001Call this meeting to order. The time is 6:30 p.m. We will begin with roll call. Keelan Lewis, present. >> Present. Heather Barrett, Present. Karen Thomas, Lisa Kalise, Present. Philip Chapman, Present. J.R. Humphreys, Present. We have six of seven board members present. We have a quorum. Please rise for our prayer led by First Lieutenant Kalise and the posting of our colors and pledges of allegiance led by First Lieutenant Alyssa Smith and Private First Class Caden Harper. You may bow your heads. Father God, we are so very thankful for your love and care and our many blessings. This evening, we are charged with making decisions in the best interests of our children. We ask for your presence, your guidance, and your peace. We pray for our communities, our kids and staff. We ask that you put a
002hedge of protection around them and keep them healthy and safe. Father, we desire to do your will and to always do what is best for our students. Please give us the knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and courage to do this in a manner that brings you glory. We trust in you, Lord, and we are so grateful for your provision and faithfulness. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Pledges. And now for the US pledge, I pledge >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And now for the Texas pledge, I pledge allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag, I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Okay, will you please sit
003down? Thank you. Let the minutes show that Trustee Thomas is coming in at 6:33. And I will open the floor for board remarks. I'll just say thanks to all our football squad completing an exciting season, and all the other organizations, cheerleaders, band, drill team, everybody else associated with that that that put on a good show for us every week, so thanks for that. I'm going to shout out to the seventh grade football team for going undefeated as well. Proud of them. What else? Then we will go to recognitions. >> So, greetings everyone. Madam Board President Lewis, members of the Board of Trustees, and Superintendent Dr. Patterson. I thank you all for allowing me to stand before you and recognize several special members of our Crosby ISD school community and one very special program tonight. We're
004going to start with our paraprofessionals. Our Cougar Excellence paraprofessionals, we are thrilled to recognize our amazing paraprofessionals as part of the Cougar Excellence Awards. Their dedication, support, and hard work make a meaningful difference in the lives of our students every day. From assisting in the classrooms to providing guidance and encouragement, our paraprofessionals are an essential part of the Crosby ISD family. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each of our paraprofessionals for their unwavering commitment, care, and excellence. Your contributions help our Cougars thrive each and every day, and you inspire us all to do your best to do our best. So, our first one, Crosby High School, Miss Beverly Bass. From Crosby Middle School, Miss Tamika Alfred. Crosby Kindergarten Campus, Miss Sarah Stillwell. Barrett Elementary School, Christlyn Sexton. Crosby Elementary School, Miranda Lawson. Drew Elementary School,
005Viviana Cervantes. Newport Elementary School, Rina Torres. Elementary school. >> Now we will honor our teachers. We are proud to recognize our outstanding teachers as part of our Cougar Excellence Awards. Their dedication, passion, and commitment to student success makes a lasting impact in the classroom and beyond. Thank you, teachers, for inspiring our students, supporting your colleagues, and going above and beyond every day. Your excellence sets a shining example for our entire Crosby ISD community, and you make a call better by doing what you do each day. So we're going to start with the high school again, Miss Louise Saslemans. Crosby Middle School, Mr. Joshua Mojica. Crosby Kindergarten Campus, Sabrina James. Barrett Elementary School, Leanne Strickland. CROSBY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, MS. Britney Quaylor. Drew Elementary School, Miguel Rodriguez. And Newport Elementary School, Ms. Casey Jones. And now for
006our students, we are proud to always celebrate our Cougar Excellence students for their outstanding achievements. These students have demonstrated dedication, leadership, and commitment of excellence in academics, athletics, community involvement. We also want to recognize and thank their parents and family for their support and encouragement. It plays a vital role in how your students show up for success every single day. Your involvement and guidance helps our Cougar shine both in and outside of the classroom, and we salute you parents as well. We We'll start with our high school, Mr. Gavin Ramirez. Crosby Middle School, Jose Collazo. Crosby Kindergarten Campus, Makayla Nettles. Barrett Elementary Campus, Brenham Bowman. Crosby Elementary School, Iyana Eaton. Drew Elementary School, Adriel Vargas. And Newport Elementary School, Jude Glenn. Thank you. Get your award, sweetheart. Oh. Okay, and There we go. Let's step.
007Sorry. Thank you. Got it. All right. >> HE'S GOING TO BE ON THE WALL ONE DAY. SO HE'S GOING TO BE ON THE WALL ONE DAY. FOR our final award today, we actually have a video that we're going to play. It's our Cougar Excellence and tonight we have the pleasure of highlighting our Culinary Arts program and the incredible Ms. Jamie Wood as part of our Cougar Excellence Awards. Under Ms. Wood's guidance, the students have had the opportunity to fill our bellies, explore their creativity, develop valuable skills, and experience the pride of producing high-quality culinary work. Mrs. Wood's dedication, her passion and mentorship inspire our students to strive for excellence not only in the kitchen, but also in everything that they do. Her commitment helps our Cougars develop confidence, teamwork, and a love for learning that
008lasts a lifetime. I bring to you Cougar Excellence Culinary Arts. We took the right line. Hello Cougar E, I S D. And welcome to Cougar Excellence in Action for November 2025. Where passion meets skill and students turn their dreams into careers. Today, we're excited to spotlight the Culinary Arts program at the heart of our school's dining experience, the Cougar Bistro. Led by the dedicated Ms. Jamie Wood, our Culinary Arts students don't just learn to cook, they learn to lead. In this hands-on CTE pathway, students gain a real-world experience running the Cougar Bistro, a student-operated restaurant that showcases their talents and teamwork. Each day in the Cougar Bistro, students step up to take turns as head chef. The head chef selects their sous chef, crafts the menu, and orchestrates the kitchen's rhythm. From prepping ingredients to
009plating the final dish, every element is totally delegated and managed by the students themselves, ensuring a seamless dining experience. Beyond mastery of culinary skills, students in this program earn valuable industry certifications that open doors to future careers. They will earn both the ServSafe Food Handler certification and the prestigious ServSafe Restaurant Manager certification. Over the past 2 years, more than 40 Cooper students have tested and earned their manager certification. An accomplishment that typically takes nearly 4 years to complete. The Cooper Bistro is more than just a restaurant. It's a living classroom, a training ground, and a shining example of true excellence in action. Here, students develop leadership, responsibility, and professional skills that prepare them for a successful culinary world and beyond. From the kitchen to the classroom, our culinary arts students embody dedication, teamwork, and excellence.
