001I call this premeating briefing of the Carolton Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees to order at 6:00 p.m. on January 8th, 2026. The purpose of this premeating briefing is to conduct a briefing session with administrative GA staff regarding the posted agenda item for the regular board meeting scheduled at 7 p.m. tonight, January 8th, 2026. For the record, board members present are Kim Brady, Iliana Garza, Rojos, Marjgerie Barnes, Carolyn Benvitas, Paul Gilmore, Randy Shackman, and myself, Cassandra Hatfield. Uh the next item on our agenda is audience for guest. Uh Miss Caston, do we have anyone wishing to speak? All right, with no one wishing to speak, we'll move on to administrative reports. Dr. Eldridge, are there any reports by administration? >> Um, yes, we have three reports tonight. The first one, Sarah Roland, um, will be
002discussing item 5N M, which is consider an approved purchase of supplemental health care. It's actually not healthcare. It's a contracted service that she's going to explain. So, um, Miss Roland. >> Yes. Uh, Dr. Eldridge, uh, President Hatfield and members of the board. This is a service that supplemental healthc care provides and they call it managed services program or MSP. I'm sure you're not surprised that they've abbreviated it with an acronym. Um, but this is designed um to streamline our staffing operations um and working with contract companies and and contract employees. So, it helps us consolidate emails, phone calls, time cards. It's a centralized vendor management. It reduces administrative burden. It is a cost savings and improved budget control. It allows enhanced compliance and reporting. It's really like a one-stop shop. um one contract company that
003has access to all the contractors um and all the teachers that are available and then they all follow this one company's guidelines. Um this year we have or I guess today we have 24 teacher vacancies. Um and we have been able to fill eight vacancies throughout the year with contract employees. Um right now we just have four. Um but this company um will allow us to find teachers and vet the teachers and go through one company um rather than multiple companies. Um but we don't lose access to the teachers in all the companies. Kind of make sense. >> So if you one of the hardest positions to fill right now is our special ed teachers. and if we don't fill them then we we won't be in compliance with what our students needs are. So
004this company makes it streamlines the service to help us hire our special ed teachers for to service our students that um need the services. >> All right with that board members any questions? >> Miss Benitas. >> Thank you Miss Roland. Does this replace any program that we have that we're using right now or is it something just to consolidate all the different items? >> It's just consolidating all the different ones. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Additional questions or comments? All right. Thank you, Miss Roland. >> I'm still so excited about seeing everybody. Um it seems like we've been off for a while, so my I'm like, woo, it's exciting to be back. Okay. Um the next item we have is item 5N and Mr. Blackburn. um he's going to talk about the CM for middle
005school renovations, early childhood and grimes and Salzar and then after that um Mr. Blackburn if you will also dis discuss item 50 which is the audit for construction services and welcome back. I hope you're feeling better >> a little bit but as you can tell my voice is not there yet so bear with me. I apologize. Uh good evening Dr. Eldridge, President Hatfield, members of the board. Um uh with so for the first item for construction management for the bond reallocation projects um we were a little concerned when we put it out that we might not get as good a response because of the short time frame as a quick turn. Most of the firms that we work with for our construction management plan their work a couple of years in advance and because of
006the the time frame and the way the procurement typically works for school district bond packages. but we're wanting to do this quickly. We want to start this summer. So, [cough and clears throat] we put that out there in the RFP and we were pleased with the response that we got. We got several firms that I was hoping we would get from. So, I was encouraged with the response. I feel like the the pricing was competitive and I feel like we have some qualified firms to choose from as we work to procure those contracts. So, I was really pleased with the results and I'm excited to get started. >> Great. Board members, any questions on 5N? All right, carry forward. >> All right, and then the next item, construction auditing. Um, we went through the normal
007procurement process for auditors a couple of years ago. We selected HPM originally. I have a lot of respect for HPM. They have a lot of expertise. They work with some very large clients. I think in this case, um, we might be a smaller client of theirs and they might have had a bigger client that had a bigger need, if you will. So, uh, because we do a very high volume of pay apps every month, if they don't have the capacity or they've got a higher need somewhere else, I'm not sure they were able to give us the kind of attention that we needed. So, we felt like it would be in our best interest uh for us to move to the second proposer in the original response who also did the auditing for the 2018
008program. We've been happy with their work in the past. They're locally based and we would be a bigger fish in their pond. So, um we feel like that's a better move for the district. >> Thank you for that explanation. Board members, any questions? All right, Mr. Blackburn, I hope that you get to feeling better. Um, and we'll see how the adventures go tonight. Looks like you're looking to have more construction on your docket this summer. As if you didn't have enough. [laughter] >> All right, board members. Um, Dr. Eldridge, that's the last administrative report. All right, our next agenda item is um if you have any questions regarding the consent agenda. Board members, any additional questions on the consent agenda? All right, seeing none and hearing none, we've reached the end of our premeating. The
009time is 6:06 p.m. and we are adjourned. I call this regular meeting of the Carolton Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees to order at 7 o'clock p.m. on January 8th, 2026. Board members, district staff members, and members of the audience. You are free to join me in standing as Mark Dio provides the message followed by the leading of the pledges by myself and the leading of the US flag by Marjorie Barn. Sorry, the leading I'm going to lead the US flag and Marjorie's going to lead the Texas flag. And here we go. >> Good afternoon. I want to say thank you to Mr. Sha uh Mr. Shackman for covering my snafu scheduling in November. So, thank you for covering for me. I appreciate that last minute notice. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father,
010we love you this evening. We thank you for the opportunity that we have to come. We thank you Lord for this body that acknowledges the need for divine wisdom and guidance. We pray Lord that you provide oversight for this board. They collaborate with Dr. Eldridge and the district administration as they seek to manage and navigate financial shortfalls, falling birth rates, student enrollment, construction projects, all that goes in managing a district. We thank you, Lord, for just the uh time and effort uh these individuals put in to advance the education of our students. We pray for our principles. We pray for our teachers, employees to be good stewards of our resources, the greatest of whom are our students. We acknowledge these are challenging days on many fronts. We need your direction. We need your discretion to
