001It's 7:05 p.m. and I call this meeting of the Elgen Independent School District to order. I'd like to announce that there is a quorum of the board present that this meeting has been posted and duly called in the time and manner required by law. Next items at this time will have the pledge of allegiance. >> Good evening. At this time, I'd like to introduce Miss Linda Tamez, principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School. She will introduce the students to lead our pledge tonight. Good evening, President Mitchell, Dr. Ritter, and school board members. I am Miss Tamez, proud principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School. And tonight we have Jamir Green, Anita Cooper, and Edna Tamez, all students at BTW. And they're going to recite the pledge of allegiance with us. >> And repeat with me.
002United States God indivisible and all. >> Thank you. Thank you. Our next item on the agenda is public comment. Before we begin, I will remind our audience members of the board's procedure for handling public comment. The public comment portion of our meeting is available to members of the public who wish to address an item on tonight's agenda. Anyone who wishes to speak during public comment must sign in prior to the start of the meeting and list the agenda item they want to discuss. Each public comment speaker will be allowed a maximum of five minutes to address the board. In the public testimony, speakers who require translator will receive up to 10 minutes to address the board. The public comment portion of the meeting will allow all speakers who have signed up before the start of
003the meeting to address the board regarding any item on tonight's agenda. Please keep your comments and criticism civil and courteous. Please also avoid using profanity and refrain from making personal attacks on others during the opportunity to speak. Last, we ask that you not discuss students who are not your own child. If a speaker is seeking board resolution of a specific complaint, that concern should be addressed through the district's grievance process. District policy DGVA has been established for addressing employee complaints. Policy FNG is the avenue for filing parental complaints and policy GF addresses community members complaints. Grievance forms can be obtained in any campus administration office or in the central administration office. Mrs. Wilson will be the timekeeper. So tonight we have uh Philip Thomas. You may approach the pod. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh my
004name is Philip Thomas. I'm pastor of Journey Church uh here in Elgen and uh and first just like to thank you for all that you do for our community and for our students. Uh it's just a vital role uh that is that is played and I know it's not an easy easy role or an easy job. Uh today I would uh if you grant me the permission to talk about something it's not a specific agenda item but it is a a recent law that has been passed about the ten commandments being placed uh in public schools um if those are provided to the schools. um that this is um a a very difficult uh subject and I know we live in a very divisive time where everything has become politicized and divisive and there's going
005to be passionate arguments on both sides uh regarding this new law. Um I can actually understand and probably agree with arguments on both sides. Um however one thing that I know that is very clear is the principles that are portrayed in the ten commandments uh are vital to understanding the founding of our country and are vital uh to a society as a whole. Not that the society is required to follow and believe the God who inspired those ten commandments but the principles principles behind them are uh ingrained in our foundation. And I do not believe that a full and honest teaching uh of American history can be divorced from the influence of those biblical principles. Uh in fact, as you look at the founders and the things that they wrote about the founding of this
006country, the one document that was uh quoted most often was the Bible. Uh we just the pledge of allegiance that does say under God, it also proclaims liberty. Uh the liberty bell uh the inscription on the liberty bell uh is from the book of Leviticus. It is straight out of out of the Bible. uh John Quincy Adams who I believe was the sixth president uh served under four presidents. Uh he he quoted this in a letters to his son. He said the law given from Sinai was a civil and municipal as well as moral and religious code. It contained many statutes of universal application laws essential to the existence of men and society and most of which have been enacted in every nation which ever professed any code of laws. Vain indeed would be the
007search among the writings of profane antiquity to find so broad, so complete and so solid a base for morality as the decalogue lays down. We would like to as a church provide a copy of the ten commandments as uh presented in the new state law to each classroom uh in the Elgen school district. Um I would I will be reaching out to the principles uh to see the best way to go about doing that. Um I also I I believe it's important to understand the principles behind these um and how they influence our country. It starts off with have no other gods. Uh well our declaration of independence specifically says we are endowed by our creator uh with unal certain unalienable rights uh without at least a belief of something greater than ourselves. That does
008not happen. Government does not give rights. God gives rights. That is that was a founding principle of our country. Have no other idols is important that we recognize that we do not try to become God and create God. In fact, most governments throughout history have taken the place of God. That's what our founders were rebelling against by creating a government of we the people. Rather than the government government being sovereign, the people were sovereign. The uh the third commandment is honor the God's name. Do not take God's name in vain. uh religion and faith and God should never be used to manipulate uh or to force uh people into into believing something that they don't believe. that actually I think is a basis for religious freedom in our country that even though we were founded
009on biblical principles, yes, you are not required to believe uh those principles exactly as other Christians and other people do and in fact you can have a completely different faith uh and you can enjoy the freedoms of this country. Also honor the Sabbath day. This is actually one where those laws were cottified at one time in our country. I do not think we should necessarily go back to that. Uh however this is an important principle of recognizing uh that there is more to life than just work than just trying to to uh earn uh income. Uh there's more to life than that. Honor your parents. This is a the principle of family of that is an important foundational principle to any society and our our country was founded on those that that important principle. Do
010not murder. All life is precious. There can be no intentional taking of innocent life. That is a foundational principle. Do not commit adultery goes again to the importance of family. We see the devastation that this brings. This does not we know that mar not all marriages will will last but that should be a principle that we strive to uphold. Do not steal that in institutes the importance of private property and the that that you can own things that set America apart from any other country in the world. Um do not perjure yourself. Honesty. Oh, if we could see a little bit of that from any of our public leaders. Um, and that the last one is do not covet. Do not set yourself up to aspiring to to look at what others have, but focus
011on yourself. >> Thank you. We are at five minutes. >> Yes. >> Appreciate. >> No sir, we cannot allow that. Thank you. No sir. No sir. Thank you. All right. Next item. Being asked to approve the minutes of the July 21st board workshop and regular meetings. There >> a motion to approve those. >> Make a motion that we approve the minutes from last board meeting. >> Motion by Mrs. Reese. >> A second. >> Second by Mrs. Wilson. Any questions? All in favor of said motion, please raise your hand. Any opposers? I'm signed. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Next item, we have recognition. Mr. Rick Reyes, executive director of school leadership and campus support. >> Good evening, President Mitchell, Superintendent Ritter, and members of the board. I am Rick Reyes, executive director of school leadership. I
012am filling in for our Rodriguez this evening. This evening, we have three recognitions to share with you. And to begin, we have Mrs. Keller who will present a special recognition in fine arts. >> Good evening, President Mitchell, Dr. Ritter, schoolboard members of trustees. My name is Allison Keller. I'm the director of fine arts and advanced academics. And tonight, it is my absolute pleasure to recognize some of our visual arts teachers. This past July, Texas Art Education released the recipients of the coveted District of Distinction Award. For the 2025 award, over 12,000 districts were eligible. Each district submitted documentation to fill out a rigorous 14point rubric over this past school year. Of those 1,200 districts, only 109 met the high criteria and were receiving this honor. And we are one of those 109, making us in