010Thanks to the students' good guidance and their hard work, the Bistro continues to be a proud symbol of what true excellence truly means. Thank you for joining us on this journey inside of the Cooper Bistro, where future chefs are made and pure excellence is served daily. Have a great day. All right, THANK YOU. MISS LLOYD, MISS LLOYD, COME UP FORWARD, PLEASE. We'll get a photo op. Miss Lloyd and the Board of Ed, if you don't mind taking a picture with our former board members You get to be the white one. Let me take a picture. All right, let's go in a circle a little bit. Chico along. Got it. Okay. Kela, I just wanted to say there was two members tonight of the class of 2001. Just let y'all know. Best class. And that was
011Miss Wood and Mr. Montes. They both aged a lot better than me. But that's to be expected. Good old Crosby education. >> Yeah. 01, back that class up. Okay. Thank you to all the teachers, paraprofessionals, students, and families for joining us this evening to celebrate this wonderful these wonderful accomplishments. If you'd like to depart before we proceed with regular business of the district, please feel free to do so now. Good. That's great. Excellent. >> Thank you. That's all. Thank you. No. I don't think So it's fair enough. >> Okay. At this time, we do not have any requests to comment to the board, so we'll move on to the next agenda item. And that will be reports. It will be a three-tiered bell schedule update. Presented by Rebecca Cabinet. Good evening, Madam Board President Lewis,
012members of the school board, and Superintendent Dr. Patterson. Tonight, the members of the Superintendent's cabinet will provide an update on Crosby ISD's January 2026 Tier 3 system implementation. Beginning with the first day of the second semester, we will begin our three-tiered school hours. The high school hours will begin from 7:05 a.m. until 2:25 p.m. CKC and all elementary campuses will have their school day from 7:45 a.m. until 3:25 p.m. and the middle school will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:20 p.m. >> The high school is until 2:55 p.m. 2:55 p.m. Our next slide here provides you with a brief overview of our campuses, the time that the first bell rings for transition to the classroom. We have our current school hours and our new school hours and the times that our campuses will
013open. You will note that our bell at the high school will ring at 6:55 a.m. to transition our students for a start time of 7:05 a.m. The doors of the campus will open to students at 6:30 a.m. CKC and our elementary campuses, first bell will ring at 7:35 a.m. Transitioning our students for a start time of 7:45 a.m. ending at 3:35 p.m. and we will open the doors at 7:15 a.m. Crossing Middle School, our first bell will ring at 8:20 a.m. School begins at 8:30 a.m. until 4:20 p.m. and we will continue to open our doors at 6:30 a.m. for the spring 2026 semester. From the curriculum and instruction department, our preparation to begin for our implementation. When we look at the curriculum, there will be no change there are changes made to the campus
014master schedule that was shared with families on November 13th for our middle school and our high school. At the elementary level, our classroom teachers on the November 13th shared their individual class lunch adjustments if there were adjustments needed as well as to let parents know if there were no changes to their students lunch schedules. No changes will be made as a result of the three-tier implementation to the curriculum, to our district's testing calendar, the official district attendance time, special education services for students receiving services, and individual school schedules. Student schedules will not be adjusted because of the three-tier system. In the PIMS department, our PIMS department has worked to implement the campus bell schedules in the Skyward system adjustment for the second semester. So, we're ready to begin that work once we complete the first
015semester. For student services, our nurses are looking at revised medication schedules. We'd like for them to have that information ready to go by December 8th in case we need to contact parents and parents may need to contact students' doctors. That information will be ready to go for them as well. Our 21st century revised times, we will currently continue to offer at Berry Elementary and Charles R. Drew Elementary our 21st century after school program. The time has been adjusted for the five-day week weeks and the four-day weeks when we don't have all-day Friday care. We will begin at 3:45 p.m., which is the end of the school day for elementary students. And then on days that are weeks that are four-day, we will have a 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Friday care provided. The YMCA has
016been contacted and they are aware of our revised times. the YMCA will provide services from 3:45 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. and that will be on the 5-day week schedules. And then on the 4-day week schedules, Monday through Thursday, again those same times with Friday opening at 6:30 a.m. and closing at 6:30 p.m. All students are eligible at the elementary level to attend the YMCA program if their parents need that service and they will have transportation shuttle from their campus to Crosby Elementary School. Some campus logistics. Our extracurricular programming may be adjusted to align with the new schedule and so those sponsors of student clubs, student organizations, athletics, etc. will provide those detailed information information to those students who are participants and to their families and parents as well. Shuttle service will continue for students of
017employees and they will be available at the morning pick-up time as well as in the afternoon. So all of our eligible students who are children of employees will still have the opportunity for shuttle service both to and from school. Next up, our human resources department. Yes, ma'am. Okay, as far as staffing goes, we had seven shared employees between CMS and CHS and staff schedules, we had some minor adjustments, but everything is covered at both campuses. And then um bus driver recruitment strategies, those listed there, y'all are well aware of those. Um we are proposing a $1.50 raise per hour. We will we have and will continue to distribute flyers in the food bank line. Uh we have a social media campaign starting tonight announcing the raise and also announcing bus driver job fair which will
018be held this Friday, November 21st from 9:00 to 11:30 here at the operations center. All right, good evening. Um so in the business office, we drilled down on ways to support transportation department uh to reduce the amount of missed instruction time. Uh with that, a proposed update to the compensation schedules is on the agenda for consideration tonight. Uh the goal of this proposal is to offer uh pay that is competitive with area districts and with that, we intend to recruit additional drivers, retain our current drivers and also also offer an incentive to reduce absenteeism. We've also reviewed the financial impact of the three-tiered system. There will be an increase in mileage which will of course bring an increase in cost um but we will also get an increase in the transportation allotment from TEA. Um
019we will also see some efficiencies with the reduction of double runs and reduction in overtime. I'll pass it over to transportation. All right, so we've been trying to improve our transportation department in order to continue to get our students to class on time and this is just a list of some of the things that we've tried in order to improve. We've added four bus aid positions. We've added an assistant director position. We've given raises totaling $2.43 over the since 2020-2021. We've offered the driver referral incentives and then we brought in region four to complete a a uh a department audit. Uh we've tried to pick up the morale with the cabinet members serving breakfast for them, providing donuts for them during our inclement weather day. Uh we implemented the driver attendance incentive. We recruited at