011prepare and equip these students to flourish. May we be stretched and challenged where need be. May we exercise compassion and communicate with the grace that you've extended to us. We pray Lord that you would help us to plant trees under whose shade we may never sit. May we nurture these tender shoots to extend our influence exponentially. May we see our roles as legacy investors that chart an upward trajectory for future generations. We thank you Lord for all you do for us. We need your wisdom and guidance. We ask it all in Jesus name. Amen. >> [clears throat] >> 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 indivisible. All right. Well, welcome to the first meeting of 2026. I'm
012sure we are all practicing our ability to write 2026 instead of 2025. So, um it's exciting to welcome a new year um after the joyful holiday season and hopefully everybody is refreshed after the holiday break. So, let's kick off the spring semester. As a district, we dedicate our efforts and resources to our goal of high expectations for all. The board uses this goal to guide every deliberation, decision, and action. As elected trustees, the board is responsible for providing oversight, setting a strategic direction of the district, and ensuring accountability, all in the service of student achievement. You will witness the board conducting its work in open session except for specific items that may be discussed in close section as permitted under Texas government code section 551, commonly known as the open meetings law. These items typically
013involve personnel matters, consultation with our attorney, or real estate transactions. As we move through the agenda tonight, it is important to remember that we are in the business of supporting kids. With that in mind, we ask that everyone present and model respectful, responsible, and constructive behavior as this models what we expect of our students. For the record, board members present are Kim Brady, Iliana Garza, Rojos, Marjorie Barnes, Carolyn Benabidus, Paul Gilmore, Randy Shackman, and myself, Cassandra Hatfield. We constitute a quorum and we may conduct business on behalf of the district. Our next agenda item is item number two, special presentations and res recognitions. Uh, Mr. Rodriguez, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you. Good evening, President Hatfield, esteemed board members, and Dr. Eldridge. Tonight, we'd like to take a moment to recognize Tamara Harrington
014and Joey Rodriguez for their outstanding work as facilitators in driving meaningful student outcomes for nearly one year. Tam Tamara, I want to always say Tamara, Tamara and Joey have consistently gone above and beyond to support our board and staff. Their dedication, preparation, and thoughtful guidance help turn goals into action and ensure that student success remains at the center of every conversation. Through their collaboration, problem solving, and unwavering commitment, they help create the conditions for growth and achievement across our organization. Their support does not go unnoticed and the impact is reflected in the progress we see every day. Please join me in extending a gratitudefilled thank you on behalf of the board and the district to Tamara and Joey for their leadership, dedication, and continued commitment to serving students. [applause] Thank you very much. Through our
015partnership with Chick-fil-A Trinity Mills, we honor those who demonstrate excellence with the CFB Champion Award. This month, we have the special opportunity to honor our very own Kim Hall, counselor at Mckame Elementary. For the past eight years, she has led the district's Day of Giving, an annual tradition providing more than 500 frozen turkey dinners to families across CFBISD, showcasing the power of our community coming together. Her impact extends far beyond one event. Hall launched the Mckame Pantry, giving students daily access to snacks and families access to meals when they need them most. She also partners with the Metricus mobile pantry to bring fresh produce to campuses and has expanded the Mckame Food Pantry to support other campuses. Kim Hall is more than a leader. She is a true champion for our schools and community. Please
016join me in congratulating our CFP champion, Kim Hall. [cheering and applause] >> [applause] >> And board members, if if y'all want to make your way to the center of the dis that You can be part of the picture as well. [laughter] >> [applause] >> There we go. [applause] And for our final recognition, each January we honor our school board members who selflessly serve our community. Trustees are elected officials who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring the success of all students and staff. These lead leaders commit themselves to this important work on a volunteer basis. trustees. As part of this special recognition, our campuses have shown their appreciation with special gifts in the packages that you see across the room. And we have also invited our CFB student ambassadors, Maronei Ruiz from Creek View High
017School and Valerie Tran from Newman Smith High School, who will share a few remarks in your honor. The 2026 school board recognition theme is our future is public. This theme is particularly fitting for the seven individuals who believe in the power of public education and serve on our CFB board of trustees. We want to thank the school board for your dedication to making CFBISD a place where we can learn, grow, and thrive. Your commitment to our education and future is inspiring. >> The time and effort you put into listening to our voices and considering our needs does not go unnoticed. You make us feel valued and heard, and that motivates us to learn and be better citizens. Thank you for making tough decisions that ensure our schools remain safe, supportive, and well-resourced learning environments. We
018know this work isn't easy, but we see the positive impact in our classrooms and across our campuses. >> Trustees, please join us on the floor as we announce your name to be recognized for your service to our CFB family. Cassandra Hatfield. [applause] Kim Brady, vice president term 2025 to 2028. [applause] >> Ilana Gara Rojas, Secretary. Marjorie Barnes, member. [applause] >> Carolyn Benavidas, member. >> Paul Gilmore, member. [applause] >> Randy Shackman, member. [applause] And if y'all can please come to the middle so we can get a big group photo. We want to thank you for the service that y'all provide us every single day. Um people don't know how much y'all do for our district and so we're showing our gratitude and appreciation this month, but we show it every day. So, thank you. >> [applause]
019[sighs] >> This group uh does not do very well with recognitions because we like to recognize others. So uh thank you very much for the recognition, but I also want to acknowledge the great CF champions that we have tonight and the great work that happens at Mckame and for kids because of the work that you do. And then to Tamara and Joey, thank you so much for supporting us um as we go through and work on goals to continue to strengthen this district because that's one of our main focuses is making sure that we have the direction of the district in mind and we're keeping that top and present and so we really appreciate the work that you all do. And with that, I'll move to item 2B, which is the president's report. Um, and
020right along with the theme of this month, um, in an effort to share information with our community about the role of a schoolboard trustee, we the board will be hosting a community session entitled, "What does a board member do?" This session will take place on January 29th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. right here in the boardroom. Um, board members are going to share information about the role of the board and connect to the tangible examples of the work that we do here in the district. So, if you're interested in learning more about board service or have ever considered running as a trustee position, this session is a great opportunity to learn more about this volunteer role and you just come to the boardroom and we will do a presentation and help you learn more. That'll
