001Good afternoon. The board of trustees of the Harris County Department of Education is now convened in a regular board meeting on today, Wednesday, February 18th, 2026 in room 401 at 6300 Irvington Boulevard, Houston, Texas. Uh it is now 10:05. We wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone present at this meeting of the board of trustees. As trustees, we are here to set goals, listen to reports from the superintendent, approve budgets, contracts, personnel appointments, and set policy for the district. It is not the role of the board to make day-to-day operational decisions. The management and day-to-day operations of the department are the responsibility of the superintendent. We have policies and procedures in place to resolve concerns and issues. Uh this is a public meeting of the board of trustees, not a meeting of the public.
002Prior to this meeting, board members received information related to items on today's agenda. Agenda items are not necessarily will not necessarily be handled in the order listed on the notice. The meeting is open to all who wish to attend and hear the matters discussed. During the course of the meeting, the board may determine that close a close session is necessary. In that event, the board will meet in close session to consider matters duly posted for this meeting as permitted by section 551.071 to 551.084, inclusive of the Texas government code. I respectfully ask that you please refrain from talking while others are speaking and that cell phones are turned off or in silent mode. Thank you for taking time today to join us and for your interest in the Harris County Department of Education. And it
003looks like we have do we start with this? No, we start with the invocation. Uh La Espinosa, administrative assistant of the facilities division will lead us in prayer. >> Afternoon members of the board. Mr. Colbert, please join us in prayer. Father God, thank you for bringing us together today. As we begin this meeting, grant us wisdom in our decisions, clarity in our discussions, and unity in our purpose. Help us to listen respectfully, speak thoughtfully, and work together for the good of those we serve. Bless the efforts of this board, and let our decisions today move us forward in a way that honors our mission and benefits our community. In your name we pray. Amen. >> Dr. Dr. McGee would also like to address. >> Thank you. Uh thank you, Mr. President. Appreciate it. I thought
004it would be u fitting for us during this Black History Month to have a moment of silence for an icon that was lost recently. Uh Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson uh did a lot for people and that's exactly what we do here at HCDE. So, thank you. Please join me in a moment of silence. Thank you, Dr. Mc. And now for the pledge uh of allegiance to the US and Texas flags, Thomas Plap, uh clerk of fixed assets for facilities division. 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 to all. I honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Thank you for that. Um, we have,
005um, one guest signed up to address the board, uh, Mr. Derek Montgomery. >> Good afternoon, everyone. >> Uh, my name is Derek Dominique Montgomery. Um, I have my degree in psychology and my background in neuroscience, in marriage and family therapy. And I'm here to advocate that we get more licensed therapists in schools in the workforce. Uh right now HISD has about 189,000 students. That's about a million students worldwide in Harris County. But one out of those five kids are always saying they need help. Whether that's in school, whether that's at home, it's a lot. And it starts from us. Everything starts at the head. And I feel like we don't have enough help. So we can't help our kids. Right now, our kids, about 65% of them are thinking about dropping out. I work at
006a school. Every day, I'm asking, "Why don't you talk to your parent about this? I can't talk to my parent about this." They're already stressed out about X, Y, and Z. I don't want to stress my parent out about this. I grew up single parent home, just me and my mama worked two jobs. She couldn't come to any B, sorry, she couldn't come to any basketball games. She couldn't come to any track meets because she was working, which is understandable. However, I know what stress that was on her and that fell back on me. It's different when you can't see your parent there. And then when you grow up to be a parent, like I am of two kids, you make sure you're there for them because you don't want that same feeling. I honestly
007feel like women don't have a lot of people to talk to. They're the backbone of this community. Women are the backbone of this country. Yes, we have guys that may be the face, but behind that face is someone that's stepping up for them. What about the mom that wakes up at 7 o'clock in the morning, takes their kid to school or to the bus stop, then she goes to work for eight hours a day. Then after work, she goes and picks that kid up. Guess what? If he has practice or a game, she has to stay. Because as men, we're just being honest. We can pick and choose. Hey, I got to work late. I I can't do X, Y, and Z today. Women have to do it. So now she gets off work, goes
008to the game, gets from the game, goes home, cooks, makes sure the kids are okay. And then once the kids are okay, she can't even sleep cuz she's so tired. You ever been so tired, you can't sleep? >> So now she wake up and do it again. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And guess what? Saturday is au tournaments. So, oh, and I got to pick up on all the things I didn't do through the week. And then what's Sunday? It's church. And we getting ready for what? Monday all over again. So, who does she speak to? As men, we always get the big boys don't cry. We don't do the Who do we tell our problems to? I didn't grow up with a dad, so I don't know the dynamic of that. However, I know