013the top 8% of visual arts education in the state. It's an even smaller percentage when you take the small schools under 10,000 students. Even smaller percentage of those were awarded this honor. We are thrilled to be named at 2025 District of Distinction, which marks our second consecutive year earning this honor. This award is a testament to our visual arts teachers district, kindergarten through 12th, who are dedicated to help guide each student reach their highest potential in creativity and self-expression. Their vision for what is possible for our students is endless and they work tirelessly to seek out lessons and experiences which afford our students every opportunity to engage in the arts in a meaningful way. I am so honored to introduce some of our visual arts teachers tonight. Ladies, if you'd like to come up. First,
014we have Miss Jennifer Gra from Naid Elementary School, Mrs. Ashley Smith, Elgen Elementary School, and Miss Eileen Galvan, Elgen Middle School. Please give them a warm. Thank you all so much. Thank you, Miss Keller. Elganized D is proud to celebrate Miss Marissa Marciel, our elementary teacher of the year, who was honored as one of the top three teachers in region 13 at their teacher of the year lunchon. In a historic competition separated by just one point, Miss Marcel was one of the three finalists who received this rare recognition. Miss Marcel serves as our GT teacher of Elgen Elementary and is now also serving our Trinity Ranch campus. Miss Marel Miss Marciel's passion, creativity, and commitment to students continuing continue to inspire our entire community. Please join me in congratulating Miss Marissa Marcott. Thank you, Miss
015Marcet. And last, but certainly not least, in 2018, the Texas Elementary Principles and Supervision Association, which we know as as TEPSA, established the TESA Student Leadership Award to honor outstanding student leadership teams and their impact on school communities in the state of Texas. It is with great pride that we announced that Harvest Ridge Elementary School Student Council met all the standards to receive this prestigious award. The HRE student council was recognized on TE's website and in a video presentation during the TPSA summer conference keynote on June 11th with a trophy to be presented at a future leadership RS workshop. Please welcome Miss Worley, HRE campus principal, who will introduce members of the HRE student council. >> Good evening, President Mitchell, Dr. Rder, and Elen IC school board. My name is Megan Worley and I'm the
016principal of Harvest Ridge Elementary School. We have two officers from the HRE 2024 2025 student council who were able to attend this evening's meeting. President Haven Thorndikeke and historian Tristan Miset. We look forward to continued success for our student council this year, beginning with student council elections in September. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wley and HRE student council. This concludes our recognitions for the evening. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Reyes. >> Next item, superintendent report. >> Thank you. Um, first of all, I would like to do a quick introduction. and she's taking a picture over here, but I will go ahead and start talking about her just to introduce them and I have her turn around and wave. Um, we have our new communications coordinator who is joining us for her first
017board meeting, Miss Emily White. Emily comes to us from Sunnyvale ISD and um her husband serves as the CFO in Bassrop ISD. And we we have history with our districts working on TAC together, the T Texas Public Accountability Consortium and through TASA. And so we were so excited when Emily reached out and I had some superintendent colleagues to say you may not even realize that you have this person who they're moving to the area and um she's she's interested and it it just worked out perfectly and so far she is we're so happy to have her and so welcome to Elgen ISD Emily. We're happy to have you. Thank you. She didn't know I was going to do that tonight. All right. Oh my goodness, my most favorite time of year, the beginning of school.
018It is so full of new beginnings and excitement. And um boy, have we been celebrating in Elgen ISD. We started off, we have C convocation. Um and this was Get ready y'all. It's our last year to have convocation in Bas ISD at their pack because we're going to be in our auditorium. And we had over a thousand people, staff and students there in the pack there in Bastrop to celebrate the beginning of the school year. And um it was just it was fabulous. We had lots of students. We want to pull kids in and teachers. We did the parade of campuses and departments. Um, we had a student interview about a student telling a time that she had faced a challenge and that really depended on others and her school family to help build her
019up. Our uh theme this year is we're all in this together and we really do feel that we are all in this together and it was a great great day. We had a an incredible video that we had filmed prior to and that's always a great team building experience for us as we do that and work with the students to do that. and Miss Alexis Monae in Elgen um actually does that filming of the video and hopefully some of you have seen it. It's out there and it will be on our website if it's not already. Um lots of great pictures and lots of things. The student activities I can't say enough about. We really wore our kids out this summer I think like with band and I know Tanisha your son is in the
020band so you got you you know exactly what I'm talking about right? Yeah. You were taking him everywhere. Um cheer purple diamonds. Um, we had our theater kids. We had our choir and just every group of students. It was just amazing and fun and athletes, all of our athletes, a bunch of them were there, too. So, just an opportunity to celebrate kids and we are all in this together about doing what is best for our students. All right. Next, um, meet the Wildcats. So, on the same day is convocation. a comication in the morning, meet the Wildcats in the evening, and we were at Elgen High School in the gym, and it just the the event gets bigger and bigger. And we really want to thank our chamber of commerce for helping, and our Elgen
021Foundation for helping, and we had um our education foundation. We had um they supplied I know like hot dogs for the kids and drinks and um fed the athletes and the families and it was just a great night of celebration and introduction to our students and our student athletes who um here we go. We're gonna I encourage you to get out and come watch our kids because they're amazing. We have new coach Lucero who is our new football coach, head football coach and he he is really all about excelling in the classroom and on the field or um whatever sport it is that our kids are participating in. So we love to hear that message. Our band was there cheer purple diamonds. Um again it was just a super night and we thank anyone who
022came. It was lots of fun to get to celebrate our students. All right, Trinity Ranch Elementary ribbon cutting. We were excited to get to open Trinity Ranch Elementary and as our brand new elementary school opening this school year. Um, such a great turnout for that and we were able to celebrate the staff and Dr. Martinez, Arthur Martinez is our Dr. Martinez, great job. you've done a wonderful job getting that school ready to go and uh it just was amazing and beautiful. We did tours of the campus that evening. You're able to walk through and show people who came to our ribbon cutting um the campus and just how amazing and warm and wonderful it is. And then that same day we opened up the doors to meet the teacher. And so those people were they
023were all standing outside ready to come in and we had our first little kiddos coming in and meeting their teachers and see in their classrooms. So thank you to board members who were there as well and had that wonderful ribbon cutting for Trinity Ranch. All right. And then meet the teacher. We did that at all of our campuses and where our students and parents were able to come in and meet their teachers at every level. It was such a great success. I know on that elementary night I I couldn't even believe parked blocks down from the schools to be able to get in and come and see, but so many just so many excited people and so many happy people and the teachers had everything so ready and prepared. And I know because I am
024a mom of a first year teacher this year. She just put her own classroom together in Friendship ISD and she's teaching. And I'm telling you what, those teachers put in the time and the effort and their own dollars to help just make those rooms look beautiful for those kids. It's so sweet. So, I want to give our teachers a round of applause because they principles, thank you for supporting them and just making these campuses be the most amazing, wonderful places they can be. It's been phenomenal. And then we had the start of school. So we're on day four today and the first day and every day has been amazing. We had the smoothest start of school that I know that I in my entire career have ever had and that all of us on cabinet
