you. Mike Greger from John F. Kennedy High School. You'll come forward at this time. As you can see right here, John F received John F. Kennedy received distinctions in academic achievement in science, social studies, and post-secondary readiness. Let's give them a hand. [Applause] If Miguel Delazando will come forward at this time,

018the principal of Memorial High School If there are other members from Memorial that are here, feel free to come up. Uh, Memorial High School was recognized for academic achievement in math and postsecary readiness. Let's give Memorial High School. [Applause] Awesome. We appreciate all of your hard work. We know it's not easy to receive all of those distinctions. At this time, Mr. Madano, the principal of Parales Steam Elementary School, and your assistant principal is here as well. Uh Mr. Machado, if you'll come on up, take the village. And there are some teacher leaders here. Instructional coach, I see you. Let's celebrate Pales. They received top 25% comparative academic growth and post-secary readiness. Let's give Corales another hand. [Applause] And our fifth school that we're going to recognize this evening, uh, Miss Priestley, who is the principal

019of LBJ Elementary School, and I believe her assistant principal is here. If you guys will come on up, and I know you have several teachers here as well. This one is a little bit bigger. Not only are we recognizing LBJ for their distinctions, but they also uh are rated a B school here in Edgewood ISD and that is just awesome. We're so proud of the team LBJ and they are receiving distinctions this evening for top 25% baritative growth and postsecondary readiness. [Applause] Congratulations to our campus leaders, our teachers, our students, our parents for the well-deserved recognition for representing what's going on, the great things that are going on in Edward ISD. >> Thank you so much principles and um leaders from your campuses for coming here this evening. And here is also the picture from

020Morales and LBJ. Uh, as our principles go to their chairs, October is National Principal Appreciation Month, and we're proud to celebrate the incredible leaders who guide our campuses every day. Throughout the month, we're highlighting our principles on Edgewood ISD social media platforms, showcasing their dedication, leadership, and the impact they have on students and staff. We encourage everyone to visit our pages and leave a note of appreciation or encouragement for your campus principal. To all of our principles in Edgewood ISD, thank you for leading with purpose and embodying the Edgewood spirit of people matter, goals matter, growth matters. The Eduit Education Foundation is dedicated to help teachers and students within EISD. Each year they award dozens of grants to teachers to help cover the cost of projects to help enhance learning for our students. There is

021uh this year is no different. I'd like to invite Beverly Leeski up front from the Edgewood Education Foundation, please along with Mr. Williams. Last Friday, the education surprised teachers across EISD with grants to help fund music projects, a math center, a writing center, music mixing equipment, our garden, and much more. In all, as you can see that the check that they're holding is for 73 $7,300, $7,300 to all teachers. We are deeply grateful to the education foundation for their ongoing commitment to educators and students. Thank you so much. [Applause] Thank you to the Edgewood Education Foundation for your hard work and support over the years. We'd also like to say thank you to Mambbo Seafood for generous for a generous donation to the Edgewood Foundation. During their grand opening celebration, Mambbo donated $2,000 to support

022classroom grants and student learning opportunities across the district. We're grateful for the community partners like Mambbo Seafood who invest in the success of Edgewood ISD student. October is National Anti-Bullying Month and across Edgewood ISD, our campuses are standing together to promote kindness, inclusion, and respect. Students and families have participated in activities, assemblies, and uh presentations reminding everyone to stand up and speak out against bullying. Here you can see students at Los Thomas wearing orange as they join the fine arts academy students to spread messages of kindness and courage. You can find a full list of events and presentations at eisd.net. And don't forget, Edgewood is going orange this Thursday. We're asking everyone to wear their EISD stand up and speak out shirt or any orange shirt to take a stand against bullying. October is also

023dyslexia awareness month. A wave of red swept across the EIS on October the 8th as our students and campuses showed their support friends, students, and co-workers living with dyslexia. the 75th annual annual anniversary of Edgewood ISD as an independent school district. Tonight we would like to share a snippet of a legacy story from Greg Partardo. Mr. Partardo is a 2001 graduate from Memorial High School. He went on to study at St. Mary's University and now works for the US State Department as the spokesperson for the US consulant general in Mumbai, India. We recently caught up with Mr. Partardo to find out why he is proud to be from Edgewood is my journey in Edgewood started in 1987. uh when I started school at Lommo Park Elementary. Great experience in Edgewood. Uh my father also graduated

024from Edgewood in 1974. My brother graduated from Memorial in 19 in 2004 and I graduated from Memorial in 2001. In 2001, I went to St. Mary's University where I majored in international relations and political science. A nice long journey, but for me, uh Edgewood is it's still home for me. Uh no matter how far I go, whether I'm living in Washington or living in India, uh Edgewood is still my home. My my roots run deep here. Edgewood is my foundation for whatever I do. You can hear more of his legacy story and many others during the EISD 75th anniversary celebration. Join us on Thursday, November the 13th for an evening to celebrate our history and the history we're making now. The event is from 5 to 7 at the Edgewood Theater. Now to our CTE

025spotlight. Each month, we're excited to shine a spotlight on the different career and technical education programs the has to offer. Tonight we're showcasing the welding program at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy taught by Mr. Daniel Navaro. This program prepares students for careers in welding through hands-on training and offers opportunities to learn certifications and pursue internships in the field. Here now is a look at our welding program. [Applause] Hi, my name is Carlos. I'm from Fine Arts Academy and I'm working on a welder. [Music] Heat. [Music] If you're interested in learning more about the welding program, contact Mr. Navaro or or I or our EIS CTE director, Mr. Javier Yi. Let's give them a hand. And I'd also like to recognize Frank for the videos this evening. Let's give him a hand. He and Miss Leven do

026such an awesome job in our marketing department. And so we just appreciate all that they do for us. It's been an exciting uh and busy month in Edgewood ISD filled with learning, connection, and community. We kicked off our month with our second walk and bike to school day at Loma Park Elementary School in partnership with the city of San Antonio. A great morning of energy and smiles. You can see there on the photos. Our human resources department hosted a successful employee wellness fair offering health screenings and valuable information on wellness resources available to staff. The class of 2026 explored future opportunities at our annual college fair, meeting with representatives from universities across the nation, including UT Austin, Texas Tech, Harvard, Liberty University, and St. Mary's to plan their next steps beyond high school. At Los

027Leadership School for Girls, Dr. Hernandez hosted the first student leadership lunch of the year, giving students and parents a alike a voice in shaping their school experience. Across campuses, parent conversations are also underway, providing families with opportunities to engage directly with the superintendent about safety, academic progress, and district goals. Earlier this month, we launched our first unified voices council, bringing together parent, staff, and community members from every campus to identify solutions and strengthen partnerships districtwide. And finally, we joined our friends from the Thompson Neighborhood Association for National Night Out, celebrating community, food, music, and connection, a true reflection of Edwood pride. As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and continuous improvement, each of our um six campus turnaround um plan schools, their plans have been posted on the website. These plans these plans outline

