001all right it it the time is now 5 p.m I call this meeting of the Granbury Independent School District to order let the records show that a quorum of board members is present that this meeting has been duly called and that notice that this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas open meetings act Texas government code chapter 551 the board will now adjourn into executive session pursuant to the following sections 551.074 discussion of officers employees and Personnel matters let's see if I can find the other one foreign see it on there y'all have a board book yeah just go to grab it you know what the other one is yeah thank you 551.076 deliberation regarding security devices or security audits oh there it is I just didn't see it the time is now
002502. foreign [Music] good evening everyone it is now 6 00 pm and we will now reconvene into Open Session beginning with an invocation led by Mark Jackson pray with me Heavenly Father we come to you tonight in prayer lifting our eyes to you father for the guidance that only you can give father just we know you walk with us and just help us to make good decisions wise decisions as a board as a corporate body School District parents all those here you have an interest father just help us to handle any discourse to be your Christian children as you've taught us in the word that you've given as far the most precious thing that you've given us in your son Jesus Christ we pray in his name amen all right and now we will have
003our pledges and they are going to be led by students from Steam Academy at Mount Grano thank you good evening School Board Dr Glenn we have two of our lovely fifth graders here we have Mr Kaden McDonald and Kaden who wants to tell us who is with him this evening from his family my mom and my dad and then we also have fifth grader Miss Allie McKinnon Ellie who's with you tonight my dad her dad is here and so they are ready to lead us in the pledges I think they're going to do it as a joint effort [Music] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all the Jesus switch I pledge
004allegiance to the Texas thank you okay [Music] foreign [Music] yeah that doesn't put a smile on your face I don't know what's wrong with you okay next we have um by myself here for achievement spotlight first one up National Merit commended students Dr Jeremy or Mr Jeremy Ross someday gotta work on that in your spare time okay I'd like to invite uh with me up here uh Cooper Sanderson and Andrew Diaz they're both here so um Dr Glenn trustees thank you for allowing me to come back with these two gentlemen that were here last meeting too if they keep winning Awards we're going to have to find other things to talk about with them so um visited with both of these gentlemen today Andrew is um going to Texas A M to study electrical engineering
005and [Music] business he's going to be a double major and I asked him what his favorite classes were while he's been at ghs and he said BC calculus which you're in right now right with Mr Ochoa and uh AP English 3 with Jackie Bradshaw so uh and then Mr Sanderson Cooper Sanderson right here he is trying to go where it is cold sorry Patty um he wants to go to uh Nazareth University and uh in New York or Lawrence in Wisconsin or McGill in Montreal Canada he's looking for a Music Conservatory so he can study composition and so he wants to do so in a smaller setting right is that okay so that's what I understand his favorite classes have been AP music theory with Mr Wheatley and all things culinary with Brianne Langdon so
006these two gentlemen are AP commended Scholars which means last year when they took the PSAT test they scored in the nation in the top four percent of all participants so thank you we um we have our kids for the class of 24 took it last Wednesday and we will anxiously await their results but these two gentlemen are to be commended so thank you [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] s of these young men please stand up so we can give you a round of applause foreign [Music] all right next up we have Mr Dawn Bradley to talk about stop the prop okay so I'm Don Bradley and I'm the graphic design teacher at the high school and I also help with our social media and video and all things AV and it is a pleasure tonight to
007introduce you to Christopher Beaver Chris has been I've had the opportunity to teach him for the last four years so he's stuck through all kinds of classes with me and as a senior graphic design student the kids are given the opportunity to create real real world projects that build a portfolio that they can take to get jobs and and get into school and at the beginning of the year Dr Paul McDonald reached out to my class and asked the students to design a logo for the stop the prop initiative and so the kids were just kind of given free range to create something and the design that you see up here was what Chris created and so um I'm proud to tell you that every uh his design will be at all of the schools
008and campus or buildings on our district and so Chris's parents are here tonight Rachel and Jonathan Beaver they're in the back and so um they're here with us tonight so Chris we're really proud of you [Music] oh wow [Music] he's shaking their hands I want to tell you that Christopher has already earned two professional Adobe certifications while he's in my class and he'll go for more this year so it's kind of a big deal foreign 's going to be on every single door interior and exterior throughout all of our campuses so that it will be on the minds of everybody at all times that doors are to be locked and with that let's go into the superintendent report Dr Glenn thank you madam president uh let me Begin by saying that October is a principal
009appreciation month and I know most of our principals are here so uh principals I know you hate it when I do this but if you will please rise so that everyone in the room can recognize you thank you and I know you know this but I will take the opportunity to say during a really tough three-year period where we work through a pandemic and we were working through academic Improvement uh these leaders on the campuses they were on the front lines making sure that our students were taken care of they all have a servant's heart and we are really blessed in Granbury ISD with great leadership so if you get the opportunity tonight before you leave stop them shake their hand and thank them for the hard work that they put in day in and
010day out with that I'll kind of work backwards I want to acknowledge our Education Foundation who held their annual fundraiser on Saturday 50 fellas and just a commitment and a testimony to the hard work by Stacy Mitchell the president of gef the board of directors and just our very benevolent community in that three-hour window they raised a hundred and fifty one thousand dollars foreign Stacy set a goal before the event she knew that they had a pretty good Delta if they wanted to try and reach a million dollars by next year and so they are well on their way to surpass surpassing a million dollars raised over a 10-year period given right back to the teachers in GISD so great job for everyone who participated in that program Saturday night I also want to let
011you know about Red Ribbon Week next week something near and dear to our hearts as we continue to promote drug awareness and we know our teachers do a great job in the classroom of providing a great education to kids and with that I have one more special recognition that kind of caught me off guard because I'm used to doing these in November but we are going to do this one in October and that is recognizing our retiring trustee Mark Jackson so Mark has uh 12 and a half years of service on the board um he has served in every office officer role so he has been secretary he has been vice president and I was fortunate enough to have him serve as my board president so I know that he is passionate about education he
012is a champion for kids he helped implement the 2013 Bond initiative was heavily involved in the design process which brought a lot of good things to our district he helped facilitate both the g2020 and G 2025 uh long-range strategic plans for the district he developed our five-point security plan which led to the implementation of the Marshall program here in GISD and probably most importantly he's a father of three Granbury ISD students two graduated one that will graduate this year four four apologies for three boys and a girl and uh and and and also a science teacher chemistry teacher at the high school that helps keep them in line is a trustee making sure he's doing the right things for teachers and kids and probably most importantly he's a band parent on the field every Friday
013night pushing instruments and so uh he has a heart for kids he loves our town he loves our community he is a model and an example of what a true trustee is because he has a servant heart I know that he loves our community he loves our kids and I am grateful and honored to have had the privilege to serve with him join me in recognizing Mark Jackson foreign Mark you're not going to like this either but you got to come up to the front we want to present you with two things we have a plaque that was uh crafted by our CTE students and also representative Shelby Slauson sent you a flag that was flown over the Texas Capitol all right yeah I have all the board members come down to take a picture
014together [Music] comfortable thank you [Music] thank you madam president trustees that's the October superintendent's report thank you very much Dr Glenn we are now in open Forum public comments there were none that are on agenda items so we will just go on past that and go on to consider action on items discussed in closed session thank you madam President we need to discuss the Intruder detection audit performed by the Texas School Safety Center three of them took place in Granbury ISD this month and I'll let our chief of security Wade Clark talk to you about those mad president Dr Glenn trustees thank you we the state of Texas after Uvalde a lot of things changed a lot of pressure to get security in place and get it right we did a lot of things a
015lot of initiatives we saw the stop the prop was one of those early initiatives locked doors all exterior doors locked we used to have a lot of scheduled doors that would be scheduled for convenience those are no longer scheduled for convenience and we also check every exterior door we have a weekly audit that we keep for the state on a log in addition to that we check every door multiple times daily interior doors we created a policy in the district for all interior doors to be closed and locked during times of instruction so those are constantly spot checked throughout the day and I believe that those are the reasons that when three of our campuses were audited so far by tea that there were no findings meaning that those campuses all passed with flying colors
016in addition we've recently hired and added two uniform School Marshals to our team one to be full-time at stars BTC which we didn't have before and also a floater so this is a person who I can send to a campus when somebody's out with an illness or a doctor's appointment or like today I had a a marshall that needed to be gone to jury duty and so when that happens we don't want to leave a campus unprotected so we've been covering out of the high school where we have a couple of Marshals and we're able to send people but now that we have this floater that's going to make it a lot easier for us to always have every campus covered so how many uniformed School Marshals do we have at this point so at
017this point right now counting myself and the assistant chief of security we have 16. we have a similar amount of non-uniformed Marshals as well spread out through the district thank you Mr Clark again trustees this is not an action item we're just required to provide notice within 45 days of the Audits and so we're meeting that requirement tonight yes sir second you have uh under action items discussed in closed session you have staff recommendations and again I thank Mr Jones as always and his team in the HR department for putting together a relatively short recommendation tonight we have one teacher at the the high school we'll recommend and so it is the administration's obligation to recommend that we hire us presented by Mr Jones do I hear a motion foreign [Music] thank you motion by
018Dr Harrington seconded by Ms Gore all those in favor raise your hand and that is unanimous all right moving on consider consent agenda items are there any items that need to be pulled out for discussion I was going to ask if we could pull item 10h from the agenda and place it under item 11 for discussion and action can we just go ahead and discuss it now sure okay um these are all worthy causes I was just looking for a dollar amount is there a way we can get a dollar amount on these items um before we vote on these and I believe Mr Whitefield pull that today yes Madam president and uh craft the uh the amount that we spend on these organizations is twelve thousand seven hundred fifty three dollars okay and so
