Belton ISD Board Meeting March 30, 2026

001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Tonight's student showcase features students from the Aero Spith Excuse me, aerospace engineering program at Belton New Tech at Waco. Freshman Jackson Truelove and sophomore Natalie Victorin will share an overview of the program and hands-on learning experiences that introduce the students to the world of aviation and engineering. Through this program, students will explore the design and testing of aircraft systems while applying scientific and mathematical concepts to real-world challenges in aerodynamics, mechanics, and propulsion. These students are supported by their teacher, Euan Thompson, whose guidance helps bring aviation and engineering concepts to life in the classroom. Please join me in welcoming Jackson and Natalie as they begin tonight's student showcase. Everybody, so this is Jackson and this is Natalie and today we're going to be showing off two of the projects that we've done

002this year, um which is the first year of running our aerospace and aviation class. Um the first one that Jackson's going to show off is this hot air balloon over here. Um this was one we did much earlier in the year, so we had to do a little bit of work to get it back up and running again. Uh and then uh Natalie's going to show off the wind tunnel that we also made for another part of the of the same project. Uh I'll pass you off to Jackson now. Okay, uh I'm Jackson. So, for this project, we were trying to learn about density and buoyancy by making hot air balloons. Now, you might be wondering, how does making a hot air balloon relate to learning about density and buoyancy? Well, how a hot how

003a hot air balloon works is it heats up from the burner into the hot air balloon, heating up the air inside the balloon, causing it to become less dense than the surrounding cold air, causing it to float. That's called buoyancy. Uh during this, we made this specific model out of just Scotch tape and long strips of tissue paper, but in class, we did a whole bunch of other things, like testing out with string, duct tape, cardboard, etc. Also, during this project, we had sort of a system where we would make an initial attempt, which is trying out our first step of the hot air balloon. And during this attempt, we would make observations and gather data, so after we can revise and reflect on our current project to make it a lot better. Uh now,

004I'm going to give you a quick demonstration of our balloon. Let's hope it works. Takes a while to heat up, but it won't be too long. >> So, sorry, there's like a giant hole at the bottom. We should have fixed that. But, I mean, now you can see there is a lot of things wrong with it that we need to improve, which is why we do the revise and reflect method. Uh it was supposed to go up and tilt as it normally does, which is a sign of weight distribution imbalance. Kind of how you saw it tilting towards upper side when mine didn't go up. Uh that happens a lot during our project. And the best we found to fix that is fixing it by putting masking tape on either side to help even it

005out. Since it's a very light balloon cuz it's made out of tissue paper, we couldn't overload or overwork it without it either tearing, breaking, or not even getting off the ground, which is probably what just happened. Uh I'm going to pass this off to Natalie to explain her part. So, hi everyone. Um I'm Nat, and this was not obviously the only project that we worked on this year. Another major one was our wind tunnel, which I have right here. And we will probably put photos up, but um the wind tunnel is, as you can see, made out of cardboard, duct tape. Um on the inside, there's like a wall of straws, which was obviously put together by hot glue. Um this all was a collaborative process among our class, and it spanned over a few

006weeks. So, every single person in our class helped contribute to what you see before you today. So, after the creation of the wind tunnel, which we worked on in the background of a few other projects for a few weeks, we all split up into groups and each group created a symmetrical and an asymmetrical airfoil, which I have right here. I'm going to move to the other side so I can set them down. So, what is an airfoil? An airfoil is essentially like a little model of a plane's wing. And what's the difference between a symmetrical and an asymmetrical airfoil? Well, if you can see, a symmetrical airfoil, both the top and the bottom have the same amount of curvature, whereas on an asymmetrical airfoil, the top is way more curved than the bottom. While we

007were creating these, we hypothesized that the asymmetrical airfoil would generate much greater lift than the symmetrical airfoil, which is what the wind tunnel is for. It's used to measure the lift that wings generate. And so, after creating these, we stuck them inside of the wind tunnel onto a little mini scale that measured the change of weight once we turned on the fan. And then we found that our hypothesis was correct and that the asymmetrical airfoil generated much more lift. You can also see this in real life examples, like if you go to a plane show, all of the planes that are going to be flipping upside down and doing tricks will have symmetrical wings because if they had an asymmetrical wing, take this, turn it upside down, it's not it's not staying up. Um and

008then throughout this whole project, we not only worked on asymmetrical and symmetrical airfoils, but we also learned about angle of attack through this hands-on project. Um we learned how to change the angle of attack, which I'm going to put my microphone down real quick so I can show you this. Pretty freaking cool. Um, so what is an angle of attack first of all? So, an angle of attack is essentially the angle of oncoming air and the plane's wing, like the angle that it creates whenever it hits it. And so, this project was a lot of fun because we not only were able to compare these two airfoils, but we were also able to learn the difference between having a 0° angle of attack and a 30° angle of attack and be able to see the

009difference in lift generated there. Being able to create this was so sick because, you know, um, this a wind tunnel is something that is used in aerospace and aviation engineering in real life. So, being able to kind of take and create our own version of it that is usable in a classroom was such like an interesting and fun way to learn the material. And then throughout this whole project, we obviously worked on teamwork, like that was a skill that we had to work on. Um, both through the creation of the wind tunnel, but also of the airfoils themselves because throughout the whole process, we were encouraged to experiment and add our own little twist to things. Like for this isn't my team's airfoil. Um, ours did not We know there's a few bumpy steps along

010the way. So, but on this one, you know, this group could have made it made the top of the asymmetrical airfoil curve more or less based on just, you know, experimentation and see the difference that created. We also worked a lot on time management because this class not only had a lot of products going on, but so did every other class because this happened right before a break. And so, being able to manage all of that was tricky, but we got through it. We're a survivor. And it was it was it was a lot of fun. And then also data taking was so like such a big deal. And this just goes for any project in this aerospace and aviation class, but also among so many other projects just throughout NewTech. We are always um

011taking note of data. We are always seeing how we can graph it to a way that we could reflect on it later. Which is such an important skill to exercise and to learn at a young age. So, I found that like I know how to graph data way more, or I find myself graphing data way more than I did before. Um and then obviously throughout this and the hot air balloon projects, a lot of hands-on work as we touched. And you know, all of these skills can not only be used in education and in like the workplace, but it can also be used among your daily lives. You know, you plan out your schedule for the day, which relates to time management. So, that was the hot air balloon and the wind tunnel projects. We

012are now open to questions. You guys have any questions you would like to ask us? This question is for both of you. So, what career field are you both interested in and how would this class help prepare you for it? So, um I personally don't really know what I want to do with my life, but in the back of my mind becoming I know, it's pretty relatable for people like my age, but becoming a pilot has always been something that's kind of like been in the back of my mind. I've always thought that it would just be really cool to become a pilot and to fly for like commercial airlines. And this class is great because it not only teaches us about like planes in general and stuff like the airfoils, you know, like how

013doing that all works. But I also know like the requirements for becoming a commercial pilot. I learned about aviation heroes. That's Do you want to answer? Uh I think this class will help me a lot with what I want to do in the future, which is being either a commercial pilot or a aerospace engineer, which is the kind of entire point of this class. I was intrigued by the the idea that What did we learn through the five years? And it sounds like Basically, that's the question. through the five years like accepting the failure. Yeah, so um I mentioned to use an example, you know, like the airfoils that I presented with today were not our group's airfoils because we had a lot of trouble with the wire on ours. And throughout that whole process,

014instead of be And now, instead of being like I wish we used a thicker wire originally. Now I'm just kind of like I'm glad we didn't because now I learned from that mistake and I'm able and I did reflect. And I was, you know, able to like not move on, but take that knowledge that I've learned and move on with that. So, I'm uh I've always grown up in an environment, too, where it's like good to fail. It's good to have bumpy steps. It's good that not everything goes well the entire time. So, I honestly think that it just that just kind of helps our whole experience. One thing that surprised me a lot that I've learned uh kind of how she said the angle of attack of different plane wings. You know, growing up

015I always thought all planes are the same. Wings go out, they help you fly. But learning about the angle attack and like asymmetrical and symmetrical wings, it was huge. Very very big because like asym- asymmetrical wings can't go upside down. I would have never guessed. I thought all wings can go upside down. Ooh, okay, wait wait wait. Let me cook. Okay. Um I've one thing for me is that I've always really liked the Wright brothers. For example, I had to read like a really long Wright brothers biography in the past and I really enjoyed it. And so they have just like their stories always fascinated me and currently right now we're actually working on a project um where we get to make a museum exhibit and we get to do one on any innovation that

016we have learned about this year and so like being able to learn like we covered the Wright brothers briefly and that was so sick to see how not only they like obviously contri- contributed to what we have now in aviation but just the general history of aviation and how far back it really goes. Well, I'm I'm not easy to I'm very easy to surprise, so pretty much everything in this class has been really cool. If I had to think of the coolest thing, I honestly would say the hot air balloon project. Just making the balloons and like having to patch holes here, holes there, and just experimenting was very very cool. Uh I love it. You should do it at home. It's really It's really awesome. I don't know. We heated it up with a

017popcorn maker. I'm sure everyone has one of those. Thank you. Oh my goodness. Please make some noise for our student showcase. So, while our board is getting set up, I'd like to note that these were freshmen that were speaking so eloquently. And if you are an '80s model like me, you will appreciate that they still use the word sick. All right, just one moment we will start the board meeting. >> Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us this evening and for your interest in Belton ISD. I hope you enjoy the presentation by our Belton New Tech at Waco engineering students. Please give them a round of applause. The time is now 6:27 p.m. in the Belton Independent School District Board of Trustees are now convening a regular board meeting on Monday, March 30, 2026

018at the Pittinger Fine Arts Center located at 400 North Wall Street in Belton, Texas. A quorum of board members is present. This meeting has been duly called and posted in in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act Texas Government Code Chapter 551. I want to welcome the members of our audience and our livestream viewers to this meeting. As the Belton ISD Board of Trustees, we're here to set goals, listen to reports from the superintendent, approve budgets, contracts, personnel appointments, and make policy for the district. This is a meeting 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 not necessarily be handled in the order listed on the notice. This meeting is open to all who

019wish to attend and hear the matters discussed. These proceedings are being livestreamed on the district 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 the silent mode. If you would, please rise for a moment of silent prayer or meditation. Please remain standing as our students from Southwest Elementary lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and honors to the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. I honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state under

020God, one and indivisible. Is it ready? Yes. Okay, that's what's on here. Now. The first item on the agenda this evening is recognitions. We will turn it over to our communications department to lead us. Thank you so much. Good evening. Uh we were led this evening by fourth graders Riley Hand and Carrington Pedron from Charter Oak Elementary School. Riley's favorite subjects are math and reading, and actually Carrington shares the same. Um Riley's classmates describe her as a leader who is positive, supportive, and responsible, and they say she is always willing to help others with a smile. Carrington uh is uh well-known across Charter Oak because she is kind, helpful, and brings a positive attitude wherever she goes. Thank you so much, Riley and Carrington. And now we would like to recognize again our students from

