January 12, 2026 - Regular Board of Trustees Workshop & Public Hearing

001All right, it is January 12th, 2026. Happy New Year, everyone. >> And it is 6:03 p.m. We're going to open our workshop meeting and public hearing, the TAPR uh meeting. And uh it's great to have everyone here this evening. And uh our mission statement is going to be read by Mrs. Samantha Wilson. >> The mission of Copper Scope ISD is to provide exceptional opportunities for each student through exemplary instruction which inspires academic success, personal excellence, and responsible citizenship. >> Thank you. Now we have the public hearing, the Texas Academic Performance Report. And I think there's a copy of that on everybody's at everybody's seat. All right. Good evening, Miss Manning, members of the board, Dr. Hawkins, and our community. So, I'm excited to p u to uh present to you tonight about the Texas academic

002performance report and it is our we call it the taper affectionately. And um just a little bit of a quick overview. Um we have um lots of areas that this particular document covers. Performance objectives, STAR and EOCC assessment results, attendance rates, annual dropout rates, graduation rates, college ready graduates, post-secary performance, and violent and criminal incidents. And I have uh here tonight with me um Bobby Green, and she is our director of assessment and accountability. And so um she'll chime in here and there as we go through this to explain everything. So um section one we're going to start with it's compile compiled by TEA for every district and campus using our PM student assessment data. And so um it's a PDF and we make it open to the public. It's available for review on each

003campus and in our front office here at the district admin as well as on our website. So it gives us extensive performance data about how the district is doing. Our 2025 accountability letter grade rating on the A to F system is our district is rated an 82B and so we are eligible for one distinction designation as a district. Um but we did not receive that distinction designation this time. And so um I did want to to uh talk about that a little bit. um that is based on um some of a lot of different areas, but one of those is AP participation and so we have a lot more dual credit students in CCISD than AP and dual credit is actually not considered in the distinction designation. Additionally, it focuses on meets and masters at

004grades three through eight and EOCC. And our students are doing very well, but they're not always at the M's level yet. So, we're working on that. That's an area of growth for us. And also TSI ready graduates, our four-year um graduation rate and our CCMR. So we did get quite a few points but you had to have 55% or more of those targets met and we fell just below that. So we did not receive that distinction designation this year. However, u Miss Green and I have already started putting lots of things in place to work towards that so that we can earn that for next year. >> Absolutely. So, I just wanted to chime in to say in regards to our AP participation, we've worked very hard to get that up this year by asking

005for recommendations from our honors courses to um recommend those students to take those AP exams so that our participation and overall passing rate can increase. We recognize that as one of our deficits last year during our AP examinations. And then in regards to our students at that mastery level, we've been working with teachers individually. I've met with every teacher across the district that's in one of those tested grade levels to identify how many students can we get to masters realistically to meet these um type targets. >> Well, also and we just want our students to achieve as much as they possibly can. Sometimes our teachers think about passing, but we want them to get to masters and so we really have to push to that and so that's what's best for for those students. Yes.

006Have did you have a question? No. Okay. I thought I saw a hand. Our next part of the TAPR report or taper is our special education determination status. And so each district um could be rated meets requirements, needs assistance, needs intervention or needs substantial intervention. And we're very proud that our special education determination status is meets requirement in Cofferis Coved and it has been for the past several years. Um, also our star star performance is going to be reported. So we're going to talk about three different performance levels. Our approaches, our meats, and our masters. And we'll talk about that for each assessment, all grades, all subjects, and all grades by subject. So for uh all grades, all subjects for 2025, CCISD has an approaches rate of 76% exceeding uh the state and the region.

007And so we're proud of that. Um we are working on that meets and masters level and you'll see that here. Um but we're very proud of our students for exceeding the state at approaches. Um star reading performance. This is all grades, all subjects. CCISD is at 78% uh again exceeding the state and the region there and meeting the state equal to the state at that meets level. Um this is a a very busy slide, but it is our star reading performance by grade level. And that's why I gave you this to have in your hands because I know these numbers are small, but it breaks down every single grade level um for third, fourth, fifth, sixth, 7th, 8th, English one and English two EOCC's. And so our students are consistently performing well and uh reading

008has been a big focus for us here particularly in those early grade levels where we want those students to have a foundation of strong literacy and you can see that that pays off in our EOCC's even when they get to high school our students are outperforming um the state and the region in English one and English two end of course exams. Um this is our star math performance all grades all subjects and CCISD is a 72% at approaches and so we're um right at the same as the state exce we're above the region um and we're we're right in there at meets and we're working on that masters. So really wanting to push to masters in math as well. So our students are um really you know pushing the limit there of the best that

009they can be. So, this is that same slide that I just showed you for reading, for math performance. And so, our students are doing well. You can see over on the far right, I draw your attention to the algebra 1 scores. Um, we are at 80% uh passing there. And keep in mind that that includes our eighth graders as well as our ninth graders and our retesters. um lots of other you know math grade levels there. So it's three all the way through freshman. Science performance has been an area that we've worked on in Capress Cove and we are at 78% passing at approaches and that is equal to the state and above the region. We did have some good improvement there over last year and so we're proud of that those things that we

010put in place. We can't wait to continue to see that compounded uh year-over-year. And then this is the STAR performance by grade level. So our students um take STAR science at fifth grade, 8th grade, and biology. Um and I I um I think fifth grade shows up on a different slide, but um you can see that our students are doing well in science um at 76% approaches at 8th grade and then in that end of course biology exam 94% exceeding the state and the region. And then social studies, this is all grade levels, all subjects. We only take social studies at 8th grade and 11th grade. And so CCISD has 78% at approaches, 53% at meets, 27% masters. And so that is now broken down on this slide for you for eighth grade social studies

011and the US history EOC. And so you can see eighth grade social studies is a very tough test, heavy heavy um in a lot of um reading and charts and graphs and it is it is an intense exam. And so our students um uh got 61% passing in that but our EOC at that 11th grade level they earned 96% passing. I wanted to draw your attention as well to the meets and the masters in high school. So 72% and 40% at masters all of those exceeding the state and the region. >> So it's a it's a tough that's those tests are tough. So um that's great. And then our star progress uh this is our academic growth. And so um you can see CCISD compared to region 12 and then the state. I'm going to

012show you two different slides here. This one is star progress. So this is students making one year's or more growth year overyear. So comparing their last year's score to their this year's score to see if they made a year's growth. And um you can just scan down that quickly and see that a lot of our students are doing very well and making growth with the instruction that they're getting. So that speaks to that tier one instruction that they're getting in those classrooms and we're very proud of that. Um this slide is different. So it seems the same. You think progress? Well, isn't that accelerating learning? It is. But the way the state um reports this. So in order to look at this slide, you have to know that these students did not pass STAR last

013year. Last year they failed. And this is what percentage of those students who did not pass last year with good instruction and intervention, what percentage of those students passed this year. So we moved them from being a failing student to a passing student. And so you can see there as well um some really great rates that CCISD's intervention and our instruction those small groups that we're pulling um we're seeing we're seeing a good result from that and we're going to continue to push that. Those students all have to receive a minimum of 15 most of them 30 hours of additional instruction and intervention um in that subject that they did not pass. So we are doing that and it seems to be it seems to be working in so many areas. Yes. >> Question. Yes

014sir. >> So on the previous slide did I see seventh grade math 100%. >> So let's talk about that. You did [laughter] you did see that. Um remember in CCISD we run an accelerated math model. So all of our eighth graders take algebra 1 and eighth grade. So, a student that came here that was not on an accelerated pathway from a different district late in the year might go ahead and take seventh grade math because that's what they've had instruction in all year in a different district. So, that is maybe one student, maybe two that moved in and at such a time that they couldn't go into our math class. They had to go into the seventh grade math, which we do teach, but we teach it at an earlier grade level because we run

015the accelerated math. >> We could be in pre-alggeible seventh grade, but they've they're coming from >> Yes. They're coming from a a district who doesn't follow that same instructional model. So, they're still getting our instruction, but they won't be in the same class with those seventh graders that are getting pre-alggebra. They'll get their seventh grade math. So, that's what that is. >> But they did test with us, so they do report for us. Okay. Yes. Can I note we This is not really us. I mean, it's the it's the students, but the SAT, ACT, all subjects. >> Um, we continue to be really low in that. Is it because we offer that to everyone and a lot of districts just >> offer it maybe the way we used to and and not offer it to

016everybody? Is that kind of skewed? >> Right. So, uh, a lot of a lot of districts will offer it to their top 100 seniors or their top 100 juniors. We test every student in the school on a SAT school day and that's of no charge to them. So, when you test 100% participation, you're going to get a little bit different um, a little bit different sample than the state or the region may if they're only testing their honor. I just wanted to make sure that that point was made because a lot of people look at that and go, "Oh, wait. We're really doing poorly on on our SAT, ACT scores." So, >> yeah, >> I'd also add another point, too. I think there's there's multiple points here. I think the other thing is is that

017we are a very heavy early college dual credit model school. Mhm. >> And so when kids are getting college credit at 14 years old, uh, and and you have a large population that are getting their associates degree, they don't put as much emphasis on SAT, ACT prep, because >> the gates already open for them. They're they're already down the line. And so that's kind of like old news. And so you also get a very skewed segment of kids that really say, "Hey, I need this class. I need this test prep to get into something." Because for the vast majority of our kids, they're already down the track. But here's here's a challenge, right, for our counselors and all our our admin leaders is that that perception does not bode well when you start applying for

018scholarships. >> Sure. >> Right. It it actually hurts you pretty bad and they have to communicate to the youngest like listen this this directly affects your ability to gain scholarships >> and parents because you know in in the U socioeconomically disadvantaged there's 57% and I think Amanda we've been between 66 and 68 this year. >> Yes. So that the vast majority of our families also are very needs-based scholarship too. >> Yes. Um, and so to uh ensure that they value uh that is [clears throat] uh you know it's what when I came here uh I tried to get us in with the gear up program at the University of Texas and and uh you just come a little bit late but that whole thing is about building that early awareness of those things that at

019some point point we hope we can get uh partnership with that grant. >> Yeah. May I also chime in just a little bit about what we've done to try to um >> to increase these scores and work with our students. This year our juniors um took the PSAT early on and we spoke to them about the importance of those merit scholarships. Um many of them are not aware of that and so we tried to push that information early out when they took the PSAT and then worked with them to look at their score reports to see how they could increase their SAT scores for when they do take it in March for the full SAT. And so bringing that awareness to the students I think has helped a lot as well. >> It's really good

020actually. [clears throat] >> Okay. All right. Moving on here. We're going to talk about our bilingual education and our English as a second language student uh population. So um in CCISD you can see that 76% of our students uh passed the test in this of this particular population in all subjects. And then it breaks it down right below. In reading we had 78% approaches or above. In math we had 72% approaches or above. Science 78% approaches are above. And social studies 78% approaches or above. And that is just that subsection of students there. Um also looking at their progress and their accelerated learning. Um we have um a good amount of our students making a year's progress and then if they do not pass the year before um we see them passing with the intervention

021that we provide. So, we have a an ESL interventionist at every campus and they pull those students every single day and work with them um to make sure that they are getting mastery of the English language. And only our bilingual students can test in Spanish um if if they are that is their native language and they're still speaking that. But we have a very low uh population of students who actually test in Spanish because our students are coming in and quickly getting a good grasp of the language. So um that is that's a tough that's a tough deal because they're trying to learn a lot really fast. So um this slide focuses on our attendance, our dropout, and our graduation rates. And so keep in mind this is lagging data. So we're talking about the

0222425 taper, but we're looking at data from 22 23 and 23 24. So this this data all reports uh multiple years behind, one year behind. Okay. So um our attendance rate did go up from 22 23 to 23 24 at 93% and our chronic absenteeism went down to 22%. But that is still um that is still high for chronic absenteeism. Our dropout rates are below the state and the region and that is great. And you see the first dropout rate is for grades seven and eight and the second dropout rate is for grades 9 through 12. And then over on the right you'll see our graduation rate for our four-year cohort. And then our students do stay with us. I'll show you that here in a moment. Um, and our five-year graduation rate and then

023our six-year graduation rate. And so, um, we are we are getting those students graduated even if it takes them an extra year or two. Um, and you'll see that here as we talk about, um, this broken down. So, um, just to give you a, um, vocabulary acronym lesson here. They call it text chase. Um, TX HSE is the Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency or the GED. So, um, very few of our students take the GED, but that is also calculated into this, um, measure here. So, this looks at our four-year, our five-year, and our six-year. And I wanted to draw your attention to the very bottom of these charts where it says graduates, text chase, and continuers. And so continuers means if they didn't graduate, they stayed with us. So they might be at

024crossroads and they might be working to recover credits or um you know to to work on that. And so we are seeing a high rate of our students stay with us and then we're able to graduate them. So that is that's wonderful news. Um any anything on that? I'm going to keep going. If not, this is our graduation profile. So, um, you can see there are many different ways that you can many different diplomas that you can graduate with. There's our minimum, and we're very proud that CCISD has zero students graduate on the minimum plan. So, we want all of our students to graduate equipped for post-secary readiness. And so, um, that post-secary world. So, the minimum plan we feel like is not enough. And so, we really want to push them. um the recommended

025high school uh plan with distinguished that we also do not have any in that category because we're pushing up to the foundation high school program without an endorsement and the foundation high school program with an endorsement. So that is 26 credits and so the minimum is going to be your 22 credits to graduate. And then there is a foundation high school plan with a distinguished level of achievements. That's what DLA means. And so we do have 63.4% of our students graduating with that distinguished level of achievement. And then Texas first Early High School completion program. This is um students who are graduating from high school early with um a distinguished level of achievement, but they finish one or two semesters um early. And so we did have eight students or 1.4% um that did earn

