001here. Board is now going into close session to discuss the agenda items posted on the closed session agenda as authorized by the open meeting acts under section 551.071. 71 attorney consultation 551.072 and 551.072 time is 4:33 p.m. Oh my god. The time is 6:00. We're going to go into our regular schedule meeting. We're going to go to the U budget. Good evening, Mr. President, school board trustees, BISD family and community. Tonight is our annual public hearing in preparation for the 2526 fiscal year. We will discuss our budget plans for next year as well as the potential tax rate. Again, tonight's presentation is designed to provide information on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget presents the district's finance and operations plan for the general debt service and child nutrition funds. The development, review,
002and consideration of these budgets were completed with a review of our revenue and expenditures within the context of our district's vision, mission, goals, and operating procedures. The annual hearing provides transparency and a clear look at how the funds are utilized to meet our district priorities. Board, you have a completed copy of the district's budget, proposed budget. The presentation tonight will be taken from this completed document. Joining me in the presentation tonight is our CFO, Mrs. Cheryl Hernandez. As we begin every presentation and our budget of course is built on meeting the vision and mission of our organization. Can you join me in reciting the vision please? In collaboration with the entire community we will create an inclusive environment academic excellence that supports the diverse needs of all learners. and our mission statement. We will inspire
003and prepare all students for lifelong success by providing an exemplary education in a safe learning environment. The budget process is comprehensive and inclusive. It is a continuous cycle that traditionally begins in the fall and now we are at the budget adoption process. Our goal throughout the planning phase is to ensure that our district reaches our board outcome goals. We also want to make certain that within our budget process that we present a balanced and sustainable budget for the board to adopt and approve. Again, we continually monitor and evaluate how we utilize the district's resources on a continuous basis. I am excited to present that tonight's budget is a balanced budget. This is just a snapshot of the calendar. We have a timeline that we follow. Again, we're at the end of the cycle tonight with
004our request for the board to approve the budget that is presented. Other key dates which are not included here include our multiple budget workshops, notices, final adoption deadline, and all of the internal work that our team undergoes throughout the course of a year in preparation for the upcoming budget cycle. We comply with all state required timelines to ensure trans transparency and compliance. We have shared our 2526 budget priorities earlier this year, but our priorities remain to continue to provide every student with opportunities to participate in highquality learning experiences. We want to make certain that our budget assists in recruiting, retaining, and supporting effective teachers and principles, providing a safe, secure, and supportive learning environment, ensuring that post-secary readiness is achieved for our students. and we want to make certain that our financial resources align with
005our board goals and priorities. So by law, the superintendent is responsible for preparing the proposed budget and the board is responsible for adopting the budget. The trustees are also responsible for adopting a tax rate that is sufficient enough to fund the budget, ensure that our finances are audited annually and ensuring that we promote fiscal transparency. As you can see, we comply with each and every one of these requirements. We of course report on our finances every month. We also have our financial check register posted on our website. So, if any in our community would like to know how their tax dollars are being spent, they can go to our website to the business and finance section and you can see where every dollar is spent. Every month, we share purchases over $50,000 so that our
006community and our board can see and approve how we spend our money over $50,000 reaching our vision and mission of our organization. Of course, TEA requires legal requirements that we must follow. We must make public notice which we did and make certain that the budget is accessible. TE also TEA also plays a role in that they actually calculate our tax rate. Again, we are not approving the tax rate this evening or asking the board to approve a recommended tax rate this evening that will occur in August, most likely August or September. But we are in compliance with all legal and TEA requirements. As shared during previous budget workshops and in previous presentations, a significant portion of this process is trying to determine what our actual revenue will look like. The state revenue that we receive
007is directly correlated to the percentage of time our kids are in school, our average daily attendance. This is a chart from 2019 to 2026 that shows the progression of what what our enrollment looks like, which is the blue column, compared to the gray shaded area, which is our average daily attendance. So, as you can see, our enrollment has decreased a little bit over the course of the last several years. We have had a larger decrease in average daily attendance. So as we prepare the budget, we must estimate what is our state revenue actually going to look like and we make that estimate based on the percentage of time that our students actually come to school. So if you look at 2025 for example, which is the year we are concluded enrollment of 16,388. We didn't
008build the budget for this year with the 16,388 average daily attendance. We based it on a little over 14,000 students in average daily attendance. So again, we've talked about the importance of our students of course coming to school to ensure that they can learn. But again, just reminding our board and community that our funding, our state funding is contingent upon the percentage of time that our students actually come to school. So at this time, I'll turn over the next few slides to Mrs. Hernandez, who will talk a little bit about uh new revenue and the general fund. At the conclusion of the 89th legislative session, additional money was infused into the public school system. This slide shows the estimated amount of new revenue that the district is anticipating as we were preparing this next year's
009budget. Um they did increase the basic allotment um by $55. It wasn't much. It's going It's estimated to be just over 766,000. But that again depends on what our ADA is because if our ADA is less than the number that was used for this number, then the allotment could be smaller. We also are going to receive a um an amount for classroom teachers, the retention allotment. And that's based off of the number of teachers that have three and four years of experience. We will receive $2500 for each of those years of experience. And then if the teacher has 5,000 I mean five years or more we receive $5,000 for those. And then there were other aotment increases. The support staff aotment um that was based off of ADA as well at $106 per ADA. And
010then um they increased the school safety allotment from $10 to $20 per ADA. and then um added up to $33,540 per campus. And then they did tweak the early education aotment. Um we we are anticipating an additional $933,500 for that. When they did this back in 2019 to pay for prek, they implemented an early education aotment. And I believe they've just tweaked that a little bit be because they didn't really fund it with your prek ADA because we're funded with half of the prek ADA. So if a a student goes to school a 100% of the time for a prek student, we receive funding on 50% of that. And if they're counted for half a day, then we get 25% of that. So this next slide is our general fund budget. We are projecting that
011our total revenue will be 1888,784,793. These are still estimates. I want to remind the board we have not received our certified value. So, the numbers that we've been using in our template to project what our revenue is going to be, um, we're basing those off of estimates that we were receiving from the Jefferson Central Appraisal District as well as, um, estimating what we are anticipating our revenue to be. Now, we are anticipating a slight decline in our student enrollment because that has been a trend. And so we're trending down as we have done in the past. And then our payroll costs may seem a little bit large to you as you look at it going from 133 million to 149 million. And that was because we're taking back control of the uh fell price Jones
012Clark and Smith middle schools. So we had to staff those. So these numbers reflect the cost of payroll because they are our employees now rather than the contracted service. And you'll notice the professional services went down from 27 just almost $28 million down to 14 million. That's because we are no longer making contracted payments. So those are two different relationships. So when we are control and there our employees the costs go into payroll and then when we contracted they went into professional services. Um we had a slight increase in supplies and materials and that's probably due to how people allocated funds when they received their budget allocations. More went into supplies and then the same as far as other operating expenses. Debt service remains the same. That's the amount that we pay for that bus
013lease when we bought the buses several years ago. And then our transfer out is for the amount when we pass the Vader that we're transferring to maintenance to take care of HVAC and roofing issues. Are there any questions? Okay, we'll move on to debt service. So, we are estimating the revenue to be 28,281,000. It is increased because we're anticipating that our values are going to increase based off of the estimates that we received from the appraisal district. And we're um the bond payments that are scheduled for this next year are $12,945,000 in principal and 8 mil $8,515 in interest. And then we also have budgeted 7,185 for defeasement of additional debt in our series 2016. It depends on what is most the most advantageous at that time when we're trying to refund um or defease
014those, not refund them, but defease them. And if you'll look, we included a slide because a lot of times you want to know, well, how long do we have to pay on these bonds? How long are we going to be levying that tax? And if you'll look at this slide, it's going to be till 2038. That's how long it we we those bonds were issued for 30 years at the time. So the payments that are scheduled, you'll see there's some that are 20 million, some are 21 million, some are 18 million. That's because each time that we defease the debt, they choose which ones will give us the best bang for our buck and save taxpayers the most money. So that's why the series are not kind of all the same because we have done
015refundings and we have done defeasements. So we as of at this time we owe $173,320,000 and that's down from the $388 million. So we have paid off more than $200 million since 2008 on those bonds that were issued. The next slide is our child nutrition fund. This fund is self- sustaining. The funds that are received here, we receive federal reimbursements for our breakfast and lunch and we feed all of our children free through the C program. We also have um maintenance costs that are budgeted because we have two maintenance employees that work on all of the HVAC equipment and the cafeteria equipment built in here. So it's not just food service, it's also those maintenance u individuals that are assigned here. This fund is going to um reflect a deficit budget. We are still under
016the spendown requirement from our audit from several years ago to spend the fund balance because we cannot have more than three months operating um expenditures on hand. You can't bank the federal government's money. So you're required to spend it. They have since changed it to five months. We can hold five months operating expenditures, but we are still subject to the three months from the period that that audit occurred. So, we've got 23 and 24 or or 22 and 23 that we are required to spend the 4,526,000. It takes a while to kind of spend that money building freezers, putting out bids, redoing cafeteria u lines and all. So um we we do have a spinown plan that was approved with TDA and so it just takes some time for us to do this. Any questions
017on that? So also included in our general fund budget are our one-time funds allocation. So, this this is a listing of how we have allocated. Of course, we're we've moved our Busley's payment to our one-time funds to get it out of the regular budget and this year and then the following year, 2526 and 2627, then that will be paid off. We've also allocated for a one-time stipen of up to $1,000 for employees. And then we have um budgeted for new buses. The buses that we bought several years ago are now out of warranty and require a lot of uh repairs. So, we want to begin a program to where we're adding to the budget each year to replace those over time instead of trying to buy them all at once where they all become old
018at the same time. So we'll have a constant new um set of buses and not having to spend as much on those. We've also allocated to our athletics maintenance projects and then our fine arts program 300,000 to athletics and fine arts 500,000. And the reason why fine arts is a little bit higher is because it is the year to replace the band uniforms at Westbrook. They have a year rotation on when those occur. And this year will be Westbrook's uh band uniforms. And then we have some staff and support initiatives and recruitment and strategic consulting. Any questions about those? Okay, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Allen to talk about compensation. So the largest portion of our budget or about 80% of our budget in our revenue is dedicated to employee compensation. So
019I wanted just to take a moment to highlight just for teacher uh compensation history for the past six years prior to the recommendation that we'll be making tonight for teacher compensation. So we've made consistent efforts even when we didn't have resources. As you can see, you know, we've been lean for many, many years. last year. You know, so appreciative of our community for supporting our district and approving that voter approval tax rate election which allowed us to really infuse additional resources into our our teachers and our employees. But back in 201920, I'm showing a snapshot of a base salary for a teacher who in 2019 she was a 23 or on step 23 in 2019. So this particular teacher in 2019 received a 7.4 increase which was about $4,300. We are listing the onetime stipen
020at that time was $500. The district continues to annually contribute $5,520 toward our employee health insurance which is actually more than what is required by the state. We contribute $460 per month per employee and the requirement is 220. So we continue to make that uh contribution to employees health insurance. So when you look at the total compensation for salary and benefits for this particular 23 on teacher on step 23 in 201920 was 63,720 total compensation package. So with an increase from the prior year of 7.4%. So as you progress through the additional years in 2021 we weren't able to give much. We gave a 1% increase in 22 we gave a 1.3% increase. So the teacher moved up to 588 a total compensation of 65,000. 2223 a 2% increase which brought this particular teacher to
02165,000. which we gave a one a little over one and a half% 67,000. And last year this current year that we're ending of 5.4 4% for this teacher for a total compensation package of $70,890. So this year what we are proposing for the 2526 recommendation of course we received the 3.6 million for the teacher retention aotment as Mrs. Hernandez already stated. So, because we are a school system with more than 5,000 students, our teachers who have been in a classroom with at least three years and less than five, so between three and five, will receive the minimum $2,500 increase. Our teachers with more than five years of experience will receive $5,000. And this includes our adjunct teachers who meet these two criteria of having been in the district teaching at least two to three years
022or five or more years. And it must be a part of the teacher salary schedule. We was required to we were required to develop a new teacher salary schedule. You know, I had a meeting uh at the end of the school year discussing with the teacher advisory council and really asked them how they would like to see, you know, if we had flexibility with how to how to distribute the funds to the teachers and they wanted a one-time, but the state required that we actually infuse it into the teacher salary schedule, which we'll show you in a moment. When we looked at new revenue, we received 3.6 for the teacher retention aotment. And then for the support staff a lotment we received a little over 500,000 I think 568,000 and this is the amount of
023resources that were given to school districts to support all other employees. So the 5,000 and the 2500 can only go to individuals who meet that criteria and who are teaching children. So, eligible staff, school counselors, librarians, school nurses, uh teachers, aids, our custodial food service, transportation, all other employees. The only resources that were provided by the state was the $568,000. So, what we are recommending for this year is we develop a new pay scale for classroom teachers. Now, this was recommended, of course, as I stated previously. We also develop a new pay scale for professional staff who are not included in the raise from the state. The state recommended, TEA recommended that we develop a new scale for professional staff because previously we had certain positions. We had our nurses, our counselors, and our librarians