021also get posted on the website and so we hope you'll join us just to learn more about the work that we do for the district. Um, additionally, this year's schoolboard election will be held on May 2nd and the filing period opens for on January 14th and closes on February 14th. that I have the date wrong by one day. 13. >> 13. Thank you. At 5:00 p.m. as part of the regular rotation. Two seats on the board will be on the ballot. Um, so for more information and to verify the information I just said about filing, uh, please look on the district website for key election timelines and that is cfbistd.edu and navigate to the board of trustees where you'll find election information. And that concludes my president's report. We'll move on to committee reports. Um,
022board subcommittees. So in addition to being behind this lovely disas once a month for a regular board meeting our board also serves on board subcommittees which is a subcommittee of the board that works collaboratively to support a particular area and uh prepare draft documents or other work products for the board's review and the adoption by serving on these standing subcommittees. So you can see who serves on those subcommittees um there on the screen. Board members, do we have any updates from our board subcommittees? Miss Barnes, >> the governance committee met December 10th and again I believe December 13th, something about something like that. Um anyway, we met twice to go over the 126 update and we were able to get through all of that and compile our comments and uh any recommendations we have and
023send those back to the district. >> Thank you very much. So as you know the legislative session was quite large this last session and so our role is that we ensure that the local policies that are going to be considerate considered by the board has been reviewed by the subcommittee um and so that work is really important to the work that we do. Are there any update other updates from committees? All right. Our other um role that we serve as a liaison to district committees. So the role of a district liaison is to facilitate regular and smooth communication to and from the board and to provide supportive information um on these committees. These committees are district committees and we serve um in the capacity of an exeicio member so that we can have updates on
024those provided to the board. Board members, do we have any updates related to student achievement or things that we'd like to share with each other about these committees? All right. Okay. And the board keeps the meeting minutes for those or the board the district keeps the meeting minutes for the district leaison committees. Our next update is district announcements. Dr. Eldridge. Okay. Well, I have one um important recognition and that is um we had a principal vacancy um right at the break and so um I have two new principles here tonight that I want to recognize. The first one, Isaiah, was a principal at Blleac for one semester and I called him in and I said, "Guess what? You're going back to your high school." And due to the fact that uh Blleac was under construction,
025his boxes were already packed. So, it kind of worked out. So, Isaiah, if you would stand, please, so we can recognize you and thank you for everything you do. Um, [applause] I will tell you they were, you know, the first text I received was from the football coach that said, "Thank you, Dr. E." Um, our man is coming back. So, um, anyway, so Isaiah, thank you so much for all the work you do for kids and for the last minute. Um, hope you got some rest and you didn't spend all your time moving. And the second one is Brian Anderson. Brian, if you'll stand, he is the new principal at BLAC. He was the assistant principal at Creek View. Um [applause] Um, Mr. Anderson, could you tell me how many steps you got today at
026your new 15,600. >> He always tells me his steps and I was like, you know, Creek View is large, but Blleac um is so thankful to have you and and we just appreciate both of you for the last minute um come to my office and congratulations. So, I I just am so thankful that you're with our students and and that you continue to love them and guide them in the most needed time in middle school and high school. So, thank you and I wanted to make sure we recognized you. Um I also want to thank our community. um during the holidays. It was amazing. It was overwhelming to me. Um not only did we have such great things at Mckame and give to so many of our families, but I just want to mention some
027of our great partners that helped us um give gifts to kids, give meals to families, and just help all of those in need in our our campuses and our community. Um branching out with love. uh Honey Honeycomb of Health, the Make It Count Foundation, the H Heartland Church, Valley Ranch Baptist Church, and Bentree Bible Fellowship were amazing donors. The Michael Finley Foundation, it was incredible to see just how everybody came together and the endless hours of volunteers. So, I just want to make sure we recognize the generosity of our community. Um the next thing I want to um also recognize is that um our school board uh we we've given you certificates but that's not enough. And and as you think about a team I have seven bosses. I don't know anybody that has seven
028bosses but um we all have different personalities but I think the one thing and I'm so thankful that Tamara and Joey are here is that we all believe in students and we believe not only in the students but we believe in the staff and the families. And you can't read what's on Facebook all the time because the hard work that happens and the decisions we have to make can are always in the best interest of what we want to do for our students and provide them the best. And I can't thank the teachers and staff enough for being here because it is a school night and it has been a you know it's hard to come back after a holiday. We know. So, thank you all for everything you do and I'm so glad you're
029here because um we have a very special announcement to make and I think we have a slide. Um and that is we are in the top five district finalists for the HV excellence school district award. And out of all the school districts in Texas, we're in the top five. And so May 3rd, we they're going to come visit us. We do a site visit and we're going to win. We're going to win. We are the best district. And so this is this is huge for our district and so this will be um our communications department will be social media but you are the first ones to find out we are the in the top five of the best school districts according to HB. So there's a you know it's not a it's it's a it's
030a testament to everybody's hard work and passion and that's what makes the family special. So I'm so excited. I mean I just want to jump up and go oh my gosh we did this. So you'll see it on social media. Um, I'm not gonna announce the other our competition because it's about us. So anyway, so with that, that is the district announcements. >> Well, that was quite an announcement. Um, congratulations. I think um the this testament goes to the people in this room, the students, the staff, um the administration. The work that you guys do on a day-to-day basis is what really matters. And what we're doing is closing achievement gaps and helping kids and making a difference in their future. And um that's going to shine through when they come see the great work
031happening in this district. And yeah, we're going to win. Let's do it. Um okay. Well, our next um item is the update from PTA, which is item 2E. And I'll turn over to Miss Nunes. >> Team board. I am Danna Nunes and I'm proud to serve as the VP of membership for the CFB Council of PTAs. Right now, currently we have 5,386 members. We are 87% of last year's total and anyone can join PTA. Go to www.joinpta.org sport or you can become one of our CFB champion members by joining all of our PTAs here or of one of the high school feeder patterns at cfbta.org. Here are a few dates to remember. January 14th at 5:30 at the Nancy Waten Center, we will be having our next delegate meeting. Also on January 14th at 6:30