026that. And that comes with a scholarship as well for them. So that's great from the state. Um and then our special education graduates. Um we have 14.6 of our graduating class was uh special education. And then you'll notice our CTE completers. And so this is an important number to to look at as compared to the state. The state is at 33.5% um that they were averaging and we're at 51.6%. And I would venture to say that's even higher now. Again, lagging data. So, uh, very proud of our students that are CTE completers. So, they're graduating ready to go into the workforce or college with, um, usually an industrybased certification attached to that. And this goes in and talks about that in more detail. These are our CCMR related indicators and other post-secondary indicators as well

027here. And I is those institutions of higher education meaning dual credit. So, we do have um that a lot of dual credit going on and we've increased that more year-over-year. So, you'll see that reflected here. Um our CCMR annual graduates for Copper Cove ISD 96.9% um in 2324 school year and that increased uh over 92.2% in 223. And so very proud of our students graduating um college career and military ready particularly when you look at us compared to the state. So that's an area where we are really uh excelling in Coppers Cove. Our students are doing well and our teachers are really doing a great job at preparing them. And then our college ready graduates. So um these are students who are TSI complete um ready to go into those dual credit courses. they have

028nine or more hours already upon graduation. Um we're at 88% and that also increased from 22 23 and um we're we're very proud of that. So this breaks all of that down into its individual components. So TSI for English language arts, TSI for both subjects, TSI in math, and then students who are taking and receiving credit for a college prep course. So um each of these broken out um you can see Coppers Cove compared to the state and a region our students are doing very very well and are leaving us prepared. Um on-ramps courses uh we had 10% or 10.9% of our students take an on-ramps course. Keep in mind um our dual credit courses here at 15%. I do think we um are cleaning up some coding errors with that as well. Uh and

029I think that may have actually under reportported but we are um we are very proud to have a high number of dual credit courses. So um also 2.9% of our students graduated with their associates degree. This is lagging data and so we have even more year-over-year there. And then our graduates under an advanced diploma plan and they're identified as a special education student. So we had 10.9% of our graduates uh special education graduates that graduated with an advanced diploma. And then this continues just to break it down further. So career or military ready approved industrybased certification. uh 37.1 uh percent of our students graduated with an IBC in 23 24 and uh graduates who completed an IEP or had workforce readiness and then our armed forces enlistment. So 2.2% of our students um did enlist

030in the armed forces. And so then this is going to just give you some quick demographic information that kind of puts all of this in perspective. So CCISD has 46.9% of our students who are military connected and we want this number to be lower. Uh we have 43.7% of our students who are at risk. So um as compared to the state at 53.5 and then student information by instructional program. So what what programs are our students in? um you know whether that be all ends of the spectrum. So bilingual ESL education we have 6.8% of our student body in those programs. CTE 34.2% lagging data. CTE in grades 9 through 12 81.5% of our students are in uh career and technical education courses. And then 24.1% of our students were in special education. So you

031can see all of that. And then this slide talks a little bit about our mobility rate. So um 19% of our students are mobile and that means that they have come and gone and they're moving around throughout uh the state or um outside of the state. And so um the state tracks that mobility and we are at 19%. And then this is our class size averages. So, uh, this is average class size by grade and subject, our district compared to the state. You can see at kindergarten, we're right there, uh, in line with the state, but in grades one through six, we are below the state, uh, pretty significantly in our averages for class sizes in grades 1 through six. And then at secondary, you can see English language arts at 13.3 students per teacher

032um, as compared with 16.4 for the state. shows you our foreign languages, our math, our science, and our social studies. So, we're we're proud of that information as well. And then we talked about students. This slide talks about staff. So, who are our teachers and our administrators and our aids and auxiliary in CCISD? We have um 56.6% of our staff are professional staff and then 43% are teachers, 9.6% 6% professional support, 2.9% campus administration or school leadership, 1% central office, and um 13.9% educational aids. And then our auxiliary staff is 29.4% of our staff population. So I thought that was good information as well. Um and then our campus leadership. This talks about the experience of our campus teachers, assistant principles and principles. So you can see how our u experience rates uh when compared

033to the state. So our principles are more experienced when compared to the state but our assistant principles are less experienced when compared with the state. So um that that was an interesting little statistic there. Our teachers are a little less experienced when compared with the state. So that um you know is interesting that um our teachers are doing as well as they are with a little bit less experience than you might see at the average district. Um and so the next part reports out on staff salary. And so our beginning teachers all the way to teachers with over 30 years of experience. And you can look at salary as compared to the state. And then same thing for teachers, professional support, campus administration, instructional staff, and the turnover rate. So all of that information there

034for you for salaries. Yes, sir. >> Is TIA drafted? >> It's not um actually, but I have it on my next slide, I think, or on one of them. So, yay. Next slide. Good job, Jeff. All right. So, next slide is teacher incentive aotment. And um you can see we have 38 teachers in the district who are recognized, 34 who are exemplary and 54 who are master. And the average payout um because it does vary if they're at a higher socioeconomic uhly disadvantaged campus. They might get a little bit more than if they were at a lower u socioeconomically disadvantaged campus, but that is the average payout for master exemplary and recognized. And um I'm proud to say we have even more teachers that we hope will be designated this year. And so the data

035the data looked good for that. >> Yeah, it's >> I think after this year I think we'll be at about a quarter. >> So very very good. And that's all keep in mind based on student growth um and their appraisal but the heavier weight is actually placed on student growth. Oh yeah, because you're showing almost 50% across the board growth in the previous slides. So we expect that a lot. >> Yes, exactly. No. >> Yeah. As growth goes up, so does our teacher incentive aotment. So um this is our accountability letter grade. I started off with that. It is a B for the district. But I wanted to show you um and Bobby so carefully snipped this for us that you can see in 2024 we had a C in academic growth um which is

036an area that we're still working on um and a C in closing the gaps. But if you look this year you can see we did grow a little bit in our academic growth and a lot in closing the gaps. And so, um, while we stayed an 82B, that is not to say that we didn't see great growth and improvement, um, in our accountability rating. And so, I just wanted to point that out. You can also see here our economically disadvantaged rating, our percentage fell a little bit. And so, I we are tracking that it's going to go back up this year. And so, that will help in that relative performance category as well. So, um, and then we'll close, I believe, with distinction designations. And so, several of our campuses earned distinction designations. Coppers Cove

037High School for post-secary readiness, Coppers Cove Junior High for academic achievement in math. SC Lee Junior High for academic achievement in social studies and being in the top 25% of their comparative closing the gaps um, comparison group. And then Clemens Parsons Elementary uh earned academic achievement in math top 25% comparative academic growth postsecary readiness top 25% comparative closing the gaps and Fairview Jewel Elementary earned five uh distinction designations as well as Martin Walker academic achievement in reading language arts academic achievement in math top 25% comparative growth post-secary readiness top 25% compared imperative closing the gaps and then Martin Walker uh came on strong again with academic achievement in reading language arts academic achievement in math top 25% comparative academic growth post-secary readiness and top 25% comparative closing the gaps. So um we are seeing our

038our campuses earn distinction designations from the state and so that's something to be celebrated as well. And finally, that brings us to the end of our presentation on the tap R. Does anyone have any questions? >> Very first slide. Very first slide. There was a category called violence. >> Oh, thank you. I I forgot to say it. Um, go ahead. >> So, that is one of the areas that we are legally um provided to support if we um qualify designated in that area. We actually don't have any violent or criminal incidents to report on on our paper and so um we thought about leaving that off because we don't have to report it because we don't have any incidents but that is something we wanted to leave on so that we can mention it is

039because we don't have any incidents to report. >> Yeah. Compared to previous years, right? >> I'm not sure about previous years. >> I would have to look to be certain to answer that. But yeah, all what's great about the tap bar or taper is every single year in history is documented on the state website. So you can always go back and look at previous years and and look all that [snorts] up. It's very transparent. [clears throat] Um and then I gave you guys also a comparison as well for districts uh surrounding us. And then at the bottom I included um the txschools.gov website. So, I [snorts] every time I get on that website, I I I find myself staying way too long because you can really do some neat things in looking at our district

040and surrounding districts and surrounding schools. And so, um I highly recommend if you haven't been on txschools.gov to get on there and look around. And, uh I think I think you'll see CCISD is is doing a very good job of educating our students. And uh we continue to want to push for more and for better, but um but where we are is is in a good spot. And so we're going to continue to grow. [snorts] >> Very thorough. >> That's great. >> All right. Our next item is citizen comments. And we have a a man who has signed up. His name is Richard Lewis, 21108 Jay Lee Drive, and he'd like to talk about egg facilities. So, come on up. Good evening. I'm Richard Lewis. I'm an a parent. And first I want to start

041off with the good stuff that this district has done in building up the A facilities. The purchase of a new trailer last year and now the vehicles be able to pull that trailer and the other events that support a problem is a no longer is not the egg from the 80s and 90s. Animals aren't $200. I don't know if any of y'all have ever looked at how much these projects these kids are paying for, but I can tell you right now there's a sale going on right now with about 30 minutes left. Not a single one of those goats is under $2,000. That's just goats. And that's auction still going. Those goats will get up three, four, $5,000. In the a barn complex we have right now, there's about 15 to 20 goats. There's another

042four to five lambs. There's another 10 to 12 pigs. Students and families have thousands of thousands of dollars in livestock in those barns. And I'm asking the district to invest in those barns. Those barns are from the 80s and 90s. Students built those barns. Some early 2000s. It was built by students. That's great. But that's not the facilities that support the livestock we have now today. If these kids are going to compete and win, which they're competing this week at Corell County Youth Fair in Gatesville, kids are putting in the hours. They've been working these animals day and night since last school year. All through the summer, all through this semester, feed alone, my son has five goats at that a barn. We've got over $6,000 committed now in just livestock, not counting the feed

043bill of every month of a couple hundred dollars. What I would like to see from the school is that if the students are going to put in and families are going to put in that kind of effort for these students to be able to compete at that level and that's just for county for these kids to go to the San Antonio Majors, the Fort Worth stock show, San Angelo major, Houston stock show. These animals get their families are showing up with goats, lambs that are 20, $30,000 animals. And that's where we want to get these kids to compete. Oh yeah, I'm seeing some of the faces. These animals get up there. And we don't have a lot of families in this school district don't have land to build breeding programs to build up to that

044point. We rely on the school barn to be able to provide those facilities. So, I would ask that this school board take a good look at what funds are available and how do we build a barn that supports that environment and that winning culture. These kids are winning. They're going to be winning this week at the county gate county youth fair and they're going to be winning in the next few months. They've been winning these past several months at jackpot shows and the avisors are doing an amazing job with that. can't say enough about them. They're doing great. I would just ask that this board look at kind of the funding of where we're at and how do we build a barn that showcases the capabilities and what we can do. My son last year

045graduated. He showed a steer. We had $10,000 in that steer. We didn't recoup that. That steer's sitting in the freezer now. But we couldn't show him at the majors because part of having a steer is you have to have a cold room somewhere that's chilled that you take that steer in, put them in there for 30 minutes to an hour so that it stimulates that hair growth. The barn that we have right now, it's just an open barn. We can't put them in a cool room. When it rains, it floods. It's mud. and we ran the risk several times. We had to put that steer out at different areas because we didn't want him injuring himself, but we couldn't compete at some of the majors because he had to have that hair growth and we

046just couldn't grow it. So once again, I I just implore this board to look at where things are at and how we get to the point of being able to build a barn that can support the money that these students and families are putting into these projects and actually showcase that and really support this egg department because it's growing. There's a lot of new teachers and they're doing a lot of great things. So thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Lewis. [clears throat] Some of us had kids, so we we get it. >> Yeah. Still recovering. [laughter] >> Still recovering. You had a very successful one. >> Yeah. >> Very. >> All right. >> At our regular meeting, we'll have our good things. So, we'll go ahead and uh look at our information items. Is that

047>> yes? >> Okay. >> And then um we have instructional services too with the attachments operations and support and then specialized programs and activities. All of those are there for you. Of course, I know everybody's read them or scanned them at least. And then uh 6E is finance. the tax report, the monthly quarterly financial report, financial statements and payment of bills and budget amendment. [snorts] And um I know Cliff will be happy to to uh fill you in on if you want want to know anything else about the the uh >> technology the cliff technology finance [laughter and clears throat] >> finance. >> Yeah, we'll get somebody else maybe to talk about printing money. So we also have under human resources new hires for 2526 resignations personnel vacancies and support personnel vacancies. Then we also

048do have a technology report and these items are written. We have a board activity calendar for January and February and uh we have administrative reports first. Uh we'll have the review plan [snorts] of finance presenting. >> Okay. So they are going to present >> um let me just say one thing uh and I appreciate all the cabinet and especially Monica. um you know this this information there's a lot of information as you can see that goes on that board report >> and you know and and then I also have to appreciate Joan because this is the board agenda item agenda that has lived with us for past it seems like six months because we we had our agenda meeting before the break and then we had another one to remind ourselves of what the agenda

049was after the break. Um, but I just say this that, you know, it it takes time because the whole world shuts down the two weeks of Christmas and so, you know, to get some of these reports and everything, they were a little lagging uh than what's normal, but I appreciate everybody getting those and putting those in place at at this time. >> All right. >> So, uh, you want to do administrative reports at this time? >> Yes, we'll do it. We'll we'll go with administrative reports. Uh, first the review plan. Is that right? >> Right. >> The review plan of finance for the first installment of bond 2025 from Sam Co. >> Mr. Whit here and he will uh walk us through all that and answer questions. U >> All right. Good evening. It's good

050to be back with you. I'm making my way to the podium but uh pass out a few of the reports. Uh tonight is an information item. uh will be uh we'll be back in two weeks uh for an action item. So, we wanted to preview that action item for you to discuss our plan of finance for the first installment of bonds that were approved by the voters. Uh see if you have any questions prior to us entering the market and coming back to you with the bonds uh sold. So, with that, I have a bullet point summary here. Uh Cliff, you still have a digital copy. Uh so the first bullet point is just to review uh the bond election communication and parameters. There were three uh propositions, two of which passed. Uh so we

051have $154,512,793 to issue uh for the project uh by category. Proposition A for general facilities plus as we summarize it and then Proposition B for athletics and fine arts. Uh the INS tax rate increase for all three propositions was for 46 1.5 cents. Uh we're assuming a very conservative very flat taxable value of a billion9. We assumed in the pre-election uh financial model an assumed interest rate of 5.25%. We're going to sell bonds below that. It's probably about four and a half% uh below five that we're looking for. And then because we are what's called a property poor district in the state of Texas, they equalize our wealth on the bond side up to [clears throat] $40 of value per your average daily attendance. Our tax base for our average daily attendance is below that.

