2026-02-16 Tyler ISD School Board Meeting

001Uh the meeting of the Tylerd board of trustees has been called to order and we have a presence of a quorum. It has been duly called and the notice of the meeting has been posted in the time and manner required. Uh first up is uh public participation which I believe we have none. Next up we have continuous improvement in student outcomes. >> Yes ma'am. acting uh president. We now have continuous improvement student outcomes. We have a next is now preview of the 1882 partnership with the University of Texas at Tyler with select campuses. We have Dr. Bobby Markle, chief innovation officer that will guide us through that presentation. I believe all technology is working and we're going to turn it over to you Dr. Mark. >> Thank you. Good early evening board sitting president tonight,

002Miss Harrison. And Dr. Crawford, it's honored to be here tonight to update you on some Nexus. Now, like any good presentation, I'm not going to read it for you, but we'll go over the highlights and then answer questions at the end. So, this is our 1882 partnership. It is a redesigned forward-looking collaboration with Tyler ISD and University of Texas at Tyler. A part of this was a call for quality schools when we did our presentation. UT Tyler was one of the uh entities that did uh answer that call and that's why we have gotten into an agreement with them and we're going to continue to work on that agreement through the end of our application process that I'll talk about in just a minute. So what next [clears throat] is now 188 partnership is guided

003by these core values. Um the main things we want to really focus on is this is about students. We want to make sure that our students have a pipeline into various industries starting at an early age. And so one of those would be biomedical science um through UT Tyler Health uh that side of UT Tyler and then as well as clinical preparations for teachers. And so we want to actually engage our students early on to see that teaching is a great profession that they can might be able to see themselves in as a part of our grow our own practices here in Tyler ISD. So you can see the other things that we're looking for in these partnerships, but those would be the two main highlights that I want to point out on this slide

004[clears throat] as it relates to what makes this partnership distinct is my whole thing would be local. We wanted a partnership that really brought together this community. Tyler is in both of our names. Tyler is our hometown. Um, we've said it's our hometown district, but it is our hometown um, place where education should be seen as something really, really special. So, we believe that together we will really elevate our stature in education and bring something very different that nobody's ever seen in a community like Tyler across the state. 42627 we are going to slow roll our partnership alongside UT Tyler at three schools Pete Clarkston and Bonner. At Pete we are going to be targeting early literacy teacher prep program. At Clarkston we will be honor uh targeting a residency teacher prep prep program for

005K through or preK through five. And at Bonner we will be targeting the biomed science program um with that partnership with UT health. Our main thing is we really want the collaboration to be intentional and aligned to both values of each core organization. So as we get into our performance agreement, um we will definitely outline further for y'all how that will work. But the main thing is to give students experiences in both of those two major categories I talked about, biomedical science and teacher preparation. So there's your brief overview of where we are with 1882, the three targeted schools. and I can now answer any questions you might have. >> Any questions or comments? >> I've got a few. Uh, Madam Chair lady, >> thank you. Uh, Mr. Markle, on the 1882 partnership, I guess,

006and we've bounced this around before, the [snorts] first year we go at it on our own. Is that correct as far as the the funding and all of that and got to prove up a year? And then after that is when that extra funding comes in. Is that correct? >> So no sir. Um I know we bounced around a few things. 1882 was one of those. The other one you're talking about is the resource a lot. The resource aotment is another um strategy that is housed in Austin at the Texas Education Agency that was uh placed at at Austin that you have to go at it on your own the first year to be eligible to apply for that in the second year. Um, that's where we'll talk about what we're going to do at

007Bolter for the next uh the next president. >> That'll be the component at Bolter. This Do we get the funding right off the bat? Then the 188 >> This is an 1882 partnership and we're still working through that agreement. Um, our attorneys have had a chance to look at it. UT Tyler's attorneys have a chance to look at as well. We've also have some agency uh interpretations that we're working through as well that we should be able to bring something back to y'all at the March board meeting for the 1882 actual uh performance agreement. That's the name of it, rather. Nomenclature on there as well. Um there's there's some things that have been at play on this. Um we could have considered what we were what we're going to do on the next presentation at

008one of our middle school campuses to be included in this along with some other campuses. Um but the weight uh and the lift of this uh does not scare us in Tyler ISD, but there you can understand at UT Tyler, they're a little hesitant with that. They're going through a dean search right now. uh they think that these three campuses with these three strategies are what they can handle in the first year of 1882 with some opportunities down the road to open up some other doors for us to work with us as well. >> So go ahead. >> So and I get that on the Pete and the Clarkson. Those are going to be kind of teacher prep type of deal. So that's going to address it directly with UT Tyler >> early on. Yes

009sir. >> And then talk to me about the biomed at Bonner. Why what what triggered that? Well, certainly location, location, location is certainly something that we're taking a look at. It's it's it's got its academics in order. We know that it's an A-rated campus. Uh we've got Christristus and UT Health right there in our backyard right there that we're going to be able to capitalize on as well. So, it made a little bit more sense for us right there because of their stability. We did consider the other elementary campus that's in proximity to that being Bell as well. Um but we might save them for another strategy down the road. And then you also have Moore that's right next door. it it does have its MST designation for math, science, and technology with some opportunities

010in there to do some biomed uh strategies in there as well. The reason we're having to do this is we don't have a standalone campus here. We are actually easing into this biomed magnet. So, you're going to do a school within a school concept here. It may not be a schoolwide thing right off the bat from my understanding, Dr. Markle, but we will certainly have some STEM and some biomed opportunities for the kids in there. So, you should be seeing some, you know, um, third through fifth graders walking around in some white lab coats at at Bonner here pretty soon. >> So, the 1882 money is not just specifically for schools that are challenged academically. We can actually throw schools in there that are doing great academically like Bonner. >> Yeah. I mean, that's some

011strategies that you're starting to see in some school districts that value innovation just like Tyler ISD has always the most the largest one you've seen in the paper. Houston ISD is also considering the same strategy with some of their magnetized schools as well because they've got some creative things that are going on in Houston ISD just like we're we do here and what we're going to embark upon here um shortly and the understanding is since the state is no longer providing us with basic aotment money that they're actually being housed in all the a lotments in the agency now as opposed to just the legislature writing checks to schools. this is how you go grab those additional funds so that you can actually do some of these innovative uh programs for uh the benefits of

012students. And so it's exciting. I mean there's no doubt about it. Uh but the funding of it is a concern. Uh there's some governance structuring that needs to occur as well. We can also take a question about that if you have anything in in regard to that. >> I do just finishing up two the last two and I know one is probably for down the road. whenever you guys get your numbers together as the amount of proposed additional funding that we'd receive from 1882. I'd like to see that. And then the last component which you were just talking about is the governance board. I know that we're going to have to have some type of governance board underneath us and and will that governance board soup look at all of these different schools or just

013specific school? >> So the way that that governance is structured is actually is not underneath us. It's actually with the partner. >> Okay. >> And so it is a locally designed um board. We've had conversations with Dr. Philly at the University of Texas at Tyler, the president over there. Uh we've we've submitted some names that make a little bit of sense on her end and our end as well. We can talk about those offline if you'd like to because we have not got commitments and we're not we're not there yet. And so that's where the governance would actually stand. Uh a lot of times it's done through a 501c3 partnership. Uh think uh think of the chamber of commerce and its business business education council if they were to do that. Um, this is actually

014different. This is actually going with the University of Texas system uh at University of Texas at Tyler as part of the system that would actually house the governance over there. As far as funding goes, we'll have better numbers for you when actually we come back in March. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, Miss Russell, you want to provide any type of ballpark from what you've done your investigatory work on? >> I think it's going to be around $1,000 per kid add in addition to what we're already receiving for that ADA. So an additional thousand on the ADA >> for just the three schools under the partnership. >> How many kids you think you got at those three school? He knows Dr. Markle >> 1,800. >> There you go. >> We've been talking a

015lot. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So just on those three schools though, right? So when we we initially talked about uh Bolter, we also initially talked about more. We've also initially talked about some other schools as well. Um we feel like that these three again provide a substantial uh benefit financially obviously uh but at the same time with our partner it does not put a whole lot of strain on them as they're embarking on something that's a little bit foreign to them even though they do run some charter uh operations over there. This is actually something that where the that they'll stand um arm-in- arm with us in regard to these campuses >> and you know the goal would be relating to their college of so they have a college of engineering they have

016a college of education the great thing about these partnerships down the road as we understand them better and better we can utilize those resources to directionally do some of those goals. So when we say we're going to go somewhere with this, it's it would really be in relationship to what they're offering to their students as well as what would benefit our students. And so if we can make that happen, then we we increase that pipeline for them. U potentially keeping more kids local, thinking about jobs locally, but thinking about their education locally. And so that's where we're kind of exploring the future. But again, it'll be a soft role with these three schools as we figure it out. Good. Anybody else? >> Thank you. Exciting stuff. Dr. Markle, you're up next. >> All right. Hey,

017thanks for having me again. I'm right here. So, next we're going to talk about another program, not to be confused with 1882. Um, but I do get a lot of questions on that because it is coming out of the next is now shop and the work that we're doing. This is all about the accelerated campus of excellence. If you type in ACE for TEA, you can actually get two different types of ACEs. So, I would highly recommend you make sure you're looking at the Accelerated Campus of Excellence and not the one that's the community and schools because there are two separate programs. So, I get a lot of questions on that. But let's talk about ACE. So, again, you have all the information you need here and I'm going to go over it briefly to

018get to discussion questions. Um, but ACE for us provides a dynamic reform. We want to make sure that the work we do next is now is not just doing the same thing over and over but maybe calling it different. We want to see an impact, a change, something where you physically and uh visually see it see something that we haven't tried. And so in our research over the last semester, we really felt like ACE was an opportunity that the state is granting us to support a campus specifically so that that could be reformed a different way than any other model that we currently have. [clears throat] And so in looking at that, that campus is Bolter. ACE has five pillars that again you can read them all, but I am going to go through each

019one of these independently. So the first one would be strategic staffing. The action we're looking for here is to make sure highquality instructors are in front of students every day. And so ACE does require 50% of those core teachers to be TIA designated. And so as we think about staffing for that campus, we are going to do direct recruiting to make sure that we can really have the best teachers in front of students and compensate those teachers accordingly. And that's where the special compensation packages on the strategic staffing will come into play. The second pillar is instructional excellence. We've alluded to this with Houston ISD. They have their uh NES system, the new educational system. We have the Evergreen systems of excellence. And so essentially, we are going to mirror and adapt their model of

020instruction, which all is about real time teacher proficiency. Not that we don't look at those uh variables here in Tyler ISD, but this is even more strategic. it's more streamlined and it really is about instructional impact on a day-to-day basis, on a time basis. And so, as we get into that further, obviously, we'll we'll communicate more for y'all. We hope all of y'all that haven't seen the model in real time, but you can also see some other actions that are different. Um, diads, this is where we're going to bring in community members to help do special types of electives to give kids opportunities. Um, we're also going to be looking at real-time measurements of the proficiency, like I said, that will help teachers get better faster. And so, you'll hear words like, uh, further faster

021or get better faster. That's what you'll see there. As well as a completely different theory of action on how the instruction is designed. It'll be assign it'll be designed um, locally, but in a strategic group that will only report to those schools. So it'll be a part of our CNI program but but carved out so that this campus will have some people that are responsive. So if it's not working, we don't have to go through a lot of different structures. We can go directly to the source, change it, and let's move on so that those kids can maximize their day-to-day instructional um opportunities. Also looking at extended learning time. This will first start with an ad calendar or additional days of school years. This will come to the board for first reading next month. And