028how each school is addressing areas of growth, aligning instructional practices to student needs, and engaging families in the improvement process. To ensure full community access, all plans are now posted online. You can find your campus plan by visiting www.isb.net and clicking on the campus turnaround plans button that's circled there on the screen or by visiting your campus web page and selecting turnaround plan and survey. We really want to hear from you. We encourage parents, staff, and community members to review the plans and share feedback throughout the survey using the serving link. This input is essential as we continue to strengthen our schools and ensure that Edgewood ISD students have access to highquality education. The plans will be presented for approval to the board in November. And last but not least, uh deputy superintendent, uh Phil

029Chavez recently spoke with KAT2 and the San Antonian Express News about a strategic approach to supporting every campus and giving every student the best possible education. These stories and many others highlighting our district pro progress can be found on the marketing and communications page at edwoodisb.net. We're proud that the great work happening across um Edgewood ISD is being recognized beyond the district, a reflection of the dedication of our staff, students, and the community. And we want to remind you to make sure that you're following EISD of SA on YouTube. That's where you can find all the messages from the superintendent as well as live streams of meetings and sporting events. Right now, there are messages about bully prevention, breast cancer awareness month, and principal appreciation month. We invite you to take a few minutes to

030check them out and share them on your social. As we close tonight, from goals to greatness recognitions, we want to thank our students, staff, families, and community partners for pride and the purpose you bring to Edgewood ISD. Each recognition tonight reflects our shared belief that when people matter, growth matter, goals matter, great things can happen for our students. Thank you for your continued support and congratulations to all of this evening's honore. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Uh we're going to take about uh two minutes because I know um if y'all want to take pictures, we also have some um some staff that might have to be at work early in the morning. So we'll take about two minutes and then we'll reconvene. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you to our staff that

031came out tonight, principles and the foundation. Thank you for coming out. Uh we appreciate your time. Thank y'all. Thank you, Judy. All right, we'll get started in one minute. All right, everybody. Uh, if you can go ahead and find your seats, we're going to go ahead and start up again. So, thank you, uh, everybody. Thank you for joining us tonight. Gracias. Have a safe drive home. All right. Thank you, everybody. So, we can go ahead and move on. Yes, sir. >> All right. And now we go to our communication from citizens. Mr. Frank Espinosa, I will not interrupt you this time. Apologize. >> Thank you. Communication from citizens. This is a time for community, staff, and students to provide their comments to the school board. To have your comments heard tonight, your name and specific

032agenda item must have been submitted in person or signed up online with the board operations manager. 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 minutes to speak. As a presiding officer of the meeting, I may modify or wave these time limits as appropriate. In accordance with the Edgewood 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

033speakers to make allegations of employee or student misconduct, requests for employee or student discipline, personal attacks on individuals, or disclosing information about district employees or students. If an individual makes a complaint, I as a presiding officer will interrupt you, ask you to stop and direct you to seek resolution of your complaint through the district's appropriate formal grievance policy. DGBA for employee complaints, FNG for student or parent complaints, and GF for public complaint. 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 Edwood Independent School District Board of Trustees cannot lawfully discuss, deliberate, make comments, or make a decision on any matter raised

034in the public comment period that is not included on the agenda posted with notice of the meeting. Special 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 agenda 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 is the board operating manager. That's okay. All right. Um before uh before I call the first speaker, I just want to have make a reminder that um each speaker needs to stay on their their topic that they assigned I'm sorry, their agenda item that they signed up

035for. Um and I will read each uh agenda item just to remind you which which uh item you're speaking on. Okay. So with that, first Miss Agapita Haramo speaking on item 6D, campus improvement plan. And everyone gets three minutes today. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Good afternoon, board of trustees, superintendent, leadership team, and of course, my beloved community. I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the seven campuses within our district that are currently operating under the radar. This situation is absolutely unacceptable and demands immediate accountability and transparency from district leadership. Today we are being asked to approve a campus improvement plan that to my knowledge has not been shared in full detail with parents or the community. Simply sharing objectives does not constitute transparency. objectives are not a full campus

036improvement plan. Parents and community members have a right have a right to review these plans in their entirety. Yet, they are neither available publicly nor posted on the district's website. I have repeatedly requested information regarding the information the improvement plan at my granddaughter's campuses campus which has been rated as an F campus and have yet to receive a meaningful response. This lack of communication erodess trust and excludes the very stakeholders who are most affected by these decisions. Furthermore, I've noticed a lack of consistency in family and community engagement goals. For example, one campus has a target of one 10% increase in parental involvement while another aims for 50% participation in family engagement events. How can we expect equitable outcomes when expectations and practices vary so widely? To make matters worse, when parents are denied opportunities

037to attend school events such as pep rallies or other daytime activities, it directly undermines the goal of improving parental involvement. It is also concerning that participation on campus committees often seems limited to select individuals rather than providing equitable opportunities for all engaged and active parents. This creates a perception of favoritism and further disconnects the broader community. Our district's academic performance remains poor compared to others with higher enrollment and chronic absentism continues to be a major issue. As I stated before, more proactive outreach is needed to truly address the root causes. If the state were to intervene or take over, the responsibility would would rest squarely with district letter leadership and board of trustees. such as such an outcome would mean further loss of students funding and value with teachers. It is time for decisive and

038transparent action. As many parents have already recommended, let us move forward with the resolution presented in August by the community and begin implementing real measurable solutions that involved and respect the community. And I see that you have a turnaround plan, but that is not the campus improvement plan. that is a mandated um instrument. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, ma'am. I'd like to uh Mr. Board President, I would like to add to the comment made by our speaker uh for um for the official minutes of the meeting. I would like to bring to the community's attention that BQB local as well as BQA local u do require that the school district work in alignment with the district's DEIC which is the district education improvement committee as well as campus cot committees which are made

039up of parents and staff members of the school to create the campus objectives that the board is being requested uh that you provide support this evening. I would also like to mention that the campus performance objectives are part of BQB local. To be clear and to be transparent, that is what is expected in policy. That is not something that is open for us to pick and choose. So I do want to speak with uh actual facts. Uh with regards to the information with regards to closed campus, I would also like to cite that at the recent student leadership network meeting where I had over I'd say 25 to 30 parents of the students of Laspanos Elementary because that's that's where we're going. Um, I would like to say the commendations that we received from parents

040about the campus being closed, they define that as it is being closed because one, I want my daughter to be in a safe environment. Two, parents should also be limited to when they're coming to the school. This is the parents worse. Uh, during the school day, I want to make sure my child is learning while they're at school. So, again, I want to make sure that when we are speaking, I'm going to speak to facts. And so, again, BQ BQA local, BQB local, that is there. It has always been there for anybody to look at. With regards to information being shared with parents, that information was shared early and publicly. It was shared at the September 2nd board and community meetings as well as the workshop. I have shared it repeatedly at morning meetings with