052So we are expecting some state aid through the existing debt a lotment uh for this program. It does come with the delay in the cash flow. So we have to model that. We have to get to the point where we get the state aid and then it kicks in a year later and it's based on your tax effort in the preceding bienium. Uh assumed average daily attendance is flat at 7,000. So with those pretty conservative bond model assumptions, our plan of finance under bullet point 2 uh is to issue the 154.5 million in multiple phases, probably two. Uh but the first installment is what we're here tonight to talk about. Uh and that's going to be traditional fixed rate bonds that you would see anywhere. We do have a second phase at the appropriate time.

053We will talk about some tools in the toolbox that we think fit this district which include what is called fancy words but softut variable rate bonds. All in all it what it does for you is it gives you prepayment flexibility sooner [snorts] than you would otherwise have. And for a district with no outstanding bonds and therefore no what we call optionality or ability to prepay. If I just put a prepayment out 10 years, then we have to wait that long. Most districts will have some bonds come in due for prepayment in year two, year three, year four. So, in our next installment, we're likely to have one of those accelerated prepayment bonds because I think it benefits your district. But tonight is uh for the first installment for fixed rate bonds. That's shown in bullet

054point three. Uh right now the game plan is to issue 67,3129 out of proposition A and the full amount because it's a smaller amount 12 million to 111764 out of Proposition B that will leave you 75 million of additional bonds to sell at a later date in another year. So in the fourth bullet point there, the uh combination of 67.3 million and 12.2 million is 79.5 million traditional fixed rate bonds, 30-year amortization, 10-year optional prepayment, planned use of bond premium because we're in the middle of a year and most of you know that we have no bonds outstanding, therefore no tax rate outstanding, therefore really no budget yet. We're in the middle of that year and we will have a budget for these bonds. And so that's the use of bond premium. We are taking

055bids on these bonds. It'll be that morning uh two two Mondays from now right in advance of that board meeting. So we'll take bids on the bonds. We'll bring those bids to you with a recommendation to accept the winning bidder uh from that that is based on the lowest interest rate. Uh and then uh the other uh item here in your underlying credit rating uh of course in Texas we sell our bonds approved by voters with a AAA rating uh which is the highest credit quality in the United States market. Uh but they also assess our underlying credit rating and yours I'm h happy to report is in the double A category. The double A car category is characterized as very strong credit quality. So even without the permanent school fund guarantee, this district on

056a standalone [snorts] basis uh has a very solid credit rating in the market. The AAA rating will take us to the lowest interest rates that are available because of that high credit quality. The 75 million again is to be determined. We'll come back with additional reports, additional follow-ups, additional status checks prior to asking for approval of any additional bonds to be sold. The timing is in the last bullet point. There's a, you know, quite a few dates here. Many of them are details with the administration. Uh we're here uh tonight uh January 12th. We've actually started this process because of the holiday season. We were working while folks were taking off so that we could enter the market as soon as possible. Uh, and so, uh, January 12th is to review the plan of finance

057and schedule of events. And then January 26th is your regular meeting to review the bond sale results and adopt the order authorizing the bonds. After tonight's meeting, we will publish what's called a preliminary official statement. It is a legal and financial document that goes out to potential biders on these bonds so that they can do their independent assessment uh of this and that will occur on January 19th with the bids on January 26th. Uh you will we will then close the bond issue on February 24th and that's when the 79.5 million goes into your construction fund investment accounts, Prop A, Prop B. That money will be invested earning interest and then will be used as you draw down uh on your projects uh both for soft costs such as design fees but also hard costs

058that are coming up. Okay. On the next page uh before I come back to see if there are any questions. There are two spreadsheets here. Most people don't [clears throat] love the detail of spreadsheets that we have. These are working bond models that will be uh with the administration that will be our guide, our roadmap and our financial road map. The first page is just the 79.5 million in column 3 alone. In column 13, we are designating 30 pennies uh of the 45 pennies that we need to set for these bonds. We're selling a part of the bonds. We're only living a part of the tax rate. So that 45 cents that we're going to get to is going to be phased in with the first phase being 30 cents. What is magical about 30

059cents? Not much except for state funding. That tax effort of 30 cents will put us into the maximum capture of the existing debt aotment when that time comes. That's the 30 cents that we need in the year preceding the bienium. And we're going to do that right out of the block. On the second page is again another spreadsheet bond model uh road mapap if you will. There's a lot of detail in here. There's no test after tonight's meeting, but just know that this type of model is what we work with the administration on to make sure that we're delivering the financial plan that was discussed with the facility plan. So in this case, we have placeholders in column four and five for that additional 75 million. And when you go to column 13, that's where

060we will get to the 45 cents that we need to levy for [snorts] Proposition A and B's passage. Uh we're dropping off one and a half pennies which was designated for Proposition C which did not pass. And I'm here to report that everything about the financial model is on schedule or better. We're going to be able to levy the tax rate exactly as we promised it to the voters. [snorts] your bond interest cost is going to be less than was budgeted for pre-election. So there are no financial surprises just in execution and implementation of the plan that was designed as you were talking about your facility needs in this district and presenting it to the voters. So with that um I will take just a moment to see if there are any questions about what

061is upcoming uh for the board meeting in a couple of weeks. [snorts] Are there any questions that I can address? >> Is this strictly 30-year? Is this the only layout that you're considering because 30-year? >> Yes. The the tax impact, the bond capacity from that tax impact was based upon a 30-year amortization. But again, that's just the starting point. Uh my goal is for you to pay that off well uh less than 30 years. Uh and that's evident in these spreadsheets that you're going to have that ability. If you will maintain that 45 cents each and every year, you will pay these bonds off sooner than 30 years. And your first series of bonds becomes optional in 30 years. So if you wanted to convert it at that time, you would have that ability. We

062still have another bond to issue. When we issue that one, that will have another structure. It will be based on 29 years at that time. But again, we're probably going to put in a two-year option on those adjustable rate bonds uh at that time so that you can [snorts] shorten that amortization as well. >> But isn't the started interest on a 20-year less than a 30? >> The interest rate in today's market on a 20-year is less than a 30. Yes. Now, the adjustable rate bond that goes out over that 30-year period, if you look at the schedule on the last page, one of the one of the beauties of column five where you see 25 million series 27A adjustable rate. Again, this is preliminary, but you see in that title a 4% interest rate,

063but the bonds go out longer than the bonds in column four, which are closer to 20 uh 20 years. And that 5% on column four, which is just a budget number. Uh we actually have a lower rate in the longer bonds in column five because those are those adjustable rate bonds that can be prepaid. And so that interest rate uh even though it's a a 29-year bond will be less than a traditional 30-year bond. If you wanted to do a 20-year model, that would have been a decision that would have been made pre-election because for the same tax rate, that bond capacity would have been down say a 100red million rather than uh 150 million. So the amortization length the shorter it is the higher the tax rate that is necessary for the same amount

064of bonds. >> There will be principal repayment in each and every year. The average life of these is less than 20 years. The average life of the entire bond issue is less than 20 years. But the final maturity to start out is at the 30-year mark, which is the most predominant school bond that we have in Texas for the majority of districts. We're building 40-year facilities. Uh we're paying them off in 30 years with an average life of 20 years. And it is the most common amortization link uh for this type of bond program for the obvious reason. we get more bond capacity to address the needs that we have today which are always very significant. Your district was like most districts that I come into. Your needs are here. Your bond capacity is here.

065Right? What we don't do in our operation is we don't go with 40-year bonds even though that's what law allows. We stop at the traditional 30-year amortization that most school districts to maximize bond capacity at that tax rate that is the same. If you were only doing, for example, an a barn, right? An a barn probably doesn't have the useful life of say a brand new uh wing at the high school, right? So that might be a candidate for a 20-year amorization more consistent with that useful life. Here you have an aggregate of programs and projects and the average life, the amortization statistics, the maximum amortization statistic is all consistent with the types of projects that you're doing. And I would encourage you to pay these bonds off sooner rather than later. uh that will

066take board action each and every year to maintain that tax rate and use any excess from that to pay down on excess principal hurt as opposed to lowering the tax rate 5 years into it. Right? >> Are there any other I have one um so with the remaining unissued 75 million would it be meeting at the same tax rate the next 27 tax year. Would it be the same one or could we get better? >> When we sell that 75 million, our plan will be to go from 30 cents to 45 cents and put in that additional 15 cents for those bonds. >> I think there was some discussion uh you know pre-election about phasing this in, not just hitting the taxpayer all at once with all 45 cents. That was >> and again the

06730 cents is to protect the district to maximize the existing deadlock. And if [snorts] you want to know where that comes in, that is column eight on that second spreadsheet. That is a very very significant component of the revenues for the repayment of this bond. And that column eight is triggered by the 30 cents that you levy in the first goround. It's actually a 29 c limit, but 30 cents is what we're rounding to to to ensure that we get all dollars, every penny that we deserve from the state. And so that was a you know as we went through our presentations and everything and and we looked at our financial models that was obviously a situation where uh I feel like our bond was probably 15% harder to pass um than a bond that

068did not have to uh be considered by the voters in a climate of a 21% tax jump in Coro county [clears throat and cough] and the street fee issue. Both of those deals right there would have sunk. Uh what do they say? A normal a normal man or whatever. But that that's uh as we went through that I had questions and I was very um very open about you know uh what's in the best interest of the district would have been to sell all of these bonds all 154 million of them uh on in January. But, you know, my my uh word to the voters uh that I was standing before was that it would be phased in. And so, that's the model that you see there be phased in because it is the most

069palatable uh thing for the voters of Copper Cove that graciously approved these two propositions. It's also why you don't get rid of your superintendent when you're in a bond because there's things that they say >> that they need to make sure that what we say we do we did no matter if it's the bonds the finance the financial plan that Doug has or the or the projects that we build we have to do what we say we're going to do and we have to deliver on that and uh you know my deal has always been see underell and overd deliver. We want to overd deliver rather than underd deliver. >> And that's true of the financial plan. We are going to overd deliver. To your point, when you look at that spreadsheet, too, there's a

070declining debt service in there that we couldn't we at the time we were going through all the planning. Interest rates were up here. They've come down some, which is good for us. But even if they stayed up there or went up some, we were still going to be able to deliver the financial plan. And the good news is we're looking at substantially below the five and a quarter% budget that we were using and that's going to come back to this district in declining debt service, accelerated repayment of that debt service, etc. >> So, how you going to structure the accelerated repayment? >> Pardon me. >> How you going to structure the accelerated repayment? Because I years ago with our current debt, that suggestion was made and the administration did not support So how are you

071going to present the structure the accelerated repayment of this debt? >> So that's what I've been talking about in terms of that. It will I do not get to make the decision five years from now, 10 years from now. That is the decision of the district. Uh I'm putting you in a position to do that. I will encourage it and recommend it. But I don't vote. So by giving you the option to prepay, it will then be your option to prepay and take the bond holders out. >> So how will be presented? Let's say when we on our next board meeting then I'd like to see an example of it personally. >> An example of a prepayment. >> Absolutely. >> Oh, it happens every day. >> You're missing sir, you're missing point. Okay. I would

072like to see the amount that you could expect this district to make for prepayment. >> What would be kind of a plan? >> Okay. If we'll go to >> It's on that page >> second page or third page. >> If you will go to column six, you will see that your payments uh after we sell both installments >> for the 45 cent. Yep. >> Yeah. And in column six it gets to be 10 million9 and then it fades to 10 million 56. So if everything holds true on this and we have 7,000 students, we have a billion9 in tax base. We have the existing debt aotment funded uh in column 8 as it's shown there. You have 900,000 930,000 of additional principle you could pay in 33 as an example. It would require continuing the

07345 cents below the line. And then the same thing holds true out longer when it goes from 10 million in 20048 down to 9 million4. At that time, clearly that drop off can be accelerated. You could take principal from the 2054 if it's there at the time. It won't be, but you could accelerate that 600,000 into that fiscal year's budget and prepay on that 600,000 additional. >> All right. So, roughly you're stating within the within column six that over the years we maintain debt payment of 10987. >> Yes, that is that is the payment level flat. Not assuming any growth in student, not assuming any growth in tax base, not assuming any growth [snorts] in >> and you maintain that [clears throat] well roughly >> correct >> 2044 2047 whatever. >> Yeah. With a couple

