001phonetically. >> We welcome everyone to this January 12th, 2025 meeting of the course board of trustees. This is a regular board meeting and all items that will be discussed have been dy posted. While this is a meeting in public, it's not a meeting of the public. The board's role is to set goals, approve personal personnel budget, make policy, and provide oversight. We are not here to manage or solve individual problems. Management is responsibility of the superintendent. As a board, we believe believe that we must educate every child, provide every child the greatest opportunity to learn, maintain a safe and secure environment mentally, physically, emotionally, and academically. These are our core values. We appreciate your interest in students of CISD. Uh the next thing is is our pledges and Misha Eric and oh our amazing team.
002>> There you go. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> And for the day I aliance to the Texas one and indivisible. Good job. >> Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we gather today with a shared commitment to serve our students, families, educators, and community. We ask for wisdom as we consider the matters before us, clarity in our discussions, and patience as we listen to one another. Guide our decisions so they are thoughtful, just, and rooted in care for every child entrusted to our students. Help us to act with integrity, compassion, and the spirit of cooperation, even when our opinions differ. May our work this evening contribute to safe, supportive learning environments where
003all students can grow in knowledge, character, and confidence. We're grateful for the opportunity to serve, and we ask for your guidance in all that we do. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. forget. >> Thank you. The next thing is recognition. >> Thank you. So this we have one recognition. It is January is school board appreciation month. So, I want to personally thank our Corsa ISD board of trustees for the heart, time, and dedication they give to our district. Their commitment to our students, staff, and community goes far beyond our meetings and policies. It shows in the care they take with every decision and the support they provide our schools. I'm truly grateful to serve alongside with such an incredible group of leaders who always put our kids first. So, want to say
004thank you. Principles will come up. Thank you. Jamie on the other side. Sorry. Thank you, Jamie. >> One, two, three. The next thing is the super report. >> All right. Good evening everyone. I hope everyone had a great holiday break. Our se second semester is in full swing and we all know that this time of the year is pedal to the metal. All of our spring athlete athletic programs are in season or about to start. Uh soccer has started, tennis and powerlifting start this week and will not be long before baseball, softball, golf and track ramp up. So I want to also give you a short short bond update. We uh met with our architects last week. Actually Mary's here. So uh we talked about our early childhood. We talked about all the updates that
005are upcoming for our buildings. Um we're deciding on a construction team soon. our funds for the actual bond should be received sometime early spring and we don't have any specific timelines as of yet but we are definitely working on those timelines with our architect Mary and all the other people that are involved in our project. Um while it remains 18 weeks away, it is that time of the year that our seniors and their parents start thinking about graduation. Graduation Central is an evergreen site dedicated to our graduation and it can be found under the parents and community tab on our website. Detailed information is already available there. So, sorry senior parents for pointing that out, but we are getting close. Thank you guys. >> Thank you, Miss H. The next thing is the financial audit.