041parents. You will see uh fact-based evidence of that when I present here pretty soon. So again, I want to make sure that as we're sharing and as we talk about parent involvement in our schools, we do not disregard the parents that may not be sitting here tonight, but there is a prodigious amount of parents who are attending events and who are choosing to work along with the district. So I want to make sure that we enter that for the fact for the records moving forward. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. Uh, next, Miss uh, Henrietta Lrange speaking on agenda item 6D, approval of the 2025 2026 EISD school district campus improvement plan goals and performance objectives pursuant to the Texas Education Code 11.253. That correct? >> I will repeat my name. It's Henrietta Flores Lraange. I've

042been here numerous times and the reason is because I love education and I see that Edgewood is not following the Texas code mandate guidelines. It's it's sad that I have to bring it up to the board because I understand that each school needs to have a committee and I would like to visit the schools, permission to visit the schools and and ask that committee what their accomplishments are, what their goals rules are because I hear of none and I see of none and I have asked before if there is a committee member in each school that I can talk to. So I'm asking you now I would like permission to visit all your schools and talk to a committee member that deals with the Texas code act. May I have permission or do I have

043to have it in writing because I feel this is very important and that's why we have this awful rating and if we need to improve I think we need to encourage the people that run this program or help them and I myself have always volunteered to do that. In case you don't know my qualifications, I can show you my degrees or certificates and I feel like I'm very wellqualified. Or maybe you want me to take an intelligent test and if I take one then that requires me to ask you to take one too because we're not following the guidelines and we need to start following the guidelines. Dr. Ernnandez both Dr. Fernandez is why are they not being followed? It amazes me that you all can sit there and smile or pretend that you're listening

044to us when you're not. And you don't take us seriously. And that is so sad. You pretend that you're listening to us and when in the back you're saying but invite me. I would like to go to each campus and meet a committee member if if they exist because I'm sure they don't. And that's why I want to do I want to help Dr. Ernnandez. I've told you that I'm available. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you, ma'am. Uh, okay. Yeah. I just want to remind the audience, please stay on the the topic that you signed up for, the agenda item. Thank you. Say something. Go ahead. Um, I'd also like to add for the uh official minutes on the comments that were just made. I would also reference you back ma'am to BQB local which will

045explain to you and to any any constituent member um that the campus performance objectives that are required that uh campuses produce for consideration for the board in motion that BQB local policy will also demonstrate to you the composition of the committees that you referenced uh during your time. That committee is made up of parents, community members, and business representatives. So um I would I would share that um you may look that up in terms of BQB local. Um with regards to visiting schools, there are also procedures in terms of signing up. Those are for anybody who visits our schools. And then of course the third thing that we want to be very clear about is that there are many things that are going on on campuses. And so every campus principal out of respect to

046what's happening into the school and because we hear this from parents in our meetings, we do follow up with our principles to make sure that we are supporting what's happening in the school day. So, um, for the minutes as well, please make sure that should you have that desire to visit a school, please fill out the proper paperwork as we would for all individuals. Thank you. Right. Thank you, sir. Uh, let's see. Uh, next, Miss Dorothy Bouras speaking on um agenda item 5B, family engagement. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of Edgewood Parent Voices. We are here because we believe in our students and in the potential of Edgewood ISD. But we also believe in this district must do better when it comes to parent engagement and transparency. Our group has already worked in good faith

047to bring forward a parent engagement and a parent engagement resolution. We have clearly asked both the superintendent and this board to adopt it. Yet, despite repeated requests, we still haven't seen meaningful actions or public commitments. Parents are not asking for control. We're asking for collaboration and honesty. Too often, important decisions about programs, staffing, and partnerships are made behind closed doors and shared with families only after they're finalized. That's not engagement. That's notification. When parents take the time to attend meetings, ask questions, or share concerns, we're often told someone's will follow up or that decision has already been made. That's the kind of communication that pushes parents away instead of bringing us in that damages trust within our district. We've seen what true transparency and engagement looks like right here in our city. In San Antonio

048ISD, Dr. Aino's leadership, there's an open door culture. He takes the time to speak with anyone, parents, community members, or partners, because he understands that every single person who shows up is advocating for students. He listens even when the feedback is tough. That's real leadership. That's real transparency. That's what we want for Edgewood ISD. Leadership and culture that listens, includes, and communicates openly with families. Engagement should never depend on who you know or what your title is. It is to share commitments across every school and every department. And I want to remind everyone here, parents have rights. When transparency is ignored or information is withheld, we h we can file complaints with our Texas Attorney General office. But that's not what we want. We want partnership, not conflict. We want accountability and collaborations right here

049at home. So tonight, on behalf of Edgewood Parent Voices, we ask once again to this district to adopt our parent resolution, include parents early in this decision-making process, communicate clearly, honestly, and consistency with families. Remember that parents and educators and community members are working toward the same goal, student success. When parents are included, schools are stronger. When transparency is practiced, trust is restored. And when we work together, our students thrive. And I also want to say happy belated birthday to one of our board me board members, Michael Valdez. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yes, Mr. Ward President. I do want to add for the official minutes. First and foremost, I want to thank our our speaker um because I know we've met now. We met September 9th. We met September 30th regarding

050some of the feedback that was shared. I do appreciate that meeting with you and some of the other folks. So, I want to publicly thank you for coming to that. Um, I also want to thank you and a few of the other members that came uh for the feedback that was submitted back to our assistant superintendent of academic services, Miss Selenas, on our family engagement handbook as well as our resource guide handbook. So, that is very much appreciated. >> I have a question. >> Now, we're Can I finish? >> We're talking about stuff that's not on the agenda right now. >> Can I finish? >> We're talking about parent meetings, but >> Can I finish? Yeah. So, I'm thanking >> like a rebuttal I'm hearing that the superintendent tells the community s I don't know

051why we're doing that. >> So, Miss Boras, again, I want to thank you for the feedback that you have received. In speaking of family engagement, I do want to thank you for that uh because you have provided that feedback. I also want to enter for the public record. Any item that's brought to the board must follow be local. So, I do want to enter that. And so, I look forward to our next meeting because I know we're we're in the middle of scheduling one. Uh, and I would like to share that information with the board. That's what I I mean with with you and the other members that are coming. I do want to share that. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you both of you. >> I just want to ask the

052attorney because now feels like a debate from public comment to the superintendent. So I just >> Mr. Cruz I know, but then we're talking about non-aggenda items, talking about meetings with the superintendent when that's not on the agenda. So, that's why I'm concerned. He seems pretty hostile saying that telling the first speaker, if we're going there, I speak on the facts. It just seems like it's out of emotion right now. All right, let's keep going. Um, Miss uh, Valerie Martinez speaking on item 6D. Valerie, are you here? Valerie. Okay, never mind. Keep going. Next uh next speaker, Miss Dora Maldonado. Are you here? Going. Miss Melodya, are you here? There you are. Okay. speaking on item 5 A and 6G. So 5A is continuing credits. 6G is the budget calendar. Okay, you have three minutes.

