McAllen ISD Special Board Meeting (June 2, 2026)

001A special meeting of the board of trustees of the Macallen Independent School District will be held Tuesday, June the 2nd, 2026, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Dr. Dardo Chapa boardroom of the administration building of the Macallen Independent School District, 2000 North 23rd Street, Macallen, Texas 78501. Items listed on this agenda may be taken in an order other than is shown on this agenda unless removed from the consent agenda. Items identified within the consent agenda will be acted upon at one time. At this meeting, there may be discussion and action by the board on the items and subjects listed as follows. Number one, call the meeting to order. I've done so at 5:31 p.m. Number two, a moment of silence. Thank you. Number three is the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag

002of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item number four is public comments. >> Here are the public comment procedures. Number one, individuals who wish to participate during the portion of the meeting designated for public comment shall sign up at mckelenisd.org at least one hour prior to the start of the scheduled meeting. Number two, an individual's comments to the board shall not exceed two minutes per meeting. Number three, the board shall not tolerate disruption of the meeting by members of the audience. Thank you. ISD. We have three people signed up for public comments tonight and the first one is Celeste Lopez. >> Good evening board members. Dr. Guuttis, thank you for your time. I'm here to add a

003middle school perspective that builds on what my librarian colleagues have already shared. Quick intro. My name is Celeste Lopez, the proud librarian at Deleon. In 2022, I was honored to be named the Mallen ISD Elementary District Teacher of the Year. And in 2024, I was named the district elementary technology teacher of the year. Both honors I received while serving as a librarian. I share these awards not to boast but to show the in the instructional responsibility that I carry every single day as well as my librarian colleagues. That responsibility aligns directly with the TRA definition of a classroom teacher, which is why exclusion from TRA aotments creates a disheartening inequity. Before becoming a librarian, I spent 18 years as a classroom reading teacher, which means I carry deep knowledge of the TEICSS, curriculum design, and

004student learning needs. That experience shapes every single thing I do in the library and why the TR definition matters to us. On a typical day, I directly teach TES align lessons for five to six classes in a myriad of subjects. I plan with teachers to design and deliver instruction. I integrate educational technologies so that students who enter my library create podcasts, multimedia projects, and digital projects that deepen understanding. Of course, we manage multiple campus operations and afterchool clubs. And in addition, we work our 10 extra contract days beyond the teacher calendar to maintain these resources. We plan instruction and to run programs that extend learning beyond the classroom walls. We do this because we are passionate about student learning. We're passionate about our jobs. We are the librarians of yes, here no longer. We are

005what I'd like to call 21st century techarians and our compensation should reflect the instructional and campuswide impact that we provide. I respectfully ask the board to reconsider our TR classification. Thank you board members for your time. >> Thank you, Miss Lopez. The next um speaker is Cindy Theharina. >> Good evening board members and Dr. Gutierrez. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Cindy Theharina. I'm the librarian at McAllen High School. I've been a librarian 13 of my 21 years here in McAllen ISD. First, I want to express my appreciation for the district's commitment into supporting our all the employees and recognizing the hard work of educators. Last year, teachers received a well-deserved $5,000 salary increase. However, librarians were not included in that adjustment despite serving in instructional roles that directly support student

006achievement and learning. School librarians are certified educators. We hold the teaching certificates. We have earned master's degrees in library sciences. And every day we teach research skills, digital literacy, information evaluation, technology integration. I can just go on and on of the things that I teach every day, whether it's one student or 20 at a time in my high school library. As a result of last year's raise structure, some employees in similar uh capacities are now earning more than we are as librarians. This has created a a paid uh disparity that many believe should be addressed. With the rising cost of living, and we all feel them every single day, we feel that this increase is desperately needed. Being left out left us feeling a little unappreciated for the work that we do in our schools,

007especially after surrounding districts did include their librarians in that $5,000 raise. We're not asking for special treatment. We're simply asking for equitable compensation that recognizes our qualifications, our responsibilities, our contributions to our students every day in our schools. Adjusting librarian salaries to at least match the compensation of what our co- counterparts teachers get feels right at this time. So, we're just asking you to please reconsider, you know, where we are. I know that we did move into a different category, but I feel like we still belong in the instructional uh domain. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Hina. And our last speaker is Natasha Gonzalez. >> Hello. My name is Natasha Gonzalez, and I'm here today to voice my opinion on the hiring process for the head coach of Mckllen Memorial um basketball boys basketball

008team. My goal here today is to persuade the board to delay the hiring of the current candidate to allow more time for other candidates to apply. What's the rush? I am concerned parent whose child will eventually attend Mckllen Memorial High School and God willing join the basketball team. In this way, he would follow his big brother's footsteps. My oldest son, Papito Gonzalez, was a starting point guard from Mckllen Memorial 2011 2013. Therefore, our family has strong ties to the Mckllen sports community and a personal interest in hiring the best candidate possible. So, when we heard of a coach that was from the neighboring district that was was being considered, we reviewed his record as a basketball coach. Since 2022, his uh program has finished last in the the district. And out of 119 games, he

009only had 41 wins. That put his winning percentage at 39%. With that being said, that would be considered a failing grade. To reframe this, what if we were trying to hire the head football coach and asked any ad at any of the local high schools with this record, would you hire this particular candidate? Probably the answer would be no, unless the candidate brought some intangibles. What is even more eyeopening is at the end of his last season, this candidate was reassigned, meaning he's no longer a basketball coach. So, if wins don't matter, shouldn't the intangibles have helped him to remain a coach? If so, why would we reward poor performance by giving him an awesome job at Macallen Memorial? This begs the question, what is our uh hiring process? How long was a job posted?

010Where was it posted? Was it posted statewide? And if there was a few candidates, why is only this one being considered and how was that determined? And what are the deciding factors for hiring? McAllen ISD is supposed to be the flagship of the RGV and we should select the best candidate. Our boys deserve a quality coach, not someone who's convenient. Thank you for allowing me to speak. >> Thank you, Miss Gonzalez. That takes us to number five, recognitions and 5A, recognition of the 2025 2026 University of Texas Rio Grandandy Valley teacher residents. Dr. Quiet. >> Yes, Madam President, board of trustees. Uh tonight we are recognizing the University of Texas Real Grandandy Valley teacher residents that served in our campuses throughout the district in the 2526 school year. Miss Olga Mendes, our director for human

011resources will have more information and this item is for information purposes only. Miss Mendes. >> Yes. Uh good evening. President Regalado, Dr. Gutierrez, and board of trustees. This evening, we are pleased to recognize the Utrgv teacher residents who completed their residency experience at Alvarez, Hendrickx, Perez, and Thikmanala elementary schools during the 2025 2026 school year. These residents were selected through a highly competitive process from more than 100 applicants. Of the 20 residents, 12 have earned full teacher certification. three will begin pursuing a master's degree in education this fall and eight are completing their remaining certification requirements this summer. Their service has made a meaningful impact on our students and campuses and we commend them for their commitment to the teaching profession. I would like to recognize some very special individuals and if you would stand

012as you are recognized. We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Utrgv teacher residency site coordinators. Miss Patricia Buhider and Christina Ranel as well as our Macallen ISD mentor teachers that are joining us as well. Thank you mentor teachers. You may stand and be recognized if you are a mentor teacher. Thank you so much. We are truly truly grateful for your mentorship this year. Um as well I would like to recognize Maria Lopez, teacher residency program coordinator and Mr. Oliver Losano, program manager from Utrgv teacher residency program. In addition, special thanks to principles right here to my left, Miss Melissa Lada, Monica Gara, Veronica Delgado, and Marisa La Chapa for their leadership support and commitment to the success of this partnership. Thank you so much. Thank you, principles. In addition, we would like

013to thank Dr. Cynthia Olivarees, a director of state and federal programs for her support and helping fund this program and also Miss Laura Williams, director of purchasing for her support as well. We'd also like to thank the support of Dr. Connie Kamacho, our HR director, and of course, our chief HR uh Dr. Canales as well. Finally, we extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. Reene Gutierrez and the board of trustees for supporting the Utrgv teacher residency program and helping us build a strong and sustainable teacher pipeline for Macallen ISD. We are grateful for our continued collaboration with Utrgv and look forward to another successful year in 2026 2027. Thank you. I believe this. >> And now we'll uh invite the Would you like to read it first or do you want to come forward for the

