001Good evening everyone. Hi, it's 6:30 and we're going to start our meeting tonight. I, Jacqueline Coloulton, president of the Duncanville ISD Board of Trustees, call this meeting of the Duncanville Independent School District to order. Let the record show that a quorum of trustees is present, that the meeting has been duly called, and that notice of the meeting has been posted according to the Texas Open Meetings Act. We will now move to opening ceremonies. Trustee Vera Cruz will lead us in the invocation as we start the opening ceremonies. >> Thank you, Madame President. Please bow for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray for resilience over the return of our Duncanville students, staff, and leadership teams. School isn't always easy. You know this, Lord. But we praise you for you are ever present help in
002times of hardship. Heavenly Father, we ask you to pour out your strength and reminders of your peace and power on every child each day when they face a hard subject, have a problem with friends, get in trouble, or simply feel fatigued from school in general. We pray that you will uphold them with your mighty hand and restore them. Stay present with students and educators when days are tough. I pray they are able to rest well when they return home from school and that you will restore them for the next day. You are our sustainer. Please sustain our students and staff through the year in Jesus's name. Amen. >> Thank you, Trusty Vera Cruz. Please join us in the pledge to the US flag and the Texas flag. I aliance to the flag of the United
003States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to the Texas one state under God one and indivisible. >> Thank you. We will now move on to the superintendence report and I'll will turn this meeting over to Dr. Gory. Thank you very much, Madame President, and good evening, Madame President, as well as all of our other trustees and everyone assembled here today. It is my pleasure to present to you the superintendence report for this October August 18th, not October yet, but August 18th, 2025 school board meeting. I'd certainly like to start off by speaking about our wonderful convocation that we recently had. Convocation 2025 was a success. Each year, we look forward to bringing all
004of our staff together in one place to kick off the school year with energy and excitement. This year, we were inspired by our keynote speaker, George George Corals, and guided by our host and MC, Lady Jay. We're especially thankful to our sponsors for their continued support and making this celebration happen. A special thank goes out to our communications and public relations departments for coordinating this event. We appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into making convocation possible. Your efforts were certainly not unnoted. Well, just about a a week ago, we had the opportunity last Wednesday to welcome back our students to school. I had the pleasure of visiting several campuses on the first day of school, kicking off the morning, of course, at the bus barn to welcome our drivers and wish them a
005very successful route that day as well as for the year. It was exciting to see several of our new buses purchased with funds from our 2023 bund. Those buses are now on the road for the first time and filled with students. From there, I had an opportunity to go to Duncanville High School to welcome the Panthers back to another fantastic school year. I also attended also had an opportunity to visit Hastings Elementary, Kinnmer Middle School, Harding Elementary, Reed Middle School, and Pace High School. I want to recognize the teachers and the staff and administrators who made this first day memorable for our students. I saw countless photo opportunities, music, uh, and anyone that saw me knew I got a lot of pleasure out of the confetti and most importantly the smiles on our children's faces.
006I will also say that uh just extra thank you to our entire operations team as well as our partners in our work around our bond dollars. Uh we had several schools that went down to the wire, but uh everyone truly worked hard to make the best environment for our students. Another of course special shout out to the staff at the TLC who assisted with our new student enrollment during the first week of school. Your dedication to ensure our students are enrolled and ready to learn is greatly appreciated. It is that time of the year. We're kicking off several of our athletic seasons. Uh as we kick off a new school year, many of our athletic programs recently have begun to spring into action. Over the weekend, our volleyball team hosted the Tournament of Champions, which
007featured 32 teams. The Lady Panthers dominated the competition and brought home the championship title. Congratulations to the Lady Panthers. Panthers tennis began its season earlier this month and will face Skyline High School on August 19th. Football season is officially beginning this Thursday with a home scrimmage followed by our first home game against South Oak Cliff on Friday, September 5th. Come out and show your Panther pride under the Friday night lights. Our cross country team also opens it opened its season at the Woodhouse Invitational in Waxah Hatchee this past weekend. Next, they'll compete at the James Smith Invitational in Midlotheian on August 28th. For further further information about our athletic schedules, please feel free to visit duncanvilleisd.org. Best of luck to all of our athletes and our athletic programs. And as usual, go Panthers. The Student
008Services and Campus Support Department hosted several summer events to assist families with enrollment. On January 4th, 2025, from 9 to 2:00 p.m., we hosted a one-day event open house to open to all families. From June 9th to June 26, the enrollment center was open Monday through Thursday from 8 to noon to provide additional assistance with students with the registration process. From July 7th to July 17th, the enrollment center extended its hours from 8 to 5 to provide additional support again to families that were in need. On August 5th, we had a very exciting event when we hosted our one-day event for families to receive assistance in enrollment as well as free backpacks, vaccinate vaccines, and eye exams. Finally, from August 13th to August 15th, a temporary enrollment center was established specifically for new to the
009district students. During this 3-day period, we enrolled 646 new students. Meanwhile, campuses manage the enrollment process for our returning students. As of the end of today, August 18th, the district enrollment stood at 95.38% of what we have projected. And currently, we have 10,561 students enrolled. We believe we will very soon hit our projection for what we should have in our schools this year. A shout out again goes to all the team members in the student services and campus support department for your assistance with these events and helping ensure both returning and new students were successfully enrolled. Thank you for all that you do. That does conclude our superintendent report for this month and again go Panthers. >> Thank you Dr. Gori uh for your report and um thank you and your staff for u making
010the preparations that you've made and for uh implementing another um successful uh start of school and we're looking forward to uh greater and greater progress um in this year. Absolutely. >> Thank you. We will now move to recognitions and I will be turning the meeting over to Mrs. Pam Brown. Greetings board president Coloulton, board of trustees and Dr. Gory. Tonight I would like to invite Miss Lacricia Newton to come to the podium. We are pleased to welcome Miss Lacricia Newton as the new director of assessment and accountability for Duncanville ISD. With over 20 years of campus and district instructional leadership experience, Miss Newton brings a deep passion for student success and a proven ability to strengthen teaching and learning in organizational systems. She earned her master's degree in special education gifted and gifted and talented