022so, but to give you a preview, uh the state allows you to do adsy. It's up to 30 additional instructional days when you have 175 instructional days uh as your minimum, which we do. And we are going to be looking at on the front end days that only bolter uh students would be impacted by. And so, they would start earlier to get them a jump start. And we'll do some creative things in that. They're going to have to get used to the system. They're going to have to get used to the culture and the climate that'll be different there. They're going to have to get used to the the new staff that are going to have different expectations for them. But then we'll also uh bookend that with some summer ads days which will be

023actually more uh differentiated for students who might need that to continue their practice their mastery. So when we think about adsy there is some flexibility in that but there will be specific days that will extend bolter's uh students opportunities for instruction. And then also student support. This is a huge uh part of the ACE. So in not only adding a counselor there, but also adding an SEAL counselor specifically for those students. And so that way if there are issues coming up with students, we can get them supports they need, but also the goal is to get them right back into the classroom. We want to make sure that no instructional time is wasted for them. And you'll also see a larger impact with the deans of students that'll be located there. So when we're talking

024about either managing behavior, managing uh situations that go on in the school, we will have tiers of that so that the principal can be relieved from those duties as well as the assistant principles. That way they're in classrooms giving teachers feedback immediately and and working on proficiency and letting individuals take care of students needs in this model. And then strong external alignment. The goal that makes anything work is when your external and internal work together. Well, we believe that ACE is going to do that. And so, we're going to work with community partners as well as parents to make sure they understand the vision of this, that they can get on board with this so that they see that the number one thing we're after is their student success. So, the commitment that they put

025into it will show value. And so, when you're saying, "Hey, I'm going to go to Bolter," you're actually making a commitment for your kid just like you would at any of our magnet schools. You know, as being the principal at Caldwell, the number one thing that helped that community thrive is when people made the commitment to go there as a magnet school. You had to give up transportation. So, there are things you're going to have to give up to go to Bolter, but the impact and the success that they're going to have is not one of those. >> Say it again. >> Transportation. >> No, transportation is not one of those. Those are two completely different examples only to make relationship between what I'm trying to get across to y'all. >> [laughter] >> With that

026said, [clears throat] that's where we'll start to see the external alignment. We understand there's a tradition in the Bolter community. I'm from Tyler, Texas. Um, I've known, you know, I grew up understanding Bolter. Um, and and I know that that community is proud of its work and what it believes in, but this will just be another notch in what's excellent about that community. And we believe that all the uh that the community partners that align with us will see that. And with that, those are the five pillars. And if there's any questions, we will vet those for you. Now, >> let me just make a commentary before anybody ask any questions. We've always said this about our middle schools that our middle schools should look more like an elementary school than a high school. [snorts]

027Uh we can no longer afford to operate our middle schools like they're pre high school. Uh just like we don't like our high schools to operate like their preol, even though they do have some of that intertwined. And so that's what you're going to see here. It's it's I'm not going to say we're going to run it like an elementary school, but it's going to look more like an elementary school than it's going to look like pre-Tyler High School. Uh you know, every every kid that goes to one of our comprehensive middle schools deserves to be in an A or B-rated school. And the staff and the structure and the instructional methodology in there need to need to um replicate that same theory of action. And that's why we're choosing this to go there because

028got 900 kids or so that go to Bolter and we want to make sure that they get the opportunity to catch up and and sustain as quickly as we possibly can. So there's your leadoff commentary there from the soup. You got any questions? >> Anybody? >> I've got question on your um strategic staffing. For years, we've tried to incentivize staff to go to challenging schools. What makes you think this will be different? And how are y'all going to have success getting the right staff at Boulder? >> We've been very sensitive in recruiting from other campuses to go to those. I do think that some of the uh lack in funding uh substantial what I call real money uh to attract someone to go to school there has been lacking throughout the years as well from

029what I can tell. um you start pairing your TIA money with this already and you start thinking about um attracting some some folks to go over there because y'all remember the TIA uh funding that comes with a higher performing teacher is also based upon economically disadvantaged uh rates. In other words, uh if you're at Bonner uh which we've got a a teacher at Bonner or Tell me again my my favorite example, what what campus that's at? Austin >> Austin that is making over six figures by the time that you start putting in all of the stipens in there. She would not obviously get the bump maybe get a little bump with some of the tie plus that we might be pro that we may be putting out there. Um but you start talking about a

030campus that may not have the same economic disadvantage rates to go there. Now you may be saying how can we rate our other campuses to to send them to Bolter? For one, you start looking at the middle school um certifications and those range variety of Mr. Jones K through six, four through eight, etc., etc. >> Uh yes, sir. There's no need for me to say anything. You know, >> there you go. Okay, >> there you go. >> So, you would also be looking at it's not just middle schools, it could be elementary schools as well, depending upon their certifications. We're also going to cap the amount of teachers that can go from one campus to Boulder because we don't want to raid another campus and and put them in in uh in a deficiency as

031well. Although some of those campuses that are high performing have been proven to be able to backfill whenever we do have vacancies that come come up. So that's why we feel like we're going to be able to make some movement on this is because there's going to be some incentivization to go, some real money attached to it that will be TRS eligible. In the past, um those things were not TRS eligible either, would not be retirement eligible. It' just be like a stipen to to go there. If you can attach that to actually the performance that they have at TIA, TRS should should uh allow them to be eligible for to counting that compensation. And if I may, the instructional design is even more teacher friendly. It is designed to keep you focused on the

032on very specific instruction. Um it takes a lot of lift to do that um when it comes to the the rest of the staffing coming along that for Bolter, but there's a lot more behind just the incentivization that I do think will attract a lot of teachers from different areas, including outside the district, which we will be heavily recruiting for as well. >> We've got an indication early on that we've got three that might come locally uh within pro within our orbit here, not just in Tyler. So there's that's you know if we're trying to to gain how many more we're looking >> around 11 >> looking for 11 more if those three we can knock those three that might might work out because if you think about our suburbs in our um here in

033East Texas they don't have the that ecodis rate that would actually boost that TIA to pretty substantial levels and they've already accomplished TIA wherever they're at and there so they might be able to boost by 20% is some of those that I'm maybe even more maybe 40%. >> Yeah. >> Serious money. >> Anybody else? >> Madam President. >> Yes, >> Vice President. Sorry. Um on the ads, you were talking about that. That's extra days for students. Uh assume there's also some extra days for staff. Um before that, you may have missed that. Is that correct? >> Yes. The staff will need to be there. >> Um >> and they will know those days next month. will approve those what the calendar is >> in front of you be the first reading of that calendar >>

034and then >> correct >> yes in April. Okay. So not that I had anybody ask me about what if I already have vacation planned when the new calendar comes out. So >> said well I'm sure they'll work I'm sure we'll figure something out but >> we'll we'll work if they are TIA eligible and a [laughter] high achieving teacher we'll figure those little details out. >> Good. >> Great. Anybody else? uh in regards to TIA teachers coming in or just being incentivized to go to the campus, >> do you think it's more the incentive or is it the program that they're interested in? >> As an educator, I think it would be both. I mean, as a professional educator, I'd be interested in the the design because it's very Teach Like America, you know, very altruistic.

035You know, I'm going to go in and make an impact, but it's also money. I mean, people would like to make more money. Um, so I I personally believe it would be both. >> Do have are they familiar with the curriculum? The ones that are considering going, have they do they know about the curriculum and the format etc. >> So we're going to have a kickoff meeting on Wednesday with the principles to discuss this to give them basically the presentation on TIA. I will say the first feedback we've got from a panel of principles that we vetted this to um they also see the cohesive need that we're a district first. We're not just independent campuses. So there is kind of some intrigue even from principles to try to get rally behind this. >> But

036once that sets into motion, we will have some call to action meetings with the TIA teachers and they will all have that outlined for them so they understand what they will be getting into if they choose to sign up um and interview for these uh sacred positions. Well, I can appreciate the concept of principles buying in initially because that has not I don't think been one of the things that we've experienced that we are a district as a whole as opposed to individual campuses on an island. So, I think that that will be beneficial if they can buy into that and and encourage the expansion of this particular program because uh that would be good >> and it's and it's a it's a group lift. I mean, um, Miss Taylor, Miss Russell, I mean, we've

037had meetings after meetings after meetings, um, just to make sure that we are making this a cohesive effort and it's not just an independent only solely helps one one person. So, >> yeah, I mean, it's even gotten to the to the board table. I mean, we we five of the seven of y'all have gone to some type of experience for the that of the instruction methodology and the proficiency that we're looking for in some way, shape, or form. So it's not just a lift at the campus level, it's a lift at the board le DAS level as well. And one thing you probably skipped over in your your presentation is that we will be reporting instructional proficiency at the ACE campus at the board das. Now it may be a staff report that you might

038have questions about. It may not be a full report every time to come up here, but that is something that you will have monthto-month information on to be monitoring what the ultimate uh goal is and that's to make sure that our instruction is improving over there because that's what drives the the learning that's what drives the performance and we've seen that work out for us as well. We also have opportunities for EA campuses. Those are the aligned campuses that won't get the resources. They'll get some of the structuring that goes along with it, but the curriculum as well. We saw that in Houston. We saw that in the N2 uh N2 learning the uh >> Third Futures uh uh as well that you've got these campuses that are aligned and may not have the same

039resources, but they have adopted the same principles. We would like to see a feeder pattern push on this and we do think we've got a pretty good strategy on that. >> Anybody else? Yes. >> Madam Vice President, thank you. Um, yeah, I'm I'm happy we're moving in this direction and I'm even happier we're moving quickly because we've got to address Buler. I make no I don't sugarcoat it at all. If we were a B-rated in Bulger, we'd have been an A-rated district. I think that's pretty obvious. Um, and so, and all of our other middle schools are competitive. I mean, with the same challenging demographics. So, this is a good thing that we're doing this and it's an even better thing that we're doing it this fast cuz every kid that comes through a grade

040there and goes on to the next one. We're missing them at some point and this will address it. I I have a few questions on this, but mine is more on the staffing side to start off with. How much of that do you think is going to turn over, if that's the right word, or move or I mean to another campus? Because this thing is going to look way different than what we're used to a school looking like. It it just is. If you've seen the models that we've looked at, they look way different. They that doesn't look like our school the way the the the way that um material is delivered, the way the principles are evaluated, the the responsibilities of staff. It just looks way different. How much do you expect to be

041able to save people who say, "Okay, I'm used to doing things this way, but now I'm all on board with this." How much of that you think you'll have, Soup? >> Well, if you have if you keep every TIA teacher there, we have six. Is that correct? >> We're predicting six. >> Predicting six. >> We're looking for 18. Correct. So, we're looking for 12 or 11. >> 11 to 13. So, that's already some new spots right there. Um, the thing is I I'll say to to answer your question, what's how how many do I predict? Um, when you're acing this and y'all are sticking your hand up in the air, which from my understanding TEA says you don't have to do that. We're just doing that as symbolic gesture. Correct. >> Yes. >> Um, we've

042done this before. We we we've done this back in 2014 where we had to reconstitute four elementary campuses because they were they'd hit the magic number of of instruct of uh improvement required. So it's not like our HR team or at least the superintendent maybe Dr. Ward uh have not had to go through this before. Um we've also done this at Dogen. Um we've also done this at Hog whenever we've done some shifting where we wound up with the four comprehensive middle school quadrants that we have now. So, um, if you have a contract with Tyler ISD and you're in good standing with that contract, you should be eligible for employment for next year. Uh, you will go through an interview process to actually uh, be interviewed and selected as such. If you're not certified