014uh >> Oh, we can go forward. >> Okay. So, we'll bring the board and Dr. Gutierz forward and we'll invite in our student Thank you so much. And our first student from Alvarez, Alisandra Deleon. Also from Alvarez, Marissa Seiggoia Garca. And at Alvarez, Emily Aoyo. at Alvare Alvarez. Lilith Marcato at Alvarez. Pearla Martinez at Hendricks. Belinda Gutierrez Gaseres at Hendricks. Diana Martinez at Hendricks. Kimberly Mondreon at Hendricks. Juliana Torres at Hendricks. Ruth Vega at Pettis. Janet Alba at Pettis. Stephanie Pettis Medí at Pettis. Jocelyn Ambre Ernnandez at Pettis. Briana Montenegro at Paris. >> Himea Kario at Thickpin Savala. Joselyn Alanise. Thickpin Savala. Gelda Ernnandez Bokenra. Thickpin Savala. Elamar Guerrero and thick pin Savala. Christina Rangh. Blue. Would you like to join? Camera three. Two. CONGRATULATIONS. law school. Is he here? Happy birthday, Lizzy. >> Wait,

015who said that? Oh, >> where's the party? >> Right here. I guess on behalf of ERJV, our dean, our director, Dr. Ali, we want to just thank you Mallist for being a very strong partner. Uh we appreciate the support, appreciate the guidance, and I will say this all the principles, HR, faculty, I mean honestly, everybody, we just come together for one mission. Help students be successful and hopefully be your future teachers in your campuses. >> So, thank you. She was actually my first grade uh teacher. So, Miss Elgado, I appreciate >> people like her. >> Yes. So, I remember so I was at one point I so um I just I just want to say thank you. >> Thank you for your efforts. Yeah. >> Okay. Okay, that brings us to item number six, consent

016agenda items A through >> F. >> Uh, Madam President, I move to approve items 6A through F. >> Have a motion by trustee Ria. Is there a second? >> Seconded by trustee Sophia Pena. All in favor say I. I. I. >> Any opposed? I. Okay, the motion passes 70. >> That takes us to >> Madam President, um I'll enter I'm sorry. Uh I propose a motion to reorganize the agenda to move 7B1 up to uh next consideration. >> Okay. And is there a second? >> Second. >> Trusted a second. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Same. Motion carries 70. And we are now at seven >> B1 discussion and possible action regarding James Nikki Row High School softball booster donation of JV and varsity softball lockers. Dr. Guthis, >> the James Nikki Row High School

017softball booster club is proud to donate new lockers for the JV and varsity softball locker room facilities to provide a lasting benefit for our student athletes and the campus community. We have our head softball coach, Mr. Asa inosa and uh the administration is recommending action on this item. Is missa here? >> Can you >> Yes. >> Would you like to say any say anything on this in regards to this donation and the >> boosters? >> Who are the booster parents? Uh can you please stand so we can recognize you? >> Thank you all. Thank you. I would just like to thank our uh booster club and our community for helping us um fund raise and go through the process of generating enough funds to be able to provide something like this for our softball program.

018Um it's truly a a blessing and I think it's going to be very um one of the things that our athletes that we currently have and the athletes that we have coming in, it's going to be something they look forward to. It's going to be really um something very nice and some not just nice but something very useful um compared with the the the facilities and the upgrades that we're trying to do. And so we truly appreciate our community and our booster club for stepping up and doing this. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> This item is for action. >> I'd like to make a motion to approve the donation for the uh JV and varsity softball lockers. Motion by Trusty Guardian. Is there a second? >> Seconded by Trusty Dea. All in favor

019say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries 70. >> Thank you all again. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Okay. And then we return to item number seven, instructional services, instructional leadership, human resources, business and operations and board of trustees items. Item number 7A a instructional services instructional leadership items. A1 is report regarding pre kindergart pre kindergarten instructional efforts and student outcomes. Dr. Guttes. >> Yes. Uh Miss Janet Nino, associate superintendent for instructional leadership will report on pre kindergarten instructional efforts and student outcomes. And this item is for information purposes only. But Miss Nino, can you go ahead and introduce uh our speakers? >> Absolutely. Um, thank you again for the opportunity for us to just um, spotlight our entire prek team this evening. And we do have representatives. We have Miss

020Judy Preup for our prek teacher at Jackson Elementary. Uh, Miss Sandra Martinez, prek teacher at Bettis Elementary, and Mr. Juan Lopez, pre-K teacher at Wilson Elementary. And joining us alongside is their principles, Miss Erica Salenas, Jackson, principal. uh Miss Veronica Delgado, principal Pettis Elementary, and Miss Rebecca Chazareta, our principal at Wilson. So, thank you all for being here, even on the last day of school. Excited to just share all the hard work that starts in pre kindergarten. And Miss Ganales, go ahead. >> Good evening, board president Regalado, trustees, and Dr. Gutierrez. This evening, we are pleased to share highlights of our pre kindergarten program, including the importance of early learning, student progress in early literacy and early math, and continued efforts to support our pre-K learners. I will begin by sharing why early learning matters.

021The early years are critical because they set the trajectory for academic success. During preK, children develop language, communication, early number concepts, and funological awareness skills that help support later academic growth. Funological awareness skills are especially important in prek because they help uh with helping children hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language. Um helping them um with a foundation building that foundation for future reading success. Students also build confidence uh social emotional skills which help them engage successfully in school. PreK lays a foundation for future learning and lays a foundation for kindergarten readiness. Building on that foundation, I'd like to now share our prek data. So, this slide here highlights district-wide prek data in early literacy and early math from beginning of year to end of year. Overall, student performance improved across both domains, and our

022end of year results exceeded district target goals. In early literacy, the combined total increased from 60% at beginning of the year to 81% at the end of the year, surpassing the district goal of 66%. We also saw a decrease in students needing additional support, dropping from 30% at beginning of year to 10% at end of year. In early math, the combined total increased from 75% at beginning of year to 90% at end of year, exceeding the district goal of uh 72%. Students needing additional support also decreased from 14% at beginning of the year to 6% at the end of the year. These results reflect the impact of intentional instruction, targeted intervention, and ongoing progress monitoring. While we celebrate this growth, we remain committed to continuing differentiated support and intervention to ensure all students continue progressing.

023To support a successful transition into the new school year, we will offer upcoming prinder uh prekinder camp on August 13, 2026. We do invite all prekinder students to join us for this valuable opportunity before the new school year begins. Pre kinder camp gives students an early preview of school, allowing them to become familiar with the classroom environment, routines, teachers, and expectations. Students participate in fun, engaging activities, and build confidence, support social emotional comfort, foster positive relationships, and create excitement for the start of the new school year. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Thank you for this opportunity to uh put a shine on prek. I would like to share with you about our high quality instruction in the prek classroom which encompasses a variety of things. First, strong routines that support engagement and independence, explicit and

024systematic instruction in key uh in key learning skills, oral language and vocabulary development, as Mrs. Canales shared earlier, the manipulation of sounds to put them together to form words supports this in our classroom. We also build the social emotional skills and those are embedded daily through all core subjects. And we have play-based learning that promotes curiosity and problem solving which is key for our littles that come in for the first time into an education classroom and being socialized with other students to learn to be able to problem solve and figure things out on their own. And this happens through playbased learning. And this occurs through hands-on learning experiences across the day in all core subjects. And some examples that I would like to share from my classroom that we target this through whole group instruction

025first and foremost that is through our curriculum that we focus on during the summer and make it accessible to all teachers. And then we do differentiated instruction through our small group. In our whole group though, we do our morning routine which encompasses the heggery that hits our foundational skills that is spiraled through all core subjects and it's oral throughout the day. So there's a lot of talking and we expect that from our students to us. That's how they build their confidence and they do letter review, letter sounds. Some examples that you see on there are our onset rhyme practice and in small groups. You see some of my students there, they're blending practice. They're doing their rhyming from blending. They get to put those sounds together, make their own words. And if you were to