009I needed someone. I know these kids need someone. I watched him every single day go through the things, the bullying, the I just don't want to be here. Why? Why you don't want to be at school? Because I'm just dealing with a life. I'm the coach at my school and I'm the counselor. So, it's coach D. I just I just need an outlet. I just need somebody to speak to. And guess what? Everything starts with a We can't do that because of the funding. We can't do that because of this. We have to invest in something. If you want to be healthy, you're going to invest in better food. How you how do you invest in the mind? You have to have an outlet. And I just want all of us to understand it's not
010about race or gender. We're all in this together. If we really believe what Martin Luther King was saying and Jesse Jackson was saying, and all these people that were saying things, we are supposed to be amongst that we're doing right now. We just have to make sure that we have the things in play to make sure our kids are okay and that we're okay because 1% of jobs in Houston have licensed therapists. So, we're going to we're going to work burnt out, stressed. We have all these things we're worried about. So, I just want to bring to you and I just want to have that conversation and have that thing on top of your mind and saying we have to do better for not only our kids but for oursel. Thank you. >> Thank you,
011sir. Oh, >> and now uh for recognition of Black History Month, a presentation by communications, M Miss Clark, chief communications officer. >> Thank you, Vice President Cantu, members of the board, Mr. Colbert. Throughout the year, Harris County Department of Ed celebrates different cultures throughout our community, and we like to highlight the impact that they have on education. So, Communications put together a small video to show some notable African-Americans in Houston that have impacted education locally. This Black History Month marks 100 years of honoring black history. Countless leaders have shaped the lives of black people around the world. >> Let's take a look at Houston area educators that have made a significant impact. >> Before education was accessible to all leaders like Jack Yates paved the way. >> Born into slavery, he later became a minister
012and created educational opportunities for black communities. >> Hattie May White was the first black member to serve on the Houston ISD board. She was a prominent voice for federal funding programs and desegregating schools. >> Dr. Paige was a former secretary of education, HISD superintendent, and dean of the college of education Texas Southern University. >> He dedicated his life making sure every student has the opportunity to learn. Continuing her family's legacy in education, Alma Allen was an HISD principal that also served as a state representative. >> By forming the award-winning Kashmir Stage Band and leading summer music programs, Conrad Johnson made a lasting impact on music education. >> Their contributions have had a lasting impact in our community and in our world. >> Here at ACDE, we continue to provide opportunities to learn for all. HC
013proudly celebrates Black History Month. Awesome. Thank you for that. Uh next is our employee of the month uh recognition. Uh Dr. Sylvester, human resources chief. Vice President Cantto board of trustees, Mr. Colbert. Today we honor our physical therapist, Heather Fance Estee, as our February 2026 employee of the month. Heather is known for the personal touch she provides in support of her students both physically and developmentally. Kathleen Veio, special education administrator at Cypress Ranch High School, said Heather demonstrates patience, expertise, and compassion in all she does, meeting students where they are and helping them to achieve things they thought impossible. Time and time again, Heather goes the extra mile to support my staff and students to ensure we provide the highest level of support to every student on our campus. Miss Veio wrote an accommodation letter
014about Heather. Her positive impact is felt daily and we are incredibly grateful for the knowledge, energy, and heart she brings to our campus. Heather's contributions to student confidence, independence, and overall well-being were recently demonstrated through her support for a student at graduation. A parent requested that her student who is a wheelchair who is a wheelchair and could not walk independently participate in graduation. Seeing how much this meant to the student and her family, Heather took the time on her day off to attend the graduation and help the student walk across the stage shaking hands and taking photos. This selfless act not only fulfilled the family's dream of seeing their child graduate, but highlighted Heather's personal connection with students and their families. Our comm's teams created a short video about Heather and her impact within HCDE
015and with her students. and as I said he just got adopted. >> Scyfare Elementary student Ryan is on the move with HCDE's physical therapist Heather Fon Estee and occupational therapist Maid Dang. It's about giving Ryan confidence, some freedom, and independence. >> And just as this foster family has continued to work with him, and as private therapy has continued to work with him, and as I've continued to work with him, we've been able to get him better mobility skills. For more than 30 years, Heather has dedicated her life to restoring hope. She's always wanted to be a physical therapist, even as a little girl. Grandma Gertrude told me I gave a good back massage and and here I am, right? Like and it's I I like what I do. >> In her early days, she worked