019that's what we would be looking at going into this year as well yes ma'am is that correct okay can we just let the record show that we add that amount we can we can include that in a minute if we can include that in the minutes that would be great and then if someone could explain two to the voters what we're we put into more detail so they understand what we're talking about Mr Whitefield would you like to explain what that money's for yes ma'am this uh this resolution allows the district to um find a chamber dues chamber Awards Banquets uh rotary Optimus Kiwanis dues and those Awards Banquets as well these these organizations um support the district in a monetary uh contributions and um we we participate with them as well yeah so as
020you know one of our district goals is to partner with Community organizations and Civic organizations and so as we talk about the Child Advocacy Center Rancho Brazos different groups throughout the community the GISD is a partner with this helps to to continue that partnership and so we ask for your approval of the resolution because those funds spent are for the public good and Mr Whitfield those organizations also don't most of them have scholarship programs specifically for our students that yes ma'am I know for a fact optimists do and I know the kiwan is due for a fact okay thank you rotary does as well rotary um other items to be did that satisfy you in this craft yes I did I just wanted a dollar amount on that to know what you're dealing with no
021problem thank you okay anything else to pull out please deficit back and find it here you go this is what you're looking for you're right thank you page 27 that's what I needed I went past it um this month once again we had very um a great deal of support from our community van Griffin Kia donated 501 to our robotics team at high school era Feed and Seed and Ranch donated two thousand dollars to the ghs FFA chapter for t-shirts back of PTO donated a thousand twenty one dollars for t-shirts and lunch uh Christmas of the Christian Brothers donated one hundred dollars to human resources and they are sponsoring our customer care awards that we will give our employees in the district and fidget chicks donated AMS special ed Learning Materials in the amount of
022one thousand dollars so once again our community and folks that help our school came up with four thousand six hundred and twenty two dollars far advancing things for our kids so make sure you tell those folks that we thank them for their support any other items to be brought out at this time Madam president I knew that we passed the consent agenda items as presented in August 2nd okay Mr Jackson made a motion Dr McDonald second all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous Madam president there are resolutions for those who make those resolutions available to the public or to Adam from The consent agenda if they are interested in the same okay okay moving on we have consider mou between Granbury ISD and the Texas commission of law enforcement T
023Cole Mr Clark thank you madam president Dr Glenn and trustees um you have before you a memorandum of understanding between GISD and Texas commission on law enforcement this is a memorandum that uh through a grant that uh T Cole got back in 2018 is able to reimburse districts in the school Marshall program for some of their expenses it's pretty expensive to get these Marshals trained and certified by the state and so the state is helping out with some of that through this memorandum of understanding specifically they will reimburse us for our L3 psychiatric certifications and also for ammunition that we expend in the training of these Marshals which just in the last couple of months we've probably expended close to 7 500 rounds and those of L3 tests that are done they're done yearly they're
024done uh every time that you are certified originally or every two years when you are recertified so School Marshals are on the same cycle as all other law enforcement as far as the recertification so that's every two years and it ends uh the last day of August every year so before you go to a a recertification you have to have a fresh new L3 psych eval and that is how much about 250 dollars a person okay and all of our uniformed and non-uniform school Marshals have to have that done yes ma'am excellent okay do I hear a motion yeah Madam president I'll move that we approved the mou between Granbury ISD and T Cole and I'll second have a motion made by Mr Jackson seconded by Mr Moore all those in favor please raise your
025hand that is unanimous thank you very much thank you hey moving on consider approval of the 2022-2023 district Improvement plan Ms Clark yes okay board members you have the district Improvement plan and the at a glance in front of you this was a collaborative effort between all of the directors and Jimmy Dawson and myself to put the goals and the strategies for all of the different departments and the improvements we'd like to realize the school year um if you look at the I'd really like to stress um at the at a glance from the accountability numbers changing from last year to this year especially in the academic growth area we made a concerted effort on all campuses to individualize instruction and really look at those gaps that students were coming back after some of the
026interruptions and learning and so the biggest gains were realized in that academic growth area and you can see it was 19 percent higher than um than the year prior so um that's a testament to our campuses our campus leadership and the hard work that those teachers put in and I did not want to do this I'll get to brag on it a little more with the taper later on in the year but I wanted to point that out today even with the great scores from last year you can see in the district Improvement plan there's a focus on academic Improvement still we're going to make an emphasis on the writing component because they're changing the Star Format across all the curriculum so you've also maybe noticed the attention to attendance retention of staff increase training
027and support for staff members to include substitute teachers expanding community of Partnerships and Safety and Security I did have a question that I wanted to go ahead and answer right now especially in staff retention in our district Improvement plan I I compared State averages in salaries to our GISD but I did not include region 11 so the average GISD teacher makes 55 755 region 11 is about 10 percent higher than that the region 11 salary averages sixty one thousand three hundred one dollars so that was one of the questions that I received and so I just wanted to go ahead and state that now and if you have any other questions I'm happy to answer them Miss Clark I would love for you to really expand on the indicators and how that went up significantly
028and explain what that means for for everybody absolutely so on the at a glance again especially under School quality and Student Success and those numbers are on our federal accountability system and it's a little bit confusing on our at a glance and I don't know if anybody else has been able to see that yet or if we're going to post them later but um last year we were four indicators out of 11. so what that means is they take all of the demographic um the different demographic groups that include all of the the different ethnic groups are low socioeconomic students our special education students our bilingual students and any of those areas that we have um a significant number of students in they will they will look at those numbers specifically and how those students
029are doing on our star tests they work in three different categories achievement growth and Student Success well last year we were four indicators out of 11 but there were no indicators for growth because of the year for covid and so this year there were 22 indicators and we met Federal standard on 17. so we did a really phenomenal job those indicators are put in place so that you don't leave any group behind it's really important that's where some of our goals for our emergent bilinguals are coming from um we're getting more and more emergent bilinguals and GISD and we need to know how to meet their needs better and um you know we have 27 homeless students it's really important to track how they're doing they're probably some of the students that need us the
030most and need our interventions the most our special education students our students with special needs tracking how every everybody and all of the different areas are and in our community tracking our students of poverty that's a significant population for us and so we need to make sure that we're filling any gaps educationally as well as meeting their needs when they're at school so thank you so much for speaking into that because when I look at those numbers I was so pleased and it really does speak to you Educators out there and the leadership at each campus thank you guys that's massively huge thank you if there are no other questions then it'll be my recommendation to you all to accept the district Improvement plan as presented I just have one comment uh Tammy I think
031it's incredible I think our people out there need to understand that you took the Democrat demographics and we are now at 57.07 percent low SES students in this District explain SCS those are kids that um for your reduced price lunches they are the lower socioeconomic students in this district and I want to congratulate you for addressing those very specifically y'all have taken that set of demographics and it's not it's not based upon ethnicity it's simply poverty in this district and thank you all for taking the time to really look at how we can best help those kids absolutely and thank you very much and thank you for the the answers yes ma'am yeah I'd always say Miss Clark I know a lot of work goes into this report uh thank you for putting it together
032uh very well done also to your left Jimmy Dawson we know he works incredibly hard uh as you do with principals throughout the year to make sure that we achieve these goals we already recognize the the principles tonight for their leadership and hard work but at the end of the day as we kind of reflect back on the last couple of years and nationally we look at some of the districts that have really struggled academically the gains we've made the credit really has to go not only to our curriculum department but to those teachers that are in the classroom fighting hard working hard pushing through on a daily basis we got great Educators in here uh not just in the room tonight but across GISD that they love our kids they pour into our kids
033and and so at the end of the day these scores were a reflection of their hard work the hard work of our students and our parents who we collaborate with so thank you for the presentation Miss Clark but that means that we approved the District Improvement plan has presented and I will second okay motion by Dr Harrington seconded by Dr McDonald all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous and just for y'all out there the packet that we looked at for this was 110 pages long lots of data that they gave us really looked at everything imaginable so excellent work thank you okay moving on consider approval of targeted Improvement plan for Backus Elementary Miss Clark yes thank you so Julie row leader along with her administrative team have worked really
034hard um in concert with the service center to put together the targeted Improvement plan for their two years of comprehensive support that was a result of the of the star test results from 2019 with the interruptions to the support cycle last year was their first year of a mandatory two-year support cycle the improvements that were made by this amazing Bacchus team their admin and their teachers are due to their attention to the these prioritized Focus areas this year they're going to look to improve effective classroom routines and instructional strategies by taking their instructional coaching that they worked on last year and made so many games with a step further they're going to intentionally coach on increasing the rigor for our students and then the other effective schools Focus area they're going to Target will be
035tightening the campus practices and policies that support high expectations shared ownership for success and the safe and productive environment this team will continue to hone their Texas instructional leadership skills with the goal of completing this targeted intervention at the end of this year as an a campus so that is their goal and I'm excited to watch and keep working with them but watch their continued hard work in progress so I'm answer I'm happy to answer any questions and I actually tagged Melissa ship who's here in case you have any questions that I am going to toss to her for the Backus targeted Improvement plan work and I know she can handle anything you throw away she sure can are there any questions I just want to brag on them that campus has really done a