026see those students try to read their own words, and then that face that just lights up, it just that's why I am still in prek. Um, thank you for your time. >> Good evening. My name is Sandra Martinez. I'm from Dr. for Pablo Perez Elementary and I'm going to talk to you about how we build early literacy and early math foundations in prek. Phological awareness built early literacy foundations. Say some of the skills will work in prek are rhyming where students identify if two words rhyme and if they generate rhyming words alliteration where students target letter names and sounds. They identify beginning sounds and if words begin with the same sound or letter. Sentence segmentation where students break spoken sentences into individual words and count the words in a sentence. Syllables where students break words

027into parts and oneten rhyme where students separate the in initial consonant or blend from the rest of the word. We also do number sense activities to support early math readiness. For that students get to road count to at least 30. They do a onetoone correspondence. They represent numbers. They compare sets using the words more than, less than, or the same. They order numbers and sets in sequence. They identify, name, and describe 2D and 3D shapes. They recognize and compare objects by size, weight, capacity. They sort and classify objects by attributes like color, shape, or size. They identify, reproduce, and create patterns. And they solve addition and subtraction problems. We also do vocabulary and oral language to train comprehension. For that during readalouds, we engage students to participate by naming the parts of the book. For

028example, the front cover, the back cover, the spine of the book, the title, the name of the author, the name of the illustrator, and what they do. Uh students get to predict what might happen next in the story. They go over story elements where students identify and name characters of the story, the setting, the plot. We go over what happened at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story. And students get to retell the story. Uh students also answer questions about the story using think turn and talk discussions. And in prek we do ongoing assessment which help us monitor progress. For that we use the circle test. We assess three times a year for the beginning, middle and end of the year. And we use the data to differentiate instruction to meet students

029needs. And these are some pictures from my classroom where you can see uh small group centers where students are doing math, they're doing numbers and they're doing rhyming, sentence segmentation, the syllables and the alliteration. Thank you. >> Hello. I'm Mr. Lopez Wilson Elementary and uh I'll be talking a little bit about the target support. So in my classroom and their classrooms just to add a little bit more um we have groups that we create depending on how the children perform in POI which is beginning of the year assessment and so we can go to the next slide please. Okay. Uh thank you. So the slide on the the picture on the right left you'll see the purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Those are my groups from this past year. So I had 22 children

030out of the 22 children. Um the red and the orange groups are the Spanish speakers. So language of instruction was in Spanish, the others were in English. And so what small groups do is they help me to create flexibility and support for the children all children who need it. So for example in the middle picture uh that was one of my students Kenzo and he's in the uh purple group and so he was already writing and words in a sentence. So he was able to write those little postets that you see those are different words that create a sentence right? So he first drew the picture then he's writing. He needed that support. Then on the right you see Kevin's work where he's actually decoding a word and I'm helping him write those words. Then

031on the left is Hazel. And another great thing that happens during this small group instruction is I'm able to work with three or four children and take a quick snapshot of them and send it to mom during during during conference time. You know, Hazel knows these letters. She needs help with these letters. And then she be like, what can I do? So then I send her a little activity home. So that also builds rapport with the parents. Then on the middle part uh picture of Kaylee, she is really in the blue group, but there are times when Kaylee um uh chooses she's she's unable or unwilling to participate with her small group. So when I'm done with the three, then I bring her in and she's able to learn with me for about 10 minutes.

032Then off she goes. So on the right side, uh that little that's the Smartboard and that's Catalina's drawing and so and writing. And so you could see that with that that's really one of the outcomes that we like to see as preK teachers where they're already not only illustrating but they're actually creating words from what they're learning in the classroom. And so small groups is the hamburger is the meat of the hamburger. And small groups when we do small groups, we're basically seasoning the meat. And um this is worth gold because it allows us to really bond with the children, connect with the children and also build rapport with parents. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Um my name is Mrs. Aareta. I'm the principal at Wilson Elementary. And so they asked us to speak

033to to you all as far as what does an administrator do to support prek? And so the biggest thing is to make datadriven um instructional decisions. Mr. Lopez and the rest of the teachers did share that their groups are constantly changing based on the need of the students. So as an administrator we to we need to make sure that we are removing all sorts of speed bumps that the teachers might have. Uh ensuring that our teachers are properly trained to give this assessment because it is a onetoone assessment which is quite lengthy. It has about how many parts? More than 40, right? It's it's very lengthy. So we ensure that we provide the testing atmosphere for them if they need a classroom to ensure that they you know get uh pull out the student it's

034quiet so that the student can um concentrate and answer accurately because if we have that we have accurate data if we have accurate data we can make better instructional decisions for our students. um as uh they had mentioned as well just ensuring that our tier one interventions are there to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the of the children so that the students don't move on to have uh to start the gaps in education right um research shows that the students uh children from 3 to six are just sponges and so if we can catch them that early we're setting a strong foundational um educational foundation right um for our students which in turn um helps out the rest of the campus and and moving forward because uh administrators know that we still

035have some some students that are lacking a lot of the prek foundational skills and so if we can really hit them hard at the beginning we're set for success. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And um that concludes our presentation, but as we look at um achievement data, particularly STAR in the upper grades um and we see instructional gaps and we work backwards. This is where it all begins. And so the work is very intentional. I appreciate this team representing all of our pre-K teachers across the district and our administrators. It's a lot of intentionality every single day. And thank you all for your time. >> Thank you, M. Thank you, Miz. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you all. >> And now we move to 7 A2 discussion and possible action on interlocal

036agreement number 2027-012 veterinary technician apprenticeship program with South Texas College. Dr. Guuttes. >> This agreement establishes that South Texas College will provide a veterinary technician apprenticeship training program for students. Mr. Leo Science, our director for career and technical education, is available to answer any questions. Administration is recommending action on this item. >> Good evening, Madam President, members of the board, Dr. Gutierrez. Um, I come to you tonight to present you some information on the U interlocal agreement that we're hoping you will approve tonight. Um, this is something that we've already been working on this year. This current year that just ended today, we have uh 12 students that participated in an accelerated program. STC only really has two school districts that they're working with in this program. Us and a neighboring district that we won't

037mention, but um we're doing really good. We we're focused this year mainly on the big animals, which are be the ones that are farm, the cows, the sheeps, the goats, and the pigs. Uh and then from there, that's what we did. So, Mr. Denny is our teacher that has been approved through SEC and we did this program. Uh from my understanding several of the kids are still going to continue to get their 2,000 hours to be able to get into this uh and also earn college credit hours. So this program has been in place. We we we pited it this year to make sure and we're just asking for you to approve us to continue to do this program because we want to add this the first component which would be the smaller animal, your

038cats and dogs that everybody's familiar with when they go to the vet, right? But a lot of people aren't familiar with the big animals, which is what we we focused on this year because we didn't have that part the the uh facilities for the small animals this year. And we're looking to upgrade. Thankfully, we got that bond passed and now we can actually start moving in that direction too with us to be able to move into some similar space that will allow us to do the small animal as well. Uh so some of the highlights again I this is a presentation that was there. uh that one of the things that I want to bring to you is the benefits to the students right of it obviously college credit opportunities industry recognized apprenticeship program uh

039exposure to those vet uh to veterary and animal care uh careers and development of technical and employable skills of course and then direct pathway to the high demand occupation and then um one of the other big ones is strategic value to Macauan ISD uh obviously we expand our apprentichip pro opportunities for our students super important that we do that we get them that leg up on everybody else. Uh increase post-secondary credentials. Uh strengthens the partnerships with our higher education partner STC. Uh and then supports workforce demands. They're in the animal. Uh one of the things that we are hearing is that a lot of our large animal vets are retiring. They're older folks and so they they need somebody to replace them and not a lot of people are wanting to get into that particular