074of small slight drop offs that are your value for the lower interest rates that we're incurring and that column three is at 5%. We expect to get hits in below that as well. So, in our discussion about this and why I think the adjustable rate is important for this district, if we just do traditional bonds, which is the overwhelming majority of bonds in Texas, we wouldn't be able to exercise that optional redemption until 10 years. And so then we would be looking at well below the line even though we have a drop off up there. >> Yeah. So, I don't think we should have to wait 10 years. I think we will get there sooner than 10 years. And I want you to have that optionality and flexibility for a district who's going from paid

075off all bonds to here's our new bond. >> Why do you predict sooner in 10 years? >> Yes, that's the column five bonds. the column five bonds. Uh you can see there that if they were sold in 2027 in this example, uh it would have a three-year optional redemption. And that's where you see the difference between the blue numbers and the red numbers. The blue numbers are fixed and then the red numbers are not fixed and can be accelerated. >> They cannot >> they can be can be. Yes. And so that's where you know in a perfect world that 4,29,000 at the bottom of column five it's going to start coming up to the earlier numbers and that's going to be prepaid and that's you know I've got I've got probably a dozen districts that

076have done this and then throughout the state there's probably 25% of the school districts that need this style of program and it runs from the very largest and fast growers to those that have uh bond elections [clears throat] many years apart. And if we don't have bonds outstanding, we don't have that optionality. So, we need to build it into the new bonds. And that's what we would do here. >> Any other questions? >> [snorts] >> Just something that I would add I think is very neat that we want to take advantage of and and I've got a Doug is going to come in on the morning of the 26th a little bit early and we've got some kiddos that we're going to kind of run through a little seminar >> and teach them about bonds

077and that whole process. >> Oh, cool. >> And so I I've talked with those kids already. you know, we we had kids that were um you know, active in this election >> and so it would be a shame if if the kids active in the election wasn't active in this learning. This is a great learning opportunity >> about >> finance that a lot of kids don't ever get the opportunity to learn about. you know, I mean, yeah, it's tough enough to get kids to learn about personal finance, but this is governmental finance and and I think it's a great opportunity. We got some great kids, as you saw by those taper scores, and to let them be part of that and then to take that information back and talk to their their peers and everything,

078I think is a great opportunity. And I appreciate Doug taking the time to do that. Going above just and beyond just what his job is to really invest in the kids at CO. >> Yes. >> Because a lot of those kids will stay here in CO and that's their taxpayer money that they're paying help pay back >> to the district, >> you know, that that they're paying their taxes to help us pay down this debt >> that we're incurring. >> We're investing. >> Investing. >> Thank you all very much. We'll see you in a couple weeks. Any questions that come up, let us know. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Our next item is a presentation on benefits of public private early childhood partnerships. >> You have two I think two

079two packets. Uh yeah, two packets there on your desk that Monica put out. Uh Miss Hartman is here. Uh let me uh while they're getting set up there, let me just talk to you um kind of about opportunities here to to uh grow our district. You know that we have experienced nine years of decline in enrollment uh over the past five years. Uh certainly decline in enrollment uh more hit our elementary schools than anywhere else. And uh as you look at the financial models out there, we've got several campuses that uh have very expensive financial models because of the number of kids that they serve on those campuses. Uh you know, we've got school districts around us that have less than 500 kids in their school district and they really start to struggle when you

080have less than 500 kids in your school district. Well, the same thing when you have less than 500 kids on your campus, you really start to struggle and the cost of education goes up. And so, you as a board uh through our goal setting last year uh put into place uh some goals. And goal two was to expand elementary course offerings and opportunities. Uh and and so we talked about um uh monastery models and we talked about steam STEM models. We talked about fine arts uh magnet type programs uh three three-year-old programs. And so uh Miss Hartman has uh indepth experience. Uh she has she has been a superintendent of the district. She has uh worked in in consulting roles with other districts uh Fort Davis uh that you can read extensively about on the

081internet and the financial problems that they had there. But she's very much an expert in early childhood and especially public and private partnerships and setting those models up. She also, don't hold this against her, but she does have some former experience with the Texas A&M school system. So, anybody want to go whoop, you can go whoop. You know, [laughter] >> you certainly can. And I loved hearing the story about agriculture. So, before we start, I do think it's important that you know a little bit about the person standing in front of you. And I appreciate Dr. Hawkins um, you know, kind words, but I I have been in education, public education for about 28 years. Uh, I've been in the superintendent role for about 15. Um, the other roles he just mentioned, um, um, if

082you're a UT fan, then I I think as my journey goes on, you'll hear about that time as well, but was as associate vice chancellor of the&M system. Um, probably the biggest distinction though is I've been married 36 years. Uh, so, uh, and I am, you know, I've had many fancy titles, but probably the, well, by far the ones I'm most proud of being a Christian and a wife and a mother. Um, and I didn't think I could top any of those until I was a grandma. And, uh, goodness, every day is a blessing. Um, I have two grandchildren. Uh, I mentioned three adult children. My youngest is on a full livestock ch scholarship at Texas A&M. was um prior to that blend, we are a steer showing family. So, I I loved uh I

083thought, well, Dr. Hawkins, did you did you plant all this before before I came? Because um >> there was a guy that did. >> But then I knew he didn't because I'm going to tell you, and this is probably something that you certainly um are aware of, to pull those taper scores uh the way this district is is an attribute to your to your uh leadership and your leadership team. Um, so I I literally spent a long time since I sat in a board meeting smiling and and this is one to smile about. Um, but I do want to tell you a little bit about how I think the um Copper Scope District would benefit from early childhood public private partnerships. As I mentioned, I was superintendent for um gosh 10 years in Panee, a

084small district between San Antonio, Corpus, and I was the first um superintendent, first district in Texas to form these partnerships. So when he says expert, I you know I don't know these gray hairs. I I joke that I used to be um blonde and skinny. Um and there's some reality to that. But very very much appreciate the opportunity here to talk to you about that. Um it's never a oneperson team. So I want to talk a little bit about the team that currently works with me in Fort Davis, but also we support um as I go through the the slide uh you'll see districts across the state of Texas. They're very traditional to the roles that you already have here in the district. It's PES and special programs and certainly um I am guilty of

085always kind of slanting to the financial benefits of that. I want to start by telling you that that is because those monies should be spent um to better the lives of children and those that take care of them. And so if I ever um one I'm also just a good old country girl. So if you ever want to interrupt and all that certainly feel free to but but I do tend um from my times at um at Pawne because it was for a financial reason that I that I jumped into this. We are recapture district giving back 9 million 12 million every year and it really bothered me um both as a a a firsttime superintendent but also as a taxpayer. you know, this is money that your community is paying and it should go

086to better um the the children of your um community. So, what is a partnership? There's both formal and informal. You probably have a lot of informal relationships. Um that you know that certainly um can be relationship with local churches, daycarees, maybe you have fun days, uh field days, water days, things of that nature, [clears throat] and you share that with your community. What we're specifically talking about this evening is more of a formal partnership where there is a financial gain. And I'm going to use the term co-enroll. Very similar to what you may have as dual enrollment of uh your uh high school students. you're going to have the ability to co-enroll children that may be in a particular private setting and benefit that from um your district from a financial standpoint, but also just

087the relationship building and curriculum. being able to start students as early as uh you know in a daycare setting maybe six weeks start that that terminology where they know that they're going to come to um Coppers Cove for their um their K through 12 uh pre-K through 12 education um and so anyone that is um eligible for public private partnerships fall in these categories you're either a child care and a private school program um that that can be faith-based It can be non-faith-based, just your private schools. Um, as we know with the new um voucher program that's become much and more uh more uh attention in our state as well as I would say maybe a challenge for school districts as we're trying to navigate what does that look like for us and how do

088we um still stay at the forefront of a a parental choice. Um, so, so obviously your school districts, that's why we're here today talking Head Start programs are also eligible for partnerships. And then also I wanted to talk a little bit about even your um, you know, in I would say in the last five years we've seen a great um, uptick in foundations and nonprofits supporting public private partnerships. Um, on Friday I'll be in El Paso with the Moody Foundation. they gave a pretty big uh grant to the University of Texas to um be able to um support these programs. So, how does this happen? Well, you cannot um enroll a public school child in two separate districts, but you can be enrolled at the same time in a private institution in a public school.

089So, the example that you see um on my left as looking at the screen tells you kind of that ADA, you're familiar with that term. That's going to show you for a student that might be in preK3. The district's responsibility for that is actually half as far as time. Their responsibility is full-time as far as caring for kids and providing a good education. [laughter] But the the amount of minutes is half of what you would a four-year-old all the way through a senior. So the w the private tuition is simply a wraparound to what the public school um requirements are to provide. And then on the um other side of the screen, you'll see that the ADA is a little bit larger and that's because you have to do the 75,600 minutes and and some

090other requirements. We [snorts] term we use the term early childhood to refer to preK3 all the way to second grade. Um it'll be interesting to see with all the TEA changes coming out. We have had lots of private partners ask about other older grade levels. There's no big secret here in that um by stopping at second grade you're avoiding the STAR tests. So, there is still some assessment and responsibilities on on um preK through second grade, but not the intensity of of your star scores. Am I going too fast for anyone? I've done this so long that I sometimes go too fast, but I want anyone to feel comfortable asking you questions or >> I can't read the blurb on the bottom right. >> Okay. So, what um and and if you don't have the

091handouts, I'll make sure that we provide those. You may have them, but if not, be happy to. So really it gives an example of at a daycare uh center for example, children are often dropped off at 6:30 in the morning and stay till 6:00 at night. So that just kind of gives some narrative to go along with that chart to let you know what those wraparound services are. They can be daily, but they can also be the rest of the year. So maybe you are as a school district partnering with a public school, I'm sorry, a a private school or a child care center that has very similar years uh hours, daily hours as you do, but then they may extend through the summer. They may start earlier. And so again, that's where the private

092tuition is charged by the private entity, not the public school, but you're then able to co-enroll those children and draw down the state funding um to then benefit your district. You through an agreement with the private entity decide what funds will flow back. Um coincidentally, again, I mentioned I've been doing this for about 15 years. The last three years I've been working with Powell and Associates who actually wrote the interlocal agreement. Each agreement is um individualized. You decide as a district as well as that private partner. We work through all those intricacies of the amount of money that flows back um what services are provided. Um and again there's a lot of similarities in the base I would say uh agreement but you but it's very easy to individualize and and meet those needs. Does

093that [snorts] answer your question there? I hope that yes ma'am. Okay. So this shows a little bit I when I say I got some attention I you know I did learn that for my first super tendency which as I mentioned was funny you should always ask more questions before you accept the job. uh they did not share with me when I accepted the job some of the financial challenges that they had. And so I really started just reading education codes. That's it. I read and I thought I think I can do this and I called um at that time Robert Scott was about to transition. I had uh goodness I'm trying to remember it after Scott very short time Williams Mike Williams I believe and then obviously Mike Morath has been um you know in

094in that seat for um quite some time and a big advocate of early childhood I will say so you know I started saying I think I can do this because there is an education code and in your handout you'll see some of those statutes that I came across and thought I I believe um we can start with a very small program. It was two classrooms in a county that I drove by on my way home and um through that experience that then grew to 63 partnership classrooms. So even though that district was very small, we were able to maintain and manage um for about an 8 to nine year period that many um classrooms. So, you know, certainly I have no question that the leadership team that you have here um is very equipped to

095do that. If you'll look um again, just another chart. I I I kind of have a pet peeve of people who stand up and read all the slides, so I don't want to do that for you, but it'll give you an idea. You see the uptick of the regular allotment um funding that happened because we were able to um increase our enrollment. So again, for um Coppers Cove, that'd be relatively I think easy because within like a 20 mile radius, just at first glance, I thought saw 30 um ch child care either licensed or regulated childcare centers. And that's not even to mention some of your private schools in the area. So uh I know you mentioned earlier, I believe I heard that there had been a drop of enrollment. Um, even just adding your

096three-year-olds to your um, service area would would make a a a significant increase in your enrollment. Here's another example. As I mentioned, I was in um, Pony for about nine years, just short of 10 years um, doing this work. And then all of a sudden I did receive that phone call that um through state uh grant that was funded by TWWC gave funding to TEA then to the A&M system where I was able to travel um the whole state for a year. I got to actually even be in the Aggie airplane which was quite the experience to to do that. If you should get in an airplane with an Aggie I did that. Um but uh really got to just travel across the state of Texas and see the different u unique needs if you

097will. Um and and and I think that was in large part by a response to COVID. We really have not completely bounced back in far as far as enrollment and now we have the added challenge of um TEA and certainly parents during that time period that made decisions other than public education. So if you'll see for example for the Fort Davis Independent School District, the green would be the district [snorts] funding and then the three4s of the pie is all made out of partnerships. So those partnerships are all across the state of Texas. Copper Code would be able to decide geographically what that looks like for them. Is there a particular area that um you know that you constitute is local? I will say for us local is the state of Texas. Um and which

098is very similar to your charter schools, you know, that that certainly have expanded and again kind of put um public schools, your traditional public schools in a different light. So we service um about 25 different part private partners. I'm sharing these with you because there may be some that you're familiar with. Midling Christian, Lake Country, and Fort Worth. Um, again, I can go through each one of them and tell you why one may or may not be my favorite. Um, each one of them have um a uniqueness about them. Sometimes um if you're talking about a partner as big as um Midland Christian or Lake Country, they're actually much larger both by budget and population than than our school. But again in Copper Code that would look um excitingly um in a good way different.

