001[laughter] I know. I'm sorry. [laughter] Heat. Heat. [laughter] Yeah. I told you to say no question. I told Jimmy to say no questions tonight. [laughter] It's not the Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. >> [laughter] >> Heat. Heat. Yeah. Heat. That'll But they can't. No verification. [laughter] Heat. Heat. [laughter] Heat. Heat. [laughter] Yeah. [laughter] Heat. Heat. Heat. I said the same thing. >> Anybody? >> All right. Good evening. No coffee co. It's fun. Uh, can I please have everyone's attention? It is 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 17th, 2025. This is our last meeting of this year. >> That's right. >> Um, and this is a duly filed and posted regular meeting of the Alma Heights Board of Trustees. Thank you'all for coming. I'd like to welcome anyone listening to our live stream broadcast. If anyone would like
002a recording of this meeting, we will post on the link website within 24 hours after the end of this meeting. In addition, we also post the materials being presented within 24 hours, so you can review a copy of those as well. The recordings are under the school board icon of our AHISD.net website. If anyone in the audience would like to address the board tonight, we welcome your input during our citizens to be heard [clears throat] item on the agenda. Please fill out the yellow form by the red by the red door by the door. Read the instructions and indicate the agenda item if there is one so we can introduce you at the appropriate time. [clears throat] At this time, I will turn it over to our famous Dr. Alar. >> Thank you, Mr. page.
003Uh well, welcome everybody. We're excited to see such a big crowd uh as we honor people at the front end of our meeting. Now, we do ask that you stay to the entire part of all the recognition. [screaming] That's a >> Oh, yeah. She's cheering. SHE'S CHEERING ALREADY. SHE'S cheering already. Mama's first up, so we'll get that rolling. But just kind of stay to the end and then I'll let you all know when we're done with that part of the to go to the business meeting and then we can uh if you want to leave, you're welcome to. But we have lots of fun business if you want to stay. So um periodically we give uh we acknowledge some employees with an award called the spotlight on excellence which is designed to shine the spotlight
004on employees who fuel our tradition of excellence but often behind the scenes. And so this is really behind the scenes. I'm going to call them up and we'll explain a little bit more about what they are. This is the Alamo Heights High School sports media team. The adults behind the scenes. Come on up and we'll introduce you when you're up here. COME ON BRIAN. >> [cheering] [applause] >> MR. STAGE IS GOING TO HELP ME BY [applause] HANDING out your plaques because it's really important to get pictures. And so as he's handing those out, I'll tell uh those of you that are in the We'll get a picture in a minute. Uh Julianne, so our uh Elmo Heights High School sports media team, if you're not aware of it, is the team of these adults with
005about 15 other students who are taking classes and training to [clears throat] do a variety of real world things like at the football games on Friday nights, they run the video scoreboard. The little the folks on the sidelines with the cameras, those are high school students. Um, and the live stream that goes out that people are so excited about watching games if they're out of town. My sister lives in Brazil and she watches Alamo Heights High School football games religiously through the live stream. Now, uh, and so, uh, tell us what you are and what you your name, [laughter] your first name, last name, and what you do for the district in your day job that's not the sports media. >> I'm Brian Slo. I'm computer tech so I just do various >> fix things
006>> fixing uh things. So, >> right. >> Yeah. >> Uh Ayanna Mendes. I'm a audiovisisual design teacher at the high school. >> Right. >> Lauron Fields. I'm the business incubator teacher. >> How's it going guys? Brian Manette. Uh I am the AP and on level macroeconomics and government teacher. Oh wow. >> And Scott Short and I'm AP computer science and I assist with the business classes as well. >> And so that's what they do by day. By night you're looking at the director of the production. Uh he's also the tech director, but I'd like to call him the director. Co-director. >> The co-director. I'm going to call you the producer, but you're technically the sports media teacher. >> Yes. >> Is that fair? I just made that up. >> Sure. [laughter] These two folks are
007the on air personalities >> who call the game. >> And then this, I'm going to call him the graphics operator by night. [laughter] >> So, these are the folks that help work with the students behind the scenes to make all this happen. Now, um we've had this for I think two years now. This is maybe the thirdish, something like that. So, but here's really kind of the kind of what's really the challenge this year. We had new staff, right? So, we have a new teacher teaching the kids during the day and going into the night. Um, we added uh somebody who's not a teacher but is in the technology department to kind of widen uh the expertise. Uh, we added that as well. And then we also [clears throat] added a new platform. So, by
008partnering with uh Texas Sports Production that helps with the production value really kind of upped our game. >> Uh there's something else that was new. Oh, we added the new technology. It's just like a lot of new things and this team came together and really meshed and uh I think everyone I everyone who watches it, whether it's online or at the stadium is always kind of commenting on how the quality of it all. Well, I I think you guys know this, but this is even so special that we won uh a grant from the charity ball >> to help fund some of the equipment behind this because what they do is so impressive. Is that right? >> That is absolutely [laughter] $35,000. >> Wow. >> Yeah. You should The equipment in there is very fancy,
009right? [clears throat] [snorts] [laughter] >> Yeah. He he stretches it a long way. >> Yeah. [laughter] But I couldn't be obviously you can tell I'm very proud of these of this team and I they take such joy. I like going in there and just bugging them during the games and they're when they're very busy like Frank [laughter] and I'm just fanboying over them. So uh before we clap more for them, I'd like to see uh tell us who's here to support you. Um I have my wife here, [cough and clears throat] Bianca Slo over there and then I also have my coworker Trevor and then my boss. How about you? >> Um, my husband Austin in the back there and my mom [laughter] is here. My daughter, >> she was cheering already. >> He was