032at the Watton Center, we will have our reflection celebration ceremony. Thank you to all the schools who participated in the National PTA reflection contest this year. January 25th from 1 to 3 at the Cafe Brazil and Josie will have our next coffee with council. The council board will be there to help you with any questions that you may have for the spring semester. February 7th from 9 to 12:00 at the Nancy Watton. We will have our spring extravaganza. This is our spring training event for the things like elections and endofear responsibilities. Come learn a little or a lot. And as you can find all of our events on our website, cfbpta.org. You can purchase our district PTA council shirts, join a champion membership, or read our second advocacy newsletter that is there. Each month we
033have a PTA challenge and the January challenge is wellness, wins, healthy minds, bodies, and communities. Be on the lookout for the more information about that this week. Tonight, I do have the honor of presenting the December challenge awards, the Golden Apple Award to our principles and our PTA presidents. To receive the coveted golden apple, 100% of full-time staff members, administrators, office personnel, and full-time aids and counselors must join their school's PTA. Many have tried, but only a few have succeeded. Tonight, we have 10 schools who will be receiving our Golden Apple Award. As I call you, you can come up with your president and your principal to receive your honor. Our elementary school, we have Lalita Elementary. [applause] We have Kent Elementary. Sorry. No, it's me. All right. Rosemeat Elementary, [applause] Rainwater Elementary, [applause] and
034Country Place. For our secondary, do you want to do elementary or do you want all of them? Okay. For secondary we have Newman Smith, [applause] Bllelac Middle School, Dwit Perry Middle School, [applause] Pulk Middle School, and Early College. [applause] Last year they received banners and their little golden apples will be presented to them next week at our delegate meeting. Thank you for your continued support and advocacy for children. Together we are PTA. [applause] Congratulations to all the hard work that goes into securing the Golden Apple and to our our staff and faculty for engaging in that process and uh we couldn't do school without PTA. So we're so thankful for all the work of our PTAs. Um at this time we do want to give a brief pause. We realize it's a school night and
035we have many teachers and students in the audience. If you would like to step out of the meeting, now's a great opportunity to do that. Of course, you are always welcome to stay. We have a great fun night planned ahead. >> Thank you guys. All right. So, our next agenda item is item number three, audience for guests. Persons who wish to speak during audience for guests must have electronically submitted an online form for this purpose prior to the deadline and closing of the form at 1 p.m. today. As of the posted deadline, we have two submissions to address the board. Before I begin, I will remind our audience members of the board's procedures for handling audience for guest. Each speaker is allowed to speak one staring audience for guest and speakers are designated as stakeholders
036for a maximum of three minutes and non-stakeholders a maximum of one minute to address the board as dictated by board policy beed local because the board wants to hear from as many as possible. We also want to keep the moving moving efficiently. Groups of five or more who uh want to present a particular viewpoint on a topic should appoint one person to speak on their behalf. Please remember that the board cannot deliberate on any subject that is not included on the agenda for this meeting. Board members will listen to comments but will not respond or answer questions. Recognizing that students are at the heart of our work, we ask that speakers model the respectful and constructive behavior we expect from our students. Please keep your comments civil and courteous. Avoid profanity and personal attacks. Refrain
037from discussing students who are not your own child and yelling, disruptive behavior, or discriminatory remarks will not be permitted. In the event that your comment in the judgment of the providing officer constitutes a complaint or charge against an employee or officer, it may be necessary for me to interrupt you and ask you to stop and direct you to the district's formal grievance policy and procedures. If a speaker is seeking board resolution on a specific complaint, that concern should be addressed through the grievance process, which can be found online, including policies DGBA, FNG, and GF. Grievance forms can be obtained online through the district's website. In compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, please note that again, the boards will not respond to comments directly and will address agenda items as deemed necessary when they're listed
038on the agenda. The timer will be shown on the screen in front of you. You may begin and when you're you arrive at the podium again the presentation is a lot of limited to the allotted time. Our stakeholder comments will begin and it's three minutes and our first one is uh Rahia Barmell. I apologize if I mispronounced her name. >> Um hi my name is Redia. I think Valerie and Marco and Dr. Aldridge had put it wonderfully, but I just wanted to take a quick second to like thank you guys for everything that you do. Um, even now in college, like CFB has been such a big part of my upbringing and even now like ask myself if I'm like making a hard decision if Miss Ms. McMillan would approve or if like Code Sharp
039would be proud of me. And I think y'all are truly the backbone of that. From providing schools with the infrastructure, teachers with the resources, parents with the skills, and students with the motivation to become these incredible upstanding citizens and leaders. So, um, thank you guys for everything that you do, and I encourage you all to keep up the incredible work. >> Thank you so much for your comments. All >> [applause] >> right, our second speaker is Nicholas Arnellis. Nicholas Ornellis, 1117 East Vander Drive, Carolton, Texas, 75006. Uh before I address agenda item 5S, um there's two things and uh the first one just came up. um you continue to [snorts] reference and cite unconstitutional speaker participation guidelines. Um so I'm not sure why you continue to do that as you've continuously shown your uh presiding
040officer's judgment is extremely poor. I wanted to allow uh Vice President Brady some more time to provide this source. she cited when referencing the 950 students that uh feel threatened by ICE and that's why they didn't return to the district. I sent the email earlier today. I understand if you didn't get it. So, I just wanted to give you some time. Um if you have the source now, uh you could provide it whether it be email or if you could commit to sending it to me. That's really all I have. Um and I'll leave now. So, um, do you do you have it now or could you commit to sending me that that source that you have when you cite that? And I know you don't have to respond to me. You have the option
041to. Um, but if you do sit there in silence, I'm going to take it as you are just pulling that number out of your ass. So, um, are you going to be able to commit to sending that to me or to >> Excuse me, sir. Please move forward. Continue. Continue talking. Is that what you mean? >> So, are you interrupting me? >> No, sir. >> No, you're not. >> Yes or no? >> Do not use profanity and attack a person. Please continue. >> Well, am I Who am I attacking? But as you've demonstrated, you can communicate with me, right? So, Miss Brady, are you going to commit to sending me that source? Do you know what I'm talking about? No, you don't know what I'm talking about. >> Don't respond. >> It's the email that