053Good evening board members and community. My name is Melody Atta and I'm here today as a concerned parent and community advocate who believes in the importance of accountability and ongoing learning for those who lead our district. According to the district's own annual announcement on continuing education for board members, six of the seven trustees, including three of the current board officers, are deficient in the required training on evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. This is one of the most critical areas of training because it de directly affects how we measure progress, support teachers, and ensure that every child in Edgewood ISD is learning and thriving. In addition, two trustees are deficient in required school safety training. In today's environment where the student and staff safety must always come first, that is deeply troubling. These trainings

054aren't optional. They are required by the state board of education for a reason. They represent the basic expectations of service, leadership, and responsibility to the students and families of this community. I want to take a moment to recognize and sincerely thank Trustee Michael Valdez who has not only completed all the required requirements but has exceeded them by over 78 hours. That level of commitment sets an example for the rest of this board and shows what it means to take this row seriously. I urge this board to reflect on the deficiencies, prioritize completion of all required trainings immediately, and recommmit to the professional standards our students deserve and which you, each one of you, took an oath to. Continuing education is not just a check box. It's a reflection of our dedication to doing what's best

055for children. I also want to speak about 2026 2027 budget timeline that was presented or will be presented. While the timeline itself follows TEA requirements and includes multiple workshops and hearings, it doesn't include any structured opportunity for parents or community members to participate in shaping the budget priorities. True transparency means more than posting dates. It means opening the process th to those most affected by decisions. Our community deserves budget and facilities advisory committee that includes parents, staff, and residents to help identify priorities like repairing aging schools, addressing maintenance needs, maintenance needs, and planning for the district's vacant properties. These decisions impact safety, learning conditions, and future of our neighborhoods, including the community early in the process. will build trust and ensure that every dollar is spent where it's most needed on our students and their

056schools. Please give the numerous parents and community members who have signed the voices of Edwood petition the opportunity present as other organizations have been able to do so. Stop creating barriers for families to make public comment. This should have been the first item on the agenda. Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am. So, I do want to address again um an item for uh the record, not not necessarily the item with the school board. That is that is not something that I'm going to comment on. But I in the spirit of transparency, which we are reminded of, uh the budget process that we bring to the board uh that we ask the board to approve, I want to be very clear that is not a requirement of the state. We do that in addition to the

057work that the board does so that it is out there in the public. in terms of u the invitation that I gave earlier about coming to workshops. The workshops are an opportunity to come in and listen to the information that is shared with the board as well. So again uh speaking factually I want to make sure that if you would like to participate in those discussions that is what the workshops are for. The other thing that I also want to bring to the attention we have a united voices council. You heard earlier that was highlighted. One of the main objectives of that group is to receive training so that in the year 2027 when the 90th state legislator meets again, our goal is to train this group and future groups to take them up to

058Austin and learn to advocate on behalf of our school district. Even though we may be a school district that is small, one of our goals is to train individuals so that they can go up and speak. This isn't something that um I didn't learn without researching with our elected officials. So again, I do want to speak with facts, but again, transparency is important. Uh I would ask anyone who has questions, ask directly. That's what the workshops are for. And so, u Thank you. I want to add that to the to the minutes, please. >> All righty, sir. Thank you. And that was our last speaker. So now we move to Mr. George Garnica. Right. Okay. Mr. George Garna. I'm sorry. George Kanika, thank you. Thank you for creating family and community engagement and guidance uh

059and guidance in counseling. >> Uh good evening. I want to thank the opport or take this opportunity to thank Dr. Hernandez, superintendent of schools, our board president, Dr. James Hernandez, and our board of trustees uh for the opportunity to be here this evening. Uh I'm excited to share with with you our newest initiative, which is the parent conversations with Dr. Hernandez. Uh, this initiative is designed to strengthen the connections between our district leadership and our families, creating meaningful spaces to listen, learn, engage directly with the community. Our intended outcomes for this evening are purpose of parent conversations, discussion topics, impact of parent conversations, and our next step. At the heart of this initiative is our belief that when schools and families work hand in hand, students thrive. These conversations give us a chance to build

060real relationships, not just through surveys or emails, but through face-to-face dialogue. It's about creating a stronger, more united EISD family. We are working together, building real connections between our schools and families so students feel that united support. We want families to be heard on the issues that matter most, safety, mental health, and student progress. These conversations give parents a clear, direct line to district leadership, ensuring their ideas don't get lost. What we hear will help us build more open, responsive systems across EISP. theory of these conversations. The topics that we cover are mental health and bullying prevention, school safety and preparedness, academic accountability and student progress, parent portal and attendance, and then we have open dialogue and shared family experiences. At this time, I'm going to bring up my partner here, Manuela Habber, to go

061ahead and talk about mental health and bullying. Good evening. Manuela Hover, director of guidance and counseling here in Edwood. These parent meetings have provided a great opportunity for myself as a new director to meet some of our parents. Um, as a school principal, I took great pride in always greeting my parents at arrival and dismissal so that they knew where I was, so that I was visible, so that I made that connection. And so I really appreciated the opportunity to join Superintendent Adnandez in his parent meetings uh at various schools throughout our Edgewood community so that I can meet these parents so that they know who I am and that they know that I'm here to serve um in whatever capacity it is that I can help them and their families. Um we have been

062able to have uh this platform so that parents share with us their expectations on how it is that we can support their child and also themselves um and their families whether it's different school stresses, anxiety about friendships. uh bullying of course has been um a big topic and also um making that connection between emotional well-being as well as school safety. Um in our presentations I always present after or before uh Chief Koga uh and that way they make the connection in um how it is that we work together and collaboratively with um our school law enforcement in um situations where there be a heightened um crisis for a student. Also that we work together on topics such as bullying um that we work on preventing bullying, we work on responding bullying and of course prevention.

063And so um we definitely want both our students and our families to feel physically safe uh in our campuses and then also that that emotional well-being of our students uh being so that they can succeed in academic. Don't just focus on uh improving academic achievement but that so that our students feel emotionally ready and socially ready for those next steps in their in their school careers and eventually their their um their pathways, their careers. The parents um as I mentioned have been able to um tell us about their concerns and worrying uh around bullying. And so we've been able to speak to the parents and and show them how it is that we equipped and empower their student um to be able to um respond appropriately when they are being bullied or perhaps when they

064witness uh somebody being bullied as well as the different tell them about the different workshops that we have for parents so that parents are aware of how they can communicate with their children when their children are faced in a situation where they're seeing happening. They're not comfortable with it and who are the adults around that can help them with those problems. Um we've also um invited them and we invite you all on the 30th of this month. We will be having a mental health summit along with our trunk or treat where we will be having a presentation given by Dev David's Legacy where again um you know parents will hear about the different ways that um they can be empowered to do something uh whether at the school level at the legal level with um

065our municipal courts um where they are faced their families faced with a situation where bullying is is happening. Um and most importantly um I have felt that these conversations have been crucial in us helping our community break down some barriers that we have around the topic of mental health. um by having these conversations, whether it's anxiety that they're seeing in their homes, whether it's nervousness, whether it is bullying, um or whatever it might be that is taking away that of mind um from their student or from themselves. Um and so that, you know, we are more open in helping them, that they're more open in contacting us when we can be of help with whatever small anxiety or bigger problem that um it's okay in Edgewood to about mental wellbeing and that we're here to