099So here's an example of the districts that we currently service through our um uh interlocal agreements. Um it's really important right now that I I share with you too that in these agreements the private partner pays a 5% administration fee that pays completely for the um support of the program. So, it's kind of unique to be able to roll out a new program and not have to necessarily adjust your budget because you are going to be able to negotiate that through um through those agreements. And if you'll see some of the districts are marked with a little um I guess I would say star, those are districts that currently have uh passed the board has passed the decision to move forward. They are looking for a district to then manage those interlocal agreements with it,

100which Coppers Cove would be again a great um opportunity for them if they if you um decide to to include um in our local agreements in your um plans moving forward. Is there um some of you know again every one of the stories are are kind of unique. Sundown Icy um you know, of course that's in the panhandle. They partnered with Abalene Christian. Marfa chose the El Paso area and has quite a few child care centers. Sigin um I'd be happy to to follow up today's presentation with lots of podcasts and public interviews that I've done. Um, Zig actually partnered with the San Antonio Zoo and so they are um, while they have a zoo school next to um, the San Antonio Zoo, those students are actually enrolled in Sigin ISD. So, Sigin ISD pulls

101down that ADA from that enrollment and in return the San Antonio Zoo school then opened an outdoor learning center within the Sigin Independent School District. They had 125 acres available and opened. And I will share with you that that is an organization that is looking for opportunities for statewide um expansion if if anything with outdoor learning and um you know just u nature-based learning. Again, many districts are looking for those ways to better serve their communities. And sometimes that is you have parents that are looking for a little different model whether that be naturebased. Um welder um is increased that's probably one of the more closer ones um to central Texas but they have um tripled their district size. So, and what's important also with Boulder, I will tell you, is they've done a great

102job and and um certainly their state representatives, um it is not uncommon in each of these areas for the state representative and their team to be either in contact with me or helping to support those efforts. again. Um I think 15 years ago, uh certainly was innovative, but now maybe things have really opened up for um the less division, if you will, between private and public. It really is a focus on how best can we service the the children of Texas. Tell a little bit about state support. These all are all organizations that support this work and any anything from um doing presentations. I mentioned the state of Texas, but I certainly have been invited by Wisconsin, California, and Florida to do presentations. Their codes and opportunities are very similar to um some of the

103the um structure we have here in Texas. Um if you uh Texas AYC, I happen to serve on that board. that's the largest board that represents um childcare providers in the state of Texas and um this year committed a whole conference for public private partnership. So it was really exciting for me to have um the opportunity to speak at that as well as to invite area superintendent and it was a great you know great networking opportunity. the Texas WorkWorks Commission as I mentioned that was the funding that first started um my journey through&m and leaving that traditional superintendent role. Um they currently provide $25,000 per partnership classroom to any three or four um rate star rated um private childcare center. So, a great opportunity for you to really help support your community because as they

104qualify for a partnership um with Coppers Cove, then the state will award them the $25,000 per classroom. That is on its second rotation. So, some partners have actually been able to receive that um as many as five classrooms in the second round. So again, great ways that that would not come directly out of your budget, but um an opportunity. I do also want to tell you that, you know, as as you get into this work, what you'll find out is your teacher incentive aotment. They are qualified under that program. So I was so excited to see that that is something that that you um qualify for. And again, as you know, those are funds that are um awarded from the state, will not come out of your, you know, your direct Coppers Cove um budget,

105but your district of invasion opens up opportunity. And certainly a district um your size as well as what I heard of your academics is it does open up your CTE courses to be able to involve your high school students in receiving those accreditations and certificates. So again, as the years go on, you really can at a pace that's comfortable for your district, decide how how uh what other programs you might want to include. And then um you know think it's important that you know that with that extra revenue certainly we would support um your your business manager and learn more about you know the the template and how it pertains to to Copper Cove but that is additional funding you know outside of um in addition to just your increased enrollment but being able to

106pick particular projects or as I I heard you mention in Pontane we use those funs to pay off our bond um quicker because again they were added um funding opportunities for the district. As I mentioned just a moment ago, really you'll see a lot of focus if you go to the TA website on prek and that really is because your three and four year olds are your largest underserved population in the state of Texas. But as I mentioned, um the districts that I shared with you are all going um pretty much to second grade and some conversation of going to higher grade levels as that TEA guidelines are rolled out. Our testing is a little bit different. Our assessment um but but when we talk about beginning, middle, and end, very very normal for your

107private schools, that is what they do for their accreditation process. They're very comfortable with it. um in particular looking at Copper Code's goals and districts. Those are some key points that I pulled out as far as just my experience with it is certainly um and in conversations with um certainly Dr. Hawkins is the um you know staff salaries. What are those ways that we can look at increasing uh that facilities improvement? these I mentioned to you um as you're as these public private partnerships also give you the opportunity to expand without the worry of necessarily quickly having to come up with the more facilities because those partnerships can that enrollment can stay in those facilities or again if you are in [clears throat] a situation where you have un under unutilized or underutilized facilities I

108guess I should say then let's see what we can do to fill those classrooms um parental choice, you know, that that's kind of self-explanatory. It allows, say, for example, a parent who says, "I I really would love the benefit of certified uh uh teachers and the curriculum that Copper Parent um offers, but I am feeling uncomfortable about my three-year-old transporting to then they're left in that child care center to where they're they're not having to change between the 8 to three and having that after school care. So again, just really ways that you can, you know, better serve your your um families. And then certainly, you know, professional learning and collaborative growth opportunities as you form these partnerships. You know, things that you would consider is opening up your professional development opportunities to your private

109partners. You can do that virtually or in person. You know, so those are ways that a lot of times if you talk to your your foundation or early childhood teachers, you know, they can they can literally tell you where a child may have came from and what program within your community. This is an opportunity for us to kind of uniform that and um certainly help the the the uh child care providers that might be struggling with any kind of professional development. But because they're now enrolled in your district, you're able to provide all that for you. So that is that is all I have unless you have any particular questions. I know it's an awful lot. There's a lot of moving pieces, but really excited about the growth and interest across the state. >> Well,

110I just I'd comment that you know how I've got a daycare >> and so I just think it's important that you know we say for the daycarees in town, how does it help me? Well, it flows additional funds to the daycare as well. And so, you know, it's kind of a win-win for everybody. It gets a a pipeline of kids. It helps us collaborate. It entrenches us into the community, but it [snorts] also uh is is a win-win financially for the daycare owner that Yeah, I'm I'm And the daycare owner makes the decision. Do I lower my tuition rate or is there other things that I want to do with these additional funds to enhance kids, too? And so, I think that's a important part of it. It's huge. And then again [clears throat] the

111continuing education, right? You um grants we um my time during Pony around 5 million. And again, it's obviously a smaller district than than Copper Cove, but but that opens it up because you have that connection because you have an agreement, then you're then able to offer those opportunities of continuing education or as I mentioned the, you know, on my way to UT for the Moody Foundation. All of that then opens that up um for them to get certifications. And um so again, a lot of our part private partners actually have board members for the state board of education um on their on their private school board, which was interesting for me to to learn that. So um you know, it's just really been a great experience and um after, you know, talking with Mr. pal

112and certainly your superintendent. Um it was it was easy for me to say I certainly wanted to come and and present this to you and I thank you for the opportunity but I'm also ready for any kind of questions. Yes, ma'am. >> So if we chose to go like this, do we get coaching on how to approach people and how what kind of um >> recruitment? >> Yes, ma'am. Yeah. >> Yes, ma'am. that that that would be my role if you so choose is to help support that and and we would work all that out either, you know, through um consulting an actual uh employment and or whatever, you know, that's what I'm doing for all of those districts is I go out and help them train the leadership team, if you will. I mean,

113you know, your community, you know, but but it is balancing all that because you're bringing in a brand new program and um and even working with superintendent, you there's many times that the superintendent wants to be part of that initial outreach. And so, we're part of that either whether that be virtual or in person to help support that communication. >> And then do we get help from Amanda because she's going to help. >> Yeah. Well, and we um was that you were about this because I am semifamiliar but minimally >> in the past um when we had looked at these types of things there was a lot of you know like a little bit of hesitation because it is a significant you know add-on >> yeah there's lots of moving pieces and I certainly um

114you know I hope the fact that the longevity of like eight years of the same partner because you do not want it to be a revolving door right it's not good for the community is not good for kids or not good for your district. So there is a lot of front work as far as making sure that that communication that everybody's on the same page of what that expectation is and to what degree are we partners, right? We're not partners in that our audit is separate than their audit. We're not taking on any of their financial responsibility. There's no um even from the interlocal aspect there is no um mingling if you will with boards. So, a lot of your larger private schools actually have boards. They still make their decisions. You make your decisions.

115Um, you know, I I equate it a lot to a marriage. I mean, we should always shoot for that 5050 um compatibility, but but as you know, sometimes that can be 52 48, right? Um, and again, but making sure from the legal standpoint that the district is always protected as well as a private, you know, um, entity. I have been asked before like how many attorneys I would say no fewer than 35 attorneys have gone through those agreements. I'm very proud of those 15 years that we have not entered any kind of legal problem. We make sure that those agreements are easy to back out. So the current agree uh base agreement um has a 90day out. I every once in a while I'll have someone that says I want it to say 60 and

116as long as both entities agree that is fine. But the whole purpose is to support each other. The moment there's a breakdown in that, there certainly would be no reason that there should be any um you know resistance of making someone stay to the contract, right? You go at a pace that's very comfortable um to you. And um you know, as I mentioned, you're preker. Uh why I think copper scope would be great is um military is is a qualifier. But again, once you hit the age of kindergarten, it's just your age and res. of Texas, but you certainly would um have quite a few. I believe >> I know that y'all have seen in the news uh that one of our neighboring districts just dropped their three-year-old program >> and so there's definitely a

117need that's out there and uh you know the other thing I'd say is go back to you know yeah there's she talked about funding but at the end of the day it's about kids. >> Yeah. And that's what our mission is, our calling is is to serve kids. And so if districts don't change with and pivot, then you'll get the same results that you've always got. And so we've got to bolster that monastery model of three-year-old [snorts] kids. We've got to increase our enrollment. We've got to get kids back on track and coming through non-traditional methods uh in order to to serve them or at some point we're going to look up and have a society and say what what happened and so it you know I I believe in the power of of education

118work well for me uh and and so you know but not only that aspect of serving those kids it's also about enrollment and you know the the I I think what gets lost in things is just like I I let off in talking about one of our neighboring districts has 50 some odd kids in the school district that's an expensive model >> and so but at the same time if Copper Cove had 10,000 kids in our school district then that offers more opportunities for all the staff all the kids in this community. Uh it it's truly an economy of scale that you build in today's financial model. And so you serve kids and you benefit from that financial model which you know if Amanda needs a a chauffeur driver you know we don't 100% I

119don't believe I know I didn't share this story with you because there are stories throughout your your professional career that stick with you and one of them was that we had partnered with the head start and you know that's the lowest you know financial um category, if you will, most needy. Um and uh they had a graduation at um at um the college in Beville. And I was leaving this very late night, walking across a parking lot for a split second. I got a little bit nervous by who was walking up to talk with me because I was by myself. [cough and clears throat] And uh you know, at those moments, you just you know, right, everything's good. And and I was, again, I'm readily admitting I was a little bit nervous. And that gentleman

120who who might not uh you know might fit the stereotype of of of being a little afraid um stopped me and and thanked me for caring enough about his children to give him the future. [clears throat] And that moment did I'm gonna get emotional here, but I knew that I was doing right the right work because I would I would have been guilty of maybe stereotyping that, but that was his definition of validation because the school district said, "I'm going to work with this particular program." And and again, you may already be working with your Head Start, but whatever that is for your community, you have to work through it. And it's and it's on both timings. You know, when I'm using I'm specifically talking about Head Start, the timing may not be right, but

121at what my experience over this year is if you set the right example, then it continues to grow as you've seen those graphs. >> So, I love that you're so optimistic, man. >> I see the the revenue generating >> Yes. >> benefits, right, >> that is presented here. So, you know, it it'd be great to see what the other benefits that are provided, but really my question is looking at especially example of Brady Partnership funding. >> Are we moving kids throughout the school day? >> You're not. >> All right. So, they're going to stay at wherever they're at, right? We're not transporting >> kids around. >> Nope. So that's one of the misconceptions is that sometimes that you you know I I grew up also thinking well if you if in order to be a

122Stockdale brain where I graduated from Stockdale you had to be in the Stockdale building and that's not the case. Um surprisingly enough you do not have to employ the teacher. The child has to qualify for enrollment. So a lot of our partnerships some we do make that the decision to employ one or two uh that has historically benefited a large enough program that we have a comfort of saying somebody's there um but you a a large number of our partnerships um I would say 20 um off top of my head we do not even employ the teacher there the teacher still qualifies under the school district standards whether that be through district innovation state board of education local certification, but it's the enrollment of the child and it stays there. So [snorts] to to the

123earlier question of that upfront work, you're going to make sure and decide what you can still monitor. So I still make site visits. Um I would say on probably any given day here in Copper Code, there's times that maybe you know your superintendent isn't stepping foot in one particular campus, but you still know what's going on. So, we make sure that those structures are there to be able to monitor um you know both the safety and the involvement of that. But you it does not have to be in a building um by Copper Cove. Um the teacher does not have to be employed by Copper Cove. And again, those are all your decisions on on where you want to go with that and and some of that is looking at it financially. >> Negotiate. >>

