001Good evening. Tonight's student showcase features the Belton ISD Penguin Project, which recently brought Madagascar, a musical adventure junior, to the stage for its fourth annual production. With more than 90 student performers, this year's production marked the largest cast in program history and included two casts and an additional performance to expand opportunities for students to shine. The Penguin Project gives students with special needs the opportunity to perform in a fully staged musical alongside their peer mentors, building confidence, connection, and a sense of belonging through the performing arts. Please join me and welcome the Belton ISD's Penguin Project students as they begin tonight's student showcase. [applause] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat up here. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat up >>
002[cheering] [applause] [music] >> here. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [cheering] [applause] >> Please make some noise for the Penguin Project. [cheering] [applause] >> [applause] >> All right, if you could just give our board of trustees a moment to take their seats, we will continue with the show. really good evening everyone. Everyone, thank you for joining us this evening and for your interest in Belton ISD. I hope you enjoyed the Penguin performance uh this evening. Those kids really pull on your heartstrings, don't they? If you would please give them a big round of applause. [applause] >> [applause] >> The time is now 6:15 p.m. and the Belton Independent School District Board of Trustees are now convened in a regular board meeting on Monday, May the 6,
003May the 18th, 2026 at the Pittinger Fine Arts Center located at 400 400 North Wall Street in Belton, Texas. A quorum of board members is present. This meeting has been duly called and notice of the meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. want to welcome the members of our audience and our live stream viewers to this meeting. As the Belton ISTD board of trustees, we are here to set goals, listen to reports from the superintendent, approve budgets, contracts, personal appointments, and make policy for the district. This meeting is this meeting this is a meeting of the of the board of trustees held in public, not a public meeting. Prior to this meeting, board members received information related to items on tonight's agenda. Agenda items may
004not necessarily be handled in the order listed on the notice. This meeting is open to all who wish to attend and hear the matters discussed. These proceedings are being livereamed on the district's YouTube channel and will be available for review in the days following tonight's meeting. For the video to adequately reflect the proceedings, I respectfully ask that you please refrain from talking while others are speaking and that cell phones are on silent. If you would please rise for a moment of silent prayer or meditation. Please remain standing as our students from Belton Early Childhood School lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Honors to the Texas flag. >> I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with
005liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. >> Please be seated. Thank you kids. If you would please give these kids a big round of applause. [applause] The first item on the agenda this evening is administering the oath of office to our elected trustees. Becca will be joining us at the podium to administer the oath to our elected trustees. going down. >> Mr. Bzon first. Okay. If you'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. I do solemnly swear >> I do solemnly swear >> that I will faithfully execute the duties >> I will faithfully execute duties >> of the office of Belton ISD board trustee >> office of Belton ISD >> of the state of Texas >> of the >>
006state of Texas >> and will do the best oh and will do to the best of my ability >> do to the best of my ability >> preserve protect and defend >> preserve protect the Constitution and laws >> of the United States >> and of this state. >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> All right. And [applause] [applause] Thanks. Congratulations is in order for Mr. Bzon and Mr. Preston. Let's give them a round of applause. [applause] The next item on the agenda is recognitions. We'll turn it over to our communications team to lead us in that effort. >> Good evening. Tonight we are thrilled uh to introduce our student pledgers this evening both from Belton Early Childhood School. We have Kobe Bailey and Hadley Brewer. Kobe has his favorite subject is math. Uh, his
007friends describe him as cool and kind and he is always ready to lend a helping hand. Hadley loves reading and her friends describe her as helpful, silly, and funny, but most importantly as someone who truly cares for others. Thank you, Kobe and Hadley for leading us in our meeting tonight. [applause] Great job. Great job. Now we are going to have our student performers from our Showcase for Penguin Project come forward. Please welcome them to the stage again. [applause] Tonight's showcase featured a little snippet from the Penguin Project's uh uh rendition of Madagascar that was presented earlier this year. There were o over 90 perform student performers in this year's production. Uh, Penguin Project provides students with special needs the opportunity to perform in a fully staged musical alongside peer mentors, building confidence and celebrating the
008unique talents of each and every student. Thank you for being here tonight with us. Penguin Project [applause] Now we are going to welcome to the front our Belton New Techch and Lake Belton High School robotics teams for qualifying. [cheering] [applause] These students these student teams qualified for the VEX Robotics State Competition. The program in which students design, build, and program robots to tackle complex engineering challenges while strengthening strengthening their skills in coding, collaboration, and real world problem solving. We of course have their teachers, Jessica Purscil and Steven Tyer that are with us this evening. Congratulations LBHS and Belton Newch. [cheering] [applause] Okay. And new tech stay as Oh, okay. So new the group you know who you are if you need to stay and everyone else everyone else can go back to their seats. We
009have a special group that is staying with us on the stage because this group from Belton New Techch qualified for the world championship earning a second consecutive trip. [cheering] [applause] This team recently competed in St. Lewis against top teams from around the world showcasing innovation, collaboration, and the power of studentdriven learning. Congratulations to you and Mr. Taiser. [applause] [cheering] Next to the stage, we are going to welcome our BHS student. Is Carson here? No, Carson's not here. We will skip Carson. Then we are going to now welcome our academic allstate boys soccer qualifiers. [applause] From Belton High School, we have Corin Ram Ramazar Valentin Villinoeva, Daniel Aoyo and Coach Carlo Mosin Mosnia. And from Lake Belton High School, Zayn Fitzwater, Jacob Boon, and Jordan Tuggle and Coach Kersner. Congratulations. [applause] >> Thank you. Now we
010will recognize academic allstate swimming Belton New Techch at Wascow. We have and Lake Belton High School. We have coach Janie Ferguson and Lake Belton High School students Christine Kim, David Stewart and Elizabeth Simmeroth and Coach Jordan Wedmire Weedmire from Belton Newk and students Leland Moore and Samantha McKenzie. [applause] Thank you for your commitment to academic achievement and athletic excellence. And now we will recognize our academic all-state tennis qualifiers from [applause] [cheering] we have Lake Belton High School, Ari, Shria, Claire, Arena, and Diego and Coach Smith. and from Belton New Leland Samantha and coach Jordan Weedmire. [applause] And now our UIL orchestra solo and ensemble state qualifiers. We are proud to recognize Amelia Hatel and Hannah Kim. [cheering] [applause] Amelia and Hannah will compete at the state level at UT at the end of this month.
011And thank you. Where's their director, Jenna Burchil? Congratulations. [applause] Congratulations. And now we will recognize our Texas Dance Educators Association Allstate Performers. [cheering] [applause] From Belton High School, we have Payton McKin McNeely. and from Lake Belton High School, Rivers Mer. These [cheering] these two young ladies are two of only 250 dancers statewide that were selected for this honor. [snorts] They are under the direction of their coaches, Coach Hill, Coach Ortega, Coach Marsen, and Coach Bilisano. Thank you. [applause and cheering] And we're going to ask Lake Belton to stay up there for just a moment as we bring on the rest of the team to honor their success at the as ascension national qualifiers. [applause] [cheering] This team earned second place in the large team division and captured first place finishes in both kick and hiphop.
012Kennedy. Where's Kennedy? Is Kennedy here? Kennedy. Kennedy actually got to compete um as a soloist for 10th grade and she earned first place in the 10th grade division as a soloist as well. [applause and cheering] And again, thank you to coaches Marsen and Bilisano for all that you do. Congratulations. [applause] And as they exit, we will welcome uh Belton High School Magic Bells who placed fourth. [applause] This team placed fourth at the American Dance Drill Team National Competition, earning a national championship title in jazz. They also earlier swept the HTE state contest. And they also competed at the Dance Team Union National Championship in Orlando where they placed in the top 25 for team Palm. an outstanding accomplishment for a very first year for them to enter that competition in that category. Thank you. Thank
013you to coaches Hill and Ortega. [applause] Color guard, please come forward as they advance to the state level competition in the Texas color guard circuit. >> [applause] >> This achievement reflects the team's dedication, precision, and commitment throughout the season as they competed at a high at the highest level. We also want to recognize their director, Briana Merritt, for all that she has done. Congratulations [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you. Our next [applause and cheering] Our next honores will be those who qualified for the vase as vase state qualifiers. We have students Ethan, Samira, Mariel, Silas. They all advanced to the state visual arts scholastic event through the visual arts scholastic event program. Ethan and Samira actually received level four ratings which is the highest rating and distinction possible. And we definitely want to recognize their
014teachers, Miss Al Allard and Miss Simaroth. Thank you guys. [applause] And continuing with the regional arts, we have junior vase regional qualifiers. [cheering and applause] Our middle school artist earned top honors uh through this event. We have Caitlyn Mitchell, a seventh grader. Uh we have eighth graders uh the Dell and Haley Jong and Matteline Poulton and Madison Seldana. Are you here? Is that here? We also want to thank all of their teachers, Mrs. Swanson, Brian, Miss Jackson, and Mr. Steager. Congratulations to our middle school students. [applause] UIL theatrical design state qualifiers. We are welcoming Emily Wit, Paloma, Cormono Ortiz, and Ashley McDonald who all qualified for the state UIL theatrical design competition. [cheering and applause] Paloma qualified in costume design and Ashley qualified in marketing in the 5A contest and Emily qualified in both costumeuming
015and marketing and she placed fifth at the state competition in marketing. So congratulations to you guys and thank you to teachers Miss Phillips and Miss Kart. Congratulations [applause] Now, we want to recognize our Texas Elementary Art Meet top of team participants. We have Camila Munoz, a third grader from Southwest Elementary. Eleanor Neil, a fifth grader from Chisum TR and a fifth grader from Chisum Trail Elementary. We are congratulating these students for earning the top team's honors at the Texas Elementary Art Meet. They are supported [applause] and they are supported by their teachers Christy Bernstein and Amber Gabriel. Congratulations to you all. [applause] And congratulations to Leon Heights Elementary Students Carolina Cook and Abby Erskin for earning a place in the Texas Coral Directors Association Elementary Honor Choir. [applause] Carolina and Abby were chosen among the
016top sopranos and altos to represent Texas at this prestigious level. Abby earned this distinction for the second consecutive year. And we absolutely want to thank director Deborah Johnson. [applause] And now we are excited to recognize the students who serve on the Superintendent Student Advisory Council representing all three Belton ISD high schools. [cheering] >> [applause] >> Through this council, students have a direct voice in district leadership, sharing insight, feedback, and perspectives on topics that matter most to their peers and school communities. And later on this evening, you're going to hear more about this group and their work. And I just have to say the red coats look awesome. Y'all look great. Congratulations. [applause and cheering] Congratulations. And now we're going to recognize Coach Cat Coburn of Belton Middle School who was named the Texas Association of
017Basketball Coaches 2026 Girls Middle School Coach of the Year. [applause] In just two years with Belton ISD, Coach Coburn has made a meaningful impact on her student athletes, building a strong program rooted in discipline, teamwork, and growth. And we are so excited to honor you with this honor and look forward to years to come. Congratulations. [applause] Now we'll recognize uh our new Belton New Tech at Wascal principal Neil Flemens. [cheering and applause] [applause] >> Neil brings nearly a decade of experience in education having served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, and interim principal. And now we are excited to welcome him into the role as principal of Belton Newekch. Congratulations. [applause] And we have several Temple Educator of the Months, Rotary Educator of the Months to recognize. We have Shelby Kart and Ty Carter who