021Belton New Tech at Waskow Aerospace Engineering Program. As Candace shared earlier, these are freshman students and their technical language was absolutely incredible. In fact, I got a little bit lost. So, I may need to come sit in class at some point. Um but you guys did an amazing job demonstrating your skills and uh the things that you're having the opportunities to do and we thank you guys so much for being here to do that and thank you, Mr. Thompson. And next, we're going to recognize um Armon A- Adhikari Arm- Adhikari, who is a fifth grader at Burrell Elementary. His artwork was selected to be part of the Texas Art Educators Association Youth Art Art Month Spring Exhibition um at the Bullock Museum, Texas State uh History Museum in Austin. So, his artwork will be displayed

022throughout the month there and it will also be displayed on their website. And thank you um to his teacher, Ms. Balash, as well. Thank you, guys. Congratulations. And Kimberly Lozama, a sixth grader from North Belton Middle School, is with us and we are recognizing her for advancing in the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest after earning first place in the Belton's Lions Club competition. Her artwork, which you can see up on the screen, was created in response to this year's theme, which was together as as one. We thank her and her art teacher, Mr. Botensing, Mr. Botensini. Congratulations. And now we'd like to recognize there were eight students from Belton New Tech at Waskow who qualified for the YMCA Texas Youth and Government Judicial State Competition. You may remember a couple of months ago we

023had students from this program that participated in our showcase where they were able to give us a little bit of insight into civic engagement experiences and their participation in mock courts and legal proceedings. Congratulations to these students and to their teacher, Dr. Durfee. Oh, it's okay. Well, then let's stay there. Are you Are you my cyber patriots? You're my Texas theater group. Let's see. Did I I might have I think it was this user error. I apologize. I think I turned too many pages. I'm so sorry. So, hold that thought for for you guys, but right now we're recognizing Texas Theater Scholar Award with 10 students from Belton High School and Lake Belton High School who earned this award. It recognizes theater students who maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 while also demonstrating strong character

024and commitment to their theater program and to the school and our community. Congratulations to all of you and their theater directors, Ms. Stuff and Mr. Carter. Congratulations. >> Thanks for being patient, guys. Sorry about that. Congratulations. Now, we'll recognize the YMCA Youth and Government students. And again, these students Some of these students were with us a couple of months ago in our showcase to demonstrate what they have the opportunity to do in terms of civic engagement. They were able to participate in mock courts and legal proceedings and explore the judicial system while developing skills in public speaking, critical thinking, and civic leadership. So, we have our eight students from Belton New Tech at Waskow. Congratulations to you all. And Dr. Durfee, are you here? Hey Dr. Durfee, I couldn't see you. I'm sorry. Yes, congratulations.

025And now we have 14 students from Belton New Tech who qualified for the CyberPatriot state competition. This state competition was created by the Air and Space Force Association to inspire students to pursue careers in cybersecurity and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. At the center of this competition, students have the opportunity to secure virtual networks and defend computer systems from simulated cyber threats. Congratulations to you guys and to Miss Schick. Congratulations. Congratulations, guys. >> Okay. And next we have Ms. Sossaman. Are you here? Come on up. Sorry about that. She is here from Lake Belton Middle School and we are honoring her as the Temple Rotary Club's Educator of the Month. Ms. Sossaman is a 7th grade science teacher who brings enthusiasm and deep commitment to student learning into her classroom every day. She

026creates engaging lessons that spark curiosity and encourage students to think criti- critically. We are so proud to honor you today. Congratulations. Congratulations. And our department showcase this evening, come on up. We don't have all 160 members, but we have a few who are representing the transportation department this evening. Whether they are behind the wheel, under the hood, or supporting operations in the office, this team plays a vital role in ensuring that students and staff arrive safely to and from school each day. Over 1.5 million miles are traveled every year by this department with a fleet of 107 buses and 26 district vehicles. Again, 106 members that are proudly served by Vicky Tubbs. Congratulations and thank you, transportation department. Y'all are getting a standing ovation. Congratulations. And this evening as our community partner, we would like

027to recognize Temple Executive Air Center. Uh this center is a valued community partner supporting Belton ISD Aerospace and Aviation programs. If you're like me, I had to ask, "Wait, what is this?" This is the Temple Airport. It just got renamed. So, uh we are so grateful to have you guys here, and um you got to see the showcase earlier, and uh Temple Executive Air Center is a tremendous partner with um uh our Aerospace Engineering program, and we are so thrilled for all of the experiences that they offer, including um uh experiences hands-on at the center and connecting with classroom and countless uh real-world aviation and aerospace opportunities. We're so grateful for all that you do. Congratulations. Thank you. Empathy. Collaboration. Design. Preparation. >> Diversity. Perseverance. Innovation. Earlier this month, Belton ISD joined school districts across

028Texas to celebrate Texas Public School Weeks. And we had the opportunity to meet with students at Belton New Tech to talk about creating a video project to honor Texas and celebrate Texas Public School Weeks. We gave this group very little direction. We just said show us what what your schools mean to you. And this was the video that they were able to write and produce from the ground up. We're so grateful to our students who participated and absolutely to Mr. Peterman Peterman for your support throughout this. And thank you for creating a video that truly captures what your schools mean to you. And we're we're so glad to have this as part of our celebration and something for us to use for a really long time. So thank you. Congratulations. We appreciate you. And if

029you will remain seated for just a moment while the the gets back to the dais. Okay, I just have to say wow. So, on display just in that short period of time were just some incredible experiences that educators in Belton ISD work so hard to create the conditions in which those things happen. So, from the aeronautics program and the amazing partnership, we could not do this without our local regional airport. Um so, it's not just educators, it's our community that comes together. Um I'm now going to the Bob Bullock Museum this weekend because I need to see our art on display. But, just the creativity of our students and you get to see in these highlights before board meetings what our students are able to do. And so, thank you to the parents in the

030audience. I know you're super proud of your students. Thank you for trusting us with your incredible students. And thank you to our students for like showing up today and making us proud and showing us why this work is so important. So, um and just a shout-out to Charter Oak. Thank you all for saying the pledge, but also what an incredible performance Friday night. That was so awesome. So, had the opportunity to see them perform and I think you performed, I think, right? Um in Alice in Wonderland Jr. It was amazing. So, let's give all of our students an amazing round of applause. Now the record have been completed, you can take a few moments to exit unless you want to stay here for the rest of the meeting. >> Next on the agenda are public

031comments. In accordance with policy BED local, we will take public comments regarding items on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting and comments regarding non-agenda items will be heard at the end of the meeting to allow the board to conduct business of the district. Becky, do we have anyone signed up? There being no public comments, that will take us to item four on tonight's agenda, action items. 4A, consider, discuss, and take appropriate action regarding budget assumptions for fiscal year 2026 2027. Dr. Golan? Yes, so Melissa Lafferty, our Chief Financial Officer, is coming to the podium. And so, Board, as you know, we're not required You are not required to take action on budget assumptions. That is been a practice of our board, and um for the administration, it just helps knowing that we are

032in consensus with how we're going to approach the building of the '26-'27 school year budget. And so, Melissa is going to walk you through um the assumptions, and I'm going to turn it over to Melissa. All right. Good Good evening, everyone. Um as we begin the development of the '26 uh '27 budget, I'm presenting the preliminary assumptions that we'll will serve as the framework uh for our initial revenue and expenditure projections. Um these assumptions represent a conservative starting point and are subject to change as more information becomes available. You know, we start the year with a preliminary assumption, and it can drastically change, especially in a legislative year, by the time we adopt a budget. So, our initial assumptions that to begin the process is the enrollment projection of 13,530 is the preliminary driver for

033both staffing and the state funding. Um that's sort of the starting point for all of it. This reflects basically a conservative round number based on the demographer's average the average of his mid-range and low-range projections based on the fall demographer report. I believe we'll be seeing the spring report in a couple of weeks, and so that number could could change based on that information. Um we're utilizing a 93% attendance rate in relation to that projected enrollment for our revenue estimation. Everyone knows that average daily attendance drives the state funding, and that is used applied against the enrollment. In addition to that, we'll do a 4% increase to local taxable property values. Um again, property values are essential to the revenue estimation. Staff pay increases have not yet been determined. However, we are continuing to evaluate

034our revenue position, and also look at current market uh current market uh needs in regards to staffing. So, we're still still studying that one. We'll come back to you later with a with a recommendation. Uh the total aggregate for the campus allocations will remain level, basically the same as 25-26, since we're not really seeing that student enrollment growth. There will be some campuses that will see projected enrollment increases, so their budgets will increase while others, if their enrollment is declining, they'll see decreases and they're they're already starting to plan those budgets. So, those allocations have already been sent to the campuses. For capital projects, we're earmarking 1 million specifically for that continued facility improvements and that essential maintenance to our buildings. And then fine last but not least, the district's contribution towards the health benefits

035for those employees that are enrolled in our in the benefit program, they'll still remain at $410 per month per enrolled enrolled employee. That's hard to say. So, are there any questions? We can open up for discussion at this point. Any questions for Ms. Lafferty? I mean it's I mean I think it's important to remember this is a starting point, right? This is really just kind of making sure that we are providing Melissa team with some extent unified you know starting point so that she's not getting pulled in different directions, but you know in this in a lot of ways is also conservative, right? I mean that the job is to make sure that we're conservative in this and not and not being too aggressive. And so, you know when we took a look at board

036board goals in a workshop a couple months ago, right? This does not meet every one of those goals that we said we wanted to, right? In order to meet all of those goals right away, it was just it didn't seem like it was going to be feasible, right? And so, one of those that I'll point out here is capital projects, right? So, capital projects when we talked a couple months ago was 1.5 million is what where we said we wanted to be, right? So, that we could take care of some of the capital projects more out of the M&O budget year to year. You know, we settled at a million dollars is a place we wanted to propose as a starting point, which is which is half a million dollars more than it was in

037the year before, right? And so we're moving that direction. And so just wanted to point a couple of those things out as we take a look at this. And you know, again, it's just a starting point and as we get further into into the summer will salary stay in the salary piece of this will will become a little clearer. Anyone else? All right. Do we have a motion to approve the 2026-2027 budget assumptions as presented? Mr. Preston? I'll have a second. Mr. Bozan? All those in favor, please raise your hand. It passes 7 to 0. It takes us to item 4B. Consider discuss and take appropriate action regarding resolution regarding seatbelt requirements. Dr. Golden? Yes, Dr. Spearman is coming up to the podium. She's going to talk with us this evening about the requirements that