010so excited. Well, and thank you so much for bringing the and I won't put you on the spot. Yeah, you're good. You're here supporting each other. >> That's [laughter] the kind of thing. Well, uh, we appreciate you so much. And is there anything you guys want to add before we clap for you? >> Uh, no. We appreciate the program being able to be seen, heard, and cheering the mules on and giving people the opportunity to know that on Friday nights, whether we're there or eventually away, that they can tune in and catch a great game. And hopefully we say something to brighten up your Friday night life. >> CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> Super fun. Our next recognition is for two Alamo Heights teachers who have earned uh the very prestigious National Board certification from Cambridge Elementary,
011Sarah Garcia, and from the junior school, Shelley Ban. Come on down. [cheering] >> [applause] >> All right, pictures. >> You're still [clears throat] naked, so you're just going to keep looking at that. [laughter] >> Yeah. [laughter] Well, so for those of y'all that don't know, teachers know what this is, but if you're not a teacher, you might not know. National board certification is a prestigious difficult um uh endorsement acknowledgement to get which our teachers work very hard. Now this is our our um we launched our first cohort in 2019 through a partnership with our education service center region 20 and the Texas national board coalition for teaching. Now this is offered in 25 certificate areas and candidates prepare four components. Three of those components include portfolio entries that include student and teacher evidence like work
012samples, lesson plans, feedback forms, and even recorded videos of their teaching. Uh, and then another part of it is a computer-based assessment quizzing them on their content knowledge as well as pedagogical practices in the content area. And they turn it in, I think you say in June, and they announce in December whether you've qualified. Now, this is such a prestigious uh honor that the state of Texas has uh put this in the category with a teacher incentive a lotment that once you're recognized with this designation, you will receive a bump in pay like forever, I think. >> Sure. PRESSURE [laughter] funded by the state. [laughter] The state has put their money behind this to say these this means something and so they will get extra money from the state coffers. Uh those listening out there
013in [laughter] uh so this is a lot of hard work. I know um not just your skill and expertise and experience but perseverance uh and so anything you want to add to let us know about this awards s there >> um well there's 2% in the nation and 1% of teachers in Texas that get this recognition. So it's an honor to be part of this um this cohort of teachers. This um this recognition is extremely it's like the top thing you can get. um for teachers. So to work towards it is an extreme honor. Um I am very grateful and give thanks to God cuz it takes a lot of prayer. It takes a lot of perseverance. It takes a lot um it stretches you as a teacher. It challenges you as a teacher. It
014makes you a better teacher for it. Um, and it's a lot of people started with us and didn't finish with us because it's not it's not an easy thing to do and so I am very honored to have earned this title. >> Yeah, you did earn it. How about you, Shel? >> Um, well, so for a lot of people working towards it, um, when I first was selected to be part of the cohort, I really scratched my head. What did I get myself into? because you can get it in [laughter] PE, you can get in art and music and science and math, but for theater, it's part of career technology education. >> So, that really stretched me. And there were many times that I was very frustrated because I wanted to be like, gosh, why
015is theater always left out? But then as I'm standing here thinking about it and listening to you read it again, I'm really kind of honored and and seeing these sports media people honored here today that theater is part of career technology education. So I'm that's actually reversed my mindset a lot because um it really does influence how I go into my classroom every day and show my students how you can use theater in everyday life. >> That's very well said. >> That's awesome. Now Shay, who's here supporting you? Uh my husband's here and he did give me a lot of space and grace. [laughter] UH and also that perseverance talk because I was part of that original cohort. There was I took a year off because I just needed to wreck another musical instead of
016working on that. Um, and I am I was really so so happy to um see those fireworks two weeks ago because it like I said it's I I look to see like, okay, what do I need to do? And it it does influence how I walk into my classroom every single day and say thank you for your support. >> That's great. How about you, Sarah? Who's here with you? >> Um, >> way at us if you're here with Sarah. >> [laughter] >> I've got my um husband Chris in the back, my daughter Abby who's at the high school. Um I've got Jana who came back from retirement today. [laughter] I've got um my school family, my real family, my sister Alice, my niece. I've got our principal and assistant principal, Miss Mo and Miss Smith
017here. and my school family who are also national board recognized teachers. Um Christy Chris and uh Kevin Chris and >> I couldn't have done it without them. It's absolutely true that you give up holidays, you give up weekends, you lock yourself in a room and you tune everybody else out. It's a huge sacrifice. So I'm grateful my family gave me that space. um it's a financial burden and you know I wasn't sure how to cover it sometimes and there was a check in the mail randomly from one of my sisters and even the Chris's said you will finish this if we have to help you do it and so there there has been such tremendous people in my corner and I am extremely grateful for everyone here who is part of this recognition with me
018>> I think Kim Alexander's here she's our academic dean and so I'm really happy she's here and she saved me seats and very [clears throat] proud. She's congratulating me every time I see her in the hallways. But I also want to shout out to Julie Draper who's part of the Cambridge family because she did let me send her my writing and she did say you're on the right track and she was a person I could text and be like, why am I still here? you know, and so and I she was the first person I had to wait until because I [clears throat] did look at my scores at 11:00 p.m. Um, but I waited until an appropriate 800 a.m. to text her the next morning because I was so I couldn't wait to share