040part of it. They want to see all the smaller animals. So we're actually guiding them into this. and then enhances the student career readiness outcomes of course and it also helps with CCMR and everything else that you can throw in there. >> Questions? >> When they gra when they finish this program, how far along are they to be a certified vette? >> Well, we provide them a certification here through Eleno, which is through a company called ICV. That's an industry based certification that's approved through TEA. So, that's already a leg up. This one allows them to get into that program that they're already in. This is through a different program, not through like a regular uh dual enrollment program. This through a different program through Dr. Carlos Marggo. And so what this does, it gives

041them that leg up and then they can continue. But it does afford them two different certifications that we already provide through pretty much all our students in in this program, but it does allow them to start the process to get the one. The one they're really looking forward is to that technician one that requires 2,000 hours. That's the big component of it. And so we're getting them a leg up with 192 hours already getting their foot in. Um my one of my coordinators uh Monica Pñena and uh Dr. Marggo's assistant or one of the people that work with him and his group are also partnering up to go visit more and more of our vets so they can get them in there to do the volunteer pay pay rate. So some of them are already

042getting paid. >> That's great. Thank you, sir. >> Yeah, it's an amazing opportunity. >> Agreed. >> We're recommending action on this item. I just have one question real quick because it says here that we're going to approve number 2027 or uh-012. Does it matter, John? As far as uh the actual agreement itself is 2027- 1012, >> just amend the language to whatever the agreement number is that it's written on. Just amend it when you >> Okay. Thanks. >> Yes. Just missing. >> This is for action. Is there a motion? Um, yes. I will move to approve the interlocal agreement number 20271012 veterary technician apprenticeship program with uh South Texas College for a term of August 2026 through May 2027. >> I have a motion by trusty deva. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Trust

043uh trusty with the second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? I. Okay. Motion carries 70. We've already done seven B. >> Thank you, Mr. Science. >> Thank you, sir. >> Okay, we are at 7B two discussion and possible action on the Macallen Independent School District board policy to amend policy DEEC local compensation and benefits, leaves and absences, payment for accumulated leave upon retirement, second reading. Dr. administration is recommending the the amended change to policy DEC local when it comes to payment for accumulated leave upon retirement that employees who retire under the Texas retirement system of Texas TRS or any other retirement system also be eligible for payment administration is recommending action on this item and so this is the second reading to finalize this uh policy >> yes that's correct >>

044any of trustee have any questions or comments on the Second reading. >> Move to approve. >> Sorry. I have one question. >> Can the employee also submit additional documentation if admin submits documentation >> like through the process >> like on the retirement site? >> Hold on. I might be >> I think you might be on the other policy. >> Sorry, wrong policy. >> No question. >> Okay. And I believe Trusty Had you were >> uh move to approve. I have a motion by trusty Hadad and second by >> I'll second >> Karion. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries 6. >> That takes us to seven >> B3. Discussion of MISD policy DGBA local personnel management relations employee complaints and grievances. First reading. Dr. administration is presenting this policy as a

045first reading to allow board of trustees the opportunity to propose policy updates to policy DGBA local. Our goal is to provide clarification regarding grievance procedures, timelines, levels of review, and employee rights through the complaint resolution process. This item is uh for information purposes only because we're discussing the first reading of this possible amendment to DGBA local. >> Yes. So right now what we have Dr. Taylor is under uh page two deadlines and extensions. We're just adding that the superintendent administration provides documents to the agreement and the superintendent or administration intends to rely on at the level three hearing less than five calendar days before the level three hearing. The agreement shall be entitled uh to a reset of the level three hearing upon the request to a date and time mutual agreed upon. And then

046again on the last page we do have another recommendation uh and this is more assignment of the hearing officer. So at the level three hearing the hearing officer shall be responsible for ensuring a recording of the hearing is made. Thereafter human resources shall be responsible for maintaining the level three recording. >> Dr. Canales I don't do you or have the ability to put it up on the screen because I think the what was included in our packet did not have the changes that you just read out. >> Uh yes. Let me get that for you. I highlighted the change that the add-on changed. We don't have it in color. Is it? >> I think it was on the uh the packet >> point. >> I was just curious if we had it to to display

047because the people in the public or anybody watching won't be able to see that. I'm just kidding. So that's the first part there that's located on page uh page two of 70. >> Does anybody have any questions or comments on this part? No, I think it makes a clarification um to ensure that if uh you know if we amend the record or included a lot more additional information in the record, grievance shall have a minimum five days otherwise they can request a reset. The only thing I I want to say about this is that as long as both parties uh are submitting within those five days, but at the level three, we should not be introducing any new documents. uh if we're going to follow that uh that those five days that we have advanced

048notice to submit all documents and at the level three uh no new documents can be introduced anymore because this policy is telling everyone that everything has to submitted within five days prior to the level three hearing >> because that's the way that's the way it should be all level threes no documents are supposed to be submitting at the time of the hearing it should be done now in this case instead of three days is five days and we're fine with that and that's the way it's supposed to be and nothing else is introduced at the level three hearing because we're not this is the policy that we're going to follow now. >> But the the policy the language says if the superintendent or administration provides documents it's not talking about the grievant >> but it's

049both parties. Yeah, we I mean we could add >> Well, that was my question. I guess if we add documentation on our end, does it allow room for the grievant also to >> they can't everything should be submitted when it's a level one at the level one level two at the level two and then nothing new at the level uh >> same applies to the district. >> Same to the district. That's correct. >> Both parties. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Well, that's not the way I read this. And also I you know if a grievant wants to provide rebuttal information, I don't see that as a problem. But if we want to provide, you know, the administration, well, we have the ability to request a reset anyway. >> I mean, the district does. Correct. >>

050Correct. But but what we're saying is that at the level three, no, no new documents should be submitted that either party has not had a chance to review. >> It it should be within those those five. If we're going to use the rebuttal analogy, and the only way that I know how to conceptualize that is in trial work, is that anything that is in rebuttal is not necessarily something that you disclose up front because it is something that you answer in rebuttal to what somebody brought up in the actual hearing. So to the extent that that would cut both ways, in other words, if new information is brought out, new allegations are brought out, if administration needs to address those, that would be considered rebuttal. So it would under this it would tie our hands

051to not be able to say here's the documentation to rebut what you're saying. I think what Dr. is saying is that to make it or what he's requesting is to make it mutual that if administration provides it within five days there's a reset or if the grievant provides it within those five days to get a reset as well. I think that's what he's asking is that it's a mutual >> correct >> assured kind of thing if I'm hearing that correctly. >> Correct. The way I read this, I guess my I'm think I'm following what Trusty Adat is saying. I think that the grievant should also be allowed to um provide rebuttal evidence to whatever we provided for instance >> 100%. And and I don't think there's any issue with that. The question I guess is

052is what is the line of demarcation and and is it in response to what is brought up at the grievance? Can the grievant introduce new evidence there at the grievance? And if so, Are we allowed to counter that at the hearing? So, I I I I'm not trying to be tickytac with this, but I think those are the the issues that are coming up in the discussions that we were having as to how we um how we work this out. >> I read this to say 5 days before the hearing. So, I don't think any of this part of the policy is contemplating during the hearing. >> I completely agree. But I think that what it's also is taken into account is if the grievant were to try and come in and have documents because

053it is not uncommon for grievance to come in at these hearings in close session and say here are documents whatever they might be and pass them out to try and either supplement or to add additional issues that they want considered. I think what they're saying is that they would like us to be given the opportunity that if we review it and we think it's material and it's going to affect what we're going to argue that we be allowed to say, well, we would like a reset as well so that we can address this, go back and either redevelop the record or have more information that we need to support our position. or if it's a if it's documents that are conclusive and we want to change what the decision was at level two then we

054have an opportunity to go back and remedy it there but I for whatever it's worth I think this is a good policy I think saying if new documents are introduced you're you get your five days but I think that what administration is saying is that it should be a two-way street >> I'm reading this to say that the administration provided documents within the five days before the hearing. >> Correct. >> And now the grievant wants more time. >> Correct. >> But not not in a not a scenario where new documents are provided by either party during a grieving grievance hearing. I think we're talking about two different scenarios. >> Maybe. But then my concern is if me as the representative for administration, if we're in a grievance hearing, then if I say, well, I didn't