038came out of Senate Bill 546 in the last legislative session, which amended seatbelt requirements in school buses. So she's going to talk through that for us. That was a requirement that came out of that session that did not come with funding for that. So we're going to be discussing the implications of that this evening. Thank you. Good evening, board. So my purpose this afternoon, as Dr. Golden stated, is to give you an overview of Senate Bill 546 and to make a recommendation regarding a resolution for the seatbelts. Many of you know, in the 89th legislative session, there was a change in Senate Bill 546 requiring for all buses to for each seat to have a three-point harness, which would be the shoulder belt in addition to the lap belt, including the driver's seat. And the

039requirement is for us to be in compliance by September 1st, 2029. If we're not able to get into compliance by that date, the board has to adopt a resolution to say that and then propose a plan for how we plan to become compliant. Currently, Belton ISD has a fleet of 107 buses. Of those buses, 46 of them have the three-point seat belts. Beginning in 2018, when we purchased new buses, those buses came equipped with the three-point harness. We currently have 16 that only have the lap belts, and then another 45 without any seat belts at all. And so we um anticipating that this was coming, we did go out and ask a vendor to give us a an estimate of what it would cost us to get into compliance. And the dollar amount is $1.6

040million. So over the three years that we would have to um retrofit all of our buses, it would cost us about a half a million dollars per year if we were to break it out into three years. Um in addition to the budgetary constraints of a half a million dollars each year, we looked at what if we purchased new buses? It's $130, $130,000 per new bus if we were to purchase new buses to get us into compliance. Um in addition to that, there are some of our buses that cannot be retrofitted or it would cause warranty issues. Additionally, we have um to consider return on investment and some of our buses are not worth what it would cost to actually retrofit them with a three-point harnesses. And so, because of those things that I just

041outlined, it is the recommendation to adopt the proposed resolution determining that the district's current budget does not permit for full compliance with Senate Bill 546 by September 1st, 2029. Any discussion? Any questions for Dr. Spearman? Jeff? I've been reading a lot about this on the news. Um do we have any idea how many other districts, cuz I know there've been several in the last 2 weeks have come out and done the exact same thing that we they don't have the money uh to do it? So, is it kind of rolling that way through most of the area? Is just, you know, everybody has these buses and to retrofit them, the money's just not there to do it? I cannot quantify that. However, in my research in preparing what our recommendation would be to the board,

042it appears that majority of the districts that I was able to find did um take up the resolution to say they cannot afford it. Thank you, Sandra. Is um it's my understanding TEA is collecting that data? Correct. >> And one of the things that we're watching for is the potential of grant funds to do this. That's not a guarantee, but that's certainly has been mentioned to us that that is a possibility us being superintendents across the state. So, I think we're all anxiously waiting to have the data collected and see what grants will be available to us to help offset. This is um important to us. We care about the safety of our students and so, want to make sure that we can take care of this and and there is again not a guarantee

043but a possibility of grant funding to support this. So, TEA did launch a survey and data collection in the Sentinel portal and our director of transportation, Ms. Vicky um Tubbs completed it and it does ask, "What is your current fleet? How many are already compliant? How many would need to be in compliance?" Um so, we're hopeful that there may be some funding coming after all of the data has been collected. One of the requirements for us adopting this resolution is that we provide a plan of action about when we can we believe that we will be able to be in compliance provided that there's no additional funding just based on our regular budgetary um status. And so, we look forward to any type of support that may come from the data that's being submitted. And

044just to clarify that the our buses are replaced on a 15-year cycle or approximately 15-year cycle. We have some buses that are not on a 15-year cycle. Okay. And the buses purchased since 2018 have the belts in them. So, the actual change what's in a bill 546 did was eliminate the exemption from the law for model years 2017 and earlier. That would be correct. Okay. Anyone else? Chris? Yeah, I mean, I think by adopting what was recommended um it doesn't say that we're not going to be able to meet the deadline, but what it says is we need some more time to figure this out, right? Because this is a non-trivial amount of money that we're talking about, right? And and my understanding is the $1.6 million is potentially on the low side, especially by

045the time we we get to actually doing this. So, so, you know, I want to be clear like this is not a we're not going to do this. This is a we need some time to really figure this out because because it you know, this is $1.6 million of you know, other things we got to figure out what we're potentially not going to do uh in order to do this. So, this is really just preserving the option uh in the tools that we have in order to get there. Um you know, I I I am definitely concerned about you know, the fact that retrofitting some of these buses costs more than replacing the buses themselves. Uh right. And so, like let's talk about um you know, we're we're going to have to look in some

046cases make some tough decisions on the on return on investment. But but I I do think it's important for folks to to hear this is not something that we're saying that we're not going to do it, right? We're just we're just trying to get more time. We have to have a solid plan because there is concern about logistics as well. Um the districts had not made decisions when um this was passed. And so, there's the vendors are telling us there's not a lot of vendors who are going to be able to retrofit buses. And they think it's going to take about 10 plus weeks per bus to get them retrofitted. And of course, there's inflationary costs as you move forward. Um so, there are lots of concerns around being able to do this within the

047time frame that we've been provided. Dr. Spearman of the 1.6 million, um you said that there are buses that will not be able to be retrofitted because of warranty issues. >> That is correct. >> Does that 1.6 million include those buses being replaced? I'm assuming if you can't retrofit them, then they'd have to be replaced. Is that right? We did not figure replacement cost at this moment. We just said here are the number of buses that we have that are not currently compliant. What would it cost us to put them into compliance? We did, however, um ask our vendors about future bus costs because we would need a bond in order to purchase new buses, and we're told right now new buses are running about 110 to 120, but to be in compliance also with

048the signage that has to be on the bus that we can probably look at about 130 and into add an additional percentage for each year beyond the current year. So, those prices are only good for like right now. That's not projecting out. So, so if we had the money today, uh, hypothetically, how many of those buses would not be retrofitted because you just can't do it? Right. Sure. No, I Right, I understand. My My My question is how many how many are there? Yeah, I just I'm just curious. >> get you that information. Okay. Yes. Anyone else have any questions? Oh, sure. So, because of the the the time constraint, do do we know of potential consequences if we're not in compliance? Cuz I know what we're doing today is to preserve some time, but

049I mean, is there are there consequences to us not, um, fulfilling the the law, essentially? In time. >> aware of consequences at the moment, but they are collecting data to see how many districts are saying they're not going to be able to be in compliance. And I suspect that we will get additional guidance after that data collection window ends in May. I think we have until May 29th. Correct. May 29th for all the districts to complete this process and then submit by when they think they can be in compliance. And then we'll I suspect we'll get additional guidance. Okay. Um Let's go ahead and take a motion on this issue. Do we have a motion to adopt resolution determining that the district's current budget does not permit full compliance with Senate Bill 546 by September

0501, 2029 due to significant financial hardship as presented. Mr. Norwood. Do I have a second? Oh, Ms. Bass. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Passes 7 to 0. Thank you. That That takes care of our action items this evening. Next on the agenda, reports. Yes, board. Gabby Nunez is coming to the podium, our assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. Um as we've done in almost every board meeting, I think this year, she's here with a goal to update, um specifically talking about academic progress. So, Gabby, I'm going to turn it over to you. Thank you, Gordon. All right. So, we are going to continue our conversation um that we've had throughout the year, just um reporting out on progress to you. But, I want to um frame tonight's conversation based on a shift

051in our practices that we made last year. In the fall, I talked to you all about benchmarks and the role that they play in our system. Um but, we kind of are guided by a triangle um and the interactions between curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Right about this time last year, Ms. Bass asked me um about the amount of assessments that staff were doing in the classroom and the role that played with instructional experiences. Part of the reason that feels heavy sometimes is because we need actionable data that we can use to inform our decisions around instruction. And what we weren't feeling from our um teachers when we were using the previous interim was that we were gathering actionable data from it. And so we moved to a benchmark assessment system this year so that we

052could move down to the standards level in each subject area and make just-in-time adjustments. And so we talked about that in the fall and we're back for a second round of benchmarks. But we've done a lot of them um because of the quantity of subjects taught in our system and grade levels. So you see a table on here that shows you in every grade level third through eighth, we've done a an English one and English two, we've done an ELA benchmark. In three through eight and algebra one, we've had a math benchmark. In science, fifth and eighth and biology, we've had a benchmark. And in social studies, we've um provided a benchmark assessments in eighth and US history. That is a lot for me to go through in a meaningful way to you all. And

053so what I've made the decision to do is share some highlights based on the information that we shared in the fall with you that were specific target areas. This would exemplify as being able to respond to specific data um to show you some growth that we have made as well as some areas of continued growth needed. So in ELA, you see a 9% notable reduction in the number of students who are scoring a zero at all grade levels in our system. That includes 12% gain at the highest level um in writing in our fifth grade students. We also see 10 or more percentage growth around the area of author's intent and purpose. Specifically in third and fifth grade, we see double-digit growth and they're understanding what the author's purpose was. And that was a a

054clear area that we lifted out in the fall with you that we needed to focus on. And then we want to um acknowledge a 10% growth in the reduction of students in fourth and fifth grade in dual language who are not meeting standard. Now, along with those highlights, we have some clear areas across our system that we need to continue working with. Um our across all grade levels, not isolated to any um with a shift in the way students are measured in um their understanding in literacy, our we still see trends of students having challenges with um comprehension across paired passages. Meaning I can read multiple passages and draw conclusions about both and connecting them together. In writing, we see a continued challenge with students who are struggling to develop a foundational thesis connected to

055the question that they are asked and maintaining focus on that over time. So this is interesting with a kind of a triangulation um with that curriculum and instruction and assessment. Students are asked to think in a much deeper level now than they ever have, connecting thoughts across two passages and then also being able to write about those and hold an idea to a topic all the way through. And so we are seeing progress, but it is still um a challenge that we are working on. To address that at the district level, um we have brought all of our teachers together in language arts areas to do what we call calibration. Um and they are coming together to study student writing samples and understand what's at the core of the challenges that we're facing, but also

056score those together. And so that's um calibration um across our campuses um and grade levels. And in that process, models have been provided. What are the student writing models as well as teacher instructional models to support with the target areas of need. Um and rubrics have been provided that are student-driven rubrics so they can assess their own reading and writing responses as well as teacher rubrics on how they would score within those. At the campus level, um what we are really working on and Ben and Denise are working so closely with their campus leaders on ensuring that there's consistent writing strategies used. There's acronyms associated with those. One of them primarily is RACE strategy and it's really um a process that we encourage students to use to point to direct evidence in their text when

057they are responding to pro- prompts and how they provide that evidence of um their reading and in order to support comprehension across texts. And then uh finally, some very intensive small group responses right now on very specific standards that we've been able to pull out of benchmarks that we were not able to do before. And so we are at a point in the year where we're not in broad instruction. There should be very targeted instruction both at the whole class level and especially in those small group intervention strategies. All right, in math Algebra 1 mastery, we saw a 22% gain um in both eighth grade and our high school students in Meets and Masters from the fall to spring. This is heavily in linear and quadratic functions. Pulled that out, it feels very, very narrow,