019with her. So, >> well, we're excited for you and grateful for you. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] Uh our last [clears throat] uh delegation actually is from the high school student council. Come on up, Lindsay Beard. Let us know what's going on with high school student. [applause] >> Hi everyone, my name is Beer Patel. I'm the student council president. >> Hi, my name is Lindsay Lamb. I'm the vice president. And two weeks ago, we had our winter first Friday, we sold hot cocoa and we did our normal outdoor lawn games. It was a lot of people didn't play the games as much as the summer game or summer days, but a lot of people had fun still. We still listen to Christmas music. We had our tree. Didn't Mr. Diller didn't show up, but it's okay. We still
020We still had Santa and spirit. And yeah, it was a really good time. >> Yeah. So, we're finishing off the semester right now. Now it's finals week. It's very crazy time. Uh we're working towards our little thing in the spring where we're going to bring safe driving to our campus. We're working on some activities and some booths we can do. Um we're also planning on having something during Valentine's week. Maybe like a matchmaker thing, not just for like that aspect, but more of the like friendship and like fun part of being a part of a community that um like the little matchmaker could like help you provide. >> And really, we're just wrapping up the semester. It's been a long semester, so I'm very excited for the next >> Well, thank you all for being
021here. Thank you. And every seme every talk has been great this semester. So, [applause] >> uh this is the end of our recognition portion of the evening. So, if you're here just for that, this is a great time to just get out. You're welcome to say your business. Thank you all for being here. Have a great holiday break. She doesn't see anybody. [clears throat] That sounds devious like the road run. Okay, we've received uh I'm going to go to item section 3, citizens to be heard. We've received one request to speak on an agenda item. Um, public comment about teacher support. When your name is called, you will join us to speak at the table. Each person will have three minutes to speak. >> You mean you know what to do. >> How did you
022[laughter] know? >> So, I don't need to say anything. >> We're good. Okay. So, you got three minutes. Welcome. >> Happy December. As I've discussed several times this year, and in the past, bad legislation is putting school districts, school boards, administrators, and teachers in impossible positions. Um, we moved to San Antonio 11 years ago and moved into Elmo Heights ISD, finding honestly one of the cheapest houses available in the district at the time. Um, because so many people told us it was a district where, um, there were both high academic standards and amazing teachers in communities. Um, [clears throat] and a community And that has been our experience from Howard through the high school. And I believe that every person who is a member of this district um really does have the best interests of
023students at the core of their work. Um as do I both here as a parent um also as someone who prepares future teachers and who does national state and national advocacy around intellectual freedom and teacher support and the like. Um, sometimes we disagree on the best way to build a system where all students can [clears throat] thrive, but we all do have that at the core of the work we do. And I'm here to remind the board um and potentially those listening that there are elected official or elected officials and organizations that don't that would like to see nothing more than the failure of our public schools. Um and the state elected officials, a majority of them Republicans for the last 30 years have ensured that public school districts are underresourced and overmandated um and
024buried in bureaucracy. Tea and its mandates have exploded under Governor Abbott and Mike Morath. I don't need to tell you that. You live that dayto-day. And more recently, political organizations under the guise of parents rights and protecting children have sought to weaponize parents very real fears about how to help their children thrive in the midst of climate disaster, culture wars, surveillance, gun violence, and a deeply uncertain economy. SB12 and its purposefully vague language is one example of that legislation. And it is because it talks about what's acceptable to talk about in schools, particularly around race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, is a handy tool for these organizations, most of whom are not located in our community, to really weaponize parents concerns um because why would such laws be necessary if there weren't problems? And my
025first insight into how this district worked was serving on the ad hoc committee that Kevin Brown pulled together and Steve Allison chaired to really ask hard questions about how the district was building community that allowed all children to thrive. And I am so proud of the work we've done and the way it's continued to unfold and be implemented through the hard day-to-day work. And I see laws like this getting in the way of that. making sure that some of our most vulnerable children do not feel like they belong and their families do not belong here. And I know that's not the stance of the people who work here and the people who've been elected to represent the district. And I would simply invite the board to continue to find ways to support administrators and teachers
026doing that essential work. So, thank you for your time and attention tonight. Have a great holiday season. >> Thank you. Okay, we're going to move into section four, items for presentation or possible action. Uh the item on our next on our agenda is uh target area update budget and financial responsibility. >> Yes. >> And is that the DR walk coming in? [laughter] >> Yes. Okay. Um, so you know, our cabinet, >> yeah, I am not I am not our cabinet team is pretty tight. You all know that. And so I have the privilege [laughter] because my department, Matt, our work overlaps as we talk about federal grants. So we're going to talk tonight about federal grants and then I'll peel off and Matt will talk about first and then our audit. But we are starting
027by talking about through the lens of community- based accountability. To what degree is Alma Heights fiscally responsible? >> You just wait. This is so gonna work this time. There we go. Um, but you can't begin any presentation about fiscal matters without talking about some core points. One being that we sent back $23 million. >> How much? How much? >> 23 million. Is that correct, Matt? How many zeros are there? >> That's a lot. Yeah. Um, and 86.4% 4% of our non-recapture budget all goes to support our staff. And so we genuinely do a lot with a little in terms of um financial resources. And the other thing to know as we talk about federal and state grants is there's no such thing as free money. So federal grants all have to be spent in a
