001students that got places um for their artwork. So, first one um Heidi Reed [applause] I don't see Annabella Spo in here. And also Kate Morehead. She's got [applause] >> Yes, her is Christmas card. Okay. Do you want to take a picture of your child? [laughter] Moving quick. >> She's talented like a mom. That's right. >> She got it all from Tay. >> Charlie, you go. Can I see your >> Can I see your picture? >> Hey, what's on? >> You can just walk around and show it. >> I love that. >> Can walk by here. Y'all walk by right here. >> Oh my gosh. >> Oh, I love the shadow. The gold shadow on the AP3. >> And they're framed for that. >> They are. And oh, actually, you can you stand right here for
002one second. I also um included some empathy award people. And I don't I don't think I don't know if anybody showed up, but K. Oh, all right. Come come come up real quick. >> Audrey. [snorts] All right. So, these are my my two um students that um were empathy awards. So, Audrey and Kate, they also received an empathy award um this month. So, [applause] Okay. >> Come take a picture with me >> over here. >> You got to come back. I didn't even get the picture done. You think? >> I've got to admit I'm the one that put [laughter] it >> needs to be like right here and ready if somebody needs it. >> There we go. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Right. Look at your mommy. Let's get one of this man off.
003>> Yes. That's right. That's right. And while I'm up here, I'll go ahead and take care of my staff and teacher of the month. >> Miss Tilton was my staff member of the month. >> Um, come on up. >> Miss Tilton is in a new role on our campus and she is doing a fantab fantabulous a fabulous job of keeping everything um going over here. She takes the initiative and I mean I wouldn't even think that she was new in there cuz some questions I you know would ask Miss Richard when she was here I can go and ask her and she she already knows like the answer. So she is doing a great job in her new role and we appreciate all those [applause] and Miss Connelly is our teacher um that I'm recognizing
004this month. Miss Connelly, she does a great job with um our students. She takes um she advocates for them and in her classroom, she can tell you every single student in her class where they are, what they need. Um I I mean it's just amazing to see her her work. You go in her small groups, they are tailored to those students sitting right there in front of her. Um so it's just amazing what she does with um students in the classroom. So [applause] >> try Okay. So, we're going to recognize our students from the elementary. Um, they submitted pictures to be judged for the Christmas card for the district. And um these are our winners. Joselyn Perez, is she coming? Emma Beltran is not here either. Okay. Well, our winner that actually made it on
005the Christmas card is here and Miss Payton Dy. Payton, you'll come up. [applause] So, congratulations, Payton. >> I'll take one this one, too. Let me see. place. You >> want to show them? >> You want to show them? Yeah. >> Oh, she brought her sample. >> I'm old. You got to get a walk. >> Yeah. Go show them. Go show them. She has like a fireplace theme with the fire. >> Nice. Wow. >> I like this. It's very on, very creative. >> So, congratulations, Payton Johnson. [applause] >> And I'm going to also go ahead and recognize our teacher of the month that we have from our campus. Um, every month I send out um an email to all of our staff and they nominate and vote who they want to be selected as teacher of
006the month. So, this month, Miss Sammy Meyers was nominated by her peers. So this is what they had to say about [applause] Miss Meyers does an ex exceptional job of supporting the whole child in their learning. She not only creates meaningful and memorable academic experiences, but she also takes the time to listen to her students needs and guide them socially and emotionally while at school. Miss Myers builds authentic relationships with her students and is a wonderful colleague to work alongside. She's always willing to step in where needed and consistently communicates what is best for each student. We're so grateful to have her at AES. Congratulations [applause] is our fifth grade science teacher. Congratulations. >> Oh, great. Thank you. Congratulations. >> Um, we also had three students that uh competed in the Christmas card contest and
007were selected and I think all of ours are out. They're sick. >> Yeah, we that's a good guess. >> So, we called today and they're like, "Oh, we have the flu. We have strep throat." I'm like, "Oh my gosh." So, um Max Duffel is one student name. Cadence Bird, I'm just going to hold them up here worthy of a showing little house. >> I know. We do the little >> Very talented. That's Max. >> That's a I like that. Yeah. >> And this one Melissa. It's really good, too. Little house. It's very nice. >> Oh, that's cute. Yeah, that's really nice. >> And then the teacher that was nominated for our teacher of the month is Miss Lauren Brandon. You'll come on up to me. [applause] Now, I could speak and do it all, but
008I'm going to read what was written about you because I think that's so so sweet. They started doing this, the other principles, and I thought, you know what? I really like that. me rambling over do it from someone else. Okay, so uh some of the comments. Well, Miss Braymond is a natural leader and this is evident in her calm demeanor and determination to help whenever possible. She's a hard worker and never minds taking her time to share her knowledge. She's always smiling and easily lifts the spirits of others around her. Miss Brandon is passionate about educating her students and goes above and beyond to meet them where they are individually, encourages them, and creates a strong bond with each of them. She's truly an asset to AMS and the calm demeanor part is spoton because