066serve. >> Thank you. And this is her contact information. So if anybody in the audience you can reach out to her uh email, her phone number and of course her social media platforms. Uh the next topic that we discuss with parents is school safety and preparedness. Some of the topics that have arised during this conversation are about school in or secure entrances, drills and crisis communication. Uh parents want to feel confident that our schools are secure. Uh they share concerns and ideas about entrances. Again, emergency drills and how we communicate during the crisis. Uh families also see safety as a shared responsibility. That's something that we hear often uh in the last five parent conversations that we have that they know parents know that this is a a team effort. Uh they offered ideas of

067how we can work together to keep students safe on and off campus. Uh parents also reminded us that safety isn't just about procedures. It's about creating a school environment where students and families feel that they belong and are safe. Next we talk about academic accountability and the parent portal. Uh what we're getting a lot from parents is that they want a clear picture of how their children are doing. Uh not just grades but uh real understanding of progress. So so reminding them that parent portal is there and is a tool for them to get uh this information is something that we really really make sure we want to communicate with parents. Uh they also want more resources and information. Families are asking for easy to access tools and support so they can help their students

068succeed at home. And we also discussed with parents the importance of attendance. Uh and parents recognize that attendance as a key part of student success and reaching 92% is a shared commitment between schools and families. So the 92% is the goal that 92% or over is the goal that campuses have for student attendance. So now let's talk a little bit about the impact of parent conversations. Uh the most powerful changes in a school district don't always start in boardrooms. Uh they often begin at kitchen tables or in this case in our campus libraries during these real conversations with families. Uh the impact that we seek is to build stronger partnerships with families and students. Uh we want families and students to be true partners in shaping their school experience. Uh this means moving beyond one-way

069communication to real collaboration. We also want to strengthen trust through open communication and transparency. Uh trust grows when families feel informed and heard. Open communication helps us build that foundation. We will also look uh to use the parent and student feedback to shape district priorities. Uh the feedback we hear in these conversations isn't just noted, it guides where we focus our energy and our resources. Uh we also want to align leadership uh decisions with real time community needs. This is about making our our district decisions reflect what our families are telling us now, not just what we think they need to hear. So where do we go from here? Of course, we want to continue parent conversations at campuses across EISD. So, we're going to keep these conversations going on at every campus so more

070families have a voice and a direct line to district leadership. We also want to analyze and synthesize feedback into actionable things for leadership. Uh we're not just collecting feedback. Uh we will turn what families share into clear priorities and next steps for our leadership teams. We will also track and communicate outcomes to families and students. Uh it's important important that families see results. We'll track what's discussed, what's acted on, and keep everyone informed. We also want to strengthen connection between partners, guardians, and community. Uh so we'll keep building bridges by creating more opportunities for dialogue and connection, ensuring families stay engaged and heard. So now you might be asking, how do I stay connected? Uh staying connected with our families is at the heart of building strong partnerships. One of the best ways to do

071that is by making sure everyone knows where to find information and opportunities uh to get involved. Uh as most of you know, we use social media platforms to share updates, events, and resources to families so they can stay informed and engaged. Another great way to stay connected is through our district website. So, as you can see on this graphic, at the top right hand corner of the IC website, you will now find a direct link to our district event calendar. It's always been on the website uh but it's been lower on the page. So we decided to move it to the top right hand uh corner of the website for easier access. Um so again this is going to be a easy way for our families to see upcoming opportunities to participate, learn and be

072part uh of the conversation. So with that being said, I do want to share some ways that um we are engaging with our families. Tomorrow we're having a session uh at the Emma Fry service center uh with a presentation with one of our community partners, Good Samaritan. And of course it's in line with October being uh anti-bullying prevention month. So they'll be doing a presentation on stop bullying. Now on Friday we're hosting a coffee chat uh with our EIS behavior specialist Ernest Lopez and he's doing a session on bullying unmasked identifying the characteristics of a bully. And we want to thank Henry Gonzalez for hosting this for us. Something you you're going to see is that our sessions are moving from Emma Fry to different locations throughout uh the district. Last week we had a

073session over at Berles and we thank Berles for allowing us to be there. And then as Manuela said on the 30th we are having an EICO trunk retreat which is going to be a no bullying summit and resource fair. This is in partnership with family engagement uh our guidance and counseling department and also our CTE program. So, we're going to have, of course, resources, an early college high school showcase, a CT expo, and then, of course, all the fun with the entertainment and the trunkers. So, we hope you can join us. Uh, we also want to make sure that we thank our partners. We couldn't do the work we do without community partners with their support and inputs. uh their commitment to our students and families helps us build stronger schools and stronger community by

074providing vital resources and services to families supported events and initiatives across the district. Uh they are also able to share their experience and their expertise and they also strengthen trust and connection between schools and the community. So uh we do thank our partners uh for their continued support. If you're a partner or Novo partner that is looking to partner with Edwood IC, please uh direct them over to my office and you can find me at the I'm now at the staffer ECC center which is located at 611 Southwest 36th Street and you will see my phone number and my email address. So again, thank you so much to Dr. Hernandez, our superintendent, our board of trustees for allowing me to come here and share about our superintendent conversations with our parents. So, at this time,

075I'll entertain any question that you might have. >> Thank you, sir. Are there any questions from the board? >> I just have one comment. Um, but I also want to say thank you to the family engagement and the counseling department for everything you're doing for our students and families. Um, when you click the district events, uh, it automatically goes to the by month, but maybe it automatically pop up as the upcoming events tab. So, we'll have to see like events from earlier this month that passed. >> Okay. I can definitely talk with Lauren to see if that's an option uh with our website. Okay. Any other questions or comments from the board? >> Okay. Thank I was going to just mention something for those that um for those parents that you know do want to

076you know help us spread the word like please let them know this information um because they might and I'm not saying this to you know this but just anyone who's in the audience um you know if there are questions please direct them to our website and if there are like like Mr. has mentioned if there are ways we can improve the website, please let us know. Please, you know, email um well, I'm not going to say who to email, but is it okay if they email? Yes, they can. Okay, please, you know, email the the the family and um the family and community engagement. >> And Dr. just just so you know, some of the changes that have been made on the website are because of input from the community. Yes. And from parents. So,

077uh as you said, anytime that a community member or a parent, uh has any feedback or input, we do welcome that because we think it's important. We want the information to be easily available for families. >> Yes, sir. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh Joey, if we can bring up the next presentation, it's mine and I'm going to I'm not I'm going to go quickly through mine because I know we have one more from the board president and then uh we'll move on. >> I forgot to say something. Oh, yes. Let me go back. I'm going to take it back from me. Um I just want to mention the um I just want to thank the board members because I know uh this past month

078was we had a lot of community events. Um and we had a lot of participation at our workshops. Um so we've had parent meetings. Uh we have community meetings. We've had um trainings, various trainings throughout the uh throughout the month, every month, but this month in particular. Uh I do want to mention I I was able to attend the uh the United Voices Council meeting. Uh that one was a really great meeting. uh we met with about what 15 about 15 parents uh community members and they had a lot of great input to to have and I was able to speak to them directly to to encourage them. Again, the two things that you know I'm trying to focus on is that attendance that ADA and and reading to our kids, right? At least 10