028specific way with specific requirements and a specific timeline. And it all falls under the umbrella of being known as it has to supplement, it can't supplant what is already obligated by um our local funds. So, I'm going to start by talking about the Every Student Succeed Act, which is known as ESSA. And I'm just going to put federal grants in context. You saw this last year. This is just an update this year. This compares our district, Almo Heights, about 4,700 kids, with another local district in Beay County that has 5,700 kids. So, fairly similar. And I'll speak to each of these grants in a moment, but just to put it in context, Title One supports struggling students. We get $371,000. Our neighboring school district gets $2.4 million federal dollars for the same grant. Title two,
029which supports professional development, we have 100,000. They have 309,000. Title three, emergent bilingual students, we have $35,000. They have 131. Title 4, uh, which supports safe schools, we have $29,000 for the entire district, they have 181. So when you add in special ed in Perkins, we get $1.5 million, which equates to $319 per student. That neighboring district gets $4.4 million, which is $772 per student. So as state funding is a deep cut, this is the lemon juice on top of it. When you look at federal, it is just um not equitable. >> Sickening. >> It is. And most of it is because the methodology is derived from the percentage of students that qualify for free and reduced lunch. But when you're talking about school safety, that shouldn't be based on that methodology. >> That's crazy.
030>> So, Title One, as I said, supports struggling uh students uh struggling in academics. And this is how we use those funds. We do not qualify as a title one school. You may hear that bantered around. We don't have the percentage of students that qualify for free and reduce to qualify as a title one district or have any campuses. So we get targeted funds to support targeted intervention. It's early math, early reading and we use it primarily just to offset the salaries of our interventionist. The remaining funds go for parent education and specific uh materials and professional development. A week ago at Cambridge, they had a parent engagement event all on math. So Jennifer Deleon led the staff. They created math games, invited the parents in to play the math games with cards and dice,
031and then gave the parents a bag to take home with holiday themed ga games they could play at home with their kids to support math fluency. Title two is professional development. This funds is distributed across all campuses. This is also the grant that I use to pay for uh teacher incentive aotment. When teachers come in and help write assessments or those consultant fees, it all comes out of this. Title three is emergent bilingual helping emergent bilingual gain English language skills. This goes across all campuses. It pays for professional development in writing and math and tutoring for those students. Title four supports school safety and it's used [clears throat] bless for care solace counseling co-op drug dogs crisis go that we use as a district as well as mindwise which is our suicide prevention program and
032you just saw our um live sports media entire all of our CTE programs and think of the cost of those programs rocketry even fashion design sewing machines aren't cheap. Culinary, all of that, $33,000 a year is what we get from the uh from federal government to support career tech development. And we use this to pay for incubator training, annual curriculum, systems, go supplies, and materials, and also the stipen for uh our live sports coaches. So, we stretch those dollars to the penny. Because we get limited federal funds and there's limited state, we've had to get more aggressive in applying for grants. So, this lists out some of the other grants. I'm just going to highlight a few. One, we do have a grant for AP computer science principles, which pays for training for the teacher
033and offsets the cost of AP exams if you're in computer science. And Jackie Moore in the teach program, we have a grant that supports that. And you also heard about the competitive grant we were awarded from the San Antonio Charity Ball, which supports something for culinary, a new bore lane for rocketry, that may not be the exact name. Forgive me if it's not, and the tririccaster for uh sports medium, all for a million dollars in additional grants. >> Uh we do have two grants that we wrote for this year. We'll find out in February if they were awarded. One is a large grant that would support math adoption and professional development for three years and then the other one is just an extension of that AP computer science training. >> And I would just add
034that we're going to come to the board in February to talk about the method. >> Correct. Thank you for that. Um I'll end my part just with an update about just kind of the state of federal grants. It's been a frustrating year because uh federal grants most of them are moving out of Department of Ed into the Department of Labor and there we saw a 5% we didn't know the impact that was or will have. We saw a 5% [clears throat] decrease this year. We're expecting more of a decrease next year. We seen a large increase in compliance reports that we're having to do. And the way the reason it's frustrating is there's so much uncertainty. We don't see something coming coming. All of a sudden, boom, there's a new compliance report. It's due in
035four weeks and we're scrambling to get data. So, that's been frustrating in terms of being the grant manager and we won't know. And it's frustrating, too, to kind of forecast out how many federal dollars will we have. We don't know. Usually at this point we begin to see some trickles or some rumors of some planning amounts and we're not seeing anything. >> So Matt, tell us about um your target area and some updates there. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. So um in under uh pillar 7 and some of the target areas there's the public ones that y'all are aware of uh especially around working with and informing uh the budget advisory committee uh exploring the uh a voter approved tax ratification election uh some of the things we did with that as well as