042you sent uh some of our community members um when they were asking about the enrollment deficit, the 1,200 students. You said that due to the threat of ICE, 950 students did not return to the district. And I'm just asking where are you getting that information from? Was that because you told us to go and look or go listen to the entire presentation from November, right? We did that. We went through all the powerpoints. There's nothing there citing ICE or a threat. So, is that something that was provided to the entire board? Are they in agreement that 950 students did not return to this district because of the threat of ICE? Can anybody give me that answer? Right. Miss Miss Hatfield just answered me. Y'all can answer me. Okay, >> your time is expired. Thank you
043for your time. Good night. >> Our next agenda item is item number four, non action items for discussion. We will begin with item 4A, budget update, and I'll turn the presentation over to Dr. Eldridge to introduce the item. So, our team has been working very hard on um making sure our finances are, you know, in order. We have the, you know, our HR department has been doing a great job making sure our staffing numbers, special ed is is looking at programming. Um we've all been putting our resources together instruction. Um we're looking at what is the best for all students and what is our bottom line operating expenses that we can um adhere to and we have, you know, lost students and we're tracking every student we lose and and we have lots of plans
044to do. And so with that, um, Carla Settle will talk about, um, our budget update, but I just want to say that anytime it's like a family. You bring your family together and here's what you have and what can we do with the resources that we have as a family to educate and provide and have our students come back from college and appreciate our education. I'm so thankful you came back today and it's good to see you. And Carla, with that, if you'll lead into um our budget update. >> Well, good evening, Dr. El Eldridge, President Hatfield, and esteemed board. Uh this finance update is grounded in both reflection and responsibility. Under the collaborative vision 2030, priority five, optimizing all resources, guides how the district stewards taxpayer dollars while keeping students uh keeping student success
045at the center of every decision. Before addressing our current challenges, it's important to recognize that the district's uh has a very positive financial track record. Since the inception of the state's first accountability system, the district has consistently earned the highest financial accountability ratings possible. This history reflects disciplined governance, conservative financial planning, and a longstanding commitment to transparency and long-term stability. That strong foundation matters, especially now. Public and education, public education in Texas is experiencing a convergence of pressures largely outside local control. State funding has remained stagnant while fixed costs such as payroll, benefits, utilities, transportation, and contractual services continue to rise. At the same time, the district is experiencing enrollment volatility driven by demographic shifts and increased competition from charter schools, private schools, homeschooling, and micro school models. Compounding this challenge is recapture, which grows
046even as enrollment declines, requiring the district to send more local dollars back to the state while serving fewer students. These dynamics require us to think differently. Maintaining financial stability under these conditions cannot rely on past practices alone. So, we'd like to talk about our new approach. Historically, school districts, like many organizations, have relied on traditional budgeting. This approach looks at last year's budget and adjusts incrementally one way or the other. While familiar, this method tends to protect programs based on history rather than impact. And it often results in acrosstheboard reductions instead of thoughtful strategic decisions. In an environment of structural revenue challenges, that approach is no longer sufficient. Priority based budgeting re represents a deliberative a deliberate shift in mindset. The approach aligns resources directly with the district priorities established by the board, evaluating programs,
047not people, and explicitly connects spending to student outcomes. It allows us to answer a critical question. Are we investing in what matters most for students given the resources we have today, not the resources we wish we had? Importantly, priority-based budgeting is not a reaction to crisis. It is a proactive strategy built on the district's history of strong financial governance. The priority based budgeting process is structured, transparent, and data-driven. First, the district priorities are clearly defined by the board and aligned to the desired student outcomes. Second, all programs are inventoried, including associated costs and performance data, understanding not just what we do, but what each program costs and what outcomes it delivers. Third, the programs are scored and ranked using consistent objective criteria. And finally, resources are allocated by funding higher priority programs first. And this
048framework ensures that difficult decisions when necessary are made thoughtfully and consistently not reactively. Programs are evaluated using multiple weighted criteria. Some of these examples are listed here like mission alignment would assess how directly a program supports the district core mission. Student impact examines measurable outcomes for students. Cost efficiency considers results relative to the financial investment. Compliance and mandates ensure legal and access requirements are met and alternative availability evaluates whether services could be reasonably provided by another uh method. Together these criterias promote balanced defensible and student focused decisions. The challenges facing Texas school districts are real but they are not insurmountable. Priority-based budgeting provides a disciplined, valuesdriven approach to financial decision-making. It's not about cutting for the sake of cutting. It's about investing with purpose, using data to protect high impact programs, strengthen alignment to district
049priorities, and responsibly adjust areas where outcomes do not justify cost. By aligning our resources with what matters most, districts can navigate uncertainty while continuing to serve students effectively. today and into the future. This isn't just about surviving today's budget constraints. It's about thriving and advancing the mission. So, we have a timeline that we are following and the last two months have encompassed a great deal of study and analysis, meeting with department leaders to implement this new approach to our budget. From here, strategic decisions regarding staffing ratios and training campus leaders on this method will keep the business office very busy. Now that we have completed the audit, which you'll hear about later in the agenda, the focus is on long-term sustainability rather than short-term solutions, ensuring that current decisions support students while preserving financial flexibility
050for future years. At the next scheduled board update in March, the board will be able to review a mid-year look at where the financial status of all board approved budgets for debt service, child nutrition, and the general fund, as well as an update on a draft for the FY27 budget decisions. May through August, we'll resume the district's typical cadence of finalizing a draft to adoption for the budget in August. And this timeline is structured to provide you with regular updates and multiple opportunities for input before final decisions are required of you. These specific board updates throughout the process it designed in March, April and May will present the framework options and key information before decisions. Our job is to show you the data, outline the implication of various scenarios and provide the financial analysis you