036terrific job and kudos to every one of them involved because I've gotten parents more involved they've given up Saturdays to tutor that given after schools to tutor thank you all for loving those kids those kids needed Lebanon thank you I'm standing up for you and with that do I have a motion Madam president I move that we approve the targeted Improvement plan for Backus Elementary as presented thank you and a second I second it go ahead hold second all right Ms Gore has made the motion Mr Moore has seconded all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous moving on consider resolution stating review of investment policy designation of investment officers approval of independent sources of investment training and approval of qualified Brokers Dash dealers Mr Whitefield thank you madam president board
037in front of you you do have the approval of the action item for investment policy according to the tech to the public funds investment act uh and Granbury ISD policy CDA the investment policy and the investment strategy shall be reviewed not less than annually attached to Granbury isd's adopted CDA legal and CDA local I have reviewed the policies and to ensure that they are in compliance with current law and current procedures the attached policies represent the current law and the current practices of the District administration in regard to Investments the board shall adopt a written instrument according to CDA legal sorry the board shall adopt a written instrument stating that it has reviewed the investment policy and investment strategies and that a the written instrument so that adopted shall record any changes made to either
038the investment policy or investment strategies there were no changes in view of these requirements a resolution is attached for consideration of the board it is administration's recommendation that the board adopt the attached resolution stating the board has reviewed the Investments policies and strategies an adopted list of Brokers and has designated investment officers and has approved the independent sources for investment training as required by investment policy and Texas government code thank you Mr Widefield and I'll just add on to that that both Mr Whitefield and I will be in investment training tomorrow uh as as annually required by the state of Texas and uh the policy uh presented before you there are no changes to it but uh I will let you know it is one of the most conservative investment policies that can be adopted
039by a school district so we definitely make sure that we're good stewards when it comes to investing public funds I'd just like to make a comment uh by board policy we have to have a report on our investment Ever every quarter we get one every month thank you Mr Whipple I know that it's a lot of work but thank you so much with that I move that we approved the board policies as presented and the resolution attached stating that we have indeed uh reviewed them and approved them on second okay motion by Dr Harrington second prime minister all those in favor raise your hand and that is unanimous moving on consider approval of chapter 49 agreement for purchase of attendance credits Mr Whitefield thank you madam president board in front of you for your approval
040is the approval for agreement for purchase of attendance credits each year the district executes an agreement of two purchase attendance credits the voters approved this agreement as one of the methods in which GISD can reduce its welfare student as required by chapter 49 of the Texas Education Code the agreement is attached for the board to review and approval the board did approve the delegation of authority to the superintendent at the August 22nd meeting that specific language was used to approve that action the board will now need to approve the agreement for the purchase of attendance credits as a method to reduce a District's wealth per student to be to be recorded in minutes it is administration's recommendation that the board of trustee is approved the agreement for the purchase of attendance credits with the Texas
041Education Agency for the 22-23 school year comments questions pretty routine matter I'll make the motion to approve the chapter 49 agreement for the purchase of attendance credits thank you Dr McDonald motion made by Mr Jackson seconded by Dr McDonald all those in favor please raise your hand and that is unanimous all right [Music] moving on to reports uh first uh 2022 2023 annual report of continued education hours for board trustees each year before the election of school board members it must be presented to the public how much continuing education each School Board member has had so at this time I'm going to read off from the script that I'm given exactly what each one has had all right under State Board of Education rule completing require continuing education each year of service is a basic
042obligation and expectation of any sitting board member as board president I am required to announce the names of each member who has completed required exceeded required and is deficient in it so first we all have to take a Local District orientation when you first become a new board member the following first-year board members have completed the Local District orientation training Melanie Graft and Courtney Gore orientation to the Texas Education Code this is also for new board members the following first-year board members have completed the orientation to Texas Education Code training Melanie Graft and Courtney Gore next we have a team building class that we need to take the board president let's see the board president announces as applicable the following have taken this completed the annual team building training Dr Barbara Harrington Mark Jackson Mike
043Moore Dr Paula McDonald Courtney Gore Melanie Graft Barbara Townsend and Dr Jeremy Glenn all members of the team of eight have taken this training additional continuing education hours first year board members need to take 10 hours of training those who are past their first year end up taking five hours of training so the following board members have completed the additional continuing education requirements Dr Barbara Harrington Mark Jackson Mike Moore Dr Paula McDonald Courtney Gore Melanie Graft Barbara Townsend all school board members have completed their additional training evaluating student academic performance and setting goals this is another class that we need to take every two years this was the year of the training the following board members have completed this training on evaluating student academic performance and setting goals Dr Barbara Harrington Mark Jackson Mike Moore
044Dr Paula McDonald Courtney Gore Melanie Graft Barbara Townsend all school board members completed identifying and Reporting abuse trafficking and other maltreatment of children this is another course that is taken every two years and this was our year to take it the following board members have completed this training Dr Barbara Harrington Mark Jackson Mark Moore Dr Paula McDonald Courtney Gore Melanie Graft and Barbara Townsend all members have taken this course school training another one that we have to complete every two years this was our year to take it the following board members have completed this training Dr Barbara Harrington Mike Moore Dr Paula McDonald Courtney Gore Melanie Graft Barbara Townsend the following board member is coming off of the board and is exempt from this and that is Mark Jackson and he should stop smiling okay
045all board members exceeded continuing education so I am telling you that Dr Barbara Harrington exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by eight hours board member Mark Jackson exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by six hours board member Mike Moore exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by six hours board member Dr Paula McDonald exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 10 hours board member Courtney Gore exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by five hours board member Melanie Graft exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 7.5 hours and board member Barbara Townsend exceeded the required amount of continuing education training by 11 hours and that finishes my report we now move on to discussion of school board communication Dr Barbara Harrington thank you madam president
046make sure that your folks can hear me in the back because again last week you can hear me okay last month we said someone someone they said they couldn't hear me uh I've asked for this to be put on the board because I saw social media post called just the facts that Melanie Graf put on adding social media and it talked about isolation and the isolation she felt and it made me so sad I'm really really sad as I looked at it and I read through the post and I thought you know Melanie posted that because that is her perception she really built that way and I guess perception is more important than reality so tonight I'm speaking for myself because you know how I feel about other people speaking to me and because I
047realize that through your perceptions you are isolated and I'm so sorry you feel that way as I looked at your statements to see what I might do to make things better I came away with some questions in your statement that was meant for your supporters and I'm going to quote you he said I would like to add that I am proud to stand for you for truth fact and principles it will always be a fight against those who do not information isolation from these members shows that like show lack of accountability and eludism I will tell you that I agree that it's important that we tell the truth that we present the facts but we stand on the principles and accountability but my perception of all of my fellow board members is different from what
048that suggests that you feel like we are this is beginning my 18th year and the single is a board member during those years I probably not only served with q6 but probably a couple of dozen other folks and everyone with whom I've served on this board I've considered them my brother or sister in Christ [Music] if I needed something then if I need something now I would not hesitate to pick up the phone and call them and I think that the response would be very positive and so I'm great that you don't feel that close this without we haven't always agreed even those of us that are sitting at this table I can recall a very detailed 3-3 split when it came to whether or not I was going to raise my hand but we
049always respected each other from what we brought to this table because each of us brought our strengths to this table as a as I view my fellow board members actions from this open board table I think that they reflect truth honesty a desire to do what's best for kids I think they all speak to the adherence to that into facts and accountability and as I look at our all of our behavior and executive session I think we'll do the same thing there while we protect the sanctity of executive session I think it's important that what happens in executive assessing stays there I've been even called a legal Watchdog by one of my fellow board members because I refuse to sit my executive session that is outside the limits of the law of what we can
050discuss and I think that our folks have shown the same values in the executive sessions but again that's my perception I mean I want to make that clear um you spoke to elitism and I wonder what in the world would make you think that we are elitist our educational background well not hardly because some of the brightest people I know a much more educated or less educated but they're very bright people and for me personally public schools have made a difference for me I went to 24 different schools my first six years and I know that when I entered a new school I went back to a return to the school teachers thought oh my gosh not again because I was in one of those Turn Style doors but after I finished high school even
051my uh undergraduate work was done the first two years in a community college and then I finished my bachelor's degree in a public university so I'm not sure [Music] what the basis of the lead infant might be but I board members as a group this is the only place that we all show up and socialize now we have board members that serve in Civic clubs on the Chamber of Commerce a couple of other of us even go to the same church that did long before we got on the board uh maybe in study groups together for Bible study groups but all the volunteer programs to support the community and most of us show up sometimes to those all all at the same time all of those organizations are open to anybody anybody can join those
052those are not elitist organizations and so while I'm confused because I don't know of anybody on this board that belongs to a secret social immediate group uh that only connection is here on the board again was I would like to be a legitimate part of a team of the team on the school board but I am isolated and left out of communications I am not privy to information I did some serious soul-searching on that understand your caution about not breaking law because uh you you have been very careful and expressed your concern about not being involved in any activity that would violate a law when we went to school trying School Board training this summer and because we were all pardon me all right there we had a table we sell it for the eight