036the work with the budget and then also the tax rate adoption. Uh other things that you may not be aware of and I wanted to highlight those is uh regular training that we do uh internally uh with our staff across departments and campuses. Uh and this includes scheduling five what I call business roundup sessions uh a year. We uh put those on professional development days and u and then also we have the weekly meal time virtual sessions uh every Monday. So, uh, and I really like that cuz it's, uh, very interactive and, uh, uh, folks can just tune in, uh, during a time Monday morning and ask their questions from across the campus for their financial questions and, uh, and we have the whole business office on online to to answer them. So, >> and
037I want to do an affirmation like my secretary Lori goes to those and benefits and it's so helpful that our secretaries are there at a set time and Matt is very helpful with key information, proactive and there just to answer question in live time and even if you didn't ask a question, you're hearing the information rather than just an email that not everyone got to benefit from. So, it's been a really nice addition to the professional development and some of our support staff. >> Okay. Uh so and yeah and as we get questions uh if we don't know the answer right now right then we research it and we get the answer back to the staff uh really quick. So um it's really been enjoyable. >> Um okay so moving on uh from the pillar
038of >> well let's pause if there's any questions. >> No there's not. >> Okay. Sorry. Uh [laughter] uh moving into uh the school first and the school uh first hearing part of tonight. >> So we're moving into item letter B. >> Yes. >> We're moving to the next item. Okay. >> Thank you, D. >> Yeah, I'm just [laughter] >> I'm just rolling. >> We're going right agenda here. So um so on our school first rating, we uh we have a superior achievement. Uh now uh this rating is based upon uh uh audited information from the 23 24 uh fiscal year. Uh the fiscal period ending August 31st of uh 2024. Um so we did get superior achievement. Uh we passed u the score is uh 94 out of 100 and uh and so um that
039was a great that that's a good result. And uh we there's a different set of indicators uh within school first. These indicators and and the numbering is kind of unique in the way TA does it. Uh these are usually pass uh you know either you pass them or you don't. And if you don't you may either fail school first or you may get like a maximum score of 70 and then you have to have perfect on everything else just to just to pass. It makes it really really challenging if you don't pass one. We passed all these indicators that are listed. Uh and uh and so uh moving on. Uh here's an example of one of those indicators just to just to brief the board. Uh and those indicators are typically like uh if we
040are turning in things on time, if we're paying uh uh certain uh obligated payments on time, and uh and and making our reports and and uh and filing stuff according to the uh TA and state laws. So um and so this is an example of one uh that we have and and and items were filed annual financial report was filed on time in this one. So other indicators uh indicator 7 through 15 and 18 and 19 uh these are the indicators that result in scores. And so that score that you saw on the very first slide of 94 uh that's where these numbers are generated from. Uh in our case um all the uh uh uh I guess deductions if you would uh from uh 100 to 94 came off of indicator uh number 11.
041And uh and so this is the ratio of long-term liabilities to total assets for school uh is the for school district uh to support long term solveny. And uh we received four out of 10 points. Um and so I I put the numbers up there just so you can see them as to where they're coming from. And for the period, [clears throat] the long-term liabilities, and I'm going to round it here when I say this, it is uh 200 million or just a little bit above 200 million in all long-term liabilities. And uh total assets on that date were just shy of 250 million. Uh to kind of highlight where that comes from and and I know this is little tiny writing, but I just wanted to show it to you so that u you
042know that I'm not just making this up. It's um coming from our uh companywide uh financial statements. Uh and so it's looking at the total assets um in in that kind of first column there. And then it's looking at one line in the um in the liabilities area which is uh those items that are due more than one year one year out. And uh so it's comparing those two and to receive the maximum number the uh TEA would hope or what they're telling districts is that um to is that they would desire for uh long-term liabilities to not be any greater than 60% of the total assets. Uh and that way you get all 10 points. If it's a higher uh a higher percentage than that then you start uh deducting some points. Um now
043one of the things and just to kind of add some additional information is that um and I think the next item we have the approval of the financial audit and u the we know the audited numbers uh for uh 2425 and so we can project what this indicator will look like uh under uh with the most recent numbers and um credit to uh Phil Vaughn here our our our auditor for for his work on this the uh indicator result uh that we're projecting for next year is that we would actually receive 10 out of six out of 10 points. Uh so up from the four out of 10 points that we saw uh for 2324. Now uh I did put the numbers there for long-term liabilities 264 million as compared to 359 million. One of
044the things that does help with that and there's a lot of moving parts in this but uh is is looking at uh our fiscal year ending on June 30th and that we do have uh generally higher uh assets on June 30th than we do on August 31st and so that helps in this you know as well. So anyway, I just wanted to highlight that, you know, that there's going to be we're we're expecting some improvement in in that indicating other things in school first that's required during the school first hearing and uh it's the is five disclosures. And so we have uh disclosure number one is the superintendent's current employment cont contract and uh this has been updated and thank you Julianne uh updated to to our uh website uh the the current uh contract
045as well as the full uh results of the school first uh uh results of all indicators and stuff. uh but uh that is on our website. On disclosure two, uh this is the reimbursements that uh by by the superintendent and the schoolboard members again uh looking at fiscal year uh 23 24 and so those numbers there are the amount of dollars that were uh reimbursed. Now the um uh examination of these uh of these values here come from not just person you know reimbursement of uh you know like checks being cut back to the uh to the person but also uh expenses that were paid like on the district credit card uh on behalf of uh of of an individual that and you know the school board member or the superintendent. >> What is that?