025were saying the same thing. Thank you principles. I cannot say enough to y'all about that. As well as transportation, maintenance, custodial, child nutrition, all of the departments that help pull this together. We are all in this together and it takes all of us. It takes a village to make it happen. And boy, we pulled it off. Not only did we pull it off, kids were safe, they were happy, and we get them to school, we get them fed, we get them home, and we did it. And so it's been it's been wonderful, and it continues to be wonderful. And when you have great people in place, great things happen. So, just some great pictures of start of school. Really, really happy, happy children and families and staff. So, thank you for a great start of
026school. Everyone stop the bus. And this was our our second year to do this at Milliey's. We did it last week and gathered school supplies from the community at Millies and that was another fun evening. And so we thank the Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring this and for all of the businesses who also um provided support for this and for stuff the bus and it was another great beginning of school event that has become tradition for us. So lots of fun and just lots of opportunity to celebrate what it's all about and it is about our kids. First day enrollment was 5,828. August 18th enrollment is 6,112, but they're still coming and we love it and we're so excited and we continue to register students and they are coming in and um we couldn't be
027happier. So, we love seeing them and we love welcoming all these new kiddos to our district and um being a fast growth district, we know that we're have many more to come. So we have great things in place and um very very proud to be the superintendent in Elgen ISD. So thank you. >> Thank you Dr. R for that report. Uh next item we'll have the president's report. I have a couple of items to talk about. Uh the first one will talk about board member committee participation. We've had this in past years and some of you have served on these various committees and so we're presenting the opportunity again for each of you to serve on a committee. We will send out a list in the weekly update and you can choose your top two
028uh from those committees. Some of those happen to be the district advisory council, the high quality staff, Elgen Education Foundation, safety and security budget and finance and bond oversight committee. And so she'll send those out and if you would please ma'am sir choose your top two and we'll get you guys going so you some of you excited about serving in those capacities I'm sure. Thank you. And then secondly just talk briefly um weekend of July 25th 27th uh Mrs. Reese Mrs. Wilson Dr. and myself had the opportunity to attend uh the Holesworth Institute and I was there security keep them in learn but it was a wonderful complex. was the Texas School Board Institute. Uh, a lot of learning, a lot of excellent speakers, a lot of networking, and we were able to really just
029have some real honest and open uh, communication as it relates to serving on the board of trustees and what our duties are and what they are not. And it was it was really an educational thing. Mrs. Walters, I had attended last year and so it was just this year and then next year we we intend to send a different group. Uh, but they treated us very well. top-notch uh facility with top-notch presenters and so and as such uh I have certificates for these individuals who completed uh that program. So first we'll have Mrs. Wilson. Next I have this is Reese Well, you get one too. I know you're too ready. >> And then of course myself. So, but we thank you all for the for the opportunity to go and serve and and uh it
030was a pleasure being with you guys for that weekend and we look forward to the others being able to attend Right. Next item we have is the consent agenda. Being asked to approve tax report refunds and adjustments for July 2025. Approve financial statement and budget amendment listing for July 2025. Approve investment report for July 2025. Approve budget amendments. A. Approve final budget amendment funds 199, 240, 599, and 202425. Final amended budget. Approve purchases greater than $50,000. A the summit K through2 instructional materials. B Age of Learning instructional materials and C the TASBY risk management fund property insurance and workers compensation coverage. Also being asked to approve the 2025 certified values, approve the annual resolution of extracurricular status of 4 organization and adjunct faculty for Bass County uh TASBY policy updates. A list of alternate appraisals
031for TAS. Approve the 202526 appraisal calendar. Approve the 202526 student code of conduct. uh consideration and action for selection of construction manager at risk for RFP 2026-02 culinary program innovation uh consideration and approval of guaranteed maximum price number for number one for middle school number two and that will conclude the consent agenda items. Are there any questions about the consent agenda? Uh yes, I have a question about 11 the student code of conduct where we're talking about the uh personal communications that's was by law. We have to do that. But the statement reads a student is prohibited from possessing or using a personal communication device on school property during the school day. So does that mean they will not have them in their backpacks or >> So and I can let Cornelius speak to this
032specifically because she's glimpy together. So just so everyone understands too. So we approve through policy update and a code of conduct. We also will be providing administrative guidance and regulations for implementation to every campus and to parents and putting out more on social media to understand that. But yes, they can bring them to school, but they have to be put away. We call it away for the day. So they're being put away in a backpack somewhere stored away from them during the school day which is bell to bell during the instructional day. >> Yes. So the expectation is that they are away and out of sight. Out of sight completely. They need to be turned off, powered off. We shouldn't be able to see them. Certainly the expectation is not that we're going in and
033searching for them or looking for them. But um if they're out and using them, then they will start getting consequences. Yeah, I was just concerned about the word uh possessing or using. Well, using we understand, but possessing I mean their backpacks are in their possession. So, they really do have them in possession >> technically. Yes. Like, >> but just so it's clear, >> you know, and and my concern was if they can't have them there period from their possession, what happens if these kids go for extracurricular activities? you know, they can't go home to get this home or whatever. So, but I just want to make that clear. We all understand that. >> So, I think once we we've already worked on our um administrative rigs and so all of that information is detailed, very
034clear. So, just so you know, the students can have them for extracurricular activities after school. Um we're just making sure that they don't have them during the instructional day, which is bell-to bell. So, they can have them, they just need to be put away and out of sight. >> Well, I agree. I mean, I'm not disputing it. Oh, I can't dispute the legislators, but uh I just want to make sure that we're all clear and we're on the same page and we understand it as a board. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Be questions to us. >> Yeah. >> So, we will share the um details with you guys on what we've created. Um so that you know what that clear expectations are, but all of the things that you're saying are already we have we've been
035working on clarifying that. Just waiting to get approval tonight. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yeah. So once policy and code of conduct is approved by the board then the administrative regulations and implementation we'll put in the weekly to send to all of you to see what >> yeah in the weeds about the implementation it's actually we actually started the practice with the beginning of the school year so we're four days in and I have to say and I'm just going to have principles like it's really gone very smoothly our campuses thumbs up right thumbs up and they've done a great job with communication ation really haven't had that many issues with it. I think first day of school there were these cell phones at the high school that and the first the first three
036days you were kind of saying okay this is happening put it away you know we weren't confiscating them at that time but now we started with with that so >> and for going well >> three at the high school the first day so it was not at all as big of an issue as we anticipated I think it was more of an issue for the adults than for the students and so they like always we set expectations and usually they rise and so they meet our expectations. We just have to be consistent with implementation and provide them with other opportunities to engage. >> Mr. Vega has a question. >> Yeah, I was just going to ask, you know, I was looking at the exceptions on on that attachment that you sent. How has that work?