053of us and when you were absent the first day and I approached you about it and you said you had been advised that it was illegal for us to all be together there after we showed we were shown the law but said that it was absolutely legal for us to be together there you told me you didn't know where our table was and I sought you out and gave you our Cable number and you told me that you had run into a friend who was sitting alone but in all of those meals we did not get to socialize with you because you were someplace else and I was still sad about it he's given us directive to correspond only by email [Music] and I understand your concerns about the legalities there and I know that
054if it's someone challenges to us and as far even our personal phones that any email any text messages whatever they are subject to open records so I understand as a new board member that you would be very conscious I just know that it's very easy to misunderstand words that are written even with my own family I will send an email and I think I know what I said and they think that they know what I said and it's not always as clear as face-to-face communication [Music] and I love the fact that that some of us are allowed to lose telephones I was really glad to call Mark Jackson after his surgery and as children sent me if there was anything I could do for them during that recovery time and social media actually I'm I
055am quoting from your social media but but I will confess that it was sent to me a screenshot which sent to me by somebody else because I am blocked from your social media and I'm not sure why but again those are my perceptions and so I'm thinking okay this is how I perceive the isolation what can I do where do I go from here where do we as a board go from here and then you're I want to quote another statement you said quote I received very few of if any emails from the board president [Music] so I went back to May and I have received eight group emails from our president two in May 3 in June one in July two in August nothing in September and October and all the board members who
056tagged on those including you uh and we talked she talked about subjects such as Robert throughout the body the convocation information an invitation to grandmother young professionals new trust t-shirts the nfli minutes correction superintendent evaluation board operating procedures and clarification of Hospital 547. and everybody on this board got those it is my perception that the majority of the correspondence we get comes from the superintendent and his Administrative Assistant and all of us are in the loop for that and I'm really thankful that if any of us ask a question he responds to all of us so what every one of us has the information that from a question that has been asked let's move on to the next quote you set it up here if I appear uninformed now you know why who do I
057get my information well I get my information first of all from the superintendent's correspondence but most of my information comes from the board book that we get both of which you receive I spend at least six hours every month and this this month a little more than that reading the information provided by the different folks that prepare the board book it takes a lot of time for an item to be researched and information to be placed on the agenda for our meetings so that we can make informed decisions and whether they end a gender item comes from one of us or from one of them it requires a great deal of attention if we're going to really have the information with every agenda Adam we get a memo with the summary of why the item's
058been placed on that and uh stated recommendation plus we get data that supports it all also included in all the rock of the documentation it's any information that we might need to have that so that's the only two places I get information I get information from the superintendent I get information from the board book and if I had any questions about any of it I contact the superintendent or our contact Miss Clark uh the person responsible for the item ahead of time so that they will know that that I have a concern in New School Board training the importance of that board book was stressed and I've over the last 12 years I've done the training so I would sit back and dance myself did I fail someway and not stressing the point with you
059and Courtney I I don't know I don't have the answers but Melanie as you look at my perception of how our communication is not working I am absolutely sincere and asking you what do you think I can do to correct this isolation to make you feel a part of the team because quite frankly I am I don't know and I have asked this be put on the open Agenda because I think it's important for you to know in front of your people and everybody else's people that there are those of us on this board that want to reach out to you to include you and to make you feel a part of this team of eight and as the senior member both the experience and in age I felt like I needed to reach out
060to you and say I really am sorry that you feel like you're about you are isolated and in fact you are and how can we make that different that ends my report I pressed it so I'm glad this is on the agenda because back on June 2nd in the back room I ask that this kind of thing we discussed out here in public and I was refused twice and I would hope that you do think that integrity and telling the truth is important because if you remember correctly two meetings ago after a school board meeting you told me your precise words were if you ever grandstand again I will call you out and publicly embarrass you yes you did yes you did so I'm glad that this has come to the front and we all
061know that some of the things that were said in that back room on June 2nd for an hour and 45 minutes they were not nice so to sit here and to pretend that I'm the problem I'm so glad you can get things on the agenda and don't even sit there and say that you didn't say that to me two mediums ago that those were exactly your words if you ever grandstand again Melanie I will call you out and publicly embarrass me and then you did at the last one you you accused me of being unethical because I stood behind an In God We Trust sign and you even accuse me of taking donations which I never ever did you didn't do your homework on that Melanie I'm not done this is my time you had
062a long time I'm not done you say you want to get along but at the same time I also remember you making a motion where you denied homeschool children the right to participate in UIL activities those are strong words strong words and I'm glad it was denied because my son was playing with the good Christian team Mountain Stephenville so thank you [Music] why did I post that because I started a forum about a week ago where I watched some opponents sit up there I'm not up for re-election but you would think that I am my kids are sitting with me and people are sitting with their lying she doesn't she doesn't accept emails she doesn't accept phone calls she doesn't accept texts that's not true because the email I posted it specifically said due to
063the large volume of phone calls and texts I get please send me emails at this email address that's truth that's facts I put that out there for people to see um I don't know how you're accessing my Facebook account because we're not friends on Facebook so that's kind of creepy but that's there um email is the most transparent way to communicate when you're in government because everything that I say everything that is communicated back and forth these people can go see they get to see it they can see everything that I've ever said and I need to be transparent and I believe in that and I believe the public should know so yes I do prefer to only communicate via email and a lot of that came out because of what happened on June 2nd
064as far as communication is the email that I'm getting I started getting communication again and thank you very much the night of the Forum that's when I started getting emails again and it was actually titled can we talk so why would you title something can we talk if we've been talking um and then there's these assumptions I love how you make assumptions that I don't study my board book but I do enjoy studying my board book you can talk to my husband you can talk to my kids because they're very frustrated because I don't have the time to spend with them for four days so that's a very unfair are you saying you don't get emails [Music] I just stated that I just started getting emails as of the night of the Forum so you
065didn't get any of the emails that she just stated about that I recall so you don't get the emails with the board book information you don't get I get the emails with the board book information that's what I'm asking about yes okay so you do actually get that okay so you do get all the emails that we get well I don't know exactly what you get I can't wait for that we're all in the same group it's all in there you can see who all gets those I get the board of emails but there may be some how did you get anything can I get those from did you get any emails that I've sent you yeah I got emails from you the last two days no back in June and on I've sent you
066several asking about the concerns that you've made known [Music] regarding um I've gotten some of those yeah I haven't got any responses so I just was wondering maybe you weren't getting them because that's kind of what you were saying so I just wanted to make sure you were actually getting the emails I get some but I'm pretty sure not all now let me just for one thing the the evening that I had the discussion with you right here at the podium was the the evening that I told you that you had spoken about but I was gonna feel or think about something I did not use grandstand I said do not speak for me again until you're unless you're quoting me because you can quote me on anything but you can't ever suggest how I'm
067going to feel about something and that's what I've said to you and here's the thing you can perceive or assume what you want as far as my post go but I do have freedom of speech and so for you to chastise me for what I may post or say you don't have that right I just need you not I need not to speak for you I need not to speak for the other members of the board I I am that's what I was referring to you that evening when I spoke to you about that I will go back to my my question what can we do to make this better trust is armed trust was broken in June 2nd just like I told my kids it takes a lot of time to gain that back
068and that trust was broken on June 2nd so that always in your court you're going to have to answer that question but trusted trust was broken on that day and I don't I don't trust you and I don't trust the others because of what was done so so that was it was shameful so you don't have to figure that out so so just to make clear it's all of us that you do not trust all of you that were present that day in the armor would happen behind closed doors you're well aware Madam president if I had the microphone for just a minute or two since I'm the lame duck trustee here and probably can speak my mind freely just just three quick observations obviously communication this board is very poor whether it's one member
069or more it doesn't matter I'm the second most tenured trustee on this board is I'm coming off I'm also saddened I use that same word that we've had this kind of discourse and that's why I put it in my prayer to the Lord and I've been thinking about that it's been on my heart quite a bit I was a president at that June 2nd meeting I was sitting in the yard that night so but just the bits and pieces I've heard it's unfortunate it came to that I would first say my first point is on communication whether one of us wants to be communicated primarily through email text or call really it makes a more difficult problematic at times but we should honor that but I know we have a lot of elected officials out
070here in the audience and it's been criticized if we weren't a text or call but I would challenge any elected official out there if you've never made one call to someone else you sit on a board with or sent one text please stand up and that's what I thought communication is key folks that's what you know we in the school board we call it team of eight because we include the superintendent we've got to talk to get the people's business done to me it's kind of panty and ridiculous to hear you know if one person doesn't want to be communicated with a certain way well okay but we've got stacks of emails that we can prove that everyone was in that string I've got a text on my phone still from Melanie back in May