009I might feel like I'm getting like gonna blow and she'll it's just she may feel that way but you don't know and I think that's real important for kids just the the smoothness. I'm sure she's that way at home too. Keller just so [laughter] we may not agree but she's great. She helps everywhere and sometimes you don't even know what she was doing that day because she's a math resource teacher has in the special ed department and has a great knowledge. She helps us she's been in other schools which is kind of nice sometimes to hear uh how things are done in other schools and they come in and we put those things together and see what we need to do for ours. >> [applause] >> Do you have any of that calm demeanor? I
010>> can. >> Yes, ma'am. Up there. We got the high school. We've got three things to present tonight. Got that miss on. Let's talk to the podium so I can see everybody [clears throat] for the Christmas cards awards this year. Starting with third place. And yeah, we do have a little bit of a I wouldn't call it the flu, but a little bit of cold outbreak. So, we hope everybody's here that can make it. We've got Aaliyah Williams third place in the Christmas card contest. Aliyah, are you here? >> We've got Canali Sutton, second place. And we finished off with Madison Klein first place. So board I present to you if you haven't had a chance to take a look at these. I'll pass around so you can get a gander. It's really high quality
011work and uh we appreciate our students for taking part in it. The uh student recognitions that we'll give tonight, we've got three students to honor. Uh Christian G, are you here? Senior Emily Dominique, are you here? I know Riley Bevs, you're here, right? Thank you, Riley. [applause] I'm going to hand this to you, Riley, if you can show it to the board and show it to the crowd and we'll go out there, take a picture. One second. I'm going to brag on Riley for a second. Her comments from Miss Ferguson, her English 2 teacher, are I'm nominating Riley Bettis for student of the month because she consistently demonstrates academic excellence, a strong work ethic, and a positive attitude. in the classroom. She approaches every assignment with determination, participates thoughtfully in discussions, and serves as a
012model of integrity for her peers. She has shown growth this semester, and she takes initiative to improve her work, seeks feedback, and applies a purpose. Riley embodies what it means to be a hardworking, kind, and dependable student. Uh, she supports her peers and her effort, attitude, and character make her an excellent role model and choice for student of the month. And, uh, Miss Ferguson does give out compliments easily. So, this is our one of our students of the month doing a great job. [applause] >> And we've got two staff members to honor tonight. I'll start with uh Miss Martinez. Uh Miss Martinez, if you can come up here. She is um one of our high school agriculture teammates. This is from uh our T our admin team, mostly from Miss Green who can't make it
013here tonight. She's also got a kiddo in uh some UIL activities that she had to make. So, I'm filling in. Uh, Miss Green in the admin team say because she has always uh interesting lessons planned for her students. Because she started panther paws that is a great benefit to the community in her animal classes. Because she works above and beyond as a great ACT teacher coaching her egg and bug teams during competition. She has shown dedication in and out of the classroom to her students with all the exciting and fun opportunities she created for them this year with the FFA and dog grooming class that she operates. If you haven't visited Miss Martinez classroom, please come take a look. It looks like a a veterinary office. Um, but within that she has a grooming capability
014and a lot of our staff members bring their fur kiddos, as they call them, up to the high school and they get them groomed. The kids learn how to interact with uh sometimes dangerous animals, small terriers, chihuahua, that kind of business stuff. Um, I haven't seen a cat up there yet, but we're going to get one. And, uh, they're learning a lot of stuff. And, uh, Miss Martinez is very, uh, uh, she's got a very high standard for her students. She often invites the staff to come into the library where she has the students present like they presented last board meeting with the uh the news with the FFA. They do that regularly and um for us to to give feedback to and she has a very high standard and that's why the FFA is
015at a whole new level because of of of her leadership. And our next staff member, Miss uh Miss Vega, could you come up please? >> [applause] >> Thank you very much. And you can stand there one second. The admin team writes, "Me, she's our our lead custodian at uh AHS." And this is I'm thinking this may be from actually Miss Major. She says, "She is an angel in heaven. If I need her, she's always there ready for help. If a student needs anything, she immediately responds with kindness and care. She's amazing, efficient, and does uh and gets the job done. And you know, we can't operate a high school and present it like it should be for the great students and parents of Anowak without a lady like Miss Vega taking care of us. And
016so, uh, board and community, these are our staff members of the month, Miss Martinez and Miss Vega. [applause] >> Her LDE team just went to [clears throat] state. >> I was just informed. Just breaking news. >> Breaking news team just went to state and competed. So, >> [applause] >> together. >> Thank you. No, I was telling her she needs to invite the artificial. [laughter] >> Okay. Were there any public comments? >> No rest of public comments. Okay. Uh so our next presentation is by the uh ministerial alliance. >> I just me But it's all of us here. We uh want to present this to the school. Sherry Phelps heard about this was being passed in the law that uh the ten commandments can go back in school. So getting with Cody Aperture and finding out