055provide them within 5 days. I'm just providing with the grievance. Or if the grievance says the the same thing, well, I'm not providing these. I'm providing them now. I don't know what the dividing line is. And I don't know how to I don't know how the hearing officer calls balls and strikes on that as to what to allow and not allow in. >> Should we structure this more like as you pointed out though like the rules of evidence whereas one party has a administration would have a deadline by X days to provide whatever documentation it intends to rely on. uh Grievven has X days to respond and then both parties have X days and then the record's final before the hearing, something to that effect. >> Perfectly happy with that, which is similar to a

056docket control order that says you get these are your dates, you have them in and that's it. But again, for anything that the that we provide the grievant, if they want more time, I want the grievant to have all the time that they want and I have no issues with the resets. But what I'm also asking is that if documents are provided at the hearing that if those are material and we need time to research it that because you guys have seen how fast those things go. I can't be reading new documents, processing new questions and presenting the PowerPoint and defending the administration's position at the same time. >> I think that's not good. >> Do we need to go back and just reward this a little better based on what we're talking about? If

057there's a consensus that we want to have some sort of language in there that resembles the DACA control order that says you get this date and this date after that it's shut down. We can absolutely put in there language that says if the parties want by mutual agreement to reset and I will tell you for me to say no not that it's my decision but I would never object to somebody saying I want more time. I'm not looking to play got you with anything. So if that is a framework you want to go with, I can certainly put that together. >> Sounds good to me. >> Yeah. My point of view is the particular language we're looking at right now does not reflect sort of the nuance of this and so I think I would

058need to see a rework of this section in order to feel confident about a second reading. >> I can do that. >> Okay. Then then we'll reward it and bring it back. Is it? >> And and really it would be the same language just companion language that administration more or less has a similar ability to to ask for a reset and that the deadlines are 5 days out from the hearing and that that's that's the extent of the modification. Am I hearing that correctly? >> Can you say in the policy that no new document can be provided at the hearing and that either party has to supply it 5 days before the hearing? Of course, and that's what I think that's what we're saying just in a in a longer, more roundabout way. Grieving has

059five days to supply us with whatever they want us to have >> and vice versa. Um, I guess the the question gets into what is new information versus what is supplementing the record. So, in the instance of some of the employee grievances, if we're talking about somebody's employment file and we're addressing issues, is that supplementing the record or are we introducing new information? >> I think the way the way I read is it's whatever it's not making a distinction. It's whatever information you provide. >> It's either >> Are you talking about what should be provided at all in the first place? >> What's admissible, so to speak? Yes, but u I I guess I'm talking more about the deadlines themselves and I think we're kind of getting further away from it than we need to

060be. But the issue is if I'm following what Dr. Gutierrez is saying to make it mutual 5 days, 5 days unless by agreement of the parties that there's a reset in that time frame, something along those lines. >> Super simple, just like trusty said. >> Okay, now >> we'll we'll reward it like that. But I want to make sure that's >> that's good with me. >> If you guys are okay with that language, >> I think that works >> directionally. Right. >> We'll bring it for a second reading. Rewarding. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> And then Dr. Galile, would you pull up the second part of that, please? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Yes. So, this is a part on the assignment of the hearing officer. So at the level three hearing the hearing officer

061shall be responsible uh for ensuring a recording of the hearing is made thereafter human resources and we shall be responsible for maintaining uh the level three uh hearing record. So we'll hold that in our office an envelope state it hold it and then just seal it in case anybody needs to hear it then we'll bring it back out and >> okay >> and do it that way with signatures. Okay. >> Comments or questions on that? >> No, I I do have a comment. More question is whether we want to put this in policy or maybe just practice a grievances is having the hearing officer lay out at the beginning of the hearing what the remedial options are for the board of trustees. So administration, the board and the grievant are all on the same page

062of what the options are. I don't know if we need to put that in the policy or whether it's just practice. I think it would help be to be in policy so that the grievance know what could happen or what we even what authority the board has. >> Well, I don't know if we can put that in policy because am I wrong, John? Like depending on what the grievances, the remedial options might be different. >> Sure. So what the remedial options are are going to be governed by a whole host of things statute, Texas constitution, US constitution, various labor laws, and then the structure of the local government code and the education code that says what authority y'all have and don't have. I think the best remedy there would be within the u within the

063script that gets read at the start of the grievance if u if either side after reading it um after the hearing officer has had a chance to read it if either side says can you please present us with a menu of what our options are as the board what it is that we're allowed to do so that you have somebody um saying within these parameters you can do x y and z whether it's you can actually reverse reverse the decision that was made at level two, whether it's to send it back to level two, whether it's to say go back to level two and reconsider these options. But that way each side is told ahead of time these are the options that you have and you and you can put that in script or you

064could also put that in policy whichever works. I think the most efficient way would be to put it in policy. But I think also part of excuse me, not in policy, in the script, but also in the script, I think a good thing to do is for each side to say, have you received the documents? Are you prepared? Have you received the documents? Are you prepared? That way there's there's kind of the waiver by consent that says everybody agreed on the record that you have your documents and we're good to go. Are grievance ever told um during level one or level two what the possible outcomes are? >> No. Um and I and I'll tell you why. Because that can get uh precip can get too close to offering them legal advice. If I were

065to go into a room and listen to a grievance and somebody said, "What options are available for me?" And I gave them the menu of all the options that are available. I'm sort of acting as their legal adviser at that point. So, I have to be careful and I think administration has to be careful giving folks advice as to what they can and can't do. And it's just the nature of the grievance process that the grievant carries the burden. It's their burden to prove that the policy was violated, that administration acted in a way that violated either policy or um again that would sort of be turning the tables on what the burdens of proof are, who's responsible for it. Any other comments or questions on this item? Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >>

066Um now moving to item 7 C, business and operations items. Number one, report regarding 2026 bond next steps to include the following. 1 A framework for project managers and 1B review of projects for professional services. Dr. Guthis. >> Yes. Uh today we will uh we will be presenting an overview of the 2026 uh bond next steps. Mr. Trevinho, our executive director for facilities and maintenance and operations will have a report to present as well as Valoria, Miss Lorena Garcia, our deputy uh superintendent. And this is for information purposes only. I'm going to go ahead and start with you, Ruben. >> Mr. Ruben Trevinho. >> Good evening board. Uh, superintendent Gutierrez. Here we have uh the first slide where it shows the model A from the previous board meeting. Uh the model A does consist of

067if the district so chooses to go with a project management firm uh that would be on the left the uh $231,810,000 which comprises of all the projects listed up there and the hybrid portion of it would be the district managed uh on the right hand side which are the HVAC upgrades, the paving improvements, roofing, LED lighting controls and safety access controls for a total of 103,90,000. Our next slide is an RFQ suggested timeline for project management firms. Uh July 10th would be the first advertisement, 17th, the 2nd, the 24th would be the closing date for it. August 11th is a tenative date for board interviews uh to do either interviews for top three, top four, top five, different however uh that is selected upon. And then August the 25th would be the board approval date

068for a particular firm. if the if the district uh moves forward with this. Our next slide, our review of projects for professional services. >> Can I interrupt you before we go? >> Yes, ma'am. I'm just curious um from the last meeting we had uh it was presented to the board and option A for one program manager and an in-house and option B was two program managers and I believe the board asked for like a hybrid of that for an option C. Um just curious >> this this >> how it came about to just jump to option A. >> This is like I said for for review. Uh nothing is set in stone. This is more of the hybrid model comprised from both of the previous options which you can see now more of if the

069district so chooses to hire a project manager inhouse to do the district projects and the project management firm doing the uh the other projects. >> Ruben, go to the option A the M. Yeah, I I know that we talked about it at having a like another option of because we had the this model A which was what we we've been looking at is administratively to recommend. We looked at model B and model B was just to hire project manager for the whole thing for everything >> the entire bond. We talked about a model C as a possibility and that was to look at the pro uh the projects on the leftand side all of that new construction and perhaps have two project managers there and then also have an in-house project manager uh on the