043and you're not in good standing with Tyler ISD, it's the same thing as having a probationary contract every year, this time of year. Anyways, um, I hate having to do this. I can't stand the timing uh because we feel decent about the the performance that they've had over there. They've been encouraged to win this year just like they did at Dogen, just like they did at Hog in the years that we redesigned those or or transformed some of the the feeder patterns or or had to do some of the things we did. Um but time is of the essence. We cannot wait till summer to uh to to to staff the campus that way. we've already met with the staff uh last week and so um I'd really prefer to to say okay hey uh

044say hey we're going to wait until May to see if we become a B or if we jump back grab a a decent rating there and then all things are are are um are fine. No, that's not how you do things. We've had this consistent thing of where we kind of just float along there. C D C had an F a couple years ago. C D the consistency is not there and so we need to act differently uh and and triage towards this this issue and it is something we've never embarked upon because I think if we did the same old same old we'd get the same results >> on the uh thank you soup on the governance portion will it be much like the 1882 model as well or will it be different? >>

045No. Uh Bolter we own it. >> Okay. So or y'all own it >> right? So there'll be nothing >> administration runs it. Yeah. Y'all own it. administration runs it in year one resource. In year two, we'll have it we'll have to make a decision. Y'all will have to make a decision upon a administrative recommendation of whether or not it goes 1882 or we apply for the resource aotment. [snorts] >> Thank you. >> I do have a follow-up question in regards to the staffing. Uh Leno reminded me of this uh is now knowing that some of the teachers that's on that campus now will not be on that campus next year. Do we have any idea a number about we're saying uh probably you know 11 to 13 TIA teachers will be placing some teachers but

046there are some teachers that's not TIA teachers there and u so How are we gonna It's probably mine. >> Oh, Chief Wsworth. [laughter] >> Okay. I apologize. >> So once the administrative team uh gels and coaleses, then they will begin a process with HR to go through staffing for the remainder of the campus. >> Okay. >> So everything's on the table as far as the redesign goes. Uh [snorts] again, traditionally speaking, the tradition will get you beat may not always be the same people on that campus, >> right? And so we will, no one's guaranteed a a spot because you don't sign a contract with Bolter, >> right? >> You sign a contract with Tyler ISD. And so we will be fair and within chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code. As far as contract

047goes, as far as assignment goes, that's up to the administration. Um the administration on that campus will interview those individuals to see if they need to stay or not. And if they if they choose them to not offer them position at Bolter and they're not in one of those specialized instructional spots that we've got, they're in more of a support spot or maybe they're not um social studies or the other 30 or the other 18 spots that you need to fill up the core content areas. >> It's all on the table. >> Certainly is. So will okay because I know there's a lot of anxiety about the process >> and especially teachers that's going to stay within the district. They're not sure where they will go and availability of things. Is there going to be

048some collaboration between HR and the current staff that's there in helping to assist them to know which what openings are available within the district. We we did the same thing with Douglas, Griffin, >> Remy, >> and Pete >> and Hog and Dogen. >> We've got experience doing this. We've got a playbook to be able to go do this. And absolutely, whenever this meeting is over with, be looking if your constituents are contacting you and wondering about that. I'm sure they are, they will actually be communicated with um through human resources to to outline the next steps. Well, well, based on the feedback I got, they weren't exactly happy with how it happened in the past. They felt like it wasn't as much support as they needed in helping to locate the jobs within the district.

049They felt like they were kind of out there on their own, so to speak. >> So, I was wondering, are we going to be a little bit, you say, keep doing the same thing the same way? >> Can we do something a little bit different? Maybe a little bit more proactive. Maybe >> I saw that really good teachers got placed at campuses and interviewed at those campuses and got picked up pretty quick and others took a little bit more time. >> Yeah. >> Um again, we're not going to sit here and just assign a teacher to a campus that has not been per performing. >> Uh just because you have a contract with the district doesn't mean you get to choose where you go. It doesn't mean you're get a first shot because they're going

050to be very picky at the other campuses. Again, back filling is something that they're going to need to do as well. we need to prefer them to choose some of these uh teachers that we have and we we're going to have data for for a lot of them especially if they teach a core content area. If by chance they don't get picked up, there's obviously an opportunity for a long-term sub. You don't get subpay, you get regular teacher pay and you may be assigned at a at a campus whenever we have a vacancy. We had some of that happen last time and one teacher spent an entire year I can't remember her name spent an entire she doesn't work with us anymore spent an entire year in a long-term serve position which became pretty permanent

051and then wind up finding a position for a couple three more years elsewhere. So there's always types of strategies as far as employment goes and we will make sure that we practice fidelity to chapter 21 of the code uh as far as contract law goes. So what I'm hearing if they've been doing a good job for the district, it's almost they will definitely have a job. But if it's in borderline, it's questionable, right? >> And that makes sense. I'm not opposing it. I'm just trying to clarify it in that aspect. >> If they have a contract, that's where you first start. If if it's probationary, then that's a different that's a whole different animal in itself, you know, within the first three years of of employment here. But as far as chapter 21 of the

052code, if you've got a contract and it's a a term contract in the district, then that's going to be up to them to be able to go showcase their skills if we've got data that matches it as well along with, you know, we're going to rely heavily on Mr. Simmons as well. I mean, were they were they good employees at the time during this last phase of of what we've been doing as well. So, we'll get feedback as many places we possibly can and we'll go from there. >> Madam Vice President, madam, >> just a quick comment and then a question about extras. Um, I I would encourage you soup I would encourage the board to give the soup a lot of leeway on this staffing deal. He's done a great job leading this effort

053to try to correct Bolter. this is being addressed over there because there's issues over there and I want him to have our confidence. Do whatever you need to do on the staffing side because we can't keep moving stuff around and thinking it's not going to affect us. It's the same it's the same people and if you're just moving them around, you're not changing the people, you're just changing their location. So from my perspective and for my fellow board members, I encourage them to give you a lot of leeway and autonomy when it comes to that. We get calls, sure, from our constituents, but I already knew the calls were coming. That that that's not an issue for me and my constituents. I I have full faith in you that you'll do a good job at

054that and I want you to know that. Um, on the question side, when we went to visit these campuses in Houston and other places, t tell me about the extras and, you know, not a big extracurricular guy, but talk to me about that because that was very minimal at these campuses. You know, it was almost an afterthought and I know how that plays into the overall picture. I get it. I' I've been around for a while. Talk to me about that. How's that going to look at Bolter? >> Talk about all extracurriculars >> in general. Yes. >> Yeah. you may not um you're going to have to tweak some things, but we're not going to do away with extracurricular activities because you do have some comprehensive middle schools. There's a Houston that there's a models

055in Houston to where they have done away with all extracurriculars. There's also models where they have not. We're not going to do away with extracurricular activities. We can't, you know, cut Tyler High off at its knees for the big blue band or for whatever athletic programs we have. So, as far as what that looks like, we should I want to say status quo on that, but there'll be just maybe a tweak or an adjustment or two as far as amount of time in a class period uh so that we can get the instruction done. So, in other words, if you if you're on if if our middle schools right now are on block schedules, that make sense? And you've got how many minutes, Dr. Gropel? for right now. >> If you have a first period

056or a last period athletics at a on our current block scheduled campuses, >> It's 50 minutes. It may look a little different. It may be a 30-minute period on the back and the front of the day. And you will have to practice before and after school because you can't get athletics done just inside of that block anyway. So, we we will make sure we we're going to prioritize and have fidelity to make sure we're protecting the instructional today. And there may be some adjustments on the back. There's no other place we can really fit an athletic period. I say that. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna make a promise to that. Let's rewind that and erase that. There may be a chance for that, but we'll have to be creative on that. >> It's not

057going away if that's what you're asking. The reason I ask is looking at this model and having studied it for a long time, what Mike Miles is doing down in Houston that's working with these demographics and these uh challenging schools, they dedicate a huge portion of the day to instructional delivery and intake. That's what we're supposed to be doing, educating kids. This is not a football training camp. But if we tweak their model too much, what I'm afraid of, if we change their franchise too much because it looks like like a McDonald's, like you buy it and you run it like a McDonald's and it produces money for you. I'm afraid if we tweak it too much and then we say, "Hey, we didn't get the results that you guys are getting." Well, it's because

058you tweaked it too much. It's because you changed too much in that model and that's why it's not performing. And so, I'm going to leave that to the experts. I think that's that's what you guys are to know how much what to change or what not to change. But one thing I did notice, very little extracurriculars down in that school in Houston. Very little extracurriculars. U now that doesn't mean we can't do them before or after school, but the majority of the time that the kids are in contact with us, I hope we're delivering instruction and they're taking it. Yeah, there's a lot of uh minimal things that are going on in Houston ISD. Uh in regard in regard to some things uh bilingual education, I didn't see much of that going on. Um special

059education, we didn't see much of that going on there. But um you're right, you have to have fidelity to your plan. And that's why you know the debate about blue bonnet curriculum man if you adopt blue bonnet curriculum and have fidelity to the comm curriculum you will get outstanding results because if you've got a decent enough curriculum or decent enough plan and you have fidelity to that and you buy into it you're going to have good results. You're going to have good results. So I hear you loud and clear. We're not going to sit here and and uh we're not going to sit here and try to to uh that's a bad word. adjust it so so much that it doesn't look like what we've already been on and learned so much about to be

060effective. Okay. Um, let me say one more thing about HR. We will be fair, Mr. Newsome. >> I appreciate that. >> Okay. Always. We We're always fair. I believe in in human resource. People may not like that fairness, but it's always fair. We will be fair. Okay. >> Just one one more quick comment before we move on. Um, Dr. Crawford, I appreciate you talking about a little bit about the history of what you've done over the last 10 or 11 years, I think, um, at least from my experience sitting up here. There's been a lot of things that have gotten ha had to get fixed first. And I just commend you and Dr. Markle for now getting to the point where we we can be innovative and look at some things differently. and with some

061of our campuses that have, [snorts] you know, had some trouble with over the years. And uh I I just want to say how much I appreciate that. I really feel like now we're turning the corner and we can move the needle on um on some of the kids that that you know maybe didn't have the opportunities that that they did before. So appreciate that guys. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else before we consider approval? Okay. We will now consider approval of the accelerated campus of excellence plan for Bolter Middle School for the 2026 2027 school year. Can I get a motion? >> Madam Chair Lake, I'm sorry, Madame Vice President. Um I move that we approve the is it next is now agenda item. That would be agenda item A. >> Okay. Can I get

062a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? I I >> All oppose. >> Motion carries. >> I do have somebody in the audience that I do want to introduce to you all. A little personnel announcement here, and that's Mr. Nathan Harbor. He's current principal at ORE Elementary School. We have designated Mr. Harbor uh to actually become the new principal at Bolter Middle School. We appreciate all the effort that Mr. Simmons has gone through. He does have a bright future with us in Tyler ISD. Uh we've talked to him about that. he is going to win this year. Uh carry them across the finish line with a with a much improved rating as well. But I wanted to make sure that y'all saw Mr. Harbor in the back uh background back there. Mr. Harbor's u been

063an elementary teacher before. Uh now he's an elementary principal. Y'all have heard the elementary theme today about what we're trying to do over there uh to get Bolter going instructionally. Um so Mr. Harbor. Uh why don't you come up here and just uh address the board real quick in this personnel announcement. [laughter] Mr. Harbor is actually from Graham, Texas. He played basketball at the University of Texas at Tyler. He um taught at Kissum Elementary School in Chapel Hill. Then he came for three years and he came over here, worked at Moore Middle School for Mr. Lane. Uh then he worked at Tyler High School for Mr. Lane. He's been the the principal at ORE for the last two years. So, I took away everything that you were going to say. >> Um, greetings board. Uh,