017how many classrooms were in all the campuses, the ministerial alliance would like to present the campuses with 150 of these that will be installed in each of the classes. So pass it around. That's what it looks like. That's all I have. >> Thank you. [applause] Okay, at this time that uh we go down to our regular business, so to speak. And so if you'd like to leave, you certainly can. We'll be getting into our regular business meeting. You have a merry Christmas. >> You want to tell him about Bye. >> Where do you want to put the box? Leave it there. >> It'll be perfect. >> Thank you. >> How are you doing? >> Hi. How are you? >> Buddy doing all right. Thank you all. Yes, sir. Good to see you. >> Okay, we'll
018go on to monthly reports, the superintendent report. >> Okay, thank you, Mr. President. As we mentioned earlier, uh Kimberly Swope has left the building and she gone. She retired and so we have Jessica Chapman coming. Uh poor Lena. She's Lena's actually being nice to us. I don't know why, but um that just goes to show her character to >> interrupt you, but Tammy and I talked about that yesterday. We at the grocery store. I said, "Poor Lena, we keep stealing her pizza." [laughter] >> She she uh she grows them up and we take them. But um you know, Jessica's going to do an outstanding job and everybody in this room knows that because y'all know Jessica and you know the work that she does. And so she'll start right after Christmas. So um you know,
019that's something big. You know, you talk about a superintendence report, that's a big deal, right? For all of us, all eight or 10 of us, whatever. >> Yeah. And um also you know uh preaching to the choir here when I tell you that we have mucho kids sick right now. And um campus principles what are the numbers like 50 to 60 at each campus? >> 62. >> We had 70 at the elementary today. >> 70. >> I'm going tell you right now, but Miss Tilton is not playing because I got a letter about Hank. [laughter] >> He had the flu. Okay. >> And of course we'll we'll file for a waiver on that and um see how that works. Uh, I did want to, so that's kind of, you know, keeping it brief. Superintendent report.
020I'll go right into the board goal report because Daniel is, uh, watching Jake play basketball up in Kirbyville. So, go Panthers up there. We wish them safe travels. Um, I wanted to talk just briefly about the, um, Texas strategic leadership. And thank y'all once again, board, for being supportive of this effort. I I probably have already told y'all the story, but years ago I had a Boy Scout troop in Bevers and I needed to bring them to a meeting held by publicly elected officials like yourselves. And so we showed up in a school bus from Texas to Liberty, Texas, uh to see their board meeting so that those boys could get that merit badge. And when I pulled up there, there was a sea of cars and I said, "What in the world's going on
021here?" So, we went into that board meeting and it was pitchforks and torches like I'd never seen before. My kids had to sit on the floor Indian style and it was on account of doctor and it was a real nice lady. I don't remember her name, but Dr. Something was bringing in a new curriculum and um and she probably did her very best to involve all the stakeholders. But all I'm saying is thank y'all for your support because we are uh in a partnership with TEA and region 5 and um y'all uh helped us remember, hey Cody, y'all better have as many stakeholders there as you possibly can because this type of thing can be controversial because this is going to be a seat change for this district. And basically, we've got Katie and Morgan,
022and they came out and facilit facilitated us at the new operations center the other day as we're trying to to to hone in on what is it that we need to make priorities. And I think they call them levers. Does that sound right, Lena? And Tammy, she'll keep them straight, I think. And so basically in a nutshell uh a huge priority or a huge lever is going to be focused on our curriculum being aligned and rigorous. And so the data has been collected where all the walkthroughs and um just all kinds of survey information and all kinds of data and it's in the report. I believe Daniel sent it to you. But I just wanted to thank y'all again for being supportive of of us in this because um every district across the state is
023trying to improve and this one is no exception and we know we have room for improvement. There's so many awesome good things going on in this district. I mean, we could sit here and talk about all night about all the great things, but you guys have taken on the responsibility of uh being the adults in the room, so to speak, no pun intended, and and and and supporting us and in fact holding us to a high standard and trying to uh improve uh the district in whatever way it needs to be improved. And in this instance, we're zeroing in on academics and again, the curriculum, the alignment, the rigor. And so, the report goes into that. And I know some of y'all have had time to look over it. And you know, if y'all do
024get a chance to look over it and you have a question for Daniel or me or Tammy or any of us really, uh, please feel free to reach out and we'll get you an answer on that. But it's all about formalizing our approach. It's about formalizing things. And we, you know, one of the things we don't want to ever do, and a lot of you, I think a lot of people in this room can relate to this. We never want to um, uh, stifle the creativity of an employee. And so we do not want to be micromanaging the classrooms to the point to where teachers say, "You know what? I think I might go work somewhere else because they're they're trying to micromanage what's going on in my classroom." So we're not talking about that.