071on a topic that was coming before the board and in fact it's very informational and helpful and she invited me to pass it on to other trustees that's not a violation of the law now maybe a certain conditioner out there that would disagree with me in quote chapter and verse but I don't think that violates Toma we're not deliberating we're not voting on anything we're not trying to control or cajole or Force someone to vote a certain way we're searching ideas and information and perspectives and that's how you get things done so our constitution was written it took almost three months if I remember my history right for that document to be written because there's so many Divergent views so let's kind of get over ourselves so my first Point again is communicate and communicate
072openly and pretty lean honestly and with Integrity I mean there was a time when I came on this board in where if you had Integrity you were abstaining your community it doesn't matter if you're a man or woman if you had a heart for kids you could get elected to the school board today it's you know you have an RD or you conservative enough it doesn't make sense to me and I will tell you there have been means and I love you know I've known Melanie and Mike since before her go to Roddy at the Hood County Library I mean I was hurt the sons cub scout leader I've been in her home she's been in my home I consider her a friend even today but the point is is we we have just got
073to get past all this division so that's Point number one communicate and don't be afraid to communicate I was at that conference and Melanie I did go up to your table and said hey we got a seat for you over there you know there's three thousand other trustees in that Ballroom I mean it's no violation of Toma but to your to your defense you did say hey I made a new friend a trustee another District I want to sit with her okay that's fine that's your choice but there were several meals when we had the opportunity to come together as a team of eight and unfortunately it didn't happen my second point and I'll be quick here is I would and this is for everybody I'm not piling on the melody or any one particular
074but use your head we all have our heads we all have our own life experiences we bring to this table and I would just encourage future boards and those who may get elected and and take the seat to to don't be afraid to use your own thoughts don't bring scripts in don't don't take texts from people getting your talking points just you're black people you're intelligent people make your own decisions and finally in the third point is if we keep the focus on the kids we will do what's right God really will make good wise thank you foreign guys will go back and search all the films that say had a lot of time on their hands but there was a board meeting where I counted a dozen times I heard the term public voters
075citizens taxpayers if you just change that word to children kids are students they would have been glorious wonderful statements and I'm not going to criticize that because it's the world we're in if if we're going to be political fine but just say something about the kids every now that thank you folks [Music] let's move on okay just just wanna to close this up there have been a lot of people that have made some mistakes and I will admit that I have to and I hope that we can start Bridging the Gap and get past all this because we have 8 000 students that are depending on us absolutely and from there we will move on to the financial statements for period ending September 30. Mr Whitefield thank you madam president board in front of you
076for your information you have the financial statements for the period ending September 30th 2022. uh these statements include only those transactions between September the 1st and September 30th 2022 and as you can see the revenue collected to date equals 2.33 percent of the budgeted amount compared to two percent in the 21-22 school year the expenditures today represent 10.62 percent of the budget compared to 11.44 in 2122 so notable things on your financials if you were to look at those under investment income the short-term Investments have been fairly lucrative for us so um we've budgeted fairly conservative on that so we will bring that back to you next month with an amendment to increase that budget for Investments because we are making more money and we'll talk about investments in just a minute um you can
077see under um 34 which is our transportation we are spending a little bit more in fuel in this September and then under 61 function 61 we do we have a a person who was a full-time interpreter that person is no longer a full-time interpreter that's the reason for that reduction in that function and I can answer any questions if you have any about those go ahead and go on to the cash flow thank you madam president board in front of you you do have the cash flow and investment report for September 30th 2022 you can see that we did make a total of 62 800 in investment interest investment income for the month of September we are moving away from the long-term investment as it stated in your memo and moving in more into short-term
078Investments uh the one long term we still have is uh the Ameritrade and we still have uh seven more maturity payments on that and the last one will be in January of 2024. and I can answer any questions on that if you have any [Music] no I don't know we'll keep going thank you madam president what are the last last report that you have in front of you is for the report of categorical expenditures between 50 and 100 000 as far as per board policy CH local we have to report those to you um the sheet that you have on there is CDW and the amount of fifty nine thousand one hundred and forty dollars and Thirteen Cents Canon Solutions for sixty seven thousand nine hundred and sixty eight dollars and thirty six cents micro
079share for a total amount of ninety one thousand five hundred eighty four dollars Quaver Music for sixty three thousand dollars in near pot for fifty thousand three hundred and forty dollars for a total budget impact 332 000 32.49 for the month of September thank you very good thank you sir thank you okay at this point we are now going back into public comment and we will do the non-agenda items we have 13 Madam president so we will allow five minutes per and the first one up is Zeb alum and Mr Owen if you could state where you're from [Music] my address well just the city will be good alumni the 1515 Berry Patch here in Granbury I have a junior at ghs and he is also the president of the k club um I was
080also a cook at the 50 fellows fundraiser for the GISD this weekend it was a great event that unfortunately some of the candidates and board members did not attend but I'm here to talk to the candidates in incumbents about the role that you may have depending on the results of the upcoming election if you haven't done so I encourage you to reread the board member manual posted for GISD a few of the high points that I want board members that the board members pledge include these statements I will respect the majority decision as the decision of the board when a person is in an elected position they must work within the set parameters of the position when a person attempts to work outside of the defined parameters that's what's known as a dictator and when
081you call in law enforcement to try to force your own individual well into the population that is encouraging a police state number two I will refuse to surrender judgment to any individual or group at the expense of the district as a whole and also I will base my decision on fact rather than supposition opinion or public favor your vote is not for sale and you're not to be influenced by the people who want you to push a certain narrative do your research and vote with your brain what not what anyone else tells you to do there are far too many people in our community who think they can buy or influence the votes of somebody they supported for a board position your vote is not for sale I will diligently prepare for and attend board
082meetings I will tell the truth unfortunately this one seems tough one for a few candidates and others CRT SEL and Common Core do not have a foothold in GISD they never did and otherwise saying so is a lie but we still have folks raving about it and I don't think it's just ignorance but I guess there isn't any rule saying that a candidate can't say whatever is necessary to win an election if you can't buy buy the board member manual please leave because this is not your board the taxpayers of Granbury the children of Granbury Dynasty and the students in GISD deserve better than the nonsense currently being propagated if you can't keep executive session discussion in executive session this is not your board if your plan is to unilaterally attempt to make curriculum changes
083because you feel like you have some loyal High Ground go join the Texas legislature this is not your board if you are not going to be able to accept the majority decision of the board and your plan is to make waves and stir descent this is not your board the board member manual and the bylaws would then Define the parameters of the trustee job and the expected Behavior if you cannot fully adhere to the limits and expectations you need to resign from the board or remove yourself from the campaign the taxpayers the parents of GISD children and the children themselves deserve better thank you thank you Mr Ellen is there a problem with our timer okay you had it on your phone that time okay just want to make sure that we're being fair to
084everybody and thank you okay next up Weston Brown and state where you're from from San Diego California thank you hello everyone my name is Weston Brown I was born and raised in Texas and I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak here tonight a few months ago I saw my mom Monica Brown standing at this Podium calling for the removal of books and asking for the school to follow the guidance of a religious leader to determine what information students can access from a young age I was taught to give a voice to people who were disregarded Elevate the marginalized and love my neighbor today I strive to be the person I needed when I was young someone who would stand up speak out and protect the kid that felt alone growing up we read the Bible
085cover to cover from the earliest age I can remember we repetitively read graphic depictions of sex violence genocide sexual assault and incest however topics related to dating safe sex drugs alcohol or sexual identity were deemed inappropriate or too heavy to discuss at 15 I was able to access the internet and slowly started piecing together answers to the questions that I had about queerness gender and sex I was profoundly alone on that Journey I knew I didn't fit the blueprint for the life that my parents were grooming me for I wanted so badly to know that someone like me could find peace happiness and love I would have given anything to read a book with a character that felt the feelings I felt asked the questions I couldn't ask and learn the lessons that I needed
086to learn it's been nearly five years since I came out to my family I'm not allowed to join in family celebrations or holidays or be a part of my eight younger siblings lives solely because I'm not straight I believe my parents response is due to a lack of education and representation afforded to them during their early years [Music] this left him confused and their confusion led to fear and their fear has led to a family brutally torn I'm here today to implore you to listen to librarians Educators and students not those speaking from a religious perspective or at the bidding of a political group schools should represent all students regardless of race gender identity sexual orientation or background we expect you to lead the way in creating an environment that gives each student their best
087shot having the information they need to thrive in and connect with the world around them if you choose to marginalize difference and remove representation you will only cause harm history will remember your decisions and demand accountability show the world that cranberry will not succumb to fear the public shine brightly leading the way for the next generation of Texans thank you plus thank you Mr Brown next up we have Patty Cisco please state where you're from um from Granbury thank you and this is real short y'all be happy in my decades as an educator I experienced many many School Board election campaigns the candidates talked about important issues fiscal responsibility school safety student achievements facilities Innovative programs one thing they never mentioned was their political party why because the school board election is supposed to be