016at Tier helping patients rebuild strength after spinal cord injuries and then she transitioned to school-based therapy. As an HCDE physical therapist, she has been based in Scyfare schools for the last 16 years. School-based PT is really about helping those teachers educate a child, but recess and PE and large group and movement Spanish, all of that is part of their day, just like ABC's and 123s. I mean, I take no for an answer, but sometimes I have a tendency to uh just kind of keep plugging away cuz I want my friends to have the same the a the same opportunities. But even like I said as a physical therapist sitting in a wheelchair all day if I told any one person >> to not you know you can't move you you can't you know you're you're
017you're going to be a little sore at the end of the day. They everyone needs an opportunity to move and shift and do their things. >> Well she advocates for all of her students just as if you know she was their parent. She advocates hard. >> Where are we going to go? Where are we going to go? So she comes in extra time, extra days to make sure that she provides the training so that not only is the student safe but that our staff is safe. >> What I've learned from Heather is this is not just a job. This is about the student. This is about their lives. And I receive texts from her, email from teachers or parents every year. A touching letter from the counseling team at Sai Ranch High School captures the
018profound impact Heather has had on one family. >> Miss Fony on her day off agreed to come to our ceremony, assist the child with walking across the stage, and help make the family's dream come true. >> Briana Zot was two when she was diagnosed with Rhett syndrome and has had a journey filled with uncertainty. Heather has worked with Bree since elementary school and created a bond >> with Heather. They immediately hit it off and she immediately knows that Heather's doing what she's doing to help her. >> And during Bree's senior year, she spent time in and out of the hospital. She is medically fragile, >> but Deanna and Bri had a goal. And Heather persisted. was talking to Heather and I said, "I'm telling you ahead of time, you know, I want Bri to walk
019the stage." And she immediately was like, "Yeah, why would she not walk the stage?" Yeah. >> At first, I got a a call from the school saying that they didn't think that Bri was going to get to walk. They were worried about her strength and her ability after being sick and losing all that weight. I immediately called Heather. >> So, Heather and I met and we tried to figure out, okay, what's the best way? because I wanted that to happen. >> Went to the very center and worked out all the plans and basically got Sweet Bri across the stage. >> You know, she goes that extra mile. She wants to make sure that, you know, we look outside the box. >> You know, they say God puts in your life for maybe for a moment
020and others are supposed to be for a lifetime. Heather is a lifetime. What's that? You prefer >> up here, right? We don't need Heather to help you up. two. >> Thanks. >> Congratulations. There we go. >> You'll have to show us Is that her husband? >> Go ahead. I don't even know if that's her husband. >> And if you have family, please uh we would like for them to be able to take pictures as well. >> Is this your family? Is that her husband? >> Yes. Okay. Okay. Come, please. Take a picture. That's fine. >> What are we doing? >> Wants the pictures. So nice. Thank you. Okay, here we go. Ready? One, two, three. Excellent. Thank you. Okay. >> So, we next time when they come up. >> No, I agree. Next time when
021they come up to the picture, then we'll ask to come up here. That's what we should do. >> We got to tell everyone. Sorry, President. Did the gentleman leave already? Yeah, he did. >> Now for the superintendent's monthly report. Mr. Cobber. >> Thank you, Trusty Cantou. I just have a few things to update you on. Just a few dates. Um, we've coming up on spring break here. So, we won't have another board meeting till April, but uh, starting this week, there's several of us that will be traveling to Fort Worth to a tapsi conference. Uh I actually will be going up there today after this board meeting. Spring break will be uh between March 9th and March 13th. So I would invite y'all to enjoy your spring break while you know we absolutely will and
022I hope to not have to work at all during that time and play plenty of golf. And finally, we'll be taking a team up to Seattle to the Qualrix uh conference. This is something that a lot of us go to annually. probably one of the most well-run conferences I've ever been to in my career. Uh but very extensive and we'll have an opportunity as an executive leadership team along with some of the other people from leadership team to to get inspired. Uh you know that always inspire me to come up with some idea for for a convocation. With that that's all I have. Thank you sir. Thank >> you sir. Next is a annual division update from the construction division. Thank you, Mr. Kenu, members of the board, Mr. Colbert. Today, we're going to do
023this presentation in an Amesa-esque style. See here. >> All right. I'm Joe Carion. I'm the construction director. I've been here for about eight years. And we also have uh Thomas Platt was our fixed asset clerk. He's been here for 31 years. And our newest member of the team, Shantel Lugo. He's been here under a year. And together we make up the construction services team. We fall under a facility services under our chief operating officer, Dr. Williams. And this construction division delivers comprehensive service and support for all ACDE facilities, working collaboratively with colleagues to understand the effectively and effectively meet the unique needs of each division. And as a construction director, I serve as the liaison to the architects, the engineers, to the city, to the county, and also assist with land acquisition appraisals, environmental reports.