025But we are talking about formalizing our approaches with the use of curriculum and our instructional practices because we need to what's our theme this year? >> Pull together. >> Pulling together. So we all need to be pulling together and that's what we're working on. And so, uh, we're just so, uh, appreciative of region five. And, uh, like I mentioned, Katie and Morgan, they're doing outstanding job. And I will say the other day, I think you may know this or have an idea about it, but for instance, the last meeting we had, um, and and several of the people who were in that meeting are in the room right now. And it's very similar to what Grady does with facilities, what Katie and Morgan do when they come and facilitate us in meetings, they're masters at
026it because they do it over and over again. and they have a system down just as Grady does in helping the group figure out what the priorities for facilities should be. So, you know what that looks like? It looks like they've got the big postits on all the walls and all the stakeholders. They go up and they put their little stickers on or whatever and then uh and that's all done in the interest of everybody knowing that they legitimately had a part in it. And it's not just going through the motions and pretending, you know, come to this meeting and then we're going to do what we're, you know, we're going to do whatever we think we should do anyway. No, it's actually the the the outcome of the meetings and and the outcomes of
027what we're prioritizing uh in the district are actually the result of the stakeholder input. And again, you guys were very careful to remind us to air on the side of more stakeholders and not less. And so we appreciate that. And so um that's a bit of the uh monthly board [clears throat] report there, sir. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. We have principal monthly reports are in the packet. Uh you can take a look at that unless y'all have something to add more to it. Principal >> and then we have pressation of monthly financial reports, investment reports, and budget updates. >> You have any questions? >> Not much happened since the last two weeks we met. >> Yeah, that's right. That's kind of fast turnaround. Okay. Any questions about our financial reports? from the board. >>
028Okay. All right. Then we'll move on to action items. Uh our first action item, A, consider minutes of November 17, 2025 regular meeting. >> I'll move to approve the minutes of November 17th, 2025 regular meeting. >> Okay. First, I have a second. >> I'll second. >> Okay. And all those in favor say I. >> Say nay. >> Motion carries. Okay. Okay. Item B, uh, consider adoption of resolution changing the date of trustee elections to the November uniform election date. >> Mr. President, may I ask a few comments and then if you, Tammy, and anybody else in the room wants to contribute to this conversation, probably be a lot more intelligent than anything I'm going to say. But, you know, this is something that's been on Kim's mind for years. Actually, our building and the business
029that goes on in that building on a daily basis really, it's not really conducive to have voting there. And there's actually a myriad of reasons uh to to let the county do do the voting. And um you know, it's just uh it's a tremendous burden. We have Miss Chapman coming in as a new superintendent secretary. Uh like I said, it's uh we're we're almost uh now this may be a cynical uh view. some of this it could you know the I'm sure there's another side of this argument I guess but um it seems you know it seems pretty obvious to uh all of us in office after you know hearing Kim talk about this she certainly has me convinced that we are actually asking for a problem where you know you've got people trying to
030come in and vote and it's a very private thing it's a very important thing and so they're in there with for the sole purpose of voting which is a what's the what's the term um the sanctity of voting you in our country, things like that where it's really it's a right that we have as Americans and we should be allowed to do that in kind of in a private type of setting. And we've got just people coming in and out of the building. We now know that, for instance, thanks to y'all's graciousness, we're going to be able to fix that building over there where the people working that building aren't as vulnerable to someone coming in wishing to do them harm. So, that that is against the law, you know, for it to be locked.
031You can't you can't lock a voting thing, you know. So, uh, anyway, there's a whole lot of reasons and Tammy and Dr. Redmond, we've discussed this and I'm probably leaving out maybe some of the most important reasons. Tammy, what are the other talking points on this? >> No, it's just the we have to turn off all the cameras anytime someone comes in to vote and then we don't really have the setup to make it where you can't get away from people talking because the phones are constantly ringing. Um, we have to have our cell phones just to be able to access computer programs because we have to look at the authenticator and you're not supposed to have your cell phones out. And so the the ability to do regular day-to-day business and hold an election
032in the same area is not feasible anymore. >> Yeah. So this would basically roll in our elections to the November election. the county would basically run it, you know, basically administer it or run it and it' be on the same ballot just whatever else is on that November ballot at that year. >> It just mean all of you have an additional sixyear term. >> Yeah. So six months. >> You have a [laughter] six month you have additional six months and then but whoever whomever else comes in in November, you know, as y'all cycle through that first round, then it will go back to the the boots. >> Yes. Yes. So, it it would uh basically there would not be a May election uh this coming May and then instead of it being May, it' be
033November. And so, um those positions that are up this [cough and clears throat] would be up in November. Um and so, uh and then when your position came up, it would be up in November instead of May like normal. Um then so uh Kim was yeah she she had a lot of good points about it and it it it does with the new um uh security and the the locked door um it just doesn't seem like a good place to vote. Um and we certainly don't want to send a message that we're trying to keep voters out. It's not right. And then the ever changing laws that are associated with holding >> it becomes increasingly stressful to make sure that you're not missing something. >> Yeah, we did we did have Heather Hawthorne come over
034and sit with us and Heather that's the world she lives in, right? I mean that's her world and she's very much supportive of this. I'm sorry. Well, no. I was just going to say at the most basic level, in my opinion, it gets more people involved in the school electoral process because we may have a couple hundred people come out to our May elections. But this way, a lot more people are voting in the November elections. It gets their voice heard. They're more likely to be engaged. Whether or not they want to keep us is their business, but more people will have the opportunity and and be more willing to participate in our election. So, I think that's a great >> That's very true. Any other thoughts or questions from the board concerning this? No.