124That's exactly right. [snorts] I it was eye opening to me as well like I said when when I kept reading and asking um even to again to you know grants and things to that nature you're you you were going to be able to make that decision if that's something that you feel like would benefit your private partners. um if I was giving this and I have many times to the private um entity, I think the comfort from their end is that I would that I have been doing this for so long and I'm very familiar with the terminology and and very similar to to be telling them the same thing. They should not get into a partnership with a public school unless they're willing and see the benefits of of you know that collaboration. >>

125I think one of the benefits I could see from it because there would be um a latitude on the private side um more of our three-year-olds would have the same kind of training. So coming into our kindergarten through two year olds, they would be more equalized. >> Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. And so then your teachers will also think >> That's right. the teachers [laughter] really benefit from >> because it really is us working very closely providing curriculum resources as as you know a lot of times your licenses are even extended beyond that or limited licenses. >> Yeah. even coming from different private institutes. Right now the kids come in with such different >> um knowledge based >> and it would be >> readiness school readiness and and again you know good conversations about what assessments

126that copper use and why do why do we choose that curriculum? Why are we assessing you know children with this particular tool? So um you know when you when we go to do that you know it's um the state is already equipped to give both of us access to enter that information immunizations line up you know all of those um things that you know are just daily functioning um you know [snorts] for operational if you will then we're able to assist them as well by far they appreciate the support of dyslexia any type of special education support that you can give professional development knowledge, you then form that relationship with parents that are going to enter your district much earlier. So, I've been at a table many, many times with parents that appreciate just that

127the school district is then part of that conversation. >> Yeah. >> Yes, sir. >> Question. Geographically, uh, how far out do school districts go for these partnerships? >> Yeah. Um, goodness. So, the farthest, um, for Fort Davis is 11 hours. >> That's a long way. You know where Fort is? >> Oh yeah. >> Yeah. >> But but you but then I have some who say I only want to go a 60 mile radius or I um you know I only want to partic like maybe you you know they grew up in El Paso or they grew up in um the Dallas area and so they they're very familiar with that and for whatever reason travel there a lot. You know there's lots of different reasons why you um would or wouldn't. I will tell you

128the moment that you make the decision, word will travel really fast and they'll seek you out as well. >> Well, my followup question is uh where would you start? Would you start? Do you start in the city that the ISD is located with and with all the businesses that are here because we got we have a brand new daycare that started over there. >> You got a fur ground >> between >> west coast to east of us. >> You would be the first Yes, ma'am. >> Since they got rid of their program, >> why do it or just too many kids? >> It was costing us too much. >> It's a good question. It really I mean, historically, it's been like the first thing that people let go. And I don't know if it's just

129because the beginning of it. It's similar to if you're adding kindergarten, if you already have K through 12 and you're going to add one, they they go, "Well, let's add four year olds." From a financial standpoint, the three-year-olds are the easiest. And I'm sure Amanda will agree with me though. There is a different kind of teaching for three-year-olds, right? You have to do some upfront preparation to your teachers or anybody involved in that program. But understand that's a whole different kind of learning. Still valuable, very rewarding in a lot of ways. But it is difficult to take a second or even a teacher without some support. >> But it still goes back to what Dr. talking. We're in the business of taking care of kids regardless of the three-year-old age or fouryear-old age. And we've

130got we've got a great prek campus here, too. Yes. And uh and all that. >> So, I'm so glad that you're bringing that up because on that initial slide where I showed the whole team. So, um this year, this is our first year, so I probably didn't um touch on it much, but uh Fort Davis was the recipient of the Texas School Ready Grant, and that is birthed at age five. >> Okay. And so then we are able to open that up to all of our districts and or work with Coppers Cove to apply for that down the road. That is through the UT Houston program. So I knew there was a connection when I said UT again this is our first year. We are the only remote team um in the state of Texas

131being able to support birth to age five. financially that grant takes care of payroll in a small little more. Um, but to your point, it services children, right? And so I I usually get asked why why are you doing the Texas 480? And I was like, because you care about kids, you will do that, right? [laughter] So, u, but again, those are all things that we can grow into as as the years go on. >> You're welcome. [snorts] >> Yes, sir. >> People go back to services because I think that's what focused on, right? We're not transport little ones, right? We're not transport >> unless you want to, but you don't have to. >> Okay. So, [laughter] the 13 that you have transport kids. >> Yes. >> The um Pony I did. Sund down. We

132did. Um but we already were servicing three-year-olds and so we were equipped with bus monitors like our system already uh had those things in place and maybe you do or don't. I haven't been able to have that. But between now and and again as we work through implementation, those are all things that that certainly Dr. Hawkins's team and then you know sharing with the board will analyze what does that look like. I do have um you know Sig was looking at like a central location so they're not picking them up. So you you know really it's it's depends on the particular district [clears throat] but you you certainly could. >> And then again of the 13 it's specific. I mean, we got the best child nutrition department in central Texas. >> Love that you're telling

133me that. So, yes, you could actually um one of the, you know, whenever you look at any of your school district finances, there's some little hidden nuggets, right? So, for example, I did in Pony, even statewide, take care of their meals. So, you can do that through catering, you can [laughter] do it through your own department who had we ended up driving and delivering meals, I'm sorry, meals within about a 30, 45 minute radius. Um what that did for that particular district is it allowed us to then take our cafeteria staff and put them on a teacher scale. So my director was on a teacher scale and then all of our custodians everybody increased. You decide whether you're ready for that or not. Right now the majority of the districts I have do not. But

134I there's probably three or four that are providing meals to their private partners that are locally. Um but it will but again the economy of scale as he just mentioned um it's yeah >> we're talking about services right >> that's exactly right >> got the best nutrition department >> I love it I love that you're even right >> when when I mention you know again it's to there's so many benefits it's difficult for me to look and what was you know was really exciting in looking at your your taper and your you know talking with uh you know your staff is the the fact that it was all student related. There was there was very little conversation where the focus was only financial. If the focus is only financial, I haven't seen it be all

135that successful. Guys, you have to go in it knowing that there are going to be some challenges. There's going to be some collaboration and differences of of opinions. But if you stay focused on what's best for kids, it really has been great. >> Is Ford Davis your longest partnerships? They were my longest just because they were the two that I that I was at. Yeah. So, the story of me leaving um&M to go to Fort Davis, there was an article in Texas Monthly magazine. Fort Davis was set to close in um three months. They they were in that much dire states. They're still struggling. They have separation from their superintendent. they are, you know, financially we're set to close, but as I showed you on that graph, um this year the partnerships are set to

136to um generate about 7 million in revenue. >> What's the next district that you have? >> Um the really uh it went on national public radio out of Marfa and then that started everyone kind of calling and going. So, I would say Sundown um was the first one who called and that's really when I reached out to uh Mr. Powell because we had to develop interlocal agreements. We had to figure out a way that we could help other districts um legally without being just employed by one district. >> How long? >> This will be our third year. >> Awesome. >> Yeah. I really have not had anybody I want to make sure that I'm accurate in telling you this. I really haven't had anybody quit. I have had people who say they're going to start

137and then had a change in leadership. So, I love that you pointed that out with the B and not not gotten very far. Um Pat is one that just revisited it because they did have a change in you know their leadership. So, um but but really again you you are in control with with who you go into partnership with. So, that in itself lends itself to be you know a fairly good success rate. Yeah. Thank you. Great questions. Anybody else? Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Interesting. >> Yes. Okay, let's take a 10-minute break. Everybody be back if you can at 10 after 8. >> Heather, you got haircut. It's good. I did. I did. Thank you. Fair View. Fair View or Coppers Cove Junior Hunter Fairview. >>

138Fair. He was chasing Santa in the sleigh down the hall. >> Okay, I've got to be want to go to Dr. Hawkins said give this to a kid >> going to her view. We'll get we'll get restarted and we'll have our construction. >> Excuse me. We'll have our construction update. >> Okay. So, um you know, I'll lead off with with a few things. um the uh uh lead auditorium. Okay. Uh we we think that Amanda will be walking with Megan uh the punch list on Wednesday. And so, uh, there was, uh, some challenges like there always is with, uh, construction in which there were some things that they had kind of left out of the process and they, uh, stepped up and made that good, >> good at no cost to the district, >> and

139did it right. And so, it took just a little bit longer to do that. And so uh hopefully we will be including that chapter on Wednesday and be able to have a certificate of occupancy issued back to the district at that point so that it can be utilized. The um Williams ledger um is is moving along. Uh, I asked Miss Manning to come and and cuz uh she got to see it at its worst and uh it has she so she's got a good reference point of it. It still looks uh like a construction zone. Uh but >> so much better. Oh my goodness. >> But a clean construction zone. >> Well, relatively speaking. >> So cabinets are are coming in and going in. uh the uh company that flooring was bought from run out

140of production. Uh really >> we should have flooring on the 19th which is Friday. Another delivery of of flooring and so hopefully they can get started on that. They are putting uh insulation and ceiling tiles in now as we speak. uh as well as touch-up painting going along and they're uh in the process starting the demolition of the flooring in the [clears throat] cafeteria area. And so what I'd like for you as a board to do is to just give it uh like like right there that first weekend seep uh September February uh so that uh y'all we could get to a point that you could really see a lot of good progress so that you can come in and look at that. And I'm I'm extremely uh encouraged by it. I know Miss Manning

141was. I won't speak for her, but you know, just to walk down the halls and and to see the LPT tile that's down uh and I know the impact that that'll make on our operations uh moving forward. I know the the cost effectiveness of that moving forward. Um and just the uh the whole revamping after that thing has been reutted. Um, you know, contractor says that we're still on track for um uh for a u [clears throat] end of May uh to start moving everything back in. Um they have all of the ancillary items from classrooms that is set up in the gym. And so part of the process will be looking at those items and and sorting through them and figuring out what's good and what's not good. uh and discarding what's not good

142and then ordering what we need to order in order to kick school off uh in August. >> That's want to go in. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> I just thought it was funny. He said he didn't want to speak for you, but yet his name's Joan Manning. >> Oh, it is. >> It is. It got y'all switched. [laughter] >> That's pretty funny. No, it's the other way around. That's pretty. Maybe we should switch. >> So, [laughter] the uh like I said, the le LED lights is up. Um they look great. I look forward to the energy savings that that's going to happen. The roofing um Honey's roofing has done a great job up there for us. uh they're starting to put the the blue fascia and coming down spouts on that on the side of that.

143Uh and so um the the other thing is I would just mention that once again Kip and his his group have been some warriors and the fiber aspect of it >> and then the um the security upgrades over there that'll [snorts] kind of be our campus model for security moving forward in this district and really a an anchor and a show showcase of what future copper code will be. Um, K, you want [snorts] to talk about any any of the benefits of it? I [laughter] mean, >> I I just really the the benefit of the way that's laid out is really going to help us answer that question. What are you doing uh in the district, you know, as technology, but what are we doing for security as well? Uh there is there's not another

144school district in the state of Texas that will have this technology. >> Wow. it it uses AI as we all [snorts] know AI is a very big thing but the faster we can get the information uh live information to the person that needs it whether it's an administrator a nurse or an officer this will do it I mean it is it is that that clean and I'm very excited once we get this in place to show show this off not just to y'all but to the community in whole because I'm I'm going to tell It's going to stop that question. Y'all don't care about security. >> There you go. >> Yeah. >> And Jimmy's done a great job of, you know, one one of the pain points is working with insurance company. And you know,

145I told you that we got a a draw on that deal. Um, but you know, we're still we're still a long ways from home on on closing that thing out. And um you know uh on on the agenda will be I'll talk a little bit about the roof at uh CPE but um you know the roof at um uh SC Lee we've discovered too is going to need some attention and so we've got a quote to TASBY to see what they'll do with covering that. Um I thought I thought Jimmy done a just a A+ job uh today. Uh it come back. Y'all, we we have lighting problems uh that was damaged in the hail storm and uh they sent their uh expert out uh who talked to one of our employees and uh they

146got their heads together and I I think that they have uh uh unfortunately given a report uh that is uh with a lot of possibilities. Well, you know, the lights were all working prior to the hail storm, and I got a truck that's sitting in a shop somewhere right now that's uh getting the hell damage fixed on it. So, if you think lights aren't 40 foot in the air and didn't take any damage >> and then you want to blame it on the age of the light, I don't know how I can help you. But, uh, if y'all saw during football season, there were lights that kind of come on and went off and were discolored and things like that and and so baseball, softball, tennis is all going to be the same thing. There's

147damage there. And so, we've uh or Jimmy has done a fantastic job of of sending back a document basically asking them to reconsider that in a real professional way because uh, you know, right, wrong or indifference. I understand that those but that those lights and that electrical part of our athletic facilities are very old and and I'm not going to argue you know it does say that there's preventive maintenance been going on with it but you know at the same time uh there are there is some wor out caulking and stuff like that but [clears throat] that stuff was fine in March and and so fine in April and then along came the camer hell damage and here we are and I've been begging them for months to to consider this and it's always somebody

148else or you know and it's always slow rolling. I get it. Nobody wants to sign a 3/4 of a million dollar check but that's where we are and so it's got to be fixed. We can't go in the next school year uh you know looking like Sanford and Sun. And so we, you know, we we've got to establish that standard of quality that we have and and figure out a way to move forward on that. U and so that's that's unfortunate, but nonetheless, that's some things that are pressure points for us in the construction process and where we are. Uh but the but the crown jewel of where we are is uh Jimmy's looking back to find some pictures. Uh we want to make sure that on our website we've got before and after pictures