064thank you all for giving me this honor to speak. I guess uh was not planned, [laughter] but uh just one of the things that I remember going through a similar process uh when I Mr. Lane hired me at Moore. It was the year that the my first year teaching there at Moore was the year that Dogen was closed down and just loved the kids coming in and we figured out a way to win in my classroom and carried that on and I feel like we've done that at ORE the past couple of years and look forward to doing that at Bolter with uh all of the the staff that we're going to bring in. Um it's not going to look the same day one as it does right now. Like that's the I think that's

065the mission. >> Thank you, Mr. Harour. Mr. Harbor is not going to earn any more compensation. and he's going to continue to run or and expectations are for them to finish the year strong as well while plan planning and preparing for his new endeavor at Bolter as well. >> Yeah, we're we're on a great track this year at OR. So excited for for that as well. >> Good. >> Well, congratulations and good luck. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. >> We will now go into executive session. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening and welcome to the public meeting for Tyler. There is a presence of a forum and the meeting has been duly called and the notice of the meeting has been posted in the time and manner required. We will start

066off with prayer and let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come together tonight with grateful hearts. We thank you for the students of this district. Each one is unique, full of potential, full of promise. They are the reason that we are here. Thank you for their curiosity, their resilience, their energy, and the future they represent. May we never never lose sight of the fact that our work centers around their growth and well-being. We also give thanks for our teachers and staff for the long hours, the unseen preparation, the study encouragement, and the daily investment they make in young lives. Strengthen them in their calling. Encourage them when the work feels heavy and remind them that what they do matters far beyond a single school year. And Lord, we recognize the responsibility placed before us as trustees. We

067are entrusted with the stewardship of public resources, of policy, and the direction of this district. Grant us wisdom. Help us to listen well, think clearly, and speak with care. Let our work tonight honor the trust that has been placed in us and serve the students, teachers, and families who depend on these decisions. In your name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to thee Texas one state indivisible. >> Thank you. Uh we've come out of executive session with no action to follow and we will now go into special recognitions. >> Good evening board members and Dr. Crawford. Um tonight we

068want to begin with the um February student recognitions um and the students of the month. Um the elementary student of the month um is Savannah Tippet, a third grade student at Woods and Elementary [snorts] School. The secondary student of the month is Brandon Walker, a senior at Tyler High School. And we have a really nice video for y'all to watch these two amazing students. The heart of our hometown beats strong in Tyler ISD, [music] where students are reaching goals, breaking barriers, and shaping the future. Their journeys [music] may look different, but together they are showing us that next is now. [music] Let's celebrate their achievements as we continue leading the way in Texas education. [music] Roses are red, violets [music] are blue. We love our elementary student of the month for February. and we know

069you will too. >> Hi, I'm Savannah. I'm the student of the month. >> Celebrating Savannah. >> This sweet young lady exemplifies courage, [music] determination, and an inspiring love of learning each and every day. Despite undergoing [music] chemotherapy for a tumor on her brain stem, Savannah approaches school with an attitude that can only be described [music] as extraordinary. She doesn't stop at anything. It is so inspiring to see how she wants to continue on going no matter what her situation is. So, I am inspired. Coach Keeling [music] is inspired. The kids yesterday were flocking towards her, cheering. We uh have a basketball goal that is a little bit shorter. So, we moved it away to where she could still shoot and she made a three-pointer yesterday and the crowd went wild. It was amazing. So, that

070little girl is an inspiration to all. We love you, Savannah. >> She never lets her challenges define her or slow her down. In fact, she is often the first to ask her homebound teacher for more work. She is eager to learn new things and challenge herself. Her perseverance and curiosity set an example for her peers. It has been a joy to have Savannah back into school. You can definitely tell the atmosphere of the room has just [music] become something that is overwhelming since she's been back in class. she did have something that was something that could have set her back and it has just blossomed her into [music] um who she is and I love having her in class and she's amazing to have as a student. Now, let's pass the baton to [music] our

071district secondary student of the month. >> I'm Brandon Walker and I'm the district secondary student of the month. >> Brandon is an accomplished musician and head drum major for the Tyler High Big Blue Band. [music] He consistently upholds high standards both on and off the field and his leadership positively influences the overall culture and [music] success of the program. >> The hopes is to come back and teach here as a band director or if not here just anywhere. You know, I want to develop a band program at least [music] maybe from a small one to a big one or maybe take a big one and turn it better. But the dream is to come back [music] here and teach. Academically, Brandon maintains AB honoral status and is a [music] TJC Promise student, successfully balancing rigorous

072coursework with the demands of a highly visible leadership role. >> He started off as a section leader last year and then became a drum major this year, our head drum major this year. You know, he led our band to a sweep stakes in the UIL fall season. And he just he's very helpful, always helps us um directors and all his other peers. Let's honor these remarkable students as we celebrate the outstanding achievements happening across our district. Their [music] success stories remind us of the strength, dedication, and spirit that define Tyler [music] ISD. This recognition is proudly brought to you by Christa's Trinity Mother Francis Health System, partners [music] in supporting the bright future of our students and community. >> [applause] >> Okay. So now we'd like to welcome Savannah to come to the front of

073the boardroom. [applause] You can go take a picture if you want. You can go take a picture if you want. >> [applause] [applause] >> And now we would like to invite Brandon to come to accept his recognition. >> [applause] >> And and next we would like to congratulate Keelyn Patton, a sixth grade student at Caldwell Arts Academy for her artwork titled Swimming Swede, being selected to be part of the 2526 Texas Art Education Association's Youth Art Month Exhibition. Exhibition exhibition. So, you can come on up. [laughter] I hope I pronounced that right. Is it sweet? Is it? It's sweet. Okay. [snorts] >> [applause] >> Okay. Um, next we have our elementary teacher of the month and it is Christian Armstrong Pool from Dixie Elementary School and her principal had a couple of things um to

074say about her. So um first she said she is an exceptional life skills teacher who meets students where they are and challenges them to exceed their goals. Her classroom is a safe, supportive environment where students feel valued, empowered and encouraged to take risk. The growth of her students reflects her dedication, p patience, and unwavering belief in their abilities. She maintains a strong partnerships with families and supports students well-being beyond the school day by attending activities, spending time with them, and coaching them in special specialized areas. Always willing to step in, Mrs. uh P supports her co colleagues with well, I'm a little tongue twisted tonight, so sorry. Colleagues um with a positive, servanthearted attitude. She collaborates seamlessly with the life skills team, treating all students as her own. Her passion, professionalism, and commitment to her

075students, families, and colleagues truly set her apart. And Mrs. Pool [applause] >> [applause] >> And next we have um our secondary teacher of the month um Charisia Jackson from Tyler High School. And here are a few words from her principal. Miss Jackson leaves Tyler High's Future Business Leaders of America chapter with professionalism and pride, growing membership over the past three years to a record number of 41 members in 2526. Under her leadership, the chapter earned a city proclamation and the keys to the city. She was named a silver champion chapter at the 24-25 FBLA National Leadership Conference and earned all 23 of the 23 contestants that went um awards um at the area 6 leadership conference and they're going to advance um in March for the state conference. You come up [applause] Third time. And

076that's all the recognitions we have. [applause] We've already scored three. We've already scored three in 13 minutes. >> Who walked? Okay, we're going to move on to the rest of our meetings. So, those of y'all that are here for special recognitions, if y'all will exit through the doors. Up next, we have public participation. We are now at the scheduled time on our agenda for public comment. The board wishes to hear your thoughts and concerns. As per board policy, all speakers must have submitted a speaker participation form at least 10 minutes prior to the start of our regular session. Tonight we have one individual signed up. You will have three minutes. Miss uh Reverend Curry, you are up. >> All right. I want to say good evening to uh Dr. Crawford and this board and to

077all of you that are here. Um my name is Reverend Rodney C. Curry and uh I am the proud father of two graduates of Tyler uh ISD and one that will soon graduate on next year. Uh and so um to some uh one particularly I'm known as May 22nd. And so uh I [clears throat] am um glad to be here. Uh tonight I come uh with no accusations. I come to just raise awareness there. Um there's a um American writer and act and and civil rights activist named uh James Bowwin and he wrote he says not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Um on February the 9th uh the teachers and staff of Bolton Middle School was given a notice that there will be a

078principal change. Um in that though um I have concerns that the timing of that announcement uh heightens anxiety uh certainly at a time where we're get preparing students for testing um and so um I want to uh express while that change is being made uh that to consider that timing um has has placed I think them in a different and precarious position. Um right now though at the secondary level now with this change is going to mean uh that there are no minority male principles uh at the secondary level. Um if you include rise then we have won. Um but this actually what this does now there's going this absence of minority leadership uh on this level now means that there are uh no uh no um no men uh that are minorities that will

079be represented here for our secondary students and these are all campuses majority of these campuses are minority majority and so uh in concluding with that a district's priorities you as you understand can't just be revealed in your mission statement just in your um in your letters and all of that in your staffing, but it's got to show up in the people that we place at the head of leadership. As we all know, leadership matters. Uh scripturally uh the Bible says in Luke 12:48 that to whom much is given, much is required. Uh and so I embark upon you all uh certainly to uh Dr. Crawford and uh I want to say this publicly, every time I've called Dr. Crawford, he's answered. We've talked uh candidly and uh and the conversation has been uh certainly one

080that's been productive. Um but I just want to challenge you all um as we close with this that with influence comes responsibility. With authority comes accountability. As we move forward, I pray uh that God would give you wisdom in the things that we do. Uh and also that our north side campuses uh they deserve our urgency all through the years. Um, our students deserve representation and this district uh has both the power and responsibility to act. So, I pray that God would lead you in that direction. God bless you. >> Thank you. Next up, we have continuous improvement in student outcomes. First up is early literacy update. per year board monitoring calendar. We were going to have Rachel Sherman who is one of our school improvement officers that will be presenting along or supporting the

081presentation of Dr. James Kuritan, executive director of assessment and analysis and accountability and whatever his title is this year. So, Dr. Kuran, we're going to turn over to you to Miss Sherman uh for this presentation of our early early literacy numeracy update MClass and I ready results for the middle of the year. Here we go. All right. Thank you, Dr. Crawford. Good evening, board. Uh we are going to talk through our early uh literacy, early numeracy results, which is our MCLASS assessment or I Ready assessment. And we'll just jump right in. Um we'll start with MClass, which is our kindergarten through 2 grade reading screener. uh the teachers administered just as a reminder three times per year we have beginning, middle, and end of the year. So you'll see the beginning and middle of the

082year data um on your screen. It's cohort data meaning it's the same group of kids and you'll just see the percent of students that are proficient at the beginning of the year versus the middle of the year. And so you can see especially in kindergarten um we're seeing lots of growth. We did have our kindergarters started a little higher this year and they're they're uh at this point they're higher than they were. We're having we have a larger student uh percent of the students performing better this year than we did last year. uh first and second are also tracking in that direction. So a lot of positive uh progress so far in our MClass data. You can see here uh we broke down the same information but just by demographic and this is also cohort

083data. So students are only included if they were here for beginning and middle of the year screening. And you can just compare it to last year and kind of get a feel for where things are. And then this slide, we'll just break it down by by skill. So each group of students is assessed based on certain skills in the grade level. And so you can kind of see where everybody was at the beginning of the year through middle of the year at this point. If there's a dash, students were not assessed on that particular skill. Okay, we'll transition to I Ready. Um, I Ready is our three times per year um diagnostic that helps us understand where students are and provides a personalized path to help students um continue their learning throughout the school year.