035Okay. Okay. Uh so if I can hear a motion, please. >> I move to approve the adoption of resolution changing the dates of trustee elections to no to the November uniform election date. >> First, >> I'll second. >> First and second. Uh any further discussion? No further discussion. All those in favor say I. >> I. Against say nay. >> Motion carries. >> Okay. Uh next is discussion items. Uh we have item A, discuss district technology needs. >> All right. Hi. My y'all probably know me, but I'm Justice Cook, the technology director, and I'm just going to talk a little bit about kind of our what we um in case you weren't aware. And go over that and try to keep it brief. There's no numbers on here for prices or anything. We have some of
036that, but I haven't really gotten into that yet. >> And Justice, before you start, forgive my ignorance on this. Is some or all of this um based on your work with region five? Is any of this uh or is it kind of a mixed bag? >> It's it's mixed, but it it did kind of stem from that kind of set it off. But now as we looked into more of our stuff with them, we just noticed more things that you know are needed to be updated and stuff like that. >> So you are you're currently working with them also and will you come at a later date and have even more information with with that as far as the audit >> and I can I can share that all that information through email if you
037want to see it's pretty in-depth. Uh they you can be very in-depth. there is a document that kind of just explains it and then there's more like backup stuff that digs in and tells us a lot of stuff. So, if y'all want to see that, I could definitely share that and make that available and if you want me to talk more about it, I can. But overall, I'll go ahead and um well, that's that's number four, but I can talk about it real quick that we did pretty good overall. Um, we were able to fix like some of the major I wouldn't I really wouldn't call them major things, but there were a couple things that they pointed out that we were that we needed to jump on and we were we were able to
038immediately pretty much fix those within like a week or two. One of them is the two-factor thing that everybody loves for email, but it's something we got to do. We've got a lot of we I'm we're part of a email group and all region five will we'll just talk about things that happen and you know there's tons of even in our in these small districts are getting hit by different stuff now. It's kind of it I wouldn't have thought it'd be just you know the next door school but it is nowadays. It's kind of sad >> but that's kind of how things are changing too I guess. But anyway, um, so overall, um, just as I come in and started looking around and kind of walking around and and stuff, um, being in the classroom,
039that actually helped quite a bit to see how our systems work and stuff and what we might need to change. But there's kind of here's a list of six things I guess and it seems like it covers almost everything now that I look at it. But um just some things that y'all may or may not have known about that we are kind of um in need of replacement as they just age and things are changing in technology like Windows 10 going out of um support and things like that. Um it's kind of necessitated some upgrades. um they're not like they have to be to happen tomorrow, but that's why I tried to make the list and the the number the rank number one is the highest and then goes down from there. And um and
040this kind of my assessment is our PA system or our our intercom system for not this campus but the other campuses. I think it was put in around 2000. It's kind of uh becoming, you know, it's so old. Unfortunately, they don't really make these parts, you know, they kind of end into life just like like software does. All this hardware is going that way. It's kind of a older style system and more analog. We can get a more digital system at least that we're going to probably get quotes on. Um but the real problem is is more like the security of making announcements when there's a a fire or something like that if there was one. Um, currently the gyms at the middle school like most of those features don't work. So you and the
041cafeteria is out there. So at lunchtime l you know luckily our phone our raptor system works pretty good. And so we have all these we have multiple ways to let people know but you know sometimes that's that could be the fastest is the intercom system and it just needs to be updated. Um, we have finally, it's weird how it's I've been reaching out to companies. It's almost like they don't want us to pay them money to to do things and give us quotes, but I finally got one for the people that or were started on getting one for the same people that did this campus with this system so we could keep a similar one. That would be that's kind of my ideal if that's possible. Well, but we're getting at least right now two
042quotes, maybe probably three. Um, depending on if we're able to use like buy board or something that would like kind of fix the pricing, I guess. Um, but anyway, we've gotten at least the ball rolling and figuring out what that cost. I don't know what the end cost would be, but just that's going to be like the number one. And I have a feeling that one will be a pretty extensive because it's going to pretty much take everything down and replace like the speakers in the classrooms and run new wiring and stuff like that. Um >> and we need to be sure Tammy uh you know to get that somehow merged in with >> it. It was listed as under one of those um projects for the bond with bond money. It was listed on
043one of those that the um our facility needs >> committee had identified. >> That's really good. >> It's going to cost a lot. >> Anybody have any questions about that? So, next uh just teacher and like front office admins and people like that. Uh desktops. Most of most of us have a desktop. Some of us have a Chromebook or a laptop as well. Um, for teachers, uh, what I would like to do, uh, is try to transition to more like we have here at the primary where they get one laptop, possibly a thing called a docking station, which all their like their a second monitor and their keyboard and mouse and stuff. Anything they else they need to plug in can plug into that and then they simply plug that into their their laptop and