024were included on the teacher step scale. So with this infusion of resources that the state says absolutely will not go to any employees other than classroom teachers, we were required to develop a new pay scale for professionals who were previously on a teacher scale, but now they're on a different scale. We increased the starting teacher salary to 55,500. And that is up from our previous starting year salary was 53500. So we increased the starting teacher salary $2,000. All eligible employees, all other employees will receive a po a 4% increase from their midpoint. So, we are excited and happy to be able to recommend a 4% raise to all employees at this time. And we want to continue to recommend a one-time stipen of up to $1,000 included for all eligible employees in this budget, as
025well as a continuation of the $460 per month for each employee for health insurance. So when you look at what we were able to do, we were working diligently on our budget prior to this legislation being passed which provided additional resources for school districts to provide to teachers. So we have been working not anticipating or expecting or knowing what we would receive from the state. So we worked and I've shared this publicly with the expectation that hey we may not receive any new revenue. So, we're still going to work to give our employees an increase whether or not we receive additional money from the state. So, we were able to we closed I think $2 million, Mr. Samuels, a little over $2 million worth of uh positions that were, you know, no longer leading or
026vacant positions. That's a part of our annual process and, you know, really streamlined additional costs. So, we were able to make this recommendation tonight. And what I want to highlight tonight is that Bulman ISD is asking I'm asking our board to approve for our three to four year teachers. The state is giving us 2500 but we're asking the board to give an additional 500 for a total of 3,000 for our teachers 5 to 19 years. The state is giving us 5,000. I'm asking the board to give an additional 500 for teachers in that bracket for 5500. And then for all of our teachers who are 20 or more years, I'm asking our board to approve an additional thousand dollar compensation for a total of $6,000. And then for our one to twoyear teachers, there was
027no mandate to increase at all, but we're asking the board to approve a 27750 increase for those teachers. So, we worked really hard and were able to provide a compensation package for all of our employees with a 4% increase, but also increase our teachers so that we can show, you know, we we we value and appreciate the work that our teachers do. You know, they are the front line. They are they are in the thick of working daily with our students and especially our teachers who have been in the district who have shown tremendous uh commitment to our students. We wanted to because we had the resources to do it to uh actually increase a little bit more than what was expected or required from the state. So, I don't know if you can read
028this, but Miss Hernandez, can you can you discuss this is the teacher salary scale for classroom teachers and the instructional professional support. This is the new uh plan. Yes. So, the one on the left is the new hiring guide for our classroom teachers. As Dr. Allen stated the um zeroyear experience will start at 55,500. These are for certified teachers. Now um we we increased from the previous year. You'll see there there's different increases because it depends on where they were and some of the steps reco they receive the same thing but depending on what you were the increase percentage is a little bit different because it's a formula and it goes all the way up to 31 years and there that their salary will be 71,970 if you have 31 years of experience. If you're
02920 years, you're going to be making $67,170. Now, the the right side is the new hire guide for instructional professional support. This will be anyone who was on paid off the teacher pay scale last year, but you're not a classroom teacher. So, the district does not receive the $5,000 or the 2500. So, this one received a 4% from the midpoint increase and it's still the starting pay would be 555. And then to to compare the 20-year 67170, the 20-year for the um instructional professional support, which would be a a librarian, a nurse, um instructional coaches, um our trainers are paid off of this scale, and then uh their 20 year is at 63,920 because we did not receive the funding for those. So, any questions about the compensation that we are recommending tonight? And I
030certainly want to thank our board for first of all supporting our efforts last year to give our employees a 5% increase. And then I'm I'm really excited that we're offering a 4% increase. We're talking about 9% increase in compensation to help make us more competitive and to help reward our employees who work so hard. So, I'm really excited about that and hope the board approves it tonight. Yes sir. Thank you. You probably said what I was going to say. Our district will be more competitive. Yes sir. Because uh they and librarians at all will come to our district. We that's what the board wants. So absolutely. And you know one of the things I mentioned you know we've never the board has never proved we've never brought a deficit budget. So when you think about
031the revenue that was given to school districts and the increase in the basic aotment of the $55, that was nothing. You know, we were truly asking for a significant increase in the basic aotment. So the fact that we've never given a or provided or had approved a deficit budget or brought a deficit budget that actually places us in a different position from districts who actually have deficit budgets. So, we're not we weren't depending on that increase in the basic aotment in order to make this recommendation for the 4% increase because districts with deficit budgets actually had to utilize any increase to try to fill that hole or that negative hole. So, we're we're not in that position uh thanks to the leadership of our board. So, I'm I'm excited that we can still recommend uh
032you know a nice raise to all of our employees. Okay. Um, one of the discussions that we have to talk about is our property values and um, that is a huge part of how much money the district is going to receive from the state because you have to use the the template to determine and one of the reasons why property values they they got changed back in 2019. We we went to current property values to figure how much money that we were going to receive for that year. But, you know, two years ago or three years ago, we got hit because we didn't get local values from the state. And so, we went all the way up to the top and sued the state. And we still didn't get our local values. And we were
033still short $6 million. So whenever we're projecting this, we are still hoping that we're going to receive our local values when our values are submitted by our appraisal district. That we have no control over what they say those values are. And then they submit it to the state and the state determines we have no control over what the state says that those values should be and that's how we're funded. And so this slide just shows you the historical 2024 where we were 12,932,479 12 billion did I say million? 12 bill932,479,36. Then last year our values went up to 13 million. We're showing just a slight increase because they sent this to us as our certified estimate in April, but it is still uh climbing. it's up to 15 million. Sometimes at those times they don't
034include everything. So that the the amount of money still that we receive um will be based off of the number of kids that we have and the ADA. So these numbers will change. Most likely we'll do an amendment in July to adjust our revenue. We anticipate our um appraised values from the appraisal district towards the end of July. it we may receive them prior to the July board meeting. If not, we'll make adjustments in August. Okay. Then also this is a slide just that shows you that property values have increased over the years and we are we don't we don't have 2526 because we didn't know really what it's going to be but we are anticipating an increase. And then this was the slide that we used in our Vader presentations and we really like
035it because it just shows you plainly that the board will be adopting two tax rates. We have two tax rates, the M tax rate and the INS tax rate. And those two buckets get added together to send out those property tax bills because taxpayers only see one tax rate when you get your bill in the mail. So we anticipate a decrease in the M rate. We will most likely hold the INS rate the same to be able to defease additional debt. We defeased in April the U$8 million and we save taxpayers over I believe it was five or six million dollars. So that's future. We have we have saved if you look at over the refundings and over the the um defeasements that we've done, we have saved taxpayers millions and millions of money because
036we're not having to levy that tax for in the future. And then um the next slide is showing our tax rate, our historical tax rate. And you can see that it has gone down because the state is doing compression on the tax rate because they they get a lot of flack because we're the largest tax entity because our tax rate is the highest. And we do anticipate that the $40,000 of additional exemption will pass because that's going to have to go to the voters as well as the additional $50,000 that they're giving to over 65 um individuals and disabilities. So those numbers most likely that you'll see that for the 2526 our tax rate will decrease. Are there any questions? Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, Miss Hernandez, and this first I want to focus our
037attention, I guess, back to priority. I guess we can call it number three. And and Lord knows this is not to put you on the spot. It's just since we talked last, I just kind of been doing some research and I have a series of questions and I'll tell you why I'm asking these questions. primarily because of the the work I do outside of being a school board trustee. Um I'm concerned about our youth and I'm concerned about safety. Um because of the nature of the offense is that our young people continue to commit and the egregious nature of them. And my concern is that that could possibly spill over into some of our campuses. And Lord knows I'm not praying for that. I'm praying against that. But when we look at the increase in
038the safety aotment and I look at like SB 260 which talks about extra money and then we talk about the old bill that had the money I think set aside for school marshals but it didn't really give us money to really make that happen and I don't think well I I'll stop on that but you know is there a strategic plan to to fortify our campuses and make sure that we're preventative in in our approach and that we remain vigilant to make sure that the gun violence to to be frank doesn't spill over onto our campuses because it's it's a sad reality, but we're faced with a different set of circumstances right now with our with our youth. So, are we doing everything that we can and is there a plan in place to reallocate
039or allocate more funding to fortify campuses, train especially those individuals who aren't really police officers or peace officers, but they may carry a weapon? And a part of me also feels this way because I'm closer to someone in law enforcement now. But, you know, are we doing what we need to do? And I'm sure we are, but just, you know, can you speak to that? So we we have increased our our safety budget considerably over the last three years. We increased compensation because we had a hard time competing with the cities and I mean chief can probably speak to this better than me of of hiring officers and and he's fully staffed and with the passage of this budget we did allocate the the safety and security aotment money to the safety and security because
040we are ch we are um reurposing public safety offers in public safety officers into armed armed security guards. So, every elementary campus will have an armed security guard. And we've added um e even with the closure of the king and the Lucas, those uh officers were allocated to where we didn't have them at Brown and at um Career Center. So every campus will have uh someone who is so will be compliant with the law of having the armed security personnel at every campus and and we also have applied for the safety and security cycle one grants and and chief was able to purchase some things with that. He was also able to purchase some with the cycle too and he added additional person to help with his program and um chief am I forgetting anything
041because No ma'am you're you're you're pretty much covering everything that we were required to do uh regarding the HB3 expansion. Um and so we're pretty much there with the second phase that we've just completed this past uh this past year in terms of onboarding the additional level three security personnel uh that are certified from the state. So uh you're you're you're there. Okay. Okay. Guess my next question may be for Dr. Allen and of course something for the board to make maybe consider. So, I know that other law enforcement agencies like BPD and it could be a funding thing that we we just may not be there yet, but they sponsor officers and they kind of pay them based on the fact that if we pay for your training, then you'll come back and give
042us a year or two of service. Is that something that we do or can we consider doing it or maybe take a closer look? So, we've done that actually. Chief can speak to uh we've sponsored I don't know the exact number but chief can speak to it. We sponsored uh public safety officers. We actually have one who's been hired, you know, within the department, but Chief can speak more to it. Yes. Uh that is correct, Dr. Allen. Uh we have uh sponsored uh roughly two of our employees that have gone through the police academy and that's pretty much what uh the area is now doing. Whether it's uh Bowmont PD, Port Arthur PD, uh Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, who no longer has their uh police uh academy. So everybody's now shifting to the local uh
043Lamar Police Academy. However, what every district or every agency is doing now, of course, they are sponsoring their representatives. Uh and as we already know that Bumont PD have on boarded roughly nine to 10 officers. Port Arthur PD had like around six or seven. Uh Jefferson County also. So, at present, we're looking as we continue to move forward with the HB3 expansion to hopefully be able to sponsor some of our own uh to be able to attend the next or if not the next uh future academy uh so we can continue to enhance what we presently have. Yes, sir. Anyone else have a question? I have a statement. You know, while you were talking, I looked up the word defeasement. Y'all understand what she's doing with our money? She's saving us tax dollars every time
044she makes a payment towards the balance on our account. And over since I've been on the board, she have saved us millions of dollars of your taxpayer dollars. And for that, I say thank you. So tonight during the action items, the board will be asked to approve the general fund, the debt service fund, and the child nutrition fund. I appreciate you and like Dr. Allen coming in on a new board and on a new person on the board and having a balanced budget. Thank you. That's a that's a big undertaking. That's very good. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Nand. We we'll now go into our Can I have go I'm sorry. Go ahead. I had not seen the completed U budget until now. And this is the thing that I complain
045about every year. If my memory is correct, last year our instructional budget was 51% of our budget. This year it's 49.7. Why are we going down in instruction when it's the single purpose of our existence? So last year when we were making those payments for uh contracted services to third future schools, we contracted in function 11 instruction. And so when we're staffing a campus, TEA requires us to if it's a principal, we're going to charge to function 23. If it's a librarian, they're going to function 12. So, we break out all the functions. But when we were contracting, we just contracted for instruction. So, that's why there's a decrease. We have other things in our budget that other districts don't have, like our one-time money. you add $7 million into your expenditures and those are
046not typically in instruction because we're using them for um maintenance projects, athletics, fine arts and those are typically 36 functions. So sometimes our numbers are skewed because we have all this extra that other districts don't have. I find it hard to believe that other districts don't have those same kind of expenses. We have a school district that is not doing well and we present a budget where less than half of our money is going to instruction. I don't care how you you do it. I've done funds too. I'm not happy when we fall below 50%. I'm not happy when it's at 50%, but I am certainly not happy when it falls below 50%. I also want us to in response to what Miss Sigman is sharing, I think we need to look at to just
047really verify how we code expenses. And I think that may be some of the difference that we see when you look at the percentage that we spend on instruction. I think that's something that we need to take a that we need to take a look at and we'll look at it closer. We will. Thank you, Miss Hernandez. You please stand. Right now, we're going into our regular board meeting. We're going to recite the pledge of allegiance to the US flag as well to the Texas flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Texas flag. Thank you. We'll turn it over to Miss Simeon at this time for some recognition. Good evening, President Sige,
048board trustees, Dr. Allen, and audience members. The Bumont Independent School District is proud to recognize and express our heartfelt appreciation to the Honorable Judge Naomi Showers Doyle, Justice of the Peace for Precinct One Place One. Judge Doyle has been a steadfast partner in education and civic engagement, generously dedicating her time, expertise, and mentorship to the students of BISD through the judicial academy internship and mentorship program. Her commitment to educating and empowering our youth has provided students with invaluable firsthand experiences in the justice system, equipping them with knowledge, confidence, and a deeper understanding of the role they can play in shaping a just and equitable society. Through her guidance, our students are not only learning about the law, they are being inspired to lead with integrity, pursue careers in public service, and become informed, engaged citizens.