149of baseball softball complex >> u because if you hadn't been there to that uh man it is it is exactly what when we talk about standards is the standards that all of our kids and all of our district and all of our facilities ought to uh to be at. And you know, it starts with one step. And so, um, I I'm just extremely appreciative of the job that Symmetry Sports did for us. >> And, uh, they still got some cleanup and things like that. Uh, they were supposed to come today and lift the, um, the, uh, the scoreboard in, uh, in the outfield of the, softball [snorts] uh, complex uh, to get it up to where you can see it. And uh >> dude, that's crazy. >> Yeah, it it y'all you got to understand

150that they built up three foot of dirt in the left foot. >> Yeah. >> All right. Three foot of dirt is a lot of dirt. >> So it made the scoreboard. >> Yeah. It's it's a lot of money. Uh that and so it cost, you know, it cost what it costs, but you know, we were able to use some of the dirt from the baseball field over there and to and to and to not have to buy dirt. Um, and so anyway, I just say that uh those kids understand that you invested in them and their activities and I know they're appreciative of it. I look forward on February the se 17th and 23rd uh for y'all to be able to go out and throw out the first pitch there uh because it's really it's

151really a nice complex. The fencing looks great. Um, and so, uh, my job as superintendent is to make sure that we get the cheapest price that we can possibly get or the highest possible quality possible. >> There you go. >> And so, um, I I just I know the quality is there and it's undisputed that the price for that thing was very, uh, efficient for the district. And so, uh, like I say, I just I I appreciate the job they did. I know Jimmy does with the the amount of maintenance. You know, some construction folks are more high maintenance than others. And there was very little uh, you know, those folks were highly skilled uh, at what they did. And they came out and they uh, and they did a job and they did a

152job of excellence. You know, when you got to walk behind somebody and tell them, "No, do this. No, do this. You didn't do this. This don't look right. You know, it it it's a I'm I'm very appreciative because that's not always the case. And so, we're very proud of that. So, y'all with that, the other thing that I'll just hit on is uh real quick is the bond and the design phase of that bond. And and at this point, it's not changed. Uh, you know, we're we're in the next couple of weeks looking forward to scheduling a meeting with Goodwin Lacader. Um, the the big steps in the bond. Now, tomorrow that RFP is due. The RFP will come in and Sherry and Heather are sitting on that committee uh for [clears throat] Thursday. Mhm.

153>> And uh we have a rubric that was in the RFP to grade all of those RFPs that come in. I I've talked to probably 10 or 12 people. Um and so you never know who's coming in till the end and who's coming in until you get them in hand. Uh but I think there will be several that [snorts] comes in. uh and we'll be able to facilitate that committee and walk through that process to grade those and once again try to get the cheapest quality or cheapest cost at the highest quality >> quality. Yeah. And u and that's what uh you know that when I talked with the community in all of my 90 plus meetings that I did that I continued to you know give them my word that that's that's what we

154were going to work through and we were going to work towards is is taking the facilities that we have and ensuring that there's a different [snorts] standard. And so in order to do that you know just a few percentage points on a construction manager is a significant amount of money. you know, three and a half percentage points is millions and millions of dollars. And so, the more money that we can get people to work at a at a at a good cost uh that's effective for us and still deliver what they say they will deliver, the more stuff that we can do along that construction process. Um, you know, it it is a uh juggling act uh because from here on out, you've got a hopeful three-year time window uh in which you know, we're

155we're running the construction aspect of it. But I also say that um you know, my intent is to you know, you heard Mr. Lewis tonight and I haven't had a chance to speak with him, but um you know that that capital plan that we had uh that y'all looked at, you know, we want to try to get as much of that done in this process as possible. Uh but you don't want to just do it all now because you lose the economy of scale uh in in that big of a process. If if you have somebody that comes in right now and starts building a $4 million a barn, [clears throat] you've got a fixed cost that's going to drive up the percentage of that. And so if you can do that all together as

156um alternates in a bid, um then you can make your money go further. And that's that's my goal, Jimmy's goal, Cliff's goal is to make sure that we work together with the people that we hire to make our money go as far as it possibly can. >> Uh because we have, as Doug said, we have these needs and this ability to take care of them. So, the more that we can do to make that go as far as possible, the better off we are. The other thing is uh you know we've got some deferred maintenance things that we've got to continue like with the CPE deal that we'll have to pull a draw on fund balance. Uh but we got the high rating that we got uh and partial because uh we went from $6

157million in operational deficit budgets >> to $300,000 in operational deficit budgets. And so those bond rating people do not like to see you in an operational deficit budgeting. And so we'll have to go through that whole process. Jimmy and and Cliff enjoyed sitting through that. And so we'll get to do that again next year uh in order to try to make sure that we get the lowest interest rate that we can possibly get in selling those. >> So any questions about any of that? I sent you a a picture of the scoreboard being >> Okay. Okay. >> All right. Thanks. >> All right. We'll go ahead and do the PI's audit results then >> and and we don't have that that is coming. >> Okay. >> And so I put it on here to let

158you know that the PES audit is coming because you've heard Amanda talk about some of it. Jimmy's talked about some of it. We've got some some uh data validity uh that we need to go through and I haven't even seen a draft report of it yet, but the service center's been doing that for us and hopefully by the 26 they'll have that report so that you can look and we've already started uh to fix some of those things that that we know. That's why we had to audit. We you know if you if you know everything's perfect, everything's right, you don't you don't have to do an audit. But when you know that there's some issues there, you need to do that audit. And so that's what we've done. Uh and we look forward to

159getting all those results so that we can put systems in place to address those things. >> Okay. >> All right. Let's go ahead and do our consent agenda. And the reason I read this is not because I, you know, I know that everybody here can read. [snorts] The reason I read it is for our audience that we have elsewhere. So, um, I don't want to be dinged for that for reading the consent agenda. I'm going to continue to read the consent agenda. So, we have our board of trustees meeting minutes for the school board workshop and board training, December 2nd, [snorts] 2025. The school board workshop and special call meeting December 8th, 2025. Our school board regular meeting December 15, 2025. We have ex items exceeding $50,000. First consider and discuss the purchase of the

160you teach self-paced blended learning course for teachers and coaches and this is government government and entity budgeted funds for $60,000. We have considered and discussed approving the resurfacing of the track. And then we have uh consider and discuss the purchase of a Kabota mini excavator. And this is by Ward GM number 706-23 for 62,13820 from budgeted funds. We have a single ply roof system at Clemens Parson's Elementary School for $789,975. This is what Dr. Hawkins was just telling us about. This comes from fund balance. Then replace flush mounted concentric diffusers at Williams Ledger Elementary School for $80,873.80 80 cents from fund balance and consider and discuss to select Snyder Electric to perform an investment grade audit procured via TIPS uh co-op contract number 2204. Then we'll consider and discuss to approve the quarterly invest investment

161report in policy. And then our last item under consent agenda is an outofstate trip. the Southwest Conference Teacher of the Year uh 2026. It's February 19th through 21st, 2026 in Greenfield, Colorado. So, Dr. Hawkins, I know you want to go ahead and go through most of those items one by one. >> Yes. Uh on item one there, you can disregard that. It won't be on the 26 agenda. Uh we've already took care of that previously. Um the number item number two right there consider discuss approving the resurfacing of the track. Um if you remember back in the U assignment of fund balance there was $2.5 million that I I'd set aside there uh for your consideration and you approved as a board. Um 2.1 was for the baseball softball. The rest was for the uh

162resurfacing of the track because I knew the track was in a in a situation before uh uh before that before I actually the first time I ever walked out of and uh but uh part of what I did on Saturday was I went through the district and walked facilities facilities see what shape the facilities was in and um we've got to work hard to get into cycles of things. And uh that baseball softball field is a good example. You know uh symmetry will provide training uh for that turf uh well turf management that they will train um you know our coaches, our maintenance staff. uh so that folks know what it is that you need to do in order to make the long the longevity of those carpets last as as long as they possibly

163can. Um that's why we've got a groomer and that's why we got um the sweeper. And so um we we have gotten out of cycle in a lot of areas and uh and that track is no different. Track surfacing has to be has to be addressed every five to seven years at minimum. Uh depending on the traffic on that on that track. If you walk on the track at Bulldog Stadium, it's hard. It's it's polyurethane. Polyurethane should not feel like asphalt. Uh it should give. I think you've walked on it, haven't you? >> Yeah, a couple times. >> And so the other thing is this is that um the for for what I put into that assignment of fund balance. I've looked at and I don't know I' I've asked and and so [snorts] I'm

164going to get another quote because uh the track is coming up in some spots. And so um the the problem with that is that track from and look I'm I'm dealing with no institutional knowledge uh or limited institutional knowledge but that track was built somewhere around 06 or 09 somewhere in that in that category and and so what I'm talking with with a maintenance cycle hasn't happened as far as addressing the surfacing on that thing uh as much as as need be done in one time. >> I think I mean I know it's done one time. >> That's that's my guess. Yeah, >> because I'm looking at the surfacing and I've I can only see one paint over. >> And so, you know, that's that's too long. And here's the problem with it. You want

165to go as long as you can go, but you don't want to go so long that it messes up and it cost you more. Okay? Uh be be like uh you know, you got a a worn tire on your vehicle and you keep driving back and forth to clean and you know that tire is wore out and now all of a sudden the the belt starts to show in it. You see the steel showing in it, but you just keep going and you ain't got a spare. So the next thing you know you're on the side of the interstate out there and you got a record bill or you got a service call or you got something and so it's cost you more or maybe it you had a blowout and it, you know, it

166wrecked you. Okay? And so the same thing with surfacing on on courts and it's no different in the surfacing in the gymnasiums it you know there's a there's a a a cycle that you need to address in surfacing and [snorts] anywhere from about 10 to 15 years your gym floor needs to be come down because you got about three cycles. So I if you if you hit it every 15 years and you take your gym floor down to the wood, then you you bring it back up and of course you're waxing over it every year and sometimes [clears throat] twice a year depending on the traffic. >> Uh but you that wax builds up over time and so you've got to take it off. You see that problem at SC Lee? You walk in that

167gym there and you just look at the I mean >> yes >> Tim you know what I'm talking about. >> Yes sir. And so those are things that have happened over time that are deferred maintenance items that we got to go back and address. And this and this track is is no different. Uh you know and and the other way is this. I want to bring you uh some numbers and let you look at it because you know we can do it cheap but cheap ain't good to me but we can do it right. And I'm not talking about millions of dollars anything like that. Okay. I'm just talking about polyurethane. When was the last time his is maintained though? >> We we think that it was uh from the >> You're talking about the

168track. I think it was touched 167 school. >> Absolutely. >> It was right around when I started. >> Yes. >> So about once every if if it's been there 20 years, >> it's been done one time. >> So, but nonetheless, it it's it's starting to to roll. Uh, and so it it's got some issues in there. Yeah, >> there's cracks. >> Yes, there's some cracks. >> There's some cracks in it to where the uh you know, it it comes in um uh like a roll and those mats, it's mats go together and so those mats are pulling apart. Those mats don't pull apart if you surface it. Okay. And so um the the tennis courts are in the same same boat. They're about two years away. But if you don't believe me, I want all

169of you to do this. Okay? If you don't believe me about maintenance cycles, go to the baseball softball field. Walk out on that field and then get in your vehicle and go to Bulldog Stadium and walk out on the turf there. And that'll answer all of your questions. that the [clears throat] that that I understand that is new baseball softball turf, but I have the utmost confidence in coach Levali and Coach Crawford and coach Southern that they're going to be obsessed with maintaining that thing. Okay? And so, but that's what we want. We we we don't want to invest in facilities and not maintain them and take care of them and try to extend the life as much as we possibly can on those. And so I I really I I would I would uh

170if y'all if y'all want me to walk with you, I'll walk with you. You you notice in that in that uh capital plan that the turf at Bulldog Stadium is going to have to be addressed at some point. I think that's somewhere around 10 to 12 years old. And so that's about where you do it at about 10 years old. So if we can get two more years out of it, you're 14 and you've done really good. But I'm just telling you when you when you walk on the baseball softball surface three years, five years from now, it ought to still look like that because we've got bags of the polyurethane that we that we receat it with because, you know, uh, home plate, the pitcher mound, first base is the is the three biggest

171wear areas on it. And so you have to take a five gallallon bucket, you have to reede the polyurethane to keep it from wearing out the grass. Okay? And so the the Bulldog stadium uh the turf there is about like this table. Okay. There's there's no leafing with it. There's there's been no grooming. There's been no >> water. Yeah. Tender loving carrot going on that. And so I just say that to say some of those things are are problematic, but we're going to get them fixed. We're going to get cycles in place. We're going to address even the gym floors that need to come down. We'll get those built into some maintenance cycles and addressed. >> So the pits like you know triple jump, all the bulldo help. >> Yeah. Well, some of that is

172design issues and and and just if you ever build a track, don't ever the only pit that you need to put into that I would say that even consider putting into a design is the high jump pit. You put the high jump mat down there and that's fine. And maybe if you want to stretch it, you can put the pole vault in the other area, but don't put sand on your track, >> right? >> Because we've got sand, >> long jump, triple jump sand that's there on the track. So, that's never good. That that that doesn't do good for maintenance or longevity. That is a design issue and a design flaw. Um and then Tim, you know, at at um uh at SC Lee, you know, there's spots there on those press on the floor