024And our fixed asset clerk performs our annual capital inventory, and maintains the records for fixed assets transactions. Our environmental specialist performs the fire and safety inspections on all our ACD buildings and performs inspections on playgrounds in the ropes course. These are some of the projects that we recently completed in 2025. We've completed the phase one of the administration building renovations. The demolition of two buildings at 600 Cross Timbers, the Tidwell Early Head Start Playground, Leaport Head Start Electrical Service Poles, which have an interesting picture for that. Our ABS West AC rooftop unit replacement, records management AC rooftop unit replacement, High Point East High School lobby access doors, and Fortis Academy roof. So altogether it's about $14.5 million worth of work in the last year. And so this was the rejuvenation station which was Mr. Colbert's
025brilliant idea which is uh you know elegantly shown here uh this as the finished product. And we've got the Tidwell Head Start playground. And this is what we used to call the leaning tower of Leaport Head Start. So after Hurricane Barrow, uh this became a a hazard as you can see. And so we were able to replace that with some steel beams. So just some rooftop replacements, the HVAC replacement. And here at High Point East, we were able to install this security window and access control to give a little separation between the public and the staff. Here's a picture of the the before picture of the forest roof, an after picture, but I want to show you some of the details that we get into some of the existing conditions. Kind of a closeup of
026what that looked like. We were always having leak issues here. And there's the finished product with the details. And so in the future, we do plan on replacing the AC in this in in this building. Some of our current projects are phase two of the administration building renovations, the administration building generator replacement, MO roof and HVAC project, and a Coolwood Head Start early head start playground and shade structure. About $7 million worth of work. So, this is a render of what phase two looks like for the outdoor dining area and the parking garage. First floor of the parking garage. So, we're going to convert that space into a usable dining space. Another closeup of the outdoor dining space and then want to give you guys a overview of of where we at with construction costs.
027And I want to show you basic Texas economy that has slowed down in in in 2025. And what we're seeing is a is an output growth that's below average. Job growth is probably at zero at best. And what we're seeing that's impacting our construction costs are higher tariffs, falling immigration, federal roadblocks, and we also see in a positive outlook and AI investment, data center construction, and the possibility of fiscal policy changing to add growth and easier financial conditions and deregulation. So all this helps with our construction costs. So some of the headwinds will be our labor supply constraints, residential housing markets, and the low oil prices. And we're also awaiting the outcome of the USMCA renegotiation, which is pivotal here in Texas. Uh USMCA is a US Mexico Canada agreement. And so what what I'd
028like to show you are is the the Texas employment as that is that Texas employment is essentially flat. Different job markets. There's a decline in oil and gas, a decline in information technology. There is an uptick in construction services, but overall the total is zero. No growth in 2025. The GDP growth compared to the US here in Texas is relatively higher than than the US. But you can see where we follow this from 2017 to a slow which was a slow growth in 2020 was a decline a huge boom in 2021 and then back down to pre209 conditions. Also want to show you that domestic migration to Texas has slowed down significantly. Our GDP, excuse me, our our our tariffs, the tariffs that have impacted imports in the US. You can see a major drop
029in China imports, but you also see an increase in imports coming from Mexico. So you might be asking, Joe, what does all this mean? What do you do with this information? More like crumble it up, put it in a crystal ball and try to predict what's going to happen in the next year. But thankfully we have some industry leaders that do that that take this data and provide yearly annual updates and one of those is Kxy architecture. So, we followed the trends from 2021 to 2025. And what we're seeing is an increase in basic office interior, higherend interiors, and high-rise office shelves. Gurot construction also puts out an annual report and what they're predicting is a 4.7 increase in construction costs and conservatively 4.8 in 2026 I'm sorry 4.23 in 2027. So, what we're seeing
030here on the right, I'm sorry, on the left is the Associated General Contractors inflation alert that we received in 2022. And so, we use this chart to show that in 2022, summer of 2022, we had a huge increase in construction costs, upwards of 20%. Now, it's kind of stabilized. This all may seem repetitive. This all might sound repetitive. This is actual slide that I presented last year. Almost a mirror image of the same points that we see today. Inflation average of 2.2. Interest rates are expected to decline. Supply chain issues disrupting the industry and a shortage of skilled workers. The threats of tariffs all impact construction costs. an enemy and our enemy remains unpredictability. The biggest challenge is to predict what's going to happen next. Inflation stabilizes, the global economy steadily improves. There's a great
