001Good evening everyone. >> I, Janet Vera Cruz, vice president of the Duncanville ISD of Board of Trustees, call this meeting of the Duncanville Independent School District to order. Let the record show that a quorum of board of trustees is present, that the meeting has been duly called, and that notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551. Good evening everyone. Our mission at Duncanville ISD is to engage, equip, and empower all scholars to achieve their unique potential. Please join me for a word of prayer. >> Lord, we commit this evening's meeting to you. For we have been chosen for such a time as this. Thank you that your presence in tonight's meetings sets us apart. We pray for favor, protection over all students, administration,
002and campuses and leaders. As we approach this holiday season, we pray for rest and rejuvenation for students and administration. Thank you for the simple but lifechanging message of your love for us. May we live in the light of your salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen. >> I will turn now the meeting to Miss Aila who will introduce our students who are leading us in the pledges. >> Good evening, Madame President. Madame Vice President, trustees, and Dr. Gory, tonight we have the Bill Harts buddies who are joining us from Bill Hart's Elementary School who will be leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge. Students, please face our board of trustees and introduce yourselves. >> My name is Victoria Choa and I'm in fifth grade. >> My name is Anna Sange
003and I'm in second grade. >> Wow. >> My name is Talia Coleman and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Nellis and I'm in fourth grade. >> My name is Isabelle Varel and I'm in fifth grade. >> My name is Vanessa and >> grade. >> My name is Anthony Gonzalez and I'm in second grade. >> My name is Damaris Ko and I'm in second grade. My name is Jose Martinez and I'm in fourth grade. >> Very good. >> Will everyone please rise? [snorts] >> I pledge 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. flag. I aliance under God, one and indivisible. >> Great job, students. We're going to have our trustees remain standing and we're going
004to take a quick group photo. So, students, if you could face the front. All right. Ready? And one, two, three. One more time. And one, two, three. >> Thank you, students. Thank you, Miss Aila, and students. That was lovely. We will move on to the superintendence report. I will now turn the meeting over to Dr. Gori. >> Thank you very much, Madame Vice President, other trustees, and everyone assembled. Good evening. It is certainly my pleasure to present you with a superintendence report for November. Dallas Cowboys team captain and defensive tackle Oza Odigi Zua is bringing his annual turkey giveaway to Duncanville High School on Tuesday, November 18th from 5:30 to 700 p.m. Families are encouraged to scan the QR code to sign up. We are thankful for the partnership and proud to help our families
005celebrate the holiday season. You may also go to our social media sites and the uh barcode, the the scan code or the QR code is located there as well. The Duncanville High School marching band wrapped up another outstanding season, earning its 48th consecutive division one rating at the UIL TW March the UIL region 20 marching band assessment. A true testament to the program's excellence and dedication. This year's show, The Wilder West, captivated audience with the cinematic storytelling, the powerful sounds and dynamic visual designs. Congratulations to all the talented student musicians and the band leadership on the incred on this incredible achievement. >> [snorts] >> What a season our Lady Panthers had. The Duncanville High School volleyball team made it all the way to the regional semifinals, and we could not be more proud of their
006hard work and their accomplishments. Special shout outs to the coaches for their leadership and their dedication. We look forward to continuing to see great things from our volleyball program here in Duncanville. >> [snorts] >> Duncanville ISD hosted the Duncanville ISD Fall Festival Saturday, October 25th, and it was a success. Thank you to all who joined us. And don't forget, your choice applications are now open. And please remember to go and fill out and take advantage of this opportunity for your children. You can find that application on our website at duncanvilleisd.org/ org/choice. Thanksgiving break is quickly approaching. We will be on break from November 24th to the 28th. We encourage all staff and family to take time to rest, recharge, and enjoy the company of loved ones over this special break. And please don't forget to
007have lots of delicious food. Thank you, madame vice president. That does conclude our superintendent report for this month. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Goring. We will now move to recognitions and I will turn the meeting over to Miss Anna Aila. >> Good evening, Madame Vice President. Once again, trustees and Dr. Gory. Thank you for the opportunity to present the donations received in November 2025. Each month, we are proud to share the incredible generosity of our community and the ongoing support that they show for Duncanville ISD. Please take a look at the screens as I read the donations for this month. For Hastings Elementary, we have Calvary Lakeside Church for $200. And for our family engagement department, we have Jo Smart Shop for $100. The total year-to- date for the 2526 school year is $33,23641.
008We are so grateful and thankful each and every month for our donors. We will now move into our made with pride honores. Starting off with our first honore is Kayn Mackammore, the sixth grade CTE teacher at Kenn Middle School. Come on up. [applause] Today we proudly celebrate Mr. Mackammore as this month's Made with Pride in Duncanville teacher honore. Nominated by his principal Tamara Thompson. Mr. Mcmoremore is an exceptional educator who truly exemplifies what it means to lead with impact. Mr. Mcmoremore is a proud Duncanville graduate and now serves as the CTE department chair at the Steam Academy at Kenn Middle School. He leads with purpose, humility, and dedication. His principal shares, "His quiet diligence, unmatched work ethic, and relentless pursuit of growth make him more than deserving of this honor and of being recognized as
009made with pride in Duncanville." Whether he's meeting with district leaders to strengthen his craft or pursuing an internship with the communications department, his motivation is rooted in one goal, to elevate the student experience and enhance the CTE program at KMS. Mr. Mammore's leadership shines through his commitment to people and innovation. He builds trust, supports teachers, and ensures students have realworld learning experiences through career days, field trips, and guest speakers. More than a teacher, he is a visionary who inspires others to grow and succeed. His integrity, compassion, and drive reflect the true spirit of Duncanville ISD, leading with impact, purpose, and pride. Kayn Mackmore, you are what it means to be made with pride in Duncanville. Will Kayn's family and friends please stand to be recognized as well? And let's go ahead go ahead and give
010Kayn a round of applause. [applause] Moving on to our next honore which is Miss Susanna Cistos. Come on up. [applause] Next, we proudly recognize Miss Susanna Cisnettos as an exceptional occupational therapist whose passion and dedication truly embody what it means to be made with pride in Duncanville. Nominated by Miss Simona Sbrto, a teacher at Daniel Elementary, everyday Missy Snos goes above and beyond to ensure students don't just succeed, but thrive both academically and personally. Miss Sebrano shared her enthusiasm for her work is contagious and it's clear that she is deeply committed to the success of each child she serves. Missy Snos approaches her work as more than a job, but a calling rooted in compassion, creativity, and a genuine belief in every student's potential. One powerful example of her impact involves a student who struggled
011with fine motor skills. Miss Cettos took the time to create a personalized, engaging therapy plan that not only improved the students abilities, but also built confidence and joy in learning. Her innovative approach filled with fun and engagement helped the students see success in every small step. Beyond her work with students, she serves as a valuable resource to colleagues, always ready to share ideas, strategies, and tools to better support children with special needs. Through her kindness, expertise, and unwavering commitment, Missy Snos continues to make a lasting difference. One student, one smile, and one success at a time. Will Susanna's family and friends in attendance today please stand to be recognized. And let's give her and them a round of applause. [applause] And last but not least, we have Paola Oola, fifth grader at Hastings Elementary. Come
012on up. [applause] It is our privilege to honor Paola, a student whose excellence in both academics and character reflects the very best of Duncanville ISD. Nominated by her mother Elizabeth Oyola a and teacher Jessica Garcia Paola shines both in and out of the classroom. She maintains exceptional academic performance including being an a honoral student in her classes last year. She continuously challenges herself through UIL events earning top placements in storytelling, poetry and math. Baola also represents her campus with excellence from winning the campus spelling me to interviewing on behalf of Hastings at the annual United Way STEMfest. Her nominator shares, "Paola is a great student, leader, and role model. She is responsible, respectful, and very disciplined." Paola's leadership extends far beyond academics. For three years, she has volunteered to assist younger students with their morning
013transition, offering patience and guidance that set a positive tone for the school day. She is a proud member of the Hastings Dance Team, the district honor choir, and a local flamingo dance group. At home, she demonstrates deep compassion as a supportive sister to her non-verbal autistic brother, teaching him with incredible kindness and patience. From preK to now, Paola has exemplified perseverance, humility, and heart, making her this month's made with pride student honore. Whoopa's family and friends in attendance today, please stand to be recognized with her. [applause] D congratulates [music] the following teacher, student, and staff member who are made with pride in Duncanville. >> Hi, my name is Susanna Cisneros and I am the certified occupational therapy assistant [music] that works for the district. So an occupational therapist works with the students so that they