084So, first we're just going to talk through um growth, which is the percent of students that have already made one year's worth of progress. So you'll see it by grade level and by subject. And again, the numbers look a little low, but I just want to remind you it's making one full year's worth of of progress to this point. If we look at the same information by demographic, you can see that here. And then the last way we'll we'll present some of this to you is just to show you how we performed last year versus this year and then also ourselves compared to um the state and other districts that that look like us and also give I ready. Um first you can just see that that first column compares us to last year and

085in most areas we're either well all areas we're either at or above where we were last year. So last year we had a really good year. Um and it looks like we're tracking in that direction again this year so far. The two columns to the right just indicate how we're performing relative to the state and to comparison districts as a whole. And you can see generally we are doing well especially in our early literacy um all the way up through fourth grade. We're really kind of standing out there. I I know there is a dip in eighth grade. Um I will tell you just with all the other data we're tracking, we still feel like eighth grade is going to perform well. Um we don't see any other indications that we're we're falling behind there.

086And then here's our math data presented the same way. Similar to reading, we're basically at or above where we were last year at this time of year. And then again, I would point out kinder through five. We really see some improvement in math compared to some of our counterparts that we're able to to line up side by side with. >> So you're saying we have a chance in seventh grade math. >> We have a chance. Okay. >> It's been the bane of our existence. That's right. With that, we can answer any questions y'all may have. >> Thank you. Any comments, questions? >> That's a general comment. As always, I track these things pretty close and I I'm I'm proud to see that we are definitely doing much better than we've done in the past in

087regards to at this point. And I'm I'm very pleased with that. I'd love to see positive things and especially outperforming the state and the district, you know, because I know we're better. So, I expect that. >> So, in in their packets, they've got tables for every campus as well. And obviously, the public presentation, we don't go by there. So, board, if you have any questions in regard to that, please reach out to me. I'll get you in contact with the correct individual, probably that guy standing right in front of front of us or perhaps Dr. Gropel as well. Anybody else? Thank you. Next up, we have advanced placement, dual credit, and certification update. Executive director Dr. Kristen Walls, executive director of college and career, excuse me. Doc, Dr. Kristen Walls will now be presenting the

088advanced placement, dual credit, and our certifications update. very important part of our account overall accountability is college and career and military readiness. Um she took the baton from a Gary Brown who did a great job. Dr. Walls has done a great job and has really supported our campuses in regards to the CCMR especially at the secondary level. Dr. Walls, >> good evening board of trustees and Dr. Crawford. Good to see you. So I come here tonight. I'm push this back a little little hot mic. So, we're talking a little bit about uh CCMR, college, career, and military readiness. So, goal three, um currently what we have as our goal that our graduates are college, career, military ready, increase from 77.4 to 86.7 by June 2029. Happy to announce as of today, right now we're on

089track for 85%. So, definitely making those strides. um really close to what our goal is for 2029. Just a reminder, I've talked about this a few times. Uh the college career military readiness indicators, there really hasn't been much of a change currently except for this year we have our for career readiness, they have to be what's known as a completer, which is three or more courses for four or more credits plus an industrybased certification. So over the years I've kind of told you a little bit how we're chasing a little bit different target each time but um college readiness is remains the same and then military ready for this year as long as they enlist and that will be changing for next year um with the addition for ROC into the CTE programs. So this

090is always lag data. So for the 2425 um Texas academic performance report, it always shows the previous year. So we can take a look at 2023, we were at 77% and then in 2024 at 86.4. We only have predictions um of what the state actually takes, but last year we should be around 89%. [snorts] >> Dr. Walls, go back to that slide. So that 864 scores what for us what what >> what is it for the accountability? >> Yeah. >> So in domain one it has 40%. So star for our district is equal to 40% of CCMR and so that makes a huge difference um a districtwide plus it's also in domain 2 and domain three. So each of those areas it hits. For the high schools though it is also very similar to the

091district where 40% is star and 40% is CCMR um at least for domain one and then on the other two domains as well. So the more we can increase our CCMR the better off that are all of our accountability is. So thankfully and with a lot of efforts between our principles and uh my team, we really started making the strides um to get that as high as we possibly can, which is good for kids. Our advanced placement exams, uh last year we had 1,235. Um this year we're on track for 1597. So the number of students that scored was 71% with 877. If we keep that same amount percentage-wise, we'll have 1133 students. But, um, I'm never satisfied with just keeping things. So, I'm looking forward to doing even more than that. >> That 71%

092represents an outpacing of the state. Correct. >> Right. >> In like 19 out of 20. >> It was five tests. 20. No, it was lower than that. 23 or 24 this year I think. >> Correct. Out of 23. >> Yeah. So 17 out of 22. >> Yeah. >> Regardless we outperform in 80 nearly 82%. We outperform all public or the state average for public charter and private schools in regards to our kids scoring three or better in AP. Right. >> We do very well. >> Okay. And some people say that public schools aren't college preparatory schools and that they must take a voucher >> to go to a private school to get college preparatory. Correct. >> We have a very strong college prep program. >> It's like Reverend Mason's in the crowd. Reverend Curry's in

093the crowd. I just want to remind people of that. >> Very strong in both. So no matter what high school you attend, >> there you go. >> We're college and career ready. >> There you go. our dual credit enrollment um continuously is increasing and you might see a little even more. Um one of the things that we used to have for college readiness was career or I mean sorry college prep courses. Um they've they only have a few now. They were not using that um as much anymore starting for next year. So um you'll probably see an increase in dual credit enrollment. Um I looked at the preliminary numbers and I looked for um public speaking and we have like 91 students already for next year and we just started that dual credit so it's

094going to be continuously increasing. And then our A throughF certifications earned U 2425. We had 1476 that's industry based certifications that students can go out and get a job uh right out of high school or help them with their portfolios as they go on to college. And currently uh we're at 1250 for a class of 2026. >> So we're 220 behind. Does we have do we have enough time in four months to be able to recoup that 220? >> Oh, for sure. Um, we just started testing. >> Okay. >> In January. So, [snorts] >> and any questions about CCMR? >> Thank you. Anybody >> make a comment uh kind of along what Dr. Crawford said. both both of my kids went to school here and as far as anywhere else in the county I think

095we have the best advanced academics of any other district you know other districts may offer things like a right but uh the the college credit that my kids came out with just really a testament to what we've been doing >> well thanks to the community they provided us uh over 10 years ago now that career technology center and then in 2022 that provide us early college high school actual facility but the program was already in place for the last decade. So a lot of uh success goes back towards the community and what they were able to provide us and uh reaping the B. You know when you do bond elections people like to say the outcomes uh got to be there before we'll re reward you with that. In some cases that's the case but

096this is one instance to where those two facilities really spurred the increase in success for our kids and very thankful for the community for that. Most definitely. And I'm staying here because I have the next presentation. >> Perfect. >> For competitive academics. >> Next up, we have competitive academics. >> I'll introduce this. We we talk a lot about athletics and even fine arts here, but we certainly have academicians that we love celebrating in the forms of sometimes mathletes. Um, but we also like to report that publicly because it's important to us to compete within our academics. So, Dr. Walls, why don't you give us a brief update in regard to that? >> Sure. It is pretty brief. Um, currently we're in competitive season right now. We had the UIL State Congress tournament and we had

097two students that um went there. They were participants in that particular tournament. Um the the debate on the 29th, we had six participants and we actually have two teams going to state. So, um, both were from Tyler Legacy. So, very proud of that. I will hopefully get to bring some more announcements coming soon. CTSO, I know that we just, um, celebrated Miss Jackson and a large number of that 61 up there are hers that are all going to state. So, proud of the work of all these teachers um that are working to create opportunities for competitiveness and employability skills, all of the above. And then these are just more of dates. Um February 28th, we're going to have our middle school academic meet at the CTC. Um in March, UIL state debate, we have our

098CTSO state contests. Currently, right now, we already have 32 ready to roll. And in March, um elementary UIL, we're going to have that at Tyler Legacy again March 31st. And then um the district academic and speech meets we have 44. So um those are already signed up to head to district. So looking for some gold medals and silver as they can bring that home this time. And as you can see the the rest um later of course are going to be regional and state academics. We do have two students going to nationals with DECA. So that will be happening in April. And then of course our annual junior achieve it stock marketing challenge. We had um several participants this year. You can see the high numbers from all of our high schools. We had a

099few middle schools participating as well this year. Um just a few groups. But um that is our first place team from Tyler Legacy this year. And that was my brief update. Before we have any questions, board, one thing we didn't capture on here were our standout students at Birdwell. Um, as far as the, uh, >> Spanish language spelling bee, we had actually had three of those students that qualified for state >> in El Paso. Um, when is that competition? >> First week in June. So, we're excited about seeing our kiddos go all the way to El Paso. 14 hours away somehow. We'll get them there, right? >> Okay. Looking forward to that. Maybe they can uh show that we can actually spell in Spanish here behind the pine curtain. So, uh excited about that. It

100didn't make it here, but we wanted to make sure we champion that uh as well. >> Any questions or comments? >> Thank you, Dr. Wall. >> Thank you. >> Next up, we have business legal finance consent agenda. We will pull item C, gifts and donations. Any other items? need to be pulled. >> Um, just before you get to that, hey, item F, the big celebration, Mr. Newsome, we have been working for six years, right? Okay. Six years to get a pedestrian traffic signal on the Northwest Loop 323, affectionately known as the Artist Newsome project. Internally, internally. and forever. If you've driven the loop at Tyler High during arrival or dismissal, y'all know there are kids everywhere. And we can only do so much once they get off our property. But the best thing we can

101do is work with the state. They've awarded it to us to get an actual pedestrian stoplight like you see over there at UT Tyler uh for them to stop traffic on the loop. That's a state highway to get kids across the other side. So, right there where that north gate's at is is approximately where it's going to be located. Is that right? Mills Dester. Okay, good. Just want to make sure we say that before they actually take action. >> I want to thank >> Agent Mills Slaggel. >> Mils, my man. >> I [laughter] he he's been a champion for that project and he's worked very hard and diligently. At one time he thought it was going to not go anywhere and he continued to pursue it and I I'm very appreciative of that and I

102think the parents are as well. >> That's right. >> Very good. Can I get a motion for items A through G with the exception of C? >> Some move. >> Second motion. >> All in favor? >> All oppose. >> Okay. Next up, we have the curriculum instruction consent. N sorry. We have gifts and donations. >> Hey, on [clears throat] page 20 of your packet, as they scroll to that, they already have. We have two large gifts and donations. the benev benevolent uh culture of this community is incredible to support our students and our staff into doing cool things for our kids that our normal budgets don't allow. Uh tonight we have with us um one of our favorite sponsors, one of our man anchor sponsors for Tyler ISD from Cooperative Teacher Credit Union, CTCU. we

103have to the Tyler ISD communications for district events for like things like teacher of the year and convocation. Those are not taxpayer dollars that go to fund those incredible gaylas and events. Those are actually dollars that CTCU provides for us and we're so appreciative of that for $38,800. That's incredible. We also have another donation. Uh we also have a check an opportunity for a picture a big check picture after this. Right. Okay, good. Um, but also with the RW Fair Foundation, um, Bob Garrett and company for $15,000 to help support our Tyler ISD athletic department for its youth basketball league. That is something that's pretty unique uh to Tyler ISD that we run our own our own stuff as far as little dribblers go. It's the way that I grew up here in East Texas.