031deal of uncertainty here, but we have to remain resilient and we have to have the willingness to think differently, to work together to analyze the risks and the potential consequences for current and future projects and be more agile and adaptive to new opportunities. And that concludes our construction update for 2025. What questions do you have? Thank you. Thank you. I'd just like to say that, you know, Harris County Department of Ed has went through a massive renovation facelift over the past few years. And we've seen significant growth through our schools upwards to 50% at times. And I think a lot of that is due to us having facilities that are more indicative of the programs that are in them. Uh Joe has been the tip of the spear in the construction and getting that stuff
032done. One thing that I've learned in building buildings in Houston is not easy and there is we think there's politics in society. There's a lot of politics in trying to get something done and get permits done and it's really put us in some tough spots and we've relied on Joe to kind of navigate us through that. And I think you've learned a lot about it too and just trying to find a way to do that. you know, we're not done building things. Um, you know, it's it's a also another strong thing in our facilities department that our facilities look, you know, immaculate when you go to them and they we tend to keep them that way. But we build buildings that are very unique that are not typical like traditional school districts. You know, some
033of our facilities are dedicated to 100% special needs students and they are crafted and created just to meet those special needs. And that's not easy. That's that's very unique, even the playgrounds that we have. So, I want to thank you for your service and thank you for staying dialed into the pulse of what's going on in the community and the economy. You know, uh, one of the things that you talked about was the inflation of materials. Well, we got hit with that with much of our projects right in the middle of that. You know, it was the the whiplash of the COVID where the price of steel, drywall, wood, door frames, fixtures, all of that had almost tripled in price to construction projects that we had already committed to contracts and the amounts for. So,
034very agile and navigating through that. Um, and I appreciate your leadership with that. So, thank you, sir. >> Thank you. And now uh any reports from board members concerning attendance or participation in a board or HCD related conference event activity or committee accolades for HCDE staff or other divering deserving person. I would just like to send out an accolade for Jade Swan who was the singer at the state of the city um for the pled the I'm sorry national anthem. Thank you. It was beautiful. She did a wonderful job. If she can hear this, if somebody can show it to her. Thank you very much for representing your org and doing such an amazing job singing the national anthem. And I think that we're gonna talk about going ahead and asking her to just come
035sing before all of our board meetings. What do y'all think? No. Okay. It's worth a shot. But >> thank you guys. >> Nice. Any others? If not, um any reports from board committees? All right. Well, next is a monthly financial report. um chief of our chief financial officer Ann Westbrooks >> is the first woman. >> welcome, welcome, welcome. >> Thank you. Well, thank you very much. >> Like to be in present mode. Thank you. You're the guy. It to the rescue. Good afternoon, Vice President Cantou, members of the board, and Mr. Colbert. So, I'm here this afternoon to go over the monthly financial report as of January 31st, 2026. And so, January marks the fifth month in the fiscal year, which means we're about 42% through the fiscal year. And so we'll use that 42%
036as our benchmark as we go through and look at our revenues and our expenditures and how the actual revenues and expenditures are trending in relation to our budget. So first up is the general fund. And so revenues in the general fund as of January 31st starting with our just for the month of January, our revenues were $14.4 $4 million, which was primarily made up of current property tax collections. And so we know January is the heaviest month for property tax collections because if they're not paid by January 31st, then they become delinquent and penalties and interest begin to acrue. So everyone likes to get them paid by January 31st. So that was the largest makeup of the revenues received in the month. The year-to-ate revenues received and/or invoiced and build was $33.7 million. And thus