018were nominated [cheering] who were nominated from Lake Belton High School and they serve as theater directors who create an environment where each and every student feels valued and supported. We have Marjorie Trey Hearn from Lake Belton High School also who serves as a resource social studies teacher and supports programs including hope squad, spirit team and unified robotics. And we have Jennifer Holshire who is a teacher at Sparta who has more than 20 years of service. Jim serves in a special education resource and inclusion role where she ensures every student feels supported and empowered to succeed. You all are truly exceptional educators and we are so honored to recognize you this night, this evening. [applause] And our Belton Rotary Educator of the Quarter um is Rebecca Tom from Burell Elementary. Miss Tomb is a dedicated music
019teacher who creates engaging learning experiences that inspire a love of music and provide meaningful opportunities for students and families. Congratulations on this exemplary honor. [applause] And I now will welcome our human resources department to the front as our department showcase for the month. Um, this Belton ISD re uh I human resources team supports more than 2,000 employees and hundreds of substitutes across the district. From recruiting and retaining highquality staff to supporting employees and ensuring compliance, their work is absolutely essential to the success of our schools. We thank you human resources team for your incredible dedication and impact across the district. [applause] And lastly, we will welcome Ryan Flores. Hi, good to see you. to the front as um uh one of the owners co-owners of Johnny's Cleaning and Tailoring. With graduation week uh upon us,
020it just we would be remissed not to recognize Gina's Cleaning and Tailoring as a valued community partner uh because you may or may not know this, but every year they offer to provide complimentary gown pressing for all of our students and staff during graduation season. [applause] We are grateful for their continued partnership. Thank you so much. See you. And with that, yes, it concludes our recognitions, but if you don't mind staying where you are from just a moment and the board will dismiss us from the top. Okay, tonight has been really an exciting way to start a board meeting. We have so many students competing beyond district. They've made it to state. They've made it to nationals. We have teams that have made it to internationals and we one celebrate our students and the great
021job that they did. Can we give them a round of applause? [applause] And our our our Penguin Project performers, they were outstanding. If you didn't get to see Madagascar Jr., you missed it. Please make sure you come next year. I don't know what it is yet. I don't think it's been revealed, but we'll let y'all know once the They don't tell me these things because they know I'll say it out here. U they hide it from me. Um and last thing I want to say, yes, thank you to our partners, our community partners, our incredible staff, but behind all of these student recognitions this evening, our teachers and directors who put so much into getting our students to the point that they are, as well as their families. So, let's give them a round of
022applause as well. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Well, that takes us to the point where uh you guys can stay for the rest of the meeting or you can make an exit. >> [cheering] >> It was incredible. Huh? Oh, yeah. You see on Wednesday be there on Wednesday. >> See you later. Yes, I did. I think I did say that actually. I think that is what I said the first time. I think I recovered. No, I didn't. Good job. Next on the agenda, public comments. Becca, do we have anyone? Nope. All right. There being no public comments, that takes us to item five on the agenda, reports. Dr. Goolan. >> Yes. So, I'm super excited to introduce to y'all this evening. Um, a report on our superintendent student advisory council. Um, these individuals have
023certainly impacted me. Um, have taught me a lot this year. They are incredible. These are individuals that applied to be a part of the superintendent student advisory council. We had lots of applications. Um these are the uh students whose applications rose to the top. I will tell you what what they all have in common. Um is that they didn't get on this committee for a particular issue. They got on the committee to have a voice in helping make things better for students in our schools. And that's really what this council is about. It's about hearing their voice, identifying key areas they want to focus on improving and then getting their ideas for solutions. So, you're in for a treat. While Gabby is standing here, um she's going to kick us off. Um you're going to
024hear from some of our students this evening as well. So, I too am very excited to even just be in the presence of these student leaders that we're thrilled for you to meet. Just to extend what Melinda said is Dr. Golden said is just to provide a platform for voice and for us to collaborate with our student leaders to make us stronger as a system. We have had um the superintendent student advisory council for three years and this year we have 15 students on our council um representing all of our high schools. Um this year they were given a task that Ben will go a little bit further um in depth with that is really kind of inquiry driven and and an area of need that they collectively identify across Belton ISD that's not necessarily
025unique to their campus. It starts in that place but then we work towards finding something that we share in common. um and we want to be able to share with you how over time these students have impacted our system and then hear more from their voice. Our very first um council spent some time um focusing on connectedness and connections between other students and the outcomes from that from our 23 24 school year was we identified um a hope squad as a need for our community and they successfully helped us launch that and so you're hearing more about hope squad this year and that came from a project with our students in 2324. Last year, our students really identified a need to strengthen our counseling and advising for students. And so, we are actively working on
026those improvements right now. Even pursued a grant um through the state of Texas that's helping us strengthen and align ourselves with the effective advising framework, a direct result of our students voice. And this year, our students in this 2526 school year um really wanted to focus on life after high school learning and putting some experiences with adulting in our school district as a system. And then they've also helped us develop the student leader profile in alignment with our district leadership definition and profile. And so we just are super excited about the impact that they're they're making and and you can already see some impact of the first two and want you to hear their voices as we talk about what's happening this year. So I'm going to invite two students up to join me at
027the um podium and this isn't going to be an interview. I'm gonna really hand it over to them and they each have a different question and we're going to get started and I'm going to allow you to introduce yourself from your voice with why did you want to be on the Superintendent Student Advisory Council. >> Well, good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eevee Marorrow and I'm from Belton High School. Um, one of the main reasons I wanted to be on the Superintendent Student Advisory Council was because I wanted to be a voice for um my peers not just at my high school but specifically in our fine arts departments. Um I am very active in both theater and orchestra and so and so um I wanted to just be there to make sure
028that they were getting seen as well and all the other um fine arts departments we have at BHS. >> This is a familiar face to some of you all who joined our strategic planning process. Will you talk just a little bit about your experience serving on the superintendent student advisory council? >> Hello ladies and gentlemen. Uh my name is Kayla Fagbone. I am a senior at Lakebone High School and my experience on this team has been some of the greatest moments of my life. Um, to be honest, I have never been in a team so cooperative and so in tune with a goal that it just it gives me hope for the future. Uh, Dr. Golden and her team have done such an amazing job taking so many different students from all three high schools
029and putting them together in ways to collaborate into one specific goal. And even though we're from three different schools and uh we have some different rivalries here and there, I just love the fact that we can all come together and, you know, just chat, talk about the things that's going on in our schools, talk about the problems that we see, talk about things that we think could be improved on, and even just generally hang out sometimes. Um, this, like I said, has been some of the greatest years of my life. And, uh, now that I look at it, I'm going to miss this for a long time. And again, thank you, Dr. Golden, because without you, I I don't think I would have had the greatest moments of my life, and I will forever remember
030this. And thank you so much. I I have to add. So, um, yes, we just I I can't say we finished our strategic planning work because we're deep in the middle of it. Um, but our committee that we formed, y'all y'all agreed for the um commissioning of that committee. Caleb was one of our students that came to all of the meetings. And what really stood out is not only did he show up for the meeting, but he used his voice. He was he didn't hold back. um he was able to weigh in on the different questions when we did the SWAT analysis and I think people really valued hearing the voice of one of our students and so thank you Caleb for participating in that as well. >> Awesome. So I'm going to take us
031back. Gabby showed the focus for this year which was life after high school. So we're going to spend a few minutes kind of talking about the process of how we got there. It's important to know that from the get-go, as we mentioned, this is complete student voice. And the students are owning all of this work. And so before we can even land on what is it that we want to work on, it's important for them to spend some time reflecting on what are the issues that they're facing at each of their three high schools and what are those challenges that we could have the most profound impact to have in to have influence positive impact not just this year but moving forward. And so the process starts with the first the first time we come
032together it's always a brainstorming activity. So they get the opportunity to think independently and reflect on what are those issues and then we have them come together and they consolidate their thinking and they look for themes and then from those themes they really start tightening. These are some really really important areas that we can all agree upon and once we narrow those down then finally they get to vote. And so once we finish that voting process is when we decide on this is the area that we want to focus on this year. And so this year it was life after high school. And so there was a there were some discussions about what that means and what the main focus areas are. And you can see that the primary emphasis for this group was financial
033literacy, which really made us happy because we know that students that are really thoughtful and and planning for how they're spending money, how they're being prepared for not just after college, but immediately. How are they budgeting for um their their food or their gas as college students or even going into the workforce? and how are we being responsible with not buying or signing up for all those credit cards and getting in debt and early age. So this is really important topic for them and so this is the primary focus although there were some other areas that um some of the groups kind of focused on as well like changing tires things like that the main emphasis was on financial literacy I'm going to come back to the second key area that we focused on with
034student leader level profile in just a few minutes but I'm going to turn over to the star one of our stars Vishnu and I'm going to let him introduce himself this guy is incredible and we are so lucky lucky that he is a Belton ISD student. I promise you we're going to hear his name down the road and you'll see why in just a few minutes. Vishnu. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Vishnu Kak Carla and I had the distinct privilege of serving on the Lake Belton High School SSAC team. Um, let me just start off by saying it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. You know, the team was allin. Um, and it's very rare to come across a team where everyone's interested, they have the total
035buyin, but you know, whether it was showing up for Zoom calls late at night for extra practices or coordinating extra runthroughs with our principal, Mrs. Steel, this team did it all. Um, and we developed a framework where uh you can take any skill and turn it into um a skill you can teach to seniors or anyone who's interested uh really. Um and we focused on financial literacy because uh we found some data that showed us that it was the most pressing issue um facing our community today. Um and yeah, the team was amazing. This wouldn't have been possible with our SSAC uh mentors um Dr. Smith, Dr. Morgan, Dr. Golden. Um I'm sure I'm missing someone, but it's just been amazing, phenomenal experience. Um and I'm proud to have been a part of this team.