006Travis Roger. Good evening, Miss How members of the board. Thank you for having me. So, uh, I am Travis Rogers and I'm with Patilla Brown Hill based out of Waco. I am with you this evening to share the results of the fiscal year 2025 financial audit. should each have in front of you a copy of the annual financial report for 2025 for the district. So, what I'm going to do is just take a moment, flip through here, uh, go through our audit letters and a couple highlights and the financial statements, and we'll reference the page number as I go in case anyone dares to follow along. I'm going to start on page two with the independent auditors So essentially this is the same standard letter that you're used to seeing in prior years. It explains
007our responsibility as the district's outside auditors to audit these financial statements. Also the responsibility of the district's management for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements. But the part I want to emphasize is towards the top of page two. You see that first section where it says report on the audit of the financial statements, the subheader opinions. The second paragraph down where it says in our opinion the accompanying financial statements present fairly in all material respects the respective financial position changes in financial position and other applicable cash flows thereof as of the year ended August 31st 2025. So that is what we call an unmodified or a clean opinion. Meaning that as a result of our audit, no material departures from generally accepted accounting principles were noted that are a part of these
008financial statements. That is the highest level of assurance we can provide as the district's outside auditors. Said the rest of that letter is standardized language. It's going to flip a little bit. We have a couple of other letters in the back of the report. This one on page 72. This is the report on uh our audit of the district in accordance with government auditing standards. In essence, these standards require us to as a part of our audit consider things like the district's internal control as well as compliance with laws, grant agreements, things of that nature. And if there were any non-compliance with any of the above that could impact the financial statements, we would disclose it to you here in this letter. However, as a result of our audit, none was noted. So it's simply
009the standard letter describing our responsibilities and procedures in accordance with those standards. One more letter on page 74. It's another independent auditor's report. This one on the district's federal single audit that entities that expend $750,000 or more of federal funding are subject to that single audit. We go in based on various criteria. So like certain grant expenditures to test and like pull supporting documentation, things like checks and personnel files, things of that nature, and test for compliance with those federal grants. Once again, we have opinion on each major federal program. See the second paragraph down. In our opinion, the district complied in all material respects with the compliance requirements referred to above that have a direct and material effect on each of its major federal programs for the year ended August 31st, 2025. That is
010once again an unmodified or a clean opinion, meaning as a result of our single audit, no uh departures or no non-compliance or question costs were noted. curious at all. The expenditures that are subject to the single audit are lined out on page 77 on the schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Did want to very briefly touch on just a couple of quick things in the financial statements themselves. So, flipping back just a little bit, pages 13 and 14, we have the balance sheet for the district's governmental funds and the income statement for those same funds. is also shown a couple pages later on pages 16 and 17 to point out uh first and foremost the general fund or the district's main operating fund down towards the bottom of page 13. You can see total fund
011balances of about 22.2 million as of August 31st, 2025. All of which is classified as unassigned. Unassigned simply meaning there's no internal or external restriction placed on its use. it can be used by the district to fund its operations going forward as it sees fit. So comparing that to going to flip a little bit that's on page 13. On page 16, the income statements of the revenues and expenditures of the general fund for the year ended August 31st, 2025. We see the district had about 63.4 4 million in general fund expenditures for the fiscal year. If we compare that to the 22.2 million in unassigned fund balance, that's between four and four and a half months worth of expenditures in unassigned fund balance. The classic rule of thumb for local governments is shoot for a
012three month reserve, minimum 3 to six months thereabouts. So you're in the four to four and a half month range. That's what we would call a healthy fund balance, a healthy reserve. And also point out briefly among these funds also you can see on page 16 is the debt service fund is used to record the district's INS tax revenue related state revenue and debt service payments for the year. see uh down towards the bottom of page 16 total expenditures of about 6.5 million which included the uh bond defeasants during the year of about 1.5 million. So even including that you can still see a total ending fund balance for the debt service fund of just over 7 million. So still a small increase in even when factoring in that early defeasence during the year. Lastly
013was going to point out just a few more pages over on page 47. This is the budget to actual for the general fund. essentially the original and final amended budgets for the general fund for the year compared to actual amounts. So all of the revenues and expenditures again um no uh major no variances or overages uh to note here. You will see down towards the bottom on row 1200 where it says net change in fund balance final budgeted change in fund balance in the final budget column was a deficit of approximately 3.2 2 million uh actual results were a deficit but was very much smaller than that number was within well within the projected amount >> and each amount >> I'm sorry >> can you say that amount >> uh the the total actual for