020the colleges. We posted the driver vacancies on TAP T. And we provided training for capturing kids' heart. And then we moved the dual language programs to home campuses this year. And then the superintendent hosted department feedback sessions. And then we added three after hour receptionists to monitor phone lines for parents. As far as the routing is concerned, so we based our routes on a 30-minute anchor time. And that simply means that all of our routes are built to be at the school by 30 minutes before the tardy bell. That's the goal is to make sure all our buses are at the campuses 30 minutes before the tardy bell. We've started to ride the uh routes and we did the ones that we have so far. And then before January 6th, we're going to drive them
021again once we see how many parents need transportation. So based on the current routes we have now, we've driven them and the time is good. And we'll do another one once we close transportation changes. As as far as the transportation changes, we opened up the window on November 7th for parents to make those changes and it'll be open through December 1st. And then the parents are will receive their transportation changes on December 15th. And then after that date, parents who did not make that window, they can start to request changes at the campus level, but they won't be processed until December 1st with the air transportation starting 10 days after the first day of the semester. And so the plan is to hope we get everybody in now, but if they miss the window they
022won't be put on transportation until 10 days after January 6th. And communications will support our change by Let me click. Sorry. On November the 7th, we announced the tier system. Um and of course we opened up from November 7th to December 1st that the parents can request transportation changes. On November 13th, last Thursday, we updated with additional information shared with parents via Parent Square. On December 15th, we will be sending out to parents the updated bus schedules. On January 6th is the start of our spring semester and January 6th through the 10th, we will continue to use post-implementation communication methods to make sure that parents are being informed. We are also sending out messages twice daily to parents through Parent Square reminding them of deadlines and how to complete Skyward transportation changes. And I get
023the slide that says questions. Thank you. I got a quick one. It's just just addressing kind of but you said through Skyward is how we're reminding. Uh the main thing that comes out at me is the request for change for people that are going to have to change now. And the December 1st deadline. I guess are we using all the avenues we have to make sure parents as many parents see that as possible. Uh that's what I'm worried about is people missing that December 1st deadline and then having that 10-day gap. Yes, sir. So what I am using right now and I if I said it wrong, I apologize. We're using Parent Square and we have a click sheet or an information sheet that we're passing out every time. So today at 12:00 p.m. it
024went out to the entire district and then at 5:00 p.m. it went out to high school specifically with the bell schedule for high school, middle school specifically, and then elementary we showed them the open door dates or open door times, I apologize, with also the information. So, we will continue to express it, we're putting our Sunday newsletter, and then of course we are monitoring and we'll have those numbers of how many parents have completed the change. And as we continue to monitor so that we will continue to ramp up the different ways in which we can continue to make sure and we're also going to have our principals and our campus leaders help as well um to ensure that everyone is aware of the December 1st date. That's what I wanted to hear. Thank you
025very much. Yes, sir. I have a question on the um It's going to be your third slide, uh the three-tier timelines. So, that was the very bottom currently. Obviously, this is uh spring 2026, uh doors open at 6:30. As we roll into the fall, what time will those doors open? The fall semester, that will then change to our 7:50 time. 7:50? 7:50. And uh throughout this spring that's ahead of us, um I I guess after we evaluate uh parents who are utilizing that early time, is there a a possibility of looking at opening doors early in the fall? Would that be something that we evaluate uh who is truly utilizing that service? We would have evaluated yes. Okay. Thank you. Um on that same slide, I was just curious, um who's going to staff that
026from 6:30 until 8:30? So, we put out an email, yeah. We put out an email and had 17 people reply that they would like to come in for extra minutes. And we have checked the budget. And we have an administrator on duty as well that will be on the campus. So how like what's the financial impact of that? Cuz that's a lot of hours. So with the paras we figured that it would be about 15,000 for the remainder of the semester. And we're going to use that money we have additional bus driver vacancies that will be able to absorb that cost. So paras are going to staff it? It it could be either paras or teachers. Or at hourly rate. Okay. And then how how are we how are we compensating administrators for coming to
027work 2 hours early? We have a fan Go ahead. So we have a fantastic administrator. We can adjust her schedule and that's Ms. Haynes. So we're able to adjust her schedule because her comp is time is a different time schedule. It's more like the high school than the middle school. Okay. So we can adjust it so that she's covered in the morning. Okay. Do we have a SRO on duty? Yes, we have the ones from the high school who will be on standby for that little block of time and we're using our high school nurse if we have an emergency as well as counselor from the high school. And then the elementary one at CES will be coming on at about 7:00. So we have those overlaps that will be available if there's a situation
028that >> So we're in compliance with the requirement to have an SRO on campus. Yes. With the SROs coming in early or would that tap into more overtime for them? No, well we shifted the hours to make sure that they get the exact time. Actually it just shifted their times. Times the first week I do have them coming in early just to monitor that first week to see how we roll into it and then their hours change and it's the same overtime they can get. So the financial impact for staffing from 6:30 to 8:30 is approximately $15,000. Correct. Um for the after school activities that may require transporta- transportation to let's say other schools, how's that How is that going to Do you have a plan for that? Like But with middle school getting out
029so late and let's say um the basketball team has to drive across Baytown to be at a game for 5:00. How is that going to work? So it'd basically be the same way we're doing it now, but a lot of coaches drive those and those are separate buses. But a lot of coaches >> if we needed drivers to drive those, they would drop their kids off first and then they would come and pick up the kids. Kids like we do for high school now. for extra. So do you know how many coaches are certified with their CDL? Cuz I don't believe it's a lot of them. It's actually quite a bit. I don't know the exact number, but it's a I want to say if I remember the list it's at least 10. And would
030that tap into like their season? Let's say if it's basketball coaches. Um how would that affect like their practice schedules if they have to leave and go and drive and come back? Is that I mean it's I'm just trying to see like would that mess up like if a coach has to If it's not a coach, let's say a middle school coach who is not certified and a high school coach has to drive them. I'm just wo- I'm just wondering if that's the only option that we have is to tap into coaches. Are we I don't know. I'm just trying to make sure we don't tap into other people's seasons because they're trying to transport kids. I mean I think that's the way they've always done it and it hasn't been a problem. Well >>
031they just they kind of use each other. Like if I need you to drive, they'll they'll reach out to the other coaches, you drive for us or not? I'm just wondering, just from experience, just knowing that there was a team that was like there was one coach that had to drop them off. They had to come back, get the kids, go back, drop them off, pick up the other kids, bring them back. It was one bus running to go back and forth to drop off the kids to Baytown. That was during football football season. There was only one coach that was able to drive. We'll look into that and how how we would handle it if we have that situation. Okay, I just want to make sure we're not lacking with any just not athletics.