014are able to >> [music] >> um participate within their environment um access their curriculum and we work with sensory regulation, fine motor [music] skills. We help them adapt their environment so that they are able to participate within [music] um their academics so that they can be successful. My favorite part of my job is seeing the kids progress. [music] The milestones that they accomplish with each [music and singing] goal that is met. Um, and the carryover from year to year is, I think, [music] what makes my heart happy. And just seeing them [singing] grow and become [music] who they are meant to be is is very fulfilling for me. I love my job. I love the kids. I think about them a lot. You go home and [music] you think about like, okay, what can I
015do to better help this kiddo or this student or this [music] family? Um, so yes, I absolutely love my job. I am so blessed [music] to be here a part of the Duncanville family and I'm very happy here. >> Hi, I'm Paola Yola. I'm a fifth grader in Hastings Elementary [music] and I want to be an astronomer when I grow up because I love space so much. You never know what's outside in [music] the universe. My favorite part of the day is reading because I love to read a lot [music] and it connects with books also. I like to help people because it's like helping also the teacher because when [music] she's busy I can also help and also can include socializing. Leadership [music] is important because if other people are doing the wrong thing
016and they look at you, they're probably going to follow you what you're doing. >> Hi, I'm [music] Kayla McLemore. I am a computer science teacher at Kenmore Middle School. At computer science, [music] you have uh different programs and different codebased system that the kids will learn. Uh iMovie, Photoshop, how to edit pictures and to create fires. I grew up in Duckyville. I uh graduated. I went to [music] Brandenburg Reed to the high school. Um I was in the community. I feel that every student I see I see myself. And from there, it just [music] kind of sparked this notion of like this is my home. This is something that I have to take care of. This is something [music] that I have to come back and kind of pour into. I truly believe that great
017[music] teachers create great teachers. You know, we get into this profession because nine times out of 10, we have a teacher who we [music] looked up to and I had a plethora. In elementary school, I had Miss uh Keading, I had Miss Thompson. In middle school, I had Mr. Bernett, Miss Grother, [music] Miss Bennett, Miss Nash. In high school, I had Mr. Shaw the Russells, [music] uh Mrs. Cassinide or formerly know as Miss K. I had those teachers who really helped [music] me to um be the person I am today. It's just have given me so much [music] to where I have no choice. I'm obligated to to give back in some way and I think this is one of the ways I want to give back. These honores are truly [applause] amazing. And may
018may I have our three honores come to the front so we can snap a group photo with our trustees. I would also like to make a note trustees that in the video the intro and the outro it's recorded by one of our high school students. So we love to be able to incorporate our students as much as we can. [snorts] [clears throat] Ready and three, two, and one. This way. >> There we go. Three, two, and one. One more time. Three, two, and one. >> Thank you all. Congratulations. [applause] >> This concludes the Made with Pride honores. >> Thank you, Miss Aila. What an exceptional trifecta. Thank you for leading with impact. I will now turn the meeting over to Chief Garin for the swearing in ceremony. >> Madame Vice President, trustees, Dr. Gory, it's
019my honor to swear in two officers. One who you've met before, our deputy chief, and newly hired officer, Destiny Hutra. So, if they will come forward, I'll administer the oath of office. You raise your right hand. Repeat after me. >> I say your name. >> I >> do solemnly swear or affirm >> Dolely swear or affirm >> that I will faithfully execute the duties >> I will faithfully execute >> the duties >> of police officer of the Duncanville Independent School District. of police offic >> of the state of Texas >> and will to the best of my ability >> preserve protect and defend >> the Constitution and laws of the United States >> Constitution and the laws of the United States >> and of this state. And I furthermore solemnly swear or affirm >> And
020I further more solemnly swear or affirm >> that I have not directly or indirectly >> paid, offered, or promised to pay >> contributed nor promised to contribute >> contributed or promised to contribute. any money or thing of value. >> Any money or thing of value >> or promise any public office or employment or promise any public office or employment >> as a reward to secure my appointment as a reward to see my appointment. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations. [applause] And now I'd like to invite uh Destiny's husband up to pin her badge. >> Yes. [applause] >> [clears throat] >> Good job. [applause] I would like to share I would like to share that Destiny's great-grandfather was a police officer in Abalene. Uh she was a prison guard and that's where she
021and her husband met, Officer Pasos. And we're excited to have her and Deputy Chief White here. So, thank you. >> Thank you so much. [applause] That's true legacy. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chief Garren. Do we have any board members who have announcements or acknowledgements? Seeing that we have none, we will now move to communications from citizens. We have none at this time. We will now move to close session. Thank you. Back from close session, we will continue with our agenda items. Everybody's here. Do I have a motion to approve the superintendent's recommendation and that we hire and issue a one-year contract to to Caesar Quint Quantero for the position of principal? So moves second. Thank you. Are there any questions, comments, or discussions? If not, please cast your vote. [clears throat] Motion approved.
0225-0. Thank you. We will now move to consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. Thank you. Are there any questions, comments, and discussions? Please cast your vote. Motion passed. 50. We will now move on to the actionend agenda item. Consider approval of annual financial report. Presenter Darla Moss. Good evening, Vice President Vera Cruz, Trustees, and Dr. Gorie. We are pleased to present the annual financial audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025. The report provides a comprehensive view of the district's financial position and results of operations for the year. Before I introduce the auditors, I want to express my sincere appreciation to our financial services team and district staff for their hard work. I have two of those team members here tonight with
023me. Our director of accounting, Miss Allison White, and our director of budget and finance, Miss uh Leticia Griffin. They have worked tireless days and nights and weekends trying to to get our audit together for us. Uh the report represents a collaborative effort across the district. Their efforts are recognized as essential in maintaining the district's strong record of fiscal accountability and compliance with state and federal guidelines. I also want to extend our gratitude to our audit partners from Whitley Penn who have worked diligently to complete the independent review of our financial statements. We have worked closely with Miss Lauren Eaton, audit manager, and her team over the past few months. At this time, I would like to introduce Mr. Roger Tovar, audit partner with Whitley Pin, who will present the results of the annual financial report
024and provide the board with an overview of the audit findings and opinion. >> Thank you. Good evening, board of trustees. Superintendent. >> I assume this is the clicker. >> All right. Uh so my name is Roger Tolvar. Thank you for that introduction. Um and so I am a partner with Whitley Pen. We're a CPA firm here in the state of Texas. And uh my presentation tonight is going to go over um as uh Miss Moss said uh the the audit uh that we conducted and uh any results that we have related to that audit. So I'll start off with the with the process of the actual audit. So you can see here on the slide there's uh on on uh phase number one of the audit's a planning of the audit. Uh so every sorry
025every audit that we conduct is a risk based audit and so we do perform a risk assessment uh prior to us coming out here. Um that risk assessment is going to include um us evaluating the the district any prior findings uh anything like that that that might uh trigger uh any uh specific risks that relate to the district. Uh then we'll lean over to uh we'll lead over to number two which is the first time we come out to the district and we'll start looking at your uh internal controls as a whole. Uh once we looked at uh your internal controls, we'll start uh evaluating them. Uh some of those controls we're going to uh actually test the controls. Others we'll just come out and do a walkthrough of those controls. Um and that also
026helps us with the risk assessment. So, if we if we determine that some of your controls are not effective or not in place, um that obviously is going to impact that risk assessment and we're going to start uh once we go over to number three, uh we'll do a lot more work over those areas if those controls are not working. Um so, again, that goes over to number three, which is the substantive testing. Um and this is the when we come out the second time, we'll start looking at your actual account balances, uh your actual financial statements, uh and all that's going to be based on that risk assessment. That leads over to our last step, which is number four. uh that's uh when we issue the opinion over your financial statements and that opinion
027on the financial statements uh you can see here on this slide there's a few options here. So at the end of the day this is the purpose of the audit for us to come out uh and issue that opinion over your financial statements. So the the three options that we have on the screen uh is the unmodified opinion. So that is the uh you know we come out we'll look at everything and determine that your financial statements are uh materially correct. So that is obviously the goal of every audit. uh we can also modify the the opinion if we come out and we're not able to audit all the areas. We might qualify the opinion for specific for specific areas or we can issue a disclaimer and that usually means that we come out, we'll