058but it was also connected to some of the data that I shared with you all in the fall. 70% of our students are demonstrating early numeracy in third grade. Y'all, that's the highest percentage that I've been able to share with you all since being in Belton ISD, not just in this role. And so at this point in the year, our third graders were assessed on the totality of a STAAR released assessment and they 70% of them more than approaches or above. That was 3% higher than last year four weeks out from now. And so excited to see that growth in third grade early numeracy. And then we also see cohort growth of 12% in our students transitioning from 7th to 8th grade. You all are aware that we've had some challenges with 7th grade math

059and to see that cohort of students showing those gains as they move into 8th grade is promising for us in our practices and and what students are demonstrating. So again some challenges just at very high level, the complex equations and solving those is a challenge for our students and they have to translate not only from listening or reading what the problem is asking, but then translating that word problem into a complex math equation. I just put a sample in there for you to see. There's some definite complexity in there and so that integration of reading and math together has presented some challenges for us over time. In 6th and 8th grade in some really highly tested clusters on the star assessment specifically in proportional reasoning, we have seen some challenges. Although we've seen growth over

060time, it continues to provide a challenge for us. Geometry and measurement in 7th grade and linear functions in our algebra one students. The response plans are very um broad at the district level, but very specific within it. So at this point, we've been able to take our benchmark data and provide a personalized report for every campus and the standards that they are experiencing the greatest level of difficulty on and we put what we call spiraling reviews into our curriculum documents and that are specific to each campus. So the standards that each campus needs to be spiraling through frequently so that students get that review practice prior to the end of the year and prior to state testing as well as a specific student level report. We've had sessions last week with every single campus to

061review every student group and their progress in comparison to historical data for them. So, again, at the campus level, consistency in that daily practice with the spiral standards that we have suggested and added into our curriculum documents, as well as intense targeted small groups with the standards that have been identified and personalized lesson supports for their students. Okay, let's get to science and social studies. What we did not look at in the fall was our science and social studies data. In looking at student performance in our elementary science, it is heavily Earth and Space. 44% of how they are measured now is in Earth and Space, and we see a 16% gain in fifth grade student performance in that area of observing scientific cause. We've seen a 5% growth in eighth grade, another highly tested

062area, demonstrating that we have a solid foundational understanding of moon phases. It sounds it's it's odd for me to be able to say to you all it's moon phases, but it's part of our progress that I'm actually able to speak to that standard level with you that really wanted to. And then 34% of our economically disadvantaged students in biology saw a double-digit increase in analyzing and evaluating scientific evidence. Our students in science are beginning a new way of being assessed this year. I just mentioned that 44% of elementary star is grounded in Earth and Space, but it's also the way students are assessed is shifting. We had new instructional materials last year and new science standards. The way it will simply be described is students cannot memorize information, they have to think like a scientist.

063And so, we have to present information to them that's almost puzzle um like in nature. They have to be able to read um and lift out the problem that's being asked, similar to in math. And the assessment is around process thinking. It's not necessarily about the specific content in there. And so, one of the challenges that's in front of us is making sure that we are consistently giving students opportunities every single day to think like a scientist and get into those investigative um experiences daily in classrooms because they cannot memorize the content. The response plan is very much associated with that. We brought science leads from every single campus and provided um some very intensive just-in-time learning around those think like a science experiments um and experiences that should really be heavily emphasized in particular

064right now. There has to be writing every single day in science. Across all content areas, students are required to be able to write in response to their learning experiences now. So, again, at the campus level, we we are looking for and Ben and Denise are working alongside campus leaders and looking for those consistent daily practices to engage in intentional investigative practices in science in particular. And then finally, in social studies, um we have 26% of our students um in eighth grade were um at a We had 26 percentage point gain in the students who are at approaches or higher compared to the 2025 star um for our eighth-grade students. 34% of our students, which is a double-digit growth um in eighth-grade analysis regarding the nation, um Westward growth is something that has caused challenge for

065us over time and we've seen some growth there. And then 9% of our students in 11th grade showed an increase in analysis of the impact of physical and human geographic factors. And so that is the most frequently tested item in 11th grade and so excited to see that growth there. Just some priority challenges for us and I'm going to sum this up for you. In social studies retention of content is a challenge for us. It is not something that there is necessarily a thread that is pulled all the way through. You will study a series of information over time in history or geography and then move on to the next topic. And so the retention of content has been a challenge. So we've really worked on embedding writing as a process standard because once students

066write, it sticks. It's the last thing to develop and so writing has been heavily embedded in every subject as it relates to social studies. And in US history something that has presented challenge for us, although there is growth, reading legal documents is challenging for our students and they have to do that as a part of their assessment measure. So in the district response plan, much of what I've shared in other content areas would repeat and consistency and practice and spiraling of standards. We've made adjustments to the highest leverage areas in our curriculum documents. Something that is applied in all areas, but we are really emphasizing in particular in social studies is that for our emerging bilingual students a strategy of pre-teaching prior to engaging with the content. This is the one subject area that they

067really do have to hold on to the content and assessment as well. That sounded Think about how I said science was a process to identify the problem. Our students really need to remember content here when they're uh measured. So, we're doing some pre-teaching and experiences, then they're able to engage in the core instruction with their peers, and then some post-instruction intervention as well because our emerging bilingual students are having to simultaneously learn language, so acquisition of language and content simultaneously. So, those are some of the focus strategies for us. There are some pictures embedded on my last slide to just show across content and reinforce the way we opened. Because we are able to provide data clarity for our campuses now, we as a system are able to align our responses to unique campus needs

068as well as those that we see across our district and allow our campuses to respond rapidly in a different way than I've seen before. There's images here at the top, students at Southwest Elementary are in their extended school learning. The little boy with his hand on his chin is the one that told me, "I got to show that I know this stuff so I can get home." But he had a smile on his face, and so did the other kids in the classroom. You see another campus that is having level-up math clubs. Y'all, that's intervention. But kids are loving it and they are taking part in math clubs with rapid response to accelerate their growth. And what you see on the far right is our instructional staff. Those gigantic posters that are out are our

069standards with students' names next to them, and they are looking and adjusting their groups for what has win time is what what we all need time. And every single one of our campuses has a structure in place to make adjustments right now with their teams based on teacher strengths and alignment with student needs. So, with that, I just any questions or discussion? Any questions for Ms. Nino? Gabby, thank you so much for your presentation. This is a lot of really positive things here. I mean, just the three that jump out, I mean, the the 70% on early numeracy, like you said, is huge. I think to see the 12% growth in a cohort, year over year, just speaks volumes in the growth that isn't unique to a specific class that's coming in, but it shows

070that growth. And then I I love seeing the economically disadvantaged students, the 34% science is huge. Um My question is this great news. Like you've got the curriculum, you've got the instruction, and now the assessment. Uh what's making all this happen? I mean, I know we already have the best teachers in the world here at BISD. Is it professional development? Is it curriculum? What's helping us move forward? I would respond to that with focus. Um that triangle up front is so important to us. Um what I I want to be really clear on is I celebrated some of the wins that we've seen from fall to spring. That doesn't imply that we don't have significant growth to make in other areas, but because we can say we took these actions in these areas and we

071saw some positive response, that allows us to really zoom in and say what worked and let's apply it in other areas. So, I think our focus is probably the most important. Um we have worked so hard to ensure that we're aligned in our practices. Ben and Denise and our campus leaders and our teaching and learning team are lockstep. We study this data together. When we're studying and there's data wins, our team gets on the call and says, "Hey campus, did you see this? Hey Southwest, you have the highest meets and mastery in fourth grade math. Did you see that yet?" Like that's a huge celebration that we're able to do now that we haven't been able to do before. Not because we weren't working really hard, but a shift in our practices allowed us to

072be super specific in what we're celebrating and what we're targeting for improvement. Anyone else? Chris. All right, I'm going to have to admit that when I get the board packet, this is the report I always go to first. So, like I get really juiced up, really excited about looking at the the academic report in here. Um and of course I I really enjoy the recognitions up front, too, but like I you know, when we talk about the business, like I get really excited about this. So, um the cross content area I think is so important, right? I mean, this is where you start to make all the connections to the real world, right? That you know, you're not just living in a content bubble, but like how does this apply, you know, across areas? And

073so, I think that's so important. Um so exciting. I mean, echoing echoing what Rucker was talking about, like these areas and and and some of these increases um are absolutely outstanding, right? The flip side of that is we were able to make some of these some of these growth areas because we had room to make a lot of these growth areas, right? Um and so, you know, extremely excited about it. Um you know, I to focus, right? You what you were talking about. I think that's the difference that I'm seeing from a board perspective as well, right? So, when I joined the board, um I think we maybe looked at the taper report. Um and so, the what we're looking at and what we've been looking at consistently consistency consistently over the last several years,

074right? Is really getting down to the data of it, right? Like how do we Like we've been doing the art of teaching, right? But have have we really been doing the science of teaching, right? And what what we're doing is we're applying that science of the teaching in addition to the art, right? It in that focus. And so, we're able to drill down into, "Hey, here's the one area where where we're really struggling, right?" And and so, what are we going to do about it? And you're naming it, and you're doing it, and we're seeing results, right? And so, I get super excited about that. And um I just thank you so much for what you're doing. Um I know you're tired of hearing me about me talking about this every month, but um you

075know, the ship is moving in the right direction. And uh and so exciting. Yeah, I just have a comment just to add on just always appreciate the academic reports that I too get excited about these namely because coming from education, these are the reports that I really understand and so I just yes, it's it's great to see the the growth but I think it's important to note at this time of year, we need to give just make sure our teachers know how much we we are we support them because we're gearing we know that they've been working hard since well, they they work hard year-round. I know as a as a former teacher they're all they're never not working, right? They're always thinking about it. They're always planning whether it's the summer at spring break.