044then they can take it home and do work and then bring it back. So, we kind of eliminate one device so we don't have to buy two devices. we would replace their desktop and their current laptop. In in most cases, the the desktops are the really the older device. The laptops are kind of we could probably make them work in some cases. It's kind of um but is kind of a big shift, right? It's going from Chromebooks, which are Google based, and making it where the teachers are using um a Windowsbased machine, uh which is what their desktop is. And I think it'll just make their their experience a little more consistent. they can take it home, add files, download whatever, and then they don't have to transfer it to something else. It's just their
045laptop is their desktop essentially now. So, kind of help them keep all their files together, stuff like that. >> That's what we about. How many devices does the district have? So that's when actually he got uh Sean was doing something else I think helping can't remember who it was but uh he was able to get a list of all teachers and and staff and I kind of I went through that and it's about um there's about 100 teachers I think that so that would be laptops which are a little bit cheaper than desktops. They're about the same now. Let me see if I can >> and and the reason I ask like Samantha said that's the county does something similar to that. >> Yes. And we're on a a fiveyear cycle. I think it was
046a four year cycle, but they've pushed out because the I guess technology is a lot better. And instead of having to buy say 200 laptops at once, buy you know 50 this year, 50 next year. >> That's exactly >> start cycling out something like that. >> Yeah. So it would be um that's that's basically what I want to do. When I was at Hotel Zetta, this was already in place before I got there, but it worked pretty well. and they were on a three-year lease, much smaller school, but uh we were able to go, you know, wait three years, we would cycle all those teacher desktops down to the labs and the old lab computers just ended up getting recycled. Um and so we kind of got into that loop. So that's one thing and
047that's like my last point on here is how do we want to do that? some of these um because when I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out. Is there any do we want to try to do at least one time where we make one update to get everything up to date or do we need to do that? >> I think that may come and Tammy you correct me if I'm wrong but like when Brady comes back and facilitates the board for instance maybe sometime in the spring Dr. Redmond in looking at all of this because these are big dollar items you know and y'all do have some money. Thank the good Lord Almighty in heaven. Y'all got some money to work with, but you know, you're going to be trying to stretch it
048out and spend it on the priorities. And I don't know, Tammy, does that make sense if uh if we, you know, get Grady to help facilitate that process because we get that when we spend that money, it's spent and then you can't, you know, you can't make it fall down out of the sky to to do other things. So, we really need to take a real uh you know, serious approach to it. Don't you think? A systemic, you know, systematic type of approach. But it just seems like if you bought a whole bunch of them right now in five, six, seven years, >> they're going to have to buy a big chunk of them again. Whereas if you just, >> you know, the oldest ones get phased out now and >> slowly start working it
049back. I don't know if we could actually spend like and I don't know that you would want to spend bond money where you're paying out over a long period of time on like technology devices necessarily, but maybe on some of the wiring things that are like the servers and the power issues, things like that. But as far as >> like financing a microwave when you get your mortgage out, >> I guess we'll have to get some real solid uh numbers, right? numbers because it's going to be a big budget consideration. >> I I think that this is important, incredibly important because that is one feedback item that I consistently hear from parents and staff and the community is that we are pretty far behind on technology. So, I appreciate you taking the initiative to do
050this. Um, and I think that you made a lot of really great points and and you know, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? And I think you kind of broke that down for us. But I do just want to say on the bond thing. I did get a question from a committee member about um and it's related this is I'm sorry to steal your spotlight for a second, Justice, but this kind of segus into it about us making the improvements to the admin building that are needed, but those were not ranked high on the committee members list of improvements that were needed. And the several committee members were a little bit upset with us because they felt like they did a lot of work and put a lot of time
051and effort into that and then we immediately just did kind of what we wanted to do. So, as we spend that bond money, I would just say that I think we need to be considerate of what their recommendations are, taking all of those other things into account there. But just a comment that I did get from a committee. >> I think that's really good that they shared that with you. And you're right, and they were right. Now, I will say that I do believe the things that we're talking to Holly about are purely safety so that somebody can't just walk in on top of those ladies and inflict harm on them. Um and then and and so if we were doing a lot beyond that, I would say uh absolutely hallelujah on that. I think
052y'all might be, you know, it might be a special situation where it's the only facility in the district that where the people aren't protected. So you might you might get a pass on that and they were fine with it. And then also I explained like it's really a relatively low budget item compared to the amount of money that we have to spend. But I did just want to share with you guys that that comment was made to me that that as we look at spending so that we may need to find another funding mechanism is kind of what I'm >> the very long route that I took to get there is that absolutely needed. We may need to find another funding mechanism >> and to your point we need to try to hold that project