049Judge Doyle, thank you for your unwavering support, and for being a beacon of leadership and opportunity for the future leaders of Bumont ISD. Please join me in recognizing the Honorable Judge Naomi Showers Doyle. Okay. Well, good evening ladies and gentlemen, the fine board and um our superintendent. Thank you all for the opportunity to partner with you and to help our students pursue any type of future plans outside of high school. I'm just glad to have been a product of BISD and be able to give back in this way. So, thank you all for the recognition. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] Civil discourse and difficult decisions is a powerful national initiative led by the federal courts. Its mission is to bring high school, college, and law school students into real federal courouses to participate in legal proceedings
050rooted in realworld situations that young people may face. But this isn't a mock trial. In these courtroom experiences, students take on meaningful roles serving as attorney advocates who present arguments and as jurors who listen, deliberate, and reach decisions. In some sessions, judges even invite students to sit alongside them on the bench and question the student attorneys directly. Each case centers on a fictional but very relatable scenario built around an actual Supreme Court decision. This spring, our students explored timely and relevant First Amendment issues, including freedom of speech on social media and the right to protest. Through this program, students gain a deeper understanding of the law, the role of the courts, and most importantly, the power of civil discourse in a democratic society. Through our partnership this past year with lawyers from the Michelle F.
051a happy ends of the courts and the US federal court. More than 150 high school juniors and seniors from our three high schools were able to participate in this valuable program in the fall and spring semesters. Thank you to the following judges and attorneys for giving their time and talent to our students. Judge Christine Stson, United States Magistrate, Eastern District. Judge Marsha Cone, United States District Judge, Eastern District, Tina Bradley, Patricia Shamblin, Tanner Tanner Franklin, Thaad Hartfield, Maryanne Lane, Naen Ona, Michelle Smith, and Courtland Spots. Speaking on behalf of the group tonight is attorney Mark Sparks. [Applause] Dr. Allen, members of the board, grateful to be here again. Uh, as you know, we started this program, I think last year. I want to also recognize I don't know why I'm not on the list up
052there, but I should be on the list. I want to also recognize, it's about the kids, though, right? It's about the kids. I want to recognize Courtland Spots and Marian Lane who are here to accept the recognition with me. And I also would like to say that without the organic support of this board and frankly Miss uh Lam Masters and uh Miss Angelo here supporting us that this would not have gotten off the ground. We've now done four sessions with about 150 students. I've really enjoyed it. Uh we we started this we were at an end of court meeting. In of court is like a local thing for lawyers to go at night to learn a little bit more about being a better lawyer. and a group of us and particularly me. I'm a little
053tired of seeing some of the uh uh so-called leaders that we have with uh all caps and inappropriate texts and comments and we wanted to make sure that there would be civil discourse amongst the students and it's been very rewarding to watch them engage each other with dignity and respect and to participate uh freely and voluntarily and I think happily in the program. And we've gotten some really good feedback. At least that's that's what I'm getting. Maybe they're not telling me all the bad feedback, but we are so grateful to have this opportunity, Dr. Allen, and members of the board with the BISD students. I live just down the street. I was born and raised in Bowmont. I'm grateful to be a part of this. So, on behalf of uh the judges, the federal judges,
054Judge Stson and Judge Cone, as well as the attorneys of the end of court, we are grateful for this recognition. Thank you. [Applause] Yeah, you stand in the middle and we're gonna take a photo. You can't run off just yet. Okay, everyone looking at me? Perfect. One, two, three. Thank you. [Applause] The Bumont Independent School District is proud to recognize the Bumont United Dividend Divas and Junior Achievement of the Golden Triangle Bumont for their excellence and inspiring representation of Bumont United High School at the future bound by Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge. Competing against student teams from across the region, the Dividend Divas showcase not only financial acumen, teamwork, and strategic thinking, but also the poise, determination, and leadership that define the very best of BISD. Their remarkable performance reflects the power of academic engagement
055and real world learning opportunities. We also extend our sincere gratitude to Junior Achievement of the Golden Triangle Bumont for their continued commitment to preparing young people for success. Through programs like the stock market challenge, they are equipping our students with critical financial literacy skills, entrepreneurial mindsets, and the confidence to navigate the world of business and beyond. To the dividend divas, thank you for making us proud. and to junior achievement. Thank you for investing in the futures of BISD students. Please join us in celebrating this exceptional part partnership. And speaking on behalf of Junior Achievement tonight is Jennifer WAC. [Applause] I don't know how you follow that voice, but I'll try. Thank you'all so much for having us here tonight and for trusting us with not only our fabulous dividend divas, but all of the students
056that you entrust with our services every year. And if you're not familiar with what Junior Achievement does, we are one of the longest existing nonprofits, not just in the country, but in the world. And we focus on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workforce readiness. And we try to keep that um at minimal cost to schools as we can. almost every single thing that we do is free um with the exception of one program that has grants available because let's face it, you're you're approving a budget tonight. You know, if we can help offset that, that's our goal because the students deserve it. So, overall, just in this past school year, not just with this program, but all of the ones we offer, we were able to service over 3,700 of your students. So, thank you so
057much for doing that for us. And these girls, I wish they could be here. Oh my gosh, they're phenomenal. They were so determined and passionate and mature. And their teacher, Mrs. Carr, is like top-notch. If I ever have an idea, I'm like, "Okay, let me see who can participate." Miss Carr, what's a good date for you? And I check with Miss Angelo and she backs it up. And we are all always committed to everything that we offer. And we're so grateful for that. And in breaking news, and I will leave it at this, not only were they 13th in the the nation in the stock market challenge, we found out today that they were second in the state of Texas. So, I'm so proud of them and thank you for um for being able to
058bring them to Atlanta to go to Georgia State University to participate in this and we hope to do it again. Everyone looking at me. Thank you. [Applause] And all of our dividend divas are hard at work tonight, so that's why they couldn't be with us, but we will be sure to have them at a future board meeting really soon. Bowmont ISD is honored to recognize Kayla Renee Spell, an exceptional educator at Roy Guest Elementary School for her inspiring journey to full teacher certification through BISD's responsive academy to certify educators brace program, formerly known as grow our own. Miss Spell's path is a powerful testament to the district's commitment to cultivating talent from within and investing in individuals who are deeply connected to our students and community. Through the Brace program, Miss Bell has demonstrated resilience,
059dedication, and an unwavering belief in the power of education, not only for her students, but in her own professional growth. Today, as a certified teacher, she stands as a shining example of what is possible when opportunity meets determination. Her success reflects the very heart of what BISD strives for, developing passionate educators who are prepared and empowered to make a lasting difference. Miss Spell, we celebrate your accomplishment, your commitment, and your bright future as a leader in the classroom. Please join me in congratulating Miss Kayla Renee Spell on this important milestone and in thanking her for her continued service to our students and schools. [Applause] Good evening. Thank you BISD board. Um thank you Dr. Allen. Thank you President Sige. Um, I want to say this was not easy, but I am very, very proud of
060myself. I want to thank my principal, Dr. um, Easley, and I would like for her to come up and accept this recognition with me. She has prayed with me. She prayed over me. It was very difficult. I also want to thank uh, Miss Arion Moore. I know she's in attendance. And last but not least, I would like to thank Miss Denise uh, Spooner. She was a very great uh part of my classroom community. She was our class. She was a class grandma. Mimi, thank you for everything. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Bumont ISD is proud to introduce a special new recognition, the A+ Angle Award, a distinction created to honor members of the media who go above and beyond in their coverage of public education. This award marks the reintroduction of what was once
061known as the School Bell Award, a tradition in BISD's history that celebrated excellence in education journalism. Now revived as the A+ angle award, it continues that legacy by shining a light on those who consistently portray our students, staff, and schools with integrity, fairness, and care. Our inaugural recipient is someone who exemplifies the true spirit of community journalism. With a sharp eye for impactful storytelling and a compassionate lens that centers the people behind the headlines, this journalist has become a trusted presence across our campuses and events. Through consistent and positive coverage, this individual helps amplify the voices of our district, often capturing moments of joy, resilience, and achievement that might otherwise go unseen. It is our great honor to present and surprise the first ever A+ angle award to Kim Brent of the Bumont Enterprise. [Applause]
062Please join us in celebrating Miss Brent for her unwavering support of public education and her powerful storytelling. [Applause] It was so funny watching her all night scrambling to uh get a story. She thought she was here to get a story. I told her boss to just make up something to make sure she was here and she was told there were going to be protesters outside and stuff. So, it was really funny watching her wait for that to happen. Congratulations. Well, I'm I was literally like, "Tell me I'm not getting punked right now." And I am. I thought I saw Bianca back there, and I was like, "Why is Bianca here anywhere?" So, you were trying to hide from me, but I saw you. Um, wow. I'm just so incredibly honored. I like I don't even
063know what to say, but thank you so much. Everybody's in front of the lens now. looking right here. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] Oh, this has been such a fun night. Finally, tonight, Bumont ISD proudly shines a spotlight on an extraordinary leader whose vision, resilience, and relentless commitment to student success continue to move our district forward. In recognition of her transformative guidance and dedication to equity and innovation, Dr. Shannon Allen has been named the Texas Association of School Boards 2025 Region 5 Superintendent of the Year. [Applause] This prestigious honor celebrates Dr. Allen's ability to lead with strength and compassion, especially during some of the most challenging times in education. From navigating the unprecedented impact of the CO 19 pandemic to addressing persistent staffing challenges, Dr. Allen has remained focused on what matters most, our students. Her
064strategic initiatives, including the brace program, equip and elevate pathways, and the district-wide placement of behavior interventionalists and wellness coordinators are redefining how we support the whole child both academically and emotionally. Under her command, Bowmont ISD is not just adapting. We are evolving. We are becoming a stronger, more student centered district that continues to draw recognition from across the region. In fact, this marks the second major regional honor for BISD this year with the recent announcement that Paul Goble was named the 202526 region 5 assistant principal of the year. [Applause] Please join us in congratulating and celebrating Dr. Shannon Allen, our region 5 superintendent of the year and a true champion for every student every day in BISD. [Applause] One, two, three. Thank you. Before [Applause] before we conclude recognitions, I certainly want to express my
065sincere appreciation to our school board. You know, you can't receive a recognition like superintendent of the year without a phenomenal group of bosses to really lead, guide, and support the work that we do. So, I want to tell you, thank you so much for your support and your leadership. And also, you know, to my team, the entire Bulmont ISD team, to my executive leadership team, to all of our leaders on our campuses, you all are the ones who are executing the vision. You all are the ones who are actually going in and doing the work. And I truly appreciate everything that you all do for our kids. So, thank you. [Applause] We remind parents to complete online registration for their children by visiting bmtisd.com/registration to ensure a smooth and stressfree first day of school for
066everyone. And our summer Monday through Friday office hours continue, or I should say Monday through Thursday office hours continue through Friday, July 11th, with offices and campuses closed on Fridays until then until July 11th. And please hold the applause. We will be closed this Friday, June 27th through Friday, July 4th. Get information on this and other events in BMT ISD by visiting our social media platforms, our website, subscribing to our YouTube channel, and exploring our website bmtisd.com. Thank you, Miss Simeon. [Applause] We will now hear the superintendent cabinet report. Good evening again, Mr. President, to our Bulmont ISD community. We always begin with our vision and mission statement, but since we've already shared those during the budget hearing, this tonight's presentation uh focuses on two of our six core beliefs. All children can and will
067learn and all school and work environments will be safe, secure, and supportive. Tonight's presentation will focus on HB6 updates as well as all things new for BISD for the 2526 school year. If you recall last I think October, I did a superintendent report and shared that Bowman ISD along with 29 other districts formed what is called the student behavior management coalition. And the purpose of the coalition was to ensure that ahead of the 89th legislative session, we joined together to really and truly discuss legislation that directly impacts student behavior in our classrooms. We were very intentional where we methodically review current policy and what revisions need to be made ahead of the legislative session so that we could actually get laws changed that impact student safety, teacher teacher uh safety as well as you know
068make our classrooms more safe. So I'd like to report some of the findings in the form of HB6 which passed during this last legislative session. So one of the things and I'm just going to highlight you know uh the key points from some of the legislation that changed as a result of the work of the coalition and one of the things that changed was in school suspension limitation. So previously in schools was suspension was limited due to an issue or technicality in interpretation. So you can only suspend a student for three days. So based on the work of HB6 that was clarified so that there is no longer a time limit on the use of inschool suspensions. However, every 10 days there must be a review so that students the principal or the leadership on
069that campus must review that student's placement every 10 days after the after the date of the suspension to evaluate the progress of the student and to determine if that continued in school suspension is warranted. So it also assures that students continue to receive behavior and educational support. So one of the things that was changed was no limit on in school suspension days. A second issue that was changed was repeated classroom disruption. So when you look at feedback from teachers uh student misconduct is one of the most cited reasons that teachers are actually leaving the profession. you know, students engage in significant misbehavior for prolonged periods of times which makes it difficult for teachers to actually execute the work. So, one of the things that HB6 did was it allowed suspension for students of any age.