028start looking at things and we really couldn't audit anything. So again, those are just the options that we have uh as far as opinion goes. Uh for the district this year, we did issue uh an unmodified opinion over your financial statements. I believe we have a slide on that later as well. uh some of the areas that we focus on here uh you can see here it uh again some of these areas we do perform uh test of actual controls others we'll just uh perform a walk through so we have it we also look at some of the ps data that gets uh submitted to tea uh the non-payroll expenditures that's one of the big areas uh along with payroll that we actually conduct some of the control testing uh we'll look at other revenues
029we'll look at uh procurement uh federal and state compliance uh which includes your federal uh grants as well as your state you procurement uh PFIA those type those types of compliance requirements sorry uh as far as the substantive procedures that we go uh that we perform that is again that is once we come out here the second time we'll start looking at your account balances uh some of the some of the items that we can perform uh testing procedures that we can perform over those balances could be some analytical procedures could be uh predictive tests uh over revenues or expenditures we can start we'll we'll vouch some of some of those amounts we'll sent confirmations out to third parties. Um, as well as uh we'll rely on some of the information that comes from TEA,
030which is all your payments that come from TEA. We'll use those, tie them out to your uh general ledger, your tri balance, make sure that all that makes sense. Um, again, uh, that risk assessment that we perform determines what kind of procedures we're going to be performing over those balances. Uh, as far as the actual audit opinion, uh, you can see here, uh, we, uh, did issue an unmodified opinion over your financial statements. Uh we're also required to au uh audit under what we call yellowbook which is us coming out evaluating your uh internal controls as they relate to your financial reporting. So during our our audit work if we see that there's a a weakness or a deficiency over your controls uh we're required to issue a report and report that to you. Uh
031we have no no internal control findings related to financial reporting. Uh we also have no findings related to compliance. And then this slide goes over uh what we call single audit. So anytime uh an entity receives over $750,000 in federal funding uh it triggers what we call a single audit. So we'll have to come out and audit your u your federal programs. Uh and uh this year you can see we had four major federal programs here. So we have idea we have title one, title two and then we also had SR3. Uh we're also required to issue an opinion over compliance over those programs. Uh so currently we have an unm unmodified opinion. Again, that is the highest level of assurance that you can get. Uh so we have an unmodified opinion over each of
032those major programs and we also have no internal control issues over those programs. Now this report is not final um just because the compliance supplement which is the guidance that we're required to follow is not finalized by the federal government. Uh it's been delayed and so it is not technically not out yet. Uh but we do have a final draft of that compliance supplement which is what we use to audit. Uh so we don't anticipate any of this to change and so uh we're not we're presenting the major programs the findings which in this case we have no findings uh uh assuming that nothing's going to change on when the final compliance supplement comes out. We're not expecting any changes but um this single audit is going to have to be approved by the board
033at a later date just because it's not final right now. Right now the only thing that's final is the the financial statement part of it. Uh the next couple of slides are going to go over uh required communications uh which is as auditors we're required to communicate to you. Uh you know we do have an engagement letter. We were engaged back in uh March of 2025 earlier this year. Uh that risk assessment that I talked about earlier uh does incorporate two audit risks that we consider to be applicable not just to not specifically to your school district but just every school district that we audit. Uh one of them is management overrider controls. So we look at your controls but we're also uh aware that those controls the management can override those controls and so
034we're always uh looking out for those overrides um and revenue recognition just making sure that revenue is rec recognized uh in the proper period. So again I go back to there was no findings uh that we have to report to you but those two risks were incorporated into our risk assessment. Uh we also had no disagreements or difficulties with management uh while conducting the audit and we're independent of the district as a firm. Um as far as the district policies uh and uh we did look at some of those as part of the audit. Uh we consider those to be in accordance with industry standards. Uh this year there was Gatsby 101 which was compensated absences that was applicable to the district. It was not material to your financial statements. Uh but it is uh
035it was applicable this year. Uh we're also not aware that management consulted with other accountants uh as far as you know obtaining essentially a second opinion on any audit uh related matters. And so now we're going to go over your actual financial statements here. So this slide goes over your governmentwide financial statements. So this includes this includes all your your funds. This is at a at a ac cruel level accounting. So this includes all your long-term assets as well as long-term liabilities. Uh so you can see here your total assets and defer outflows. Uh it's approximately $494 million. The majority of that is is made up of the three items that you see here. So cash and investments is about $249. Uh capital assets net of depreciation is uh $23 million and then receivables net
036of allowances is about $23 million. On the other side, you have your total liabilities and defer inflows. Uh so that is uh approximately $472 million. uh your bonds payable uh makes up about 323 of those uh of the 472. Uh and then you have your pension and your OPIVV liability, which is a non-cash liability. Uh so you have those at 40 and $27 million. Uh once you once you net all that out, you have your uh ending net position at $22 million this year at the end of fiscal year 25. And so now we're going to be looking at the general fund. So this is your operating fund. Uh just a summary here. So you have your revenues uh your revenues in the uh general fund for fiscal year 25 or $125 million which was
037uh less than the final budgeted amount by $1 million. Uh you also have expenditures of $133 million which was under budget by uh approximately $13 million. Uh you had other financing sources which was about $200,000. uh at the end of the at the end of the year, your general fund uh fund balance decreased approximately $8 million and that balance at the end of fiscal year 25 was sitting at $64 million. And so on again sticking with the general fund, uh this is just a different uh presentation of your revenues uh comparing to your budget. Uh so you can see here again your actual revenues were 125 your final budget was 126 and you can see how it it's uh split between local revenues, state revenue uh and then federal revenues. Same information just in a
038different uh different format. So you can see uh what uh what percentage of your total revenue in the general fund is made up by your local revenue, by your property taxes, uh state aid, state revenue, and federal revenues. Going to the other side of your general fund, we have your expenditures, which was approximately $133 million for the year. Uh you can see there uh here uh again the same type of uh presentation that we looked at uh for the revenues. Uh you can see there uh as far as your largest expenditure is in instruction and related services, which is pretty uh common and typical for a Texas school district. And by far that is the largest uh expenditure on your books. Um and you can see that the actual amount was $72 million for the
039year. The budget was 78. And you can see how every every expenditure category here was under budget under your final budget. And that's just the the information that presented here. Um and then again you can see that that instruction and related services make up approximately 54%. We're looking at percentages now. 54% of your total expenditures. Again, that is that is in line for a a school district here in the state of Texas. And then everything else uh it's either uh you know, way less than that 54%. As far as your uh fund balance in your general fund, uh so we did go back a few years here. So just to kind of present uh information over the last five years, you can see the trend here. So this is your uh unassigned fund balance which
040is the fund balance that's available for operations as a percentage of your uh general fund expenditure. So uh and this year you can see uh your that percentage went from 58% uh down to 47% uh which is still represents uh over 172 days uh which is a considered to be anything over 90 days is considered uh you know healthy and so this year you you are at 172 days of uh fund balance as far as financial statements and our opinion. So overall it was a clean audit. We didn't have any findings. Uh it was it was a pleasure working with management. Uh everything requested was provided and so we we always enjoy working with them. Um y'all have any questions for me? >> Thank you so much. Do we have any questions? Yes. >> Just
041a comment. I appreci I appreciate your report. Very easy to understand and I attribute uh Miss Moss with bringing y'all. Thank you. [laughter] >> Thank you. Yes, trustee. Oh, do you have a question? No. Okay. [laughter] Okay. With that being said, do I have a motion that the board accept the annual financial report for the fiscal year ending July 30th, 2025 as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. [sighs] Please cast your vote electronically. Motion passed 50. Thank you. We will now move to action item B. consider approval of resolution to cast a vote for a member of the board of directors of the Dallas Central Appraisal District. Miss Presenter Darla Moss. >> Thank you again, Vice President Bear Cruz, Trustees, Dr. Cororey. This agenda item is for your consideration and approval of