036So, one of the things that was super important is as we were working with this group is to also really help us define what does student leadership mean? You um as you were aware, we've been working on the leadership definition Belton ISD for several years now. When we think about what leadership means in Beltony in the three main categories of pursuing excellence at the very uh very back end of it, building culture and then empowering people, those are three key areas that we all want to focus on from the very um top whatever position it is all the way down to the student level. And so our students helped us define and um build out our leadership profile definition. And it's really closely anchored into the profile that you have seen that we've shared with
037you guys with the principal, the assistant principal and soon to be the executive level profiles. One key area that I want to focus on is if you look on the very bottom of pursue excellence, the competency of manage change wasn't was a key competency that we really worked on through this whole process because as we we challenged our teams as they're working through the process of designing life after high school. It was super important that they really grounded themselves in research first because we can have great ideas, but what does the research say about the ideas that you're wanting to do? And they did a wonderful job of that. And then leading through change. How are we creating demand? How are we creating a picture of success? What is a specific plan that you're going
038to map out roadmap for your school? Then finally, what's every person's part? And so they did a really good job of following a protocol to design that. And so there was a lot of conversations about this leadership profile and what it means, not just for this group, but for for all students. So May is going to introduce himself and he's going to talk about the impact of this leadership profile long term for Belton ISD. Good evening board members. My name is Mayahol Banshel. I am part of Lake Belton High School as a sophomore. And the impact that student leader profiles may have on campuses is that it allows students not only to grow as like leaders, but it allows students voice to be put out there. So whenever students are uh leaders, they have to
039consider a multitude of things. Number one, being able to put students voices out there. They have to be able to uh they have to be able to listen to their peers, come up with problems that campuses may be having as well as be able to have a unique idea of what to bring to campuses. And next, they also have to be able to collaborate with their peers. SSAC has taught me to collaborate and it has allowed me to be able to grow my voice because of the amazing individuals within it. And so the impact that this can have is that it allows the leader to grow by being able to collaborate and being able to take that those skills and put it into uh other places in their field. And lastly, a leader must be
040able to collaborate as well as be able to push their solutions. So by collaborating with their peers they are able to create solutions which can then be pushed out to especially in this case campuses and be able to show an impact and change while um while showing how students can be able to uh help while helping students in this process as well. So the impact that student leader profile can have is that we come together, we c we define problems, we actually create solutions and when we then push those solutions so that we can create a better change for everyone. Thank you. Okay, so that is our presentation. So we're gonna open up for any discussion or comments or questions that y'all might have. >> Gosh, what do you say to all that? [laughter] Uh
041just impressive. Um you talk about competencies that they're they're alive and well. You see it in all these kids. Uh Dr. Golden, thank you for leading that. Obviously, these kids have been impressed by you as well and your impact on them. So that's that's that's nice. >> Well, they've impacted me way more than I've impacted them. Um I can assure you of that. what what I will share with you the student leadership profile. Our vision for that is I mean we have um students that rise to leadership roles in all of our clubs and organizations. We think about our student council um all of those different areas. We want this definition to not just live within the superintendent student advisory council, but it becomes a framework as club sponsors and organizers think about and look
042for leaders that they want leading our different clubs and organizations. You know, we want students that can build culture and that's what they did. We want students that can empower people, not just have their idea be the idea, but hear other ideas and then pursue excellence. And that's what I mean the words you see on that profile are their words. They came up with that, refined that. We went through a couple of iterations. And then final thing I'll share that you didn't get to see and I'm super sad but I think we put it out on LinkedIn and social media is um and and Vishnu I thought you were going to maybe demo that but his platform the platform the team came up with on financial literacy they gified the process of growing financial literacy
043skills and you ultimately can end up with badges on LinkedIn. I mean it really incentivized doing it. Now, they promised me that the data behind the scenes cannot be seen by others because I might have tested it out and I was a little embarrassed that my first score was not great. Um, and they swear not to tell anybody what that score was. Um, but they have, I mean, not only taken the passion of how do we build financial literacy, but did it in a way where they felt like their peers would pay attention to it. Um, I know Belton High School had an event recently where seniors could sign up as a result of their work. Um, have industry experts come in and give them information um, around adulting and what how they define that.
044And so each of the high schools really took this product project and implemented it on their campus. >> Impressive. Anyone else? Anyone else? >> Okay. I'll go. Um, first of all, thank you for being here with only a day and a half left of school and you're here at a board meeting. So, I mean, we're already impressed, but that the fact that you're here tonight and looking so amazing. Um, it's just really impressive. I I feel almost speechless, but um, one thing I think that stood out um, as just hearing you guys talk is seems like you you built a a friendships and the teamwork. it. I loved watching as every one of you got up here, the rest of you were smiling and nodding and you were just in tune to your your colleagues
045or your peers, if you will. And so, um, I'm I'm sure that you're going to walk away with some lifelong friendships, but a question I have, um, it could go to any or all of you, but as looking ahead, because it seems like so much good work is coming out of this, what advice would you have to a maybe a student coming up that may be considering this? what what would you say to them that maybe they're on the fence or they're what is this um group or just what would you say to somebody for next year who may be interested in something like this? >> Um I would definitely um let them know that they need make sure that they communicate with the team members from their schools. Um that was a big roadblock
046we had to get around. um but just finding ways to communicate with their team and um not being afraid to um share like advocate for their organizations they're a part of at school and stuff like that so we can make sure that these things that we're doing benefits all students and all things they love to do. >> Thank you all so much. Um I just so impressive from a presentation standpoint tonight. Um, I think what you're doing is so important. Um, and so I'm I'm going to ask two questions that maybe make Dr. Golden squirm a little bit. [laughter] Um, so do do you say like with I want to know the real deal, right? Straight answer, right? Do you feel like your voices as students are being do you feel like those voices are
047being heard right now? >> Absolutely. Um, to be honest, when I first joined SSAC, I thought that this was just going to be a oneanddone thing. I was just doing this for the recognition and everything else. But when I saw the implementation of Hope Squad, especially at during a dark time in my school, uh, we had lost a student to due to depression and um, it really impacted all of us as a community. So when I saw the implementation of Hope Squad as a whole, it was as if someone had lifted a giant weight off of my chest or as if I was in the water and someone had pulled me out of it and I could finally breathe again. And it's just so beautiful to see that I have an actual impact with all
048the things I do with this team. um we really do our best to do the research, the effort into practicing uh how we're going to like present all the things we've done to Dr. Golden and the team. And this research as a whole um helps the entire school district. We're not just looking at just our schools in general. As much as we would just love to say this is only for our schools, it really isn't. Our research and everything we which we've done is collectively due to all the things we've seen throughout all of our school districts or not school districts but schools. We look at all the problems being implemented or haven't been implemented in our schools. We put we come together and say hey what exactly do we see? What common trope do
049we see across all three schools? And then we like come together and make an actual solution to push it forward like my dear friend Mayol said. And this in this impact is incredible. I I'm going to be completely honest with you. I have enjoyed the impact it's had on my school. Uh morale is high. People are actually looking forward to whatever teachers are actually going to bring in or what APs are going to like actually implement into the school to have them do. And with the implementation of what Vishnu is doing, I've seen kids literally gear up and ready because they want to know how finance works. they understand that money is an actual problem in this world and that they have to work towards understanding it so they don't get scammed or so they
050don't fall out of like their place in standing in this world. So yes, it does have an impact and yes it is working. >> Yeah. And so um in the spirit of continuous improvement, right, what can we either as a board, what can we as a superintendent and belt administrative team, like what can we do to continue to sort of push this to even further and further heights? Do do you have any suggestions you want to share? >> Honestly, no suggestions. Um I mean, like Caleb said, our voices are our voices are heard. Um, and I feel uh comforted knowing that um, such a program exists because I know not all districts have the uh, this opportunity. Um, and Miss Nino asked me to share an update about my platform. Um, we are on track
051to be TEACS aligned by uh, the au by August of this year. Um, and we've just been listed on the um, the Jumpstart Clearing House, which is a directory of vetted personal finance resources. Um, and it's just wonderful to see that, uh, you know, the impact we've created together as a team is being is being recognized beyond this district. Um, and it's actually helping students um, everywhere. Um, yeah. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Okay. I think Eper, were you coming up? >> You want to jump up if you've got a suggestion for improvement? >> Okay. She moved. I thought she was headed up here. Uh, >> I mean, we certainly think there's lots of things we can do um different. I mean, I have to thank Gabby and Mike and Ben for all of their
052help in working with our team this year. But after every single time, we'll we'll be sending a survey out to them and ask them to really think about what can we do to improve this process so that it gets better and better and we make sure that voices are heard and we're prioritizing what they believe are the most important issues on their campuses. >> Thank you students. Impressive. That's all I can say. [snorts] >> Good job, y'all. >> [applause] >> One of the changes we'll make for next year is our superintendent, student advisory council members are going to sign up for board meetings and they're going to be greeting people as they're coming into board meetings and be our ambassadors for board meetings. So, that's something that we'll be um adding next year. And sorry,
053I was about to introduce Cassandra. I'm ahead of you, sir. >> Okay. Uh 5B goal four update hope squad. >> I feel like it's continuation of the last presentation. Sorry about that. Um so goal four um our goal was to implement hope squad at all of our campuses. Um the broader picture of goal four is really around creating a culture of value support and challenge to grow. Um we know that the implementation of hope squad alone does not help us. I mean that does not achieve the full goal. This was a KPM, one of our key progress measures and we did fulfill that key progress measure this year and again you heard that this came to us through the work of last year's student advisory council and so I'm going to or I guess actually
054it was two years ago. So Dr. Spearman, we're going to turn it over to you for you to do a deep dive and give us an update. I don't know how I follow that because that is an example of [snorts] value, support and growth amongst our students. Um, as Dr. Golden has said hope squad was a recommendation from our student advisory um group from two years ago and we actually started last year but we only implemented at high school and a couple of the ele the middle schools but after we saw what it did for Lake Belton High School there was a desire to expand it throughout the district and so we did that this school year. This was implementation year one, phase one. And so we focused really heavily on identifying advisors at each
055campus, getting those adviserss trained. Um, also identifying students and students are nominated by their peers. Um and then if they accept the nomination training having a meeting with the parent and the students and then getting them trained and then them working with their sponsors to to implement as a part of our KPM we developed an implementation timeline for phase one and as Dr. Golden has said we've met um all of the things that we said we would do this year for phase one and we're gearing up for year two phase two. So I kind of want to share with you um some of the successes throughout the school year. At elementary the focus is on kindness. And so if you visited our elementary schools you may have seen posters and signage and things around kindness.