032It could be cheer, dance, any athletics that may need to be transported. I'm just a little concerned with the timing. Yeah, think about like football season, the band getting the band to the to the games on time, the away games. Like if we have bus drivers driving until if school gets out at 4:30, they're going to be on the route, the game starts, and they're supposed to be there, it's going to be another layer. So, just looking ahead at how we can problem solve that. We will. Is there a reason that 10 coaches said they should have their license to drive a bus? What's the reason not all? I don't know how many coaches we have, but Those are the only ones that actually come and get the training. We open it up for anybody,
033teachers, anybody, because we train right here. It's always open to anybody that wants to come. >> pay for any training certifications, or are they responsible for that? Uh we pay for it. >> We pay for it. Yeah. Okay. Hopefully, we're going to get a lot of drivers with this big push right now, and that'll help solve some of those problems. And that is something that I don't think we I don't think we've mentioned before. We train the drivers. If you want to be a driver and you don't have a CDL, we provide the training. And then they go and take their test and they have their CDL and then they drive, but we provide the training. Not only do we pay for the training, they are paid while they are training. It's a driver trainee
034position. So, we have that program here. Yes, ma'am. And how? Yeah. And it's after school, so if coaches or teachers wanted to take advantage of it, they could. Okay. We will We can work around any schedule if they're willing like The best way to do it is come in the summertime. It's the easiest way to just come in the summer and knock it out, but of course nobody wants to come in the summer. It's their time off, but we can work around any schedule. Okay. We have two trainers on staff. Interesting. Um I had a question. Uh the double runs and the overtime, is that going to be eliminated from the start? So, the double runs Yeah. will be eliminated. The overtime, we just have to see how traffic That's kind of hard to call.
035Like we would hope that it cuts down a lot. But the double runs for sure are cut with this system. Uh on that note, so that's when they they take and that that one driver takes and then he goes back again second time. So, when students are currently late for secondary and middle school, is that usually the reason why is that they're taking a route and then they're bringing the second? So, with middle school at a different hour, logistically we've calculated that's no longer necessary. >> We do have one route in Newport, but because it's such a short route, they will be doing two routes, but they can do two routes back and forth in 20 minutes. Okay. Cuz it's such a little It's just so many kids on that one little street. But they're
036able to do it supervised because we tested it out. Okay, thank you. Uh one other thing, um it was mentioned that we have after hours receptionists. Um Is that something we've had for a long time, for a while? We have three positions. One is filled. When did we implement that? Was it last last year? >> Last year we implemented it. And she she actually sits up here, so when this main receptionist gets off, she comes in. And actually this the young lady first worked with the few few nutrition department, so she would get off at 2:00. She could be here by 4:00 to take over the phones. She is still a para for the district at the middle school, but she can still get here and do that. Thank you. So is that another opportunity
037that teachers or paras could could take advantage of to come over and be a receptionist in the afternoon? Yes. It works very well with our child nutrition department because of the way their hours are and they get off at 2:00. So they can have a little break or perhaps something to eat and they come over. And so we intend we have talked to them once before and we intend to talk to them again about that. Um I I was I have another question. Um on the curriculum slide I just um looking at hours. I know that we have secondary um I don't I don't coaches or specialists or what I don't know what I don't know what their titles are. Like science people science like science coordinator, language arts coordinator, math coordinator that are 6th
038through 12th grade. So what are what are you know, that's a that's a big difference in hours. How are they coaching and providing support? What are their hours? Do they work a longer day? They're able to slide their hours. >> Yes, they slide. So if it's this day I need to meet at this time, then then they come in a little bit later than the next day or if it's that they can come in. So they can slide their hours and adjust to that need. Okay. And then I just wanted to ask um CMS is is one of our lower performing campuses. It's also the second largest contributor to our overall district accountability. So, how are we working to um Obviously, this is a challenge and change is hard. So, how are we working to
039improve morale through this change while also you know, like really prioritizing high-quality instruction? So, one of the things we gave to the CMS staff for morale is on the Redbox Fridays in the afternoon. Currently, it is in the afternoon, teachers are in their classroom doing their whatever they need to do. It is their time. And so, for this semester for climate and culture for them, they are able to work remotely at that time. Uh still expected to get their work done, but it is they're given that option. And that's for the climate and culture. And that's the morale that you're That was the goal. What was your second question? Uh the academic How are you balancing morale with high-quality instruction? >> so we're continuing what we've been doing. You know, we implemented the block scheduling
040this year. We're continuing that. It's been working very well. And the work with our consultant, we are continuing. And that consultant work this year is going deeper and not just working with leaders, but actually working with teachers. So, that is continuing on the academic side. So, if they're leaving on Fridays, then they're just planning remotely with their teams or Whatever they feel they need to do because right now we don't We don't specify what they do at that time. Okay. It is their you know, it could be calling parents, it could be grading their papers, it could be doing their lesson plan. Okay. Um have we started posting about I don't know if I've seen it yet, the job fair? It was the second This meeting is over. Okay. Oh, okay. I'm sorry. We we
041to do it in conjunction, so we have a big pay raise and we have a job fair. Okay. And uh is there any other um ideas to go out and recruit bus drivers besides the job fair and passing out the flyers at the Is there like going to colleges or going to other job fairs? >> We've gone to San Jac and hope to go to Lee College as well. Um just because we kind of use it as say you could work this around your classes if you require you, you know, you could go to class in the middle of the day or at night or whatever. So, we're hoping to do that as well. Um and we're open to any other suggestions. I'll go door to door if it'll work. Okay. >> And let me