042a resolution to cast the district's votes for the for the appointment and election of the directors of the Dallas Central Appraisal District DAD pursuant to property tax code section 6.03. The district has received an official ballot, a sample resolution, and the document confirming the 2025 calculation of taxing unit votes from the DAD. Member entities are allocated a designated number of votes based on their local tax levy proportion. The district has been allocated 20 votes to cast for one or more candidates. Each school district is required to vote by official ballot in an open meeting by resolution and submit the resolution ballot to the chief appraiser before December 15, 2025. Included in your board packet is the resolution, the election ballot, and the document provided by the DAD, including biographies, resumes of each of the 13
043candidates. The board may cast its vote for one candidate or distribute their votes among any member of the candidates listed on the official ballot. We are requesting approval of the resolution that authorizes the board president to cast our votes on behalf of the district and submit the official ballot to the appraisal district by the required deadline. Thank you. Do I have a motion that the board of trustees adopt the resolution casting the 20 votes for Cassandra Phillips as a candidate for the Dallas County Appraisal District Board of Directors? >> So moved. >> Second. Are there any questions or comments or discussion? Please cast your votes. Motion passed. 50. Thank you. We will now move to action item C. Consider approval of purchase of CTE furniture. Presenter Mi Zamora. >> Good evening, Madam President, Madame Vice
044President, Trustees, and Dr. Gory. So, as part of the bond 2023 and the new CT edition, the district is undertaking the purchase of new culinary and cosmetology equipment and furnishings. The district solicited a proposal from AMG Consultants and approved vendor through RFP 2425.004 and the EPCNT purchasing cooperative. The CTE department and teachers collaborated to identify the specific needs for each program. The proposal includes a wide range of equipment and furnishings, including but not limited to salon chairs, hair washing sinks, manicure, and pedicure stations, ovens, bakeware, cookware sets, tables, and chairs. The total proposal amount exceeds $1 million, which does include a 15% contingency budget. These purchases will be funded through the bond 2023 CT edition budget. delivery and installation of the furniture and equipment anticipated for the summer of 2026. It is recommended that the
045board approve possible action to enter into negotiations with AMG consultants for the CT furniture and equipment agreements exceeding $50,000. Be happy to address any questions you may have. >> Any questions? Do I have a motion to consider and take possible action to negotiate enter into an agreement with AMG consultants for CTE furniture equipment agreement exceeding 50,000. >> So moved and I am so excited for this building. >> It is so good for Dunville High School. >> It is. Thank you. >> Second. [clears throat] >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments or discussions? Did you have something today? Nope. Okay. Please cast your vote. [snorts] Motion pass 5. Thank you. We will now move to action item D. Consider approval of the 2025 2026 district improvement plan. Tuluence Graham. Good evening to Vice President
046Coloulton, to all other members, all other trustees, I'm sorry, to Vice President Vera Cruz and to all other trustees and to Dr. Gory. Today, we want to present the 202526 district improvement plan. Each year, Duncanville ISD engages in district improvement planning process to ensure the continuous progress and alignment across each organization. This process provides an opportunity to reform the district's mission and vision, align our academic, fiscal, and cultural expectations across all departments and campuses, and establish a system of monitoring and accountability for sustained improvement. In addition, state law requires that the board approve both the district and campus improvement plans each year. Our process for developing the 2025 2026 district improvement plan followed a structured datadriven approach. First, during the July 2025, we started the needs assessment process. We began gathering and analyzing data, identifying
047strengths, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. And this helped us clearly identify and define what the district looks like and what supports were needed. In August through September of 2025, we started the strategic goal alignment. We reviewed and updated our long-term strategic goals and ensured they reflected the current priorities. The board of trustees approved the strategic goals in September. Now, the last part is the important part, strategic alignment. A key improvement this year in the district's alignment between the strategic plan and the district improvement plan. Over the next few presentations, you will see that that the strategic priorities and the district improvement plan along with our campus improvement plan and our turnaround plans all start from that same strategic planning process. In October of 2025, a committee reviewed and approved these strategic goals as our foundation.
048We established the annual district improvement goals and these in these goals were reviewed by and approved by our district educational improvement committee the DEIC and the campus improvement committees. Our next slide shows our strategic plan alignment. The first thing that you will see is the strategic plan that serves as the foundation of all plans across this organization. Each department and campus plans derive from these priorities. All strategic goals are designed to be fully achieved by 2028. If you look at the current slide, you will see all of the pri the priorities which is student academic success, student, family, and community connection, which is priority two. Priority three is personal personnel and professional. And the last one is priority four, which is fiscal stewardship and operational excellence. all of these strategic priorities. Um if we start
049to look at the next portion, we will see the performance objectives and all of the performance objectives are expected to be completed in a three-year um process by 2028. Next, you will see the district improvement plan priorities. If you notice, they have the same exact priorities as the strategic plan. That is the goal of this year to ensure strategic alignment from our strategic plan all the way down to our campus plans. Beneath each priority, you will notice the performance objectives for this year. All performance objectives for the district improvement plan are expected to be completed by the end of this year 2026. Next, we will look at the monitoring and compliance. Each month during our senior leadership team meetings, department owners will provide updates on their progress toward these district goals. The board of trustees
050will receive quarterly progress updates ensuring transparency and accountability. Additionally, all progress will be tracked and updated in our district performance software for ongoing monitoring. So, in accordance with board policy BQ legal, the administration recommends approval for the district approve district objectives for the 2025 2026 school year as presented. At this time, do we have any questions? Do I have a motion? >> Do we have any questions? >> Thank you for the report. >> I look forward to seeing the implementation of all of this, the impact that we have on our generations going in and coming out. As I look out to the faces of our leaders and to the audience, I see you and I believe in you. You are charged with such a task as this. And I know each and individual want of
051you that has this at hand. And I and I trust that we will see great things come out. >> [snorts] >> Maybe we should take a break. Everybody chill. So, do I have a motion that the board of trustees approve the 2025 2026 district improvement plan as required by the Texas Education Code 11.252. >> So, move. >> Second. >> Thank you. Are there any questions or comments or discussions? If not, please cast your votes. Motion passed 40 zero. Thank you. We will now move to action item E. Consider approval of 2025 2026 campus improvement plans by Dr. April Wyatt. Good evening, madame vice president, members of the board, superintendent Dr. Gore, and guests. Tonight, we are here to share our 2025 2026 campus improvement plans. These plans show how our principles, teachers, and district teams
052are working together to help every student grow and succeed. Our goal is simple. To make sure every campus has a clear plan that strengthens daily instruction for every student and leads to stronger academic results across the district. Board policy BQ local requires that each year the school board approves the process we use to develop both the district and campus improvement plans. This ensures that we gather input from stakeholders and that all required components are included and aligned to law. Our decision-making process includes input from many different voices. Each campus has a sightbased decisionmaking committee. And at the district level, we have, as Mr. Graham stated, the district educational improvement committee, RDIC. These groups include teachers, staff, parents, community members, a business representative, and a district professional. Teacher representatives were selected through a nomination and voting
053process during a meeting for the campus improvement plans. The other members are recruited in different ways. Parents can volunteer or be invited to serve. Community members and business partners are recruited from the local area. Non-eing staff and district professionals are identified through campus or district recruitment to ensure the committee has a balanced set of perspectives. This process helps us build teams that truly represent the students we serve. These are our four district priorities and every campus improvement plan is aligned to them. Priority one focuses on student academic success. Priority two supports our students, families, and community. Priority three strengthens our staff through professional learning and development. And priority four ensures we manage our resources well and maintain strong operation. Each campus used these four priorities to guide their goals and action steps for the year.