056um such as the picture you see here from Tarver Elementary that says hope starts with us. Um at middle school, the focus is still on kindness but also anti-bullying. And so several of our middle schools have engaged in activities that would address um or create a culture that is um no bullying zones. And then at high school, we promote connection. And it's a little bit different in high school because we actually have a course that's led by a teacher. Um whereas at elementary and middle it's led by the counselor. So the sponsors are primarily counselors at those levels and then a teacher at the high school level. So I want to highlight some of the um activities that have taken place. One of the problems that we identified in our district is needing to reduce
057the number of students who were qualified as chronically absent from school. So, the the hope squads districtwide created a we missed you campaign where they designed um postcards that were filled out and mailed to students basically saying we missed you with a personal note on each card. And research tells us that when people are missed and they feel connected, they're more likely to attend school more regularly. And so that was a district-wide campaign that was shared um that we hope to continue in the future. On this next slide, we um one of our milestones was to celebrate campuses and the work that they've done around Hope Squad. So I want to highlight just a few. Um High Point Elementary was recognized for for their self-care bingo card. And so in addition to kindness, they also
058provided um direct support or encouragement to engage in self-care activities as a way of being kind to yourself and in being kind to others. We also celebrated Hover Branch. The picture here is of their gratitude graffiti. But Harvard Branch created a writing booth where parents who attended math night could write letters of affirmation to their students who were gearing up to take the STAR. And um so before they took STAR, students were able to read letters of affirmation written to them by their parents. The picture on the bottom left is of Newk Delta and Beex. They work together to support Hope Squad and they this is an activity of them in the Beex cafeteria designing affirmation posters that could be hung up around their schools. And then last but not least, the last picture on
059the right is a picture of um Purle Elementary. And make sure I say that right. >> Sparta, sorry. Sparta Elementary. and they collected board games for Family Promise. They received information that that was a need and so they made that a priority, collected the board games and delivered them to Family Promise. Lake Belton High School um had a program called Grow Through What You Go Through, which was a campaign that was designed and they collaborated with the art department to create a wall and a mural to help students with that. And let's see, Lake Belton Middle School created a teacher affirmation um process. And so we feel really good about where we are in year 1 phase one for district-wide implementation of Hope Squad. And we are working this summer to design what phase two
060will look like for next school year. All right. Within goal four, there are other strategies as well. and Gabby's gonna come forward and talk to you about part of the strategy of implementing capturing kids hearts to help build a positive culture on our campuses. >> So, this is somewhat of an update. Um, last spring you all gave consent for some of our campuses um to initiate the process of becoming a capturing kids hearts campus and and capturing kids hearts is all about transforming the culture and community on your campus through connections between students and staff. Um, at this time last year, these campuses, Beck, Leyon Heights, Hubard Branch, Southwest, Chisom Trail, Lakewood, and Charter Oak were engaging in this process. It was a continuation um for Lakewood Elementary, but we were just getting started on
061those other campuses. And so, this is um an opportunity for us to celebrate some excellence just in this quick time um of how things have improved related to culture and connection on those campuses. We have one national showcase school and I'm going to tell you about how they earned that in a bit. But Lakewood was recognized this year again um for creating an exceptional implementation of the transformative practices as a part of the flip-in group or capturing kids hearts. We have five campuses that are nationally recognized as rising star campuses and those are listed um for their initial implementation that shows um positive practices and growth in connecting and and safe learning environments. At the bottom the print is a bit small so I'm just going to speak to you about it but there's four
062really categories that to be what's called an excelling campus which is a a framework for implementation. Um there would be positive improvements in culture, in achievement, in behavior, and in staff retention on those campuses. Excel campuses have classroom environments that are safe for all students. Students are empowered with jobs and responsibilities to create a sense of collaboration between them and their teachers in teaching and learning. Staff members feel like a part of a team, and they are seen, heard, and valued. And the campus culture includes regular opportunities for affirmation, feedback, and growth. So I read those to you. Each one of those objectives on Capturing Kids Hearts campuses have a five-point rubric that they are evaluated against um and observed throughout the year by um national consultants that visit campuses all over the campus and
063in or all over the the country. in order to receive this recognition, their outcomes must be above the norms across the country um in order to get that recognition. And so we're really proud of what has happened in a very short amount of time on our campuses and we look forward to seeing this grow um over time as it relates to capturing kids heart specifically and that focus on improving culture in our communities. So with that said, either Cassandra or I will answer any questions about both the implementation of Capturing Kids Hearts and our Hope Squad initiative. >> Any questions from the board, comments? >> Chris, this work is really important, right? Um, you know, I when we implemented Hope Squad a couple years ago, I'm I'm gonna admit like I wasn't entirely sure where
064it was going to go, right? Like it was a great idea. Like we had a very, you know, specific focus sort of on the um uh on on the you know what we wanted to do in the first year, but I I wasn't quite sure where it was going to go. Um but I got to tell you like three years in um you know what's been going on I I think is really making a difference on the schools. Like you can see it when you walk through the schools. you can see it in uh like the campus displays, right, that are there, you know, um you know, I just saw the recent mural at Lake Belton High School, right, in sort of the the wall that they have there. Um you know, and the work
065is important because if we're going to look for academic outcomes, right, kids have to feel safe, secure, you know, valued in the school. Those needs have to be met first, right? Before we can really talk about excelling from an educational standpoint, right? And so this is really setting the foundation, I think, you know, for us to be able to excel and and accelerate that acceleration, right? Like like really kind of push forward. And so so thank you for everything that you're doing. You know, I I know the students that are involved on all these campuses aren't here, but you know, massive thank you to them. Um I I do think, you know, continuing to to push forward is is you know, and key, like I said, in setting that foundation for for where we need
066to go academically. So, >> anyone else? Could you put that slide back up that had the rising stars? I just wanted to see which ones were on there. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Thank you, ladies. >> Yeah, I just want to say thank you to them as well. Um, and just say again, you know, the hope squad was a key progress measure. We know our work is far from done in this area and this goal. Um I know we're moving forward with our strategic plan and embedded in that is still work to do around the culture within each and every school. And so you know for me these programs are in their infancy. These are just we are just scratching the surface on the potential of these programs and these are just additional solutions on
067top of all of the other things that um we put into schools to try to keep students emotionally safe. Um the you know hope squad is not the answer. It's not the silver bullet that's going to fix all issues but it is studentowned studentled and it's getting students to be a part of the culture. It doesn't just happen without them. Teachers can't just do the culture work. Students have to do it alongside them and with leaders. And so just incredibly proud that this is just the beginning and look forward to bringing you many more rising star campuses and capturing kids heart, many more national showcases and a lot of great updates on Hope Squad activity. >> Thank you all. All right, moving further on the agenda. Item 5C, virtual school pilot report. Dr. Goolan. >>
068Yes. I feel like tonight there's this thread of strategic planning happening. Um, as you know, we um conducted a SWAT analysis with um not only our steer our strategic plan um steering committee, but also with various committees and and parent groups across the district. And one of the opportunities and even with you as a board this idea around o you know if you think about strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats opportunities that is where we heard um comments around innovation if you remember we spent some time with you as a board what does that mean to innovate we asked our steering committee what does it mean to innovate what are the priorities that you're really looking for and out of those priorities grew this one of the strategic objectives ives that y'all have approved and it
069is around um just um identifying instructional delivery models, hybrid models, what what are some different ways in which we can ensure we're meeting the needs of students. And so, um a lot of work has gone into getting us here today where we're going to present to you the pilot, um that we are going to launch in the fall and Shad's going to kick us off and go into the details. He may have some others jump in and help him through this presentation as well. >> Yes, I'm I'm very excited to share this report with you tonight. Uh but I want to start out by saying we wouldn't be here tonight without all the hard work from several of our teammates. I mean from instructional technology and the countless hours they put into all of the
070cabinet members and a lot of their team members and all the work behind the scenes that got us to this point. Uh but I want to start with the why. Um we all know about the trend u in recent years of number of students leaving public education for more flexible options. Um so that brought us to the SWAT analysis and it brings us to you know priority one the students um ensuring exceptional learning experiences that bring our journey of a graduate to life for each and every student and it brings us down to performance objective 1.4 u you know to provide students with innovative and flexible learning options that balance digital integration with hands-on real world experiences and then even down to key strategy 1.4.1 4.1 um to talk about the the flexible um instructional
071models. So that's kind of what the why behind what we're talking about tonight. Um so what we did after the after the SWAT analysis and after meeting with those community members, we sent out a survey uh to gauge uh enga you like what would the the options be? How many people might be interested in this? We sent out uh the survey to all of our parents 8th grade through 11th grade. Um and when that survey went out, we got back 385 responses. And of that, we got back 170 high intent um responses. 49 of those said they would be interested right away. No more no more information needed. Um and 121 more said likely, but they wanted some more information. And then when you look at that and you see why the drivers behind that,
072you know, they wanted a quiet, focused environment, they wanted flexible options. They wanted uh academic acceleration. They wanted um health or medical reasons. Those are the reasons why they they said they would be interested in those models. Um so looking at that more, we also follow that up with if we were to offer a virtual option, would you want to tie to your home campus and why? What would you be interested in? Would you be interested in UIL or athletics? Of the likely 69% said they would be likely to stay at their home campus and participate in some sort of UI activity, whether it be athletics, fine arts, um CTE. 80% of the of the of the the very likely said 69% but of the likely 80% of those said they wanted to stay tied
073to their home campus. I believe for us that gives us an advantage over all the other virtual options out there because they don't they don't get that with us. They could do some sort of hybrid. They could do you know so many classes in person and then come back and then go or at home and then come back and participate in UIL or fine arts or CTE. Um so here's our timeline. Um right now um this week we're doing we're doing interviews with curriculum options. Um tonight after the board meeting there's going to be email go out to all those parents letting them have all of this information that we've got going. We have parent information sessions this week. Uh on Wednesday at 12:00 and at 6:00 and then again on Friday um we're going
074to offer that same parent information session in Spanish. And then next week we're going to offer a session at noon and then at 6. The 6 p.m. being in Spanish. Um, communications done a really good job of building a website that has all of this information on it. Um, with also links to the parent information sessions. Uh, and then on June 3rd, the application closes. It also opens tomorrow, but on June 3rd, that application will close. And then on June, I believe it's 17th. I can't see it. I believe it's 17th. It's either 17th or 13th. Um, what was it? >> 17th, right? uh on 17th it'll close and then they'll be they'll be notified whether or not uh they've been accepted into that program. I'm going to bring Gabby up now to talk a
075little bit about the curriculum and what we're looking for out of that. >> So, as Shad just mentioned, we are doing interviews with some curriculum partners. Um and we um have been in process meeting some partners or vendors over time, but we're doing some final interviews with them as a committee um tomorrow. And our goal is to connect with a partner who has experience and extensive experience in providing um learning in a virtual environment over time that we can partner with to launch this pilot in our community. And so that starts um for us to or ends tomorrow, the interview process tomorrow with different vendors. We have a shared baseline across the vendors um that are helping us to just establish a high quality baseline that we would consider. And then there would be anything
076added on top of that that would um just make it even stronger. But all of them have to be 100% TICSS aligned in the product um and platform that they offer in partnership and also um have to provide Texas certified teachers with the partnership that we would enter with them. Um we are asking that any potential partners coming to the table to be considered have a comprehensive catalog that aligns with our course catalog um so that we can have um parallel experiences um to the students who are coming to brickandmortar experience in our our school district. And so we'll be looking at their comprehensive offerings including both core, advanced placement, dual credit, honors, and our and CTE experiences within their course catalog. And whoever we work with must be fully accredited um in order for
077us to move forward in a a partnership with them. So those are just baseline areas for us in considering a partner. There are some um I want to highlight for you all what the potential impact for us is financially. Um the pricing with any partner is highly variable variable based on how a student engages. As we're entering partnerships, we've really been looking at this notion of turnkey. And when I mentioned the 100% alignment with certified teachers and aligned to our course catalog that they would be able to launch this pilot alongside us very quickly. But there's a range of access that a student might have as you hear about offerings across the state um or as some of these programs are rolling out. There's a flexible allocart offering. We have students right now who take
078allocart courses through the Texas virtual schools network and there's a a fee associated with that. So, this just shows you an example of what an allocart course may um cost all the way to the other end where a student might be fully virtual and engaging in all of their coursework virtually. Um the highest price point that we've seen is um around $2,800 for that student. That intent of that visual is just to show you range. our focus is really on a primary virtual or hybrid option. Um but there's definitely approval within the state of Texas now for all of cart. So if we had a a target of 75 students which we've communicated the max cost if we were at the highest end would be um $216,000 um for them to have access to that
079program. And then we have also identified that we need a a coordinator of the virtual schools program um that would have a salary cost associated with that. So with that total cost when we consider the um basic aotment for each student at 6,200 we could see a potential return of $164,000 um as a part of launching this pilot for us in our district. So we just really wanted to share that with you. this range of potential impact financially for us as we launched the pilot. Um I want to come back to the the selection process though our driver in considering this is one our community has said um that they want some flexible options and alignment to student needs. But we've articulated a success criteria that would ensure that the highest quality instruction in alignment
080with our values and beliefs exist within um the partnership. And so we again work together to articulate some success criteria that we'll hold partners up against in our interview process that again we'd be finalizing tomorrow or the process and then making a recommendation after that. So with that said >> I I want to add a couple of things. Um, one want to begin with we absolutely believe that the best instructional arrangement is for our students to be in classes with a high quality teacher. So that does not change um at all through this. This is being looked at and I and I am probably driving the team crazy. I've said the word pilot a million times and I'm wanting pilot written on everything because we need to go into this carefully and it needs to
081be a pilot. It needs to be small. We need to be able to evaluate this pilot based on student success in this program, student engagement um in this program. Um we need to evaluate it from a funding perspective. We are looking at this from a it it it's not just budgetneutral. It needs to actually help us recapture some enrollment that we potentially will lose to virtual schools um as that continues to grow in in momentum. And so I just want to really emphasize that um this would be a pilot. There are criteria the states put in place. This is not for everyone. A student has to have shown um proficiency in state exams. They have to be able to show um that they are academically making progress. They have to be able to show attendance.