042also say with the pay raise that puts us above three area districts, whereas before we were the bottom. So, now we have three districts that we're paying more than those districts. I'll recruit at church every Sunday. That's my numbers. Okay. Um just a suggestion on improving morale, you know, sometimes food is a way to people's heart. So, maybe like giving donuts or tacos or something on those days, you know, sometimes they may kind of increase their morale. I think working from home doesn't increase the morale. I will say I will say I will say when I delivered the news to the staff, and that was tough news to deliver, but when I gave it, you know, the climate and culture part, they actually clapped. They cheered. They cheered. >> They enjoyed it. They did. Okay,
043good. Yeah, I'm glad to hear that. But food always still works. So, all students at every campus deserve equity and in receiving their instructional minutes. So, I just wanted to say thank you for your work on this initiative. No student should be cheated out of any minutes instructionally. Great. Yes. Anybody okay? Thank you, John. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next on tonight's agenda is the consent agenda. Move to approve consent agenda. Second. Does anybody want anything pulled from the consent agenda? Okay. I have a motion by Trustee Humphreys, a second by Trustee Thomas. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries 7-0. Moving on to regular business, item A, discuss and consider acceptance acceptance of the safety and security upgrade project and approve final payment of Performance Services
044Incorporated in the amount of $102,363. This is for the work at Durham? Yes. Um, the improvement was made. So, it does look better than it did a couple of months ago. Yes, so I just I just wanted to verify some pictures from in there that did not look like great quality. I just want to make sure those adjustments have been made. Yes, that's why this is this month and all the others were last month. We needed that month to make sure that it was up to par. >> Okay, perfect. And this is the final Yes. on this. Okay. All right. Yeah, as long as y'all are good with the end of the project, I move to accept the safety and security upgrade project and approve final payment to Performance Services Incorporated in the amount of
045$102,363. I'll second. The police. Thank you. Have a motion by Trustee Humphreys, a second by Trustee Police. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those by nay. Motion carries 7-0. Item B. Discuss and consider approval of the 2024-2025 annual financial report. Good evening, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Patterson and guest. Um I would like to introduce Patrick Simmons. Patrick is an audit partner with Whitley Penn. He will be presenting the audit results for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025. Thank you, Robert. Good evening, Superintendent, President, members of the the Board of Trustees. Um my name is Patrick Simmons. Um right now Robert's passing out the a copy of the slideshow as well as a final draft of the audited financial statements for 2025. And so, I'm going to take you
046through the results um and some high-level financial statement highlights uh fairly quickly, but our uh team consists, in addition to myself, was Laura Quintero, the senior associate, as well as Brooke Fuller, the manager, and then Selena, the quality control reviewer. Um the audit process Most of you are probably familiar with this, but I will just uh say we come out in the summertime and do some internal controls and compliance testing, and then we come back after you close the books, and we do uh substantiate the balances, and all that goes into providing an opinion on the report, which is uh what you do have in front of you. Um this is just a slide on some of the internal control uh departments that we meet with at interim, so we uh get your your policies
047and procedures, and we uh tell select a a number of samples, and make sure that the internal controls are operating as you designed them and just we make sure that those are appropriate as well. Look for any gaps, make recommendations and things like that. And so, there's a few different types of opinions we can provide on the financial statements. I will just jump straight to the results and highlight that we are providing an unmodified opinion on the financial statements, which is the highest level of assurance we can we can provide. We did not have any internal control findings related to financial reporting and no findings related to compliance. And so, that is the all the good news on the financial statements and then I do have this statement here from the GAQC on the single
048audit report. So, currently so this won't be the last time you are here to approve these financial statements because the OMB compliance supplement has not been released yet and so we cannot issue the single audit report for the federal piece of it until after that final compliance supplement is released. And so, what you have in front of you is a final draft that we expect there won't be any changes ex- maybe some formatting and some moving things around like that to make it look better, but the results is what what we think we're going to stick with and so, we wanted to keep things as consistent as possible, which is why I'm still here today instead of waiting until later. But, you will see this report again for approval once we are able to finalize
049it. So, the results of the federal single audit piece of it is also a clean opinion. So, no findings on the special education cluster, which was the major program this year and then no internal control findings related to compliance for that program. So, overall the results that's that's the slides on that piece. Before I get into financial highlights, I just wanted to thank Robert and the district for the opportunity to work with you all and make it a very seamless process. So there was turnover in the department, but we were able to very smoothly transition and do a great job and continuing as normal. The next slide just a um pie chart of where your money comes from where the money comes from for the district. So state aid this year was 60% and property
050tax was 30% and then the remaining was split amongst some other various areas and then on the expenditure side for general fund. So instruction this year was at 54% and last year I know you all requested to see also the personnel cost breakout. So that's at the top and it's at 71%. I'll say that it is normally higher than that closer to 80% but with the debt service payments in the general fund in 2025 that was about 8 million. So that made up a much larger portion of the general fund expenditure. So it drove down the personnel costs the percentage of the total it drove it down. But if you take that out the picture then the the costs are pretty consistent with previous years. And then here's a snapshot of the budget to actual.