054These are the main areas of our campus improvement plan focus for the 2526 academic year. First, we are working to raise our performance in reading, math, science, and social studies so all campuses meet state expectations. Second, increase the number of students who show strong academic progress each year, moving from 72% of students growing as expected to 80%. Third, we are strengthening parent and family engagement so families feel connected and supported. Fourth, we are building the skills of campus administrators through targeted professional development based on the academic needs of each school. and fit. We're increasing our focus on fiscal stewardship by making sure our instructional dollars are being used in ways that directly support student learning. This last slide shows the full list of campuses and each campus improvement plan has been shared with you for
055review that has also been placed in your board book. All plans were written using the smart goal process which means goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timebased. This helps ensure every campus sets clear expectations and track progress in a meaningful way. At this time, I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Are there any questions? comments. I I'd like to say that I recognize that you had said balanced set of perspectives and I appreciate that having that integrity piece to all of what you're doing and implementing. I also heard that you say strengthening uh parents, family engagement opportunities and that I appreciate in our community where that is you cannot you cannot ignore that that needs to be approached in a in a delicate way and a sensitive way that they
056are pulled in. Anybody else have a question? Thank you. So do I have a motion that the board approve the 2025 campus improvement plans for Duncanville ISD? So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Are there any other comments or questions? If not, please cast your vote. >> Motion approved. For a zero. Thank you. We will >> I'd like to thank [laughter] >> Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. >> [laughter] >> on top of this. >> Thank you. We will now move to action item F. Consider approval of 2025 2026 turnaround plans, target improvement plans, and local improvement plan from Rosa Hernandez. Good evening, Madame Vice President Vela Cruz, board of trustees, superintendent Dr. Gory and guest. I present to you tonight our 2526 turnaround plans, TAPS, target improvement plans, TIP, and local improvement plans, LIP. In alignment
057with board policy, in alignment with board policy, AIG, district and campus leaders have collaboratively developed, reviewed, and revised our target improvement plans, turnaround plans, and leadership improvement plans to ensure alignment with our district improvement plan and strategic priorities. These plans serve as a comprehensive framework to develop continuous improvement, strengthen our educ educational systems and instructional systems, accelerate student achievement across all campuses. Each plan was designed through a collaborative process in involving campus administrators, teachers, instructional coordinators, parents, and community representatives and is grounded in datadriven decision making. The TAP and TIP plans outline targeted strategies for improving overall accountability performance in domain one, two, and three. While the LIP plans are designed to build leadership capacity and sustainability of improvement efforts together, these plans reflect our district's unwaving commitment to ensuring that every student has access
058to high quality instruction, effective leadership, and quality learning opportunities. Tonight's presentation will provide you an overview of our progress, our monitoring systems, our key milestones that will glide guide our collaborative efforts towards achieving sustainable district-wide results. If you can please refer to a packet that was placed at your dascese. Um there was some upgrades in our plan. I believe a copy was placed on your desk. So, according compliance with AIG legal, our district or campus that obtains a rating of a D qualified under educational code 39.0543B shall develop and implement a local improvement plan using the guidance provided by TEA. In compliance with board policy AIG legal, a campus that has been identified as unacceptable for two consecutive [clears throat] school years, the commissioner shall order the campus to prepare and submit a turnaround or
059target improvement plan using the guidance by TEA. Each district has an assigned DCSI. So you'll see the DCSI, which is a district coordinator of school improvement. That would be me, Miss Hernandez. That supervises all our campus improvement schools. We call them school improvement campuses. They're appointed by our superintendent, Dr. Gory, and oversee the work of our school improvement interventions. As a DCSI, I engage with all TA touch points, serve as a principal manager and supervisor, is a chief performance manager who ensures plans are implemented with fidelity, brings data, progress updates and needs to the superintendent for resources and operational flexibility and remove barriers to ensuring school import. So what is required for state and federal accountability? So tonight I want to walk through you through the process of what the state requires, what the federal
060requires, and then I'm going to go intimately into our actual plan. Um so we want to start with the state. The state um the Texas education code sets performance standards. So if you are an A through a C rating, we are acceptable performance. If you are a D rating, first or second year, we are a needs improvement campus. And if you're an F or three consecutive D's, we are unacceptable. If you are unacceptable or needs improvement, the state requires that you do a needs assessment, an engagement assessment, and either a TIP or a TAP. And I'll go in further. So that's the state. On top of the state, there are federal guidelines. And there are three types of program for the federal government. And those are a comprehensive support and improvement plan called a CSI.
061These are campuses that rank at the bottom 5% in domain three. So they take all the all the schools in the state and the and they rank the bottom five and these schools would would be picked. Then we have target support and improvement um campuses. These are called TSI. A campus that has one or more student subgroup that does not meet. for example, African-American, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, um, emerging bilingual. So, any one of these specific categories and if you do not meet standards for three in a row will trigger a federal plan. So, we have our state plan, which is A through F, and then we have a subgroup. So looking at our specific subgroups within each school and then there's an additional target which is recently new. It's called ATS additional target support. These
062are for title one and tit n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n non-title one campuses that um score at least one of these unperforming. So I wanted to just kind of go into each of the plans. So just kind of on a high level if it's a zeroyear as unacceptable and um we have a D [clears throat] then therefore we have a lip plan and in our campuses today we have one lip plan which is fair metals. If a campus has a one-year unacceptable count and has a D or F they have to make a TIP plan which is a targeted support plan. and we have one campus at Actton Elementary. If a campus has two consecutive years of a D or
063an F, we have to create a campus turnaround plan. And we have five campuses with turnaround plans. If a campus is three or four me years, um we again make and implement the plan. So um basically five of our campuses fall under TAP, one fall under TIP and one fall under LIP. In addition to that title on the state, we also are tagged a second title for subgroups. So we have um the target support improvement which is a TSI um and we have additional target support and campus support. So each of our campuses have a state label and a federal label. So this slide kind of spells it out for everybody. It tells you exactly which each school is at, what our federal label is, and what our state level is. So today, you're p
064you're approving these plans, and they're combined with the state and the federal. We don't do separate plans. They're just extra things that we have to target within our plan. For example, one of our campuses missed our African-American subgroup. In our overall plan, we must address that subgroup. So, we're not making two separate plans for the state and federal. one plan but addressing the different layers in each of those plans. And um we showed above you'll see how many years the campus has been unacceptable and the ye the last three rankings from 2023, 2024 and 2025 that would have triggered each of those plans. You might be asking how do we get out of or how do we exit school improvement? that answers um rather simple but rather tasking. We have to earn a A, B,
065or C rating. Um for some of our campuses, for most of our campuses, that's a consecutive C or higher. So, we have to earn a C this year and then maintain that C or higher the following year to be fully released from the federal and state accountability. Now, our D campuses need to only reach it one year, but our F campuses have to meet that criteria two years in a row. So the systems that I'll be talking about today will not only serve us this year but also build sustainability for the following year. Um we're really big this year about creating systems. This brings us to our school improvement plans. Um as Mr. Graham and Dr. Wyatt mentioned, we develop district and campus CIP and district strategic goals. Our tap, tip, and lip plans are
066very much aligned with priority one, two, and three for our district. First [clears throat] and foremost, foremost, our plan is aligned not only to the priorities, but also to the campus strategies. The four district priorities of student academic success, student families, and communities, professional development, and physical stewardship. Our improvement plans outline systems, structures, and instructional actions we must implement with consistency and fidelity. These actions ensure that every campus has a clear aligned pathway towards school improvement that is intentionally moving all students and all subgroup subgroups at each particular campus. In short, our plans include cohesive across the district and a unified roadmap of supporting our principles, our APS, our instructional coordinators, and our teachers to support students. Our plan has four key areas. One, foundational and instructional leadership practices and systems called flips. In fact,
067today our our five principles attended that TA training and came back super excited with all kinds of good information on how they can implement strong coaching and feedback on their campuses aligning with our district and campus plans. Um, our second focus is datadriven instructional practices and student assessment cycles. Our third is a capacity building of supports of our leadership team. And last is performance management site visits and effective coaching. And I'm going to go into each of those the fun part. So our first sec our first focus area is foundational of instructional leadership practices and systems. So what does this look like and what what does it look differently this year? This year we um are focused on leadership team structures. We're focused on establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and meeting cadences with our admin team,
068our PLC's, our data meetings. We are focused on building instructional walk systems so that we're building capacity of how our leaders monitor tier one instructions using data and giving actionable in the- moment feedback. um we're walking into classrooms and when we see instruction that may not be aligned in that moment we're addressing it and supporting that teacher and that administrator and creating a cycle of effective feedback. We're coaching again, coaching and providing those cycles of regular feedback of trust between the supervisor and the teacher and the students to align. Um, our big chunks of data is get better faster which is root rooted in instructional practices to really dig in on those instructional components to support teachers. Along with our test evaluation, we also are doing a lot of progress monitoring. Each campus tracks key
069measurements. And this is new. Principles are truly tracking every student, every teacher on campus. Every time we take a de a district assessment, every time we take a benchmark, which we're about to take a benchmark, um, or an exit ticket, we have it down to every student, every subgroup, every grade level, so that we know what we're doing well and what we might need to go back and readress. With professional development, we're making datadriven decisions. We're using that data to drive our professional development. If you ask our science teachers, they were in a amazing PD last week unpacking 5.9 Earth and solar systems. They were creating their interactive notebooks. They were setting it up. They were really diving into the work so that when we give that first tier instruction to students, it's quality, right?