011from Northeastern State University and her bachelor's degree in math and science elementary education from the University of Tulsa. She also holds a principal certification from the University of Texas at Arlington and multiple teaching certifications. Miss Newton has served in a wide range of leadership roles, including executive principal in Greenville ISD, where she successfully turned around a struggling campus by improving climate and culture, rebuilding parent and community engagement, and maintaining strong academic achievement. She has also served as the director of professional learning in Greenville ISD, coordinator of instructional data in CR Crowley ISD, coordinator of secondary math in Everman ISD, and most recently as an administrative specialist for school improvement with region 13, where she coached campus leaders and supported statewide school improvement initiatives. We are confident that Miss Newton's expertise and leadership will be a
012tremendous asset to our students, staff, and families. Please join us in welcoming her to the Duncanville ISD family. We look forward to the positive impact that she will make across our campuses and our community. Thank you, Miss [Applause] Brown. If I could add one thing to that too, we're also welcoming her home as that her first teaching assignment in the state of Texas was right here in Duncanville. So, welcome home, Miss Newton. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. [Applause] We do not have any communications from citizens regarding an uh pending agenda item. So we will now move into close session. Thank you. We are now back from close session and we'll continue with our agenda items. So we will now move to our consent agenda. Do I have a motion? >> Yes. I'd like to make
013a motion that we approve the consent agenda items. Is there a second? Second. Okay. It's been moved and properly seconded that we approve the consent agenda items as printed. Are there any questions, comments, or discussion? Please cast your vote electronically. Motion pass 70. We will now move to the action agenda item A code of cond conduct with the presenter Mr. Graham. Greetings Madame President Colton to all other trustees and to Dr. Gore. Tonight we will present the updates in addition to the 2025 student code of conduct of Duncanville ISD. There were many additions um to this year's code of conduct and tonight's presentation will be presented by our executive director of student services, Mrs. Toana Hudson. Good evening, President Colton, members of the board, Dr. Gory. Tonight, I'll provide with you um an overview of
014our student code of conduct for the 2526 school year, along with some notable changes that we'd like you to be aware of. Each year we revise the code of conduct to ensure alignment with state law, reflect best practices in student discipline, and maintain consistent expectations across campuses while keeping student safety and positive culture and climate at the forefront. This year's updates include several key changes. The first I'd like to share with you is about ecigarette infractions. In prior years, any ecigarette use or possession regarding of content required mandatory placement in a disciplinary alternative education program for the 2526 school year. If the device does not involve marijuana or THC, a DAE placement is no longer mandatory. campuses may instead assign an inschool suspension or other appropriate interventions. Additionally, there's been a change in our inschool
015suspension limits. The previous 3-day cap on ISS placement has been removed. Campuses now have flexibility in placement length, but a formal review must occur at least every 10 days to assess whether the placement should continue. Personal communication devices have been a hot topic around the state of Texas. As you've heard, um during policy review, the use of personal communication devices such as cell phones is now prohibited during the instructional day unless specifically authorized for educational purposes or as a part of an IEP. This change reflects the requirements of House Bill 1481, which the district will be implementing this school year. Campus administration has already received guidance on storage options, parent pickup procedures, and consistent consequences for infractions to ensure uniform enforcement across all schools. And last, anti-semitism as a conduct violation. Behavior motivated by anti-semitism
016is now explicitly listed under mistreatment of others to provide clear language and consequences for this type of conduct. I want to go back to our House Bill 1481 to let you know that we have provided a dedicated website to our um families and community so that if they had any questions about the implementation of House Bill 1481 um they could clearly see what our um frequently asked questions we've received, what the answer to those questions are and to get the expectations and consequences for usage on campuses. And I'm happy to report that we've been in school for four days now and we've had very minimal um problems with with House Bill 1481 implementation. These updates will help us to ensure that our student code of conduct remains clear, enforcable, and equitable across all campuses while
017also reflecting the current law and best practices for school discipline. At this time, I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Are there any questions? There being none, I would like to entertain a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. It's been properly moved and second that we approve this agenda item. Please cast your vote electronically. Okay. Unanimously approve 70. Thank you. >> Thank you. We will now move to action item B, competitive sealed proposal for RFP number 24-25.017 [Music] Clint Q. Smith Early Learning Academy. Thank you, Miss Samora. >> Good evening, Madam President, trustees and Dr. Our bond committee recommended and the voters approved bond 2023 which included the renovation and the repurposing of Smith Elementary into a choice campus Clint Q. Smith Early Learning Academy. To complete the renovations, the district first
018solicited contractor proposals on June 17th, 2025 and we posted the solicitation on June 24th, 2025 as purchasing guidelines dictates. The request for proposal 2425.017 was issued as a competitive sealed proposal and included a non-mandatory pre-proposal conference that was held on June 25th, 2025. The conference was to review the project scope and details. Completed proposals were submitted prior to closing deadline of 2 p.m. on July 15, 2025. The district received eight completed proposals from general general contractors which were then evaluated by the district staff. The competitive seal proposal evaluation summary can be found on page 141 of the board book. Based on that evaluation, Nash Industries Incorporated was determined to provide the best value for the district. Their proposal came in $3.7 million under the estimated renovation budget for Smith. Also in the board book on
019page 142 is a letter from architecture firm Huckabe. The letter includes the proposed cost including alternates which are providing new outdoor play area and fencing paint roof fascia at the main building replace roofing over building three which is the gym. It is recommendation of the administration the board consider and take possible action to negotiate a tangerent agreement with Nash Industries for Clint Q. Smith Early Learn Academy. Be happy to address any questions you may have. Are there any questions? Yes, Trusty Fehee. >> Thank you. It's just a build a contractor term. The fascia like at Smith is that that brown metal looking stuff that's facing west. >> It's whatever's facing the the the street. >> Yeah. What are the metal that spaces the streets >> and it's going to be painted? Yay. Thank you. >>