082So there's a lot of criteria for getting access to this and and again we're talking small so that we can evaluate all of those implications u before making a recommendation to you that we would move forward in making this no longer a pilot but an actual program for Belton ISD. >> We have questions. >> Any questions from the board? >> Mr. I have a few. Um I've actually have a few parents so I'm going to ask some questions on their behalf. Um so just to reiterate and for those who have heard about haven't heard about this for until now that students participating in this pilot can still participate in sports extracurricular. Correct. >> Yes. So um a a student would either be a hybrid student or a full-time student. And hybrid would mean that they
083were coming on campus for some of their coursework. Um, and that most likely would be participation in UIL, athletics, um, fine arts, or even some in-person CTE that are primarily lab-based experiences. >> Um, thank you for that. Um, how self-paced is it? Because there's times in the years when students are um, maybe volleyball or uh, whatever other sport or uh, band, you know, might be away for a couple of days. How would that affect attendance perhaps? and as you just mentioned and then making sure it's self-paced. >> Yeah. So, um there are criteria and requirements while yes, let's say you're traveling for your example um because a student has a volleyball tournament, they can engage in the coursework anywhere, but they have to meet a certain number of minutes daily to demonstrate the attendance portion
084of it and progression with their coursework. Um and so students have to engage daily with their coursework. It potentially could be any time during the day to pace but and it could be anywhere but they have to engage daily in instruction. There are requests from us when I said we articulated some success criteria. We want the human connection. We want that to happen. And so there has to be a teacher connection um with anybody that we partner with. And so the the um considerations that we're making is that embedded into the student schedule, it cannot be 100% I'm just logging into a module. There has to be a teacher assigned that the students have the opportunity to engage with direct instruction regardless of whether they choose to or not that they will engage with direct
085instruction with the teacher. But then they also have follow-up access to the teacher where they can join office hours or reach out to them at any time that they need assistance. Um, we also have clearly said there has to be a response to need matrix. So if a student's experiencing any academic difficulty, there has to be an embedded system within the platform that we get notified and the family gets notified and the student so that they can get some intervention supports just like we would provide in person. >> That answer your question? Yes, it does. No, that's good. Um, you mentioned comprehensive >> opportunities. Does that mean that every single course at Belton High and Lake Belton? >> No, not every single course, but as we're building out the catalog, um, we are ensuring that
086um, the offerings will align with our graduation plans and have choice within it. So, not just base, but the ability to extend your offerings through electives. So, it won't be a 100% the exact courses, but it'll be pretty close. And so, we've got a draft going of um what we offer in our catalog so that we're able to take a a very critical lens of the offerings with partners that we're considering. >> And then going back to uh logging in on a on a daily basis, I'm assuming that's the calendar that we h have set for the in-person. >> Yes. >> And then is there a minimum number of minutes that a student would have to log in? >> Yes. So there it has to be at a minimum four hours a day um that
087they have to log in. So 240 >> Chris. Oh Mr. Sorry. >> Um yeah, Dr. Golden talked about that we want to recapture some enrollment. Um, but I was wondering outside of students who are already attending Belton ISD, did we send out any kind of did we >> we included those? We we included those in the surveys we sent out. We include we reached out to all the levers from this year and asked them about their participation if they would be interested in coming back to virtual too. >> So were there all of the levers is that those that left the was can you give an idea of was there any interest or was there were there were some >> okay >> I will say I'll add to that um we had a section of
088it that included comments so that families could tell us why um and while you asked about levers we even saw comments from families that are in our system right now who said we're so thankful to learn that this is being considered because we're aware of the virtual in this district this district this district that we were considering going to and now we won't because this is an option or they're going to come to information to find out. So, >> I have another question. Um, and this would be eligible for students who are living outside of our geographic boundaries, correct? >> Yes. And so, um, as we launch our website to uh after this meeting, we clearly articulate how um that is handled. So, if somebody's outside of our boundaries, we would follow the transfer process
089that we have in place already. Um, and so we're trying to align as much as possible to the processes that we already have in place. >> And so that would not So if a student did not live within our geographic boundaries, they would you transfer to follow protocols to be able to participate in UIL activities as well? >> Yes. Do you need to add anything on >> you want me to describe that? >> Yeah, just like with an out of district transfer that comes in um now in person, fully in person, there's a UIL has rules in place for them to achieve varsity eligibility. So, for an in-person student that lives out of zone, it's a one-year uh one year they have to establish residency is what UIL calls it. So, after they establish residency
090for one year, they would have varsity eligibility. Uh we have lots of out of district transfers who've been varsity varsity athletes for us uh in the past. For a virtual student, they would have to be hybrid uh h the first year and they would have to attend four hours per day of in-person instruction. So that would be the true as Gabby mentioned uh for a hybrid student would we would expect at least four online classes but they would have to have at least four they would have to have four inerson classes as well. So half of their day would have to be in person for the first calendar year and that would start their the that would establish their residency for UIL eligibility in fine arts and other competitions. There is no waiting period for
091varsity eligibility. So, a student could march in the in the state competition level uh marching contest or any of the other fine arts or UIL or academic contests from the from the get-go, but they would have to wait one year to establish residency for varsity athletics. >> Okay? But but for JV, that wouldn't apply. >> They could play JV from year one. Okay? So, the same thing would be true for students who attend New Techch. Even if they're Belton ISD residents, Newekch is is not a zone campus. It's a campus of choice. So they would still have to that first year they would have to come for the four hours of inerson instruction to establish varsity eligibility at that point. >> Oh, sure. >> Um question regarding just the cost. So on one of the
092slides you had on the high-end range that up to $2,800. That cost is is on our behalf. We pay for that for on behalf of the student. Yes. So for for a for a student to participate, there's no cost to the family if they're living in the boundaries of our school district. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> But if they but if they transfer in, there's still a transfer >> fee. >> Yes. >> Okay. Just >> I do want to make sure that we're really clear too um because I don't think I named it that this is this pilot is 9 through 12. Also wanted to make sure that that was really clear that it's our high schools. >> Do do you I'm sorry. Do you is there a cap of how many kids we're
093hoping to get in this pilot? >> Yeah, so we um have been talking about a target of 75 students to get started. >> Okay. Total for 9th through 12th. >> Crucible. >> Yeah. I think another thing another important item to to bring home is these students would still be associated with the campus, right? So so it's not a virtual entity right at fourth high school, right? Um so they're they are participants in our local schools. um you know their performance is going to be included in the performance of the high school that they're associated with right um and so I think the having the now I just move change the slide the uh success position the virtual school program coordinator position right I think is a really important part of this program right we've got
094to have somebody who's got eyes on um you know whose job you know whose responsibility is making the connection with the student potentially making the student with making the connection to the families and making sure that we are driving success into this program. Okay. Um and part of that is we want the program to succeed, right? But part of the pro part of the thing too is if these students aren't succeeding, they will not continue in the program and they will go back to the high school full-time. >> Correct. >> Um uh so, you know, I think that that position is really important. Um the game changer here is the ability to participate in the sticky activities. >> Right. Um right, you cannot beat I mean Belistd in career and technical education, right? TTE is
095like the magic fairy dust uh right of of what's going on right we compete nationally and internationally um it's hard to beat right and that's going to be the game changer what we have like the ability to continue to participate in those activities at the scale that we have them and the opportunities that we have them um I I think is like I think that's going to be really special um a part of this program um uh when we look at providers right I think the the one ask that I have is you know if there are opportunities for us to leave the door open to add Belt and Nice specific curriculum, right? Um, and you know, not to necessarily replace the vendor, but where there are things that are sort of special and unique
096to us or you know, some of our programs, if we have the door is somehow open for us to to add that, that would be, you know, an ask when you're when you're looking at those programs. >> Gabby, well, even Chad, you you mentioned the application process and Dr. Dr. Gilman, you mentioned that there's criteria that the that the state has, right? Um, with that said, and then and then we're we're trying to address some of the some of the absenteeism and those kinds of things. Um, does the application have criteria that address the the kids that that are not coming to school that would fit more into in line with this with this program? So >> in terms of a se the selection criteria, >> so in this selection criteria process, one, we describe
097kind of the profile of a student that would be successful in this environment. Um, and then we articulate the high academic standards. And yes, there are some state requirements, but we can also make them more rigorous. We can't go below them, but we can make them more rigorous. >> Um, one of the things that we've noted is that you have to have good standing with attendance as well. What we do not want to reinforce in any way is that this is a an opportunity not to engage in school and so attendance is one of our criteria for even consideration to take part in virtual academy. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So I just want to be clear again on what this is not. Right. So this is not an opportunity for somebody to be out
098sick to say I'm going to do virtual school for the day. Correct. >> Right. So let's just be real clear about that. Right. This is a separate thing that you are committing to for the school year that you're going to maintain the success criteria for. It is not a substitute if you're not in the program. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> One more question. >> So that just made me think of another question. So let's say a student does they are 100% committed in the beginning, but let's say by Christmas they're deciding that this isn't for them. is do they have the option to come back at any time? >> Yeah. So, you will see that we have articulated like this is a commitment to the to the same point that you just made uh Mr. Fuller.