079minutes every day. So, um I don't know if any other board members want to mention uh anything they went to the past couple weeks because it is uh community and and family involvement. >> I do if you give me a second here. >> Yes, sir. Um, I I was able to attend with the with the director for the uh special ed and I've got to say kudos to those parents because they are so involved and they will do anything for their kids. It was um amazing to sit there and listen to them um talk about the challenges that their kids have to go through and the accomplishments that they they they've you know they have obtained. So, thank you to those parents and um one other thing um you did mention the Thompson Neighborhood Association,

080which is at my heart. Um so, I'd like to thank the person that put that National Night Out together, which is actually Neighbors Together, and he stood in the audience, uh Joey Sepiano. I can tell you that being the president of that neighborhood association, putting that event together is tremendous. It's a lot of work, and I think he just found out how much work it really is. Um, and and the other entity that I would like to thank is actually the Edward School District for working with us for more than 10 years to put on an amazing an amazing national night out neighbors together. >> Thank you. Um, anyone else want to say anything or >> Oh, go ahead. >> I would like to um I was invited to some of these parent meetings and

081I was really amazed at how positive these parents are. They're excited. they want to work to uh improve their children's situation and they asked us for things and we um were working on some of those things that they asked for and I just was so excited to see so many parents that are positive about their children's future and education here in Ed. >> Thank you. >> I just want to first uh thank the superintendent for inviting me to Henry B. Gonzalez to the parent conversation and to morning duty. It was nice um seeing being being on the school on the school grounds greeting the students in the morning and uh walking through the campus. I believe uh it was district of innovation teachers I saw. Yes. Um so it was nice seeing um the great

082things we're doing in our school district and I also attended the fine arts academy play of Hades Town. It was nice uh seeing the students perform, seeing the new equipment that the board authorized uh for the theater. Um I also went to the the national night out the family service center with the superintendent. So it's nice seeing all great great events and great things going on in our district. Thank you. >> Okay, if there's no no other comments, Miss Dr. Anandis, go ahead. >> Okay, and before I get started, I want to thank every single board member up here. Um I want to thank you guys because you've either come to uh morning duty like Mr. Vade said uh our parent morning meetings which we have been very well attended our united voices council the

083board president mentioned that he came to that the superintendent's learning network those are the lunchons with the kids we started at Las Palmas we had a great turnout of parents afterwards first we meet with the students then the parents come in the second hour so that was a great number of kids so thank you to Dr. from sitting here. Um and and that school um and then the other meeting we had I'm forgetting something but I know again to all the board members including those of you who throughout the school year dropping off supplies Mr. Wes thank you for dropping off the supplies that you brought in for our our new teacher. I know you and I had talked about that. Thank you for dropping that off. Um those are important things and and so

084with that said um one of my highlights for the board meetings are always around well there we go are always around the work of the board and so you've heard me talk about all these things some of these things o over what I do want to highlight to you based on feedback that I've received from all board members including those who speak in public comment is to be transparent about the questions that board members are asking before we get to a board meeting and and then the actual workshop video. So you can look those up. They are linked there. All the questions that we get from the moment that we have officers meeting to set the agenda to also the actual meeting. So I think that's important that we share that and I will make

085a a promise that we will continue to add those to all my presentations when we're at this meeting. U this is part of the work the board does monthly. This will show you all the information the board gets before they come to tonight uh to consider a vote. It's part of our work with making sure that all students graduate on time, ready for college, career, or military uh readiness. And then with regards to our meetings in the morning. So again, these are what you'll find in these pictures is that these are the actual pictures from the board meetings. I'm all about putting the actual pictures and this is from Roosevelt. And so again, I want to thank um our family services director, our director of counseling, our chief of police because they're part of my

086running show. when we come in, we talk about topics that community members at specific schools. So, we want to be real specific about what they're asking for are asking us to talk about. So, again, this is just an example of how we start our meetings. But this is where I want to bring your attention to. So, we actually do stakeholder surveys on what parents are saying to us that they believe we are working at that's working and then what's not working in the school. when I get up and speak to them, I speak to those three things. These are the things you told us in a stakeholder survey that you think we should continue to do, but we want to know about instruction no matter where it is. But back to that transparency piece, we

087want to know about safety and we want to improve communication and not just between you and us. And I love this about our parents. It is our responsibility too to communicate with you. I see some of my folks head shaking because they're hearing this. Trustees, you heard this in English and Spanish at our meetings. So know that this is how I start our meetings. We talk about the hard facts. So this is the score that Henry B has right now. This isn't a big secret kept away. This is actually put out there. This is what we talk about. Parents ask, "How can we make this better?" And first thing I say is, "Send your babies to school. We need them at school." So we talk about all the things that they could be doing. And

088we ask directly, is your child doing better since they started at the school? Trustees, you all sat there and heard different parents speak to that. I'll leave that there. The third thing we talk about is the safety and security of the school. Recently, OBJ and Berles passed their state test, not cuz we do them. The state comes in and does these. What you see there are the three things that they look at. I'm not saying we're perfect cuz we're not. Mr. will tell you we had a few issues come up with one camera. We fixed it. Did he hold us accountable right there? Yes, he did. And if I'm blind, he can tell you right now because that is part of why I invite the trustees to the meetings. It's important that they hear not

089from the superintendent that they hear from the horse's mouth, the people that are at these meetings that are at the school every day. It is important that they hear from them. The other thing we talk about is with the children. This is from Las Palmas's meeting. This is the girls talking. The picture you see there are all the parents that showed up. These are all the parents they came in and know folks they do not come in and say how everything's great only. They also talk about we expect this, we expect that. But here's our part too. And so it's important and I will keep sharing this because it is important. Again, we have a lot of parents in the district and just because they're not here doesn't mean what they say is not valued.

090So again, as part of those conversations, trustees are invited to this conversation too. We're rotating them through. I know trustees have other responsibilities and jobs. Want to respect that. Uh but again, these are going to continue throughout the school year. You know, we open it up for open discussion about the things that are on their mind. So, this is where the children leave and now it's just me and the parents. What is is this what you're hearing at school at home and how are we doing? So, it's important that these venues are there for parents to speak up about what's happening in their school. You know, I like to focus on the things that are happening in our school. Did I don't know if you know this, but our memorial band, the pride of the

091west side, just made state competition. They're headed over to Corpus this Saturday, uh, last week. Area competition. Thank you, Lauren. I saw your face. And so, um, yes, they made the local competition. They've moved on to the area that involves all this part of Texas. They're going to be out in Corpus Christie on Saturday. So, thank you to Mr. Lugo, who I saw earlier, but he's not here anymore. Uh, Dr. Montalo, which is our our headband director, our principal, everybody that works at getting these groups there, including our boosters. I got to meet them at the National Night Out that we were out at all these different events, both the Kennedy and Memorial. Guys, these are folks that have jobs, have kids, responsibilities, and they're still running our boosters. Our former band members, Mr. Gomez