020Yes. >> Are there any additional questions? >> Can I get a motion? >> Sure. I make a motion that the board bless the recommendation and the competitive seal bids for Nash Construction Gr, sorry, Nash Industries Incorporated to have the bid on uh Smith. >> Second. >> Okay, it's been properly moved and second. um that we negotiate and enter into an agreement with Nash Industries Incorporated for Penn Smith Early Learning Academy. Please cast your vote electronically. Thank you. It was unanimously approved. We will now move to action item C. the Duncanville High School, Shine Performing Arts Center, and Alex Alexander Auditorium upgrades renovations. Good. Good evening again, U Madam President, trustees and Dr. Bory. So, as part of the bond 2023 updates to Dunville High School, we're bringing forward a proposal to upgrade the updated systems
021and equipment at Shine Performance Hall and Alexander Auditorium. The scope of the work includes replacing the sound and video projection systems along with stage rigging and curtains at both Shine and Alexander. In addition, lighting systems will be upgraded at Shine Performance Hall, Alexander Auditorium, and the Blackbox Theater. Because these spaces are in frequent use, the project will take several months to complete as the work is scheduled around events throughout the year. Mr. Paul Ducay, our director of fine arts, was instrumental in developing the schedule. AV Pro is the recommended vendor. They have been prevetted, hold a cold contracts through by board purchasing cooperatives and are already familiar with our current systems having maintained them for several years. Therefore, tonight we recommend the board consider and take possible action to neg to authorize negotiations negotiations and
022enter into agreement with AV Pro for Dunville High School Shine Performing Arts Center and Alexander Auditorium upgrades and renovations. Amy Jackson from AV Pro is here along with Mr. Day representatives from Len and I. We are here to answer any questions you may have. >> Yes, ma'am. Have we ever replaced the curtain in that building? >> To my knowledge, >> I don't know. >> I bet you Amy would know. >> They were replaced until 2005. >> 2005. Thank you. >> Are there any other questions? >> Trusty Fahhe, >> just a comment. I'm just so happy to have the AV Pro uh located here in Duncanville, been here and a great part of our community. U good to see them being involved here. Okay. Are there any additional um so I I have a question. So
023this procurement is is off by board. >> Yes. So they are part of the byboard purchasing cooperative. >> Okay. Was it a negotiated um price? >> So we do have we do have a you'll see um we do have a pre quote uh along with the contingency. So those are things that um in case there's unforeseen conditions we can negotiate if something comes up we then negotiate the cost for it but it would be covered under the owner contingency. >> All right. Thank you. There being no further questions um I am ready to entertain a motion. I make a motion that we uh enter enter uh into an action to negotiate and into the agreement with AV Pro for the Duncanville High School Shine Perform Shine Performance Arts Center in Alexander Auditorium. Sorry. Second. Okay.
024It's been properly moved and second that we approve um action to negotiate and enter into an agreement with AV Pro for the Duncanville High School Shine Performing Arts Center and Alexander Auditorium upgrades. Please cast your vote electronically. Okay, motion carries 70. Thank you, Miss Amora. >> Thank you. >> We will now move to action item D, affiliation agreement with Abene Christian University with Mrs. Brown. Greetings board president Coulson Colton, excuse me, board of trustees and Dr. Gory. I am going to present the affiliation agreement, the clinical affiliation agreement with Abalene Christian University. This agreement formalizes our will formalize our partnership with ACU or Abene Christian University to host dietician interns for hands-on clinical training inside the district. It is a three-year term agreement with the option to terminate early if needed and there is no
025financial cost to the district. ACU will prepare and supervise the dietitian interns. They will ensure that they are certified and insured and they will complete background checks including drug tests if if we require them to do so. uh the interns are required to follow all district policies and procedures and the university will ensure that they make uh students aware of that. Some of the responsibilities of the district include providing dietitionian interns with the meaningful clinical experiences, resources and workspaces while orienting them to the Dunanville ISD environment. And then we also maintain control over the safety and operational uh decisions. Some of the benefits to our district include strengthening our ties to higher education, uh supporting a future workforce of dietitians in the district, enhancing our child nutrition services for students at no cost uh to
026the district and then again we also retain the authority to uh end the participation if needed. Are there any questions? Trustee Martin. >> Yeah, I do. >> That last thing just surprised me. Enhances nutrition services without added cost. >> Well, because it's like um excuse me, uh board trustee. It is like having an extra employee. um a current dietician got promoted to the um child nutrition director. And so it's a benefit to have a added dietitian on staff to support the campuses and the child nutrition department as they're getting their interns uh with no cost. That's >> and you know kind of where my brain's been. My mind was thinking diagnostician. >> Oh no. It said dietician. >> Dietician. >> Yes. >> Just don't listen to me. It's more fun to me. >> Sorry. >>
027So, how many um college students will we have? >> Right now, we're just projected to have one, but of course, this could grow over time, you know, as we build on the partnership. >> Are there any further questions? Do I have a motion to approve the affiliation agreement with Abalene Christian University? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been properly moved and second that we approve this agenda item. Would you please cast your vote? Okay. So, thank you. The motion passed unanimously. Thank you, Mrs. Brown. So, next item is the bond update and was >> Oh, there's Okay. Okay. So, the next item is actually 8 affiliation agreement with University of Texas at Arlington and with Mrs. Brown. Thank you. Good evening again, board president Coloulton, board of trustees, and Dr. Gory. Um, I
028am presenting a second affiliation agreement except this time it is with the athletic department and the University of Texas at Arlington. Thisou establishes a formal partnership with UTA to host athletic trainer interns at our facil at our facilities. These interns will gain hands-on experience working under qualified supervision with our athletic trainers. The agreement runs for 5 years but can be ended earlier if needed and there is no cro no cost to the district. Some of the responsibilities of the university include ensuring that interns are well prepared before placement, providing faculty oversight, coordinating closely with our district liaison, and working with our athletics department. They will also manage the evaluation process and remove any intern who fails to meet our standards or violates our policies. District responsibilities include giving interns access to appropriate facilities, equipment and
029experiences. Uh we will designate a licensed athletic trainer or liaison as they define it to supervise their work uh to ensure compliance with and that person will ensure compliance with all licensing and accreditation requirements. Um and they will provide the intern with the orientation to our policies and our procedures. Benefits to the district include connecting us with one of the state's top athletic training programs uh with a neighboring uh with a a partner university not too far from us, helping to develop future professional athletic trainers and strengthening the services that we provide for our student athletes. And again, there is no financial impact and we retain the ability to end the agreement or our participation in the program early if needed. Oh, I'm sorry. Are there any questions? >> Yes, ma'am. >> We Excuse me.