051And so you had budgeted for a decrease in fund balance of about 9 million dollars and then you ended the year with a decrease in fund balance of about 4.9 million. And then the ending fund balance is 42.9 million. And then general fund expenditures unassigned fund balance it is 196 days in fund balance. So it's well above the 90 days recommended by TEA TEA which would have been 19.7 million. So you're at 42.8 million. Or about half a year or so. It's like that. And for the required communications, so we do issue a much more lengthier letter than this. Um and so I won't go into all the details here. I'll just The highlights are uh there was a new standard that was implemented this year, compensated absences related to leave accrual. It doesn't affect
052your general fund or anything like that, but your uh full accrual statements do have a a larger liability recognized for that. In the past, you only recognized liability for the leave that would get paid out when an employee leaves, but now you have to recognize the liability for the leave that they're more likely than not to use as time off. So, you have to ask estimate using historical trends how much leave you expect somebody will take before they terminate with the district or separate from the district. Um so that is the main uh change in the in the government-wide financial statements, at least. I'm happy to highlight no material misstatements identified by us that required corrections and um no difficulties with management or any other issues um to make you aware of. And with that,
053I'd be happy to take any questions. I have one. This is not my area of expertise at all, but on personnel costs, are you saying we pay a percentage above that 71%, but it came from debt service fund? So, um out of your entire general fund expenditure bucket, normally you don't pay any debt service out of the general fund. And so typically, your personnel costs are about 80% of total. But this year, you did have a required debt service payment for some bonds that are fully paid off, and there was that large payment of about 8 or 9 million in 2025. So, it just drove the the percentage of personnel to look lower than it really is. So, if you take that out the picture, then you're at 80% or so. So, it was the
0542010 qualified school construction maintenance tax note that we paid off last year. So, that was the big driver. If you take that out of the equation like Patrick said, it'll be about 80% personnel cost. Thank you for that. Which is more on par with what you want to see. And also the instruction, if you take that out, you see instruction is at 54%. Instruction goes up to the 60% which we're accustomed to seeing. That's a one-time unique payment that just going to hit one time, so it kind of threw some of these ratios off. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Now, I do have a few items that I'd like to highlight on the report. If you would please turn to page 18, I do want to explain a few items. So, Patrick did mention
055in his slides that there was a net change in fund balance. It's the third line from the bottom on page 18. So, there was a decrease in the general fund, and that also is because of the 2010 qualified school maintenance tax note payment. So, if we take that out, we every year we were paying 680,000 into a sinking fund, basically a savings account, and that was recorded as restricted fund balance. So, that was 6.7 million we had in restricted fund balance last year for that payment. So, basically we take that payment away, and unassigned and assigned fund balance actually went up 1.7 million. So, I did want to explain that. Any other questions? So, we're we're approving the year financial report right now. So, the actual audit will will approve separately once that last numbers
056or that last things are comes to fruition. Yeah, that'll be the federal part of the compliance supplement due to the government shutdown as of the release. So, yeah, we'll have to come back here. >> is approving your Correct. Correct. Okay. How many years have we been with the same audit firm? >> This will be our third year with Whitley Penn. General remind me what what did we decide that was the best practice here? We'd have to check minutes to be sure. I I want to say the recommendation from TEA was I think they said the range of 3 to 5 years. I think it was three and and the reason is because this is my year five and we've had two. Like I was here when we did >> we chose to do three last
057time. Uh I was just as far as TEA's wreck, I thought they said three to five. Maybe three to four. >> all mind looking at what the recommendation is? And this is no no shade on Whitley Penn. I think you all have done a great job. I just want to make sure we're staying on top of that. >> Yeah, I was going to ask the same question. Anyway, probably next probably wouldn't have come up tonight, but uh Because yeah, so because of what happened in the past our TEA monitor and a couple of coaches that we dealt with along the way have all brought that up that good business practice switch audit firms every few years even when they've done a great job. Uh So, that's definitely something we'll have to look at whether we
058want to do it right at three or not. So. But, thank you very much. Thank you. I move to approve the 2024-2025 annual financial report. Second. I have a motion by Trustee Humphrey and a second by Trustee Chapman. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed by nay. Motion carries 7-0. Item C. Discuss and consider approval of a contract with Sports Netting Systems for ball park netting in the amount of $76,796.55 via TIPS, the Interlocal Purchasing System contract number 241001, and job order contracting JOC method of project delivery. Contract award. So moved. Second. I have a motion by Trustee Humphreys and second by Trustee Chapman. Any discussion? Um yes. Um I just want to explain my vote regarding the proposal for netting at the JV baseball stands. Um I understand the
059intent and I respect the the committee that put this together. I just um and I agree that netting would make the experience safer for those spectators who choose to attend baseball games, and I do think safety matters. Um so I appreciate the effort behind the recommendation. However, um I feel like we have to prioritize our spending based on the greatest impact for the greatest number of students, and we all received a 133-page facility report on building needs, deficiencies, and maintenance concerned. Um maintenance concerns, many of those directly affecting the learning environments that students are in daily, safety, and um things that are required by law. Again, our students aren't choosing to go, they're they're mandated to go. So because of that, I don't I just don't support spending $76,000 of our funds toward a project
060that I do I do think it's beneficial, I just don't think it's the most essential at this time. Um it's really the same rationale behind our previous no votes on on other facilities. So, it I think that with our aging facilities and the needs in our classrooms and the core safety of students, we need to prioritize that. Additionally, this funding source is Correct me if I'm wrong, this funding source is from maintenance and operating, which means those dollars could be directed to areas that currently are under significant strain, like transportation. Um, so my my decision isn't because I don't want to improve the baseball fields or make things safe. I just think that there are there are things that are higher priority, higher need that affect kids every day. So, that's my reason for my
061vote. President Luscombe, I wrote something this morning, um, that I want to read right now. And so, I'm going to ask for, uh, just a little patience uh, from everybody. If you'll give me a couple of minutes, all right? So, um, I thought about this obviously being on the agenda, um, and obviously I'm I'm pretty intimate about this one. And so, why is it here? Bear with me, everyone. It's to ensure that we as a district are constantly evaluating our facilities to ensure that we're providing a safe environment for our students, teachers, all employees that serve our district in any capacity, our community members and any man, woman, or child who show up in support of any extracurricular activity of Cross Valley ISD. Now, I know where the majority of anyone present in this room