051need to make the very best decision for the district going forward. Throughout this process, the district remains committed committed to transparency, datadriven decision-making, and early communication of potential changes. The emphasis remains again on financial stability, preserving the quality of instruction, and maintaining trust with the community. The district's history of a top tier first uh rating demonstrates a proven ability to manage resources responsibly. Our budgeting method represents the next evolution of that stewardship, ensuring that even in challenging fiscal environments, student outcomes remain the central focus. Our commitment remains the same, timely and accurate data so users can make informed decisions and keep students first. And with that, I'll yield the floor for any questions. >> Thank you, Miss Settle. Board members, comments, questions about tonight's budget update? Okay. Well, I'll have a few comments if nobody
052else has anything to say. Um, I want to thank you for bringing this to us with the um the structure behind it. So, you go back a few slides um to the one before the criteria. Uh I think what's really important about this is one of the things you said is that the resources we have today, not the resources we wished we have. And the reality that we're living in right now is what we have to do is support students in growing and becoming the citizens that we want them to be in our community and beyond. But what we can't do is use the resources from yesterday to do it. And so changes are going to have to happen. We can't, you know, it's kind of like at your house. You can't live in a
053budget shortfall forever um or you won't have a house anymore. And what we get to do is we get to make sure we serve the kids every day to the highest quality. And what this does in my opinion is is going to allow us to re-evaluate some things and because of the work of this board and that what we have done the last several months to align our priorities, we have a vehicle to do it that's aligned with the community values. So if you have not been watching the board work studies, I want you to go back to it was either August or September, one of those two. I feel like it might have been September when we started really working on adding an additional student achievement goal very purposely and then setting guard rails
054that say within these goals that we want to achieve for kids for student achievement these are the boundaries that we're not going to go out of and these are the things that are most important to this community based on CB 2030. We have laid the foundation as a board for this work because we know that we have to live within our means. And so I'm asking for the community members that are listening or that are in the room, if you have not listened to the work studies, go back and listen to the work that this board is doing as trustees of this district to lead us in the direction. That is one of our primary responsibilities because we set the guard we set that framework and then the district has to go within that framework
055and allocate the resources to that and that is what we have asked them to do. That's what they have to do as a district employees is to help us align. But the board has set the charge from the top of what we're focused on. So I just implore this community that if you're listening to this, go back and take the time to listen to the work that is happening so that this work can go forward. And Miss Settle, thank you very much for providing this update to the public and to the board so that we can go forward with a strategy in mind knowing that you you can't stay the same. You got to change. So any other comments board members? All right, we'll move to the next agenda item. Our next agenda item is
056the consent agenda and uh that is agenda item number five. It's a mechanism by which the board uses to approve a number of routine items together with a single vote. In compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, the public notice for this meeting includes a list of consent agenda items and the board has been given a ample information um about these in advance. Prior to any action taken on the consent agenda, board members may request withdrawal of individual items for clarification andor discussion. Board members, are there any items you wish to remove from the consent agenda at this time? Right. Seeing none and hearing none, um do I have a motion regarding the consent agenda? A motion from Miss Brady. >> I move that we approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Now I have
057a motion from Miss Brady. Do I have a second? I have a second for Mr. Gilmore. Is there any discussion? With no discussion, all those in favor, raise your hand. Opposed by a vote of seven in favor, zero opposed. The motion carries. And I believe we have some new construction projects starting this summer. Um, our next agenda item is item number six, which is items for action um and or discussion. Our uh no items were removed from the consent. So, we'll skip 6A and proceed to 6B. 6B is consider and approve the district's annual comprehensive financial report for the period ending August 31st, 2025. Miss Settle, you're up again. It's your night to shine. When you consider um the amount of work that goes into preparing uh an annual comprehensive financial report, um it's nice
058when you cross the finish line. Um the business team did begin this work um last spring and tonight culminates months of that committed effort. Um as it has been been as this report has been prepared for your approval. But I'd like to take just a moment to recognize Patty Espinosa in the audience uh as the director of finance uh and and her team uh and who has collaborated across the district to make the completion of this audit possible on a very compressed timeline through her professionalism, dedication, and collaboration with the entire district. Um the her efforts support the sound financial stewardship and accountability that reinforce the district's ongoing focus of effective student centered resource management. But at this time I'd like to invite uh Mr. Roger Tovar uh the audit partner with Whitley Penn to
059present the results of the audit. [clears throat] >> Good evening board of trustees superintendent. Um, I do have a presentation tonight that's going to go over uh the audit results for fiscal year 2025. So, as Miss uh S mentioned, my name is Roger Tovar. I'm with Whitley Penn uh and we were engaged to perform uh your fiscal year 25 uh financial statement audit. >> [clears throat] >> I'll start off with the uh purpose of the audit. So the purpose of a financial statement audit is for us to issue an opinion on the financial statements on your financial statements. So um on this slide you can see uh there's uh three options that we have as far as the opinions that we can issue. Uh the first one there is a disclaimer. Uh that one offers
060uh no assurance on your financial statements. Uh a qualification is limited assurance. uh it it usually uh means that we qualify the opinion for a specific uh area, a specific uh account or or something similar uh to that. Uh and then at the very bottom on the very bottom there you see the unmodified opinion. So that is the highest level of assurance that you can obtain on a financial statement audit such as this one. The audit process uh as Miss uh Settle mentioned uh it it it's a it's a long process. It's a few months long. Um, so we start uh our process starts in the summer uh with the planning of the audit. Uh, we'll come out here uh and and do a site visit uh later in the summer and we'll start looking
061at your internal controls. Uh, from those internal controls, we'll select some of those uh key controls and perform uh either a test of actual controls or a walkthrough of those controls. Um, the second time we'll come out on site. Uh, that's a step number four on the slide. uh and we'll start performing the substantive testing at that point which will be testing your account balances uh which then leads over to number five which is us uh us issuing the opinion on the financial statements as far as the internal controls that I mentioned earlier. Uh so these here that you see on the slide are uh the key controls that we consider significant uh as far as uh as how they relate to the audit. Uh so we uh selected other revenues which is mainly your