099It we don't want kids bouncing in and out like you got to commit as well, but that's part of why that uh coordinator is super important. >> We're not sending kids away. And so, there should be an ongoing connection process. So if a student is saying I want to come back, we will always want you. We will always want you back. But we also want to sit down and talk about why, what is working, what's not working, what's presenting challenges, what is not presenting challenges. Um, and so that's why that person is so important as well to maintain connection. >> Yeah. And I want to pull on the financial implication of that. Right. So so correct me if I go off here, Shad. Right. So, you know, it could be per semester. Like the way
100that we would get charged for the program, right, would be either per the semester or potentially per the year, right, per student. And so, you know, if No. >> No. And that's part of the commitment piece. And each person has a different pricing structure, >> right? >> Um, >> and there's a formula that's set up, right? Um, so it's not necessarily that way. Okay. We can set up an agreement that allows for ongoing enrollment. So, we could add students, but it's it's not necessarily the way that it was just described. >> Okay, got it. >> And I would give like specifics, but they're unique to each partner as well. >> Um, I want to thank you and Chad and everyone who's worked on this. Um, >> and like Chris said, >> Chris said, the importance
101of looking at the financial returns. I may have missed this. What is the is there a number of new staff that are going to be have be hired for this or or existing staff just one? >> Yeah, we're just planning for one and that was one of the reasons why we wanted to ensure that it's Texas certified teachers and alignment with our standards. >> Um we are again a pilot and so that allowed us to really focus on a single staff member that will help ensure success. >> Anyone else? Thank you all. >> I can't begin to tell you how many hours has gone into studying this issue. Um the team had every time I've looked up they're back in a room together working through the logistics and so I just want to say thank
102you to everybody. I know that Christine, Mike, Shad, Cassandra, Gabby, Ben, Frank, where's Frank? I saw him. >> Hi Frank. Um and it just I mean the team Melissa the team has come together on this and so um excited to see um our roll out of this pilot. So on the website parents will have a um FAQ there will be a link to um if they have questions that aren't answered in the FAQ they could submit additional questions. So, there is a lot of information that's about to be stood up on this and so we will keep you posted on progress and just want to say thank you to the team that if they look tired, they're they are tired. So, I appreciate y'all very much. >> Okay, that takes us that takes us to
103item five D, board committee reports, policy committee. >> All right, that's us. We met just a few days ago, right? No, last week, what is today? Today's Monday. Where am I? Um, just we had a handful of policies to talk about. Um, we talked about CW local, which is on facilities naming process. Um, this is not in your board packet because there's not a change to this. We just wanted to have a good conversation about it. um as we and really just familiarize oursel with this pro uh this policy as we begin to have some discussions about the potential renaming of Tiger Stadium um by either an individual or organization um who could provide a significant financial u contribution that could help with um with some of the costs associated with the upkeep of that
104stadium. Um and I thought it was interesting that this is kind of a common practice that that does happen around districts. And so again, we no nothing was decided in uh as we talked about it. It was just a conversation. Um so if you haven't had a chance to to look at CW local, I would I'm pretty sure y'all probably also talked about it in your meetings. Um and then we talked about policy update 126 um which is in your u board packet. Um and so if you haven't read those, I'll give you just some quick highlights. Be local, which is regarding the logistics of just board meetings. Um just some minor things and really we've already been doing a lot of this uh that meetings have to be held outside the typical work hours.
105We have to provide at least three business days to board members uh of a notice of a meeting. When to submit items to be included in in the agenda and then how to record our our uh votes and then as well as posting our minutes. Uh and then beed local which is again around board meetings but specifically around public comments. It com uh public comments. Um, this is so that we're in in compliance with the law and we're already doing this and I'm just going to read it just so that y'all are familiar with it and just for the record. So, uh, regarding public comments, the board shall hear public comments on agenda items at the beginning of the meeting. The board shall also hear public comment on non-aggenda topics from parents of students enrolled
106in the district at the beginning of the meeting. And then at the presiding officer's discretion, public comment at regular meetings from non-parents on non-aggenda topics may be deferred to the end of of the meeting, but we've already been putting that into practice. So um but we did talk about that. And then the last one we talked about was FFAC local on wellness and health services. Um regarding medical treatment, there were two changes. One um I think is a great one uh that you know we have the unassigned norepinephrine at on campuses. It can now be come in a nasal spray uh as well as the um auto injector. That's correct. Right. So, we can have either either one. Um and then the big one which as y'all probably remember um a couple of years ago
107when a student needed a non-prescription med medication like an over-the-c counter, they had to have a form filled out by the district, had to be assigned by an actual physician for the the nurse to um um um to give those. Well, now that's we've kind of gone backwards and now it's just up to the parent as long as the parent has given written request. Um the medication is unexpired. It's in its uh original container. So, I think that's a that's a great one cuz I know that that was kind of a headache for some parents that they had to, you know, just for something that's not even prescribed but over the counter had to have it filled out by um by a doctor. So, I think that's that's a good change. And that was it.
108Any anything, Riley? Thank you, Erin. All right, that takes us to the budget committee report that we we call ourselves the fund committee. >> The fun commun. >> Yeah. >> Wait, you don't agree? >> I totally agree. >> All right. Uh three things. So, we did a budget update. Um uh first off, right? And so you in your packet, you've got a uh view of the budget, right? Every month we've we've got that. So, you've got the overall budget update. We did also start to look well continue to look out into the future. And so, you know, we workshopped budget priorities uh several months ago, right? Just taking a look at several versions of what that could look like as we look um into the immediate year out. Um so, more to come on that.
109Um it'll come back to us here later this summer uh for everybody to actually weigh in approved. Um we talked about virtual school, right? So, uh the presentation that you just saw, uh we did get a preview uh of that and um talked a little bit about some of the financial aspects of it. So you've seen everything that we saw uh in the presentation. Uh and then we took uh just a quick preview of the of several compensation scenarios uh scenarios A, B, C, and D. Um you know that I worked through and certainly no no decisions made at all, right? As a decision will come back. Um we'll have an opportunity to to look through those options as a board uh workshop that and um and vote on that. So so no no action
110taken at all. just talk through uh the preliminary um uh market studies and um and where where we think we need to focus. So um yeah, that's it. Three items. Anything else? >> No. >> Fun committee. That was it. >> Committee. All right. Thank you. Fun committee. Uh >> all right. Moving on to the facilities committee. >> Also a fun committee. >> Also a the most This is the most fun committee. >> Funner funner. the funnest >> funny. >> So, uh yeah, we had a few things on ours. Um uh one of them real property discussion mainly about the fact, you know, the real properties that we have out there that we may be selling. We're a little have to go back and do some appraisals on those now. Just state law says, hey, it
111has to be done within certain amount of time. So, that was part of it. Uh summer projects list was a big one. We've never seen that. It's a huge document and really we went through the list of things but that wasn't the most important part of it. What it was was they've now put together a system that says okay you know we only have x amount of money every year to spend and so it's always kind of been hit or miss. How do you get your project? You know if you're Sparta how do you get this done? If you're Burell, how do you get this done? It was did you catch the person at the right date when you ask? Well, instead they've now put in a a just a long-term thing that says, "Okay,
112you're going to submit all your projects here and there's a a rubrics that they will be graded on based on that and money available and then boom, here's the projects that we can afford and we'll do, you know, over this summer, whatever it is." It's really a good idea and it gives, you know, um it gives everybody, it opens the door for everybody. They can all see it now. Okay, so this is how it's done, you know, and and they rank them. they reckon, you know, importance of is it a safety issue, you know, is it illegal? What what is it and how does it rank? It was really good. It was it was a long list. Um, but I think going forward that's really going to help because, you know, as we've said, you
113know, we're constantly preparing for when we're not here and so are the people who have their jobs. They're constantly preparing for, hey, when we're not here, nobody wants to start this whole thing over again. So, they're going to be able to pass it down and for years be able to work off of this list. this. I think it's a great idea. Uh storm damage update. Just went over that. I think the main part of that was um in our business and insurance industry, we call it a rollup deductible and that's what we have. Anytime you have a large property loss um like on my house two years ago in the tornado is a little over $25,000 or my deductible is $20,000. So, similar when we had our loss here, all the work that we did,
114uh, bringing in the different air things to clean out and remove mud, just all the stuff that our people did to fix stuff because it had to be fixed, you know, to get the doors back open, all those things. Well, the rollup deductible says, "Hey, you just keep track of all that. You submit it in and we apply that towards your deductible." So, it it really works out well. And in a large situation like we have, I will I don't know the exact amount. They weren't sure. They were having to go back to look at their records, but a lot of the times what you're going to end up having is once you once everything irons out in the situation, you're going to find that you probably met your deductible with in-house labor and in-house
115costs. I mean, we're running to Lowe's and Home Depot. We're buying stuff from dealers Electric. Uh we have people working overtime. all that gets applied to a deductible instead of, you know, your old mindset of, well, we owe this deductible and it's totally separate. So, they were actually putting together their books, working with the insurance carrier, uh, to submit all and they'll just go through and check off and, you know, hopefully I think it'll turn out good. And procurement and construction, just one of the different methods, uh, for some of the different projects. As you know, on our larger projects, we're Seymar uh, construction management at risk. we have been for a while, but on some of the smaller projects, you know, we do still do hard bid. Uh, you know, it just kind of
116went through some of the different projects we have coming up and how they're going to be, you know, treated. You know, uh, we don't have any Seymour that I knew coming up, but we did have quite a few, uh, hard bids coming up. And you talk about small stuff, the $5,000 project here, things like that. Rucker, did I forget anything? >> Great. >> Thanks. >> Thank you, Jeeoff. >> All right. Well, let's go to the most fun report. Uh Dr. Goolan, >> that's awesome. Um this I love every part of a school year, but this time is particularly special. Um so one, I want to thank y'all for um all of the events you've been attending to really celebrate our students and our staff. So, just this title page alone just represents um the dinner
117we had recently celebrating our teachers of the year. I've seen some creative videos on social media from some of our principles. Chism Trail did a great job um capturing the the notice of who was teacher of the year at Chism Trail, for example. And so, just thank y'all for um being with us and celebrating the incredible teachers. They're nominated by their peers on campus and then we celebrated them recently. Um, as you know, we have the class of 26 about to graduate. This is just cute little picture that Lake Belton did. We're um excited that we will have graduation ceremonies this Thursday. So, uh, it's hard to believe that we have what, a day and a half of school left. Um, and then we'll be celebrating the incredible class of 26. As I've been thinking