173and he'll talk back to you. >> Yeah. >> So the but on the track itself, there's there's there's chunks that's come out of it over time. And and the long jump, triple jump is in the is in the is over by the other side of the playing field. >> And that's got to be a safety issue. Yeah. Yeah. >> You know, we host a lot of track meets here, >> but now >> the padding, too. >> The the um >> the uh the SC league track itself has more elasticity to it than the Bulldog Stadium track does. So, >> so what can we do maybe goals later on in the future to ensure that those cycles are being met? >> I'm going to meet them. 20 years down the road, right? But 20 years down

174the road to where we make sure that our school district is continuing these this maintenance that needs to happen >> 20 years down the road >> or when my my first grader is graduating. Yeah. You know, what does that look like? >> I'm with Samantha. How do you capture that and put >> How do we as a group and as a team >> here's >> because it hasn't been happening. It should have been easy, but it hasn't been happening. >> Well, >> some of the maintenance has >> correct. >> Okay. Well, that that's great. Maybe some, >> but this is, you know, the whole maintenance side has is has been and I'm going to do some research because I >> the whole field the whole field thing for Bulldog [snorts] Stadium. I I'll do my

175own research. >> Okay. Um, but we have to come up with many years ago it was an issue with the air conditioners at the junior high and you know our facility great [clears throat] facility team etc. But I I think we need to look at honestly some sort of custodian a custodian for the athletic facilities. A custodian for the fine arts facilities and and that is their job is to oversee the >> maintenance. That wasn't my question. >> No, we we've got custodians in in the athletics. >> Well, it goes towards making sure the maintenance is >> but but here's the deal, y'all. That's not a custodian's fault. >> I'm not saying custodian. I'm so I thought make him the, you know, the >> trustee >> the trustee, right? Or the facilities manager. Custodian just

176used to work. >> That's what we have. I'm talking that >> but >> for just the stadium full-time job. >> We haven't had that kind of oversight. Now we're getting it. And I think once it started, it'll continue. Folks, I here's my philosophy and and I I hope you don't think I'm lying to you. I mean, I'm I'm feeling I and you're welcome to go. I I give you names and and go do whatever. But I don't lie. I I don't sugarcoat and you're going to find out what I told you is spot on. >> But but I tell you this to answer your question. >> You can put all the policies in place that you want to put, >> but if they're not institutionalized, >> Absolutely. >> then it's no better than paper. Absolutely.

177>> We win and lose with people. >> And so that's that's if we're going to win and lose with people, >> then then at the end of the day, [clears throat] that's that's where the tires come off. Okay. I I don't know how else to say that, but but but in all seriousness, you you I I hope that we can all work together as a team of eight and ensure that there is a standard that's being set for all of our facilities in this district >> and then it will continue >> and and Exactly. But but it it isn't going to happen tomorrow. No, >> you know, it it happens with, hey, we've got the baseball softball facility. That's the standard >> and this is the upkeep and this is the schedule that we're going

178to do ledger. >> Uh and and I think that we're doing some things to help Thomas in in his area. Just like I say with those LBT floors, you know, it it's my hope and dream that we'll have four campuses with LBT floors. And so what does that matter? What it matters is is that the entire those four campuses don't have to be waxed. >> Yeah. And so we can we can redo what we're thinking and it has to be cleaned, >> but that we're not going to we're not going to do away with people who have been waxing. We're just going to change their job to do some of these things to enhance and make sure that the standard of our district is the standard of our district. And then we're uh accountability is

179on everybody. Mhm. >> It it you know when when when the standard falls, blood gets on everybody's hands. And so we we have got to we've got to make sure that we all hold each other accountable uh to ensure that those standards aren't negotiated. But I don't know how I mean I I'm just trying to be honest with you and say that you can put any kind of policy in place that you want to put in place, but at the end of the day, it comes back to to people and and um you know there there's some districts that have elaborate policies >> and they're not doing any of them. Walk in them and look at and so what other questions y'all have? >> We're going to fix it. >> Absolutely. Once we fix it

180then so that it's not you know we have only done it twice in the last 20 years. >> I think one of our problems has been we have had those cycles >> correct >> put in place. >> Yeah. And in fairness, >> those cycles are put in place, they're going to continue because >> CO destroyed a lot of cycles for a lot of >> district. It did, >> you know, but um and so that's that's a you know, you can you can clap or you can boo co all you want to, but at the end of the day, we all went through it >> and I think a lot of districts got out of cycles during CO and so we can get it back in place. you know, there's hey, there there is great optimism

181>> for the things that we can accomplish uh in the next 36 months to, you know, for this district. >> We've had some cycles that have continued like our bus replacement and that kind of stuff. It's just >> those things have to be >> I I think there's credit due to the school district whenever we had our we had a presentation where they said we are a very well-maintained school district. you know, as old as our facilities are, they are maintained really well. And so, I think I think we have a good and bad. And so, how can we just continue to raise the standard? >> You got a lot. You got a lot of good people working in maintenance with very good skills. >> That's right. >> And so, how can Yeah. So, that

182that helps. >> Absolutely. >> You know, when you got a lot of people working in maintenance and they don't have very good skills, that's a whole different paradigm. But I I'm I'm I'm very appreciative of the skill level that we have of folks in maintenance. And so we're we're we're gonna do some great things here. And uh you know, at the end of the day, there's no reason to point fingers or anything like that. Let's just roll up our sleeves and get it done, you know, because >> there's no question about the maintenance skill on the team, right? That's not I mean, look at the look at the vehicles they maintain football field, >> right? >> But I think honestly it's an administrative issue. >> Turf on the truck. I'll leave it at that. I

183got no issues with the maintenance team. I know they're hard workers and they accomplish much on minimal, right? They get the most that they can. >> So that's what he was saying. >> No doubt years old. >> Yeah, it cycle is about 12. >> It's overdue. >> Okay. >> About there. So, uh, Kabota, uh, Jim, uh, this was a budgeted item that we put into the budget and, uh, it was an opportunity to start to do some things that we don't have to continue to rent all the time. If you buy it, then it saves money as you move forward. And so, that was their their purpose in doing that. I think uh, that we asked and am I wrong, Jimmy? Was it about 20,000 that we had spent on Wow. >> in a slow

184year? I think what Thomas had shared was it's it's about 13 to 15,000 in a slow year and in a busy year which we've been busy it's >> [snorts] >> uh closer to that $20,000 a year. So >> in three years it's paid off. >> So exactly. And so I I think that's one of those things that from a budget standpoint it's all our responsibility to look and say not necessarily where where do we need to spend money but it's also incumbent on us to ask where do we spend money to make us be able to operate more economically too. >> That's right. >> I got no issues with the excavator. Right. Um you know obviously you got folks that are trained on it. I I don't see a trailer associated with it. Do we

185need a trailer? >> No, we have a trailer. >> Okay. And I just the air conditioned cab, right? Just I mean, if that's what you all want, I got it. Right. But been there, done that. A lot of maintenance on those things, >> a lot of care with the opening the doors, breaking to the I mean >> I just by myself I would not be getting a enclosed cab. >> The actual price was cheaper with the air conditioner. >> Is it really? >> Wow. >> Wasn't unbelievable. Was a $12,000 work discount on this machine. >> Do you have indoor space to store it? >> No. >> Where would we be? It'll be parked up in our shop. >> Okay. >> It's be nice. [snorts and clears throat] >> Yeah, it's going to be nice. >>

186Okay. The other the other item number four right there is the uh roof system at Clemens Parsons. And u you know I I think given what's happened at Williams Ledger, I think we can all agree that that's probably a pretty good expenditure. And I also say this, uh, you know, Jimmy spent a lot of time trying to get the biggest bang for the buck and that thing is, uh, that that that cost on that building is, uh, is is pretty good. I mean, we're paying for it contingent on your approval out of fund balance, but, um, you know, that's a that is a cost that when he started doing bids was very [clears throat] advantageous for the district. So >> yes, the next closest bid was about $215,000 more. >> Wow. >> So we're also

187looking at maybe >> right at >> the junior high was >> remember you said Lee and another campus. >> SC Lee. Yeah, we're we're that's in the insurance >> aspect of it. >> Clemens Parsons wasn't wasn't damaged by hail. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh the number five there is air handlers for Williams Ledger. And uh that I I put that on there just so that y'all see that's uh give you an update on the expenses of Williams Ledger. And so I just want to update you that won't be on the 26. We don't have to put it on there because it's all part of the you know we're we're doing it at Williams Ledger. And so those are air handlers. It did not make good sense to buy new units >> and not have

188the >> and not have air handlers in there because, you know, all of the the debris and and uh uh dust is going to go right over your coils. >> And so if you have new ones, you need to put new air handlers in there on that. Tim, this is the C. There is that discussed that uh Snyder electric contract performance grade audit. Um, and that is just from uh getting them to do an energy audit uh like they came and presented to us. And we were only doing it unless y'all tell me otherwise on the lighting and the uh water. >> Uh and so if that's if that's okay, we'll continue to move forward with that. >> Yes. >> Uh the uh D item D there is a quarterly investment report. That's that's routine.

189And then our teacher of the year uh was invited to that um teacher of the year deal. And I think Amanda, I'm I'm I've got so much construction stuff on my mind right now. We were only paying for what? Her meals. >> Yes. Just her meals. Everything else is paid for by the conference u governing body, whatever you call that. >> That's great. >> That's pretty Yeah, that's a that's a great opportunity for her and uh and and a very economical one for us. >> All right, we'll go on to action items. First, consider and discuss the annual audit report for the 2023 2024 fiscal year ending August 31st, 2025. >> So, we're hopeful that that report will be uh our auditors will be here to do that. Uh I think I meet with them

190tomorrow to just kind of finish up tie up some loose ends on it. Uh but we're hopeful that audit will be here by then. Uh those things got uh kind of pushed down the road. You know, generally you try to get them in December and that you have to have them turned in uh about like the third week in um January for TEA to not hammer you on you or or hammer you on your first report. Matter of fact, you don't get them turned in on time, you fail the first report. But uh they've extended that deadline, Cliff, till February. >> Yes, sir. And so anyway, we'll we'll get that we'll get that presentation for you. And then Amanda and I are going to set up a Zoom call with Miss Hartman uh to discuss

191that uh early childhood partnership agreement uh with with her and we'll put that back on the um uh the 26th agenda. >> Okay. Then we'll consider and discuss approving the contract between Coppers Cove ISD and Stepping Stones Group for a speech language pathologist. It's TIPS for $66,248 from budgeted funds. >> And so we've done that before unless there's any questions. >> And lastly, consider and discuss the approval of recommended library book purchases. So, one of our teammates did catch one of our library books that probably didn't meet our community standards. And so, we've we've removed that and re-uploaded uh the current books into your uh portal there, but uh you know, it takes a village. So, >> it does. >> That's good. Good that people are looking at it. >> Yeah. >> All right. We

192don't we're not going to have a close meeting. >> Okay. >> No. >> So, only thing not included is the uh is the track. Well, they think not part >> I haven't yet. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. Right. I'm I'm waiting to see. So, yeah. >> Maybe by the 26 I can send something out, but as of right now, >> it was Yeah, >> exactly. >> All right. Um Mr. Lewis wanted everybody to know that Thursday and Friday were the big days at uh Corel County uh fair and that we could come come watch the kids. Uh they'll be, you know, >> they're showing their animals. It's always a fun time if you haven't ever been. It's it's fun. Just whoever you're watching. It's really interesting. [clears throat] >> Do they have like a time

193that's better that you don't know or you just kind of show up? >> You just show up going on all day long. >> Here's what you can do. Thursday and Friday is most of the shows. Okay. >> Is that during the day or that? >> It's during the day. >> Okay. And so you can look on the Coro County Youth Fair Facebook page. >> Yeah. >> And it tells what shows and it tells what times. >> So if you don't like chickens, >> then you don't have to go to the chicken show. You may you may like goats better than chicken. >> This is the city of chicken places. You got to like chicken. >> It tells you when the auction is and all that. >> It doesn't mean we have to show chickens. >>

194Yeah. And then there's >> there's this separate there's a separate building where all the things that all the kids have made. >> That's always fun to look at. >> And I'm taking uh I'm taking a check over there at the Coro County you uh well I'm sorry the Copper Code >> youth buyers group. >> And so if you you know of anybody Sherry she shared that information out uh for the kids on the on her Facebook page and on those community groups and everything. So, if you know of anybody uh that that group is different than Mr. Lewis, Mr. Lewis works with the A boosters. Uh this is the the the buyer group. And so I've been trying to help them. And uh and uh and so if you know of anybody that wants to

195donate to those kids, then let me know and I can get you routed to the right people. Maybe we can if anybody wants to carpull after the event at 30 Jewel, we can go out there. Okay. >> I don't know. I've never been to a fair. >> They say we have 32 kids participating, right? >> Yeah. >> Cool. >> That's good. And he he said there's going to be a lot more next year, but >> Well, I I hope so because we went from >> has gone down. >> We went from 50 teachers I'm sorry, 50 kids last year in the program to over 600. And so these teachers are working hard. you know, we go from three teachers to nine. >> And and so they're they're out there trying to sell the program and

196try to energize and engage the kids and and so uh you know, I had over 30 pigs at at Livingston alone in kids that that went and so as big a school as we have Yeah. >> we we ought to have over 100 projects. >> That's right. >> Cool. >> Yeah. It's it's it's neat. >> It is. I think start showing bull. >> I'm all for that. >> That's right. You got two. >> I don't think there's a category. >> I can enter I can enter two dogs. >> Does that mean you keep them at the egg barn? [laughter] >> That would be wonderful. >> He would be happy to do that. >> If it's air conditioned so they can grow hair. [laughter] >> All right. If there's nothing else, we'll adjourn our meeting at

1978:59 p.m. Y'all have a good evening. >> Thank you.