014the year of 315,000 >> that is that is way lower than what we originally so that's a win >> yes ma'am So that is the reader digest version. If there are any questions or comments or anything else while you have me here, I'd be happy to answer or discuss those. I do, while I'm here, just want to say a very quick thank you to everyone here at the district, but in particular to uh Sean and Jeremy and everyone in the business office. They uh been a absolute pleasure to work with and they will tell you that uh we ask for a lot. Uh we don't leave too many stones unturned, but every question we've had, everything we've needed, they have double time to get it to us. and all the work that they put in
015is what makes this report and our audit possible. So, thank you to everyone. All right. Thank you. Appreciate you. >> Thank you. >> The next thing to call scholarship today. Thanks. I have just enough. It's not too often I have to lower a microphone. That's That's always uh Thank y'all for having me. Uh thought we'd go over where we're at toh close out 2025 as you begin a busy spring season and get ready for this upcoming round of new scholarship recipients. If you flip to that first page, this is the composition of the Collins scholarship fund to end the year. That money markets and equivalents um and towards the middle of the page, the ending market value. We ended the year at $468,550. Uh that is much lower than we have normally been. And if
016you recall back in the fall, we got authorization to purchase three CDs with accumulated income cash that we had. And so we have done that and I'll highlight those uh towards the end of the packet. Uh but as of today, we were down to 352,000. Uh Raymond has kept us quite busy this month. I'm hoping Are you almost done, Raymond? >> Maybe 20 more. >> We're getting there. Uh and then if you look below that, the uh taxable bond portfolio for Collins, uh we're at 9.6 million, uh which is about 42% of the overall account value. Uh US equities were at 11.9 million, uh which is just over 52%. And then the international equities that we have, uh at 822,000, that's about 3.6%. Uh end of the year just shy of 23 million. I know
017we had passed it uh towards sometime in the fall uh and had a little bit of volatility in December. So that dropped us below 23, but we're at 22.9 million to begin the year. If you flip uh over to page three, uh just going over really page four is going to have us more historical data. Uh for the year, we had a a total overall return of 11.61% 61%. The last three years on an annualized basis were at 12.58%. And the last five years annualized were at 7.04%. Uh obviously last year was another strong year. We've had a really strong three-year run. Uh especially when it comes to the stock market. And so I wish I could say that would continue into this year, but uh who who knows? And so we'll we'll take the
018wins as we get them. Uh what has been good for the Collins fund over the last few years is we've continued to be in an elevated interest rate environment. And so a lot of those COVID era bonds that we had that were paying such low interest rates have started to roll off the books and we're replacing those with much higher uh coupons. And so that will only benefit the fund as it continues to grow in size. Uh I don't know if you noticed on the first page, it's not really relevant to the uh report or anything, but going back to April of 2012, it just shows you how much has grown um in the funding. It was at 9.6 million. And so you've continued to grow. Uh of course, that's on the highlight of the
019explosion in oil and gas income. Um I know we've talked a lot about that in the past. those those days. I won't say they're they're gone or numbered, but that we're we're definitely at a much more stable lower value of what we're getting. I think last year it looked like we had about $190,000 in oil and gas income. Uh it wasn't, you know, 15 years ago you were close to a million. And so it's it's still a stable source, but that's where that interest rate environment that we've been in will only help you uh as we move forward. And if you flip uh towards the back and always happy to answer any questions on any of these. Uh I know Casey is my graph guy. He usually nerds out on this stuff. So I'll try
020to spare you those details. But I did want to point out on page 15 um the three CDs that we did purchase. Um on over on the right hand column towards the bottom there's a Bank of America CD there's a Community West Bank CD and then on page 16 there is a TAB bank CD. One of those the tab bank CD does mature next month. Um unless Raymond is going to continue at this pace he's been on. I was going to recommend reinvesting those funds of 240,000. And so we don't necessarily have to decide that today. We have another month, but I did want to bring that to your attention. And then we will have more maturities um early summer before your next round in the fall of scholarship distributions. >> And we have several
021maturing this year. >> Correct. >> Yes. You'll have three maturing this year. So really, as far as income cash goes, including those, you're still over a million dollars. >> Didn't we did we have one mature in December? >> No. No, this is the first one of those that will mature next month. And so I they're the ones that are listed in vested income just so you can easily identify it. And so as those come in, um I think we'll have a good decision to make. But I would go ahead and recommend reinvesting the one next month before interest rates do fall. uh they've they've continued to remain pretty stable and higher and I don't know that you're going to need much of the income over the next few months once we finish up the spring
022distributions and then whenever we reconvene again hopefully we'll have a better idea on where income is projected to be for next year. Uh I think with oil and gas I don't expect a sharp rebound. Oil prices have remained lower. Uh there's no real signs of those turning around anytime soon. >> I have a question. Um which of the three did you say we reinvested? >> The uh Bank of America CD, it's a 4.05%. If you look over to the right, it says invested income. >> Okay. >> That one and the one directly underneath it. And so it was about $720,000 in total is is what we've used that income cash for. And then also the tab bank. >> Yes. And that was on page 16. >> Okay. And when um I remember us discussing it.