030We currently have our own student trainers. Will this in any way impact their learning or their performance? >> No. No, this will not impact their performance. And um of course, the student trainers are work working closely with our licensed athletic trainers, so they'll just also be working together as a team. But this will not impact student athletes, okay, >> being able to help out as trainers. >> Want to make sure our kiddos got taken care of. >> Okay, thanks. >> Are there any additional questions? >> So, I have a question. So, how many uh college students will we have? >> Right now, we're projected to have one as well with this program, but again, it's the start of a partnership. Uh this is going to continue for five years. this agreement and so hopefully over
031time it will continue to grow and build from here but this is a good start that we have one candidate for each >> and what level um student >> so these are students uh near the end near graduation at the university level so they've they're you know near completion of their program um this is just kind of the last phase phase before they are able to you know obtain the license of their own so getting these clin technical hours almost similar to student teaching. You know, you've you've done most of your coursework. You're just doing that internship before you finally get your educator's license. Similar to that, but they're near the end. >> Okay. >> Thank you very much for your presentation. So, there being no further questions, I we're ready to entertain a motion.
032Um >> so moved. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been properly moved and second that we approve the affiliation agreement with the University of Texas at Arlington. Please cast your vote electronically. Thank you. That item was unanimously approved. Now we're ready for the bond update with Miss Samora. Good evening again, Madame President, trustes and Dr. Gory. So many months have passed and a lot of construction and bond expenses have occurred. And after last week's uh start of school, our students and staff have begun to reap the benefits of $170 million investment uh from you, the board, and our community of voters. Tonight, we're here to provide an update on how the funds are being utilized. You'll hear from our partners at Lockwood Andrews and New Nun, also known as LEN, and our executive director of technology.
033You're also going to see pictures today uh that were taken late July, early August. There is more progress has taken place since those pictures were taken. We'll begin with our new buses. So, the bond committee allocated $7 million for our new buses. Pictured here are some of the latest buses you approved. Uh to date we have on site 30 new buses. 15 from last summer that arrived last summer and 15 that arrived this summer along with general education buses and 10 new special needs buses. In the next year, we anticipate the arrival of the the final two 14 passenger buses. To continue with updates, I'm going to turn it over to Angel Angel Silva from Len. Good evening uh board president uh trustees and Dr. Gori. Uh in our in our bond update today um
034we have in our our first slide Daniel Elementary picture in the left we have the cafeteria refresh includes new paint ceilings like features. Uh picture on the right uh we have one of the classroom completed. Uh we did architectural refresh in all of the classroom in in Daniel and that includes new paint, ceilings, LBT and light features. On the second slide we have Harding Elementary. Uh picture on the left we have one of the class one of the classrooms that has been completed at Hardin include new paint ceilings, LBT, rubber base and marker board. Picture on the right uh one of the restroom that has been renovated uh in Harding Elementary School at Bur Pina School. Uh the architectural refresh includes new LBT picture on the on the left and the new carpet that has
035been installed in the library. Reed Middle School uh mostly old architectural refresh was LBT in the entire campus and carpet in the library. Kennamer in the ban hole uh courtyard. We replace the old vavers with a new concrete and power wash the surface. Uh picture in the right is the restroom that has been renovated. All the restroom at Kennamemer except I believe for one for one restroom got new ceramic tiles, Columbia features, sinks and toilet partitions. Before I pass this to my partner, uh, Kevin Simone, I just wanted to say thank you for all my principles. I when when I saw them over here tonight, I I was believing that I believed everybody was here to cheer me up. Uh, it took it took a lot of time, a lot of effort, and we just
036say thank you from Len uh for your patience and being with us like every night before the school start. So, thank you for everyone. >> Good evening, President Coloulton, board of trustees, and Dr. Gory. Um, I was involved with the other five kind of schools that had a minor more minor renovations to them. The first you'll see is Alexander. On the left is a typical classroom. We had did some upgraded floors and just kind of an architectural refresh. We did some painting and stuff in the quarters. And let me see at Bill Harts, it's kind of the same type of scope. We redid the flooring in all the almost 90% of the school. On the left, you see a classroom and the right you'll see a computer lab. Then at Fair Meadows, you have the
037admin areas that uh got new carpet and a paint and refresh in the gyms. And at Hyman you have the classroom refresh and the library got new carpet. And at Maryfield on the left is a cafeteria and the right is the gym kind of a refresh paint and just an all total update architectural refresh of the projects. So, and I want to express too that thank the principles just like Angel did for all the help they've given and coordination and actual patience over the summer just and be able to move around around construction and I know it was a challenge but I think it all turned out great. So, I'm going to turn it over to my friend Mr. Kamar Hall is going to >> Good evening, President Colton, board of trustees, Dr. Gori. I
038was involved with the high school addition and renovation and the portable complex. Uh the photo you're seeing is the foundation. Uh it's in progress. Uh the peers are completed, the grade beams are in progress. Uh they have accomplished quite a bit. they worked over the weekend, so it's moving along fairly decent. Um, we're working in next to the existing building M. Um, the next one, this is another progress photo. Again, this was taken right around the first to peak of August. They've made a lot of progress since then. This is the interior of building M, the former 9inth grade and now CTE. um classes. Uh this is moving along pretty well. Well, they're a little bit of ahead of schedule and these walls are now already have drywall and the painter is ready to start.