070As you know, previously you cannot suspend students of certain grade levels. You couldn't suspend preK, kindergarten, first grade, second grade students. or HB6 allows for suspension of students in any grade level who routinely engage in repeated or significant disruption in the classroom or who threaten the immediate health and safety of other students. However, an administrator must at their discretion reassign a student into out of school suspension to inschool suspension if the parents can show and justify that they do not have care for that student or that they cannot supervise that student if the out of school suspension was assigned. So, this law changed so students can be suspended out of school in any grade level for repeated misconduct. So, serious misconduct anywhere. So now, previously under chapter 37, uh the current the current mandates included
071expulsion for serious offenses, unlawful carrying of weapons, aggravated assault, sexual assault, arson, murder, indecency, aggravated kidnapping, and other things, you would be uh mandated for exportion. However, despite the severity of the offenses to be a mandatory extortion, the offense must have occurred on school property while attending a school sponsored or school related event. So now HB6 allows for mandatory expulsion for all of these serious offenses whether or not they occur on school grounds, whether or not it's at a school sponsored event or at a related school related activity. So if things are happening, if students are committing crimes outside of school, now it's a mandatory exportion. So HB6 also allowed for the a virtual assignment of a JJ AAP as an alternative if JJ A, which is juvenile justice alternative education program is unavailable. So
072you must meet the DAP standards where uh practical and requires technology access and professional development for teachers. So this is especially for smaller communities that don't have access to a JJ AE or in the event that the JJ AE uh does not accept a student. So that is also it is now an option but the placement must be reviewed every 45 days. So ecigarette discipline DAE is no longer mandatory. During the previous legislative session, any student with the ecigar ecigarette was mandated to uh alternative school to DAP. So that has been removed. It allows for permissive placement of students at the district's discretion. So the first offense requires a minimum of 10 days in ISS. So no longer required to go to DAP, but a 10-day minimum stay in ISS. Sale or delivery is still
073mandated as a DAP U assignment. So, district of innovation exemption removed. All districts must now comply with chapter 37. When you go back to the previous ecigarette uh legislative change, we were able to previously as a district of innovation exempt ourselves from because that's what district of innovation were allowed to do, exempt ourselves from certain parts of u the law. So, we exempted so we were already doing this. So now you are no longer you no longer have the option to utilize district of innovation as an exemption to uh that that exemption is removed. So, parental involvement in discipline. HB6 adds that a school district may develop a policy that would allow parents of students placed in DAP to develop in conjunction with the district a behavior agreement that outlines parents responsibilities in conjunction with
074student behavior at school. If the parents comply with the terms of the agreement, then the district may reduce disciplinary assignments for that student. and discipline for students with disabilities. No longer will it be required for an art to be conducted for even a student with disabilities if they engage in bullying, harassment, hit list, or unless it's a change of placement. The teacher authority to remove students uh from class has broadened the authority for removal. Students cannot return without consent or a plan. And so the student may not return without the teacher's consent or until a return to class plan has been prepared for that student. The principal may only designate an employee of the school whose primary duties do not include classroom instruction to create a return to class plan and tea penalties prohibited. TEA
075cannot penalize districts for chapter 37 non-compliance. So this is these are several of the things that were actually changed as a result of the work that we did with the student behavior coalition. Any questions on this portion? Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And I'm I'm so glad Judge Doyle is still here to hear this part of your presentation because she's been on the front line so much when it comes to helping us try to combat some some of our behavioral issu issues and non-compliance with parents. So my question is on the expulsion for offenses committed outside of school grounds or not on campus or not in an activity. Can you if appropriate of course can you walk us through what that process looks like? I know that legally the police department has to notify
076you when students are arrested. Is that on all Yes. when they create when they when they exhibit certain type of behaviors. There's a code for it and Mr. Maxwell or Dr. Valdez can tell me what the code or chief can tell me what the code is, but we are alerted. So now, you know, we just would receive that notification and it was discretionary on whether or not you could send that student to uh DAE. Well, now it is mandatory. So that makes a significant difference. So once we're alerted, I think Mr. Maxwell or Chief, can you can you give us uh the process a little bit on the alerts or Mr. Maxwell to explain the process. The one chief and I both know it. Um, what happens is it it may be the county that
077alerts us if there is an offense. It may be a neighboring county. It could be the Bowmont Police Department. But the agency alerts the school district via letter that ex student has committed an offense, names the student, names what the offense is, and then that is called a 1527. And then we act according to that. So once we receive the 1527 now of course we have additional leverage that we can actually execute and implement now instead of just it being oh we know this happened now we can actually implement removing that student from that learning environment. Does juvenile probation play a role in that at all? Is there any reporting or any anything that they need to do on their end to make sure that we are identifying those students and then of course moving
078them to a JJ AP? And the reason why I ask is not so much for punitive reason because sometimes the wraparound services that can be provided at the JJ A may be better for the student, but I just want to make sure that everyone's on the same same page and that the communication lines are clear. So, if it's something that juvenile probation needs to do, I'm more than happy to to work with them to make sure that we're all on the same page and hitting on the same cylinder so that things don't fall through cracks because I know in the past they kind of have a little bit. So, this is this is very new, Mr. Evans. So, all of the guidelines and regulations on how to execute and implement have not come out. I
079wanted you all to see a preview of what is going to come out. So, we'll receive more guidance on how to actually implement and execute. But the local things, we have control over the local communication and the local pieces. So where the gaps exist, we probably need to all sit down as this comes out and we start implementing because it probably doesn't begin until September. I don't even know when this actually begins. I'm assuming it's September one, but between now and then, making certain that all the parties are seated together and actually discussing to make certain that this doesn't fall through the cracks. Yes, sir. And Dr. Allen. Yes, Miss Hick. Dr. Dr. Alan, is there a way to speed up the process from the time we get that notification to the time we actually
080have a child reassigned? Now, we've had to we do letters and then we have assign they have to accept the letter and then you have to have a conference and it takes it can sometimes takes a little bit. It can take time. It depends on if they change any of the the expectations and regulations for how you actually place a student in JJ. I would imagine that they're not going to change that. I mean, I would imagine that. But if if they change the regulations or the guidelines or the laws regarding how to place them, then absolutely we could speed it up. But you still have to follow those protocols with, you know, giving them the opportunity for the hearing. You have to follow the steps. I think Chief, did you have something that you
081wanted to add? Well, I was going to say um to Mr. Evans uh uh question. Uh we do collaborate uh with uh the juvenile detention center with Chief Cochro as well as uh the DA's office uh with Mr. Nelson uh as it relates to those students students who are engaged in those criminal activities and uh they do cons uh collaborate in terms of uh services that student may need uh that are appropriate as it relates to uh the incident. So it's not always punitive. I think they do take an approach that it addresses some of the emotional uh matters that pose a problem as well. Good questions. So the second part of my presentation uh centers around things that are going to be new in BISD in the 2526 school year. We're going to be
082sharing this graphic, which we've already parcled out several pieces of this of this uh graphic, but we're going to push it out, you know, throughout the rest of the summer so that parents can be aware of things that are new. And of course, we want to make certain that students have a great first day of school and a smooth transition by making certain that students are actually registered for the 2526 school year. As of I think this was 624. Today we have 5,283 students registered for for the 2526 school year. So we are partnering with several organizations who are supporting us through their backpack giveaways and school supply drives to ensure that students before they receive these supplies that they are actually registered for school. We have a collaboration with Makeids Meet on July 19th.
083will be at uh Marshall Middle School giving away backpacks. Uh Legacy backpack giveaway is coming up next month. We've met uh with the uh organizers of Weasel and Friends, 100 Black Women Coalition, the city of Bowmont, uh Gift of Grace, and the Swing Out Club. We've met with all of these organizations. I think with the exception of one, all the others have committed to ensuring that they promote and support students actually getting registered, parents completing the registration process prior to them receiving the backpack. So again, we are encouraging parents to make certain that they take care of getting their students registered. You can go to our website. You can go online. You need if you need registration support. I know we have availability. I think uh this week or our is our last week of
084on-site uh registration support, but we will have events. We'll have registration support at each one of these events coming up next month and of course leading up into the first day of school. So, one thing, make certain you're registered. Next year we want to make certain that uh we have uh in to a safe on time start we have new online transportation registration. So parents if students are planning to participate in transportation if they meet the criteria for a bus they need to make you need to make certain that they register online. So they must complete the new online registration process. We've updated a few pieces of the dress code. We'll be pushing that those pieces out in our uh back to school school zone. There will be uh a new uh one ID streamline
085services process. So students will have one ID to ride the bus, to receive their meals, to actually uh check out books, to identify them at school. So it will be a streamlined process with one ID for students. And then of course we pushed out the new school start times. We're moving to a two tier system. So school start times are changing. that information has already been pushed out, but we'll continue to push it out throughout the course of the summer so that all of our parents and families know. We're moving to a elementary tier and a secondary tier. So, school times are changing. And then, of course, in Bulmont ISD, we will be phone free in BISD. We are deep into implementation and execution for the fall of the yonder pouches. So, students will not
086have access to their cell phones. They will be tucked into the yonder pouches from the beginning of the day until the end of the day with the expectation and anticipation of, you know, students being more engaged and focused in the learning environment. And then class dojo, we uh we're going to be a class dojo district for consistent communication and stronger partnerships and two-way communication with our families. And then the last uh one of the last things, there are other things, but the last is the Raptor system. we streamline volunteer access for actually checking in to our facilities. So, these are a few things that are new that we're going to be sharing with our families over the course of the next several months. And then I'd like to recognize we have several new campus principles
087that I'd like to recognize. Ask them to come up briefly. Where is Miss Victoria Landry? Come on down, Miss Landry. Miss Landry is going to be the principal at Jones Clark. [Applause] Next, we have Miss Yolanda Valerie. She's going to be the principal at Fail Price Elementary. Next, we have Miss Ronita Pickkins. She's going to be the principal at Smith Middle School. Next, we have Miss Caroline Nikica Adams, but I think she may be at training. She's at training, but she's going to be the co-principal at Peach PreK through 8 Learning Center, responsible for sixth through 8th grade. And we have our lone gentleman, Mr. Paul Goble, principal at Vincent Middle School. So, we are really excited to have these new leaders in our district. We are excited about the work that they're going to
088do. They have all been dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly in Bulmont ISD. They have done great work over the course of the years. That's why they're being promoted. So, we are excited and happy and glad to welcome them to the leadership team in Bowmont. All right. [Applause] So, I'd like to make another announcement. Uh we have a one of our team members is is leaving the nest. Mr. Allan Deva is leaving the nest. Allan has been with us I think Allan for what four years as our director of maintenance and operations and he has done a phenomenal phenomenal job. You know he is he is going on to bigger and better things but we are so grateful for the work that he has done. You know, he is truly valued as a team member
089at Bulmont ISD, and we sure hate to see him leave. But in his place, I'm excited to announce that Mark Mlelen, Stand up, Mark. Stand up. Stand up. Mark has been with the district for over 30 years, and he has taken on the reigns of being the director of maintenance and operations. So, uh, Allan, you're leaving us in good hands. And so that's the only reason I'm letting you go, just so you know, is because we're going to be in really good hands. All right. And last but not least, I want to recognize, and I don't want to cry. I really don't want to cry because I'm not going to look at her. I'm just going to look ahead. But I really and truly want to recognize Dr. Anita Frank for stepping up to the
090leadership seat and sitting in my seat and her seat during a very difficult time for me. and to know that you have team members, Dr. Frank leading the team in my place and all of our team members who continue the work of the district at a very challenging time for me. I just wanted to publicly thank her and tell her how much I really and truly appreciate everything that she did. And I know, you know, she she's she's she's quiet. She's grace under fire, though. You know, if if if things are coming, she's going to be professional. She's going to get the work done. She's going to make certain that everything continues to happen. And I just want to tell you, thank you so much for your work and your dedication to Bulmont ISD. And
091people can't, you know, you can't tell me things about people because you know people, you work with people for years and you really know their character and their heart. And her heart is genuine and real. And I just want to tell her thank you. And again, thank you to my entire team who really and truly stepped up. You know, I didn't expect anything less. I will tell you, it's not that I expected anything less. I didn't expect people not to do their work. I didn't expect people not to do what it is that you're being paid to do, but to continue with the intensity and to go above and beyond speaks volumes of how you feel about our kids in our district. So again, thank you, Dr. Allen. This may be out of protocol. Yes,
092sir. But could we recognize one more employee that's leaving us? Who's leaving? Oh my goodness. Miss Knees at Where's Miss Nat? Is Miss Nad, stand up, Miss Knees. Okay, Miss Nisad is phenomenal. She's phenomenal. And let me tell you something, Miss Nisak, you need to blame Mr. Maxwell for me not remembering because I specifically asked Mr. Maxwell for you to remind me. I said, "Please remind me." I'm reminding you right now, Doc. He's reminding me right now. So, Miss Nisad, Miss Nisak came to us during co and when I tell you she has been, you know, a phenomenal team member just like Allan just really came into the role and work and took care of business and, you know, when you have those leaders who you don't have to worry about what they're doing because
093they take they take care of business, you know, she's been one of those leaders. So, we hate to see her leave. But, I think we have a new team member who's taking her place and that's Mr. Chris O'Brien. So we welcome Chris O'Brien taking in in that role. Okay. So now my presentation is concluded. And up is M. Morning. All right. Good evening to everyone. Let me start off by saying Dr. Allen do anything for you. Mentor, you have mentored me and I appreciate you and you've taught me well. So, Uh tonight's school board outcome goals progress monitoring report will provide the end of the year data for our preK through fifth grade students in circle MC class and NWA map before you see the board outcome goals and our target is this year 2025.