076They're thinking planning but this time of the year they're gearing up for yes, while star is one day but I I just our teachers are working incredibly hard right now. I know having a couple well, four kids in the district but having a couple in middle school right now, the teachers are working after school with tutorials. They're coming in before that that that day to they're reaching out to parents of hey, we're we we want to help even more so they're providing even more opportunities outside of the class time and so I just I think while we appreciate these reports, I want to make sure just that this time of year that our teachers know that this this seven of us were were really rooting for them and and we're just appreciative of their hard

077work because I know this time of year is it's not easy because they want their their kids to do well. And so they work just even harder and so just super proud of of our teachers in Belton and super thankful for them. Dr. Golden, you said that we had some good news coming. You didn't tell me it was this good. Um We were super excited about the growth in math and Oh yeah, this this these it's been a good evening so far. I mean, you watch the engineering kids out here and then we hear all this. It's been a great evening for us. Um I want to echo some of the things that that Aaron was saying about teachers cuz I do know how hard they work. You know, I was married to one, still

078married to one. Uh I wonder if she's watching. Uh Uh but I see I see Ben and where's Denise? I see Is Denise back there somewhere? >> birthday. Oh, okay. Okay. So so thank you guys for what you do. Um and Gabby I I know I've thanked you before but and I know you've got a really really tough job. You wear lots of different hats. So thank you and your team for what you guys do. Um this is what it's all about, right? And incidentally, the way that you presented it, I I like that. Uh it's easy for me to understand. So I I like the way that you did your slides today. Thank you. Um so anyone else? Go to go. Yes, a couple things. Um it's interesting in going through the strategic planning

079work that we're doing right now. Um in no um focus group did someone say that the main hope and dream they wanted for their children is to take a test and take the star test. >> Mhm. It doesn't mean that students' readiness for college and readiness to go into a career isn't important. That is very important. Um but I think there's a real recognition in our community that it's more than the one test on the one day. But there are very high stakes um consequences for a one test one day. And so um we can't ignore the importance of that day. And I appreciate y'all celebrating teachers. I I started making a list of the changes that I'm going to focus just on elementary teachers for just a minute. So we had to do a

080reset on what we talk about. You heard you hear us talking about PLCs all the time, professional learning communities. What does that look like when teachers are coming together to collaborate on and really internalizing what our students need to know and be able to do and then design incredibly engaging experiences for students to learn that. So, we did a reset on that. Um we've made elementary, you heard there's elementary assessment changes that the state has made. There's new curriculum requirements um that the state has made. Um we have construct constructive response, new ways in which to assess writing and reading. Um we have required reading academies and now required math academies. And so, while teachers at every level are experiencing challenges and are experiencing changes, I think the magnitude of change for elementary teachers in

081our district and across the state has been significant. And so, I appreciate that you all appreciate our teachers so much because what what goes into the the science and art of teaching is incredibly complex work. And so, um just a shout-out to our teachers. Um same for middle school and high school. Um the academies have not been required at other grade levels yet. That might be coming. Um yeah, but for elementary particularly. And so, just incredibly proud of our teachers for um working so hard. This state comes out, there's a lot of data that we are not happy with. We know needs to improve. Our teachers know it better than we do. Um and it's so discouraging when you get assessment data back and you've worked so hard and it didn't move the needle. And

082so, but what I'm super proud, just like the students from Newtech talked about, it's the design thinking is being applied at the level of our teachers in designing work for our students. And um you know, while we get down when we see data we don't love, we dust ourselves off quickly and the teachers are already coming together going, "Okay. What do we think went wrong? What do we think the challenges are? Who did really well? Who can we learn from in terms of other teachers?" And so, just sorry, long-winded, but incredibly proud of our teachers and then the work behind the scenes with teaching and learning to support them. Thank you, Gabby. Thank you all. Moving on further with reports, item 5B, bond and capital projects report. Dr. Golden? Yes, so Dr. Morgan is coming

083up to the podium. He's going to give us an update on some of our bond projects that have come to a close, as well as some of the capital projects we're going to be working on moving through the rest of this year and into the summer. Thank you, Dr. Golden. Board of Trustees, it's my pleasure tonight to just spend a few moments talking about the next steps in some of our remaining bond projects and also on our 25 and 26 capital projects because of investment from our M&O budget. So, the purpose of this is to to give you that update tonight. There's really three three areas that I'll talk about and then I'll talk about funding sources and then I'll I'll delve a little bit into some of the some of the things that we're

084finishing up tonight in the consent agenda. But we do have several safety and security items that we're moving forward with. These are These have been known needs and we have prioritized to be able to try to work these in phases over the next several years, but playground fencing that is moving our our playgrounds to the to the standard that we've spoken about many times and that's at Lakewood Elementary, Leon Heights Elementary, and Tarver Elementary. To go ahead and replace with the cloud-based systems of security cameras at all four of our middle schools. That is that's been a known need all the way back to our 2021 facility assessment. It's been involved in in several proposals and discussions we've had. It's also one of the most common themes we hear from feedback from our principals and

085our campus leaders whenever we do talk to them about what their facility needs are as we plan and then compare that data with what we see in our facility assessment. Also in transportation on the theme of buses is we are we've been in a rollout and a in a use of a navigation system. Ours is the the Smart Tech system is what we've used for the past really for the past 6 years. And many of our tablets are still the first generation tablets, so we do want to make an investment in our bus fleet. This is the system by which we use GPS tracking. We also can can chart attendance and then parents can use the app to see if their students are on the bus and where the bus is and what time the

086bus might arrive at their stop. And then we did back in December we brought a request to you for approval to purchase playground equipment at Pearl Elementary. We we had some equipment that was broken and because of the age of the equipment it's a playscape and it was a bridge on a playscape that the equipment could not be repaired. The parts were no longer in it was a piece of 25-year-old equipment, so we replaced we're going to replace the entire playscape to stay stay in with our district standards. We also have several items that are mechanical, electrical, and plumbing or MEP as we categorize those. Two roof replacements. Our district alternative education program our DAEP campus is in need of a new roof as is our transportation facility. That's been a known need for going

087all the way back to to our 2021 facility assessment. Electrical a big project and one that that we're happy to move forward with this replacement of the Belton High School switch gear. Uh the original switch gear on that facility in the main portion of that facility is is is a little over 40 years old now and we're having a really difficult time finding replacement parts. And so we're excited and we we will have a consent item tonight to go ahead and approve the contractor so we can get equipment ordered on that project. Uh our next big H vac projects um you'll recall that we we've the Pirtle Elementary is one of our H vac projects that was included in the 2022 bond. We that work is has been moved to the summer because of the

088complexity of a lot of the equipment that's in a mezzanine above the classrooms and under the roof of that building. So that work will be performed this summer and then the next steps at Belton High is to get the Belton High chiller valve replacement. So on the west side of the campus primarily the the auxiliary gymnasium, competition gymnasium, and performing arts center operates under a chiller system. It's a it's an older system but we do need valve replacement to make that system operate more efficiently and more dependably. And then also there's about a third of Belton High School that still is not on direct digital controls or DDC and so that will give us a lot more control over the H vac in that those portions of the building and should allow us to operate

089more efficiency there as well. And then this is one that's been on our bond project updates for the for the last several and that is the a phasing of interior LED classroom lights in the first two campuses and that project would be Lakewood Elementary and Belton Middle School. Um and then the the last phase of of some of the upcoming work uh capital projects is our rough facility planning and storm recovery. We are um required by Texas Administrative Code to have a a long-range facility plan and also have Ed specifications. So uh our long-range facility plan we worked on extensively in the '23 and '24 school year, spring of '24. We want to take another look at that long-range plan now that we've been able to complete 2022 bond projects and invest some other other

090funds into capital improvements. And then the Texas Administrative Code also asks that you are requires you to update and review your educational specifications every 5 years. So, we we last had those approved in the spring of 2022. So, we want to go ahead and start moving forward with that process to look at our Ed specifications. And then also since we are in the process of updating a district strategic plan is go back and take a look at our Ed Adequacy Evaluation of each campus as well. That's not a Texas Administrative Code requirement, but it is a best practice to make sure that that evaluation aligns with your strategic plan. And then the one thing that that we've been working hard on, I promise, is our storm damage repair. We've worked with our risk with our

091our comprehensive insurance provider along with the project manager that's helping us and we will have some upcoming actions in the next few board meetings to try to get the majority and bulk of that work done over the summer from our insurance claim from the 2024 tornado, hail, and storm damage that was incurred. There's three funding sources for the capital projects that I've mentioned tonight. One is an investment from our maintenance and operations budget as capital project funds as as Melissa talked about budget assumptions earlier tonight and and Chris commented on our our our um priority to try to include more money into capital project funds each year. And also knowing that we had a slight boost this year because of the disaster pennies that were adopted. So, that's that's the a primary funding source for

092these projects along with our 2022 remaining bond funds, and our 2022 bond savings. And if you'll recall in in our last bond update, we estimate in in that our bond savings will likely be around $4.5 million all told. So, this would include portions of those of those funds as well to fund what we estimated around $3.7 million in projects with the with the with the the the the items and the projects that I've spoken with you about tonight. Uh I did want to talk We do have a number of items on the consent agenda tonight uh that are either bond and capital project related in getting the the delivery methods and choosing contractors for for projects we hope to and and we'll plan to complete this summer. Also, some close outs and some deductive change

093orders. So, I want to take a couple of minutes just to give some high-level uh rundown of these and then we'll have an opportunity for questions about any of these projects, funding sources, or in the consent items for tonight. So, the contractor for tonight, we did go out for competitive proposals, and we do have a recommendation for the contractor. This is one of the only items left in our capital projects of this go round that does have a little bit longer lead items on some of the equipment. So, getting this one done tonight gives us an opportunity to get that equipment ordered, try to get it here as soon as possible. I will say we anticipate that the projects we've discussed tonight a summer of 2026 completion on all except particularly maybe the the switch

094gear because it is about a 5-7 day project where the main power coming into that facility will have to be offline. So, we'll have to schedule that around when the equipment comes in and then activities at a very busy comprehensive high school to to make that happen. We do have two two action items or two consent items around the swim center HVAC. One is a change order. These are the types of change orders we really like. It's a deductive change order. It means that the job is complete and we have some contingency and allowance money that's coming back into the bond program. So, if you'll remember the original construction cost of that project was $467,000. The contractor was able to perform the work for $392,000. And so, we're bringing about $75,300 in allowance and contingencies

095back. The other thing we'll ask you to do tonight is accept that project as complete and go ahead and close it out so we can make final payments to the contractor. Same thing for the the various HVAC projects at BMS, Newtech, Sparta, and Becks. We have another deductive change order. The original construction contract for that those projects was a little over $2 million. Our final construction amount was $1,513,000. So, we're bringing a change order a deductive change order of about $580,000 in allowances and contingencies back into the bond program off those projects tonight as well. And when you see a a $2 million contract and about a quarter of it's coming back, you know that the contractor did did did very well and that the work was able to be performed without a lot of

096issues or modifications that had to take place. So, we're really excited about that. And then there's also construction delivery methods the the two roofs that I spoke about earlier and the chiller valve replacement that we will want to go out for competitive sealed proposals for those projects. And then finally, there were some additional architectural and design service fees for the Delta project facility. If you'll recall, that facility is online now and it's we have closed out that that project, but it we did not finish in the the contractual completion date. And these architectural design services that we will have those in consent agenda tonight, but those services were paid for by the contractor, and that was part of our final settle up and close out, and some of the liquidated damages that they paid to

097us were to offset or to pay for the additional design services that were incurred because the project went long. And so, I I just covered a lot, and and that's because there's a lot going on and a lot of exciting things going on, and I would open it up for discussion and answer any questions or or comments that you may have about these projects. Any questions from anyone? Nope. Just a quick comment. It's just how how fast you kind of just buzz through that we just say, you know, the savings of over $4 million on on all of those projects. It can be looked over quite easily, but I know that each and every one of those projects, you know, with the oversight and with the um some of the good calls that were made.