088a non-partisan election candidates should be elected foremost because of their heart for every single kid and teacher in the district everybody gay or straight Christian or non-Christian white or non-white rich or poor special ed or gifted and talented or all of those in between [Music] if you are wanting to promote your personal agenda you have no business being on the school board if you're running to stack the deck with people of your personal political ilk you have no business being on the school board if you're running as a stepping stone to higher office you have no business being on the school board if you're running on a platform that rejects any child because he doesn't fit your narrow-minded view of the world or you're trying to convert children to your narrow-minded view of the world
089you have no business being on the school board if the number one selling point of your political campaign sign is that you are a republican conservative that's a red flag to me because that is not what the school board election is all about this School Board Race should be about what is best for kids all kids and if you can't accept every student parent and teacher in this District perhaps you should drop out of the race next up we have Monica Brown [Music] thank you and I knew that was coming what came tonight it's no surprise not all true but it is true that we have said no in our home for what we expect in our family raising other children and it's all it's beyond being out of order sexually whether that matters to
090any of you or not but back to the discussion of school board communication you would go a long way with this community by allowing each board member to put items on the agenda when you call that emergency special order meeting and you set it up so that someone couldn't put something on the agenda you upset quite a bit of the community over that you silence the voice of the voters who voted for melanograph and Melanie thank you for standing up this has been incredibly hard I wouldn't even be here except that I was involved in hosting large robotic tournaments 50 plus students from independent school districts All Over Texas 30 Independent School Districts sincerely serving and volunteering like many of you do and I don't really disagree with all of you I believe everybody I
091really believe everybody here is a believer in their basic and again does that matter is it my cough or is it normal okay um [Music] what I was asked to do was to review books and if they had sexually explicit content I was to identify them unfortunately for me I got on a committee of people who refused to do that Chris Tackett did a really good job of publishing everybody's voting record and the public can look at granburytexasbooks.org read the excerpts look for the sexually explicit content and then go back and see who voted on that and you know the mindset of the leaders you're praising here in Granbury I'd like to praise him too I wish they had come back and apologized and if they had stood up themselves and said hey you don't
092really know at a meeting you don't put people on timers you don't ask them to review books that are 300 to 600 pages long and hand them a review and say glance at the book read this review and vote on it you don't do that it's unethical it's unprofessional and it didn't have the kids in mind so when when Chris and Mindy Tackett started saying stating publicly that this is about lgbtq it never was there were sexually explicit books that had to do with animals beasts like creatures having sex with girls there were books about teachers on display in Granbury High School with naked pictures on the front emphasizing minors having sex with their teachers and I said something about it what's wrong with that in granberry to say something about that and say get
093that book out of there why is that there why can't we all agree on that it's not book Banning it's boundaries for student libraries for minors for goodness sake you can go right now to Granbury public library and get the book tilt that this district has now decided is inappropriate it's inappropriate for student libraries and I'm not going I'm not ashamed of that I'm not afraid to say that is the truth it's a fact it doesn't even take a Believer to notice it okay so Chris Tackett did publish everyone's voting record again you can see it or Granbury Texas spokes.org again any trustee should be free to set items on the agenda tilt is in the back of the story in one of our community members put it back there the books here and 40
094copies if you want to read it if you don't want to read it there it's online granburytexasbooks.org and you can see the mindset somebody put a lot of books in this system that aren't supposed to be there and thank you Paula for saying that you have set up a system that will prevent the bad books from going in the problem we had was no one cleaned up the library that was the problem so you'll let students go in this fall and you say well we'll email the parents and tell them they got the book you've got the book The Glass Castle and you say they have a choice well Leah Dawson told me in writing we're not going to remove that book because the kids get a choice well how do they even know to
095choose that book y'all need to pay attention to that so instead of letting it be challenged it was challenged but oh that's not our library that's in our literature Circle so we're not going to listen to the public complain about it and discuss it send us back your checklist tell us why it's educational tell us why it's appropriate so we can understand your mindset you do that you're going to have the public go okay maybe that's because it has some truth in that book right maybe it's a holocaust book with nudity all through it and violence maybe we need to read that I had books like that on my shelf at home right now I have books in my house that discuss major leaders in our community that were lesbians yes Weston's right we read
096the Bible cover to cover but we never had sexually explicit just as an example you know in the Scripture it says Adam knew Eve that's not the same as saying he stuck his dick in her body and that's what you've got in your library listen that's what you've got y'all is in your library it's in your library y'all I'm gonna go now I publish it all I publish it all you can see thank you Miss Brown thank you Miss Brown I'll go I'll go I'm sorry about the decisions y'all are making it's pretty sad to watch it is disgusting that's explicit Jennifer bloodwell [Music] foreign [Music] state where you are from hi I'm Jennifer Bloodworth I'm from here in Granbury I also teach here in Granbury I don't have any of those fun words [Music]
097um normally I would stream this this meeting I'm usually at home tucked in bed pretty soon after this after teaching all day but I wanted to come here tonight to tell you the board members that you were doing a heck of a job every day when I go to work I work with kids that's my business that's what I want to do that's what I went to school to do it's what I'm a professional doing and you let me do that you let me go in and help kids have a better life that's what I'm supposed to do what I don't do is talk about my political affiliations and who is a republican who is a conservative I don't care and neither today they need people up here that are going to fight for them
098and give them what they need so every decision you make makes it possible for us to either do our job or not it makes it possible for our kids to learn or not so I appreciate this board that's sitting here because for the last seven years you have made it possible for me to do something good for my kids to make sure they leave my classroom knowing something more than they knew when they walked in and most importantly they know I love them and that we love them because I know that one of the the big things now is we need to get back to teaching Reading Writing and arithmetic I don't know where that came from that was a really long time ago but that's never what school has been about school has always
099been about way more than that including social aspects I don't think that the people that are saying these things even know what the teaks are because there's like one acronym in this state that drives instruction and that's teks that's the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills that I'm required as a teacher in this Texas to teach I have a copy of my fifth grade teacher right here there are 11 different subjects in which I'm required to teach fifth grade students guess what none of them say Reading Writing or arithmetic but they do include things like language arts mathematics science health education physical education art music technology it's not reading writing and arithmetic but that's what's going to get our kids where they need to be so thank you for letting us do that I'm not sure
100where people got the idea that the board sets the curriculum you don't the state did when they passed the teaks and they decided that's what we're teaching that is our curriculum Any teacher that tells you different is sadly mistaken we answer the tea we answer to our legislature if you want to change that I'll help you buy a ticket to Austin but in the meantime here in Granbury we're going to teach the teaks our board is going to make sure that we can do that and as Mark Jackson said you spoke to my heart buddy let's make this about our kids because this is supposed to be about our kids the kids are that are being served in our district don't care how angry you are about not being able to participate in UIL activities
101it was a choice accept it move on I you don't like the books fine continue to challenge them Stacy Brown was pretty um influential in making um the new process to check out those books and make sure that they're appropriate for our kids possible she drove that and so I think that our curriculum Department deserves the recognition for what they're doing so again if you don't like the books continue to challenge they'll continue to take them into consideration and if you don't like what they say don't read it don't know that's the child yet thank you so much board members please continue to do the amazing work that you are doing so that we can do the work that we're doing and I have a Shameless plug our fifth graders were in the Hood County
102news on Saturday okay that's what's important let's focus on that and let's make sure that our kids get the accolades that they deserve Mr Mark Lowry and please state where you're from mark laurium from Granbury Texas and I'm speaking tonight on behalf of us as a concerned citizen wow what a night I think it shows a little lack of leadership which I'll get into a little bit later that this was aired such a late game anyway I went to The Forum this past week and I was really hoping to hear the school board members address the sexually explicit agent appropriate material that are in our schools and have them address why they're still there and what their position was unfortunately that wasn't answered so I struggled on whether I was going to speak tonight struggled
103greatly be quite honest with you because of all that's going on read the book of James chapter 3 talked about curbing careful of the tongue but then my uh my uh Minister yesterday morning preached from Revelation 11 the two prophets who spoke 1260 words and then was murdered by Satan three and a half days later it was rose from the dead and taken to heaven and I thought what message come to speak the truth regardless of what happens to you speak the truth regardless what happens to what I want to come to night address is because it's the only form in this community to speak where you can speak the truth and it goes out to the numbers that are here and also virtually because there's no other format to do that not a form
104not a bait nothing I'm going to address one of the board members who treats Facebook like it's their own little Middle School uh playground she called my wife and I out about an ethical uh issue in her campaign last time is absolutely untrue we never received one question regarding a form and we did not coach anybody on questions that we received received that is a lie only way to put it if it's true then it's an ethical issue and that board member should resign based upon her poor ethics and it's not true she should she should resign because she lied as she treats Facebook just like her open playground so the school board is about integrity it's about leadership and it's about character going forward I don't care really who sits on this board going
105forward it needs to be about integrity character and Leadership and what we demonstrated tonight leadership should have taken care of this division weeks ago behind closed doors and communicated to everybody what was the breakdown and why how can we fix it for the children in that form children weren't mentioned Community was mentioned a lot community you passed a a policy where it takes two board members you wanted to silence the community the supports one board member but at the end of the day I wanted to speak because one board member on Facebook was lying and if you think it's true Madam president then she needs resigned because she cheated last election this is a very important election going forward and whoever sits here needs to have integrity character and right now I'm questioning it because