070We're we're growing our new teachers and our novice teachers along with our coaches and our principles to make sure when we're in front of kids, it's quality first tier instruction. Um we're also developing a professional learning community doing our PLC's. We partner with um Sustain Ed to ensure we have quality PLC's that are focused on standards um lesson internalization. That means we're taking that lesson, we're unpacking it side by side with teachers and we're making sure that we understand what we're teaching and how we're going to deliver that first tier instruction. It's critical especially when we have a lot of new teachers. Um we've set up um with the help of teaching and learning and under direction of our CEO Dr. Nick, we've and our executive director, Miss Reyes, we set up professional development for
071areas of concern and also just areas of new. For example, fifth grade science is new to our elementary. So, what we're doing because it's new um and the vision of our superintendent and our CEO. We've aligned that PD. We're unpacking TESS every two weeks with our fifth grade science. Um we're unpacking curriculum with our three to fifth grade reading teachers, our math teachers. really trying to figure out what support they need and then immediately giving them that support. So then when we're walking the classrooms, we're immediately giving that coaching in the moment. That wasn't happening and it's happening across K through eight. Um particularly in all our school our school improvement campuses. Um datadriven practices is our second area. Making sure that we have a system for looking at data, looking at assessments. So we're
072driving into we've created school improvement each of the school improvement campuses have created individual student trackers. They've created campus trackers to track the I Ready so that we know how kids are performing on their own pathway or if we assign something to them. They also are tracking their campuswide data. How we're doing at third grade, at fourth grade, at fifth grade, how we're doing in math, how we're doing in science. But more importantly, how is our individual babies in our classrooms doing? Every child. If you ask our principles, every child has every adult has been tasked to to make sure our children understand their individual goals. Um, we also have monthly data data huddles. We just had our school impro improvement huddle this last Friday. Principles engaged in a task where they identify what the
073growth band was for every child on their campus and where they needed to grow. Where did they start and where do they need to grow? and then how are you going to get every kid there? And we had some really great conversations. And then we're going to do that again when we have the fall benchmark. We're going to do that again when we have the spring benchmarks. And then we're going to provide professional development. We see areas of concern. Then um our area three is building capacity and supports. Um we have a strong strong team um where we are combining school leadership which is what me and Dr. April do. I mean Dr. quiet curriculum and instruction and then sustained ed which is our partner. So we meet weekly and we talk about what's working,
074what's not working, how do we need to move differently. For example, we had a great conversation about interactive notebooks last week. How do we stamp the learning? How do we know kids got it? And we stamp that. We're embedding that PD and teachers are rolling that out. They're super excited. Actually this o over the break I had three or over our mini break I had three teachers come up to me and say Hernandez is that that was a great workshop. I felt like I I was a new teacher like can we do more of this? And I said yes ma'am it's coming. So we're really trying to meet the teachers where they're at. Building that capacity of the principal, the assistant principal, our instructional coaches, our teachers, and hopefully that all pours into our babies
075and our students. Um again great partnership with Sustained Ed coming in and helping us with our PLC's. We get two weeks. Each school improvement school gets two and a half days or two days, two and a half days of um need and need coaching. They come in, they come into the PLC, they support teachers. I don't get that standard. They break it down. They they pull out resources, they connect the dots for our teachers and our administrators um so that we can make sure we're delivering quality instruction. And our last one is performance management site visits. Um if we don't man if we don't visit what we're asking them to do then obviously we're that that's really important that we're we're visiting and we're providing feedback on what we're asking we're inspecting what we expect
076right so we have a region 10 consultant Miss Hobbs who comes and walks with me we walk probably twice a month and she provides direct coaching and support as well as I provide I do monthly site visits with her and then we do weekly school improvements are getting an instructional walk at least once a week, if not twice a week, if not sometimes a third if we have a collaboration walk. So, there's a lot of feedback. We're in classes. We're we're we're changing as we're going. We're not waiting until 45 minutes later and that person taught it wrong. We're like, "Okay, let's get it right. Let's get it right now." And so, and we're seeing the positive turnaround with kids and students and parents. Um last, our effective coaching and feedback cycle. Um, again, the
077instructional walks, the weekly co coaching visits. The coaching visits aren't just instructional. We're also looking at attendance. We're also looking at discipline. We're also working with student services and we're making sure that we're addressing absences and and we're because we know kids aren't in school, then they can't learn. So, we're really building those systems where we're all talking to each other and making sure we're doing the whole well-rounded child. Um, and then last, um, so that's our plan. Those are our big systems, data, instructional walks, building capacity of our teacher, staff, and administrators. Um, so today I'm asking you to to approve um our tip, tap, and lit plans. Today, you guys would approve it. Um, if approved by the board, I will submit our plans by um this Friday by 4:00 to TA to
078our commissioner. Um once our commissioner and the team looks at it by January 23 26 they'll approve our plans or reject our plans. I'm hoping they approve our plans. Um we got a good a good flag up that they're they're they're solid and then um if rejected then I'd come back in March. Um hopefully you know we won't even have to pay attention to that one and we'll get them all appealed all approved by um January 23rd when they review our plans. So with that being said, I do have four official things I must read as the DCSI so that we can approve these plans today. As the DCSI for Dunville ISD, I assure you that all locally conducted needs assessment met the requirements in section 39A.053 of the Texas Educational Code and the results
079of the local needs assessments are available upon request. As a DCS for Duncanville ISD, I assure you that the campus intervention team conducted a public meeting at each campus required to submit a turnaround plan, target improvement plan or local improvement plan with the campus principal, the members of the campus leading planning and the decision-making committees, parents of students attending the campus and the community members residing in the school district to review the plans. These plans were posted also on the district website. As a DCI for Duncanville, I assure you that the written notice of all public meetings were were provided to parents and students for each impacted campus. Notice of the meetings were posted on each campus website and this notice included the date, time, plan, and the plan itself. As the DSI for Duncanville,
080I assure you that the board conducted, which is our uh public meeting today, conducted a hearing of the plans for each campus identified to notify the public of insufficient performance of campuses. the improvement plans um were inspected and interventions and measures may have been imposed if our performance does not improve within a designated period which I've explained to the board of consecutively two years. Um so I ask you to approve our 2526 tap tips and lip at this time I'd answer any questions. >> Do I have any questions or comments? Yes, doctor. >> Hello. Um, my first question is how are you implementing the plans? >> So, first and foremost, we sat with each principal. We um we trained um we went to TA, we we attended the trainings and then we built the plan.
081So, they have a they have a written plan that you guys have and every week we're either doing the instructional walks. So that's part of our plan. So us walking the campuses and make sure instruction's happening. Um part of the plan is PLC's, making sure they're holding PLC's. Um making sure our principles have them on the calendar, they have agendas. We're working with sustained ed to implement strong PLC's. Um data conferences, making sure we're tracking data from from campus to the district to student. So, it's really just working side by side with each principal at each campus and ensuring the five components that I went over that we're actually doing it. I have weekly check-ins with each principal and we talk about in our weekly checks check-ins how where are we with the monitoring piece.
082Where are you at with the feedback teach? How are these TIEs doing or what are we doing about these tees? So, it's um it's weekly meetings with the principles along with a strategic plan of timelines for each one of these events. Can I add one thing to that? One thing I'd like to add to that though is that I want the board to understand, you know, even though we're uh approving the plans to meet our legal requirements, these plans are alive and well on every campus. >> What support are the teachers getting in the PLC's that they weren't before now? Great question. Um, they're receiving a lot of need to need support. Um, Miss Flowers, they're um, rece they're identifying, unpacking the teak first and foremost. So, like let's say 5.9, the one that we
083did for science and for force in motion. We unpacked it together. We understood what is the verb asking? What is the rigor of STAR? We pull a STAR question and we look at it and we look at the standard and say, is our curriculum meeting that standard? Will kids be able to master at this level which is our STAR assessment? And then if they if we if there's disconnect, we're pro the the sustained ed and the principal supervisors are providing that direct need to need support. Teachers are also rehearsing, right? So they're getting an opportunity and a safe space to retach it among a small group of their fellow colleague and then if there's misconceptions, we're working out that misconception right there in that PLC space. I'm sorry. I don't think I asked my question.