092and Mr. uh I just forgot his name, Mr. Mr. were boosters for years for our school district. And so again, this is important because this is the things that I want to focus on. John F. Kennedy improved their rating from last year. They didn't make it to area, but we already see major improvements here. And so I still highlight, remember, one of our three values is growth. People matter, growth value, growth matters, and goals matter. And our kids love to see themselves put out there. So again, uh, attendance. These are the campuses that are reaching that 92% goal. You can see that this is not new. I'm putting it out there. And this is the superintendent community council. You're going to see pictures of people that are working with the parents as well as our

093parent group. Some of our parents are here. I see a couple of you here that were at that meeting. So again, continue to work with us. Continue to share with us your expectations, but also bring solutions. We got to work on those together. And so again, these are all happening through the board members. Mr. Mr. Delado, thank you for attending the LPJ parent meeting. To Mr. Spinosa, Mr. um Lopez, thank you for coming to the Stafford meeting. To Mr. Valdes and Miss Castillia, thank you for coming to the HBG meeting. Those are still happening. Again, George, thank you for putting this together for us and getting it moving on. You've already heard about this, so I'm not going to spend any time here. Uh but this is the other thing that I want to share

094as part of our bullying initiative and this is something I'm going to continue to to say. The responsibility of making sure that our children are being educated and our parents lies both with us and it lies with people at home. I'm going to say that. I've said that in numeral places and I own that. We are inviting parents to join us for our first ever parent book study on this wonderful book that someone brought to me called The Anxious Generation. This is a great read that we are going to dedicate time u working with our parents for the next year because we're going to have multiple meetings uh at different times. So we cover parents schedules sometimes in the evening sometimes in the summer during the day because this is a book that I really

095feel is going to help us better understand the children that are sitting in front of us who are feeling tied to these kinds of things right here that I'm holding up. That's where their bullying start. So, we've got to make sure we are better educated and that's part of the work of the United Voices Council. And so, again, Mr. Valdez, thank you for highlighting the board's work around the improvement to the facilities at the Performing Arts Center that was brought up years ago by one of the team boards. This board voted to approve it. It just happened. Thank you to Mr. Williams and the men and women in the operations department for making this happen, as well as our finance team. But this is what Mr. Valdez was alluding to earlier. These are the pictures

096from our event last week. I want to thank Gloria Nino. She's not here. She's the one that does these graphics for me because again, my work is to highlight my kids. That is what's important to me. And 30 years of doing this work that still has not changed. And so, thank you to Miss Gastel. I know she's not here anymore, but this doesn't happen without her work and our wonderful new principal at Fine Arts Academy, as well as all the parents who are actually volunteering that are helping our kids. So, again, thank you to them. You've already heard about the um health fair. It's still our responsibility to take care of our employees. Those are just pictures from that wellness fair. And then you heard about the first rating earlier. Thank you again to our

097team for that. And thank you. At the end, you're going to see a lot of resources. I'm not going to go over them. They're there. But I will tell this this uh group later on you will be able to hit that QR code and all the presentations right Ameilia will be there for you. They're one collected place. Thank you. So that you can get those later. Those will be up there for you and thank you. That also came from input from from our community. So I thank them and Mr. President, I will turn it back over to you unless a board member has a comment about you. Any comments? Go ahead questions. >> All right. >> So um first of all I would like to commend you Dr. Ernades because when we went to Las

098Palmas, I teach um leadership and the first module that I teach is communication and the higher percentage of communication is listening and what I saw that was being done there with these parents. We were listening and that was exciting to see. I want to uh congratulate you Dr. Mos because I was sitting there and it doesn't take a lot of stuff to impress me, right? But this really impressed me. We were sitting waiting. Okay, you can let the parents in. Oh my god, a lot of parents and it took a while for them to finish coming in coming through and I was excited. I was going to meet parents and it was a great meeting. Um they're looking forward to continue working with us and so Dr. Mos, thank you for having such a great

099following because they were there and we that's what we want. Thank you very much and thank you sir for the modeling. Listen. >> Yes. Thank you. Go ahead. >> I want to ask um just because of I believe the pair meetings are at all of our campuses now. Um so is the district going to be like compiling the data or like how can the trustees all of us be aware of like what's happening? So, we're trying to take the approach of actually looking at individual campus needs because um for me to give you a report that's camp districtwide, which you'll find over the next, I'd say between now and June, you're going to find common themes in the stakeholder survey, but I want to also not not steal from our parents the uniqueness of their

100community. Um, Las Palmas is a much different school than is HBG, is our high schools. And so, what I will commit to doing is that I will share it as part of my port report. I will also share it as part of the board update that the board gets. Um, and then of course what I would also share with the community is when parents come in, I started by saying this is how I ground the conversation for the morning. Here's the stakeholder survey you took. Here's what you told us is important to you. And we start from that place because through the trainings that I've received both uh in my line of work, but also and this is the beauty of having seven trustees. you each bring something to the table and I I know

101many years I've talked to Miss Castillia about it. A lot of this is sitting and listening for the superintendent. I don't guide these conversations. I sit there and I listen. Um I also take back feedback. In fact, from the HBG meeting, there was a parent who spoke I think you were there, Mr. Re. Uh a parent spoke about something she saw in the neighborhood that something about regarding children getting in altercations. We looked into it. In fact, that was true. And we've already taken action on that. And so, again, I want to make sure that we protect the uniqueness of each individual campus. And I will share those with you. You guys in the board update and in this board report and of course with our principles because they also remember it's not just the

102superintendent meeting. Principles have ongoing meetings. If you're following me on Twitter, there's data nights, there's report card evenings. The high schools are having those. Um there's lots of opportunities for parents to speak and so I want to make sure I >> also want to say um I think for the the link on the presentation where it has the trustee questions I think you have to like log in so I don't know like if we can fix that. >> Okay I'll make sure captures that. We catch that m but we'll probably have to put a PDF or something as opposed to getting into the system. Thank you Mr. Be. >> Yes. I also want to um mayor what actually both of you had mentioned when we were planning these because these were these don't just we

103don't just plan these overnight like this this has been months and sometimes years of planning um something very important to me is that data is is what are we collecting but then the next step is what do we do with it so right we're in the data collection stage um but it will come to us as as the board you know when when uh Dr. H and his team uh compiles it and then makes uh recommendations so that is that I've that I've since the beginning if we're going to do something we need to collect data on everything whether it's a meeting whether it's a um you know a community event um and anything we need to be collecting data and and acting on it so I appreciate that that comment but that is something

104uh that is something really um important to me >> and I thank both board members for sharing that comment all of you who spoke u because my team is also here my team is listening and so um no one person uh works alone and so thank you much appreciate and well received. I can receive your feedback. >> Any other comments or questions from the board? Okay. If that's the call for your report. Okay. I turn again. So, our next agenda item is a school board continuing education credits. Do I have to read this? This is uh from from the state board of education. I need to read it exactly how it is. So, here we go. Under state board of education rule, completing requirement required education each year of service is a basic obligation and