039So, this would be uh the new CTE. Some of the sections from building J will come right here. This is our portable complex. it opened um and we welcomed the new students who came the first day we were there. We were guiding the students how to get to the new places because it was a brand new campus and a brand new building for them and the u the teachers we got them settled the day before two days they did an outstanding job. Some of the teachers literally had only 24 hours and they did everything um to make that happen. So all 29 teachers were ready um to do that. Complex was fully functional. Uh we're still doing there's a lot of as you noticed there's a construction going on right across the fire lane. So
040there's a lot of dust. We have implemented the sweeper. So, we sweep every day at the end of the day, but there's still dust and we're trying to clean up as much as possible at the end of the day so the students don't track. Uh again, the custodians come in the evening and clean um clean the restroom uh clean the the entire complex. The bathrooms are functioning. Uh this is Dango High School which the counselor's office, counselor, >> the c the these are the suites inside. Um there is a counselor suite, there is an AP suite, and these are the restrooms. And I will turn it over to Mr. Malone. >> Good evening, Madam President, Dr. Gorey, members of the board. I'm pleased to uh announce that as of uh the Friday before the students
041came back, all of our panels had been distributed to all the classrooms except for the high school, which that will begin in about two weeks. Um that's going to be a little bit ahead of schedule by almost a year. Um we have had training uh for all the teachers. You can see um the picture on the left is where we staged them and uh before we put them into the classroom. The picture on the far right is the vendor bringing them into the building. And then the picture in the middle is one of our training sessions. All the teachers got an opportunity to have a trainer that came in from out of state. uh they spent about an hour and a half per session to train and they all got good hands-on training before they
042were turned loose with their boards in their classroom. So that training is ongoing. They have a button on each one of the panels that if they they run into a snag, they can hit the guru button. A guru live guru comes on walks them through whatever their issue they're having. Also, every teacher, this is this is more pictures of the different trainings that we did, but we also every teacher in the district has now received their new device, including all the teachers at the high school, which is a year ahead of schedule. Um, we just felt that all teachers needed to have the new devices and not have to to wait. Some teachers would have new ones, some teachers wouldn't, and we didn't want any animosity. So, we thought it would be a good idea
043to let all teachers have them and then we can when start training and working with them. So, we'll have the the rest of the boards coming in and we'll be uh putting those out at the high school uh around the end of the month and we should have all classrooms with a new panel by our fall break. So, that I appreciate the time. >> Thank you. >> Where can we get all of it? I wish I could hand them out to everybody because it sure would be nice. Thank you. >> Be happy to answer any questions from either myself or any many of our presenters tonight. >> Yes. >> Thank you. A question about the restroom, the pictures of the restrooms at Harden and Kenner. Are they really going to look like that? Not have
044any doors? >> They they do not. They will have purchases. They have >> good. I thought I'd missed out on something. >> That was an early picture. That's why I said there was that was an early picture. But no, they do have partitions. I >> I do think it's a point of of just full just kind of one of the funnies is that we did have a delay in our doors and we actually had to borrow doors from a ne from a well neighboring I guess district that's on the north side of town just so we could get because they had a project that was progressing well. So, we do play well with our neighbors and uh you know, we were certainly not going to open school without those dividers in the restroom, >> but
045they went in at the was it Sunday? I mean, >> it was the last >> Yeah, last minute. >> Yep. We had We took some from other We borrowed from Vandenberg and Smith. >> We made They made it happen. >> They made it happen. Yes. >> Yes. Trusty P. >> One more question about carpets. You know, at one time there was a controversy about no more carpets because they had lice or they that sort of thing, the disease thing. Are these carpets nowadays? Are they the kind that you can remove and replace like a little square? >> Yes, we we did carpet tiles pretty much everywhere. We did carpet tiles. >> Are carpets now lice proof? I mean, it really was a big deal at one time uh in elementary schools. any are they treated
046or >> I that's a good question. I'll have to >> don't worry about it. >> Most of our classrooms have the LBT. >> Don't worry about it. >> The only minimizes where we do have carpet though. We have a lot less carpet. So >> are there any are there >> are there any further uh questions or comments? So uh Miss Savora and Len and Huckabe and the contractor, we appreciate, you know, everything you all did to make sure that the schools were ready and open. for the first day of school because yeah, we we know that that took a heroic effort and even, you know, with the principles and the other staff, >> you know, working around the clock. So, we we appreciate that. >> Thank you >> and thanks for you all's report. >>
047Okay, the next item on our agenda is the Duncanville ISD accountability update with Dr. Nicks. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board and Dr. Grie. Board, as you know, the uh state released the 24 and 25 accountability ratings on Friday. So to make sure that we have u a good update for the board, I would like to invite our new director of assessment and accountability to provide the board with an update on that accountability both for 24 and for 25. And once she concludes, I will uh come to the podium to talk about what we are doing about that data and our next steps. So I would like to bring to the podium Miss Lacricia Newton. Right. And one thing before Miss Dutton goes, I do want to certainly welcome her to the district.
048As you know, we introduced her tonight and super excited about uh the wealth of knowledge that she brings as it relates to accountability and data and you know to be you know quite frankly to share with the board. This is an area where we can definitely make big impact uh with how we utilize data to inform decisions that we make daily. So, welcome aboard, Miss Newton. >> Thank you, Dr. Gurie. Madame President, members of the board, and Dr. Gurie, first I want to say how honored and excited I am to be back home in Duncanville ISD. Um, and also I want to thank you for the time that you've provided tonight for me to present the most current accountability ratings for Duncanville ISD. In this presentation, I'm going to give a brief overview of the
049accountability systems as well as a summary of Dunanville ISD ratings and scores. >> And and one thing, sorry, just excuse me for one interruptions. Uh trustees, the page the uh pages in the presentation are numbered. If you would please make note of your questions and at the end of the presentation, there will be an opportunity for us to entertain your questions. For a brief overview, the two um accountability systems that we fall under is of course state and federal. For the state accountability system, we are under the A throughF ratings from the Texas Education Agency. For the A throughF ratings, there are three domains that are calculated and those include student performance on the STAR test, college, career, and military ready or CCMR scores, graduation rate, as well as student growth. Under federal accountability, our
050campuses can be rated as targeted support, additional targeted support or comprehensive support. This includes student performance by subgroup as well as overall domain three scale score and that domain 3 comes from the state accountability. The Texas A throughF system as you know postcoid we have not received ratings um very regularly. We have received the last three years within the last couple of months with 2023 ratings being released in April of this year and then as mentioned we got both 24 and 25 ratings last week. The A throughF accountability system is based on three domains. The first domain is student achievement which is basically star scores with the exception of our high school and there for the high school it includes that CCMR score as well as graduation rates. For domain two it is school progress