118about what I want to say at graduation, just the accomplishments of students at all three of our high schools are incredible. Our I know our families will be very proud of them. I know I'm in exceptionally proud um of their accomplishments. You know, a couple of things that we've also been doing since we met last. Um you heard a little bit about Hope Squad, so you see um the event at Beex was fantastic. I got to, you know, be a part of that. Our Delta students came over as well as our new tech students and created an amazing experience for our youngest learners. That was um lots of fun. We also had an amazing Cinco de Mayo de Mayo celebration. It was here. This if you have never been to this, I really need to
119encourage you to go to this. It is incredible. It's an amazing celebration of our Beck students. They learn the dances. They do such a great job. You know, when you think about um growing confidence to perform in front of an audience, that's really hard. That's hard for adults. This is starting as early as Beexs and they did an incredible job. And of course, the little red relays. I know some of y'all were able to go to that. It's just an awesome experience for our elementary students to get to participate in some outdoor field um field day experiences. Also, we had I attended and I think a couple of y'all did. Belton Middle School did an incredible fine arts showcase this year. Um, they had events in their gym, in the cafeteria, just all all around
120the building. They showcased the most incredible artwork that our students um were able to produce. And so, it's really exciting to watch the artwork. And we recognize some of our elementary students tonight for their artwork. To see that grow in middle school and then all the way tonight, you saw what happens when our high school students stay with that. We have students that performed exceptionally well at state. Our orchestra was playing and performing. And then of course, y'all, we have, look at the number of students who graduated with associates degrees before they're going to walk across our stage later this week. That is incredible. I believe we have one of the largest classes um for TBI for Temple College. So, incredibly proud of our students and that program and our partnership with Temple College. Also,
121since the last time we met, I I mentioned our VA students. Those are art students on the right hand side. We also, as you know, had an incredible production um for Penguin Project. We have so many students participating in this that we have now had to go with multiple showings and we have multiple performers now. So it's not the same performers every night because we have so many students wanting to participate and they did such a great job. And then of course the Night of Champions baseball and softball event. I mean we've had Night of Champions events all throughout the year. This one was spectacular and you can see the great fun that um students had um participating in that. And then I would be remiss without saying we've been doing a lot of work
122on strategic plan. Um so super excited you'll on our website you're starting to see some branding of that plan. Some of it will say under construction. So, as we're working to refine the specific strategies, the leading measures and lag measures, then that will be um very clearly displayed on our website and obviously we'll be bringing you that information as we continue the work. We spent quite a bit of time this morning um as a cabinet team refining um the strategies to support the objectives that you approved in a past board meeting. So more to come on at strategic plan, but I will tell you I have never seen in the time I've been here the cross department collaboration that is and the ownership of this plan the way I'm seeing it. And so just really
123proud of everybody coming together to really think through what do the next five years look like where we can be very clear with our community, with our staff. here's where we want to be in five years and here's the work we're going to do to get there over the next five years. And so, and then just kind of in closing, um we had incredible um support for our um the celebration of teachers a couple of weeks ago. Every campus PTA, shout out to the PTAs and the parent volunteers who really worked hard to celebrate our teachers. I had the opportunity to attend this one at Burell. Um it was really fun. It was sponsored by the Burell family. So having them back on campus, the the namesakes um their family um on this campus to
124just keep the legacy of their dad alive um is just incredible. And so just a shout out to them and a thank you for what they provided um for our Burell teachers. With that, that's my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Golden. Very nice. Okay, that takes us to um uh board highlights. Anyone wish to share anything that they attended this last month? >> Yeah, Rucker, >> I have a few. Um always getting to attend the teacher of the year event is just a great night just to see all the hard work. I mean, we have amazing teachers in each of our schools. It's the hard I think one of the harder things is to see there's just one per campus for the most part and um but so many amazing teachers who give uh their
125time to this as a calling and a vocation and not just a job. Um just to see their passion and to hear their stories is always amazing. Um I want to gush on one coach. Uh I went to the Belton High School end of year tennis event and they had an open mic for the uh seniors to speak and these seniors just went bananas over their coach. They just love coach Smith and what he's done uh in that program in a short amount of time. And again, just another example of teachers who are really transforming the lives of our kids um in a way that probably is not going to be seen in in many other ways uh through their lives. But uh these students just some of them broke down in tears and just
126said how much uh he had changed their life and there were I think there were six seniors there. Um and again this is just one of hundreds of amazing teachers we have across all of our campuses. So, uh, just huge shout out to all of our teachers. And then, um, yesterday morning, >> I think it was yesterday. No, it was Saturday. What day is this? Monday. [laughter] >> I'm with you. I'm with you, Aaron. It's been a whirlwind. Um, I had a text from a parent and he said, "Where are you? We're at Leon Heights." And, uh, I said that the school and I went up there and the Belton Church of Christ had put on a block party. And man, I know I've talked about Baltton Church of Christ and Leon Heights a few
127times throughout the past couple years, but what a model of the partnership between one of our faith-based uh groups, the church, and what they do with Leon Heights. There were over 200 uh parents and kids there on a Saturday morning with our teachers and uh parents and church members and just it's just a beautiful example of our community pouring into our schools and to seeing those partnerships really really richly develop and grow. Um it's it's almost like they're becoming one in a lot in a lot of ways even though it's outside of school hours but it's just a a beautiful example of our community loving our schools. Thank you, Rucker. >> Gabby and I were there at Leon Heights today and they donated these buckets for every teacher and in the bucket were um I
128think toppings for some kind of treat they were going to have in the afternoon provided. So it the the support continued to today. >> Chris, >> I mean I'm always good for it. Uh may I please have my show and tell items? >> Yeah. >> Oh, show and tell it. >> Sorry. Show [laughter] and tell. >> All right. Uh, I started listing like everything I've done in the last month and I'm I met like 14 or 15 things. I'm not going to talk about all 14 or I might mention them all, but I'm not going to talk about them all. >> Okay. >> Um, >> thanking you for that. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> I mean, the packet. >> Oh, yeah. No, no, yeah. Sorry. I should have submitted in the packet. I mean, from from,
129you know, band and orchestra concerts to end the year, right, at at the middle school level and the high school level. I mean there like this this district is absolutely amazing uh when it comes to fine arts, right? And whatever that looks like when you go to the middle school concerts, right? Like if you close your eyes, you would have no idea you're at a middle school concert, right? Um you know, and that's both for band and orchestra. There those programs are just so crazy. Um also from a theater um standpoint, well, actually, so back on band, so so did go to the uh the Broncos um stampede banquet, right? And so, uh, this is a supplement to the yearbook, right, but specifically to the band, right? There's 108 pages, uh, in this, right, that
130sort of chronicles the entire year from a, uh, from a a Broncos standpoint. So, like all of their events like through summer, through all the football games, through all their marching contest, through like all just complete craziness. And so, you know, certainly take a look at uh that that showand tell item. Uh, that was at the uh Mayborn Center if you've been there. Um there is no room for us anymore there. Uh we have like maxed out that facility um as big as that program is and it's only going to get bigger. Um and so um massive uh event there. Um also went to the theater banquet. Um and so that my second showand tell item uh was the uh actually the gift that the um theater boosters gave to the seniors that chronicle actually
131all of the programs that went that went on uh during the four years of their time in the program. Uh and so super special for uh the seniors that were there. And so really I want to shout out to all of our booster clubs, right? It doesn't matter what the activity is, right? It's not just band, it's not just the theater, um all the athletics booster clubs, the dance team booster clubs, but the the the way that those the clubs and the parents and and the community supports those clubs uh to get these kids through the year and to celebrate them at the end of the year is absolutely amazing. And so so really a shout out to all those clubs. Um uh went to the sixth grade track meet. Uh, if you've had a
132sixth grader, you know sixth graders are goofy, right? They're growing into their bodies, right? They're throwing discus, they're doing a high jump. It's a little goofy, right? Um, it was an absolute amazing event. Um, and I want to shout out to the, uh, North Belt and Middle School girls, uh, team, uh, specifically. Uh, the spirit that the North Belt and Middle School girls brought to that event, um, was just outstanding. Um, right, I mean, you can imagine high jump in sixth grade is kind of rough to watch, right? The bar is not getting cleared a whole lot, but I can tell you when the bar got cleared, you knew it. And you knew it because North Belton High School, regardless of which school you or North Beltton Middle School, regardless of which school cleared that
133bar, it was like touchdown, Super Bowl winning, like it was just absolutely crazy, right? And so they brought the spirit and so the massive props to uh North Belt Middle School girls. I think overall the the North Belt Middle School did win that event, although they split one middle one one of the Bronco Middle Schools, one of the girls, one of them uh one of the boys. Um also went to an I35 and I-14 uh uh update, right? So the the the big project that's coming to us maybe sometime in the 30s. Um great news, right? I'm I'm going to spare you the details, but great news. I think the community's been heard, right? Uh, and so I think there were the overwhelming um support uh at the last round of meetings. Uh, at least
134600 I think folks showed up to the last public meeting. Um, you know, I've seen uh I've seen some uh some adjustments to the map. There's going to be um you know, a couple proposals, but the next meeting is going to be in in August. Uh, but I think it's moving moving in a good direction um from that standpoint. Um, last thing I want to shout out um uh project celebration. So, uh, this weekend I think I was up for 40 hours straight. Um, so I want to talk a little bit about that. Um, so this year, uh, Lake Belton High School and Belton High School came together for a joint project celebration, uh, activity, which, um, you know, in some respects, you know, we might have said we never would have seen that. Um,
135and in other respects, you could say we should have been doing this all along. Um, you know, it was an absolutely amazing event. Um, there were, I think about 300 students from Lake Belton High School and about 65ish or so I think from Belton High School that took place. Um it started out with a um an event at each of their respective schools. Uh we all jumped on the yellow dog buses and uh went down to Kalahari uh water park um and uh spent a couple hours in the starting at like 1:30 2 o'clock in the morning um you know locked in at the water park and then came back to the schools to see sunrise and do breakfast and prizes and all that kind of good stuff. Um this this event is really important,