053down and you know for Holly and them they want anything they do or design they want it to be something to really be proud of which means expensive. So, we need to have that in mind and try to keep the numbers down as low as we can on that day. >> Well, [clears throat] and we have to look at, you know, a lot of the things that they ranked really high, we can't afford to do because we have limited funds left. And so, we have to go down the list to the next things that will have that we can afford to do that still have the largest impact on students. And yes, the admin building doesn't have a large impact on the students, but it it does a safety concern that kind of trumps other
054>> things more. >> We'll just need to do some public education engagement on that just to make sure that we're being transparent with the taxpayers and they're understanding how and why we're making those decisions. Like I said, once I explained like this is a safety issue, relatively low budget item. The person out there that talked to me was totally fine with it. But I mean, I saw her in public and she beed right for me. I was like, I want to talk to you about something. And I was like, okay. >> And we have this committee and we tell the stakeholders, "Oh, you're getting to make this." And then they find out, oh what? They're just doing whatever they want. Why did I even my kids were home by themselves and my whatever, you know,
055and I sacrificed all that time. >> Well, we we have to, you know, kind of go through the list and it's like, okay, we can afford to do this, we can afford to do this, we can afford to do this, but all these items are so expensive that we can't afford to do them at that time at this time. >> Or when you start looking at it, like if there's improvements they suggested at the middle school, we know that it needs it possibly needs to be replaced. Do we want to put that money in there? I mean, there's a lot of consideration. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I think one bite at a time is our answer. >> Yeah. And I'll just go over these real really quick for the rest. Um, I guess to
056me those are the more those are going to be probably the most expensive because the number of devices or just the costs of those systems. uh we have some power issues with with our our our offices and our servers and stuff but I don't think that's going to be that may not even be approved at the cost level. These are just just so you know these are issues for that one. Um, we have a quote from region, this was part, not really part of it, but region five, uh, just as they were investigating and looking at stuff, recommended getting power backups, battery backups for all of our server equipment, which we have, but they're they're also like some are working, some aren't. It's it is it needs to be replaced. And then we're having a
057well they're going to look at all of the generators throughout the district, but there's one in particular that connects to like the where the internet comes in for the district and that one's kind of more important I guess, but we're getting that that's finally in the in the works. Um and then the region five security um they did I actually learned a lot from them too. There's al um a free any ant any virus program that we can get through the state that will basically apply. We'll get a license for every student we have. So that should cover almost every desktop computer that we will have. So that was good. Um that's mostly going to be covered. And then a lot of these things are just like setting changes that they just recommend. None of
058this is actually this audit wasn't like anything like um that has to be done. It's all recommendations, but they're based off of uh you know, agencies that have just gone over this data and like these are the practices that work and these are the good things to do. Um and so and the other interest cool thing about that is that's a lot of that is funded through tea to pay region 5. So we ask them to do it for us. It won't be any cost to us. It's just the time of and then they get compensated so we won't have to pay them. So, a lot of these things won't u actually cost us um in that way, but there are a few programs that we've already purchased. They're actually much cheaper, but just in
059in case as we dig in more, I just wanted to be aware that we're working on the security for all devices recently. Again, the battery backups and network servers, that's kind of ties in to this to number three. So, I'll just kind of skip that. Uh but I guess I can say one good thing is uh battery backups are covered by -ate which is basically a tax on one of the taxes on your cell phone and for our district because of the economics of the the students uh we have like a 80% discount. So basically we get a we have a certain limit that we can to to spend but whatever if we spend up to that limit it's 80% off until we go over it. So, it we'll cover those battery backups and that
060type of thing and make that much cheaper. There's a little bit of Wi-Fi upgrades and some other um things that would fall under the fee rate as well and they also would get that discount. So, we're going to take advantage of that this year. And then lastly, um most of these aren't as old. I guess this is it seems kind of like what happened for me at Deseta around COVID. That's when everybody started going one to one because we kind of had to. And that's what a lot of you'll even see a big old tag on the back of these that say on a lot of Chromebooks that says TEA operation um I can't remember what they called it now but it was you know they they spent a lot of money tea to get
061a lot of Chromebooks all at once and then just and then you could buy them from them at an even a bigger discount because of just how many they bought at that time. And so um and that was about five years ago, right? So, uh, that's about how most of our Chromebooks are. Not as old. Our desktops are actually, some of them are 10 years plus. Um, but the Chromebooks, they're really just showing like wear and tear. They work for the most part. Um, their specs are good enough to run what the students need to do. They're just getting some wear and tear. And luckily, like the high school has like the $25 insurance kind of charge that would actually buy us like 50 a year or something. So, I think we could take advantage
062of some of the things that we have coming in like that to pay for those things. Um, but you know, I guess because everything kind of um is kind of slowly accumulated, it's a lot of stuff that also needs to be replaced similarly the same if not the same time, you know, on a timet. I do think that's probably going to be the best way to especially eventually to get into that because you you just can't spend weight and then spend it. Um so that's my last point though like um it sounds like that's probably the best approach is to try to figure out what we absolutely have to do and get that done and then try to get on a better schedule and going forward. But that's if you have any um information that