037Is there is there been many or just a few or what's the outcome of that? >> Well, right now I don't know of any exceptions. Um I don't know of any and the the principles may know. Um but so I see some fingers going up there a few um and so I what was that five? Yeah. Okay. So a few three one over here. So about a few at every campus. There have been some exceptions but I haven't heard about those. So I don't think that there have been any issues with those. have the question concerning the consent agenda. >> Not will entertain a motion. >> Second goes to the >> he said Mrs. Motion by Mrs. Walkersh second by Mr. Miles. Any questions? All in favor said motion please raise your hand. Any opposers?
038Motion passes 70. You next we have some information item. Next scorecard update priority one objectives 1.1 and 1.2. Dr. Stormmy Hickman, Deputy Superintendent. >> Good evening, President Mitchell, Dr. Ritter, and members of the board. I am excited to stand before you this evening and give you an update on uh priority one from our district scorecard. As a reminder, um well, we're tonight we're going to do priority 1.1 and 1.2. There are some additional items in one priority one. We're going to talk about those in September. So three through five will be covered in the September update. So this month we are specifically talking about 1.1 which is academic achievement and growth at all levels and 1.2 too to ensure special populations are monitored and enhanced. You can see some more specific action items under these.
039We're not going to go through each of those specifically so much as we're going to talk generally about what are we doing to ensure that all of our students are experiencing academic growth including our special populations. So, I want to start us off with just how do we know how do we monitor achievement and growth? I know this question has come up um frequently as we've talked about um student achievement scores in in lots of different ways and so I wanted to kind of give you this overview of how we look at this. So three different ways primarily how we look at growth. The first one being formative assessments which you're going to hear a lot about in this presentation. The next being standardsbased assessments. That would be what you probably remember in school of
040like an old school unit test where you take the test at the end and and be able to show what you know. So these are based on the standards that should have been taught in a particular unit so that we know if students mastered what they needed to there. And then we have summitive assessments. What is important to remember about summitive assessments is they are an assessment is summitative when a student no longer has an opportunity to improve anymore in that area. And so that's why we look at STAR as a summitive assessment. Someone took their fourth grade reading star and they're done. They're not going to get another shot at that. So, summitative assessments really don't inform our instruction as much as some of these other types of assessments. The graphic that I have
041here for you on this side is specifically about formative assessment. And that's what I want to focus on today. So, if you start at the little starred uh section near the top, a teacher plans learning targets and envisions proficiency. So, what do my kids need to learn and what is it going to look like whenever they've learned it? How will I know? And then the teacher will design formative assessment practices to get evidence. So what am I going to look for? What questions am I going to ask my students? What uh activities are they going to do that are going to show me that they have mastered this skill? And then once they've done that, I'm going to interpret it. I'm going to look at each one of my kids individually and decide, did this
042student master the skill based on the evidence that I have? At that point, then feedback is provided to the student. Maybe it's, yeah, you got this. Like we're moving on to the next thing. Good for you. Maybe it's, hey, I noticed a little misunderstanding we have here, so come over and let's talk about that a little bit more. But feedback is provided to the student to ensure that we've adjusted our instruction to meet their needs. And then uh the last little bullet there is adjusting current learning goals and establishing new learning goals. Once we've mastered something, then what's the next thing that we're going to move on to? And so this process is very cyclical. And this is really the best way for us to have assessment that informs our instruction so that we know
043that all students are learning at high levels. For us, this comes down to the use of professional learning communities. So, professional learning communities really are based on formative assessment above all else. Um you may recall that last year we had um all each of our campuses had what we call a guiding coalition, a sort of leadership group that came to several days of training in the fall semester to learn how we can implement these learning communities on our campuses and ensure that all of our teachers are equipped to go through that process. How do I know when my kids are learning and what am I going to do about it? Um we actually updated our assessment framework over the summer. uh we have a a document that just talks about all the assessments that we
044give in the district and what their purpose is and what information we get from them and we updated that to reflect the four questions that exist as part of PLC. This is foundational of the PLC process and that is what do we want our students to learn? How will we know that they've learned it? How will we respond when some students don't learn it? And how can we extend and enrich whenever students have already gained proficiency? You can tell this fits with that formative assessment graphic that you saw in the previous slide. This is the work that we're doing every day in our classrooms with PLC's. So, I actually took this excerpt from the teaching and learning management plan, which is um a foundational part of our scorecard document really is is implementing this management
045plan because I wanted us to be able to share the roles of all of the people in making sure that our students are learning. Okay? So, we're all in this together. you're going to hear me say that again. Uh so we'll start with just our district leaders. Uh district leaders and that would be myself, that would be anyone uh at the district level, certainly our teaching and learning department. Uh our job is to design and provide professional development on effective purposeful formative assessment to make sure our un our teachers really understand what that is and to provide expectations in the use of that formative assessment to make sure that we're monitoring student progress very regularly. And then establishing a clear system of grading expectations and guidelines which we do. We have a grading guideline document
046that uh is shared with all of our campuses. Next we have here our campus leaders and that would be our campus principles um and and other administrators on the campus. They have an important role in this work as well. Um making sure that they're providing training on the use of ongoing formative assessments monitoring the implementation of those district expectations. Remember our expectation is that we are looking at data weekly essentially and so the principles are there um on the campuses ensuring that that's happening establishing campus expectations and procedures and the use of formative assessments and knowing that those assessments impact what we're doing. It's one thing to have an assessment. It's another to say what am I going to do as a result of this? And so that is an important role of the principal
047to make sure that our our teachers and all of our staff on campuses are doing those things. Supporting our instructional coaches and coaching teachers and so making sure our instructional coaches are are on board and supporting this work and then leading those collaborative conversations and teacher data meetings. um our principles and and I will say we have such a great group of principles and they're good at this of being in the in the conversation. It shouldn't be teachers go have a conversation about data and like I'll see what you're what's done when you're done. It's let's talk about it. Let's look at it together and all be informed. And so uh that's an important role that they play as we're looking at data. Next here I have instructional coaches. Uh our campuses each have instructional
048coaches on campus and those people are responsible for providing training and modeling the use of formative assessments. So not only do we want to train, we want to have people on campus who can show you how to do it, who can walk you side by side through different ways that you can formatively assess students and how you can use that data. That second bullet there is really coaching teachers in the effective use. Like how are we going to use the data to make sure that uh it is changing our instruction in ways that help our students be successful. And then modeling how to use formative assessment data for individual student strengths. And I think this is really important and it speaks to priority 1.2 which is about ensuring that all of our student groups are
049being monitored. That's really about looking at individual students. All means all. We want to make sure that all of our students are learning and growing. And then we get to classroom teachers who are responsible for developing and using those formative assessments, checking for understanding to see what students have learned and what needs they have, giving feedback and re-engaging students whenever they have areas of need. And then really using those assessments to determine strengths and areas of need so we can design learning experiences that meet the needs of all of our students. We know that um not every student is the same and they might need a little something different and we can use this formative assessment to determine what they need and know that we are determined to get them there. I also included and