136right? Um this event's put on by our community. It's not put on by the school, right? Um it's put on the community to really celebrate our seniors. Um [clears throat] senior dad, sorry. [laughter] Um you know what it it's really built to be a substancefree event, right? Um you know, for our seniors to to have sort of one last, right? And so, you know, that's kind of the emphasis behind it is, you know, put really sort of founded with Department of Transportation, right? It's so much more than that, right? I mean, to some extent from a parent standpoint, this is like it's the last harrah, right? Um, last time your kid goes on a field trip, right? Uh, last time they get on the yellow dog bus, right, to to to go somewhere. Um, and
137most of them are technically adults at this point, right? and if they screwed something up, they can get in a lot of trouble at this point, right? It's no longer you're no longer worried about detention. You're now worried about the police, right? Um and so this is an event to really sort of be like that transition, right? From like, hey, look, I'm moving. This is this is my last harrah from a high school standpoint. Like we're going to sort of put all the cares into the wind, have a great time together, um and sort of get that transition going on. And so, um such a great event. I mean, the kids were absolutely amazing. Um, we had zero problems having multiple schools uh at the event. Um, I want to shout out the um the
138the parents that took on and shouldered the Belton High School event um the Drakes um don't even have a senior, right? So, they had a senior last year and they got a senior in a couple years, but they they want to see the event continue. And so, they picked up the picked up the event on their back and and carried it over and completed it for Belton High School um to make sure that that event continues, right? Um, and so, you know, if if you know the Drakes, you see the Drakes, whatever, thank them for continuing that event. Um, and, you know, we've we've certainly got some lessons learned that will continue to to move forward. Um, but, uh, yeah, it was was great all the way around. So, um, yeah, I'll stop there. >>
139Thank you, senior dad. >> And I have to I have to brag about your son. He's going to one of the most prestigious programs in the country, right? >> Yes, he is. >> Okay. Tell us about that. >> Yeah. So, um, yeah, and I probably had to say something about my wife, too, since she planned the Lake Belton High School side. So, sorry about that if she's listening. Um, she did an amazing job doing the Lake Belton High School side of Project Celebration. Yeah. So, uh, my son is going to Colorado State University. Uh, we'll follow, uh, his mom in the field of music therapy, and it is probably the second or third, uh, you know, top program in the country. So, uh, yeah, it's going to be pretty awesome. We're we're super psyched. >>
140Super sad that he's going to be so far away, but >> that's great. Yeah. >> All right. Thank you, Chris. Anyone else? >> Yeah. Um, so this year was my first time ever seeing the penguin project and that was pretty neat. Um, we took some friends with us and our friends said he said only in America like front and center just like tonight you know where each and every student is valued. Um, so I thought that was a profound comment. Uh, we took our little our family to the art exhibit at the Harris Center and it everything's bigger in Texas, right? It like every square foot of that building except the bathrooms probably was covered in art. It was it it was just fantastic. Uh so creative. Um went to a golf banquet and uh
141Coach Tidwell has been coaching the golf team. He used to coach baseball. Um, unfortunately I never got to see him coach baseball, but it was I hear it was intense and and high demand and now and now he has a bunch of teenage girls, highly emotional teenage girls that keep begging him year after year to continue coaching. Um, so that was really neat to see. Um, and then went to again along probably along that line of everything's bigger. Um, South Belton Middle School had some had their awards ceremony and they had to do it up at Belton High School in the in the pack uh building because they've kind of outgrown it and and it from what I understand I think this was one of the first times they've done it in the evening. Normally
142it's been during the day and things and I've missed you know all of them due to work but I was grateful that they decided to do it in the evening when I mean it was a great showing of the community. Um, so yeah, that those were the things I got to go to. Um, so grateful for all of our teachers and coaches and administrators that are just in this last month giving it their all, finishing out strong. >> Thank you, Ry. Yeah, Tidwell wasn't an intense fellow. I spoke to him earlier, I guess might have been last week. I think next year is his 50th year in education. So maybe he'll come back for his 50th year. Maybe I won't tell you what he committed. He he they they keep going after these girls. It's
143one more two more years. And so I I don't dare say, you know, what he's committed to, but he they they got him for at least another one. >> Right. Right. >> Uh I just want to share a couple of things. Um I have a a dear friend that invited me to uh the end of the year program at Lakewood Elementary. Never never been to that. Um, and I went there to watch to watch his two two grandsons. And uh, the presentation that that Gabby did earlier was telling us about Lakewood being a national showcase school. Uh, I see why. Uh, just sitting there watching watching the kids uh, seeing the parental support and then walking the halls afterwards. Um, I hear a lot of things about and of course I saw uh, Brandon's dad
144there. He's watching the grandkids. Uh, so I've heard I've heard you guys mention Lakewood before, but I had never been I know Melinda and I you you and I went to to visit there, but I hadn't been to a uh event there, but I see I see why uh they're so special just just watching the interaction and I thought I'm going to I'm going to watch really close and it's it's I see why. Um, the other thing I wanted to go, I didn't get to go because of because of my schedule, but but I wanted to watch the the track team compete this year. And we we have a uh we have a state champion. >> Um, Ben, tell me his name. >> Samor Christian Porter. >> Christian. >> Yeah. And uh I I got
145to meet he and his parents at the Harris u the Harris banquet. uh just some very impressive parents and the this young man is about as as polite uh and well spoken as they come and uh very happy for him that he he is now a state champion and I believe he's going to attend uh uh Abene Christian right so so uh kudos to him and in bringing the gold to Belton so anyway um that will >> okay Chris >> may I take one second by small second by Diablo Um, I don't know how none of us mentioned this, the act the the the scholarship ceremonies, right? So, the Belton Education Foundation uh scholarship ceremonies, like oh my gosh, like one of the biggest things that's going on right now, right? So, 159 students, $320,000.
146Okay, so just amazing opportunity for our kids to continue what they're doing uh in their area. Um, massive, massive thank you to Belton Education Foundation, all of the donors, anybody who's donated money directly to it, anybody who has participated in any of their events, uh, any of the donors who came in that, you know, sort of separately around the side, um, you know, of Belton Education Foundation. I mean, just great three nights of of awards across the the high schools. And so, I'm so sorry that I didn't say anything about that because it means so much to uh to what's going on >> this week. New, right? Right. All right. Uh, well, that takes us to the consent agenda. Would anyone wish to pull anything from the consent agenda for further discussion? All right. Uh,
147do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> All right, Mr. Beck, we got one. Mr. Preston, we got two. All those in favor, please raise your hand. That passes six to zero. I'm sorry. Seven to zero. Thank you, Erin. All right. Uh public comments on agenda items. I assume we not do not have any. Right. Okay. Uh well, that takes us into close session. The time is 8:24 p.m. And the board will now go into close session for a student disciplinary matter text code section 551.082 8B personnel text government code section 551.074. 074 8 C consultation with attorney Texas government code section 551.071 8 D deliberate the appointment and duties of public officers Texas government code section 551.074 and finally 8E discussion of districtwide intruder detection audit report finding Texas
148government code section 551.076 076. The time is 9:08 p.m. and the board will now reconvene in open session and take action if any on items discussed in close session. 9A consider discuss and take appropriate action regarding reorganization of the board of trustees in accordance with the board operating procedures. Each year the board shall elect the president, a vice president and a secretary. Do we have nominations for officers? >> I move the board appoint Chris Flor as president, Aaron Bass as vice president and Rucker Preston as secretary for the board of trustees. >> Any discussion needed on that motion? All right. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Give me a second. >> Doesn't say. If someone wants a second, give me a second. >> All right, give me a second. Anyone? Mr. Beck, all
149those in favor, please raise your hand. That passes seven to zero. >> All right, that takes us to >> N, do you do you mind if I say something real quick? >> No, not at all. >> Okay. Um, I just I want to thank you all for the vote of support, the vote of confidence. Um, I also want to thank Manuel and Jeff and, you know, every president and vice president and secretary and board member that's come before. I think one of the strengths of uh the Belasty board is the fact that we are a board of presidents and future presidents, right? Um, there's absolutely a home uh on the board, right? Just because you're the president and you roll out of the position based on our board policy, right? We put that in place
150for a reason from a succession planning standpoint. um uh and you know we wanted to be really intentional about it like you guys as former presidents right bring a wealth of knowledge uh to this group that is irreplaceable right um and so I just I want to say thank you right now um you know for everything that that you've brought to the role everything you continue to bring to the role and and continue to support us um you know and same thing in the other positions right I mean this is part of a a very intentional you know succession planning that we built into the board pro board policy um you know to make sure that that we are doing the best we can um as a team uh for the district and we are
151and the only way that we can do that is to also be doing the best we can to build each other um and so I just I want to thank you for that and and you know this I I I don't think this should be a surprise right like I don't mean like this shouldn't be shocking um right I think this is you know this is how this board has shown that we operate for the last nine years or so um and so I'm grateful for that and grateful for for each and every one of you. So, thank you. >> Well, Chris, I I appreciate the kind words and and I do want to say publicly that uh of course I don't have any kids in the in the district. Haven't had for a long
152time. Um I've been on here because I love this community. Uh and I said it the other day when we had a one of our little gatherings. I said this is a BD is a great place to live and a great place to learn. Um, serving on this board for me has been uh one of the it's a privilege of course, but it's been one of the highest honors that I've had in in my life. And I'm I'm the oldest one on this on on this board. Um, so it it has meant a lot to me uh to be able to be here and to engage our community and to serve with each and every one of you. um know know that I don't take it lightly and um uh these words are from the
153heart. So [snorts] I appreciate uh I appreciate those kind words. Um so um in this term I've got I've got two more years. I I'll do the very best that I can uh I I'll bring as much as I can uh to this board. I'll I'll always do that. Um and I've said it, you guys have heard me say it many times. I will always advocate for public education. and that's not ever going to change whether I'm here or not here. So, thank you all. Okay. Well, then um let's continue the the business of the district. Um that takes us to 9B. Consider, discuss, and take appropriate action regarding appointment of board committees. According to the board operating procedures, the board president has the authority to assign committee membership. Any change in assignments will be
154made after tonight's meeting. Um, I would like a motion uh from one of you guys. Okay, Chris, you going to say something? No. >> You okay? >> Yes. There there are two possible motions. So, one was you can make the assignments outside of this meeting tonight. >> We're doing it tonight. >> Or you're wanting to do it tonight? >> Yes. >> Okay. Then that's the second that's the different motion, >> right? Okay. >> Yeah. Got it. >> All right. So, I move the board appoint um Aaron Bass and Riley Beck to continue on the policy committee. Uh Minoser and Jeff Norwood uh on the facilities committee. Uh Brandon Bzon and Recker Preston on the budget committee. And uh myself, I have to sit on the district safety and security committee uh along with Rucker Preston
155and Jeff Norwood. Second. All right, Mr. Bosan. Any further discussion needed on that issue? There being no further discussion, all those in favor, please raise your hand. That passes 7 to zero. All right. All items, reports, and consent items for this meeting have been addressed. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned at 9:13 p.m.