094So we will actually see for board outcome goal one and two if we have met our targets for our performance objectives and also for the uh board outcome goal itself. So uh board outcome goal one the percent of third grade students that score meets grade level or above on star reading will increase from 16% to 55% by June 2025. And board outcome goal two, the percent of third grade students that score meets grade level or above onstar math will increase from 11% to 50% by June 2025. And again, sources of data, CLI engaged for preK in both reading and math. And then M-class assessments for reading for K through five and NW NWEA MAP for K5. So we'll start with preK. You are going to see data from beginning of the year, middle of the
095year, and end of the year on each slide. You will also see comparisons of either an increase or decrease in tier one from BOI to MOI. What you see at the top is showing you if we have met the target for this year. If we did not meet the target, it still outlines if we increased or if we decreased. So when I look at preK from beginning of the year to end of the year, 54% of our students were at tier 1. We ended with 78% of our students in tier 1. We did not meet our target, but we did increase by 24 points. PreK this year was a it it was a little shocker and then talking to principles because normally with preK we meet our targets. We have noticed that in preK we
096are getting in more students which we're we're glad to get them in for the early start but they are coming in with more challenges. For kindergarten at the beginning of the year 37% of our students were uh scored in tier one. At the end of the year, 61% of our students, again, that is a 24 point gain. And we did exceed our target here. In first grade, beginning of the year, 40% in tier one, end of the year, 59%. So again, we did exceed our target of 55%. For second grade, beginning of the year, 40% in tier 1, end of the year, 54%. We did not meet our target here. We were shy by one point, but we did see an increase. For our third grade students, 42% began the year at tier 1, 49%
097at end of the year. Our goal was to hit 50%. We did not hit that goal, but we did see an increase of seven points for fourth grade and fifth grade. You do not see a goal or a target at the bottom because the uh performance objectives go through really third grade, but we always like to see how our kids are progressing. So when you look at fourth grade, we did have an increase of seven points. So 39% to 46%. We can see that from middle of the year and end of the year we did not see the gains that we wanted to see but we did we were able to maintain uh and in that increase from BOI to MOI in fifth grade 42% of our students began the year at tier 1 and
098we ended with 50% we did see gains in meeting with principles one thing that I did celebrate them Four is that we saw gains across the board for in-class. This is I want to say the first year where we saw everything light up green. So that tells us that even though we did not hit some of our targets, what we are doing is working and I'm excited about that going into uh this new school year. Even at third, fourth, and fifth where it is hard to close those gaps, we saw gains and kids moving into tier one. Moving into tier one means that they are becoming readers. Any questions before I go into the math data? I know your your star scores are very preliminary at this point, but how close did we come to
099meeting our goal? Just because I know you've looked at it. Yes. And and we're actually going to I'm going to show you board outcome goals at the end and where we landed for reading. 32% of our kids uh are at meets grade level preliminary scores. 32% for third grade. We did not meet the target. But one thing I do want I do want to celebrate is that we doubled from where we started. So in five year a fiveyear span even though we did not meet the target and I will also say we never changed the target even with co the committee was they they agreed and held fast too we don't want to lower our target just because of co but we did double from 16% to 32% %. [Applause] This is just a summary.
100I love to look at this because it shows us the actual targets from 22 all the way to 25. And where you can see the green are the areas where we hit targets for that year. And then you can see where we were below. I do like to pinpoint that even where we were below, we still make gains. And you can even see where we were below in some areas, but that next year being able to to hit the target. All right. So, we move into math end of the year data. Again, for preK, we use the circle assessment and we did not hit our target. PreK again, one of the first years. So, we know we have some work for our kids that are going into kindergarten. And remember, every child does not attend
101preK. So the kids that we had this year at the beginning of the year 74% were at in tier 1 and at the end of the year we ended at 87%. We still had a 13point gain in kindergarten. Okay. 63% of our students began the year and this is now a different assessment. This is NWA MAP which is a nationally normed assessment. They began 63% and ended 55%. Here we see that we did opposite of what we want to do and we we saw a decrease of eight percentage points for first grade. Again, 50% of our kids started out in tier one. We ended with 42% in tier one. Again, we see a decrease. Second grade, 44% began in tier 1, 38% ended in tier 1. Another decrease of six points. For third grade, 44%
102of our students began the year in tier 1. We ended with 48% of our students. We did increase, okay? But we want to see more increase. We wanted to get to 50%. Fourth grade, you see a trend again, 43% at the beginning, 42 at the end, a decrease of one point. And then fifth grade, 41% at the beginning. And then we see 33% at the end a decrease of eight points. What I say to you is the same thing I've said to the principles. This cannot happen. This is something we will work on and we have a plan. We have a plan to work on it. Okay. Again, here is our summary. This summary is a little different because with our math assessment, we actually changed. We were using stem scopes for a while. Then
103we moved to the map assessment. So you're going to see uh it's really not a good correlation. Okay. So what are our key actions? Y'all excuse me. My sinuses are acting up. What are we going to do to address the data? Not just for math also in reading. When we look at our key actions for reading, one thing that the data tells us is what we are doing is working. So we are going to continue on the path. We know that our students need to strengthen their decoding skills. We need to build comprehension skills. We need to improve fluency. So teachers, we're going to work with them and make sure that we're strengthening phonics and phmic awareness instruction. They have scripted lessons they are utilizing to teach with sax and phonics. We also have for
104third, fourth, and fifth our phonics intervention for students. We want to also make sure that they're engaging in readalouds to build comprehension. and then targeted site words. We will continue implementation of sax and phonics and nigh house. Nigh house is used at prek. A mirror has been amazing that we started. Okay. Kids can listen to or have someone listen to them read with the AI and we're going to continue that. And then again amplify sax and phonics and circle engage more PD in those areas. One thing that we are doing with second through fifth and and I hope that you caught it. Normally we do prek through two. We're changing that. Okay. Miss Angelo has rearranged or restructured when we look at our rla. So, our supervisor, we now have a supervisor that's going to
105handle prek through first grade and then a supervisor who will handle second grade through fifth grade. What do we learn with our second grade students? We have to push them a little harder. So, we are going to make sure that we're giving PD to those teachers and they are really we're going to stop babying babying the kids, right? And hold them accountable because they can do it. we have to push them. We're going to also make sure that we have crossgrade level observations and again targeted PD for reading phonics is going to be key continuing with our groups a mirror again and then accelerated reader. Okay, we do want kids to fall in love with reading by reading independently. All right. Yes, ma'am. What are you doing specifically to improve vocabulary reading with the kids?
106One of the things I noticed is their vocabularies are so limited that even if they can decode a word, they have no idea what it is. Yes. And so when we do our RLA instruction, part of it is of course vocabulary. We work with our kids. uh site words is something that we're targeting because we know that our kids are limited with vocabulary, but just making sure that we're working building those skills built in within the lessons. So, and it is an area we have to target. We find that our kids don't have the experiences that other kids have. All right. Any other questions for reading before we go to math? I'm excited about the reading. It's the math that I'm scratching my head about. Yes. Uh principles are the same way. I told them
107that this year, guess what? We're going to make sure we're targeted. One thing that we are implementing is a new curriculum with a new curriculum is a lift. It's not going to be easy. It's not. Principles know that we have to go in and we have to monitor. Not only do we monitor, we have to support our teachers. We have to give them the PD. We have to give them the coaching. I'm excited that we are actually uh Miss Angelo I don't want to give the the wrong uh services that we're using great minds right we've already had training with principles our teachers actually started we had a pilot of the curriculum at the end of the year and we have which I'm so excited because when you have a new curriculum you have to
108have buying from the teachers we They have buyin from the teachers. They saw the difference. Okay. The curriculum is scripted. They have to internalize the lessons. Make sure that we are because with any scripted curriculum, you still it has to meet the needs of your kids. So, you need to know your kids and what to build in. So, we're going to support our teachers with the lift of the new curriculum. And I do, you know, I'm not going to say it's a new curriculum. We're going to go backwards. We're going to take this curriculum and we're going to move forward. Okay. Zern is also the online uh part of the curriculum that we will also have. So, it's going to work hand in hand. So, where kids are struggling, Zern will be they'll be able
109to go on and and work on that online platform. Do we think that it will make a difference next year? Is it going to take two or three years to really sax and phonics has taken a couple of years before we are seeing the kinds of results we see this year? I'm going to stay stand bold and principles don't throw darts at me. I'm going to stand boldly here and say it's going to make a difference this year. I think for our teachers, we have a lot of adjunct teachers. We have teachers that are teaching multiple and you know in elementary some of our teachers especially lower grades are teaching everything. This is going to be a curriculum where they can pick it up and internalize which you've already started with weekly planning meetings. So
110the internalization will not be new and I really believe that it is going to uh I'll say this we shouldn't go backwards. We shouldn't go backwards. All right. Also, with math, we want to target uh skill intervention. So, we started Delta Math last year. We did not start it at the beginning of the year. We started it probably was January. And so, again, this is something we're going to start from the beginning. And we will work with K all the way through five. And this this it takes a lesson, the teacher teaches it to students. Those they can test out. So if they master the skill, they don't have to sit in the intervention. If they have it, then they do. They get the targeted intervention that they need. So that's going to occur for
111K through five. And then just working with our teachers when we look at the MAP assessment. MAP assessment is pretty much spot on when it comes to how our kids are performing on STAR. If our kids are at tier one in MAP, we're seeing that they are able to either approach, meet or master the test. So that takes us to moving forward and board outcome goals. So later this uh evening, I will present the board outcome goals with the um the performance objectives for you to uh review and approve. When we look at reading moving forward the next five years, we're starting at 32%. We want to double so get to 64% of our students scoring at meets or above third grade and reading. In math, 26% of our students are preliminary scoring at meets
112or above and again we want to double to 52% by 2030. CCMR of course 65 to 90%. you will look at um some performance objectives for perception and then again we want to move to where we at least have 50% of our students in A or B rated campus. So, just a little preview. Any questions before I have Miss Angelo come and talk about Blue Bonnet, which is how we're moving forward with curriculum and math anybody Andy Lou. So, just as you said, President the unacceptable um data in math. And so we're going to do something about it. So we're bringing on our new blue bonnet curriculum. It is you'll hear all these acronyms. OEER, open education resource. So this is the centralized published curriculum from TEA rolling out in the coming year at all
11314 of our elementary campuses. With me tonight is Miss Danielle Gid. Danielle's our new elementary math coordinator and she's been on the job now three weeks. So, we've really hit the ground running and prior to that an outstanding math coach at Caldwood and also a teacher before that uh in Bowman ISD. So, she's going to go through just some of the components of the curriculum briefly. We'll give a quick overview of that. All right. So, first what is going to come with the kit? Each of the teachers are going to come with the program and implementation guide which is going to tell the teachers, you know, all about the different components and how to implement it successfully. They will all have a printed uh teachers edition as well as a digital version for each of
114the modules. They will have the assessments. So, there's a booklet with the printed assessments. Each teacher will receive a manipulative kit that will be housed for a total of 24 students each. Um, they will also receive the student workbooks for each of the students as well as each of those components digitally. So, you can see here is a guide of what they will receive. And then with the blue bonnet learning, it's going to help the teachers really um get into the teaching because we do have, you know, different levels of teachings. This is going to be to where the math lesson for kindergarten will be within a 50 minute time period and for grades first through fifth grade a 60 minute time period. It's going to help them to develop their fluency. Um it'll provide
115lots of practice you know that they did not receive before and also to build a student confidence. So, we've been working on this all year and we really started first getting information from TEA attending webinars and trainings on the curriculum and we started to say this this sounds like it's going to be right for us. Um, we did a lunch and learn with our principles back in November. allowed a publisher, Great Minds, to come give them introductory like lesson, have them sit as they would be a student in class and kind of go through what a lesson would look like and then they got the materials in uh their hands, the sample materials. Um again, more trainings, sitting through webinars and um different sessions brought on by the region service center all the way through
116the spring. And then finally, we did initial had to wait for STAR to get over. We didn't want to distract anyone. had that to do. But once STAR was over, we pulled every single kinder through fifth grade u math teacher. They attended a half-day session at the annex and they sat and reviewed the curriculum components. They sat in a model lesson from the student point of view, received the materials and really got their hands uh in it. Go to the next one. All right. So, whenever the teachers had received their training for the pilot, then they went back into their classrooms in May and they did the 10-day pilot with their students and while they were piloting the materials, um, we did, you know, some walkthroughs to provide coaching support as needed as well as
117to answer any questions. Once a 10day pilot was over, then the teachers received a survey uh by me so that they could complete anonymously. And with the survey results, you can see that you know what the teachers felt least comfortable with implementing was the concept development which is the meat of the lesson. So using these survey results, the company great minds is going to be attending our curriculum conference and they are going to be actually giving training sessions to the teachers over the concept development as well as the fluency and what they felt most comfortable with implementing was the fluency activities which helps in the automaticity of facts as well as you know just daily numeracy activities. Um then there were was also a question about what the teachers felt was an aha moment while
118they were implementing the uh curriculum. So here are some things that the teachers had stated in the anonymous survey. And one of the things to point out is, you know, the fluency practice, how not only the teacher but the students also loved the fluency practices. And then this last comment you uh this teacher talked about how the process is what mattered, not really what was at the end with the product. And um this teacher also saw how within the classroom it really you know brought in the students with reasoning and communicating and really made the students feel more confident in their learning and we had over I think it was 40 teachers who responded and when you bring in a new curriculum you expect push back. I mean it's something new. They've been used to
119doing something for several years but that feedback was very amazing to us. like we were really excited because overwhelmingly they were like, "We love this. We get it. We can do this and our kids are learning." So, we will see success with that. Excuse me. Our timeline continued. We had elementary campus leaders. They were It's June 4th. They had received a half-day training and then we're using the curriculum currently in summer school every day to give teachers more hands-on experience with it. And of course, as Danielle said, we'll have curriculum training at our conferences coming up in August and many more after that. Oh yes, money. So we can't we can't just do this alone, me and Danielle. So we uh did apply for lasso3 funding and we received uh initial funding for that. Received
120$500,000 to support this implementation. We had to pick an approved provider from a state list from TEA. We picked the publisher Great Minds. They have created this curriculum. Who better to help lead it? So, we're very excited about that. And additionally, Carnegie Learning we've been using for sixth through 8th math. It is flipping to Blue Bonnet Math, the same publisher with about a 30% difference in it. They've made some refinements. We received 200,000 for approved provider support for that. So, what does that work look like? I'm going to let you Danielle talk about what that approved provider will do. Okay. So um great minds will come in and they will provide training to campus leaders as well as the staff the teachers and they will come in to for coaching for PLC support as well
121as internalizing their lessons and the uh transition plan. So you have that it's a 25page document. I don't think President Sige wants me to read that whole thing to you. So, I just did a few slides that gave you an overview of that. We're required to present this to the board and to have it voted on tonight and approved and then that will allow us to access all this wonderful funding that they are giving us. So, transition plan, just a few highlights. Um, we've linked to the walkthrough tools that have been developed. We've linked to the responsibilities um on the side of teachers, leaders, coaches um and for lesson internalization. Um, additionally, what does that look like for support? We know that this won't work unless there's consistent support, not just from the district on
122campus, outside providers, and what those roles are very clearly. And then how we're going to look at student work and the assessment data to help drive that instruction. As I said, this you'll be voting on this later. I believe it's under action items. Um, so if you have any questions about the plan, certainly please ask us. But I have a little surprise that Dr. Allen doesn't know yet. So 30 minutes ago, we just received an email from TEA. They're giving us additional lasso funding, $744,000 to support this implementation. So all in all, we will we will have $1.2 million in grant funds to make this work. And we can't lose. We'll have lots of outside support. They'll be working with the campuses. they will have the supports they need to be successful. Yes. It is.