098I mean, and now all of the projects that that get to be helped out, you know, in accordance with the bond laws and everything. Um I just again want to say good job on those. Thank you for saying that, and I and I would say we have a a really strong team that's worked on this, but we've also had really strong partners that have helped us from a lot of the different contractors that we've worked with, the architects, the design teams, and we really we really come at it from a standpoint of uh providing quality, but also providing value for our taxpayers and trying to save money anywhere we can and be be the most efficient we can. I I do think you'll see as we're able to move into more of these HVAC type

099projects and LED type projects, there there is a an emphasis on replacing older equipment that's at the end of its useful life, but there's also a priority to try to become more efficient in that equipment as well so that we can lower operating costs for the long run. But, thank you for that, Raleigh. Thank you, Dr. Morgan. It takes us to item 5C, City of Belton City of Temple, I'm sorry, Oak Hills Neighborhood Plan. Dr. Golden? Yes, Christine, are you all introducing them? Okay. Um I was going to say guests, but I don't I'm sorry, Aaron, I don't think of you as a guest. I I think of the City of Temple as a partner with us. Y'all been an incredible partner in so many ways. Um but excited you're here. Christine, you want to

100kick us off a little bit on what we're hearing tonight? >> Sure, absolutely. Um and Aaron will go in, I'm sure, to more detail, but uh the City of Temple embarked on really uh in the kind of along the lines of our strategic planning process, a strategic planning process with neighborhoods across the city. And um they've done several Which one? Uh this is This is number 16. This is plan 16. So, um where they have gone out and worked with um the stakeholders, those that live and work in in different neighborhood sections across town, and really worked on what are their hopes and dreams for what they want those areas that they um live and work in to be like. And so, uh this is the first one that uh is within Belton ISD district

101uh lines. And so, uh Aaron is here tonight to uh preview it. I don't think it'll be her last one, but it is her first one with us. And so, we're thrilled. And again, Dr. Golden, as you said, the partnership with the City of Temple has been amazing, and their foresight and um planning through this to be very thoughtful in the way that they engage stakeholders is really truly amazing, and we're grateful for that. And for y'all to get to hear a bit little bit about that this evening. So, I'll turn it over to Aaron. Thank you. Thank you all for having me. It was a lot of fun to watch all the presentations earlier. So, I'll I'll be pretty brief with this, but I believe you have the actual full neighborhood plan. So, if

102you have any questions here, feel free to interrupt me or afterward, you can send me an email. So, as um Christina mentioned, this is our first neighborhood plan within the Belton ISD school district. However, this is our 16th overall. We started these planning efforts in 2018, and we predominantly started on the east side of Temple in the more established neighborhoods. And so, you can see from the map there that we've really been growing um quite a bit. So, we have a total of 24 neighborhood planning districts that we have established. Uh two of those, I believe, are within the Belton ISD school district limits. I will also be focusing on corridor planning um as well, and I'll talk a little bit about that what we're doing right now, too. So, uh our neighborhood planning team

103um consists of planning and development services, our Transform Temple team, and housing community development. And as Christine mentioned, we work very closely with stakeholders. Uh so, we worked closely in the very beginning with Belton ISD representative, business owners, residents, churches. So, here are the limits. Um as you can see, this neighborhood is a very large size, and it's a mixture of composition. Um you have some older established some older established homes, and then you also have some newer homes, such as the Carriage Homes neighborhood. So, to the west of this is State Highway 317. To the far uh south is Poison Oak. Um so, you can see your school is located in there, and to the north is Hogan. So, this is a very extensive public engagement process that we undergo. So, with this one

104particular, we started in November of 2023, and so we are ending it right now. And as a part of um the finishing out, we do many different presentations, and so that's why I'm coming to you all today. And so, we are hoping uh then to take it to our planning and zoning commission, I believe next week, and then city council eventually for adoption. And throughout this public engagement process, as I mentioned, we meet with several stakeholders, but we really engage with the people who live in the neighborhood as well. So, we hand out door hangers, we hold community engagement events, we conduct a survey, we do a wide array of things. So, here are Here's a little bit closer look of the map, as you can see. So, on the top left portion, which would

105be the southeast portion of Hogan and 317, that area is undeveloped, so we see that as some development potential. We also saw that there's a lot of walking to the school district, Chisholm. And so, we wanted to identify some pedestrian routes that we think they would be important to maybe add sidewalks to those areas. This is also, as you see as I go through this plan, a really exciting neighborhood. I have never seen anything like it where you have a existing neighborhood park, a a proposed community park, and a proposed regional park all in one area. So, a lot of park planning is going into this effort. And then you'll see some streets and and drainage concerns that we've come up with that we propose to address with that as well. So, here is Carriage

106House Drive, and so you can see that this is a primary pedestrian corridor that leads to Chisholm. And so, we think that having some some safe crossings would be really helpful as well as the addition of sidewalks. And then this is our overall map. This is what we call our thoroughfare plan recommendation. So, we go through and we look at those primary corridors. So, as you can see, you know, is a major roadway in the area, which is adjacent is both Hogan and Poison Oak Drive as that we've already been working on both of those roadways. But then we identify in red those primary pedestrian corridors where maybe sidewalks or trails should be added, as well as maybe a neighborhood collector that really takes the traffic through the neighborhood that you can see in the

107purple there. And here is an example. So, you'll as you go through the plan document, we have to what we call typical right-of-way sections where we identify which roadway section it is. So, we broke Hogan up I think into three different segments cuz there are three different segments with that. And then Poison Oak is in two different segments. As you know, we completed 1A. We're about to be working on 1B. Um and you can see um how we have identified that with a um four travel lanes and a large trail network adjacent to there that would lead to both the elementary school as well as our Southwest Community Park. Uh here is some other pedestrian um things that we are working on. So, one of the biggest things too with this neighborhood that we identified

108was the need to address some drainage concerns that are happening in the area. Um so, through that we are embarking on some capital improvement projects to address that. Uh we've also been looking at sideway sidewalk networks um as you can see here along Hogan, too. The as I mentioned earlier, we do see some redevelopment opportunity within this neighborhood. Being that it is adjacent to State Highway 317 presents an opportunity where you have that area like I mentioned on the southeast portion of uh Hogan and 317 where it's undeveloped that has potential for some retail frontage along 317 and then maybe some office commercial behind there leading into traditional single-family in the neighborhood. So, what we really tried to do in our planning exercises is make sure that um any future development um is complementary to

109the neighborhood. So, we wouldn't want to butt that commercial right up to those existing single-family residence, provide a little buffering. So, um that you can see here. You'll see there is some potential too for redevelopment. You have some really large estate lots um that are located right off of Poison Oak. So, if that area were to ever redevelop, we like to show in our plan how that could redevelop very well. And so, um we we're not going to come through, we're not going to come and redevelop this area. Uh but, you know, if this were to ever happen, this is a guide on how it could be done pretty well. So, you will see that we show, for example, a slip street adjacent to directly parallel to 317. This is really sim- similar to I

110think honeysuckle is a good example in West Temple, where that provides that other safe route uh through that area that you can get to your retail and shopping as well as the offices in the back. So, that's a good example of something that's been done. But, through this is is where we actually identified that 317, as you all know, uh we have a lot of growth in West Temple. It's been growing for a number of years, and 317 is still relatively undeveloped. So, it's an opportunity for us to come in there and complete a corridor plan right now. So, we actually have a survey open right now. So, if you have a chance, go and fill out the survey. It's it's open, you know, to anyone who travels along the corridor and wants to let

111us know what you think about it. Through that corridor plan, um we will identify uh some safe crossings, um a lot of things that you see in the neighborhood plan, landscaping, land uses, um and then those will translate to an overlay. So, we can make sure that any future development um occurs according to that plan. That is not this plan though, that is something we just started. So, as I mentioned, the parks are just such an unique characteristic of this neighborhood. So, you have the existing Oaks at Westwood Park. It is um a very old playground structure, very old. It's it's probably reached its life expectancy. I think it's about 20 years old, and that's usually when we like to replace those playground structures. But, it is a small park, and it serves the neighborhood.

112So, we're looking at that in our capital improvement program now. We also were donated the property um that we call Kenny Martin Park. And so, that is directly off of 317. And then, um as you know, we've been planning for our regional park, Southwest Community Park, which is very close to Chisholm Trail Elementary. So, here's an exhibit. Um I didn't want to show you all the pages. You have them in your plan document, but we we wanted to show you at least that we have a lot of things that we're planning for Southwest Community Park, but particularly we're making sure that there's a lot of access to that, whether it's on a main corridor for the road trail system or through those interior neighborhoods. And then, Kenny Martin Park um just has a really unique,

113you know, ability to become a very more a nature park. Um so, you there's some drainage that flows through this area here, but we could take that as an opportunity and create an amenity pond that could be a part of the park features. And just make it more natural and um really fit in with the neighborhood with some trail networks um and just some wildflowers and and native grasses. And then, as I mentioned, the neighborhood park um and looking at that playground structure that serves the neighborhood. One of the parts that we also love doing with our neighborhoods is creating um what we call district identification. Um so, creating an identity. You see this often with newer subdivisions. They'll have a subdivision entry sign. Um and the older established neighborhoods, well, they have a name,

114they don't have things like that. So, if you go over to East Temple, you may see that we've been doing this in quite a few districts. I believe we're on dis- the ninth district now in installing our signs. And so, this is what we came up with through the work um with the the property owners within the area to come up with this design that we feel like really fits the neighborhood. And with that, all of this planning that we do, then we come up with our action items and our capital improvement plan. So, you can see what we identify there. Others are all the numbers of different projects that the city would undertake through our capital improvement program that we call our places and spaces capital improvement program that we look at every year

115and we update and we're doing a lot of work in the areas. We're also submitting for grants. I was really excited when we received $20 recently for one of our neighborhood planning district recommendations that included a roadway called Henderson Parkway in East Temple that is going to connect a lot of dead-end streets in the Crestview neighborhood. So, that's really meaningful and so we'll continue working with Senator Carter's office on those as well. But otherwise, we've been working diligently on our capital improvement plan and that's what you'll see in here as well as action items for staff. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Any questions for Ms. Smith? Erin, thank you for your presentation. I think partnership with city of Temple has been strong for a long time. Going to

116first of all, the survey I saw it come through today at midday. I've already filled it out. So, I've already put my put in for 317 and you guys do a great job asking stakeholders what their feedback or asking for their feedback and bringing that into place and not just putting things out there. Um on the if you go back a slide just a minute, you had it in there several places. Oh, by the way. Where did I go? Oh, no. That's not me. Two more back. I don't know if I have a back button. Oh, here it is. I'm sorry. There you go. Um I really like this. I can only assume that the neighborhood collector there going north-south, the purple, and then you've got the pedestrian connectors are offset for safety for children