104And it's a pretty neat little thing for eight weeks out of the community where you have a lot of mentoring going on to the youth of our community. I think over 600 participants on an annual basis, maybe even 700, over 700 participants on an annual basis in our youth basketball league for two straight months thanks to the RW Fair among others. So there's your two gifts and donations. We want to make sure we celebrate them and y'all will have an opportunity for a big old picture after you take action. >> Great. Can I get a motion for gifts and donations to >> I move that we approve the gifts and donations and uh just special thanks to both of those groups and the fair foundation is amazing. They're really a testament to generosity in our

105community. >> Absolutely. Can I get a second? >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All oppose. Okay. Motion carries. All right. Got it. >> Thank you. Make sure you tell Timmy y'all got to clap. [laughter] >> It's [clears throat] awesome. >> Okay, next up, curriculum instruction consent agenda. Uh, item A. >> Yeah, you're going to uh address both of both of these uh individually. Um, and before you you have Senate Bill 11 for consideration to where the state of Texas What happened to that? What was on the screen? Why did it Never mind. Let me get to my have my glasses on. Oh, there you go. >> Man, these are good. [clears throat] >> Senate Bill 11 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature um is now codified in the education code section

10625. U it requires each school board to take a record vote on whether to create a policy on authorizing a campus of the district in our case the campuses of the district to establish a period of prayer or reading of the Bible or religious text. I'm going to go and read the administrative consideration on this and then I'm going to let you guys haggle this out. Tyler ISD administration welcomes the legislation's intent as an opportunity to provide an inlet of moral and ethical support for students and staff as a response to the increasing cultural pressures and societal decay children, adolesccents, and our young adults are exponentially experiencing outside of and bringing into our schools. While the legislation aligns with Tyler's and East Texas's Texas expectations for how its public school should operate in cont and

107contrarian to other districts, Tyler ISD administration has elevated concern well past intent when contemplating the execution demands as required within statute. >> Very good. Any comments or do I have a motion to adopt a resolution? I move that we do not adopt this resolution. >> All in favor say I. >> We need a second. >> Need a second. >> Second. >> I'll second it. >> Do we need discussion? >> Any further discussion? >> I'd like to say a couple of things on it. I I think we already provide time for our children administrators. We pray it this meeting every time I've been to it. So I think we already do that. I think that this is going to be cumbersome and hard to administer. We've already got enough stuff going on. I don't This again

108is one of those things that the le leg legislature has done and they push it back on us uh thinking it's not going to affect us, but it's really cumbersome. It's not something that I would support. I think we already allow prayer in our schools and we do it from this dice. So, I I am no vote on this. >> Okay. Madam Vice President, um just to echo that, I I talked to uh several church leaders in my area and and got their feedback and and they were along the same lines. Um let's us handle educating kids and let the church handle uh the spiritual things. Uh as Mr. Laya said, you know, our kids can come to see you at the poll every single day if they wanted to. And uh I I'll defend

109that right. But um also think you know we can let other schools be a pioneer in this and and we can be a settler. Let let's see what happens and we can always if if the community wants us to come back to it, we can bring it up later and opt in and opt out as as we see fit if I understand it uh correctly. So I also think we should just not burden the administration with this. >> Anybody else? >> Yeah, a couple of things come to mind here. Um, you know, prayer is a good thing. Um, just because this board may not vote to add this resolution to what we do, it doesn't mean that we don't support prayer. Um, but I was looking today and you know when you talk about prayer,

110uh, if you look at Matthew, Matthew 6, and when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen. you know, that seems like a very private act and there are many ways to pray, but um you know, I think I think making that put into our day as a period um I'm with the other board members. I think there's time in the day for uh people to practice their faith. And one of the things that in my 21 or 22 years on the board, I've never had

111one person tell me that um they were not able to practice their faith the way they wanted to in Tyler ISD. So, it seems like we're maybe the legislature is is um giving us a solution in search of a problem here in Tyler ISD. Uh I I can't speak for the other districts and there very may very well be, you know, an attack going on in other places, but I think the way we've been doing things, um I feel like we've got control of our situation and we understand what our community expects of us and I see and was fortunate enough to have dozens of teachers and coaches live out their faith when I was attending Tyleras. SD and I'm so thankful that they did every single day. They didn't need a period to do

112it. They just did it. So, I support not uh voting that in right now. >> Artist, >> I agree with everything that's been said. I think that uh when you look at the situation, we do allow students like everybody else has said the opportunity to prayer within the schools. We as sadas we we get attacked you know two or three times a year because we pray before we start our meetings. So we we are definitely in favor of prayer and making sure that's a part of it. You know we we talk about this dialogue of prayer taken out of schools and how it affected the schools. And I think that when you really look at it it wasn't prayer taking out of the schools that made a difference. It was prayer taking out of the

113homes. I think the homes were not doing the things that they were doing back then with prayer. And I think that's part of the problem now. And until we get it in the homes, the schools can provide all the opportunities in the world and the legislator's going to tell us how we should do it. I don't agree with that. I think that we do allow that at this time and I don't see the necessity of the legislature telling us how we should do it. >> Okay. Anybody else? So, we have a motion and a second to not adopt a resolution. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose. >> So the motion carries. Okay. B. Consider approval of resolution. >> Hold on. So you got to attorney raising a hand. >> Oh yes.

114>> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Got that. Miss. >> Okay. You go. >> Okay. Next, consider approval of resolution for application to delay the implementation of teacher certification requirements until the beginning of 2029 2030 school year. >> Page 31 of your packet provides us an opportunity to discuss, as we have discussed here for the last 10 years, the soft landing of meeting legislation that is due by the 2029 2030 school year. uh recent legislation this the 89th legislature provided um local board approve a resolution to delay the implementation of that teacher certification requirements. Um y'all y'all get by twice to twice a year updates on district of innovation certifications um as far as this school district uh provides and tonight we actually have a presentation for for you from Sher Barbie Taylor. Sherry Taylor, I

115call her, um the executive director of human resources that frequently presents to y'all in regard to those certifications challenges. So, let's go ahead and get started with this uh presentation so that y'all can consider this resolution. >> Good evening, Dr. Crawford and board of trustees. As we know, House Bill 2 stated that all K through five reading and math teachers have to be certified by the end of this year. And then K through 12 corefoundational. We call it core. They call it foundational. Core content teachers have to be certified by the end of next year. But they now give us the opportunity to request delaying the teacher certification requirements. To do so, we have to have three aspects into our proposal. Develop transition plan. Identifi identify our educator our EP programs that we're partners with.

116and review under uncertified staffing trends. If you look on page two of the proposal chart one, that is simply our number of core teachers, uncertified teachers. It does not include our entire DOI teaching staff. So I need to make that clear. The number you see tonight is going to be different from the number you see next month. This is just our core teacher and certified teachers and core content areas. On chart two is our staffing trends. We average about 60 new hires of earn certified uncertified teachers within the last three years. That is just new hires of uncertified teachers for each specific year. It doesn't include the previous years in that number, just new hires. If you look on page three of the proposal under chart two, this is our transition plan. Our goal is

117to reduce our number of core content teachers, uncertified teachers by 35 every year at least. It doesn't mean that's our stopping point. The more we we reduce, the better we are. If we do that, then we get to zero by 29 2030 school year. We also are going to focus our recruitment efforts on specifically looking at certified teachers right now. And you'll see at the end of this presentation, sometimes that's a little hard to come by, but our EPS are also having to work up ways to where our teachers come to us where they have an intern certification now as opposed to they didn't have to before. Now, if you go to page five of the proposal, this is something a little bit extra that we're putting in. Our principles can request a one-year extension

118for our uncertified teachers and core content. However, for that to even be considered, our teacher would have to meet those following guidelines. They have to complete all coursework in an EP. They have to have t at least tried one test. There's things that we're pretty strategic on and we're pretty strict on. So, we're not going to sit and approve every request that comes our way. HR and district leaders will go through those requests and approve those that meet these qualifications and still stick to our goal of having 35 less each year of uncertified core content teachers. Again, that's additional information that we are sending to the state to show that we're serious about getting certified teachers in here. I do want to point out, and this is a big reason why I'm here tonight, because

119we talked about K through5 reading and math teachers have to be certified by the end of the I would like to you look at this chart. For an individual be to become EC36 core subject certified, they have to take three tests. That's your PPR, your STR, and your core content. However, core content has nine different test sections attached to it. They have to pass each and every section to get certified with core content. That's a lot for them to do in one year with this being announced this summer. >> So, Miss Taylor, if Marty goes and takes the core content test and I pass everything but physical education, what happens? >> You have to retake the physical education part of that test. >> But I can go teach the other portions of the test. >>

120No, sir. You do not get certified until you pass. >> It was a softball. I knew that. [laughter] I can't believe that I I' I've be able to do all that, but I can't pass the PE portion of the >> I would be surprised. >> Sorry, sir. You cannot teach a teach reading for us. Right. >> Exactly. >> Okay. >> That is why we're coming to you to consider and approve the proposal so we can do an extension and delay it, but we will meet the criteria by 29:30. >> Good. Hey board, you know, there's been a lot of people that have tied this knot of teacher certification. Been a lot of political rhetoric, demagoguery, got it in. [clears throat] And that knot has gotten tied pretty tight. They're trying to unravel this knot by

121tying another knot. Period. And so we can make all the statements up here that we that we want to make. And we want to have certified teachers. We believe in that, but to get there, we we can't do it overnight. They're going to have to figure out some other ways to make teaching attractive again. And um certainly we're going to do what we can here in Tyler with some grow your own things, but that's not going to happen overnight either. Partnerships with UT Tyler certainly that y'all y'all were presented on earlier is going to help as well, but that's not going to happen overnight. So, you've got it in front of you and there's my opening statement for y'all's discussion. Okay. Uh, >> go ahead. >> In conjunction with that, you know, I've been one

122concerned about the number of uncertified teachers we've had. I think that we've done a pretty good job in trying to accomplish that. Once again, I think the legislature don't know what we'd be doing. And to indicate a time frame on this that's unrealistic for anyone to accomplish within a a year for everyone to be certified within your district is not understanding the system. And once again, you know, people making decisions that don't know the system is inadequate. Uh so I I definitely agree with the extension. I agree with the plan to try to eliminate them, of course, but uh the extension is definitely needed because no way anybody can accomplish this. >> Madam Vice President, >> I I think I've been on record ever since I've gotten back on this board that I'm not a

123big fan of the DOI. Um I have very serious concerns about the uncertified teachers. I think the research has shown us coming out of Texas Tech, especially in these core areas, that a kiddo that has a teacher that is not certified in that subject area, is at a disadvantage. I pat the administration on the back for the efforts they've made. I see this plan and it looks like a realistic plan to reduce that over the years, but every year that goes by that you have a kid in that class with a uncertified teacher, it just puts that kiddo at a disadvantage. I'm not a fan of of this and it it almost feels like, you know, the state tells us, okay, by this date you got to have them all certified. Oh, but you can

124now apply for an extension. Well, what's to say they're not going to push it out even two more years? I think we've got to set goals and time frames that are realistic obviously, but that we actually apply on ourselves because if we say, "Okay, well, they're giving us till 2028, but you can get a 2-year u extension." Well, what's to say that another one doesn't come out and then we push it back even further? That's even more kids going through our system that don't have a certified teacher. And I'm not talking about uncertified like I had in the past as far as you got somebody who's teaching PE or something. These are these numbers we're presented today are in our core areas. You know, the reading, writing, mathematics, the basic fundamental skills that they need

125to have to compete in this economy. These kids are going to graduate and they're going to be at a competitive disadvantage because it's a global economy. I'm a no vote on this. I think we need to set a date, apply that date to ourselves, have some discipline, and have a plan to get there. And if we don't get close enough, then maybe we consider that extension. I don't know if there's a time frame uh or when this expires that we can ask for this. But it it's almost like, hey, I'm going to lose some weight, but I'm going to wait till next year. No, you we need to get ahead of this. We need to get started on it now. So, those are my comments. Those are my concerns. I guess what part of that

126was a question is can we act on it this later if we need it? Uh would be my question to administration, but I'm a no on this one. >> The window closes this March. So right now there is no later. >> Thank you. So, Miss Taylor, let's fast forward to 2030 and supply and demand hasn't kept up with what the state of Texas needs, much less Tyler ISD needs. Uh, what's going to happen? I mean, what does that look like? >> Well, I can't say what the state's going to do. >> We're going to post vacancies. We can't hire someone. >> Then we put subs in there. >> We put subs in there. What What is the requirement for those subs? What do they got to have? Education. They just have to have 60 hours

127of college credit to sub as a teacher. >> Okay. So, they haven't completed their four-year degree to where you could bring them on board and then maybe work with them to try to get teacher certificate, which is what we've been doing. >> That's what we've been doing, >> right? >> But we're going to go back to what we had back in 2013, 2014, 2015 >> where we had >> uh well, right now you've talked about how many how many core content teachers do we have right now that are >> 140. So if we were going to say this is 2000 or 2030, we could have 140 open vacancies because we couldn't find the certified teachers because we do provide we do pre prefer certified teachers. >> Correct. >> And yes, you can probably knock that

128number down with some type of incentivization, >> right? >> Correct. We can. >> But we've had that. Ron, you weren't with HR >> 10 years ago. >> No. But when I had a principal at one of our comprehensive high schools used to tell me how many uh substitute teach or how many openings she had >> On a daily basis, what were we running over there then? >> Went from we may have had 25 to 45 uh vacancies. >> That's what she was >> indicating. But how many how what was real? >> Uh I would say 17. >> Okay. vacancies on a on a daily basis, especially in the busy season of athletics, you know, because you have to cover classes during that time. So, that adds to it um when when you have people out.