046I didn't have to spend $950. We had to >> I'm like what should buy? [laughter] >> You had to do some training. You had to hire [snorts] trainer to come. [laughter] >> 101 training for Clay. [laughter] >> Check. Check. >> I thought but I was there for like 30 minutes. That guy over there was for like the whole afternoon. It goes to you, buddy. [laughter] >> I don't think he has much on his >> Dave had like one star. [laughter] The third disclosure is uh any [clears throat] outside compensation or fees received by the superintendent uh have to be reported. U there is none to report. Um just something >> on the side you [laughter] thinking this would be >> disclosure number four is uh gifts received and so it's uh gifts in with a
047dollar value uh greater than $250 and uh uh none have been reported or disclosed uh for that period uh ending August 31st of 2024. And then the final one is [clears throat] business transactions between school district and board members. And uh and there is one there uh >> doesn't look good. [laughter] >> Please continue with the explanation >> from a former former board member who was on a board of uh of the American roofing and metal company. And in that particular period we incurred a substantial cost in that area. [laughter] Well, >> that's funny. So um that concludes the uh school first part the pillar seven part also too and um are there any questions? >> No. >> So I don't have any questions [snorts] but I I I do have something >> that I
048want to say and that is that ever since I've been on this board I always feel like recapture is a a bad term. you know, like, you know, they're taking it from us. And for me, I don't believe that. And why I say that is because what do we get per student? 60 >> $6,215 is a basic allotment. >> $6,215. So, if we had a,000 people at this campus, we would get 6.2 plus million, right? But we take in 12 million in taxes, property taxes. How the how the state funds public education is how they do it. However, if you know you know JISD or wherever you know has a thousand students, but they only take in 2 million in property taxes, right? So how they do it is, and I hate this word, but
049it's equitable. and in and that they're taking from our large property taxes and giving it to people that don't have high property taxes. And I just I I've never liked the fact that we feel like we're being deemed for recapture because we all get the same amount. It's just where the money comes from. We all every every student at every public school gets the same amount of money. Now, I don't understand why they get more grants than we do, you know, I don't know if that's, you know, because I I just don't know, you know, I mean, cuz that was interesting to me that that, you know, we get 30 grand and, you know, this ISD gets 230 grand, you know, I I don't know how, why um and and so that's just a wondering
050for me, but you know, the fact that um we have recaptured is it's almost like a blessing that we're in a place where you know >> I would argue to say that if we were adequately funded that would be a good argument to make but because we're not adequately funded you know to the level of where we need to be with the cost of inflation since 2019 >> then perhaps >> yeah I I guess I guess I would I would push back on that only because in the five years I've been on the board if we had all our recapture dollars and no one took anything from us our fund balance would be $175 million. >> No, I'd be spending it. [laughter] >> But but I'm just saying what on earth would we do with
051that, >> you know? Well, and I [laughter] will I will note that the money that goes for recapture is not designated for school funding. >> No, it goes into it. It goes in the general fund. >> That's where I understand your argument. >> I'm not making an argument. I just don't know how it's such a negative. It >> it is >> if we're properly funded. I don't I don't think I >> a good discussion. I agree. >> If we were properly >> if we were Okay, fair enough. I will I will abstain. >> Thank y'all. Y'all did a great job. Thank y'all. >> Yes. Audit. >> Yes. So, um next item on the agenda is the audit. Uh now the uh board has previously been brief on the uh audit for the 2425 uh fiscal
052year but we do have Phil Vaughn here if there's [laughter] any questions [clears throat] uh regarding that and uh otherwise um we uh yeah we we request approval of the uh of the audit for the 2425 this week. So this has gone through sub committee work through team work and so here for final approval now that we got all the decks in. >> Yay. >> Great. >> All in favor? Yay. >> Motion and then >> I'll I'll make the motion to approve the audit. >> Second. >> Now all in favor. >> All in favor? >> I opposed. >> The motion passed. >> Phil, thanks. Appreciate >> Merry Christmas. Glad you got to sit here. >> Merry Christmas. >> Don't rush out. [laughter] >> There's more fun to be. >> Okay, we're going to move into
053this. Right. >> Uh item number item number five. Dana is hungry. >> No, she has her future son-in-law. >> No, she she [laughter] >> item number five consent agenda. Okay. Where's my Did >> you Did y'all get >> Yes. >> Oh, >> yes, we did. We got to do the calendar. Oh, we got to do the calendar. Come on up. Sorry. >> Section D. Calendar. Let's go. >> Is it like LAST YEAR'S? OKAY. >> [laughter] >> NOW you're >> like, [laughter] [snorts] >> uh, for those folks that are watching, uh, I just wanted to remind everybody that when we develop the calendar, um, I work with a subcommittee of our district educational advisory council. And on that subcommittee, I invite in, uh, PTO. I ask each PTO president to give me somebody from the PTO
054exec board to come meet with us. So I have good parent representation and then I have some admin administrator from the elementary level and administrator from the secondary level and then I invite anybody on DAC who wants to come and we get together and I have a draft for them to look at. We talk about it and give me feedback and then I develop that. Um, we I talked about what's on your page right now, which was all the kind of the constraints and parameters that go into the calendar, right? So, I can't just make any calendar you want. >> Then, if you'll go to the next slide. [clears throat] >> All right, guys. Never mind. I um uh we make sure to talk about this because it always comes up from parents. [laughter] >>