117getting to the school. Is that right? >> Yes. And getting to park systems as well. >> Yeah. That's I love that. Um this school, particularly Charter Oak, I know a lot of our schools have a really tight connection to the neighborhood, but Charter Oak for one, whenever you go there, I think we've all been there and seen how many kids just walk from the backside. Um, it can come I mean, it feels just like an open connection, like a backyard goes straight to the school. Uh, there's a lot of walkers right there. So, I just applaud you for having this in the plan with the the pedestrian connectors and upgrading the sidewalks cuz it's it's going to do great things for that community, not to mention all the parks. I'm so glad you said Charter

118Oak cuz I think the entire presentation I called it Chisholm Trail on my so, thank you for saying that. I agree. Thank you so much. >> Yep. Chris? Yeah. I great presentation, great materials. I mean, I want to thank you uh, thank you and your office and the city for the true vision understanding, you know, that the the planning is really important, right? I mean, that people come to this area because it's a great place to live and it's great place to live because of the planning that's going into it, right? There's some real intentionality around what's going on. Um, and so I certainly appreciate that. Um, absolutely also appreciate the partnership with the schools and and honoring the fact that, you know, elementary schools in the middle of a housing community, right? Are the

119in a lot of ways are the heartbeat of that community, right? And and a lot of what we've done here like really does honor that. Um, and and and let's that continue for for Charter Oak and so, um thank you very much. This is great. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you very much. Thank you all. Thank you, Aaron. All right, that takes us to our board committee reports. Policy committee? It's me and Raleigh. Okay. Um, so first one we talked about um, this was really kind of a follow-up from last month with from when we talked about Senate Bill 11, which we you know, we didn't adopt, but we wanted to make sure that um, DGA local, which um, applies to employee rights and privileges, we just wanted to make sure that our employees, we

120added a section in there that says that employees retain the right to engage in prayer and of reading or reading of religious text during non-instructional time. So, we just wanted to make sure that students and employees retain that right even though we didn't adopt Senate Bill 11 last month. And then we talked about policy update 126, which again all of this is in your consent agenda. I'll just give you the really brief highlights. We talked about CLE local, which is on building grounds and equipment and it really talked that the main edit, I guess in there was specifically around displays. And so, they edited from flag displays to required displays, which just basically to make sure that the US and Texas flags must be displayed displayed in every classroom where pledges are recited. And we

121have been in compliance with that. And which I I want to say and I could have said it at the end, but I'll just say it here. You know, I was on facility for a while, but being on policy, it has just been so encouraging to see that our district really does stay on top of policy that you know, while we get a lot of edits and changes, I I think time and time again we're in compliance. We've This is already been in practice and so it just want to make sure I I just give kudos to the district team for just making sure that we are in compliance and and doing the right thing for our kids and families. Next one we talked about was CSA local, which was on facility standards around safety

122and security. There was just an added section in there on the designation and use of a private spaces that must be in accordance with law. This isn't a change in practice again. We're already doing it. I guess an example that I had asked for was just making sure that maybe a staff member who has come off maternity leave, but still is nursing has a private space to do her business or maybe there's a um a student that is needing some particular counseling and there's a provided designated private space. So again, we are in compliant with that. We talked about EFA local instructional resources and materials. This actually came out of the session before last. So almost So not this past session but the session before. But it was we needed to develop an administrative regulation

123for when when families want to um uh request a review of our instructional materials which we we've that's been in practice if families have wanted to look at our instructional materials. We've certainly allowed that and welcomed that. This just made sure that we had a formal practice. So now we have a practice for actually submitting an actual review. If parents wanted to have an um appeal that maybe maybe they we weren't being in compliant with something. There was an appeal process and then a certain timeline. So basically just making sure that we have some formal processes in place for our parents who um want to review our instructional materials. And then the last one we talked about was FEF local. This is a brand new one. This did come out of the last session and

124it is a one-pager. So if you haven't read it out read it, I would encourage you to do that. And Christine has really led the work on this and has done a great job. But so this one again since this is new, we're still learning. This is a released time course that is a course in religious instruction offered by a private entity. So outside so doesn't have any connection to the school district. So students who may participate in a course like this, they can be excused anywhere from 1 hour to 5 hours a week. This policy does there are very there numerous requirements. Again, where Christina's leading the work on making sure that um should um we have an outside entity that wants to provide something for our families that we are following um policy,

125but some of those requirements are that kids have to have a written consent from uh parents to participate. Um, the school would not provide any transportation. Um, this private entity would assume liability while students are under their care. Um, and that the student is still responsible for any missed school work. Those were just some of the requirements. Again, you can I would encourage you to go and read that. It is it's a just an easy one-pager uh read. Uh, but again, Christina, appreciate you leading the work on that. And so that was our policy committee. Riley, is there anything? Thank you, Aaron. All right, um budget committee. All right, you heard most of what we did already, but um we started out talking about uh 2026-2027 uh budget runs just a couple different scenarios. Uh,

126so we did take a look at what would the potential budget scenario look like if we had actually stuck exactly to the letter to everything that we said from the board goals a couple months ago, right? What would that look like? Um, uh and uh then we did take a look at what would it look like with the budget assumptions that um uh that we voted on earlier this meeting. So So really just kind of taking a look forward into 2026-2027. Um, we did also talk about the seat belts and the financial impact of the seat belts. So we we heard that earlier today. Uh, we did talk about the financial impact of some of the long-range facility planning uh bond updates that might give us further. Um, and then we also do did talk

127a little bit about uh the CTE um uh program reviews, right? And the process behind the program reviews. And that seem might see why the heck were you guys talking about that in the budget committee? Uh, well, there is a financial impact to that. Um, in in in several different ways. And so, we were just talking about what is the process uh around that. Um, uh we didn't have a whole lot of time uh to to get any deeper than that. So, um nothing nothing here on that. It was again just a process update. So. I think that was it. All good? All right. Thank you, Chris. Okay, facilities committee. Well, much like them, y'all heard Dr. Morgan's presentation. That covered the majority of ours. I guess every time he comes up I don't have

128to speak very much. That's good. Uh things that he didn't cover cuz I just get to mark all these other ones off. Um talked about the scoreboard, the updating of the scoreboard, and the revenue, possible advertising ideas to help pay for that, uh the revenue bond that would go with it. And then we saw the uh schematic for the updated turf idea that they have. Uh it's clean, it's nice, looks real good. Uh it's a little bit different than the strips that we've had in the past where they peel. It's it's one big printed piece now, apparently. Um really the majority was what he talked about. And then we uh quite a bit of time on scoreboard and just advertising ideas. You know, we have to find ways to to get revenue. I mean, we

129know we have a revenue bond, but if we can sell more advertising with the scoreboard, then we can pay that off faster. We can put that back into the stadium and pay off those bonds faster. So. Did I miss anything, Worker? No. Good. Thank you, Jeff. That takes us to item 5E, superintendent's report. >> Dr. Golden. Yes, I'm going to jump in with a couple of pictures since we met last um in a board meeting. So, first of all, just a shout out to our Delta staff, our Delta program staff, and our incredible students. Um for so many of us, transportation is a a simple process. We get in our car and we drive to work or where drive to the grocery store. Um one of the important skills for our students in our Delta

130program who are not able to get driver's license is to be able to navigate um, the public transportation system. And so, just really appreciate um, Tammy Baggerly and the staff and the partnership with the Hop the Hop team um, did a really great job of helping train our students how to use public transportation so that they can get to jobs, they can get to grocery stores. And so, it was just an incredible experience for our students. Um, continuing with some of the great things happening with our Delta students. This next um, couple of pictures, um, our students they boarded the Hop bus and they traveled to McDonald's. For some of our students, they are not used to purchasing their own food, having their own money, making sure they know the change that they should be

131getting back. And um, and just the act of ordering for themselves. Um, some of our students have not had that experience and so, being able to get out and practice those experiences are just so important. It's part of our Delta program is to help with the independent living skills for our students. And so, um, they had an incredible experience. Um, continuing with um, just students with special abilities and special needs. Um, just some really amazing things to highlight that I bet some of you y'all will highlight as well. Just our unified track meet took place. We participated, many of you were there in the reverse job fair. Um, this is where um, many of our students in our um, particularly students in our Delta program had the opportunity to prepare resumes to be able to

132really highlight some of their job skills um, and be able to communicate and present those to people as they walk around um, in the reverse job fair. that was an incredible experience. And y'all, we've won a lot of gold. We've We've won gold, silver, bronze medals at the Special Olympics basketball, um, competition. We really showed up. Our students did an incredible job, as well as our teachers who make these experiences possible, our incredible parents who partner with us, and just our talented athletes. Um, I have had a lot going on. Uh, the medals on the left side just represent academic UIL. We had so many students participating on a weekend, teachers coming up and making those experiences possible. We have two area champions, Belton High School and Lake Belton High School soccer. Both teams, um,

133were won the area championship, um, recognitions recently. They're fierce competitors on the field. We're super proud of both of those programs. And then, you see on the right side, we have, um, our incredible BEC students. So, they do this where they take, um, recyclable materials, and they create just masterpieces out of, um, what some of us would consider trash. Our students take and they create masterpieces and just, uh, the design of our students' projects were incredible. And so, and on the far right side, just an example, we have, um, thanks to Deanna Love Smith, we are recognizing um, incredible math stars in our district now. Um, she has made the national math star, um, program, um, our parents now are aware of that, our staff is aware of that, and our students are shining in

134the area of math. And so, this is just an example of some of our students getting their math star awards. I know you as a board have recognized students for advancing all the way to the very end where they are supported for 10 years in their growth in the area of mathematics with scholarships, access to camps, just the the opportunity for our students is incredible. And finally, since we met last, got to participate in the groundbreaking for Rowan. So, that's one of the industries going in on um the West Temple side um of our community and just um we've had many meetings with Rowan, Gabby and I have and team and Denise. Just um one welcoming them to the neighborhood, so to speak, but also talking about um so, how do we partner with you?