051and it is divided into two parts. Academic growth which is basically just a student's growth from one year to the next on the star exam and then relative performance. And with relative performance, our campuses are compared to other campuses in the state who have a similar economically disadvantaged percentage and they are compared accordingly. And then domain three is closing the gaps. Closing the gaps looks at each of our subgroups, specifically our two lowest scoring race or ethnicity groups from the previous year, as well as a group of all students, and then a high focus group, which includes our economically disadvantaged students, special needs students, emergent bilingual, and migrant students. And they look at those individual student growth and determine if they meet a statetermined target. These targets do change every few years as there are
052many interim targets along the way to our long-term target which will be in the year 2038. Here you can see the district A through F scores for the district and each campus within the district. It is important to note that the district has maintained a C rating during these postcoid years. We have had a constant rating and during these past few years there have been lots of changes including a complete redesign of the star test. It is given 100% online now and the criteria has increased. You will also notice here five campuses are grayed out. That is because those five campuses will not exist in this coming school year 256 as they have previously. with um the hard work of the board and the passage of the bond, those intermediate schools have been dissolved. And
053then Central and Smith are now part of our choice schools with for the 2627 school year. So only those campuses that are not highlighted are the ones that will have those scores this year. Federal accountability includes campuses again that are targeted support improvement, additional targeted support improvement, and comprehensive support improvement. A campus is identified as targeted support when one or more student groups does not meet those state domain three criteria for three consecutive years. What we do for those students is we identify the groups that are impacted and the root causes of why they're not achieving at the same rate as their peers. We add actions to campus improvement plans and provide targeted interventions and progress monitoring. A campus can exit targeted support once they meet the state target in that student group. Additional targeted
054support is when at least um one of the groups of students that is already at a campus identified as targeted support falls under in the bottom 5% of the domain three scores. So one of the subgroups would fall in the bottom three bottom 5% I'm sorry those students are identified or those campuses as additional targeted support. We would then identify the groups again and root causes, add actions to campus improvement plan, provide stronger interventions and more frequent progress monitoring and then again that campus is exited once they meet those state targets. Both of these are locally monitored. Neither one of these are presented to the state. Here are the list of the targeted support and additional targeted support campuses. Next we have comprehensive support and improvement. Comprehensive support and improvement are campuses. Our campuses are
055ranked based on again that domain three score in order from least to greatest with like campuses. For example, elementary compared to elementary, high school to high school and so forth. The bottom 5% of that ranking become our comprehensive support and improvement campuses. One thing I want to mention here is that no matter what the scores are, there will always be a bottom 5%. So even if our scores were 80 and above across the state, there's still a bottom 5%. Another way for schools to become considered um comprehensive support and improvement is for a high school to have a graduation rate of less than 67%. Here are our identified comprehensive support and improvement campuses. Once a campus is identified for CSI, it requires two years of meeting the exit criteria for 2025. Bill Harts Elementary did
056meet the exit criteria as their domain three scores improved to above the 5% cut point. However, they still will remain comprehensive as that is how the system is designed for one additional year. At this point, Dr. Next, we'll come back to discuss next steps. >> Lord, I'd like to start off by um acknowledging the fact that our principles are here today and although it is a very um difficult job to be a principal, each of them stand ready to do the work. I was encouraged today Dr. Gur has been in classrooms as a superintendent. He has been prioritizing the work that he has been talking about and as he sets the tone for the district, the principles behind me and the staff follow his example. And so we want to thank the principles because they
057understand that this is um a different and a new day. Uh there's a lot of support, but there's a lot of accountability that comes with that. And so I just want to thank our principles not only for being here, but I want to thank them for the charge of leading our students because we have work ahead of us and this is not talk work because our our students and I am excited to talk about our next steps because this is real work that's being led by our superintendent on day one and we will follow suit. So, I just want to acknowledge our principles and thank them for the hard work. I want to thank them for everything that they are doing to make sure that our students and our uh community have what they need.
058Our students deserve better than a seat and you are and we are the ones that can lead them uh to where they deserve. So, thank you for being here. So, next steps, I am so excited to talk about two areas of next steps. One is support and one is u supervision. So when we talk about quality support, it's very difficult to do and to know where you are if you don't have accurate data. I'm so excited uh just in a short time to have uh Miss Newton on board and her team. Um one of the expectations that I provided her immediately was number one, accuracy in our data, and number two, no matter what assessment we take, we need to know within 24 hours where we are. Principles need to know, staff needs to know,
059superintendent needs to know. Not only that, within 72 hours, we need targeted reports. So that's not just knowing where we are with our data. We need to know what to do with that data. Our curriculum revisions. Last year, um, we had a curriculum, but we didn't make adjustments timely. when we saw that the data wasn't trending or when we heard that there were challenges in our curriculum, uh we didn't make the revisions and the and the adjustments that needed to be made timely. So, that has been adjusted and I'm looking forward to that because we need to hear from the teachers that are actually implementing the curriculum. And so we have a process and a system in place now where teachers give constant feedback that's monitored weekly by our coordinators and they will be meeting
060with teachers and administrators to make any adjustments that need to be made. Okay, I'm sorry I thought that was uh to make any adjustments that need to be made uh to the curriculum in real time board. It's also been a breath of fresh air working with sustained ed. They are um as you well know we as we implement our H Kim Amada our highly qualified instructional materials. The state has said that we have to partner um with an entity to help us with the implementation of that and we have a great partner. We have been planning now for over four months and it is exciting to see the planning actually taking place. the training of principles, the training of teachers, not only in support but in observation and feedback. Our PLC model, our real-time coaching
061and modeling, uh working side by side along them in real time best research practice models has been great. And then of course our intervention restructuring that we can no longer have intervention time where we're not doing intervention. Um, and that is what was happening. And so it's not happening that way because we want it to happen that way. It happens that way because we're not monitoring as a system. So we have metrics in place. Number one, to make sure that our time is allocated appropriately for that. That's at the district level. Two, making sure the principles have the resources that they need to do the proper u intervention. And then three, just quite frankly, just quite um frank, monitoring and holding accountable for what what is expected as we go to those classrooms. Whether that's
062win time, whether that's restructuring how we do intervention. Um we've restructured that intervention model from both a pull out only a pullout model to really a flexible to what the campus needs. And then last but definitely not least, and this list is not um exhaustive of all of the things we're doing, but these are the key things. And I cannot stress enough, board, the importance of having an early literacy plan. I can't stress it enough. We have struggled with our early literacy and to have the group that we had to develop this districtwide, stakeholderwide, with the research that we have behind this. This is exciting because this sets the groundwork. Every principal that we have in elementary has been trained on this. Um feedback has been provided and we are looking forward to the implementation