050this is in our teaching and learning plan as well uh special programs and intervention staff. So our campuses do have staff members whose role is to intervene if we have students who are falling behind or have learning gaps. Um and then we have special program staff. So that might be special education, it might be bilingual. Um anybody else on the campus is there to provide support and modeling on really um effectively adjusting instruction. Um I think about when we have specific needs, for example, with our English language learners, we have specific researchbased strategies that can support them. And so we have special services staff that can support that. Um again with providing good feedback. Good feedback makes all the difference. So if a kid can understand uh what it is that they need to do
051differently, then that's going to help them move in the right direction and using those formative assessment results to determine strengths and areas of need. So as you can see, everybody has a role in this priority one, making sure that all students are learning at high levels. And uh we have really done a lot of work to delineate who is doing what. So everybody knows they have a job and everybody knows what their role is to be sure that we're working together for all students. Back to our question of monitoring achievement and growth. We do have several ways that we do monitor that. We use a combination of a lot of data points. Uh that would be NWA MAP, STAR, those common unit assessments that I spoke of previously, formative assessments and teacher expertise. I have
052to pause and just um really make sure that we remember to give credit and credence to that teacher expertise because the star test tells us one thing, but a teacher in a classroom can look at a kid and work with them and know whether or not they're learning what they need to learn and we should have great respect for that and make sure that we're empowering them to act upon all of the data that they're acquiring, even that anecdotal data that teachers are getting in the classroom. We will uh have beginning of year MAP data very soon. That window actually opens next week. We will look at that as our current reality. Where are our students right now and what do we need to do to make sure that they achieve at least one year's
053growth over the course of the next year and just I've listed here the areas in which we give the NWA math assessment primarily reading, math and science. Uh state accountability is another way that we know we are measured by the public. Uh but also a way that we can be reflective on our practices and make sure that we are working toward growth and showing improvement with our students. That is measured in three domains. Student achievement, academic growth and relative performance and closing the gaps. So hot off the presses, this was just released last week for 2024 and 2025. And so as a district um I'm going to share with you just those those domain scores and the overall scores for Elgen ISD and talk about the impact that that has on the work that we're
054doing. So in domain one for student achievement it measures how well students are doing on the STAR test. And then for high school it actually includes graduation rates and whether or not students are prepared for college career or military. And I have to note here that the CCMR college career military data is actually a year behind whenever it's included in the accountability data. It just adds a complication. But nonetheless, we're responsible for it. So in domain one here, you can see from 2024 to 2025, the district uh improved by three points. Domain two actually has two components, academic growth and relative performance. This looks at whether students are improving from year to year. And then it does a comparison between our schools with schools that have similar student populations or similar demographics. Um you can
055see here this is a a quite a a large increase we're proud of. In domain 2 we went from uh 62 to 67 uh in 2025. So we saw an increase of five points. Domain 3 focuses on closing the gaps. This is the area where uh we ensure that we are making we are monitoring the growth of all students. So this looks at students from different races or ethnicities, lowincome, special education, English learners, making sure that um no small group of students is being left behind that we're we're really looking at all of them and make sure that all kids are learning not just some. And you can see that we did improve by four points in this particular domain from 24 to 25. So overall uh the score is calculated with 70% from the
056better of domain one or domain 2. For us that was domain 2 was our growth and 30% from domain three which is closing the gaps. So you can see here our overall score in 2024 was 61 and in 2025 is 66. So I have two things to say about this that seem a little bit um conflicting but I'm going to say them anyway. So, do we want to and will and are working harder to be better than the 66. We believe that we're doing the work to make that happen. And so, we're very motivated um to not be satisfied with that number. However, the immense amount of work and learning that has gone into a 5 percentage point increase in one year is quite impressive and it is a testament to the work of our
057principles and our teachers and the work that's been done on campus. So, we will stop and celebrate that great growth of 5% and we will know that we're not done, that we're continuing to move forward. Priority 1.2 again talks specifically about special populations and making sure that we're monitoring those. Um, you can kind of see this. I um I worried about it being too small, but this is actually something that comes from the state accountability system in closing the gaps. So I mentioned to you that that particular measure ensures that we are looking at all student groups and we are provided with this information uh regarding uh the student groups that you can see listed down the side here. So um there are a lot of calculations that go into the different columns. The one
058that I think is is quite maybe perhaps most important for us to look at are those two columns under growth rate. What we want to see is consistent growth rate among all of our student groups. And this is a way that we can look at it. Who like at what percentage are our students growing? We want that percentage to be high and we want it to be consistent among all of the groups. And so this is just one report or one way that we ensure that we're looking at at closing the gaps between student groups no matter what their demographic background is. I don't want to click too fast, but I'll go back to it if I need to. So just in summary, formative assessment really is the best way to monitor and enhance learning
059for all of our students. And we have invested time and energy and money and training to make sure that we're uh getting really good at that because we know that's what's going to move our students forward. Beginning of year, MAP data will be collected beginning next week. That will be our current reality, our place to start so that we know we're moving forward from there. Following our formative assessment processes is going to allow us to make instructional adjustments. So, it's both things are important that we have formative assessment and that we adjust our instruction as a result of it. And that is really our focus for the year. Uh, and just that reminder that all students deserve to learn at high levels and that reflects back to our compelling purpose. That's how they're going to
060have choice and opportunity for the future is if we make sure that they learn what they need to when we're there in our schools. And with that, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. question. >> I would just like to take this opportunity to thank our teachers and our principles for all the hard work that you're doing. I am pleased to see that there are some measurements going on and that it is encouraging to our staff as well. Thank you. And um I will say the same, you know, it's the first time we've had accountability ratings released in a long time and we've gone through a lot with it and lawsuits and there's a reason for those lawsuits, but those were dismissed and nothing realized through that. But um we know
061that the system itself is one that we have zero control over that we utilize the data to help us do better for kids always and we know we will do better always and we're already seeing that. Um so I'm just encouraged I'm encouraged by and I'm certainly encouraged by the work on the campuses and at the district level guys the the support of our district staff. Thank you so much because we we couldn't do this um in any capacity without all of it. We're all in this together. I keep saying that and it's absolutely true. >> But um seeing the growth across the board and seeing five percentage points of growth through the school district is remarkable. It really is. And um we're just going to continue to see that move forward and that trajectory