106I know there's been many times outside the Roberts rules this people have spoken and they've not been held accountable and they've actually said lies from their position without being accountable integrity character and Leadership and I asked regardless of what happens I don't know who's going to win the election I know who does God's Gonna God knows who's going to win this election and whoever he places in that chair needs to take that very seriously and they need to address these issues based upon their faith about those three things that I've just mentioned because right now it's quite disturbing to me and the reason I mentioned earlier because my Integrity is all I've got I have a top secret clearance and I know you know what that means for 30 years with a due diligent investigation
107every five years on myself and partially on my wife I've never been told I was a liar I've never been accused of a character issue and that board member called us Liars or unethical it's unacceptable Madam president you need to address it thank you next up we have Craig Mayberry [Music] and please state where you're from uh cranberry yeah I agree with a lot of these past speakers for the kids for the kids first and foremost on September 14th barely eight weeks ago Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent a plane load of illegal aliens to Martha's Vineyard to visibly demonstrate that the current administration's border policies are utterly worthless and a miserable failure and as you know it ended up with those illegals being rapidly escorted off the island by the military to Cape Cod so
108with that framework and spirit in mind here it goes fasten your seat belts sometimes the movie she showed would be an old porno film from the 70s or 80s women kneeling sucking penises winning tied up or chained up with dog collars around their necks women hanging from trees or upside down naked with their legs apart women being raped beaten up killed once we had to watch a movie watch a woman being slowly cut into pieces her fingers breasts snipped off with garden shears her stomach slid open and intestines pulled out my arms are raised she holds my hands each of mine in each of hers this is supposed to signify that we are one flesh one being what it really means is that she is in control my red skirt is hitched up to my
109waist though no higher below it the commander is what he is is the lower part of my body I do not say making love because this is not what he's doing Serena Joy grips my hands as if it is Sheen not I who is being as if she finds it in either pleasurable or painful and a commander like he is preoccupied like a man who has other things on his mind there's an impatience in his rhythm now but this isn't everyone isn't this everyone's wet dream two women at once I entangle myself for one body stand up and the juice from the commander runs down my legs Simon Garfunkel said The Sound of Silence frankly at this point I was about halfway expecting to be escorted out of here because of the language I do
110not understand how this kind of material which is taken from the handmaid's tale and as of 7 15 a.m this morning there are five copies currently in the ghs library three of which are checked out two are available for your pleasure there is also a graphic novel version of it but fortunately it is not in our library there are many scoffers Skeptics and naysayers out there in Facebook land that says they know porn in ghs library well here you go and after this excerpt you say that ain't porn then the only other question I have for you is what other parts of reality are you so disconnected and completely detached from and need help I do want to give kudos honestly and sincerely to the school school board for taking out the other books of
111this ilk but the job is far from done does It Strike anyone to be particularly odd or is it maybe just me that while these five books are known personally by each School Board member to be present on the Shelf since miss Monica while back provided numerous paper copies to each of you that the three incumbents who are running to hold on to their perceived positions of power felt it more necessary to be out schmoozing with his students and staff and faculty of the schools and then posting the pictures on Facebook as if somehow to say yeah I'm all that and a bag of chips meanwhile these books are still on the shelf or in a classroom waiting to pollute young minds and that is what the three candidates seeking to supplant the three incumbents
112are going to do and as get this crap off his shelf and keep it out thank you there you go Mr Dave eagle [Music] Donna Cole [Music] I've lived here for 50 years GS GISD School Board you've been warned meaning casual advice by several concerned parents and citizens of this community they have informed you of the dangers that our children can Will and have incurred from the availability of the pornography in the GISD K-12 libraries you have been informed on the effect on young minds and the final results and Fallout to a brain exposed to pornography we've been presenting the results in Fallout of these library books to you since the first of the year the year's almost over and you've not addressed the issues regarding all the books we informed you of the 60
113statistics resulting in either our children ending up in professional Council offices divorce attorney offices or prison system because of being exposed to pornography I gave you the Texas Department of Criminal Justice statistics I reminded you of the violent offense sections in the prison system 62.4 percent of the offenders in our Texas prisons are violent offenders 30 percent of the charges consist of sexual assault the highest group is sexual assault against a child which is rape and molesting second is indecency with a child exposing forcing a child to commit sexual acts exactly all of these sexual acts have been mentioned and written in detail in these books I have 22 years of prison and jail Ministry experience we know what their charges are and we ask the question how did you get started on your path
114of crime all have different charges but all have the same answer at a young age I was introduced to pornography at a young age I was introduced to drugs at a young age I was introduced to a pedophile at a young age I was raped at a young age I was exposed to aggravated assault all goes back to the charges of sexual assault highest sexual assault is against a child rape and molesting second is indecency with a child exposing and being forced to commit sexual acts all described in detail in the questionable library books you have been informed of the clear Coral relation between exposure at a young age to pornography and the Fallout resulting from it is a ending up in a professional counselor divorce attorney or prison as parents grandparents and great grandparents
115we need these books out of the K through 12th grade libraries at the first of the year they should have been removed and as I said before when I've spoken here if there was only one book in question then that's one too many in the school library also I want I have time to reference I have been in meetings where I have viewed board members talking down and belittling Melanie and I don't like that that didn't show what needs to be done thank you next up Jerry Doherty [Music] I'm Jerry Doherty and I'm a 30-year resident of Granbury ISD and I'm glad that we opened up the topic of perceptions because what I came here tonight to talk about are my perceptions about this school board and I started eight months ago with some perception
116about the board that I thought the board to be a collection of fundamentally good people who would be reasonable on the issue of pornography in the library after eight months of talking to the board on a regular basis at their monthly meetings I've come to change my perception I now consider this board to be collectively out of touch with this community and you should have had a number of Clues to the fact that you were out of touch by the trustee election that was held in 2021 when an incumbent was defeated and another person was elected to the board and basically The Stance they took is that they wanted to make some changes on this board but obviously the board didn't get the message on that point so a second clue came in the bond
117election in May of 2022 when two propositions were defeated by more than three to one by this community but still the board hasn't gotten the message that they're out of touch with a citizenry of this community we had decisions made to continue wearing masks in the schools after the the medical reasons for that were long gone and now we find that the board has been unable to address the issue of pornography in the library those things are new perceptions of mind that this board is out of touch with the reality of this community but probably the most damning thing that I have come to perceive about the board is the gross lack of discernment on the part of this board you cannot obviously discern between what is good and what is evil you are incapable
118of Discerning the difference between what is moral and immoral you take truth and make it propaganda you Perce you give uh you lack the discernment on whether or not guidance is actually propaganda but probably most dangerous is the fact that you cannot perceive the difference between instruction and cultural engineering and on this book situation you obviously cannot discern the difference between good literature and pornography all of those lack of discernment have caused me to change my mind about the board being a collection of good people who can be reasonably dealt with I now view this board to be an intrinsic threat to this community and especially to the children of this community now I hadn't had this as part of my presentation when I came here but Dr Harrington in full to closure I know
119Dr Harrington for a long time we have had a professional relationship in the past my perception of what you did tonight was the biggest abuse of a school board's time and position that I have ever seen in my 30 years of public education I'm ashamed of what went on here tonight you chose to use a public forum to beat up a person in in a public setting that is shameful and my perception is is that that you have really forfeited the right to continue on this board fortunately for you you have one more year left we'll take care of that this time next year Gladys O'Brien [Music] City I'm a resident in Granbury thank you thank you good evening president Townsend and school board members thank you for all you do I have read six
120books that were and are in the Granbury Library System excuse me the first two books that I read I submitted to the school board a reconsideration of instruction materials form these two books are tilt and fade these two bugs have been removed from the GISD library system for 10 years and for their removal I thank you very much after reading the first two books I must say I'm shocked at the Cavalier attitude of the schools concerning illegal drug use underage drinking profanity explicit Direction excuse me descriptions of sex acts involving minors and sexual assault the electronic versions of tilt and fade both had a contact warning label that indicated its audience should not be under 17 years old yet both of those books were in the Granbury Middle School I would consider both books to
121be outright pornography that being said I am aware that the pornography laws that apply to the general public are not applicable to public schools and that is another issue altogether when I say pornography I don't just mean bad words now these books describe in great detail rape gang rape oral sex anal sex masturbation and I have an example here but I cannot read it I I it's I just can't do it it's too gross do we want our middle school children reading this kind of trash I won't call it literature this is listed in the school library as young adult reading material and I would pose this question when did Middle School youngsters become young adults about three months ago I watched the school board meeting online a very nice lady spoke and she said
122that she had been a librarian for I think she said 25 years and she's now retired and she says something to the effect standing up here I cannot believe these books that people are are upset about are in our libraries well I'm here to tell you they are we all need to wake up these books have no educational value they demean women by portraying them as sex objects to be used and then cast aside they made casual sex seem acceptable while ignoring the consequences consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases autoimmune deficiency syndrome herpes gonorrhea parasitical infections and depression just to name a few the underage slash illegal drinking written about is rampant in these books as is the illegal drug use again nowhere will you read in any of these books the qua the consequences