062child nutrition revenue uh non-payroll and payroll. So obviously the payroll is the main expenditure for the school district. So we test controls over your payroll as well as your non-payroll expenditures. Uh we'll also we also looked at it and some of the data that gets submitted over to uh TEA. Uh procurement is another big area compliance area. So we look at that one as well. Um and then your federal and specific tests uh mainly over your uh state uh federal funding. The substantive procedures that I uh part that were part of that plan that we saw earlier uh can include several ways uh that we go about testing your account balances. So we can perform some analytical procedures there. Uh which could include uh flux analysis on some sort of ratio analysis depending on the
063account balance that we're trying to test. Uh some predictive testing uh usually that's over some of your revenues. uh vouching uh confirmations without uh with outside parties such as uh confirming your cash, your investments, your bonds. Um and then lastly there uh we also rely uh a lot on uh information that we can obtain directly from uh TEA such as uh payment reports uh which helps us um audit your u your funding that comes through tea. Got it. as far as the results for the actual audit. So here uh we are we did issue an unmodified opinion over your financial statements. Uh so again going back to that slide uh that is the highest level of assurance that you can obtain on a financial statement audit. Uh we also have no findings related to financial
064reporting uh or any findings related to compliance. So overall um your financial statements uh our opinion is unmodified opinion and uh no financial statement uh findings. Sorry. We also performed uh a single audit. So, this is the audit over your federal funding. Uh typically, this gets uh triggered if the school district receives over $750,000 in uh federal funding. Uh the school district received over $24 million in fiscal year 25. Uh so this year, the major program that we audited was child nutrition, the child nutrition cluster. Um over our opinion over that major program was unmodified as well. Again, that is the highest level of assurance that you can obtain. Uh we also have no internal control findings uh related to that program or any compliance issues that we that were noted during the audit. U
065the district all also qualified as a as a low-risk audit. The next couple of slides are going to go over uh your actual financial statements. This is a highle overview. Uh so this is uh your governmentwide financial statement. So this includes all your funds um as well as your long-term uh liabilities and your uh longived assets which is your capital assets. Uh so you can see on one side of your financial statements there you have your total assets. Uh that is uh approximately $1.7 billion. Uh within that amount you have your capital assets which make up $773 million. Uh the other large the the other portion of that consists mainly of your cash and investments uh which is 863.4. um your defer outflows and inflows relate to your uh pension and OPED liabilities for the
066most part. Um and then on the liability side, you have a total of approximately 1.2 billion. Uh the the majority of that is 961.1 uh in bonds payable and bonds and premiums. Um and then the two other uh bigger portions there will be your pension liability uh and oped liability which is which was $107.5 and $65 million uh at the end of the year. Uh once you net those uh those items, uh at the very bottom there, you can see your total net position at the end of fiscal year 2025. Uh so that was $460.1 million. The other side of those financial statements is going to uh show you the revenues and expenses for the school district. Again, this is uh school district governmentwide. Uh so you have your total revenues of uh $413 million
067for fiscal year 25. Uh within that you have program revenues of 39.8. Uh and then your general revenue is 373.2. Uh which uh you know within that amount you have your property taxes uh and your state aid. Um on that the other side of uh you have your expenses that was $42.2 million for fiscal year 25. Uh once you net those two your uh change in net in net position was 10.8 10.8 and that was an increase uh in fiscal year during fiscal year 2025. And now I'll go over uh specifically uh uh in the general fund. Uh so this here summarizes your uh general fund. Your actual revenues in the general fund for the fiscal year 2025 uh were $292.1 million which was um under your final amended budget by 14.4. Uh the expenditures
068in the general fund for fiscal year 2025 uh were $37 uh million dollars which was under your final budgeted expenditures by 29.8. Um your fund balance in the general fund uh in fiscal year 25 saw a decrease of $4.6 million. Uh at the end of the fiscal year, your general fund fund balance is sitting at $119.5 million. This here is just a a breakdown of your revenues in the general fund. Uh so you can see there your $292 million for fiscal year 2025. 80% of that uh is made up of property taxes. Uh the second largest there will be your state aid which was about 10% which was $29.5 million. Um and then your other uh revenues there uh you can see the breakdown there on the graph. Next one. And this is a uh
069similar presentation, but this is on your expenditures. So this is has a little more activity. So you can see there your expenditures for fiscal year 25 uh were $37 million. Uh 61% of that was instruction and related services. Uh support services uh non- studentent was $43.2 million which was about 14%. Uh and then your support services for student was 11% which was about 33.6. Uh and then you can see then uh there the rest of them which was uh all the other ones were under 10% individually. Then this graph here shows you your um unassigned and and uh unassigned and assigned fund balance. Uh so this is any any fund balance in the general fund that's not uh restricted or committed for anything. So you can see here in the over the last five years
070uh you can see the trend how it goes back and this is comparing your your available fund balance to your operating expenditures. Uh in fiscal year 2025 that amount was 89.8 million uh which is roughly about 29% of your operating uh expenditures uh which nets to about 105 days of operations. U you can see the trend there for uh the last five years and you can see the district has been around 30% over the last five years. uh this year it was 29% uh an increase of 1% over uh last year. As far as financial statements, that's uh pretty much the summary uh that I have for you. The next few slides are going to go over some uh required communications. Uh so first uh you know we have an engagement letter as I mentioned
071earlier. We were engaged uh to perform uh the the financial statement audit. uh within uh our audit plan there was uh two risks uh that we incorporated into our our planning uh which were uh management override of controls as well as revenue recognition. So uh again I go back to the fact that we didn't have any uh issues any findings uh related to your internal controls. Uh we also looked uh over some of your accounting policies. Uh we consider those to be in accordance with industry standards. Uh we did not have any disagreements or difficulties with management during the audit. uh and we are independent of the district um as a firm and uh individually uh as far as my team members. We're also uh not aware of any uh situation in which management consulted
072with other accountants related uh any reporting matters. Uh we're also uh discussed during the audit uh several uh the application of accounting principles and things like that. Um our response to those inquiries was not a condition to our retention as auditors. Uh as far as uh significant estimates on your financial statements, there are uh there are a couple. Uh the one that we consider to be significant was uh the estimate related to your state funding to your state aid. And then lastly, uh so there were two uh new pronouncements that were applicable for fiscal year 2025. Uh the first one there is Gatsby 101, which deals with your compensated absences. Uh your second one is Gatsby 102. Uh Gatsby 102 was not applicable to the district. uh Gatsby 101 was applicable, but it was not