063you need from me or uh If you have anything that you want to tell me in an email or something like that, uh you can do that at any time. It's cookic.com and I'll give talk to you. We can figure it out. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next uh discussion item is item B. Discuss board workshop dates on TASBY. Let's save update 126. Uh President, um if I may, this is This is a big daddy and we we we really think that Corey and he he agrees. By the way, there's enough, you know, oftentimes there's board update stuff and it's just kind of like they change a pronoun in or something, whatever they do, you know, change a piece of grammar or punctuation. I mean, uh, this is going to be much more substantive than
064that. And we want to give it, uh, the respect it deserves. When we went over the agenda with Dr. Redmond, we all talked about the fact that, you know, now and it's going to be y'all's decision and we're going to be supportive of it however y'all want to do it, but we were kind of thinking, you know, when it's something that requires some serious thought to make it part of a regular meeting after y'all worked your tails off all day long, it might end up with be a bit of a long evening. So, we were thinking Dr. Revan, you're going to slap me back in place. I think, >> you know, we we definitely discussed that. But but ultimately, if that ends up a decision, it ends up being in a regular meeting. We're fine
065with that. But we just wanted y'all to be fresh and not to be miserable. Sorry, Corey. But as he goes on and on about, you know, this stuff and and then and then [snorts] pressures y'all to make a decision, you know, about this and you're tired and all this kind of stuff. So, we were thinking maybe just create a workshop and and we were kind of talking about maybe a Saturday morning, although there's nothing magic about that. Now, that's about all I have to say. Dr. Remy, you probably have some other things that you want to say. >> Yeah, basically I think of course it's going to take about two hours, we think. So, we basically need a two-hour slot. Um, so it doesn't have to be a Saturday. Uh, but it would probably not
066be best to to to double up on a on a regular meeting night. Um so outside uh so I think we picked you know are looked at three Saturdays uh in January of course you know uh the first one's still a holiday um and um Mr. President if y'all did you know ask us to try to streamline an agenda and try you know not to do like I tend to do you know go on and on to shorten that up. So we're we're okay with anything y'all y want to do. Any thoughts? >> I would prefer not the 10th. That's opening day of festival for my kids and it would be impossible for my husband to bring them both where they need to go. So 17th would be fine, but 10th I would prefer not.
067I can call them both, but I'm out the 17th. >> I've got to work. >> You want to kick that in close and we can go around the table and find out the date? >> We can. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is Yeah. We don't have to file the date right here. Right now. >> No. you know, >> yeah, y'all can y'all can and and Jessica uh or Tanny, you know, somebody certainly not me. You don't want me doing it, but somebody can be. [laughter] You didn't have to agree that adamantly, but especially the kids on here, but >> you know, this can be facilitated like she usually did, you know, via email. This is maybe just introducing that thought. Yeah. And and so >> yeah, we don't have to nail down a date. Yeah,
068that's fine. >> If you could just email me your preference because and then um we can put it together, try to figure out who would be available when we could have the most people available, which which one of the three dates. >> Yeah. And and certainly these dates probably were Corey's dates when we asked him to give us some. I'm guessing I I don't remember. I've slept since then. So, we would have to once we kind of, you know, we'd have to also include him in that uh because he likes to do cool stuff on the weekends, too, you know. about the third. >> Yeah, I know. The third birthday. >> Okay. Well, >> so close to holidays, too. >> Okay. Well, that that was basically what that's about. And and so we just need
069to find a two-hour spot. And um and yeah, we can Yeah. find a [clears throat] date. >> And Mr. President, I don't know. Corey, I Cy, do do you have anything you'd like to add to this conversation? Um >> No, I think it >> Okay. >> Now, if we did the 10th, if we could do it in the afternoon, I could because she plays at 11, so I mean like One or two would be good. I can do that. >> I'll tell I'll email you. >> Yeah, just email because Jessica technically doesn't start until after we come back from holiday break. So, just email me and then we'll have all the dates and get something lined out before we break for holiday. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And that uh concludes our regular
070meeting. Uh we'll go into close session. Discussion evaluation of personnel Texas government code 551.074 consultation with board attorney regarding all matters as authorized by law Texas government code section 551.071 here of the grief hear the grievance of parent KS under Texas government code sections 551.071 071 consultation of board attorney regarding all matters as authorized by law discussion evaluation of personnel school children district employees disary matter or complaint 551.0821 0821 schoolboard personnel personally identifiable information about public school student. Thank you. Okay, we will reconvene into open session. The time is 8:36. >> Item 11, take action on items discussed in close session. Item 12, uh, discussion and possible action to address the grievance of parent KS under board policy PNG, local student rights and responsibilities, student and parent complaints and grievances. Got our hearing motions to
071take action. No motion. Okay. Is the decision of the board to take no action on the grievance. Effectively, the grievance has been denied. Uh this concludes tonight's grievance proceedings. Uh if I could have a motion to uh adjourn. >> Uh so moved. >> Okay. Motion for Michael [clears throat] to adjurnn and a second. Okay. Second from Carlton. The time is 8:38.