055I'm just trying to keep >> right. Yeah, I'll keep plug it through. I used to teach all Jaggy. Are you teach um the there's a certain days throughout the year where kids don't come and I we get that it kind of it's hard for parents to figure out where they go but the days that we identify for those [cough] are either teacher work days uh which there three I think throughout the year and or early release days and there are two of those one each semester and that's like a in the middle of a Wednesday kids come half day, they go home. And those are a recruitment and retention tool for our teachers who work so hard like you heard today, right? They work so hard that we just it's hard to get have time
056that's not making them come early or stay late. And so we have those uh to make sure they have enough time to meet and work and that kind of thing. Uh and so the PTO folks that represent us in those committees, they get it. I but I just feel like I have to remind us of that because when I do the survey there's always a few comments about that and they get it and it's like a it's one of those give and takes about like we love our teachers so we have to give them a little bit and we appreciate the parents uh allowing us to do that. Now it's almost like last year like this year uh with the exception of a couple of things. Um one at the top well at the bottom
057you'll notice where Memorial Day is. It's the May 31st. >> Mhm. >> That's like a later, right? See how cuz May May creeps into that one other week. >> So that can allows us to move the whole calendar down one week. >> So if you look at the top this year, we started on the equivalent of Wednesday the 12th. >> Next year we'll be able to start on the equivalent of Wednesday the 19th because everything just kind of moves down. >> I can't take credit for it. >> Is it going to squeeze us the following summer though? >> I don't know. I haven't looked that far yet. >> Okay. [clears throat] But know that I've always kind of we we try to book end with where's Memorial Day and finish there. Count all the days
058and minutes I need backwards and then fill it all in. So that just kind of worked out. >> Just how does that impact like sessions like nineweek sessions? >> Ah, very good. Nice. The teachers caught that. >> Uh and so it makes the first notes. >> Uh nine weeks the first semester a little bit shorter than the second semester. Uh, but I had our AC our Canvas administrations work with a couple of teachers to the the [snorts] real trick is to figure out where the nine weeks end in those things. So, as long as those are relatively equal, they're fine. And notice I don't have the end of the nine weeks, do I? Maybe I do. Anyway, so we we retrofit that on top of that. So they are shorter, but because in the springtime
059instruction takes such a big hit anyway because of AP testing and state testing that it kind of equal out anyway. >> Yeah, makes sense. >> Okay, so that's now the other two things I want to point out that a little bit different about this year's calendar, I put a animation. So, spring break is the second week because uh Easter is earlier and that pushes Good Friday, >> which is the 26th, a little bit earlier. [clears throat] And so, we just as you were talking about it, if we had spring break and then the next week you had Good Friday and like we all feel like it's really important to have a teacher work day, right? Coming back, it'd be like a 3-day week. And when we weighed the benefits of having spring break where it
060is there versus the other place, there's just fewer negatives having it there. And I got everybody kind of made sense. North Side settled on the same thing too for the same reason. >> The teacher work, why is that so important? I'm just curious. >> Yeah. So when you come back, it gives you a chance to kind of like get ready for the kids, get everything lined up as opposed to just coming right off the break with kids. It gives them a full spring break so they're not on the campus Saturday and Sunday getting ready for the week >> and it's nice for feedback. [laughter] >> Yeah. Yeah. Well said. Well said. Uh the other thing I want to point to that's a little different than so I'm going to go over the survey results in
061a minute. But the draft calendar that I posted for the survey was the one you're seeing based on feedback that I got and I went back to staff. The other thing I want to point out is right here. This year we experimented with having elementary parent conferences on a Monday in the fall because there was so much going on on Fridays. We just couldn't find a good Friday for it. Uh it didn't it's we didn't like it. And so in the actual calendar that I put in your board book that you're going to vote to approve, that work day is on that Friday the 23rd. That makes sense. Uh I just wanted to point out that that's not what was in the survey and we got uh feedback on that. Now [clears throat] speaking of
062the survey, uh in terms of staff, we had 137 folks respond and um you know 91% said they agree with it. Most of those folks were faculty and then in the parents we had 97 respond and about the same 90 you know 90% said yeah it's fine. You know, I get a number of open-ended responses. I didn't feel like I got as many open-ended this time, which is fine with me. Uh, but I read them all and some of the feedback from staff was again, they always say, "Thank you so much for giving us those teacher work days, especially right after a break." Um, uh, most people appreciate starting on a Wednesday. >> Some people don't, >> but wide majority think they like starting midweek. And, uh, most people appreciate ending before Memorial Day. That's
063from staff. Uh parents say about the same thing. They like stay most but some don't. >> Uh and then when they saw that 19th start, they're like, "Thank you." >> Well, sorry. I didn't I didn't really do that, but that's just the the way >> you can take the credit. >> That's right. >> So, that's kind of the quick overview. And so, we're requesting that you actually officially approve this and then once you approve it, I or if you approve it, I will post it online. And that'll be our calendar. >> I move we approve the 26 27 >> timeout. >> What do I have a motion to approve the 2627 Alma Heights Independent School District >> draft school account? >> Submit. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Any further discussion? >>