023When were were they invested? >> Uh I want to say it was September or October when we met last >> how long usually do we um invest it like how long did did the terms usually last on? >> We try to stay shorter just in case you have a need for it. And and so in this case, uh we obviously wanted to make sure you had enough to get through the spring scholarships, which we have. Uh and then we definitely wanted to make sure we had enough coming in before late summer, early fall when you kick in the next round of recipients. And of course, you'll accumulate uh income along the way. So we'll have a much better idea on those remaining two whether we go ahead and do it again or let it all
024come in. So the one that shows next year was due on reinvested. >> Which one? >> Which which one? >> On page 16. Oh, that that was just a a regular principal uh invested CD. It it was separate from the ones that y'all use for scholarship money. >> So, it it it did just matured. >> So, we have reinvested that though. I wish we could get 5% but I could tell you it was not 5%. >> What are what are rates going in now? We have purchased some things recently in the low 4% upper 3% range. Still where we've been has in the last 15 years is good, but uh definitely not where we were at a year ago. So rates have come down some. >> Any more questions? >> All right. Thank you, Jerry.
025Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Okay, next thing is a prek regard timelines >> youth basketball. >> Good evening, President Farmer, Miss Hall, members of the board. I just have a quick information item. Our timelines for our prek and kinder registration. It's hard to believe it's already time to start planning for that. Um but prek and kinder will both have their registration slashinformation um nights on Thursday, April 9th and Thursday, April 23rd. Um as a reminder, Sam Houston is different because they're a lottery system. If they are an eerant bilingual, then they automatically get in if they want. Um but because of that, they will not be included in those prek or really those kinder registration night. So, they will have a information session on Tuesday, March 24th, and that lottery will open on April 1st,
026and it will run through April 22nd. Do y'all have any questions? >> Very easy. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh, the next thing is the is HB to transition plan. Scott, >> thank you. Good evening, uh, Mrs. How, Mr. Farmer and board members, I'm presenting the House Bill 2 transition plan for course ISD. Texas law has changed under House Bill 2. We can no longer use District of Innovation waiverss to place uncertified teachers in our core foundation subjects like math, science, English, and social studies. But TEA has made available to districts a way to reduce uncertified teachers over a 4-year period. In order to take advantage of this, we must develop a plan to get 100% certified teachers in our core classes by 2030. So in the front of your packets a summary that I'm
027kind of going through today. U there are two strategies that we're going to use to uh in hiring over these next four years to try to do this. One is uh each one involves a EP. I'm going to talk about a EP and an EP is an educator prep program. Okay. And so uh the first way is through our new tiger teacher pipeline. This is our exclus exclusive grow your own program for high performing pair professionals and employees. We provide them with mentorship and degree completion routes through partners. Our partner Indiana Wesson University and Teachorthy. Teach worthy is also it's the EP that we use in our grow your own. Um so so that's our one way that we're going to start. We started that this year. Uh just to let you know, our application
028process opens January the 20th for Tiger Teacher Pipeline and we are having an information meeting on February 5th uh where they come in and we give them all the requirements for uh our Tiger Teacher Pipeline. So that's one way that we can assure that uh we're using our own people and we also when they're a part of that program we get a commitment from them after they're fully certified of two years which helps us know that they're going to be around for for a while. So uh that's the first part and then of course we'll still do our external hires. Uh we still are going to recruiting uh job fairs uh in the spring. We went in the fall, we went to seven in the fall and we'll go to five in the spring. Uh
029we'll still recruit from the outside with the strict condition. They must be enrolled in a state approved DPP before they are hired. Uh they do not get the same Tiger Teacher Pipeline perks, but they they uh they must meet the same rigorous state standards. Um on page two of the full report, you'll see our current data. We have 76 uncertified staff members. But I want you to understand what that means. That includes teachers who are in an EP, an internship, emergency permits, and DOI. So, uh, those 76 and those 76 are in our core subjects. Okay. Uh, so they're in they are being prepared. Uh, they all have a, uh, they're all able to teach now. Uh, but those are the 76 that we need to reduce to zero. And that's that's the state's plan