062as we're going to continue and see more. So thank you. Thank you Dr. Hman. >> Yeah. And we absolutely all are invested in this. So everybody in this room and so we appreciate as Reese said the the information and the measurements. We ask tough questions for a reason because we want great results and we see us moving forward. So thank you. >> Next item priority for update on construction projects including the 2021 and 2024 bond. Serene lane executive director bond project. Uh good evening, President Mitchell, board of trustees, Dr. Ritter. Um excited to uh show you another presentation for the many uh projects we've got across the district. Excuse me. Uh once again, it has been a a very busy summer, so we've got a lot of projects ahead. I'll jump right into the high
063school project. As you'll see tonight, uh honestly, some projects are a little smoother than others. Uh this one, uh as you all know, this has been our auditorium project. winding down uh the high school work um from our 2041 bond at the high school. This is obviously uh work on an active campus on occupied site um on a renovation uh project. So, uh sometimes we run into challenges. That's just the way some of these projects go. So, um I know some of us were a little disappointed that we didn't get to have commication in here, but as Dr. River mentioned, uh we will have commication um in this facility next year. But um you can see here we are we are moved in with furniture. Um we've got all of our furnishings in curtains are
064in. Um our contractors work with our consultants to create a punch list throughout the facility uh which really just means they're putting the uh finishing touches um on the uh facility across the board from from um top to bottom. Uh in this facility, as I've mentioned previously, there are a lot of intricate systems uh with the lighting and the sound and the curtains, the stage, the rigging, all of those things uh have to be commissioned and gone through from top to bottom. Um so that's the process we're working through now. Just putting some finishing uh finishing touches on all those things. Uh but we really do uh want to make sure we focus on uh on quality as we get this project finished out uh before we get our staff and kids in here. And
065this will be a nice project once we're in. U this is a project a lot of you have seen. Uh this will probably be the last last time we show this, but Trinity Ranch Elementary for those of you that didn't u get to see it. Dr. showed the groundbreaking. That was a really uh great ceremony. Um we had a lot of great turnout for that. But um it is exciting to be able to take photos at the conclusion of a project like this when we get to see uh teachers put uh their own personal touches on the classrooms. you know, to see this uh come uh full circle uh from, you know, from groundbreaking to where we're finding finally getting in the furniture and then uh to see the teachers excitement as they come in
066and begin to put posters and decorations on the wall. Uh that that's really what it's all about. So, uh these are the pictures I really enjoy taking. Um and then of course we've got some of the common areas there in the library circulation desk. uh we'll have uh kiddos in there and then that PLC room uh for uh some of our staff get in there to uh put those uh conversations together to make sure our kids are on the right track. So again, this was an exciting project and uh and very well put together. So appreciate all the effort from Dr. Martinez and his team over the past few weeks as we continue to finish out a few loose ends on that uh on that campus. Um transportation facility. Uh this is a project uh
067that's been kind of waiting in the wings for quite a while, but as you can see, we've uh begun making some progress over the past couple of weeks. Um and they've moved very very quickly. So utility installation is moving forward and then there's a lot of uh paving and concrete work. Um if you recall, this is a really pretty small building, but there's a lot of site work and paving. Uh this will be uh phase one of two. Uh phase one is here in the 21 bond and phase two is slated to take place out of the 24 bond. So a lot of this uh paving for the uh buses has already taken place. Uh we got a little bit left. Um and then you can see some of our quality control there in that
068bottom left. That's just concrete samples. Um you know a lot of folks ask how do we make sure things are done right? Well, this is just an example of that. I thought I'd throw in there to see let you all know one one process that we uh take uh to make sure everything is done properly. Uh but uh as we uh look forward to groundbreaking for for this facility this Thursday, um you all get a chance to see this, but I know our bus drivers and our transportation folks are really excited about uh this facility finally coming together uh with a targeted opening of uh next spring. Uh priority maintenance projects, we've done a lot of smaller projects uh across multiple campuses this summer. Um some of them are a little bit further along, but
069we've did uh get flooring replacements uh going at multiple locations. Um Elementary, um you see in the middle picture there at the bottom. Uh that was uh uh one of the areas that we did get completed in a classroom. Uh because of a late delivery from a manufacturer, we have uh look to schedule some of the flooring throughout Naid a little bit further in the uh fall semester as well as the high school foyer. We'll work with campus administration to schedule that. Uh water heater replacements at night and high school, those are completed now. Uh roofing repairs were made at BTW. Uh window coverings for Elgen Elementary classrooms. Uh those are on order, so we'll get those scheduled. They should be able to take care of those on evening or weekend. Uh there is a
070temporary art sink there at Elgen Elementary. You can see u while it's functional, their permanent sink, which will be a little bit larger stainless steel sink. uh that will come in and be installed again on an evening or a weekend. But um it's nice for the uh art class to have that functional sink now and not have to haul water back and forth. Um and then um Alan Elementary flooring in the restroom was uh taken care of as well. Do have a little bit of work on the base to finish, but uh certainly usable in the meantime. Uh making some progress on our fiber optic project across the district. Uh we have made uh some progress of the underground conduit across uh Swinson Lane. uh they're south of 290. Uh five has been ran to
071Booker T. Washington with interior terminations in the building and we continue to work with Texot. Um our uh original intent was to cross 290 overhead with an aerial crossing. Uh but uh looks like right now the plan is to go under. So we'll we'll resubmit to text with a bore under 290. Uh so that put us behind a little bit getting a permanent connection to uh uh Trinity Ranch Elementary. Uh but nevertheless, that project is still moving forward. Our contractor has some work he can do. In the meantime, while we continue to navigate the uh uh permitting woes with text um HVAC right now, hot button issue, you know, it's still 100° outside. So, I'm glad to see that the work is uh primarily completed at Elgen Elementary. Uh those uh AC units in that
072back hall, we were started up uh just in the nick of time. um Elgen High School and the fieldhouse is where these units are at. Uh those units are running. Um there are a couple of areas u that we still are seeing hot spots across the district and we're still working with our contractors to respond um get areas addressed um each time that we get calls come in for those. Uh our own team, our consultants and our contractors are still working to get those uh mitigated and taken care of. Uh we appreciate the uh principles being patient with us as we continue to to push on our contractors uh to respond in a timely manner. Um and we will get those resolved as soon as we can. But um overall, we're glad to see a
073lot of new equipment in the district. We had some really um aging equipment. Uh fieldhouse, for example, uh those were original units from 1999 on that campus or on that uh building. So, um it's it's good to get some of this equipment replaced and ultimately have uh better quality equipment for the uh for the campus. Uh cafeteria serving lines. This was at Elgen Elementary and Elgen Middle School. Both of these projects also finished uh just in the nick of time, but you can see on the bottom left there um the serving line door there at Elgen Elementary. This serving line was previously just open. It didn't have a uh a door that rolled down it uh necessarily blocked it off. some of their fixtures actually came out into the cafeteria. So, this gives them a
074little bit more of a a secure way to to close up at the end of the evening. And then an interior view for Elgen Middle School. They were able to add uh a fourth uh line into there to give them a little bit more capacity uh to run those students through there a little bit faster. Uh moving on to 24 bond. Uh this will probably be the last month that we show renderings on here. um with the approval tonight in consent agenda uh for the award of uh GMP1. I appreciate that. Uh we'll mobilize with site work pretty quickly. Um and you should be able to see um images of site work in the coming weeks. So um take a look at these. These may these may change slightly. These are just renderings as I
075said, but uh site work will begin quickly over the next few weeks and we'll be able to see things really moving um out on this site. Uh but but here we see what the library could potentially look like. uh colors may change slightly but the we think this is fairly accurate. Um and then this is what we call a learning neighborhood. There are three of these based on the three grades that will be in this facility. U this will be the entry to one of those areas within the building. Um so where we are moving forward as I said with that GMP one that's really for the uh site work utilities uh concrete foundation the work outside the building. Uh that contractor is ready to mobilize uh nearly immediately. So potentially late this week if