084Let me reframe it. Who's in the PLC's providing the support? How are they receiving? >> Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. >> No, [clears throat] no, my apologies. Um, so it's the principal as the instructional leader of the campuses. We're asking them to attend PLC's. So, for most campuses, they've it's the PL the principal, the assistant principal, the instructional coordinator, the teachers uh for the grade level, and then if the sustained ed partner is there, they're sitting in the PLC's. And then if I'm there, I'm sitting in the PLC's. >> Okay. How are the principles um embracing the plans? >> Um I think um at first it can definitely be a heavy lift, right? Definitely a heavy lift because we're doing a lot of new things. We're we're we're doing data differently. We're doing PLC's different. We're
085walking campuses different. We're doing coaching in the moment differently. So I definitely think at the beginning um there was definitely a heavy lift. I do think as November has come there's been some balance um understanding the system and the expectation and really just diving in. I think the principles are extremely talented and they're picking up the learning pretty quickly and they ask a lot of really good questions of their leaders right you know um they ask a lot of wise we spent a lot of time unpacking that why um but I would say we had a really good session last Friday. I can only speak to to the set of principles I'm serving, but no, I can speak to all they they I think that they're doing really good unpacking it and really understanding it
086and really understanding why we're moving differently this this year and the need to move differently. >> So, the support that the principles are receiving is coming from sustained ed. >> No, it's coming directly. It's coming from several sources. One source is sustained ed because they are our required partner. Another [clears throat] of course their deputy chiefs right that's me or Dr. Hawaii going in and providing again two to three times a week support need and need support. That's the teaching and learning department providing us PD at a high level. So that's the curriculum department. That's do um executive director Miss Reyes's team. Um that's coordinators going in when we have a teacher who may need support and we're diving in that bell-to-bell modeling. So it's a system of support. It's not one individual. It's really
087us working together and figuring out who is the best person to help with this particular piece that we see. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Can you tell me a little bit about the instructional walks? >> Yes, ma'am. So, the >> like how many >> who's in who's in the >> the walk >> with region 10 that we're required to do one walk a month. So, with region 10, they come out. Miss Hobs and I come out. She comes out once a month. She schedules those walks with the school improvement. So those are once a month about two hours we go she they have a TA has a school improvement form in which we have 22 indicators that we look at and we score between a one and a four and then um that's
088used to drive uh and we're really focused with TA they're focused on authentic reading writing and speaking right um so that's with TA then they have a walk with their deputy soup which is me once a week or once every other week just depends on whether we have a collab calibration walk or we have a TA walk. Um and then that includes me and the principal, the assistant principal and the instructional coach because what we're trying to do is build um capacity among the team. So it's not [clears throat] just the principal carrying that lift, it's the principal, the assistant principal, the instructional coach and then sometimes when sustain is there, they'll join us. So we do those walks and then there's a collaboration walk calibration walk with um teaching and learning department and then
089we'll have um experts in each of the content areas and they're walking I'm walking Dr. Nick might walk, maybe the suit comes. He came to one of our PLC's last week, engaged in some great PLCing of third through fifth grade classes. And so it just depends on um who's navigating the walk. >> What's the largest group you have? Like what's the number of the calibration walks? >> Um we we try to keep between four and six. We'll break them up in groups. So we'll take early learning in different classrooms. So, we don't we don't have it could be 15 people or or in in that group of like walking classrooms, but then then there'll be a list of second grade classes, thirds, and then we we break up in usually groups of four, no more
090than five is what I've been used to. >> I'm glad to hear that. I didn't think they >> Yeah, we're not all going in >> 10 12. So, we might start with 15 and then that might break up into three or four groups and then we're hitting different teachers. >> Oh, that's good. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Pleasure. >> Great questions. Thank you so much. This is to Dr. Wyatt and yourself, Miss Hernandez. I I'm so appreciative of the layout of this plan. Um there are four things I took away from this. Tracking performance, datadriven walk in instructional uh walks, that's what you call it, and building teacher community. Those are the four things that I took away from your presentation and I think that's going to deeply affect and improve what
091we see in the future here soon. So I thank you both. >> Moving on. Oh yes, >> trusty fee. >> Well, I'm just so excited and encouraged, but after listening to you, I'm like totally and thoroughly exhausted. [laughter] It's a heavy lift, but we got it. [laughter] >> Yes, ma'am. >> The the principles are working hard. >> I like the part too where um the teachers are coming away going, I have learned something new and it's it it's igniting a new fire in the way they teach. So, I appreciate that. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. So, now moving on. Do I have a motion that the board approve the 2025 2026 turnaround plan targeted improvement plan for Duncanville ISD? >> Some move. >> Thank you. Please cast your vote. >> Four zero. Motion approved. >>
092Oh, I'm sorry. We'll have to redo that again, please. >> Please cast your vote now. 50. Thank you. We will now move to information and discussion items. The first item is bilingual and English as a second language program. Dr. Samuel Nicks. >> Good evening, Vice President of Verarac Cruz, members of the board, and Dr. Gar. All school districts are required to conduct a bilingual education and English as a second language. We call that ESL, annual evaluation. So, at this time, I would like to invite Miss Maria Hernandez uh to the podium. She is our director of language acquisition to present on the effectiveness of our programs. [snorts] Good evening, Vice President Vera Cruz, Board of Trustees, and Superintendent Dr. Gory. Thank you for the opportunity to present the annual bilingual and ESL program evaluation. This
093evaluation required under the Texas education code allows us to assess program effectiveness, celebrate areas of strength, and identify focus areas so we can continue moving toward access and high academic achievement for emergent bilingual learners. Tonight, I will provide a brief overview of who we serve, how our students are performing linguistically and academically, and the strategic actions underway to strengthen outcomes. First, let's look at our district emergent bilingual landscape. If you look at the graph on the left hand side, you can see that our emergent bilingual population has increased over the years. At one point, in 2017 to 2018, our population was made up of 17.2% emergent bilingual. That increased all the way up to about 26% in 2324. Since then we have held steady at around 26%. Sometimes it could be 26.3 26.2. Currently our
094total emerging bilingual enrolled in the district is at or was at 2875. I actually had a chance to look again and we're at 2,94. So it often it continues to increase and last year we got to over 3,000. Of those emergent bilingual about a,234 are enrolled in the DL program. DL stands for dual language. And how those students are identified as dual language is that when they enroll in a Texas school, they have to select what languages are spoken at home. if they write down any language other than English and in this case specifically Spanish because our dual language program focuses on developing English and Spanish so that we can maintain bilingualism and biiteracy in our students and so we have identified 1,234 students who actually qualify for the dual language program because of the
095languages that were selected on their home language survey. Then we have 1,431 students in ESL which is your English as a second language. That is a little bit different. That is for students who enroll who select a language other than English or Spanish because we do have students who speak other languages. Since we are not equipped to provide them dual language in additional languages, then they are enrolled in an English as a second language program. Also in secondary we don't have dual language. Dual language only goes up to fifth grade. So if a student enrolls after fifth grade they automatically go into English as a second language. Then you see on there that we also have some students who are parent denials. Basically what that means is when a parent is offered the opportunity for
096their child to go into dual language, they decide that they want their child in a general education class. So they deny services, they deny any kind of um resources that we may provide uh through our title three funds. And so we have 210 students who are currently parent denials. Our families actually come from all over the world. So we have families that come from uh Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. 41 countries and territories total. And they speak multiple languages. we have uh families and students that enroll who speak um Arabic or Portuguese, Mandarin. So, while the majority of our students who enroll and select a second language on their home language survey tend to be Spanish speaking, we do actually have students who enroll who speak 21 languages across the district. Now,
097we're going to move into how we serve the emergent bilingual in these programs. For students who are in a dual language program, they must be served by bilingual certified teachers. And for students enrolled in an ESL program, they must be served by teachers certified as ESL teachers. If you look at the graph that I'm displaying right now, uh in 2024 2025, we actually had 66% of our teachers who were bilingual certified and we had 40% who were not certified. So there's been an improvement this year. If you look at the 2526 school year, we actually have more certified teachers and less uncertified teacher, which is the direction we want to move in so that our students are actually receiving services with the appropriately certified teacher trained to service both their linguistic and academic needs. If