030uh in House Bill 2. So our transition plan in section six reduces this number every year until we reach zero by 2029. We have specifically integrated special education into this tracking uh by including sped in the Tiger uh teacher pipeline. We're ensuring our most vulnerable students are served by teachers who are being fasttracked toward full teacher certification. And this is one of our highest needs right now in special education. So we're able in this plan, the state has allowed us to include special education teachers in our tiger teacher pipeline. So uh that will help us build these teachers from within uh that we so so much need right now. U accountability. Finally, if you look at the commitment agreement in the back, this document ensures teachers understand that their contract is void if they do
031not meet uh the uh their requirements by the 2030 deadline. We've also built in provisions for late hires who might join us in January to fill an emergency vacancy. They're given a 90-day window to attempt their first content exam. This gives us the flexibility to fill mid-year gaps while keeping the teachers on a strict schedule for compliance. This plan protects our ability to staff our schools while guaranteeing that every core classroom in course canist will be led by 100% certified professionals by 2030. So, I'm requesting tonight that the board approve this plan as presented. Are there any questions? >> How many do we currently have in the our grow your own program? >> Five this year. We just started it. We started it late. We we came upon this uh uh me, Dr. Bow and
032Mr. Bow came up on this uh grow your own program u kind of late like May or June, but we thought it was so powerful that we wanted to go ahead and start it. So, we we started with five. Now, we have a lot of people interested right now. Uh, since uh Mr. Lennox ran his uh article, um, I've I've already received probably seven or eight applications from within, and some people are waiting till the 20th, but I feel like we're going to have a lot. It's a great deal. It's It's a win-win for the district and for them. It's going to change people's lives. It really is. >> How many are we planning on putting in the program? So that's a tricky question because it really depends on our need uh to to put
033them in the program. We have to have a spot for them, right? >> So our principles, me and the principles will take the applications >> and they have to have a principal recommendation to to get in. >> Okay? >> And they will see what needs we have and what how they would fit in there. So uh to get in you have to have we have to have a opening. So it will depend on the need of the district each year and each year you'll have a cohort. >> Right. >> Okay. >> Yes sir. >> So let's say we hire a teacher in 29. >> Yes sir. >> We've got to get them ready by 2030. Correct. >> Right. Right. They have to be fully certified. This at first when House Bill 2 came out, we
034were looking at each other like because we thought it was like immediately. But then the state has allowed us by coming up with this plan, if if the board uh chooses to approve it, then we apply for this extension through 2030 uh to be able to because we're not the only we're not the only school district with these numbers. >> So the you know, they passed it and then they were like, "Oh, wait. People aren't going to be able to do that tomorrow." So They will have to be certified >> to be in our core classes. >> Yes. Yes, ma'am. English, math, science, and social studies. Yes, they will have to be certified. Yes, ma'am. >> Mr. President, I move that we approve the HB2 transition plan for certification as presented by Mr. >> Second.
035We have a motion and a second to approve the HB2 transition plan for certification is presented. All those in favor say I. >> Okay. So bear with us. >> Even colored it. Let me figure out that here now. And all those say and all those favor say I. >> Okay. Say no. Motion passes and approve is presented. >> Thank you. >> Uh next thing is the uh tag policy update 126 readings. >> Okay. So, in November, we uh went through the first reading of the TASBY policy update 126. Uh I think it took me a little bit to go through each one of those um policies that would need to be updated. But if you do not have any questions at this time, then we would need to go ahead and approve this update. >>
036I move that we approve as the update as presented. >> Second. We have a motion, a second to approve the tag and policy update 126 is present. All those in favor say I. I. supposed motion pass policy update 126%. >> The next thing is consent agenda. >> We approve the consent agenda. >> We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. Sorry. We have a motion to approve and uh and second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. Say no. Motion passes. Approved. >> We will now adjourn to close session government code section 551.01. Thanks everyone.