063with fidelity day in and day out to make sure that our students have what they need when it comes to quality supervision. Using our curriculum is not an option. uh we have a curriculum and we need to use it. We are going to make the proper adjustments. We are going to make sure that not only do we have a quality curriculum but that we are being responsive to the needs of our our teachers in that curriculum. The the reality is uh we have too many teachers that they just need the additional support uh and we have to give it to them. Um you know so many uh of our teachers are uncertified and so many of our teachers are stepping into this profession and they just they need the guidance and we have to provide
064that for them and we have for example uh we have retoled all of our learning experiences to ensure that they have stepbystep slideshows for every lesson. Well, that's in that's that's there because we've got to give the roadmap to our teachers to be able to just hit the ground running and then be able to adjust based on that curriculum and monitor that training and support for our campus leaders. When it comes to uh the training and support of our campus leaders, we can't cut corners and we have to make sure that we have targeted coaching and intervention plans when we see administrators are struggling. Um, principal supervisors have to not only be in the work and they are, um, but we have to we have to make sure that we are holding principles accountable for
065what is expected. Our data utilization, one of the things that is a focus for CNI this year is data literacy. That means that we not just we don't just have data, we understand what to do with this data and we have relevant data when we need it. For an example, in the past, we may have had data at the district level, but you know, we weren't tracking at the student level. Not not at every single classroom for every single student, for every single teacher, for every single campus districtwide. Well, that's an expectation moving forward. We need to know what's going on at the student level. There's not an assessment that a student should take where we don't know where they are. There's not an assessment that a student should take where we don't know where
066teachers are. and where teachers are struggling. So working with the data assessment team, we have already developed those trackers at every level at the tier one district common assessment level that we will be tracking student data. At the tier 2 I ready data, we will be tracking student growth. That's a domain 2 measure at every assessment. And for NWA map, we will be tracking student data and principles will be expected uh to keep this and ensure that this is happening on their campus and we will be expected and the data assessment team will be uh expected to monitor that and to support the principles in that work. But we can no longer move forward assuming that students know what they know and we can no longer move forward assuming that we know where students are.
067We have to know where every student is, every teacher is so that we can know what support is needed and where every campus and principal is. Which leads me to the last point that is the academic readiness team. Dr. Ger has not only been an example by getting in the classroom, he has brought everyone to the table. The difference this year between uh this year and last year is number one, the way that we're using data. We met just last week. Um no Yeah, just last week we met and uh we spent about an hour as a team just looking at and pouring over the data. Not just the chiefs. Dr. Verie brought in the executive director of special education. We brought in the executive director of teaching and learning. Brought in the executive director
068of um of school improvement. Brought in the director of student services HR. Why? Because we are talking alignment. One of the things that has been a challenge in this district has been alignment. Just being transparent. Not that everyone doesn't have great intentions, but our intentions amount to nothing if we're not aligned. If we're not speaking the same language and ensuring the same things in the classroom. So, I am excited. I am so excited and so thankful that Dr. degree is leading the charge by example, getting everyone to the table, ensuring alignment and then and then holding us accountable for that work. So the academic readiness team is a way that we can ensure accountability every principle and this is not new to the principles but who's at the table the expectations and the level of
069accountability and how we support the work will be a little different but every principal uh will be responsible for reporting on student achievement on their goals on their key performance areas on those those root cause analysis that we know um are so important and we will be around to understand what support is needed with the expectation being achievement for students that will take place three times a year and board that is also in cadence with the updates that will be provided to you so that not only will our data be accurate not only will our data be timely but we are extremely intentional and strategic um as never before that I've been in uh in this seat um and led by the work of our superintendent and and it was just as a last example
070it was just today you know our superintendent was in a classroom today um and the school doesn't matter the classroom doesn't matter but we were in the classroom today and we we saw that there was a teacher not using the curriculum today now see this is the first day of school well it's not the first day of school but you know the first day of implementation things of that nature and if we're already off we're already off it sets the tone for a challenge. And that's not to blame the teacher, but that is to say that we were monitoring. And because we're monitoring, he had a way to communicate and we had a way immediately to address and support. That's what we're talking about. And as we are in those classrooms and and as we
071are providing the support and my understanding is that is immediately as he spoke to the principal, they were immediately able to to address that. We've that's the thing we have to ensure. We have to make sure that we're providing those supports. So, what I know I said a lot um but I'd like to at this moment in time um turn it over to you to ask whatever questions that you may have and it'll be our pleasure to answer at this time. Oh, I'm boy. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. There is another that was last of my slides. There's another slide that Dr. Gur is going to talk through and it's this is about the cadence of updates to you. Um so the final slide, Dr. Grie, >> thank you very much uh Miss Newton
072as well as Dr. Nicks. And you know, one thing that I will stress not just to the board, but uh to our community at large, that uh this administration has every intention of being fully transparent as we do this work together. Uh this is not something that you do in isolation. This is going to take a collaborative effort of everyone and there is a space for everyone in our community to play a part in this. I will say though that tonight is the beginning of our presentations to the board and this is a very transparent presentation and an acknowledgement that we have work to do and that we will do that work and that we will certainly see better results when we present this information next year. But as we go along the way, we're
073offering a proposed meeting on November 3rd where we will do our taper report, which is a legal requirement, but we will also have our beginning of the year data where we will present the board with a look at what that data looks like. Now, if you go forward to February 2nd, 2026, that will be a call board meeting where we will look at our midyear data. Those assessments will be taken in December and we certainly want the board to see how we are progressing toward our goals uh at that time and of course June 1 will be our end ofear data and and very possibly some preliminary results as to how we have performed on the star test. Uh and every step of the way we will also continue to update the board on our