070right side the way we have it. Uh again, we're looking at cost and we're looking at uh you know that if we hired two project managers for all the new construction on the lefthand side, we just feel that that may add more cost to project managers. And so we just decided that to keep it to one on each side, one on on the new construction because there are project managers out there that have big firms that could be able to manage all those projects on the left hand side. And then the one on the right hand side, those are the district managers with with a with a hired project manager that will be part of the staff. And so we just feel that this is the one that is could be more cost effective in

071terms of uh having just two two project managers instead of expanding it to three. >> Usually fees are are based on percentages of cost of the project. So whether it's 3% of 231 or 3% of half and half, it's 3% is 3% of of the total. Um, have we even considered or thought about breaking it up by like the the tranches that we're having? So, I mean, what if we have a really bad I'm just trying to prevent having a bad experience and then being stuck with someone and it's only one for everything and the disruption that we may have if we have to in the middle of all of these projects find somebody else. Um so you know I know our um bond consultants or Estraosa has mentioned you know going out for the

072first trunch and that would be entail a certain amount of projects um possibly considering a project manager or program manager for for those and then moving forward depending on on how it goes. I I this is not a one-year buildout and I just I'm concerned that it's so many projects for one person and then on the district side aside from us and our admin like where's the oversight on on those projects >> on the ones on the left hand side >> on the right side. >> Yeah. We we that's why we thought about hiring a project manager just to help us with those district managed projects. What do you think, Mr. T, on on those uh with a project manager because a lot of those HVAC uh paving improvements? They already have their own construction

073team. Correct. >> And it would be us to oversee those construction teams. >> Yes. >> What do you mean they already have their construction team? Well, like say for example, uh if you look at the LED lights, there there's already some firms out there that do that kind of work. >> ABC >> or companies >> and and all the all the projects on the right hand side will have a professional assigned to them as well, meaning an architect or an engineer. And those are the next slides that that follow follow this on the several on the different groups. Yeah, let me Yeah, I guess we can. Those are the following following slides. >> On this particular slide, you have uh the three comprehensive high schools which are three buildouts on the CTE and three buildouts

074for the multi-purpose building. So, this is one grouping that is completely uh standalone buildings from the ground up new construction. Uh this would be one one one grouping. The other group uh on the next slide is the front entrance uh reconfigurations uh whether they're expansions to the front entrances or new construction from the ground up. Uh the campus refresh, which is a big one for the three comprehensive high schools. And then at Memorial High School, there's also some additional roofing to do and some HVAC upgrades. The HBACA upgrades that you see in green that is we we the district own already some uh plans and specifications for the central utility plant for the whole high school and that was part of the ESSER uh projects that we had. Uh so therefore we already have the

075the the plans and specifications for that particular project that could be a standalone not necessarily under that area but it falls under that campus. The site paving at Ro High School is also depicted there because it's partic it's a it's a project for that for that campus but we also have the site paving project separate on a different slide and Macallen High School has a front entrance and the campus refresh. The next slide is a group of the campus or expansion of the classroom of wings. We have Milm Gonzalez and Morris at Milm. We're also doing the cafeteria modernization uh at the Gonzalez. It's the expansion of the classrooms, Morris classrooms with the cafeteria modernization, the front entrance, the roof replacement, and the HVAC upgrades. I think I mentioned in the previous meeting uh that

076Morris was a good example of having one design team working on on on those particular projects because they they all kind of mesh together and it makes sense to have one one one team working on it and not someone working on one particular area and another working on a different one. Um, next slide is the uh the rest of the projects that will require uh an architect which are the cafeteria expansions and modernizations at Alvarez and Sigin, the DeLeon front entrance and the gym enclosures as well. You'll see site paving and HVAC upgrades on Sigin, Alvarez and Delejon because those particular projects pertain to those campuses as they were presented uh prior to the bond when the bond was being marketed out there. uh but they can also be included on the next slides that

077are coming up. We have >> I do have a question on can we go back to the slide just to use that example and I think you and I discussed this earlier Ruben for example Sigin um Alvarez and Deleó have site paving or HVAC upgrades why is you know those are all in the district managed bucket so we're going to pay somebody a salary to oversee that yet now we're going to pay an architect fees why do we need an architect for site paving or HVAC An example would be let's say Sigin. Sigin, you see sight paving there because we're expanding on that cafeteria area. That cafeteria area will require uh delivery drives for your milk trucks at 4:00 in the morning that go in and out, your trash trucks from the city that go

078in and out. You also have daily deliveries to the cafeteria from our CMP staff. So, it does involve some reconfiguration of the area, the site, the paving, the drives. So it it almost makes more sense to put it all under one uh one scope under one contractor and not have someone just doing the paving portion of it and have someone else just working on the building expansion part of it. >> If those projects are district managed well at least the site paving Hback are we also going to pay the other project managers? >> No. And then the architect works with both or >> the architect would everything would be under their scope. Yes. Only one scope >> Under the architect scope. Correct. >> And does this architect do we need the architect in addition to

079the project manager or is it just the architect? We don't the project manager doesn't oversee these >> on some of these projects. It would be up to to the district to decide that at that time. Are you going to need a civil engineer after that? >> In that particular uh explanation that I'm that I'm giving, all of the different disciplines will go under the architect scope. >> So, they'll be contracted by the >> Yes. >> and their design team. On the other projects or the other slides that that came up right now like the site paving, those are campuses that only have the paving on its own. that only makes sense to go with a civil engineer to oversee those projects. >> So, when you hire a project manager, they kind of help with the

080fee schedules to make sure engineers or architects aren't charging crazy different percentage amounts. And if we're managing that in-house, how do we control that? As far as the project management, >> the fees that the architects or the civil engineers are going to charge us for the in-house projects >> for the in-house projects that uh you do have the work authorizations once the uh professional services are selected by the board and they >> set it up front before the goes out >> and they submit that and then we enter negotiations into that >> when the projects are assigned by the board. >> Why wouldn't we want to set that before it goes out and they know this is what we're paying and this is the only bond in town. They want the work. >> Yeah. I

081mean, it's like I said, we need to get to the uh area of whether we're going to hire a bond project firm to oversee some of the projects and some of the some of the in-house projects. We've been overseeing those, you know, for the last 10 years in house. On the re- roofs, these are the campuses that that do require the re-roofing projects uh for a structural engineer um and and only roofs at this particular campus. The next slide is a uh mechanical HVAC upgrades um which will require a mechanical uh MEP engineer on the project to do the oversight and the design specs. And then the last uh slide is the LED upgrades with the safety upgrades and the HVAC controls that will also require oversight by a mechanical engineer. >> Um I have

082a few more questions on this section. Thank you, Mr. Tervinho. Um, I know we looked at the job description for the in-house project manager last week. That was before we had this proposal, so I need to go back to that. That job description has that role reporting to you. How many hours a week do you think it will take to effectively manage the in-house project manager to deliver on theseund number >> hours? Hours a week for Mike. If you're managing the role, how many hours a week do you think it'll take you to manage that position effectively? >> I mean, uh, >> it's a lot of work >> as as many as it takes, you know. I mean, that's what we've done. Uh, you know, >> can you clarify that? >> How many project managers

083have you managed? >> In the past, we in my previous job, we've had one project manager oversee two different bond project, two two different construction bond projects. Got it. And how many hours? >> In house in house >> on average. >> The bond project uh management is is full-time just doing that 100%. >> Sure. >> And then the oversight from admin uh can range from uh I'm going to say maybe 50% of the time because you're attending meetings, you're looking at different designs, you're looking at options, you're looking at pricing, um you know, overseeing everything. >> Yeah. And I I think I'm just trying to wrap my head around capacity, right? Like you have a full-time job. You're already doing lots of stuff. I'm just I'm trying to forecast what happens when 50% of your

084time is now on bond projects that was previously dedicated to other critical needs across the district. How have you made sense of that? I mean, in our jobs, we we we do what it takes, you know, and and uh sometimes it's not just 40 hours. Sometimes it's working past that. Uh we've got contractors, we've got um calls at different times of the day. Uh contractors work over on weekends. Um they're on a schedule and then they have to meet the schedule. So sometimes uh it requires more than your ordinary schedule, you know, >> but we we we've done it. >> Yeah, that's fair. Thank you. Um on the projects that are listed on the right hand column in project model A, are there any of those that are outside of your scope of experience? >>