129But just typical day, I would say 15 to 17 you would would have on a on a normal uh daily basis. >> Subs though, but as far as vacancies go, we were carrying double digits in vacancies at at at John Tyler, >> right? being full disclosure there and then a few at legacy or what where it was called back then >> right >> yesterday I don't know it's going to be called tomorrow but anyways in saying that you're you're looking at some increased vacancies is what we're going to look at we're going to be carrying vacancies right now how many vacancies do we have districtwide >> we have four >> four in our in a comprehensive classroom there's some special education >> there's a couple well special education we're down to one so we're looking

130at four >> core content >> under the current deal so you if the community is going to be okay with that again. We just need to make sure we embark back here on February the 16th to understand that we've had this conversation on that. I mean, I I get it. I don't want uncertified teachers in our classrooms either, but until we get teachers certified in the state again to fill these things, we're going to have some some some issues here in three years. And so, >> uh, we will do what we can to fill every one of those positions with a certified teacher as appropriate. >> Just a go ahead. >> Clarifying question. So, right now, when is the deadline? >> The deadline's in March. >> In March. So, all by March, we need to

131have all certified teachers. >> No, my apologies. The deadline to submit the delay is in March. And you can right now there's not another date you can submit again. >> Okay. So now if we don't do the delay at what point do we need to >> K through five reading and math teachers have to be certified by the end of this year. >> By the end of and if they're not >> if they're not then you're looking at subs. >> But as far as anything from the state. So we just can't hire an uncertified teacher. We could hire somebody that was teaching fifth grade as a sub then. Right. that same teacher could stay. >> That could be >> just be a sub. >> Yeah, you could look at um some type of compensation structure

132that a degreed individual that that may be showing proof toward that to be a long-term term sub in a class because we do provide that. You'd look at some some compensation to make it attractive for that in that degreed professional to want to work for us. If not, they may choose another industry to go work in. So that that's kind of what we're up against because >> you run the risk of >> I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Run the risk of certainly uh losing uh some of your better teachers that are coming away with uh student success in their classrooms that are outperforming their peers that may have the piece of paper to say that they are certified. So you absolutely run the risk of having those folks move next door to a district that's

133going to get the extension and go to work there. So we um we run the risk of doing um damage to the students of Tyler ISD by not going forward with this recommendation. That's my opinion. >> So just to clarify, the state says we need to have everybody certified, but if we don't, then we just have subs. So they really didn't, in my opinion, do anything to help us out with this. I could be wrong, but >> Madam President, >> are they helping us out? Madam Vice President, I think you're assuming that there's going to be a max exodus of uncertified teachers when this thing triggers. And like trustee Leverage was saying is I think that there's a workaround there where you can keep those people on a long-term subbasis with the right compensation package.

134What I don't want to do is keep kicking the can down the road. And as a soup said, this problem was going on in 2013 and 2014. We talked about a pipeline to have teacher education, to have residency programs. Looking back, wish I'd have worked on it a lot harder in 2013 and 14. That's, you know, 13 years ago, and we would have had a robust partnership with XYZ institution to get us those teachers. Some some of this is the lack of interest in going into education for a number of reasons. I don't know that we can cure the the world's woes at this dis but I think we can set some reachable goals. I think these are reachable goals. I like the way the plan is. I just would like to see the time

135frame compressed if you don't put pressure on people including yourself. They're not going to meet those deadlines. They're not going to they're not going to check off those boxes. It's same with raising children with with negotiating deals. We've got to set some parameters and then apply those or we're gonna be sitting here in 2013. Probably y'all will, I won't, in 2030 saying, "Why don't we have certified teachers at the levels we're supposed to?" Well, because we didn't set a deadline and apply it. Those are my humble thoughts on this. Do you think we'd be in this position to have to do a delay if the test requirements weren't so rigorous now that you have to pass every single >> I don't think I think it we would be better off if it wasn't so rigorous

136and that's the problem AC through six that's a lot they have to pass >> and those are the ones that are being hit this year alone. >> Well respectfully I don't think so. I think the the the climate and the culture and the things that come out and the things that could consistently get thrown at public ed along with funding issues caused the black hole that is no one wanted to go and teach. >> It used to be that it was a it was fairly livable. Let's let's say husband and wife chose to to to enter education. But the economy guys is makes it hard to attain where you don't have to go pick up a second or third job to make that happen even for a married couple in education. Used to be that

137TRS was a very attractive thing to pull people into public education. Miss Jackson and I are a lot closer to retirement than kids that are getting into the profession now to where they've backed up that minimum age uh as far as as far as having to retire and minimum a minimum age to retire which I've got one now but it's backed it up 13 years you know about you can retire about 52 53 now >> somewhere in there but now you start talking about you got to have a rule of 90 which we just got through I'm I'm rule of what 80 so we keep back kicking the can down the road. Now, it makes sense because people are living longer, but we're taking some things that have incentivized and attracted people to the profession

138to where maybe you could retire at age 55 or 53 or 52 and even go do a second career to supplement that retired income. So, um I'm not arguing with either two of y'all. I just kind of respectfully disagree. Yes, the test is rigorous. They've made it even more difficult to get certified. But let's not forget how people have been getting elected here the last couple of rounds of statewide elections, local elections, and where public education sits on that. It's hard to convince my own kids to get into public education and follow their granddad and their grandma, their granddaddy and their dad into this profession, which is the greatest profession you can get in. So there's my soap box right there. That's what's made it difficult along with some of these other things that are

139going. So um whoever's watching out there, if you can change that stuff, I'm for you. Okay, technical question. >> How are you are you to get certified? Let's say the goal is to get everyone certified. How much of it is certifying who we have and trying to prepare them to pass these tests and how much is hoping that we find someone that we can bring in that's already certified? >> Our goal right now is to focus on the ones that our biggest is focus on the ones that we have here that we know we're doing a great job. We had 240 pre test sessions this past fall and 31% of people registered and 77% of those actually attended the sessions. We do know that from the surveys and that they felt more confident going in

140testing. We've had some that have tested that were closer to passing than they ever were before. So, they're not afraid to take it again now. So, we know that that's that helped some and we know that next year we're going to possibly provide it again. So, it's getting them we have, you know, several that were afraid to get into an education prep program because they didn't know what to expect. It's now saying, you know what, just go for it. Jump in and do it. And so, there they are looking into those programs now. We have more that are looking into it than did in the past. So, they understand, they hear, they know. It's just a lot of anxiety towards what all has to be done. >> But we are focused on the ones that

141we have because we know them. We've trained them. They're doing a great job. So, yes, let's focus on them getting certified. And of course, we are in hiring season and we are looking at talking to surrounding districts, individuals that we know and bringing them in that are certified. [snorts] >> Yeah. I think we we kind of rely on y'all to tell us what the landscape really looks like. like what is it? Are there things you're not doing or we're not doing that could, you know, you talk about prep courses is and we've we feel pretty good about our prep for our teachers to get certified because >> Yes, sir. We have several partners. So, we we work with I teach Texas. We worked with Impact East Texas. We're working with um 240 Prep Academy. I

142will say you'll see anou for prep academy in March and they are actually to our employees saying, "Hey, we'll give you a discount. will help you get certified. You'll be paid up. It's a monthly payment as opposed to paying it all at the end. So, you plan for it each month to help them with the certification. And then that test prep sessions that we did, we're actually get a discount on. So, now we can get [cough and clears throat] more people in there. And that's the goal is how many can we get in front to get this test prep because the test is what's causing a lot of the anxiety right now. There is an expense with for the individual that's going to be certified. Correct. >> Yes, sir. They have to pay for their

143admission into the program and then of course the steps that they have to complete with that program. >> Okay. >> And if they want to take the do the 240 test, there's a cost to that as well, which >> let's let's be honest, those that went to teacher school >> and paid the tuition to go get certified, I think it's I think it's probably fair that the that the individual employee has some skin in the game. >> So, I know you're asking the question, do we need to look at maybe paying for these? >> I don't know because you've got the traditionalists that have been out there that actually went to teacher school and got certified and paid the tuition. >> So, I think it's fair that somebody puts skin in the game. And I

144think we can coach them and lead them to get there and partner with these individuals. The 240 Prep Academy that we have or impact East Texas which is run out of the service center. >> Correct. >> So there's the state getting getting involved in this. Um you know as far as our staff teaching them how to do it man we've got day-to-day operations to run to run our own teacher certification academy would be awfully difficult. We just need to be the liaison between these other resources that we have. >> And our I'm sorry, our test prep sessions, they're actually free of charge to our Tyler IC employees. So you don't have to be part of 240 to be in it. Any employees who need a test, it's free of charge to them. >> Madam Vice

145President, question. Um, talk to me about alternative certification. You got a kid that comes out with a business degree, but I couldn't sell anything. So I want to teach I want to teach a core subject alternative certification route I'm assuming and and in a uh core area. >> Yes sir. So they would have to join a test at the educator prep program. >> Right. >> And now they'll have to get an intern certificate in order to be in the classroom to teach. >> Right. >> But they have to complete all their requirements with the educator prep program because they have several modules they have to do. So they are back in school with this program. They complete all the modules and then during this interim usually they have their core content done to get an

146intern certificate but then they have to take their PPR and STR as well. >> I've met a few people who have the alternative certification and they want to be in the teaching profession. What I'm getting at is the people who want to be certified, they'll get certified whether it's three months, a year, or three years. They want to do this for a living. They want to be a professional and they want to have that accreditation that their peers have. The other ones, they may not want to do that. They may they may just be happy in the classroom and maybe they're doing a good job like the soup says. I don't believe you have to have that little notice beside your name to do a good job, but the research has shown it's pretty pretty

147much out there that the kid that is in a class with an uncertified teacher is at a disadvantage. And so, do we look at alternative certification things for those employees that may need that extra nudge or do do we try to go in another direction? >> If they are good teachers, we want them to go alternative certification program. We want them to get in a program. If a teacher is going to come to me and say, "I'm not going to get certified," then I'm say, "I'm sorry. My hands are tied at this point. You've just made your decision that you want to be you don't want to be a teacher anymore." or after year three of a probe certificate or year one or year two DOI if they're not getting the job done we tell