074literacy program and what that implementation looks like. And it is my true belief that when you talk about uh you know as we design this system uh you know we talk about growth and you can go for growth but that's not sustainable. We have to also look at our student progress in that domain one which is how our students are performing on the test and that's the area that we'll be working towards. Now if you're to effectively do that I do believe literacy to be one of the core factors in that. uh won't tell you that will change our situation overnight. But if we remain committed to literacy and remain committed to those things that will change student outcomes, we will see successes. But just want to be very clear with the board that we
075have every intention of being transparent as we work towards our goals. At this time, we would welcome any questions that any of our trustees may have. Trustees, do you have any questions? I do. >> Trusty Ver Cruz. >> Thank you, Mr. Nicks. Dr. Nicks for U. Is it Dr. >> Dr. Nick? Thank you. You know, in your presentation, these are the things that I took away. Dr. Nicks, intervention, alignment, and accountability. And I want to look past you, you to look at the principles of the audience. And I know a lot of you, I've talked to many of you and I just want to say that I appreciate all that you do. You have been charged now with taking on a new mantle for this new school year. And so I bless you with doing
076that. But this whole this is a new season. It's a new day. And so I thank you for the team such as Dr. Nicks is leading this and for um her name. >> Yes, Miss Newton. Thank you. In all seriousness, because of the of the charge that you have, this is our future. We must come together and close the gap. We must attack the literacy problem that we see early on. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Trusty Bar Cruz. Are there any additional comments or questions? Dr. Um, I have a question about the early literacy plan. It looks different than last month. >> Yes, ma'am. Last month, what was brought to you, of course, we were working on um the plan is the same. The formatting is different. So, we just worked with um
077just reformatting it um to look a little bit more professional for the community. That's all. And I was going through the pictures and I only saw a picture of you and Miss Reyes and I didn't see the pictures of the two ladies that presented last month. >> And there are plenty of pages in here. >> We can definitely fix that and take the one of me off there. That's we absolutely. >> Okay. But they presented and I'm sure that means they did part of the work and I didn't see their faces and that meant something to me. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And and thank you for for bringing that into the room, Dr. Flowers and True. we do it was it's such a collaborative effort into doing that and one thing I want to say
078is that when that charge was presented I made it clear that it was not to be done in isolation but that we had to get to the classroom we had to make that a very collaborative effort. So thank you for bringing to pointing that out and that is a good point. >> Thank you. >> Um and you mentioned the teachers being held accountable and the principles being held accountable and our new um access to data. What support does uh senior leadership need to be able to also rise to the challenge? What what support or training would you say that you guys need? >> You know, Dr. Flowers, this is a great question and and I would say that in our current situation, and I'm going to reiterate, Dr. Guri is setting a an excellent example
079of what it looks like to lead by example. So in our meetings in our he's ask you know what do we need? He's bringing people to the table. He is um charging us uh to meet the the standard. So at this time I can't think of what we would need in addition to what we have. we just have to execute and that's really for us to do. Uh my charge as the chief academic officer now is to empower myself where that needs to to happen to empower my team. But really the charge is clear and everything that I need we have. Um and my goal is to make sure that the principles have everything they need and my team has everything they need to move forward. So at this time the training, the support, the
080clarity, those things are there. We just have to execute. Um and that that starts with I believe uh from Dr. D. >> And one thing I'd like to add and thank you so much for the question because uh I will say this, I do think that um I I've sat in this situ in a very similar situation from a transformational uh leadership seat uh before. However, every transformational situation is different and this one is certainly unique because this is such a unique community. One thing I will tell you though, Dr. Flowers, is that one of the great advantages is that every position, every time there's been a vacancy, and we've been fortunate, I would say, to have some vacancies. We lost some great people, but we've been fortunate to have those vacancies. And uh please
081know this staff has been super intentional with those people that we bring on and what skill set they actually bring into the room. I also think we have been very intentional about reaching out to our neighbors who are showing success with communities that look like our community and really digging into those things that they're doing and trying to figure out how we can make that a reality for the children in our community. Uh to tell you that we have everything uh would be probably not true because there are some things that we probably don't know we even need. uh there are some you know as we look at things that we need from a curriculum space you know we have one large district that we're looking at that's certainly showing success but they have a
082whole division uh that's on hand to modify and change curriculum but how do we create that so those are some of the spaces that we will continue to work in one of my one of my I think was a great strength is I don't have a problem with asking other people that are being successful uh we don't have to reinvent the wheel this has happened before and we're going to continue to maximize that and also maximize those hiring opportunities to make sure that we are hiring the very best people to help us in this space. >> Are there any other questions or comments? >> I had one more. Who's the academic readiness team? >> So the academic readiness team really speaks and and that's a team that I will actually I I lead myself. uh
083a part of that team. You bring several bodies to several people to the room. You of course you have Dr. Nicks and his teams. You have principal supervisors. You have our executive director of special education. You have our executive director of um uh school improvement. You have our executive director of teaching and learning. So you also have our chief of staff who's there to ensure alignment with strategic plan. And you also have HR there who is playing a huge part in the conversation because of the current situation we have with limited certified teachers. The cool thing about this table is that as we look at data and we make decisions the everyone that affects data will be on one page and that's the goal and this this meeting is happening in one room and all
084the people who have the tools to remedy some of our issues are in that room and I think that that's that alignment piece that Dr. Nick Nick speaks of is ensuring that that alignment is coming all the way through the organization. >> Thank you. Okay. Are there any additional questions? So, um, I'd like to say, you know, I'm looking at the screen and I'm looking at all of these students that are shown and what comes to mind is they're counting. They're dependent on us. And when we've got over 50% of our schools performing at a a D and a F, I mean, y'all have a a weighty responsibility. And it, you know, there is accountability. I mean, it we're talking about, you know, lives and lily future livelihoods. So, um, you know, I love the
085plan. we got to implement it, but we're going to be saying, "Show me, show me progress." And we can't wait until this time next year. And I understand that there are these periodic screenings, but um and I'm sure that there will be even further, but this we we can do better and we have to do better. And so do just do, you know, like like my grandmother say, just do your best, you know, just just do your best to to help, you know, these students. And we we can't be um in this situation. We're so much better. And so I I thank you all for, you know, under Dr. Gory's leadership getting together to get a plan, but let's implement it and refine and show us the, you know, the greatness and the the champions,
086you know, that we are. We we need to see it and most importantly, the students >> and in our community need to see it. So, so thank you. >> Thank you, board. >> Okay. So with that, I don't believe there are any citizen comments. And so um being that there are no uh further items to discuss and we don't have any communications from citizens. Um do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Properly moved and second. Thank you all and and thank you staff and everyone for attending and for all you do every day. You have our support fully. So, thank you.