123Any questions? I have a question not for Miss Angelo, but for Miss um Miss Cheryl. How did how does this 14 and uh 1.2 million fold into the budget we're talking about now? No. separate grants. So it does not go into the general fund. We access it and we must use it in very specific ways. So certain percentages for approved providers, certain percentages we can do some other contracted services, materials, training and so on. It's a state grant and there's reporting that they will have to do to uh provide documentation of all the things that they're I guess my question is you told us we had a budget of 180 something odd million but we've really gotundred and another million How does how does the community know that oh yeah, we've got this extra money?
124I mean, aside from Angela standing there tonight and telling us when when principles have money added to their activity fund, that gets reported every month. So why don't we get something similar when we're adding money to the budget? And I understand it has to be spent very spec grants tend to be line. You have to do exactly what they tell you. But it's still money the district is getting using and and supporting our kids with correct. So why does the board not get that information as well? Um, we just have not presented it. Uh, in the budget book that is on your desk there. There are there's a page where the district receives an additional $18 million in federal grants. Well, just remember that we didn't see this budget until we walked in here tonight.
125So, it's a little difficult for us to be up to date on what it said. Well, I did present it as a slide in our budget workshop the previous month in May to let the board know that we do have because I talked about the number of personnel units that we have paid for out of the federal grants out of our IDAB. We use our title funding for different um positions that additional positions that are not a part of the regular part. So, we did discuss it at the last and that it was the slide that was messed up. You may remember that I was trying to present it and all the numbers went sideways and then Ryan ended up fixing it for us. So, we talked about it then. We we we can provide
126information to the board on different things but the majority of the the expenditures like for IDAB formula we use it for contracted services for um many different OTP um that's occupational therapy physical therapy for well tonight I will say Miss Hickman you y'all will be approving our contracts for Carnegie and for great minds that are substantial amounts that are the amounts that we're required to spend in this part of the grant. The one I just received 30 minutes ago, that'll come at a different board meeting because of course we'll have to go through interviews with approved providers and all the different groundwork for that to be in in adherence to it. But we're happy to do a specific report for this substantial amount, you know, at the end of the year and show exactly how
127it was allocated and used. Yes, ma'am. Angelo uh and I want Miss Hernandez to expound on this. Uh I think I had a similar question, not this one, but it's adjacent that uh we as a board have been talking to Dr. Ellen about a proficient grant writer and you all are doing that on your own and anything extra we can get you know how to allot it or finagle it. So we're appreciative for what you have done. Really really we are. So that's something Miss Hernandez said she would kind of be looking at. We had that during our budget workshop that how the grants that we receive helps the overall budget. So you may want to say a little something about that to clear the air to clear. We have a director of federal grants
128and she's uh been basically our grant writer. Um she's familiar with how things work. This one is a state grant though and things come up and become available. Um our regular grants like title those are recurring grants over and over and there's you know we we qualify because of our atrisisk student population and sometimes our funding changes because the government changes what we fund but every opportunity I think that comes up that our fifth director has been applying for the ones that we qualify for you questioning that right but I'm answering questions miss that it's just sort of out there. I mean I feel having been a principal and having had to account for every penny that somebody gave us. I don't understand why the district doesn't have similar requirements for the board. I think
129that this is something that hadn't been requested before. And I think if this is a report that the board wants to see on how we actually spend our federal dollars, which you do know every purchase over $50,000 because that's included in the board book, but if that's something that we want to add to, we can definitely develop a a summary or report on or quarterly on how we're spending our federal money. I mean, it's nothing new. We've always presented and I apologize for the lateness of the board book, but as you recall, I shared in the budget workshops in the small groups that we were working to the last minute to get this completed and we completed it today because we were trying to finalize the revenue to determine what we could afford for our
130compensation for our teachers. But the amount that we received isn't is in the board book is I'm sorry, it's in the proposed budget every year, the projected amount. But if that's a request, we certainly can. I don't see that being an issue with adding a report. It's just never it's never been requested and it's not in an attempt not to be transparent. This has never been this has never been requested. So since it was requested, I think we can do it. And I'm not speaking to the title grants. We know those come in and they are itemized up to a point in our information. But these grants are as well. They they fall under the same protocols. Where was it going to get put? Hold up. We could We can kick this around like a
131soccer ball all night, but we're not going to do that. Does anybody have any specific questions of Miss Angelos about the program? Her Miss Gri and President Sige, I just want to interject right there. in our tr we had small groups but in our training just to uh appease uh appease well that's okay I'll use another term but uh but back to we were told by Dr. Allen that due to wanting this correct without any uh going back printing is so expensive that they will be delayed of it. But she did inform us on all of this that we would get our book. Yes. And the additional grant was just known about 30 minutes ago. It's kind of hard to include that in a report if you just got it 30 minutes ago. That's not
132what I Never mind. Once again, does anyone have any questions of Miss Angelo or Miss G? Thank you. We come to the time for public comments. Miss Antoine, is there anyone signed up for public comment? Yes, sir. The board will now hear public comment from those persons who have signed up to speak. This portion of the meeting is set aside for parents, students, employees, and community members to speak to the board about any matter of interest to them pertaining to the school program. Each person who has signed up by 4:30 p.m. yesterday may speak for no more than 2.5 minutes. Those who have signed up after that time and prior to the public comments today be allowed 1.5 minutes. During public comments, the board will listen, but it is forbidden by the Texas Open Meeting
133Act from discussing any topic raised or making any decision unless the matter is already on the agenda for this meeting. The board reminds speakers that public comments is not the time to bring the board complaints about a particular program, employee, or student. Should a speaker's remark include complaints directed at a particular student, employee, or program, I will respectfully act that the individual stop speaking and utilize the board's adoptive grievance procedures. Miss Antoine, can you call the first person? So Ellen inner. How are you this evening? Good evening. I'm doing well, thank you. I kind of adjust. Is that okay? That's fine. All right. Good evening. Thank you for a few minutes of your time. I just completed my 30th year teaching with the school district. Three years ago, due to a continuing bus driver shortage,
134I trained and became a BISD bus driver in addition to my full-time teaching position. I was recently made aware that last year's pay increase for all BISD employees was not applied to my bus driving position because it is considered part-time. As a teacher driver, I am working 12 to 13 hours per day for our school district. It was very disappointing to hear that the school board did not value the dedication part-time drivers are demonstrating to asssure students arrive safely at school and back home in the coming year. In the coming school year, I would like to see the BISD school board thoughtfully consider raising all bus driver pay to $24 per hour to attract and retain a full staff of drivers for our school district. I respectfully request the board use a portion of the
135support staff retention allotment recently passed as a part of house bill 2 to fund raises for part-time non-administrative staff not covered under the teacher retention aotment. I look forward to the money overall allocated in House Bill Two being used to pay inc to for pay increases for all BISD employees working directly with students on a daily basis. Thank you so much. Thank you. I have uh copies of my statement that I'll give with Miss to Miss Antoine in case you wanted to refer back to it. Yes, ma'am. Jennifer Moore. How are you, Miss Moore? I'm good. If I could just have a moment. I'm here tonight for two reasons. First, thank you for letting me come and speak with you again. My first is to request cameras in every single special needs classroom across the
136district. My second is to request an actual policy to be made within the district to remove an accused teacher from the classroom pending investigation. I have provided you all with a copy of the recent Examiner newspaper in which myself and two other moms point out abuse and neglect in special needs classrooms across the district. My daughter has a face and her photo is in there for you and you only. I want you to know my daughter. Miss Brooks pointed out that there's 59 self-contained classrooms within the district. The DEA states that board members are allowed to request cameras in special needs classrooms without having to be a parent in a particular room. I have two covered. I'll request those on my own. You could separate that request amongst yourselves and only have to request 10
137each. Or somebody can spearhead it and take all of them. I would also like to point out again that cameras in the classroom are not only meant to protect the students from possible abuse but to shed light on perpetrators as well as protect the district from false allegations. Which brings me to my second point. I would like to ask the board to create or encourage the district to have an actual policy that removes accused teachers from the classroom pending investigation. The current BISC thing eval policy evaluates allegations on a case-by case basis based on the merit and severity of the allegation and I would like to ask you what removes a child's merit because my child clearly told me what happened and I believe her. BC may have concluded that nothing happened with this particular
138teacher, but the teacher was never removed from the classroom the entire time. While my child stayed at home because I could not let her go to class back into a room with no cameras and a principal instead of doing his mandated job to report the abuse of the teacher decided to call CPS on me instead. BISC again may say nothing happened, but the BISC Police Department has forwarded the case to the DA for felony child abuse charges. BISC has failed my child and three others that I'm aware of. And instead of standing up for our kids, they are moving them to other classes. I thank God that my child will be going to Regina next year, but what about the kids in Ameilia? I am making you aware of the issues. Miss Moore, that's the
139end of your time. How much more do you have to say? I one one one statement that's all. I'm making you aware of the issues and I'm asking you for a much needed solution. I'm I'm sorry. I'll I'll end there. Thank you. Thank you, Parker Gerlesson. How you doing, Parker? Good. How are you? Good. Good evening, members of the board, Dr. Allen. My name is Parker Geriffson. I'm a proud 2023 graduate, Westbrook High School, a place I'm honored to still call home in many ways. I'm here tonight not just as a former student, but as someone who is personally impacted by one of the most beloved and unforgettable figures to ever walk the halls of West, Pat Thomas. Tonight, I'm asking you to consider naming the Westbrook tennis courts in his honor. He was someone
140who truly embodied the spirit of Westbrook. Most of us knew him as PT Pat, Coach Pat, Mr. Clean, or Snow Pat. Yes, he had more nicknames than most celebrities. He made a personal connection with just about everyone he met. He wasn't just a coach. He was a campus personality, a stand-up comedian, and a walking bundle of school spirit. I don't know many teachers that sought to build relationships with students who walk the halls alone or sit alone at lunch, but Pat did. Pat knew their story. He had a legendary sense of humor, always armed with a joke, a witty comeback, or a sarcastic remark that somehow made your whole day better. He connected with everyone, not just his tennis players, but students across all corners of campus. Whether you were on his team or just
141walking by his classroom, he made time for you. He remembered your name. He cared. But behind the jokes was a man deeply divided devoted to his school and to this district. He spent decades investing in Westbrook. When things got tough, and they did, he stayed. When he could have walked away for something easier, he didn't. He believed in our school, and more importantly, he believed in the students in it. That kind of dedication and loyalty to a district through all its ups and downs is rare and it deserves to be recognized. This isn't just about putting a name on a tennis court. It's about preserving a legacy. A legacy of laughter, loyalty, mentorship, and heart. Coach Thomas was part of what made Westbrook feel like home. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look
142forward to working with you all to make this happen. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] for a minute and a half. Robin Dashel. I want to first give an honor to God and I want to thank each and every one of you for your services to our students and to the schools. Today I want to proclaim that our schools will be transformed and reformed for the better. soul. Lift up your heads, oh you gates. Open up you ancient doors so that the King of glory may come in, the Lord God Almighty. I yield back the rest of my time. Thank you, Robin. [Applause] That concludes request for public comments. informationational items update on personnel. Uh good evening board. Uh you have in front of you uh this evening a listing of newly hired and separated employees
143uh for the month of uh May. Uh as you uh review uh despite all of the validictions and uh promotions that uh Dr. Allen offered uh resignations are actually down by 22% uh uh this year. Uh now that may be a little uh ripe as uh teachers do have uh until June 28th uh to resign without penalty. And so I don't have any firm numbers on what the uh uh what the resignations are, but I will have something to offer for you uh next month. Uh any questions? No questions. Why are you giving them a heads up on what date? report of tax collections for the month of May. The tax office collected just over $572,000 in maintenance and operations taxes and just over 123,000 in debt service and we're 96.44% collected. And for the