085No sir. We've done pretty much uh all of those previously. >> Yep. >> We've done all of the safety access controls. We've done a uh done, you know, some of the LED lighting upgrades, lighting upgrades from T T12 to T8, from T8 to LED. We've done many of roofing projects. We've done paving. We've got the replacement schedule for that. And we've also done HBAC upgrades. >> Great. Thank you. Uh and in terms of scale, total amount of projects, total amount of value, what's comparable in your background and experience in terms of those other bond projects you mentioned? >> All of those are within >> within that. Thank you. Um I have a couple other thoughts on the RFQ. I don't know if how we structure those, but I have some thoughts on going out for

086the external project manager. So, a couple things come to mind and again, if this is not the place to include those, then we should put a pin in it and try to come back to it later. Would love to see something somewhere that says, you know, the expectation is 90% on time and 90% on budget, which basically means if you start to go over on time, you got to come under on budget or vice versa. I would love to see a world where there are set expectations for the frequency of engagement between the project manager and the administrative team. Um I don't know, it's probably not weekly, monthly sounds about right, quarterly, this is all new for me, but setting expectations on the front end. Um and then I would also love us to consider

087a world where meetings and regular progress updates um are a part of the contract and a part of the expectation not only to administration but also to the community and maybe that's routed through the bond oversight committee. Mhm. >> Um and then the last thing is um I would I would love to see a world where those meetings and those reports are not considered billable hours but those are considered a part of the overall project. I also see that as we are briefing the board and everyone on this project that maybe sometimes we should just have a special called board meetings just for that and not mix them with a regular board meetings is we have there's always going to be questions and a lot of detail on projects and cost and and statuses of

088projects that maybe some of those some meetings should be just for the bond updates and not put it in the regular meeting so that we could have a lengthy discussion and deep discussions of the projects and and the status of those projects. >> Yeah, >> I welcome that. >> And then Dr. G, given the size of the bond, the importance to the community, I I think it's paramount whether it's inhouse or the outside consultant um have a direct line of reporting to you as well. >> Yes, sir. Loretta, you had it. >> Yes. Uh the next section is uh uh essentially the bylaws or a charter if you will for a bond oversight committee. Uh we developed this sample. Um it's based on the information that was sent to you earlier. Um where uh when

089you were recruiting names for nomination um it it talks about the the purpose and the charge for the committee also. uh you know what what they will be doing. Uh they would be reporting to the board prime uh solely to the board. Um it would talk about uh uh their duties uh which would be accountability also uh some site visits uh reporting. Um it talks about the uh structure of the the committee. Um and there's uh the terms uh we we talked about that previously in a prior uh workshop. Uh the membership criteria as well was something that was mentioned earlier. Um and then there's an ethics policy with conflict of interest uh criteria. Um um one new thing that we added is employment that in no means by no means would um any conflict

090relating to uh future promises or or promises of employment or or financial gain from a committee member um would come into play. Um, and uh, this is a draft and we can certainly edit it if you have any changes, but I know it's the first time you looking at that. So, uh, we can we can make additions if you have comments on that. Madame President and board of trustees, is it okay if you can um give us some, you know, you have a copy of it and then just give us a feedback uh on any editing you'd like for us to do and perhaps uh send it to us by the end of this week and that way we can bring you a final draft at the next meeting on the 23rd. Would that be

091okay to to give us editing uh feedback? >> It would. I I have one now to save me an email um which is under the conflict of interest. Um, I'd love for number three to be edited in such a way that no immediate family member of a member of the oversight committee um can bid on um any bond projects. >> Yes sir. >> Okay. Also just point maybe a point of clarification on the charter. I you know I don't think anybody any vendors should be appointed to the oversight committee but I want to make a distinction between vendors related to vendors related to the bond and maybe vendors that sell the district uh paper or something to that effect >> like distinguish who's a vendor >> right like yeah if it's related to the bond

092no otherwise I mean >> so if you're a vendor and you're on this oversight committee, you're prohibited from from seeking a contract. >> I think related to the bond, right? >> Because I mean, if somebody sells t-shirts to the district and they have relevant experience, why should they be prohibited? >> Right. Right. That's something. >> I'm assuming we have I don't know our full vendor list, but we have a lot of local businesses. >> I also think what it a definition as to what we consider a vendor. Does an employee of a vendor qualify to be on the oversight committee, >> which in my opinion shouldn't, but >> then just use the 10% rule. 10% 10% of your income is coming from you have a conflict >> for that, right? >> And one last um

093item for consideration is I know the current charter prohibits employees of the district from being on the oversight committee. I would like us to consider a 15th board member um not board member, excuse me, oversight committee member appointed by the JPCC. Um I've gotten some feedback that um teachers are left out or are not do not have the ability to provide feedback. Um so that's just some consideration if we want to do that or not. >> We're fine with that. I mean if if that's we can uh Dr. Canales oversees the JPCC and and this cabinet. We can uh ask to do a nomination and if that's okay with the board and have that 15th uh committee member. >> I like the idea. >> Okay. So then look at it and and give us feedback

094by the end of the week. Uh, I mean, we taking into we're taking notes on all the feedback you've given us now, but if there's any additional feedback you'd like to give us, if we could have it by the end of the week and then bring you a final draft uh for the 23rd of June uh at our next board meeting. >> Okay. >> All right. I think that takes us to item 7 C2, report regarding intention to apply for the Employment and Training Administration of the United States Department of Labor Innovative Approaches to Literacy Program Grant on behalf of the United States Department of Education. Dr. Guthis, >> the Innovative Approaches to Literacy Program supports highquality programs designed to develop and improve literacy skills for children and students from birth through 12th grades in

095high needed local educational agencies and schools. Miss Laura Williams, our director for purchasing services, is available to answer any questions or have a presentation and this is for information purposes only. Miss Williams. >> Thank you, Dr. Gutierus. Good evening, Dr. Gutierus. Madame President and board of trustees, I am here to present a brief presentation on our intent to apply for the ILA program grant a aka innovative approaches to literacy and then the highlights. We will apply by June 9th. Uh the estimated program funding for this grant for the 25 to 35 approximate wards is 16.8 million. As a district, we will be applying for approximately 3.5 million over a 60-month 5-year uh timespan term of the grant. If awarded, we will uh utilize the grant funds for a mobile literacy bus, uh a new innovative

096author mentor program for our strides program and learning lab learning labs across our campuses as well as updating our libraries with the necessary books, uh professional development for our librarians, and then other up-to-date materials. So we're hopeful that by August September we should know whether we receive this grant. >> Awesome. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Item 7C3 discussion and possible action on 2025 2026 low attendance waiver days. Dr. Guthis. Uh due to the weather events on uh back in January 26 and 27th of 2026, the district experienced low attendance. The district needs to submit a low attendance day waiver to the Texas Education Agency to prevent loss of funding. Miss Angela Allen, our director of student operations, is able to answer any questions. Administration is recommending action on this item so

097that we can submit to TA a waiver for those two days that due to inclement weather. >> Move to approve. >> Second. Motion by Trusty Pena and a second by Trusty Drada. All in favor? I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. 70. Item 7C4, discussion and possible action on the optional flexible school day program application for the 2026 2027 school year. Dr. Guthas. >> Yes. Uh we're also recommending uh the approval of the optional flexible school day program application for the 2627 school year. Miss Lisa Kavasos, our director for student outreach program, will present additional information. We are recommending action on this item since it is required for the board to approve in order for us to implement the optional flexible school day program to for students to make up attendance and so be

098able to recapture some of the wages or funding uh that we lose because of students absences. and this is a way to make up uh those absences and be able to uh get those additional funds that the district can utilize. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you Dr. Gutierrees, Madame President and board of trustees. So I'm here to present some information on the optional flexible school day program. We call it flex here at Macallen ISD. Um, and just to kind of give you an overview of what this program is in case you are not familiar, everything you need to know about optional flexible school day is really in the title of the program. So optional, uh, first and foremost, parents must consent to a student uh, participating in this program. So the consent form for this