062was here when the ballparks in Cross Valley were designed, constructed, and therefore I do not have intimate knowledge of the decision-making at that time. Those individuals did an incredible job with that facility, and it is one that our athletes and our community can take pride in. And one that many tournament directors seek out in order to run tournaments, which generates revenue for this district. However, they failed in one huge aspect. And that was to provide a safe place for attendees watching the baseball game. And not being protected from baseballs exiting other fields. Was this topic brought up and not done due to funding? Or was it just simply a design design flaw? We don't know, but what we do know is that it is a serious problem currently. I as well as many of you
063can attest that many individuals have have been hit in the back, side, or in the head from foul balls each year. I've personally witnessed it and I've personally been hit. Just a few months ago two elderly fans were hit. I don't remember the exact details, but if memory serves me right they were hit in the head and the neck region, taken to the hospital. For the past 8 years we as a district have been lucky that no serious injury has occurred. But I say this to you tonight, my colleagues, we're playing Russian roulette. It's a matter of time that we have a chance to dramatically reduce those odds. So, why does this Does our facility provide such an unsafe environment, many of you may ask? Well, the simple layout of four fields where all home
064plates are positioned towards a centered area creates a setting where fans watching the game on the north field have their back or side pointed to the fields on their southeast and west. That scenario is applicable to all fields. While their focus is on the game in front of them, they're oblivious to any foul ball coming from another field. Peripheral vision is also non-existent due to the bleacher designs. This design does not provide an attendee or fan a chance to react or protect themselves. I know many of you here don't understand how quick a baseball can can approach you, can hit you. An average exit velocity of a high school baseball off of a bat is about 90 miles an hour. That's an average, some of them are faster than that, some slower obviously. The reaction
065time of a 90-mph fastball at 100 ft away is 0.76 seconds. I'm going to say it again. 0.76 seconds. That is a reaction time if you know the ball is coming at you. Now, some of you may say that a district is protected by the baseball rule, which emerged in principle in 1942. That whole was true up until 2012. The scope of the problem and the near impossibilities of avoiding foul ball projectiles have resulted in a reconsideration by courts of the assumption of risk argument upon which the baseball rule is based. Reconsideration of the need for additional protective screening and warnings, along with challenges to the legal validity of the baseball rule, have accelerated over the last decade with the increase of injuries. You can easily look them up for yourselves, but numerous cases in
066the past 10 years with facts more likely to apply to high school facilities, courts have declined Excuse me. Courts have declined to apply the baseball rule because some form of distraction made it especially difficult for spectators to focus on the game and avoid foul ball dangers. One of the most recent and largest cases, non-MLB related, was in 2020. S.J. versus USA Baseball Federation. The Court of Appeals ruled USA Baseball had a duty not only to use due care to not increase the risk to spectators inherent in the game, but also to take reasonable measures that would increase safety and minimize those risks. To further enhance the importance of safety and due diligence of districts and baseball facilities, the NFHS, that is the National Federation of High School Association, has issued a list of recommendations. For
067those of you who do not know, they are the organization that creates the sporting event rules that all of our high school athletes um use and compete with. This is directly from their website. The following are suggestions for preventive measures that should be implemented in high school ballparks. One, increase the reach of protective screening to whatever extent is financially feasible, especially in the area behind home plate and along the baselines where foul ball and thrown ball dangers are at greatest. Provide signage warning spectators to exercise vigilance against being hit by batted or thrown balls by focusing on the field of play during pre-game warm-ups and the game itself. Place warning signage at entrance gates into the ballpark. Place warning signage on or adjacent to bleachers not protected by screening. Place warning signage signage on or
068adjacent to scoreboards. Where public address systems are in use, make frequent PA announcements before and during games warning spectator spectators about the risk. Where game programs or roster sheets are distributed fans include warning in easy to read font size. Employ additional major screening warning signs in areas within foreseeable reach of batted or thrown balls. Keep in mind that such preventive measures should be taken both in baseball facilities and softball facilities. I can tell you that all of bullet items that I just read are nonexistent over at the ballparks in Crosby. So, to conclude, why is this topic an agenda item for us tonight? Because we have a responsibility anyone that steps foot into the ballparks in Crosby. That responsibility is at a bare minimum to provide a safe and healthy environment. That is our responsibility
069and we must do our due diligence to proactively and with forethought vision to protect those individuals as well as this district from any legal implications. An individual focused on a baseball game in front of them currently does not have a fighting chance to defend themselves from a foul ball coming directly from behind them at 90 mph. Thank you for that time. Thank you. Anyone else? Just so I again I think that it's important that we focus on the safety of everyone. And again we have 133-page document with lots of safety concerns in it that we haven't addressed. So I I don't know how we can move this one to the top of the list over everyday items in classrooms in schools. Anybody else? Okay. Have a motion by Trustee Humphreys, second by Trustee Chapman. All
070those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed by nay. Nay. Motion carries 6-1. Any abstention? I'll say it I just didn't come out Sorry. Motion carries 6-1. Discuss and approve I'm sorry, discuss and consider approval of the revised compensation schedule for fiscal year 2025-2026. Move to approve the revised compensation schedules for fiscal year 2025-2026. Second. Have a motion by Trustee Humphreys, second by Trustee Thomas. Any discussion? I'd like to ask something. Mr. Mitchell, I think this question's going to be for you, maybe. All right? Can you please, because I need everyone in the public and everybody watching today to hear this. What time does the bus driver come in? 5:30. 5:30. What time is the first bus out? Well, time does bus leaves at 5:30. Okay, so what time do they come in? 5:15
071at the earliest, 15 minutes. 5:15 they do a check. All right, 5:15 they're out at 5:30. So, they're here at 5:15. They're up 4:00 4:30 range, right? They have a dead period in the middle of the day. What time are they back in? 2:00. 2:00, and what time do they typically leave here? 6:00 6:30. Please let everyone know, all you bus drivers, I hope you watch this and hear this out of my voice. Thank you. You are special special people for doing what you do, and to get in our our kids safely to school. Thank you. I will second that. Anybody else? Have a motion but I I have one thing to say. Um I I agree with what um Phillip said. I think that um I I think their 150 increase is not enough.