135How do we make sure our students have the opportunity to do externships and um internships? How do we partner with you just in alignment with um our goal around community engagement? And so, um excited that they have broken ground and just excited about the future partnership with them. And those are my highlights. Thank you. Mhm. Anyone Anyone have any questions for Dr. Golden? All right, let's just that takes us to board highlights. Um as everyone knows, you can share one item or or one visit or two visits or whatever you want to share. I can go. I want to actually jump on the end of Dr. Golden's superintendent highlights. I I didn't know about that HOP that they did for the HOP presentation. The work that they did with our students from Delta. And the

136HOP over the past has really done a phenomenal job upgrading uh transportation, especially with the micro transit. And I love the fact that they're jumping in with Belton ISD students, particularly our Belton Delta students. So, great job to the HOP out there. Um got to participate in faith-based leaders meeting with Aaron, I think. Um got to do reading at Leon Heights in Lakewood for Read Across America, one of my favorite days of the year. Uh meet Coach Rogers at Lake Belton High School. Uh Um, a few other meetings. The BEF scholarship golf tournament was this morning, raising a lot more money for teachers and our students getting ready to go to college. Um, but I just want to echo what you said Aaron earlier about our teachers. This is the time of the year as

137a a former teacher as well, you know, uh, after spring break, getting close to the horizon of the school year and it's kids are getting a little rambunctious. I know mine are at home. And uh, for all those teachers out there, thank you so much for your service. It means so much uh, for our community and for our kids and just for the overall health of our society. So, this place would not be the same without our teachers. Thank you, Rucker. Sure. I was going to go. Um, it seems like it's always a busy month. Um, uh, had the opportunity to go to the Lake Belton High School PTA meet and uh, they talked a little bit about they did a after action report on the college fair, right? So, how did it go? Um,

138you know, what do we need to do differently next time? How do how do we uh, expand it, explode that event uh, even bigger? So, it was fun to fun to participate in that conversation. Um, also talked a little bit about their needs closet. Um, and so if we've got students with, you know, particular hygiene needs or, you know, food insufficiency insufficiency needs and things like that. Like it's a service that uh, the PTA provides to the student body and get to learn a little bit about that, which is really a great great service being provided. Um, went to a UIL uh, concert or two, um, certainly. Um, went to uh, meeting at Lake Belton Middle School about uh, a the big trip that all the middle schools uh, potentially have the opportunity to take

139uh, next year uh, to go see uh, the big city of Washington, D.C. and go to the Big Apple and um, and so Lake Belton Middle and North Belton Middle North Belton Middle I think were the two schools that were were that at that particular session. There's a lot of energy around, you know, kids wanting to get out and and and see the sights. So that was a fun meeting. Got to participate in the kickoff for the community leaders fellowship. And so that was I can't remember right off the top of my head how many school systems actually got invited. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. So a fairly elite group right off a small group of districts got invited to participate in the community leadership leaders fellowship. And so we had a a small group

140there to really you know kick off and do our first session. And it's really all about you know understanding our community the wants and needs and desires and and you know the opportunities that we have and how do we tell our story. And so this is the first of at least four but maybe six sessions like over the next year. You know where we'll get together and work with other districts to really understand all of those things together. So it's great to be part of that. I went to the the kickoff meeting for the strategic planning community meetings. I think Jeff was there that night night as well to really do the SWOT analysis from the community's perspective for you know what is Belton ISD all about where are strengths weaknesses opportunities threats. And it

141was you know it was really tough to be there and and to keep my mouth shut. Um You're not supposed to laugh at that. Um but yeah but you really just to kind of open my ears and you know hear from a you know from a different angle you know some of what was being talked about there. And we had cross section of the the community right? It was business leaders it was parents it was teachers. Um it was um Yeah students we had student there. You know so it was you know great opportunity there. Um And then you know we had a couple couple competitions between uh high schools baby Uh Lake Belton and Belton had a couple baseball games. Uh yeah, yeah, a couple of those. Uh and then also the Lake Belton

142softball senior night. Um and a little old crawfish boil. So. Oh, that was good. >> Those were good times. Yeah. >> Windy. Yeah, it was a little windy, but Yeah, it was good times. Oh, I will say about the crawfish boil. So, the crawfish boil actually um is linked to Project Celebration, right? So, Project Celebration is aimed to um provide a substance-free and and safe um opportunity for our seniors as they're getting ready for graduation. Um traditionally, it's been uh sort of two separate events, right? A Belton High School event and a Lake Belton High School event and and you know, New Tech. Um so, actually, we're the schools are coming together. Uh and so, there's going to be a combined event um that uh both Belton High School and Lake Belton High School are

143going to participate in. I think we've they've talked to you um uh New Tech, and I think that's an area for expansion. Um and uh yeah, so that'll be a good a good opportunity for those those seniors to come together. And so, the those two programs are working together like they never have never have before. It's been fun to kind of to kind of watch them. Yeah. Yep. Thank you, Chris. Anyone else? Yep. Aaron? I'll go. Um I'm glad you mentioned the Project Celebration cuz I noticed that when when Belton High School hosted last Tuesday, they did Taco Tuesday, and so the the proceeds went to Project Celebration for both schools. And then Friday, when Lake Belton hosted, they did the crawfish. And I I I'm glad they did that. I thought that was just

144really remarkable. Um but and I thought that was really fun for Belton won on their home field, Lake Belton won on their home field. Um so, yes, got to participate in some different sporting Always love track. The Unified track I got to I went to the one at their first kind of their first one this uh season was at Lake Belton High School. I just love how even if even if the student kind of sort of does the event, it's still just a huge celebration. It's just It's just so fun. Um the reverse job fair that This was my first year to go to that. And while I went as a board member cuz I went around to every single student, it it is just if y'all haven't gone to one of those, which I

145know it's done for this year, you have to go. It's just such an an amazing experience. That these students, they have a big trifold, and they have a resume, and they tell you um what skills they're good at, they tell a little bit about themselves, their work experience. Well, little did I know that I walked away and and y'all know I work in kids ministry, we have hired a student, and she is now coming on Wednesday mornings, and she is in our in she's part of our kingdom kids kind of She's right now she's still kind of volunteering cuz she's learning, but she's in our our staff is just so excited to have her, and our families are excited that she's helping watch their kids while they go to Bible study, but it was just

146I went with my board head on, but I actually left with um a student that is is helping out at our church, which is just been really fun. Um uh also just along the lines of of our special education. I will if I would be remiss if I didn't just give a shout-out to our special education staff every every board meeting cuz they just provide such wonderful opportunities. Um last Friday was prom at Belton High School for our our students with with special needs, and they had a decorator come in in the black box theater at Belton High School. It was beautiful, just beautiful. Um and so that was just a really fun little experience. I learned that Cason only danced after I left. So, um he did not want to dance when Mom was

147there. Um but they just they just treated them so well. The culinary team like, you know, cooked for them and just such a great um Uh, and I love that our general ed students come in and participate with them. They help facilitate, they get the dances going and it's just I love that partnership to see um our students um do that for each other. And then I did I when you said reading, I forgot that I got to go read at um Chisholm Trail in a second grade and third grade classroom. Um, that just fills my cup every year. Um, just reminds me of um I loved being an educator, but it just reminds me of of getting to to serve in a different way here, but I just love any opportunity to get to

148be in front of kids, especially reading. Um, cuz the librarian at Chisholm always at least the last couple years she picks out really funny books. Um, and so it's just super fun. And so was glad to get to do that. Thank you, Erin. Anyone else? Renard? Yeah. I'll uh echo Erin. I I also got to participate in the Delta uh uh reverse job fair and that was a a really cool experience. The Hair Center did a great job hosting that and the kids were awesome. Like we get to uh experience that do some of their externship I guess training or or on job training at the theater and so I knew a number of the kids already, so it was fun for them to recognize me as and and talk to me about what they

149learned there and what they wanted to do. Um, I think my favorite was the the young lady that said she did not want to work there. She was She was going into child care, but she was she was awesome. Uh, and so the all of the that was just a really really awesome job and I appreciate the the team our our staff of teachers and educators at Delta that that helped facilitate that was really cool. Uh, also got to go to the welcome for coach Rogers, so uh super excited about that hire and with coach Mann, I think we've made two really phenomenal um football coaching hires, so excited to see what the the the programs flourish under their leadership. As record touched on we had a number of BEF events. The golf was this

150morning so we got to go there to help set up and um I'm probably going to get in trouble for not thanking other sponsors but man I got to set up the snack table. So that was my job. This is the context of this. And the amount of snacks really amazing snacks that McLane donated was was incredible. So appreciate all the other sponsors and I'll get a list and thank them next time but I was on the snack table so that was that's why it's on the mind. And then also got to stop by Pistons and Pit Bosses. That was a car show and and barbecue cook-off at the Expo Center. As weekend before last last weekend now all running together but also they're donating all the proceeds from that or profits from that to

151to BEF so certainly appreciate them doing that. Thank you sir. Anyone else? I just want to share a couple things. One is um These baseball games are competitive. Okay. Um Just watching both both teams well coached I would say. Um Good sportsmanship. I also got to watch Belton play Temple. It's two to one in favor of Belton. And I haven't seen that in I guess since my son was playing baseball way way back. But uh You know Temple is is one of our partners and we we treasure that partnership but these kids were were competitive but uh good sportsmanship all through through the game. Um and of course Lake Belton and Belton went extra innings. And like you said uh each team won on their own on their home field. Um one other thing um

152Dr. Gordon and I visited a couple of campuses. We were at uh Chisholm Trail and Southwest. Had very good visits with uh both principals. Um I I saw the enthusiasm with both of them. Um and all I can say just from walking away from that meeting, they're both engaged and and trying doing their best uh possible work that they can do on on both campuses. So, that was a good feeling. Um What else did I do? Uh I guess just sporting events. Uh nothing else. Um but just just great support from from the from fans and from from parents uh in all these events. Um It it Lots of Lots of folks attend these things. And I always know cuz my wife works in a concession stand. She says, "Man, we had a huge night."

153Um so so uh she keeps she keeps me abreast of things there. Okay. Uh moving on to the consent agenda. I'm going to pull and everyone has their packet. I'm going to pull item six D2, American Constructors for replacement of exterior switchboard at Belton High School 2022 bond project. We're going to take two votes. We're going to We're going to take a vote just on that item. And then I'm going to pull item six F, school library advisory council recommendation for library materials purchase. That particular item will come back to us next month. That's the plan. Okay. So, as we take this first vote, we're going to take the vote on every other item except those two items. So, do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda less items D2 and F. Mr.

154Bozan? Have a second? Mr. Preston? All those in favor, please raise your hand. Okay. Now, we're going to take a vote on item 6 D2. So, do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda item 6 D2 as presented? Mr. Preston? Have a second? Mr. Flores? All those in favor, please raise your hand. It passes. Six in favor and one abstaining. Thanks. Takes care of our consent agenda this evening. So, let's move on to item seven, public comments on non-agenda items. Becca shakes her head, no. All right, that takes us into closed session, item eight. The time is 8:27 p.m. and the board will now go into closed session for student disciplinary matter, Texas Government Code Section 551.082. B, personnel, Texas Government Code Section 551.074. C, consultation with attorney, Texas Government Code Section 551.071.

155And D, discussion of district-wide intruder detection audit report finding, Texas Government Code Section 551.076. >> Mhm. >> The time is 9:11 p.m. and the board will now reconvene in open session. All action items, reports, and consent items for this meeting have been addressed. There being no further business, this meeting is adjourned at 9:11 p.m. All right. Thank you all.