098you look at the gray and the yellow, the ESL, it's actually the opposite. So um in the ESL program we are actually increasing the number of uncertified teachers we currently have uh which means a lot of our students are not receiving the services with uh ESL certified teachers. So what are we doing about that? Uh we are actively uh working with human resources to increase access to uh individuals in our district who could be part of a grow your own program [snorts] and try to retain those individuals who are already with us. We also as a department offer certification supports anything from prep sessions uh to reimbursing once they pass the test. Uh we are there to fully support our teachers through the process as they get certified. We as a district have come a
099long way as well in offering competitive compensation to our teachers who are certified. We also try to strategically place our teachers uh who are certified. We work with universities to recruit recruit certified teachers. And for those teachers that continue as uncertified, we make sure we offer them contentbased language instruction professional development and coaching. So let's look at the data for TELPASS. So, Telpass is the exam that uh students take every year just like the star except the TELPASS focuses on language development, English language development to be specific. So, if you look at the graph up here, it shows you how campuses performed in 2024 and how they performed in 2025. If you look at column D, it shows you the difference between those across those two years. So if something's in red, that means that
100uh the performance uh was less. So for example, Actton 72% um met the yearly progress goals that TEA sets forth in 2025. However, they got 50%. So that's a drop of 22%. However, in some cases you see green. So that means there was an increase in the students meeting the adequate yearly progress. So as a result of meeting adequate yearly progress in in the English language campuses can earn to points toward domain three. So you can see um in column E those campuses that actually earned points, you can earn up to four points. Um, and so when you earn four points, that equals uh 10 contribution points toward domain three. So 10 is the highest you can go, but that could be a difference between a letter grade. So if a campus is uh a
101F campus, they can easily move up to a D or a C. So um you can see here how many got the 10 points, how many got 7.5, and how many got zero. What campuses are aiming for are those interim goals that are in those boxes. So you see elementary at the top has a different interimm goal than the middle schools and high school has a different interim goal. Now we're going to move into the star data. So now you got to see the telpass data. Uh now we're going to move into star. So here you see a graph that shows you the comparison in how students did uh from 24 to 25. As you can see, if the blue is higher than the red, that means that they did better. There were a couple
102of areas where um our EBS [clears throat] did not perform better. When you look at our EBS in comparison to the district, the EBS outperformed the district in grades four to five with grade eight leading the way. Growth trend shows emerging bilingual students surpassing the district in upper elementary and middle school. This demonstrates the impact of targeted emerging bilingual supports at these grade levels. So that's that green check mark. Those are our bright spots for emerging bilingual. Then you have the the warning sign, the the danger sign. Uh basically what that's showing is that grade three is trailing behind the district which signals an early literacy gap. So um hence that focus on early literacy that we have going on right now. Grade seven and English one didn't show growth and high school English one
103and two EB performance uh was uh significantly below the district. So what are we doing about that? Right now that we have seen that these trends are happening in our district. We're making sure that we are working with leadership to strengthen tier one early literacy phonics uh providing language scaffolds. At the same time, we're also looking at our bright spots like in grade seven and eight cap trying to capture and replicate some of the practices that they're doing well across the other grade levels. Um for high school English one and two we want we are providing coaching cycles readiness lessons and EBmies such as um a telp pass camp on um Saturdays. Um and we're also monitoring uh the DCAS and how they are doing and creating support plans around that. Now that was the
104reading and let's look at the math. So if you look at the graphs the ma in math students um had more areas where their performance actually dropped. So um some of the bright spots though let's focus on some of the bright spots first. Emerging bilingual students scores did increase in grades six and eight. Emerging bilingual students were above the district in grades three to six and eight. Grade five and eight uh had standout performance. One of the warnings here is that grade seven and algebra 1 overall performance uh were low. So again, what can we do about that? What are we doing to contribute to um helping our students improve? Uh we want to replicate those grade strategies that are working such as in grades 3 to six and eight across the campuses. We want
105to support grade or we are supporting grade seven and algebra 1 teachers with targeted coaching and intervention planning and providing algebra 1 readiness supports uh through trainings and coaching and some of the trainings I listed on there are like contentbased language instruction strategies such as QSA and talk read and talk right. Basically, those are strategies that get our students uh learning the content through opportunities to speak uh listen, read, and write. So, our next steps to strengthen tier are to strengthen tier one instruction with embedded language objectives. I'm happy to report that we're actually seeing language objectives being used uh across the district uh this year. uh leveraging district curriculum assessments and linguistic data to moni monitor student progress and provide actionable feedback to teachers and we're providing district and campus trainings and targeted classroom
106support and coaching in emergent bilingual heavy classrooms. So again, I'm showing you these numbers one more time so that we can remember that our emergent bilingual population does make up 26.1% of our uh district population. And so really when we focus on emergent bilingual success, it really becomes our district success. So it's important that we invest in our emerging bilingual students as well. At this time, I'm happy to take any questions you might have. >> Are there any questions? Yes, doctor. >> Do we are we using any uh technology platforms like Summit K12 or um what are the other or any of those things to help as an intervention with our EV students? Yes, we are act we have purchased summit K12 for all campuses and the expectation is that campuses are uh having their
107students log into Summit K12 at least 60 minutes a week. >> So my second question is are have all the campuses been trained on summit K12? >> We have offered uh trainings and I I believe not every single campus has been trained but we have offered the trainings. So it's optional. That's my question to you. Is it >> it's not optional. >> So the campuses that have not um done the training for some K12. Dr. Gory was happy. >> Right. I'm going to defer to the academic team uh because I just because I don't want to I can get you an answer to your question. But if someone on the academic team would like to uh support here, we'll you're welcome to come to the podium. So, thank you for the question of Summit K12.
108The goal will be that all campuses are trained by the end of the semester to make sure that we are not only leveraging the support for our bilingual um programs or for all of our students. So by the end of by the end of the semester all campuses will be trained on summit K12 >> and the monitoring of that how will the monitoring of that happen? >> The deputy chiefs will ensure that not only are they trained but that that that's just really going to be a part of the implementation process. So it's just a part of when we're training and when we're going through and providing this training that it's a it it's the dashboard that we have. It's really just making sure that we have a metric in place that weekly we're checking
109that not only with Summit K12, but we have a couple of other programs that we're using as well. And the piece of that is really just how are we measuring, how are we monitoring, what are the tools and the systems that we're using to do that. And the deputies have a great dashboard that they use and that that uh they report to me on and uh that monitoring piece is going to be just a non-negotiable. >> What are we using in addition to Summit K12? We use all-in learning. We just also we just p purchased a or we're in the process of purchasing Sirius and these are platforms that we're using for to support with our intervention uh to support of course we have i as well with our intervention but these are just additional
110platforms that we're using to supplement. >> Can somebody give us a plan of the summit K12 roll out what that's going to look like the training and what the expectation is? >> Thank you. >> Yes. I'll make sure to get that to you. Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Any other question? >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> I enjoyed your presentation. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We will move now to the information discussion agenda. Item B, security and safety update, intruder detection audit findings. Presenter, Chief Max Garren. >> Good evening, Madame Vice President, board members, Madame President. Nice to see you. Uh, and Dr. Gory. Uh the safety of our students at the and staff at Duncanville ISD is obviously our highest priority. And as part of Governor Avat's school
111safety directives after the Uvaldi tragedy, the Texas School Safety Center recently conducted intruder detection audits at one or more of our campuses. And these audits test campus security and help identify areas for improvement. We are working with our school safety and security committee to review findings, train staff, and enhance campus safety. While we understand and appreciate that community interest, specific results cannot be shared publicly to protect security measures. The full results were reviewed in executive session earlier this evening with the board and discussed with the committee. I can assure you that Duncanville ISD remains committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all students and staff. Thank you. >> Thank you. Seeing that there aren't any questions, there are no further items to discuss. Do I have a motion to adjourn? So moved.
112>> Thank you. Meeting is adjourned.