072And I think that it's not going to address our staffing shortage. And I feel like our drivers have carried the district through some really really difficult years. And they deserve a significant pay raise, not just that's competitive with the hourly rate, but that's going to be competitive with the weekly salary. Um I also feel like we could do more because this is not even going over the budget. This is just using money from the staffing shortage. So, um I I don't feel like a dollar 50 increase is is enough to that I would like to say that I I may have misunderstood you, but the raise is hourly, but it takes them when we're comparing and saying that we're making higher than the three other districts or they're making more, that's on an annual basis.
073So, it's not that statement is not based on hourly. It's based on what they would take home for the whole year. So, as a whole, we are paying more than three area districts. How far does that put us over We don't I'm sorry. How far does that put us over Cuz last time we gave a raise, the other districts came and bumped over us again. Are we going >> a plan. Yeah, that My thoughts were we do this now and we're watching we're watching and monitoring what other districts' plans are come budget time next year. And so And when I talked to Pat Miss Patterson about this Dr. Patterson about this, sorry. Uh I asked that question, too, just to say because when we went four-day, we thought about that. We adjusted based on that
074to make sure they weren't losing anything and still in the middle of the pack. The problem was then, when everybody else gave their raises, we didn't run that calculation every time. We were looking at just hourly rate and not the with the four-day adjustment needed to look at it properly. Now, they did. And that, like I said, both hourly and weekly pay puts us much higher on the list. And obviously, though, every time And I swear to God, we I joked with her about it when I was like, every time we've got to run that number. the both ways from now on. As long as we're on four, we have to remember not just look at hourly, look at both. And I'm sure we I mean, we'll see what happens. I'm sure this is a
075problem every district's having. There's probably going to be a little bit of a bit more, I'm sure, at some point, but I think for now this gets us uh a good bump should be a good bump for existing drivers morale. I know I was contacted by two different people that were close to drivers before we knew this was going to be $1.50, and I'll actually say I'll just throw it out there. They said, "I hope it's at least $1.50. That's what I would want to see. I wouldn't want to see $0.50 cuz I wouldn't stay." Or they said their so-and-so wouldn't. So, But for the drivers that have been driving overtime, even with this raise, if the three-tier system pans out, they're going to be making less money. Yeah, probably. But they're going to be
076working way less hours to get it. I don't think it's more about the bottom line, but So, do we do any kind of a retention bonus or anything for drivers that stay on, you know, year-over-year like they do for I think they have a step. >> What teachers like Y'all was like You know, your numbers of you know, the numbers of years. Okay. I don't know. Maybe if bumping it We also do an attendance incentive. We don't do that for anyone else in the kitchen. So, they're Okay. But it's all on the table. All right. Anyone else? Okay. Have a motion by Trustee Humphrey, second by Trustee Thomas. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Uh opposed by nay. Abstentions. Motion carries 7-0. Item E, discuss and consider approval of a resolution casting
077a ballot for the election of a candidate to the Board of Directors of the Harris County Appraisal District. I'll move to approve the resolution and cast six votes or combination of both for the following nominee, Martina Lemond Dixon. To serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Harris County Appraisal District. That's I'll second. Second by the Um just discussion part of this. I don't know if anybody knew or knows, I'm sorry. I have a motion by Trustee Thomas and second by Trustee Barrett. I'm going to say something just because I don't know if everybody knows, but we could also my understanding is we could split a vote and put on two different I don't know if anybody else has a recommendation, but it doesn't Dixon is the one that we have put
078our vote on last time, but if there's anybody else that someone is interested in, we can split the votes. All right. Is there any other >> I'm just throwing I'm just throwing my two cents that I'm going to be abstaining because I do every year that someone does not call me and ask me for my endorsement. It's a I don't endorse somebody if nobody reached out to me. So. That is one of the things >> And I mean, it's nothing against any of them, but I say it every year. I've done that. So. Appreciate your consistency. I They could call me. Martina Martina out to me. I don't know the other candidates. It would be a hard call. I I should have thought about it next year. If she does But I'll just be abstaining
079that. Voting against. Anybody else? Okay. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed by nay. Abstentions. Me. Uh Five. One zero. No, five. Six zero Six zero one. Abstention is one. Was it five one zero? It's five one zero. Oh, so nobody said nay? Did someone vote nay? Did someone vote nay? Six zero one. No. Six zero one. I don't know why you're telling me that someone voted no. Okay. Motion carries six zero one. I mean, yeah, six one zero. I'm moving into closed session at 7:51 p.m. All right, we're going to move into closed session according to Texas Government Code 551.001 pursuant to Section 551.071, Section 551.072 A, Section 551.073, Section 551.074, Section 551.076, Section 551.0821, Section 551.084, Section 551.087. >> Mhm. >> All right. Okay. Time is 8:21. And Roach second.
080Second it. I already did. Motion by Roach, second by Lewis. All those in favor to adjourn, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed by a nay. Meeting is adjourned at 8:21 p.m. Anyway, we're adjourned.