148them to go to the house. >> Yeah. >> So there's some that's kind of not in the plan too. I mean there's the the normal stuff that we go through every year at this time whether or not we want to get married to somebody or not and and you know deciding whether or not we're going to offer him a contract. So um it's difficult. I get it and and I know there's a lot of feelings about this and and again there's there's a lot of pressures and a lot of hurdles that we're having to overcome to be able to do this and um I mean y'all tell us what you want to do and we'll do it. >> Just let me >> one more time. I'm sorry. When is so the when do you have

149to send the paperwork in? You said March >> uh March 15th I believe if I remember correctly. Madam Chair, >> yes. >> Once again, I I I agree with the plan because it is a workable plan. >> You know, uh I can't remember the exact number that you're talking about decreasing the number of uncertified individuals from year to year during a three-year period. And then I I think that if the board, the people sitting here feel like we're not accomplishing that, we come up with alternatives and and say that we want to reach our goal and we're not getting there and come up with creative ways to do so. I think it becomes incumbent upon us as the board to if we like the plan, a three-year plan, and that's what we want in three

150years, that we we we encourage that and we monitor that. And when we every year when we look at that number, we say if we're satisfied and not in the direction they're going. So, at the end of the three years, we will have that goal. uh and hopefully it'll be much less than what we have now, but we may not ever accomplish it based on what I'm hearing is simply because the the individuals are not out there that's certified. We don't have enough being produced. So, I think that we actually have a plan, a workable, realistic plan, but we have to just be hold people accountable for that plan so that at the end of the three years, we're much closer to the goal of having none than we are right now. >> How many

151how many uh per year? 30 at least 35. >> Right. That's >> okay. >> Right. >> For the secondary teachers, do you still and goes back to me, do you just have to take your professional one and then one content or do you have to take all nine as a >> if I want to teach high school history, do I have to take nine tests? >> If you're doing four through eight history, you're taking the four through eight history exam and then Yeah, it's a lot different. at 9. What about 912? >> Then you take the 912 history exam. >> So you got a geography economics. So >> basically the old composite you're certified composite >> like in the old days if you didn't pass one portion of the like remember they was broken up

152into like four sections >> eco government >> world and maybe US >> world and US and then >> sociology geography >> geography. Uh that if you failed one of those you did you did you still had to pass it to be certified. So, it's it's still comp the old social studies is still a composite social studies, but history is history and it's all bundled into one. >> You know, it's funny. I know y'all have spent time, y'all. Y'all worked hard tonight. It's been a good night. Um, it's funny that we all go through lonear governance and they at least OG AJ Cray Bill, what do he tell us? Don't focus on the inputs. But this is exactly what the legislature has done to y'all is that you're focusing on the inputs >> and you're spending

153a lot of time talking about that. And I and I understand that it's a very important thing because there's been a lot of rhetoric and noise out there about about DOI. But it's funny how they talk about inputs, outputs, and outcomes. And what did we spend two days in Kilgore on? And then y'all did it this summer. Not as extreme, but it's about outcomes. And so we need to get better on our outcomes. and we're spending an awful lot of time on inputs because of what the legislature has asked us to do. So anyways, that's that's my my my two thoughts on that to close out the conversation from the administrative point of view. >> Madame Vice President, u I feel like we've discussed this quite thoroughly now and I I'm ready to approve the

154administration's recommendation. And I make the motion to for imple implementation of the teacher certification requirements until the uh beginning of the 2029 2030 school year. I think our superintendent understands this is if he believes that certified teachers equal better students then you know this can be a priority >> um going forward. But we need to do this. We need to delay this if we have to report in March. >> Okay. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> All in favor say I or do I do >> discuss? Discuss. >> I do. >> Always. Robert's rules of order. >> Sorry. Any discussion? >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> I'm opposed. >> The motion carries. >> I'll abstain. >> Okay. one extension. >> All right, >> uh class size

155update. >> Dr. Lance Gropel will come provide us a class size update. Again, back to that last thing. We'll we'll have frequent reports for y'all on that because we report this every uh twice a year. And so that will be something that Miss Taylor will be able to roll in to her frequent uh reporting of is to see what how what type of progress that we are making towards that. Just like we report this >> twice a year. It is now time speaking of DOI. This is a DOI thing. >> Yes, it is. >> Report it here instead of turning it into the commissioner because the commissioner said I don't want to mess with this stuff anymore. It's a local thing. So they're going to talk about it. So all in the number of 18

156students, >> you got two pages there. There's uh 46 total students. >> 46 total students. 18 in bilingual and 28 over there in monilingual. We've got Dr. Lance Gropel is going to provide y'all a class size update. >> Yeah. Uh thank you, board of trustees. Dr. Crawford in front of you, you have the the numbers of class size updates where we're over that 22 to1 threshold in the kindergarten through four fourth grade classrooms. Uh as Dr. Crawford alluded to, uh you get this data twice a year in October and in February. Uh numbers were higher in uh October than the numbers in front of you today. uh more classes I think eight more classes in um October and uh 13 more students that were impacted by that. So numbers uh lower obviously enrollment fluctuates throughout

157the year. Uh that's an indication of this. This is not because we added additional classrooms. This is because of fluctuations in enrollment. Um I'll I'm open to any questions you may have. >> Any questions, comments? >> Of course. Of course. These [laughter] are another one of my agenda items in regards to uh class size. I I I I definitely think class size make a difference considering the environment of the classroom at this point and I think that the smaller the class size the better it would be more you can control things. uh but along the fact I've said that several times but another aspect of it is the teachers aids description and how they assist the teacher that they're helping. Uh do we specify or give any direction as to how these teachers aid should

158be utilized in that individual classroom? Uh yes, we do we do provide direction to the principal uh who then it's their job to work with that classroom teacher. Obviously uh if we're disseminating a pair professional in a kindergarten classroom, their roles and responsibilities are going to look a little bit different than if they were in a fourth grade classroom just because of the age and maturity of of the of the students. So um principles are going to work directly with the teacher um and utilize those uh pair professionals based off of what's needed in the with the student group. It's going to vary from from group to group. Um but the expectation is they're working in that classroom with that teacher um providing the supports that the principal and the teacher feel like are the

159are most impactful for the the students in that classroom. >> Okay. because I I know that some teachers aids are used simply as aid assistance and not helping helping to free up the teachers time so that they can actually help those individuals that are behind academically. >> Instead the teacher say it's been utilized running copies uh doing menial tasks from my aspect in regards instead of helping with the academic or freeing up the teacher so she can be in smaller groups etc uh during that time. So I I think that the allowing the teach the principal to uh help in making that decision I think sometime may need more guidance for the classroom teacher as to the utilization of that aid so that they can effectively address those people that his students that may be

160falling a little behind that need smaller group activities while that aid is assisting with some of the task academic task as opposed to menial test is copying etc instead of a direct p uh student uh contact. I and I think that that that you know because I harp on this because I know visiting the classrooms that it is a challenge when you have that many students and I think that the teacher does the best she can but the more students you have the more that challenge becomes more difficult and I think that somehow she had an extra hand that can help her in helping academically uh in that classroom and she decides how they're utilized academically to interact with those students, it would be much better. Now, uh I that's just my suggestion in regards

161to since we're not reducing the class size that we look at some other way of giving the teacher the assistance she needs so that she can address the classroom in a very comprehensive manner directing her assistant to help academically with those students at some level because the aid should be able to assist with some of those things that that she need that the students need. academically. So just kind of redirecting from my perspective and I know that uh we don't we don't micromanage in that aspect but I think that we haven't gotten the results that we want uh discipline wise as well as educational wise academically uh with the system we've been doing and when you keep doing the same thing like we said before you get the same results. So I think we're going

162to have to look at things somewhat differently in regards to how we manage the classroom and we allow the teachers to manage the classrooms from that perspective if we want to change things academically and be successful. >> Yeah. I I mean two things one being I think the level of ability between each aid >> is it varies considerably. So a uniform practice on based upon that on someone who did not choose education teaching profession to be the teacher record is going to be difficult to replicate from class to class. Uh other thing is going to be that I would suspect because I used to have an inclusion aid a long time ago when I taught and I needed that I needed her to go make copies uh for me. It's funny you brought that up.

163just now just had an epiphany of and a flashback because that was stuff I was going to need to do anyways. >> And that did help me as a classroom teacher because I was the expert in the classroom in the subject of history to be able to provide the in the instruction that was needed, not that individual. And of course, we do have I can think of one individual right I close my eyes. He helps us uh uh run the the back gym clock for legacy basketball games. He loves doing the academic portion of it. So I think there's some of that as well in variance between each individual uh person on that and with the accountability in the classroom and the performance of those kids on that teacher sometimes they have difficulty relinquishing that

164to someone else who is not the content matter expert and and I don't know who's who's complaining to you because that's what it is. It's a complaint. Um, but I know if my neck was on the line, I'm not going to abdicate that to somebody to to provide instruction as far as supervision goes for disciplinary uh prevention. Absolutely. There there maybe there's maybe there's some guidance we can provide, but abdicating uh academic and content delivery, man, I I'm not sure that we can say that that's something that we need to do from campus to campus because I think it's going to vary. No, I'm not saying from campus to campus. I'm saying that there are duties that I think well okay pri priority is making copies going to improve our student outcome directly as opposed

165to academic emphasis. So that that's what I'm saying. We have to we have to consider making copy so essential. You got to have those things in the classroom. You got to have those things that support stuff. But if we're talking about making a difference in outcomes, that person that's making those copies possibly can help academically. And then we have to look at the quality of an individual. I agree with that 100%. All of them are not at the same level, but the ones that are capable of doing it. We need to allow them and use them in that manner to help academically if possible. It's an ongoing dialogue. We won't we'll continue to talk about that. >> Let's make a public announcement that not all of our teacher aids are just copy. No, I >>

166copists. >> I didn't want you to think that either. I know that some are utilized in a very effective [clears throat] way. >> There's some that are outstanding. >> People do interpret things sometime. >> Our special education age really have to do the work because they're usually attached to a kid that is being pushed in for least restrictive environment. So there's a lot of education, a lot of academic need there. Um on our other pair of professionals, Dr. Gropel perhaps you can look at something that's that's a little bit more rigorous uh dependent upon the quality of of individual that we have there maybe their expertise is not in mathematics or reading per se it's more in the support end we need to pair that and match them with the appropriate people appropriate campuses yes

167sir duly noted sir >> do do we ever on what you guys were discussing do we ever look towards our um teachers aids or par profofessionals as a pool of people that may have an interest in education and that we could develop into the next step. You know, much like I look at somebody who's maybe answering the phones as a receptionist and I say, "Man, he hustles. He's really good. Maybe we're going to, you know, work with him and turn him into a sales guy down the road." >> Here's one close to your heart. We had a teacher aid at a campus. We were running a project. Mr. Newsome was familiar with this project. Quality teacher aid. went to early college high school, graduated in December from UT Tyler. We hired her in January. So,

168we filled one need, but then we lost another here. >> So, absolutely, when those diamonds are in the rough, we can certainly do that. We also have Miss Taylor back there that probably has >> How many do we have right now that are in inside of a program for parents? Ballpark estimate. We've had four before. I know that number's come to me before. So, yes, sir. We've we've got pairs that >> are trying to go into that now. That is a an ESC7 a in East Texas. It is a regional initiative and that might work in Lever Chapel. Not to pick on them tonight, Mr. Leverage, but the amount in Tyler ISD might be a little bit different. So, that might make sense in some of the smaller districts, but on scale here might be

169a little bit different. But yes, we do have some of those. Thank you. >> Any more? Very good. We have future business. March 9th through 16th is spring break and our next regular meeting is March 23rd. And can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> All in favor? All >> oppose. All right. Good work tonight.