076I could be on site and then next month we'll come back with guaranteed maximum price number two. That will be the remainder of the project all the interior work and the rest of the facility. Um and then we will continue to work with Tex DOT and TCQ that's the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for our uh site septic permit. And then ultimately we are still planning for a June 2027 completion date on athletic improvements. This is a project you all approved uh last month. What we've been doing over the past few weeks is working with the contractor um to finalize all the alternates that were proposed last last month. Not all projects have a list of alternates like this. So we were very fortunate that uh the bids came in very competitively and we were
077able to spend time selecting um alternates uh for this project and also since then product samples have been submitted to the district for view. Uh we uh we sat down with uh Jen Xanderson and made sure that we're getting the turf uh that the teams needed and wanted. Um all of those things um have been evaluated and actually I got the contract today uh for signature. So we'll be ready to give this uh project a start here very quickly still with a targeted completion of uh spring baseball and softball season. So project is still on track and we're ready to get started here quickly, but we are very fortunate that I'll be able to include all the alternates uh that we had anticipated. uh studio E um adjacent to this um this project will begin
078bidding soon under the uh construction manager at risk Bartlett Cox. Uh we anticipate coming back to the board in October with a guaranteed maximum price all-incclusive for everything needed in this project. It'll just be one guaranteed maximum price. Uh this include the uh broadcast and film studio, AV production, podcasting rooms. Um they're in the press box itself. Then on the outside, a new video scoreboard and sound system uh for the stadium facility itself. Here you can see a few renderings of what the facility will potentially look like. Of course, they're inside the space and on the outside as well. Uh the homestead, we are moving forward uh with this facility. Um we'll start uh weekly meetings to keep this uh project on on schedule with design. Um, one of our goals will be to get
079to uh, tenative uh, construction in December. Um, with the approval tonight, we'll have construction manager at risk on board uh, with uh, joyous general contractors. We already have had pre-development meetings with city of Elgen. Uh, those were successful meetings. Uh, we think we've got everything in line that the city will ask for there. Uh, but ultimately this will be a fasttrack uh, project. If we get construction going in December, we'd have about 7 to eight months worth of construction with a tenative schedule uh showing completion in August of 2026. Um mainly this would be an interior project. There would be very little done outside the facility at least on this phase. Uh but we could return in subsequent phases and do some interior or some exterior rather uh improvements to the overall campus. uh in
080facilities projects, the DAP portables uh just south of where we're at tonight. Um if you all remember a couple of months ago, we did talk about um initial delay uh getting permanent power to the site from Encore. Our our folks continue to work through that, but it did uh delay the overall project a little bit. So, uh we're a few weeks from completion on this. We've worked with campus staff to make sure that they have uh positions at the existing DAP campus at the high school uh to keep students at. Unfortunately, right now enrollment's um low, so they're in a good spot uh to let us continue this work. And then over a school holiday, we'll be able to shift furniture and get things moved in for them. But uh work will continue on this
081project over the next few weeks and then we'll work with the uh campus staff to uh to make that transition. Uh we do still need to pull fiber from Megan Elementary um and then get some interior work finished out. But if you've driven past here, you'll see some asphalt striping and a couple of new stop signs that do help with traffic flow, make it a little bit safer navigating that that blind corner there near the track. Any any questions about any of the projects? >> I guess my question is is August August is almost over and baseball and softball started January. Y'all feel like y'all can get those fields? >> We do. We we've stayed in constant communication with uh with Field Turf, the general contractor. Um they're they're a manufacturer under Tarquette, uh which
082is the global manufacturer, and they're still comfortable with the schedule. Um they think they can they can get that done. Now, some of the alternates included things like replacing the small press boxes and those types of things. Um the uh the turf is the is the main thing that has the lead time. The the smaller things didn't have such a lead time. Uh but the turf since they are a manufacturer, they uh they're comfortable with that. Um the the uh small the fencing and those types of things didn't have a lead time. So we're we're less concerned about those. But uh we've continue to stay engaged with them throughout this process and we're still comfortable with that date. Yes, sir. >> I guess what is what is the alternate plan? >> I mean if we
083get to a point for >> I mean it can start raining September and October. >> Yeah. I mean, for whatever reason, >> is the plan >> if if we were to have to delay signing the contract or for whatever reason, um, you know, we would we would have to look at um alternative options, but I mean, right now, we would still move forward, I guess. Um, yeah, if it came a monsoon in November, I mean, that's that's something we would have to look at. Uh, we would have to talk to Coach Anderson and and see what the options are. But, um, right now, there's still enough padding in that schedule for them to complete the project. Yes, sir. >> On the uh on Trinity Ranch, do we have uh an amount of people that that
084walk to school? >> I I don't I don't have that data currently. No, sir. >> You may not know, >> but it's something something just for thought. You know, the reason I asked for that is do we have a structured path to be able to walk to Trinity Ranch? I know it's a distance from a lot of the other places, but I don't know if there's any kids that are left out studying bus routes, you know, that they have to walk. So, that's something that we may want to look into. >> Sure. >> Yeah, we can. And Dr. Martinez may have that information already, but if not, we can certainly get that information to you. >> Yeah, that's just a concern. >> Yes, sir. For the kids and >> good we do have a lot
085of walkers. Yes. And bike riders, right? Yeah. And but great sidewalk structure from the neighborhood throughout. Crossing guard. Do you have a crossing guard in place? Yes. Two. These two. >> Yeah. Can see my glasses. Okay. Thank you. >> While I have the mic, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's had a part in getting these projects moving forward for this 2024 bond. It's really exciting. Um, we're about to see all of it really moving forward and it's gone very smoothly up to this point. So, um, we certainly appreciate Bartlett Cox, Presidio, um, our, you know, everyone, DLR, Huckabe, our architects, everyone who's had a part in moving this forward and a lot of you are in the audience tonight. And so, I wanted to say thank you. We appreciate you. >>
086Any other comments or questions from the board? >> Thank you. I don't know why you sat down. And next item to consider approval of campus name for middle school number two. >> Uh yes, good evening again. You know, as we as we start off a project, it it is exciting to uh to select a name for a school and um as we have with um the past few uh campuses, um the name that we're proposing tonight um has a relevance to the to the school site. Um tonight we're proposing um Legacy Oak Middle School. Um this particular site, for those of you that are familiar with the location, it's a it's a very rural site. Um while it's mostly prairie grass, um there are some some trees on the site, but there is a a
087very notable uh large oak tree on the site. Very very special to the to the former owners and and us, the design team, the contractors. We've taken a look at it as well. um it it's got two distinctly individual trunks that that intertwine several feet above the ground becoming one tree. So it it is quite unique and and arborists have looked at it and agreed that it is uh very uncommon. Um but but based on that that kind of became a theme for the project that and the prairie itself. So that uh lent the design team to uh use a certain color palette and material selection for the overall project. Um and based on that we proposed uh the list of uh oak and prairie themed names that the board um reviewed and sorted through
088and ultimately voted on um that uh that landed on Legacy Oak Middle School. So um tonight that's what we're proposing is Legacy Oak Middle School. that does align uh with one of the uh categories in policy CW local that references geographical um areas or uh names related to the site. So um that would be our proposition tonight. >> That's a recommendation Mr. Rainey. Is there a motion in that regard? the name of the second middle school. That's Legacy Hill Middle School. >> Moted by Mr. Mouse. I'll second it. Any other questions? All in favor said motion. Raise your hand. Any opposers? Motion passes 70. Thank you, S. All right. Next item. for being asked to approve the 202526 tax rate adoption. Mr. Clark Mley, chief financial officer. >> Good evening, Mr. Pres, Mr. President, Dr.