144general fund summary, we have um year-to-ate revenue of 161 million599,783 and we have total expenditures of $170,57,943 and we still have outstanding purchase orders of 4,21,910. Um, now that we do have the end of the year ADA, we'll be able to record the actual state revenue that the district has earned. For campus activity funds, they collected $400,086 during the month of May. And then we have um a number of monetary donations to the career and technical center from D. Richard Real Estate $50. Lawrence Evans $25. Emma Brown $30. Regina How PTA donated $45,000 to Regina. Um Architectural Alliance donated $3,500 for the um coaches rings for the Westbrook uh winning state. And then Albert Turner campaign fund donated $225 towards the same. And the campaign for Robin Muton donated $275 for the same and Arlene
145Leblon $50 for the same. And then we received uh the John P. McGovern Foundation for the Child Nutrition Department in the amount of $5,000. And then we have a number of donated items for the Career and Technical Education Center. Alish Alice Moore donated a stainless steel cutting board that valued at $45. Belinda Clark um donated Farberware, a stand mixer at the value of $200. Joy and Will Krenshaw donated the neatest 1948 Jeep Willie station wagon that was kind of like a a kit car and it was valued at $25,000. So, the kids will get to work on it and and do some neat things with that. Uh Keys on the Couch, Tashara Keys donated three gift cards that valued at $75. Dog Good Credit Union donated seven backpacks, $100. Mark Nelson, an HB gift card
146for $30. Mr. and Mrs. J. Walker Senior gift card for $25. Dale Lynn Candles and Etca, a gift card for $30. Dr. Joseph Provo, a gift card for $45. Carla Robinson, a Visa gift card that was for worth $25. Manuel's Barbecue Catering, a Visa gift card for $30. Sean Webb Lock, a gift card for $25. Realy Depot, Brandon Johnson, Visa gift card for $25. Above all taxes, Joy Terrell and a gift card for $25. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Jenkins a gift card for $75. And then First Security Bank donated to Guest Elementary for um some cases of water valued at $230. and Arkham of Bowmont donated um 20 cases of water that was valued at $115. Then the French H High family friends community donated to Martin two bicycles and the valued at $100 and
147um 50 gift cards that were valued at $700. And then HB Plus donated a gift cards that were valued at $150. And then the HB also donated to Blanchett Elementary gift cards for $150. So we've got some really big supporters. And that is the end of my presentation. Any questions for Miss Hernandez? We'll now move on to the consent agenda. Does anyone wish to pull any items off the consent consent agenda for discussion? Turn around. Turn number six. Number six. Item six is removed. Get a motion on the rest of the consent agenda. Mr. President, I move that we approve the consent agenda outside of item six. Motion has been made by Mr. Evans and second by Mr. Reese. Any discussion? All those in favor? Right. In motion carries 6. Okay, let's item six. Let's
148discuss the improvement plans. So, Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve the turnaround plans for the following campuses. Failprice Elementary, Jones Clark Elementary, Smith Middle School, and Bulmont United High School. I'll ask Dr. Papon to come on for. Good evening board. How are you Dr. Papon? I am doing well. Thank you for asking. We are here this evening to discuss the campus turnaround plans for the campuses just mentioned by Dr. Allen. And we do have the principles here in the audience. So I will ask those principles to come to the front and have a seat here. uh when we get to that part of the presentation, we will ask those principles to approach the podium. So, I would also like to invite Mrs. Courtney Leverne, who is our innovation specialist, to also come to
149the front. Thank you. Mr. Maxwell is passing out a copy of the presentation that we'll discuss here. But in your board books, you guys have a copy of the full turnaround plan as well as each community presentation that was given during the public hearing, but you can refer to the presentation being passed out by Mr. Maxwell. Thank you. So, what is a campus turnaround plan? It's a strategic document that is required by the Texas Education Agency for our schools that receive two consecutive years of unacceptable performance ratings. It outlines specific actions and interventions that improve student outcomes and school performance. What is the purpose of our turnaround plans? The primary goal of our turnaround plan, sometimes referred to as a TAP, is to address those root causes of the low performance and implement strategies that
150significantly improve student achievement and school effectiveness. Here on the screen, you do see the principles that have been assigned to work with these campuses. We have our veteran principal, Miss Tamara Long. We have our newly named principal of Smith Middle School, Miss Rene Renetha Pickkins. Our newly named principal for Jones Clark, Dr. Victoria Landry and we have Miss Yolanda Valerie, principal at Felp Price Elementary. Due to the release and the approval of the 2223 accountability scores, it triggered um these campuses to have to complete what is referred to as our turnaround plan. Again, you all have access to all of the full turnaround plans, but I would like to draw your attention to our effective schools framework. Our effective schools framework is a framework that is designed by the Texas education agency to guide campuses
151as they develop school improvement plans. We've approved our targeted improvement plans. You've heard of the tip and now we have our t turnaround plans. So within each lever, which there are five levers consist of essential actions. So each of our levers are um we dig a little deeper and we go into specific actions where campuses can focus their efforts. So when we look at level one, we have strong school leadership and planning, which means that we're working to build capacity um and our campus leadership teams developing systems for those teams. When we look at our strategic staffing, we're looking at how our campuses are recruiting, how they're retaining our staff. When we look at level three, which is positive school culture, we focus on school climate. We look at discipline. We look at attendance rates.
152When we look at level four of the effective schools framework, we have high quality instructional materials. Miss Angelo stood here and talked about our HQIM that we are implementing on our campuses. And so we want to ensure that our HQIM that's approved, that it is implemented effectively with fidelity. We also want to make sure that all of our lessons that we put in front of our students are aligned and that they're grade level appropriate. When we look at our level five, which is effective instruction, we're looking at those things such as coaching models on the campuses, instructional strategies, and our weekly planning meetings, also our PLC's, which is our um professional learning communities. When you review your turnaround plans, you'll see that primarily our campuses are focusing heavily on campus climate and culture as well
153as effective instructional practices, which we feel like will help us move our campuses forward. And so at this time we do have all four of our campuses here and um I will give each of them an opportunity to discuss just a few areas of their turnaround plans with you all and um I'll stand here with them but if you have any questions please pose them or you can wait till the end of the presentation. So at this time I would invite Miss Tamara Long to come here to the podium with me please. principal of Bulmont United High School, home of the mighty Timberwolves. Good evening, everyone. Um, currently at Bowmont United, and we all know this, um, tap was from 2023, but what we're currently working on um is our partnerships with um public impact
154or opportunity culture. and that's working on our instructional pieces to coach and improve tier one instruction. So with that model, we're providing the best of both worlds with our coaches. They're having the opportunities to also go in the classroom and teach and also come out and coach. So, that's one um way we're addressing the excuse me, one way we're addressing um our TAP also with student leadership and I'm kind of skipping around, but with our student leadership development. This year was our first year working with um the Eric Thomas leadership. And so with that, we're working on culture and climate. And this year it was very effective because we looked at the areas of student attendance um character development also um SEAL and um student grades or academics and then uh some ways that we
155are improving as well is with our professional development. And this summer, we're going to have a summer bridge for our coaches and our department leads to help with our um partnership with public impact and um strengthen our coaching um abilities with those coaches. And that's our tap for Bowman United. Let me ask a question. How much community involvement you have over there at Bulma United? Community involvement, outside partners? Um we had uh several partners. One partnership was with um you with our um not really talking about me but yeah but um we had several partnerships. We also had a parent that came in weekly and um spoke with our students in uh ISS. We had circle times in our ISS and um CRD and she was um that was another partnership that we also had
156at BMA United. Thank you, Miss Long. Okay, now we'll have Miss Renea Pickins come up, home of the mighty Buffaloos. Good evening, board. Good evening, Dr. Allen. Okay, the for the turnaround plan for Smith Middle School, we're going to implement data-driven um multi-ter systems of support. We're going to utilize high quality instructional materials. Teachers will receive upfront and ongoing professional development to ensure the fidelity of the newly adopted curriculum, Blue Bonnet. Um the partnership is we're going to partner with um consultants to build instructional leadership capacity and it'll just be we'll be ongoing building capacity with our teachers to ensure that they understand how to implement the high quality instructional materials. Any questions? What do you need from us? Um, at this time I don't need anything. Nobody ever can answer that question. We got
157a whole bunch of needs. But when you ask that Well, um, just the Oh, no. You blew your chance. Now you can go. Thank you, Miss Pickkins. Okay, I'm going to invite Dr. Landry here to the mic, please. Jones Clark, home of the mighty Cardinals. Yes. Good evening, everyone. All right. So, at Jones Clark Elementary, our strategy is going to focus on reading and math because that is the root cause of our low academic performance. And so, we are going to be implementing HQIM not only for blue bonnet math, but blue bonnet reading as well. And so, uh, we will also, uh, have professional development ongoing at the district level and campus level throughout the year, um, to make sure teachers are supported in implementing those curriculums. And of course, data analysis, looking at all
158of our assessments, screeners, diagnostic assessments, summitative, and formative assessments to make informed decisions. We will also have a structured intervention block daily where we're focused on uh intervening for those students who have deficits in their learning for reading and math. And then like the other said, we'll be building capacity within our building, focusing on weekly planning meetings and lesson internalization so that we can strengthen teachers practices and lots of ongoing coaching. Any questions? What you need? I need and and the doc I mean Derwin Samuels has been so helpful with this. We need staff and so I am currently staffing Jones Clark campus. So if you know any teachers um that are willing to work I'm looking for someone who's passionate and they're driven and like I stated that we're going to coach them and
159we're going to build them up and strengthen their practices so that we can be effective for the students at Jones Clark. And so that's the main thing now is staffing. We're gonna work to see if we can get some royal volunteers over there. Yes, that would be great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Landry. And last but not least, we do have Miss Yolanda Valerie coming to us for Felprice Elementary, home of the Lions. Good evening. So, the um Failprice Elementary, we're going to focus on addressing effective instructional practices across all grade levels. Um teachers are our greatest resource in that classroom. And um when they do their jobs well, they can even take mediocre um instructional material and make it make something happen out of it. So, we're going to invest a lot
160of time in our building our teachers to where that they they are able to deliver the the content and they they're they feel comfortable and they're supported. We're going to build capacity through coaching and um professional development and we're going to do whatever we can to try to retain teachers because it's difficult to um build your campus for growth if you're starting from scratch every year with um with personnel. So, we're going to really put a lot of um energy and support into that area of instructional practices. And we're going to utilize data analysis um to drive the instruction on a frequent basis instead of um just not by the nine weeks. We're going to try to do that on a more frequent b basis so that we can do some real intervention. What you
161need? I need um considering that the majority of my staff is new. I have one coach and we but we have a big lift especially with a brand new math curriculum. if I could any way get um an additional coach to help us build this capacity on this campus so that the teachers feel comfortable enough in what they're doing to return and continue growing. So that's what I need. I like you. Thank you. Thank you. I realize that you all are not ready to actually present your plan tonight. we kind of put you on the spot, but I thank you. Does anyone have any questions about the um campus improvement plan? No one. Can I get a motion on item six? Mr. President, I move that we approve school improvement turnaround plans. I second. Motion
162been made by Mr. Evans, second by Miss Second by Miss A. Discussion. All those in favor raise your right hand. Any opposed? Motion carries 6. We are now ready for our action items. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve budget amendments from the general fund 12 and accept amendments from special revenues 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41. Did they make a motion? Can I make a mo? Can I get a motion? Yes, sir. Mr. President, I move that we approve budget amendment GF12 and accept amendments SR35, SR36, SR37, SR 38, SR 39, SR 40, and SR 41. A second. Second. Motion is made by Mr. Evans. Second by Miss Spooner. Thank you, Mr. Sige. Um, this is the last budget amendment in this fiscal year. We're asking the board to approve GF12,
163which increases our revenue. Um, we received some insurance settlements for some vehicle claims at in the amount of $5,728. It appropriates to the transportation department $4,134 and the maintenance department $1,594 so that they can get those vehicles repaired. And then the rest of them are moving within functions. And so the um the overall net is zero. And then the um SR35 through SR41, these are amendments that the board um They're moving funds between functions in in title one, title one, ESF, IDAB formula, title two, title three, title four, and then our dev co-op. We're reallocating funds to pay some invoices for RDSBD. discussed in the closed session that needs to be discussed now. Yes, sir. Mr. President, on the agenda item regarding a demand related to 1882 agreements, I move the board authorize the district's