099current school year has been embedded in registration um, to allow for just easier um, access for parents and facilitate enrollment when the students need it. Just a little easier. Um, flexible. This program provides flexibility in how students I'm sorry, how student attendance is tracked um and reported. So whereas typical ADA is tracked by an official attendance taking time, optional flexible student school day tracks the minutes that students are present on campus. And so, um, particularly for students who have, um, challenges around participating in a traditional school day the way most kids do, um, this flexibility allows students to accumulate minutes over all of the time they spend on campus and really prevents loss of credit and potential retention for the younger grade levels due to a lack of attendance. Um, the school day part of

100it is really important and it's unique um, in Macallen ISD because the student school day does not change. We're not enrolling students into a special campus or a special program. Um we're just introducing flexibility again in how we take attendance. And the spirit of this program is really to prevent the loss of credit um and prevent retention and dropout for students for whom which attendance um puts them at risk. Want to um just go over a little bit of the 2025 2026 highlights of optional flexible school day. Um when you look at the students who were enrolled and at max um enrollment we were just over 366 students um about 53% of those were elementary students 46% of those were secondary students 6th through 12th grade um pretty even split between male and female students

101um this is interesting in district students so students who were zoned to Macallen ISD and attending a Macallen ISD school made up 90% of our flex students and out of district students just under 10% um at risk students was very high 98.1 and mostly because that is a criteria for eligibility for this program. Um and then 30.7% of the students uh were participants in special education services. Um so when you look at our average daily attendance and my um chart cut off there a little bit. The formatting didn't copy over but um the average daily attendance of a flex student prior to being enrolled in the Flex program was just over 87%. So significantly below the 90% threshold. Again, this is an average. So some students were way below that, a few were higher. Um

102and once you put them on flex, if you were to look at ADA, of course, they are not on ADA anymore. But if you um calculate an equivalent ADA for the minutes that they spend on campus, we're looking at 133% um attendance, which of course we cannot claim more than one ADA per student, but it gives you an idea of the impact of the program. in this um this method of tracking attendance for students. Uh prior to the flex program being implemented this year, 1,461 students were below 90% um in attendance and since enrolling in flex, that number has been reduced to uh 431. So some of those students were put on uh you know before the 90% or 90% attendance was hit um as a preventative med measure. And of those 1,000 of the

103of the 1,461 were able to recover those minutes to no longer be under the 90%. So I think that's incredibly significant and makes this a really powerful program. For 2627, the application for the new the next school year is ready to be submitted, but as Dr. Guyus mentioned, it does require board approval to submit the application. Um, students can be placed on OFSDP any time during the school year. However, eligible students um should only be enrolled as um soon as the first grading period. We have a list of students already that we have compiled in collaboration with our truency officers and our campus um attendance administrators uh that have already met criteria, right, and who we plan to to enroll into the program, of course, with parent consent as early as the third week of

104school. again to prevent truency before it becomes an issue and a challenge for them earning credit for their classes. Um consent forms as I mentioned have been integrated into the registration process. But for any of those students whom um we want to recommend for the program that don't have the registration I'm sorry the um consent form completed in registration we'll spend some summer time um closing that gap so that they're ready to go for the new school year. And our our real focus this year is going to be um toward prevention rather than recovery. So eligibility criteria, just to go over it quickly, students need to be at risk. So that um this current school year implemented more than 10 um days absent makes them at risk or qualifies them to be at risk. 10%

105of days absent within a 30-day instructional period. So now we're looking at grading periods. Three days absent within any grading period could qualify them for this program. um or just more than 18 absences overall. Also, every single student at Achieverly College is eligible for this program. And that is because their um kind of joint classes between the campus uh achieve campus and STC campus doesn't always allow them to be on campus during official attendance taking time. So, this allows some flexibility in their scheduling where if there's a class at 10 o'clock at STC, they can be there without the risk of losing credit for attendance for that day. And I'll answer any questions that the board has. Do you have any questions? >> This item is for action. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >>

106I have a motion by trusty Ben, a second by Trusty. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries 70. >> Thank you, Miss Kavas. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kosas. >> Item 7C5, discussion and possible action on request for offers number 2026-1036, sale of used technology equipment. Dr. Guthis. Yes, we are requesting administration uh offers for sale of used technology equipment. Mr. Domingo Ramos, our director of technology, is available to answer any questions. We're recommending action on this item. If you have any questions, Mr. uh Domingo Ramos is here to answer any questions on on the sale of this technology equipment. >> Does the board have any questions? If not, this is for action. Madame President, I move to approve the offers receive for request for offers number 2026-1036, sale of used technology

107and equipment and motion to authorize administration to begin negotiations with the highest offer. If the district is unable to negotiate a satisfactory agreement, the district shall formally and in writing terminate negotiations with that offer and proceed to negotiate with the next highest offer in the order of selection until an agreement is reached for all offer sorry is reached or all offers are rejected. >> I have a motion by trusty Hadad and a second by >> second >> trusty pñena. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries 70. >> Thank you. 7D board of trustees item item number one discussion and possible action of approval of board of education meeting minutes and this is for action >> move to approve >> I have a motion >> by trustee Ben second by trusted Java all in

108favor I any opposed >> motion carries 70 item number eight recess to close session the board of trustees may go into close session pursuant to sections 55171 551.072 551.074 074 551.076 and 551.089 of the Texas Government Code to discuss the following. A A discussion of human resources recommendations for school year 2526. B discussion of human resources recommendations for school year 2627. 8 C discussion of human resources employee resignations and retirees for school year 2025 2026. 8 D discussion of recommendation of the executive director of technology department for the 2025 2026 school year. 8E, discussion regarding school safety and security. F pending and or potential litigation, and 8G, potential real estate acquisition. And with that, at 709 PM, we are in closed. It is 8:16 p.m. and we are reconvened in open session on number nine.

109Now going to number item number 10 action on items in close session 10A discussion and possible action of human resources recommendations for the school year 2025 2026. >> Dr. Yes. Human resources submitted a list of recommendations for the 2526 school year under shipper cover for discussion during close session. We recommended action on this item. >> Motion to approve. Second >> motion by trusty guard and a second by trusty Detta. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. 6. Item number 10B discussion and possible action of human resources recommendations for the school year 2026 2027. Dr. Human resources submitted also a list of recommendations for the 2627 school year under separate cover for discussion during close session. We're recommending action on this item as well. Move >> to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by

110trusted, second by trustee Pena. All in favor? I >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries 6. Item 10 C. Discussion of human resources employee resignations and retirees for the school year 2025 2026. Human resources also submitted a list of resignations and retirees for the 2526 school year under a separate cover for discussion during close session and this is an information item only. >> Item 10D discussion and possible action on the recommendation of the executive director of the technology department for the 2025 2026 school year. Dr. Guthis >> administration is recommending the approval of Mr. Domingo Ramos for the executive director for technology department and administration is recommending action on this item. >> Move to approve. >> Second. Trusty Da with a motion and trusty B second. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? The motion

111carries 6. Congratulations, Mr. Ramos. >> Congratulations. That takes us to item 10E, discussion regarding school safety and security. >> 10 F, pending and or potential litigation, >> same announcement. >> And 10 G, possible real estate acquisition. >> Same announce. >> Item number 11, scheduled meetings. 11 A school safety and security meeting committee meeting June 9th 2026 at 12 PM in the administration building Dr. Dardo Chapa boardroom 10 I'm sorry 11B regular board meeting June 9 20 >> I'm sorry that will be changed uh to June 23rd 2026 at 5:30 in the administration room Dr. Dr. Dard Chopa Boardroom 10 C board workshop on budget workshop number six will be June the 17th 2026 at 5:30 here in the administration building Dr. Gard Chapa boardroom and 11D regular board meeting. Well, I just said that regular

112board meeting June 23rd, 2026 at 5:30. And that brings us to item number 12 for adjournment. Is there a motion? >> Trusty Pñena with the motion and trusted with the second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries 6. And happy birthday Trusty Kdman. Trusty Dr. >> Happy birthday. >> It's your birthday. I got