105expectation of any sitting board member. As board president, I am required to announce the name of each member who has completed the required continuing education, has exceeded the required continuing education, and is deficient in meeting that required continuing education. The requirements for training are measured as as of the first anniversary of the date of the trustes election or appointment or two-year anniversary of his or her previous training as applicable. There are eight training areas for board members continuing education. Excuse me. Number one, local district orientation. Number two, orientation to the Texas Education Code. Number three, post legislative update to the Texas Education Code. Number four, team building. Number five, additional continuing education. Number six, evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. Number seven, identifying and reporting abuse, trafficking, and other maltreatment of children. And number

106eight, school safety to the extent applicable to each board member. I will announce the completion or deficiency as is as to each required training. And this is as of October 15, 2025. Just so you all know. All right. For members who still have time remaining to complete the required trainings, I will announce those board members who have scheduled timely training and those who have not yet uh scheduled training. At the conclusion of this announcement, I will announce any board members training in excess of the continuing education requirements. All right. Number one, local district orientation. The following first year board members have completed the local district orientation training. Mr. Rudy Lopez and Mr. Sergio Delgado. Congratulations. Yeah, they're new. Good job. All right. Yeah, it's good. Uh, number two, orientation to the education code. The following

107first year board members have completed the orientation to the Texas Education Code training. Mr. Rudy Lopez, Mr. Sergio Delgado. Congratulations. All right. Number three, post legislative update to the Texas Education Code. The following board members have completed post- legislative updates to the Texas Education Code training. Dr. James Hernandez, Martha Castillia, Frank Espinosa, Luis Gomez, Rudy Lopez, and Sergio Galgado. The following board members are deficient in the meeting of the required post- legislative update to the Texas Education Code Training. Mr. Michael Valdez. The following board members have time remaining to complete the post- legislative update to the Texas Education Code and have not yet scheduled this training. Mr. Michael Valdez. Okay. Number four, team building. The following board members have completed the annual team building training. Dr. James Hernandez, Martha Castillia, Frank Espinosa, Luis Gomez, Rudy

108Lopez, Michael Valdez, Sergio Delgado, and Dr. Eduardo Hernandez. Oh, as a side note, all trustees have participated in six additional hours of team building training. Hey, number five, additional training hours. I'm sorry, additional continuing education. Note, 10 hours for firstear members and five hours for subsequent members. The following board members have completed the additional continuing education requirements. Rudy Lopez, Sergio Delgado, Dr. James Hernandez, Luis Gomez, and Michael Valdez. The following board members are deficient in meeting the the additional continuing education requirements. Mr. Frank Espinosa and Mrs. Martha Castillia. The following board members have time remaining to complete the additional continuing education requirements and have not yet scheduled this training. Mr. Frank Espinosa and Miss Martha Castillia. Okay. Number six, evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. The following board members have completed the bianial training

109on evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. Mr. Michael Valdez. The following board members are deficient in meeting the required bianial evaluation evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. Mr. Rudy Lopez, Mr. Sergio Delgado, Mr. Frank Espinosa, Dr. Mr. James Hernandez, Mr. Luis Gomez, and Miss Martha Castillia. The following board members have scheduled training to timely complete the banual training on evaluating student academic performance and setting goals. Mr. Rudy Lopez, Mr. Sergio Degalo, and Miss Martha Castillia. The following board members have time remaining to complete the bianual training on evaluating student academic performance and setting goals and have not yet scheduled this training. Mr. Frank Espinosa, Dr. James Hernandez, and Mr. Luis Gomez. Number seven, identifying and reporting abuse, trafficking, and other malreatment of children. The following board members have completed the bannual training on

110identifying and reporting abuse, trafficking, and other malreatment of children. Mr. Rudy Lopez, Mr. Serg Sergio Degavo, Mr. Frank Pinosa, Dr. James Hernandez, Mr. Luis Gomez, Miss Martha Castillia, and Mr. Michael Valdez. School safety number eight, school safety. The following board members have completed the bannual training on school safety. Mr. Sergio Delgado, Mr. Frank Espinosa, Dr. James Hernandez, Miss Martha Castillia, and Mr. Michael Valdez. The following board members are deficient in meeting the bianial training on school safety. Mr. Rudy Lopez and Mr. Dr. Luis Gomez. Number nine, exceeding required continuing education uh continuing education. Board member Dr. James Hernandez exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 31.25 additional hours. Board member Martha Castillia exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by zero hours. Board member Mr. Frank Espinosa exceeded the required amount of

111continuing education training by zero hours. Board member Luis Gomez exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by two hours. Board member Rudy Lopez exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 9 hours. Board member Michael Valdez exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 74.16 additional hours. Board member Sergio Delgado exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 16 hours. And that is the end of my report. Okay. Now we move on to our >> Yes sir. >> You have a comment? >> I just wanted to say for mine I would like to in enter into the record that I've completed the 87th legislative session of the training that I said I was deficient on August 20th, 2025. Again, I want to in uh put this document into the public record

112that I've completed my training. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Have you submitted them to our board manager? >> I did send an email, but I have it printed here to give to you, the superintendent, and Amelia. >> Awesome. Thank you. We'll update that. All right. And our uh next agenda agenda item is the 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 and 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 as presented? Consent agenda item A through P. >> Mr. President. >> Yes.

113Uh when uh yes, it's A through P. Go ahead, sir. >> I move to approve our consent agenda items A through P. >> Okay. Mr. Roz motions. Is there a second? >> I second. Miss Martha Castillia 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. The time is now 7:54 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. Thank you. I need a time. The time is now 8:11 p.m. and the Edgewood Independent School District School

114Board reconvenes from close session. Is there a Is there a motion um for item 8A? >> Mr. President, on item 8 A, I move to authorize district administration to file a complaint with SBEC for contract abandonment against Natalie Diaz Dejon. >> Thank you, sir. Mr. Espino some motions. Is there a second? >> Mr. Delgado seconds. Is there any discussion? All right. Right. 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. >> Is there a motion regarding item 8B? >> Mr. President, I move to accept the superintendent's recommendation to hire non-certified educator as discussed in close session. >> Thank you, sir. Min motion. Is there

115a second? Second, >> Mr. Valdez seconds. Is there any discussion? >> Mr. I just want to wish her uh congratulations. >> Okay. Thank you. >> 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 who are abstaining, raise your hand and say abstain. Motion passes. Motion carries. Now that's it. Okay. The time is now 8:12 p.m. Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Mr. Gomez motions. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Valdez second. Is there any discussion? >> Real quick, Mr. President. >> Yes, sir. Go ahead. >> Um, I just want to thank Mr. Gomez for being here. Um, happy birthday to your daughter, sir. Uh, you and your family will wish you

116the best. That's it. >> Okay. Thank you, sir. All right. If we have no more discussion, all those in favor raise your hand and say I. >> I. All those opposed, raise your hand and say nay. Okay, motion carries. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you, >> Mr. Breathe.