164attorney to proceed with third future schools as discussed in close session. Get a second. Motion was made by Mr. Evans, second by Mr. Reese. Discussion. All those in favor? Motion carries 6. Item three. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve purchases over $50,000 from the general fund in the amount of $490,9951 from the instructional materials aotment of $234,243.75 from federal funds in the amount of $274,1267 and from state grant funds in the amount of $355,000. There a motion. I move that we approve purchases over $50,000 from the general fund, IMA funds, federal funds, and state grant funds. Second. Motion been made by Miss uh Mr. Evans and second by M Spooner. Are you ready? Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, the general fund, we're asking the board to approve uh purchases with Manning's office solutions. We
165are asking for uh classroom furniture at Homer Elementary in the amount of $16,6420. And then for um ODM Middle School and Marshall Middle School, new teacher desk in the amount of $57,63. And then um with the flip and group some curriculum for the capture capturing kids hearts training program in the amount of $84,500. This is a continuation of what we did for the previous year. And then our waste management disposal services. This is going to be for a uh fiscal year 2526. So it will begin in July. So, we're asking the board to approve it now in the amount of $242,828.31. It will come out of their next year's budget. And then instructional materials aotment, we're purchasing social studies through studies weekly in the amount of $234,243.75. And then for our federal funds, we have
166um three purchases. ENOME with special services. It's a renewal of the goal book kit toolkit in the amount of $85,680. Um, pocket nurse for the career and technical center there 73,4226 is out of federal funds and then 247665 is from the general fund but the total uh purchase order will be 75,878.91. And then we have Hineaman Publishing. It's a continuation for the phonics program, $112,543.76. And then the last two were the state grant funds through the um those lasso funds that were just awarded to the district. We're asking the board to approve great minds for 255,000 to provide that support and Carnegie learning in the amount of $100,000. Any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries. 6. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve the ordinance and resolution adopting the 2526 budgets for the
167general fund, child nutrition fund, and the debt service fund. Get a motion. Yes, sir. I move that we adopt an ordinance and resolution adopting the 2526 budgets for the general fund, child nutrition fund, and debt service fund. A second. Been moved by Mr. Evans, second by Miss Avery. Um, the exhibit A presents all three of these budgets together and also shows the total enrolled by student for each of the breakdowns for these. And these are the different functions that we're asking the board to approve for these grants. I would like to point out on uh I mean for these funds. Um at the time when we're asking the board to adopt the budgets, this is June. We have just received our planning amounts for our federal funds. So, we don't have time to to give
168you a budget because the the the leaders of those grants are actually applying for the grants and deciding how they're going to be able to allocate funds. But we would be happy to bring a federal grants budget in the future so that the board can know where all of our money is being spent and how it's being spent if that. We would like that. Okay. It will probably be most likely after it's awarded by TEA. So, we'll have to wait for that and once the their application is approved. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries 6. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve the resolution authorizing participation in the Connect Investment Trust. Motion. Yes, sir. I move that we approve resolution authorizing participation in the connect investment trust. The second. Thank
169you, Miss. This is another avenue for the district to um place funds in investment. And one of our our um strategies with our investment policy is diversification. So rather than um keeping all our our funds in just a couple of pools, this will give us another avenue that we can get greater returns than what we're getting in the pools with um a um consultant to help guide us and to know where we're supposed to be able to put our funds. and they will also uh assist us with preparation of our reports to make sure that we're complying with what our policy says and then also what the law says and what is required. I'm curious, I may have asked you before, what is the connect investment trust? It is um a it's um a whole
170trick question. Yeah, that's a that's a very good trick question. It's it's it's a like a It's kind of like the pools. You you can invest your money in like a a a organization and they manage your funds and um they look at your investment policy to make sure that they're compliant with what you can invest your funds in. And they don't they don't like guarantee you a rate of return, but they have different areas that they can invest money and get a a greater return than just putting it in the pools. Sometimes you may tie it up for a year instead of just having it so liquid. We have our our our pools are I can pull that money out each day, whatever I need. Sometimes if you make it for a little bit
171longer, like if you buy a CD or something, they they can have strategies to earn more money for the district. Thank you. Okay. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries 6. Thank you. Item six, delegate designate a delegate and an alternate to the Texas Association of School Board 2025 delegate assembly. I get a motion. I move that Joe. Can I get a second? Second. We also need an alternate. I move that we uh select trustee Woodro Reese as the alternate. It has been moved by Miss Hickman that it's been moved by Miss Hickman and second by Miss Spooner that we designate Mr. Evans as a primary and as our secondary alternate that it was been moved by Mr. Reese and second by Miss Spoon. It was moved by Miss Spooner that Mr.
172Ree be the alternate representing us on the TASB delegate assembly. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries 6. Item seven, approve a re revision of the board policy be local. Second moved by Miss Hickman, second by Mr. Evans. So this recommendation is based on just previous discussion so that we can better utilize and manage our our time to begin at 4:30, our close sessions at 4:30 rather than the 5:00 pm start time to allow for more time to continue to adjust I mean to discuss items in close session and also improving our timeliness and prompt promptness in beginning our regular meeting. Any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries. 6. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve the blue bonnet math transition plan. Get a motion. Second. It's been moved by
173Miss Hickman and second by Mr. Evans. So, as we discussed in our cabinet report, we're asking for the board to approve the blue bonnet transition plan located in your board book. Are there any questions regarding the plan? Any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries 6. Mr. President, I recommend that the board approve or the board adopts the 25 2025 to 2030 board outcome goals, annual performance targets, closing the gap student group targets, and associated yearly performance objectives on the table. Go ahead, Joe. We're going to table it. Is there any other board business? Okay, here we go. Mr. Evans. Yes, sir. Uh, Mr. President, thank you. Um, Dr. Frank and and team and and entire district. Uh, congratulations on the reading gains. Um, I am concerned about our math uh scores, but I'm but
174I'm confident uh in your abilities to to remediate our students and get them moving on the right track. Um, I also have high hopes for the Blue Bonnet uh curriculum. So, so good luck on that, Miss Angelo, and and and all the good people for for our district. Um, I hope we can do something for our bus drivers and and whoever the the teacher/bus driver is, God bless her. Yes. So, yes, give her a round of applause. Yes. Um, if there any more educators who want to drive school buses, I think Dr. Allen and Mr. Samuel will have you. Uh and lastly, thank you board for uh sending me back to the delegate assembly. I thoroughly enjoy the process. Uh Woodro will be there as an alternate and Miss Avery, we will try to loop
175you into that process as a new trustee if you have time with the with the training to to learn more about it. So hopefully next time you can attend as a delegate. Yes, ma'am. That's it, Mr. President. Uh thank you very much u for the Miss Desatel. Thank you very much tonight for your comments. Appreciate that very much. Miss Desetel, is that your last name? Desertel. Oh, I almost thought that was her. I'm sorry. Um, congratulations to the new principles. Uh, I anticipate seeing some great things coming from you all. Thank you all for the uh campus improvement plan and let's get these things done this year. Let's get these let's get it moving. Thank you very much, Spooner. Oh, I'm so surprised. Wow, you kind of skip. Okay. All right. Thank you. I want
176to just say tonight that I am so proud of our district and that is inclusive. That's everyone and everything that all of you are doing because the buzz word right now is unity. And we cannot do anything divided. A divided house soon will perish or fall. And so I'm glad that we are working together. Now, I hope I'm not out of order uh because our director of communications, Miss Jackie Simeon, I don't know if I'm outdated, but as I can recall, the district received numerous awards uh for all of their many endeavors. If you would just come to the mic like, come on down. Come on. Come on. Let's give her a hand. She puts us on the map. [Applause] And I just want to say and I can say Jackie I I just want
177to say that uh I heard the news I read different things and I was so proud but when we did our rec when you did our recognitions I said wow she didn't say anything. So at this time, will you enlighten us on what has been done by your department? Thank you. Yes. The Bumont ISD community and media relations department two weeks ago received a couple of first place awards and several other awards from the Press Club of Southeast Texas. And it is just a joy to represent and tell all of the wonderful stories happening in our school district with our teachers, our staff, and our students. Thank you for the recognition and congratulations, Miss Ziggman. I just want to first say to Miss Pickkins, Mr. Sige ask you what you wanted from us, but I'm
178going to tell you what I think we Smith needs more than anything else, and that's the continuity of leadership. If we could keep get you to stay there for more than two years, it would be wonderful for all of us, but especially for the children at Smith. So, we hope you'll be there. [Applause] That's what I'm talking about. [Applause] I dare you to stay as long as I stayed at ODM. Show me what you're working with. I also want to say I'm really excited about the Blue Bonnet math series. Uh it has been a difficult obstacle to overcome and I think perhaps we have the what we need now to to move on. Congratulations on reading. Have a great summer. Okay, Mr. Dice, our secretary. Okay. Well, uh I want to thank the board for
179being u they're really on top of things. Miss Avery uh I think she's going to be a great asset to this board. Uh, she's smart. I saw her at a couple of events. Um, and she's dropping the mic. She was up there. That's a little something else. Uh, but um I think um it's just it's just fun because a lot of time I sit back. I don't I don't I don't motion and I don't second. I let everybody get a chance to do it. I've done this for 20 years. So, but uh Thank you for coming to our district and getting on the board and and there's going to be other positions that come up, but I don't want to be secretary for life. I've been everything on the board. I guess you can be,
180but uh thank you, Mr. President, for running a good darn meeting tonight. I really appreciate that. Thank you, soup. I have one more person that I need to recognize. This is what I This is what I get for not writing it down. But Miss Delena Barbet, where is Miss Barbet? Miss Barbet is retiring at the end of this month. She has been with the district for for several years in in a couple of capacities, but she has done a wonderful job as our director of federal programs. So, we thank her so much for her service. And, you know, she's going into the good life. you know, she's going into the life that we are all aspiring to get to. So, thank you uh to Miss Barbet and she will surely be uh be missed and
181just again, thank you so much to the team. You know, this is your last couple of days of work and then hopefully you'll have the opportunity to relax. So, thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Allen. Yes, sir. Let's go ahead. I am so sorry. Sorry, I know I'm a little bit out of line, but last night at the neighborhood association in in North End, we did a challenge. I did a challenge and I asked everyone there and I want to ask everyone here while you're gone every day, anytime you see anyone, say something good about BISD, do that challenge, please. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Avery. Wow. You know, I'm hoping that I can continue to push the district forward as I follow the footsteps of Miss Hickman. She done a great job
182as president of the board and it's my hope that I can continue to push the ball forward. And to you all, to the staff, you do a great job, a phenomenal job of supporting all of the things that BISD has to do. And to the principles, I apologize. We didn't let y'all go earlier. I missed my mark on that. I won't do it again. But but you you all are the glue uh to what makes this district function. We're going to be asking you to do just a little bit more. Need you to press enjoy your vacation. You're going to need it because we're going to be asking a little bit more. I have all faith and confidence in what's going on with BISD and Miss Desertel just confirmed what was going on in my
183head about this district. I speak positively about BISD everywhere I go. We have to continue to tell the BISD story in a positive light. Yeah, we got some jokers. we got to deal with. But we need to tell the positive things. And I asked last night about some people, you know, don't take a handful. If you can't handle a handful when you come to help the district, take a teaspoon. If all you can handle is a teaspoon, a teaspoon is our little kinder kids and our elementary kids. Deal with a teaspoon. But if you know somebody that can take on a much larger role, let them help with our middle schools and our high school. Who said a little elementary ain't teaspoons? I heard that. Yeah, I know they kick in the shins there, Mr.
184U. But you all right. You can handle it. But I am I am proud of this district and the direction that we're going. We're going to be successful and all of Texas is going to know from where we came from to where we are. And I need all of your help. Uh, I don't have to hit this too hard. Anybody got anything else?