089Ritter, members of the board. I'm Clark Mley, Elgen ISD's chief financial officer, and I'm very pleased tonight to bring you uh Elgenist's tax rate adoption for the year 2526. So, a tax hearing was held on June 24th, and because the tax rate being presented for adoption tonight isn't an increase, there is no need for another hearing. The tax rate to be adopted is 1.2234, which is the same rate Elgen adopted in and is tied for the lowest in over 20 years. This rate is made up of a maintenance and operations tax rate of 7552 and an interest in syncing rate of 4682. The maintenance and operation rate consists of the maximum compressed rate assigned by TEA of 6169 and tier 2 pennies of.1383. Calculations must be done to determine a tax rate that would generate
090the same revenue that was generated in the previous year. This rate is 1.1471, which is lower than the rate we are presenting of 1.2234. The rate's lower because property values have increased. So even though we are assessing the same tax rate as last year, we are generating more revenue. Because this year's tax rate will exceed the calculated no new revenue tax rate, specific wording must be used in the motion to recognize the increase in revenues realized. And even though our tax rate will be the same as last year and is the tied for the lowest in over 20 years, a motion to increase our rate must be made. Any questions? Any questions? If not, I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 1.2234, which is effectively
091a 7% increase in the tax rate. >> I second. >> Second by Mr. Baker. Any questions? All in favor of set motion, please raise your hand. Any opposers? Motion passes 70. Thank you. Next item being asked to approve the amended budget for 2526. >> Good evening once again. I'm Clark Mley. I didn't sit down. I stayed up. Um tonight I'm bringing you the proposed budget amendment for 2025 2026. So, I I just have to say when I was courted for this job, they told me you'll start July 1st. The budget will all be wrapped up by then. Well, here we are, August 18th, and we're still working on it. So, I just wanted to say thank you to the board and and everyone up here for walking this walk with us. It's been a unique
092year with legislative changes and new laws. So, we are we are very grateful to you guys. not not that any other year we shouldn't put all of our focus and attention on it, but this year I think we've had seven board workshops for budget. So, we appreciate all of you guys for your attentiveness to that. Um, just so you know, we we approved tonight the three funds, the general fund, debt service fund, and child nutrition fund. Um, that's according to section 44 of the Texas Education Code, requiring boards to adopt those funds. All other funds have specific purposes and are not required to have a budget adopted. Um the budget must be proposed by June 19th and adopted by June 30th, which is why we did approve a budget on June 24th um of 2025.
093And this was prior to adjusting for compensation. So this is our current budget, the one that we will be asking to amend tonight. Um, our general fund revenues were 69.1 million and then expenditures of 70.7 million. That left us with a deficit fund balance of or deficit in our budget of 1.6 million. Um, food service is 6.2 million and expenditures are also 6.2 million. So that's a balanced budget there. And then in the debt service fund, we had 16.7 million with expenditures of 16.5 million, leaving us with a surplus of 237,000 um to make sure that we have funds to make the payments as revenues will start coming in. So this was again adopted in June on June 24th prior to adjusting for compensation. Um and we did increase that. So here is the budget
094that we are asking to be amended. So, some good news. When we brought to you guys the compensation increases, we did expect the deficit to increase to 1.838, but our actual is coming in at 1.805, which is about a $33,000 reduction from what we projected, which we were pretty pleased about. Um, our child nutrition remains the same numbers there, 6.2 million, and that is also a balanced budget. And then for debt service, um there were some changes with $828,000 being moved from local revenue to state revenue due to the legislative changes, but there's no change in the overall amounts. So, we still have that surplus of 237,000 to make sure we can make the payment before revenues start rolling in. I'm happy to answer any questions. Any questions from the Lord? He's been asking to
095approve the amended budget for 2025 26. >> So move motion by Mr. Moss, second by Mr. Barker. Questions? All in favor of said motion, raise your hand. Any opposers? Motion passes seven. Thank you, sir. It is 8. It is 8:25 p.m. and the board will recess into close session and reconvene as allowed under the section 551.071 through 551.084 1084 of the Texas Government Code to discuss purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property. Texas Government Code 551.072. Also to discuss personnel matters, Texas Government Code 551.074 A. Uh the superintendent midyear formative evaluation. Shall any final action, final decision or final vote be required in the opinion of the school board with regard to any matters conceded in such closed executive session or meeting? Then the final action final decision of voting shall be either in
096the open meeting covered by the notice upon reconvening of the public meeting or at a subsequent public meeting of the school board upon notice thereof as the school board shall return. It is 10:05 p.m. The board will reconvene into open meeting at this time. During the closed meeting, only the items that appeared on the agenda were discussed. No final action, no final decision or vote was taken during the closed meeting. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. >> Motion by Mr. Moss, second by Mr. Baker. All in favor respond by I. I. No opposes. It is 10:05 p.m. We are adjourned.