123of drug use and drinking I had the experience of losing my youngest brother at the age of 17 from a drug overdose last year my brother was a been an alcoholic since he was in high school died of alcohol poisoning both of my brothers started drinking in junior high and doing the easy drugs like marijuana you know in high school and all that both of these books the Tilt and fade incorporate drug and alcohol use throughout the book it is portrayed as being a normal everyday event that everyone does this is not the message we need to be sending to our youngsters I want to reiterate reiterate again both these books have been removed from the Granbury middle school and I'm thankful for that however the question I'm asking is who thought it would be
124productive to put these books in the Granbury Middle School trust me when I say there are more books just like this still in our school libraries thank you for your time and if anybody wants excerpts from the Tilt book They're located on a I put some on the back shelf back there if you want to get some as you exit thank you so much Clarissa Medina [Music] I'm from here in Granbury thank you I was asked to come in read a statement on behalf of Sharon shielander president for the Hood County Republican Club because she is not able to be here this evening she's with her husband in the hospital um a couple of false accusations have been shared in social media lately about how the Republican party and the Republican Club have been biased
125and unfair when it comes to representing candidates and candidate forums hcrc the Hood County Republican Club would like to clarify the false information being shared in the media about how candidates speeches and forums have been conducted the actions of a few to hurt the Republican party and the Republican Club reminds me of the current Biden Administration that wants you to focus on other things instead of the big issues that need to be addressed the Republican party and the Republican Club had been charged with giving questions to some candidates prior to candidate forums and the Republican Club has been accused of being biased and having candidates speak at club meetings Hood County Republican Club wants you to have the correct information prior to going to the polls the Republican Party executive committee did not host a
126form for the School Board Race despite a current board member claiming she got the questions ahead of the Forum this has been confirmed by the chairman at that time David Fisher the Hood County Republican Club did hold a forum but the only person that had a copy of those questions was Sharon the person that wrote this until those questions were handed to the moderator at the start of the Forum the person that claims she had the questions ahead of time is either confused or telling a non-truth all candidates that are members of the Hood County Republican Club are allowed to speak at our meetings two member candidates running for school board Barbara Townsend and Paula McDonald have not attended any club meetings since applying to run again but I'll point out that they did speak
127of the Democrat Party forum time had been scheduled for them to speak at the September meeting if they had been in attendance three of the scoreboard candidates Barbara Townsend Paul McDonald and Billy wonderly chose not to attend the Republican Party candidate forum Terry Lubin and John Mark Graves Place five Jeff Hastings plays six in Karen Lowry plays seven did attend actions speak louder than words that's the end of her statement but I have my own since I still have time remaining I'm going to put together the scenario that was created by perpetuating the lie that certain candidates receive the questions ahead of time to a form that did not even take place last year three of your current board members and one of the candidates running for school board what they did was one create
128a lie to arouse anger hostility and disbelief at how our Republican party would behave this was all done to create a perception then of course those same individuals had to create the response to the lie that was created in the first place the response was to give the perception that these individuals were doing the right thing by not partake participating in a dishonest form this was an attempt to make our Hood County Citizens believe that these candidates would not be participating in a dishonest form this was nothing less than manipulation of our Hood County voters to attend a form but on by the chamber where the candidates would be getting the questions ahead of time thereby giving them proper time to prepare this was allegedly to avoid the hood county executive committee trap of gotcha
129questions on the Fly intended to make a candidate fumble their words and appear untruthful or ignorant of the issues and I'm using terminology that these individuals have excessively used on social media clearly they had no problems getting the questions ahead of time As proved by their attendance to the chamber forum the fact that these individuals were talking out of both sides of their mouths about either not getting the questions ahead of time or getting the questions ahead of time pales in comparison to the fact that all of this all of this was predicated on a lie additionally one of your board members has been involved in both the hood county executive committee and the Hood County Republican Club and knows quite well the extent that these entities are separate and individual she is playing on
130the emotions of the citizens of our County who may not be as involved who don't feel they have the time or the resources to be as involved and may not understand the differences between these organizations this is purposeful manipulation of Perceptions in order to drive a narrative all the while claiming there is no narrative truth matters we need leadership to step out of these sensationalistic wise and be held accountable for those lies and the manipulation of Hood County Citizens foreign [Music] Dr Glenn members of the board Madam president my name is Greg Harrell and I've lived here in the GISD school district for 22 years now and I'm not on Facebook so I don't know anything about that stuff we'll start off by reading you the definition of a trustee taken from Noah Webster's Dictionary
131in 1828 the reason I use the 1828 dictionary is because words tend to change so let's go back and look at what trustee what Noel Webster said of trustee was it's a person to whom anything or business is committed in confidence that he will discharge his duty or two a person to whom is confided the management of an institution as the trustees of the college or of an academy so if we talk about trustees implied in that is that there is a grantor of the trust we somebody gives you the trust to sit on this board right is that correct so who would be the grantor of that trust well it could you could consider it the voters maybe it's the taxpayers that are in the GISD or maybe it's the community writ large it
132really doesn't matter because and even if we take the definition that it's the community writ large then all of us are concerned about the kids that are in our community all of us are there's no doubt about it and so what we do as a community is we give you the trust to take care of this part of raising our children educating our children [Music] some number of months ago I was invited to begin to attend these meetings by trustee uh Paula McDonald and the reason she asked us to come here is because she felt like you all as a board were really getting beat up and she said could you come and it just encourage us every once in a while and so I I did start attending the meetings and I became a
133regular attender and much like Mr Doherty I I began to notice that there were some issues that that took place as I watched the operation of the board we started off with the book issue and I'm not going to address the book issue because it's already been effectively addressed by others here we don't need to talk about that anymore but the truth of the matter is is that the processes that you have established now leave out the community in regards to reviewing the books to remove them from the library that should not be the community should be involved in that process up front man then we had the issue of the failed Bond measure obviously you guys were unconnected to the community you totally misread the temperature of the community in regards to the bond
134issue it was never clearly communicated to us the grantors of your of the trust what you guys were trying to achieve and it failed miserably it's going to take you guys a while to recover from that well um kids homeschool kids in the UIL and I have to tell you that as I watch this I thought that that Pro that issue was resolved favorably to allow the home school kids in and almost on a dime and despite people talking to you about it that changed and you guys denied that you absolutely denied it I don't even know what happened but I watched it happen and then you silence the voice of one of the trustees you totally did do that and that was not right as trustees these meetings are an opportunity for you to
135listen to the voice of the community and I would encourage you to begin to do exactly that let's reestablish the trust that we want to place in you listen to us during these meetings please I'm going to leave you with a quote from Proverbs and it's the most appropriate quote that I could find from the Bible in regards to your responsibility here Proverbs 1 5 a wise man will hear and increase learning a wise man will hear and increase learning please hear thank you [Music] we have one more to go but just I just want to make one statement to make sure that the everyone understands that during public comment none of us can address anything that is said that is a non-agenda item it's not that we wouldn't like discussion that we can do
136one-on-one but on a non-agenda item we cannot talk about it because it was not set for the public to be able to handle it I'm sorry sir you've had two people violate that rule then just so you know that I know you know Mark Jackson did it grossly not too long ago sir thank you the last one today is going to be Julia Pennell well I've been here for 28 years so I've been around a while and uh thank you I'm going to move to a very positive and we've used the word trust so this is what we're doing superintendent Glenn chairperson Townsend trustee sitting on the diocese my name is Julia Pennell I'm here along with members of a current citizens team who are donated appropriate and godly trust framed copies set aside by
137the reasoning mandate almost two decades ago such a team placed the existing framed In God We Trust posters in each classroom and as a chairperson of that team I wanted to ask Senator Hughes office who made the new mandate if there was a way we could adjust those already in place to meet the new requirements if not could they not be left under the previous guidelines of the young Governor Perry in working with Senator Hughes assistant Mr Odom he provided me with a copy of the letter sent out to districts regarding the Mandate and appropriate donations it is clear what is expected as chairperson for friends Memorial Lane and I hope a community leader that is seen as someone who believes in doing and following guidelines for proper process I also sought his wisdom and
138guidance for such donations at this time his suggestions from the office leave the current beautiful friend and godly trust posters in place no need to remove them two to follow the current mandate the from outside sources could purchase posters or frame copies no mention of banners posters offering copies and offer such donations to the school district three we brought a copy of an appropriate presentation that this current team chose to be placed on GISD campuses Mr Owen further stated that the district need accept only one donation for each campus campus to be placed in a conspiracy spot on such campuses to be in compliance with the new mandate this made it very possible for the current team to be able to order 15 appropriately framed copies resulting from information received from Senator's office the following
139the citizen team donated the funds ordered the appropriately trained copies on October 6th and have delivered including this one 15. to the School administration office to be accepted and placed at the chosen time one at each campus and to be include the maintenance team in Warren Newman Jan Caldwell Ryan Brenda Massengill Bob and Julia Pennell Mike and Donald loader at Christian Brothers Roger and Diane Lewis and Kroger Ray landham and John and Kim Irwin this team is proud to be able to once again join forces as a citizen and as a Citizens team not an organization but citizens to do as my mother taught me Julia always try to do things decently and in order we believe that is what we have done with this donation we have respected the process in a way that
140will allow GISD to fulfill the Mandate thank you and we would like to present this as the others have already been presented thank you for now [Applause] and with no further business we will adjourn this meeting at 8 20 p.m thank you Lord