064All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose? Nay. Motion carries. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you all. >> That's a big lift every day. >> Thank you for doing it. >> Great feedback and collaboration. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next item on our agenda is consent agenda. These items >> that the board considers routine or have been previously reviewed and discussed in our prior meetings and that we therefore enacted one motion. Is there anything on the consent agenda that any board member would like to remove or consider to be an item on the regular agenda? >> I do want to point out that we had over $200,000 in donations, which is just crazy to me, actually. Um, all right. If there are no items to pull out, do I have a motion
065to approve the consent agenda? >> So move. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Any further discussion? All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> All oppose? Nay. >> All right. Great. Motion carries. Now, we're going to go to section 5H, board member committee reports. Uh, our following item on agenda, committee reports, goals and principles committee. >> We're going board member committee reports. Um, building committee. And that's Hunter. So 6A. >> Yes. 6A. >> Okay. Um, so at the building committee, we reviewed uh schematics for Broadway, the district community center, and uh then the [clears throat] kind of schematic layout for Heights Junior School. Uh Dana provided kind of the the PDF of it in the board package Friday. So hopefully that was helpful to see the visuals of it. But uh
066>> especially Broadway, I think for everybody to see Broadway. >> Broadway's uh the schematic pricing, which is not the final pricing for both Broadway and the district community center both came in generally in line with budget. So they're progressing with those to the next phase of design. I will note they're working with CPS and the telecom providers, which I think there four of on the polls because those are plugs right now. Now, they're half million dollar plugs each, so hopefully they're healthy plugs, but they are just full-on swag plugs at this point. So, they're working on that. But good progress on both of those. And then on the junior school, I hope youall saw the layout. I think they've done a really nice job personally on on making a dramatic improvement to the overall [clears
067throat] experience on the campus. So, fingers crossed because they're I don't know if they we have not seen the pricing yet. I know it's out for pricing right now, so we'll see that soon, but um good progress on that as well. So hopefully I'll get to see that report. >> Start when? >> This summer >> subject to pricing this. >> So on the Broadway though, did we never authorized LPA to spend the monies, did we? >> We did. We did. >> We did last month. >> Yeah. >> Uhhuh. >> Okay. We >> We just [clears throat] skeleton >> cuz I thought I thought we were wrestling with like how much do we really need LPA? Yeah, >> we we did wrestle with That's a good question. Actually, now you got me question. >> They came
068in, they cut their fees. They're about $60,000 is what? >> Yeah, they did. They cut their fees. >> It was very skeletal. I mean, like they were >> all right. Yeah, they did. Okay. >> Yeah, we got there. >> Um [laughter] that was last. That's not part of this. >> Uh all right. Budget committee meeting. So, we met and we had Samco come in and talk about our bond issuances. Um and uh he said that we were going to be hopefully in the 4.45 range of interest and uh but it's out for bid. Um we didn't do a uh you know negotiated deal. Um, so it's out for bid and uh we're I think it wasund and how many million the numbers? >> Uh 70 >> 70 million. >> So So we're going to do
06970 million. So we went through that and uh really >> just keep going. >> No, I'm done. >> Okay, good. >> Policy is um Karen or Carrie. I don't know who we landed on on that or last Friday. >> Yeah, I can just Yeah. So, we met last Friday. Carrie was and Frank and Dana. >> Um, the bulk of the conversation was around this big packet of new or edited policies that we have from the 89th legislative session. Many of them are legal in nature. Therefore, we have very minimal ability to edit or adop, you know, adapt. But there are some that we do. And so Frank has put together a nice summary that he's going to send you're going to send to the board to review prior to us adopting and approving. >> Yes.
070>> Um and then the other one was around the naming rights >> and that will be coming to the board next. Uh do we remember when we were going to send it to you? >> Well, you asked everybody to have it in the seventh that our team was going to have. always before you after it's right after you talk to the principal. >> Yeah. Right. >> And then when make sure make sure everybody looks at that though because we will >> there's a lot in the room. There's a lot >> there's a lot. >> Um and yes the naming rights will go next month. >> Next month. Yes. >> So >> all right we're going to go to uh Alma Height School Foundation and that is David. And so I'm gonna Dana >> for David
071from today. He uh [clears throat] they really it was a quick meeting we were through at 12:30. They um Heather did a overview of just their strategic planning update and we also kind of dug into uh the launch of the next endowment campaign. And so good celebrations all around um good committee reports and um that is a bright spot that meeting for me when I go to that meeting every month is like it's where I anchor my hope in in what our future you know holds and so I I leave that meeting always uplifted. >> Very good. Very good. All right. Moving on. Seven business recommendations. Do we have any? >> We do not. Okay. So, now we're going to move into section 8, executive session. So, if everyone wants a two-minute break or we
072can just dive right in. >> Let's dive in. We have a lot of time. >> I'd rather a 5 minute break. >> No, I'm just [laughter] not running. >> You want to do pictures first or >> I have this for the summary [laughter] of