073material to your financial statements. Uh so we did implement it. It was implemented. It's reflected on your financial statements. Uh but you're not going to see a restatement of last year because it was not material. >> And that's the presentation I have for you tonight. The any questions happy to answer. >> Thank you, sir, for your presentation. Board members, any questions or comments? Mrs. Barnes, >> I have a quick question. Um on page uh 12 you were talking about it expenditures. It might have been on the other one as well but um can you give me an example um real quick between the difference between support services non- studententbased and support services student? I didn't how do you how do you >> So the student services will be obviously expenses that are directly related to
074your students. Your non- studentent service will be anything that has to do with parents, staff, community, anything else that's not student directly. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Any other questions or comments? Okay. Um thank you very much and um congratulations to the district on an unmodified clean opinion um of the external auditor. That is great news and uh thank you to Mr. Shackman um Miss Brady and Mr. Gilmore because they sit on the subcommittee that looks at the audit and so they've been following this process through. So thank you for serving in that capacity. Uh thank you very much. Um with that um we will this item is marked for possible action. Does the board wish to take action? >> Mr. Shackman, y'all are all waving your hand. We've [laughter] heard it
075twice. >> We sat on this committee. Now we want to do something. >> There you go. Right. >> It's exciting news to get once again high praise from external auditors who look at district finances. And with the report that we have received, I recommend that we approve and accept the audit report as presented. >> All right. I have a motion for Mr. Shackman. Do I have a second? I have a second for Mr. Gilmore. I saw first. Um, all those in favor? All those opposed? Seven in favor, zero opposed. The motion carries. Our next agenda item is 6C. Consider and approve a nomination to the Denton CAD, um, which is the Denton County Appraisal District. Um, I feel like we just did this. So, we did the Dallas County Appraisal District, we did the Denton
076County Appraisal District. It's a two-step process. So, we've been talking about the Appraisal District a lot. Um, but the Denton County Appraisal District Board of Directors has received a notification of resignation from board member Rob Alman of Place 5 and it's effective immediately. So, in accordance to Texas property code, a vacancy on the DECAD um by an appointed member falls under a specific statute that states that we as the board may nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy and submit the D name to the chief appraiser. The chief appraiser will then in turn um deliver any nominations back to or to the DAD board of directors which they will then vote on. The names with the majority vote will fill that vacancy. So again with this is it looks like it's a one-step process because
077the names are going to go to the DAD board of director and then they are going to vote. Um so we can choose to nominate someone to fill the vacancy. It is not required. Um but I thought we needed to place this on the agenda. See if there's any discussion about this. Um, Mr. Shackman, I saw your hand. Do you have comments or thoughts on this? >> Uh, yes. When this came up on the agenda, uh, I reached out to, um, Mike Kennifer, who is the individual that we nominated to fill a term on the board, uh, and asked him for information. So, we didn't have it when the agenda was printed. Uh, uh, he referenced Mr. James Lawrence to me. James has submitted reference information. It is in the packet tonight. We just got
078it, so it wasn't uh something we could submit out there. Uh James is an experienced uh professional businessman, leader, a uh retired army officer. uh he would do well and I believe that it would be in our uh best interest to appoint him as our nominee and that would also be the city of Carolton on Tuesday of this week at their monthly meeting appointed him to be their nominee as well. So I would recommend that we uh join with our fellow Caroltonians and appoint Mr. James Lawrence as our nominee for Denton County Appraisal Board. >> Okay. Um, fellow car Caroltonians, I like that. Board members, any questions, comments, discussions? Miss Garza Rojos, >> is there anybody else that we have for the nominations or is it just this particular individual? >> So, this is coming
079to us from like Mr. Shackman is M from Mr. Hener if I don't if I understand correctly. Mr. Shackman. >> Yes. >> After a conversation with him. So that's really up to like we have to when it gets posted on the agenda it's our job to see is there someone that we think is someone that would be representative and Mr. Shackman has brought this to us. >> I was advised that Mr. Lawrence has indicated his willingness and desire to serve. >> Thank you. Any additional comments, [snorts] questions? Okay. So, um, with that, this item is marked for possible action. I assume Mr. Shackman, uh, would you like to entertain that? >> Uh, sure. I'll be happy to do that. I would make a motion that we approve, uh, James Lawrence as candidate for Denton County
080Appraisal Board. >> All right. I have a motion for Mr. Shackman. Do I have a second? I have a second for Miss Brady. Is there any discussion? With no discussion, all those in favor? All those opposed by a motion or by a vote of five in favor, two opposed. The motion carries. All right. Our next agenda item is um agenda item number seven, which is to conduct a uh closed meeting as authorized under the Texas Government Code, including but not limited to section 551.071, consultation with attorney. 551.072, Real Property. 551.074, Personnel Matters. 551.076 security devices. 551.082 school children district employee disciplinary matter or complaints. 551.0821 personally identifiable student information and 551.3084 investigation. This is item 7A. We're going to conduct the superintendent summit of evaluation this evening. Uh the board is now going to move
081into close session and audience members, you are welcome to hang out in the audience um while we uh go back to the um conference room for deliberations. The time is now 8:06 p.m. Right, we are back at open session and the time is now 9:23 p.m. Um, we are on um item number eight, reconvene an open meeting for possible action regarding items discussed in closed meeting board members. Would anyone like to make a motion? Miss Brady, >> I'd like to make a motion to extend the superintendent's contract term by one year and authorize the board president to execute the contract addendum with the changes discussed in close session on behalf of the board. I have a motion for Miss Brady. Do I have a second? I have a second for Mr. Gilmore. Is there any
082discussion? All right, Dr. Aldridge, we just want to thank you for um the work that you are doing and continue to do um on behalf of the district to ensure that we are moving student achievement in the direction that we want in alignment with the board's goals. So, we want to thank you for that. And with that, um all those in favor? All those opposed by a vote of seven in favor, zero opposed, the motion carries. Uh the board will move to number nine, which is comments from board members regarding posted agenda items. Board members, does anyone have any comments they'd like to make about tonight's agenda? Thank you to everyone for the very kind comments to the board tonight also and our lovely uh prize boxes over there that we'll all enjoy spending time
083with. Um so, thank you for that. Uh we have reached the end of our agenda and we are adjourned at 9:25 p.m.