037far, we are 43% of our actual revenues received in relation to our budget. So very much aligned and on target for our budgeted revenues. This is a look at a comparative analysis of what's happening with property values. So as the budget was adopted back in August for this fiscal year, it was built upon property values of 688 billion. And so throughout the year, values are being protested by taxpayers. And so if those values are being protested, it has an impact on our net taxable values. And so we started at 688 billion. Now, as of January, we're at about 687 billion, which means that's an impact of about $46,000 on the anticipated um revenue collections that we would have. Now, of course, our actual revenues that we receive at the end of the fiscal year will
038be determined based on our collection percentage. And so, last year, we had a collection percentage of about 98%. So, we anticipate that we should bring in just about everything that we budgeted for as far as tax revenues go. And of course, we'll continue to monitor that and if adjustments are needed, we'll talk about that at a later date. With all funds, all revenues for the month of January totaled 18.1 million. And year to date, we're at 53.1 million, which is about 35%. And so, that one's lagging a little bit behind the budget, but that's largely due to special revenue. We're just on a different time frame with our uh receipt of funds related to special revenues. We move over to expenditures for the general fund. And so we had total expenditures for the month of
0395.4 million with year-to- date expenditures of 27.5 million and incumbrances of 2.9 million. So we're at about 38% spend of our of our uh expenditures compared to our budget. And so that's a little below the 42% mark. So what that means is is revenues are right on target for general fund expenditures are a little lower. That means we're trending towards a net increase to our fund balance at the end of the year based on this moment in time. With all funds for January, expenditures were 10.3 million. Year-to- date expenditures just over 50 million with incumbrances of 9 million. And expenditures were all funds were at about 36% actual spent compared to the budget. So now looking at our education foundation, we have $431,979 that are committed for the projects you see on on the screen.
040A look at our small business report for the month of January. We had a total of $1,290,000 that was spent with our vendors that are identified as small businesses. When you compare that to the total business for the month of $5.8 million, about 22% of our business went to small businesses. And then this is just a look at who those vendors are and what makes up that 1.2 million that we just talked about. So thank you. That concludes my report for the month of January. And of course, as always, the full version of the report is on our website on the transparency page. >> Thank you. You have some. >> All right. >> Now to our action items uh under consensus. Are there any items that uh trustees wish to take out of order? If
041not, I'll entertain a motion. Some move. >> A motion by Vice President Davis. Uh, got a second. Second by Dr. McGee. Any discussion about the consensus? If not, all those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes. Now to starting at number seven, action items, non-consensus. Uh 71 consideration and possible action to replace Jesus with and Westbrooks as director of the Aris County Department of Education. >> So moved. >> Public facilities corporation. We got a we got a motion. Um >> Trustee Duhan. Uh did I hear a second? >> Second by trustee Joshy. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor raise your right hand. passes unanimously. >> Congratulations. >> Seven. >> 72. Consider adoption of resolution concerning emergency administrative leave with pay for HCDE staff in accordance with policy DEA local associated with severe
042winter weather on January 26, 2026. Got a motion by Dr. McGee. Do I hear a second? >> Second by Trusty Duhan. Any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimously. 73. Consider ratification of the amendment to the contract award between adult education and blue night security services to increase from 74,000 to 150,000 to cover the balance of security services for the period of 712025 through 6:30 2026. The increase is supported by the additional Texas Workforce Commission grant funding approved during the December 17th 25 regular board meeting. Go hear a motion. So moved. >> Motion by Trusty Duhan. I hear a second. >> Second by Vice President Davis. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimously. Uh 74. Consider first reading of the
043following revised and new board local policies. Do you want to read these? >> Okay. >> So, no action. No action necessary. >> No action necessary. All right. 75. Consider approval of the contract with CDWG. Job number 258 MF-12 and its financing agent insights investment LLC. Job number 22- or 043KN-007 to lease technology equipment for four years in an amount not to exceed 675,000 per year for a total not to exceed 2.7 million and delegate authority to the superintendent or his designate to negotiate, finalize, and execute the related contract documents. Hear a motion. Some move. >> Motion by Dr. Davis. Hear a second. Second by Trusty Duhan. Any discussion? >> Yes, please. And I like that he recognized my nonverbal communication. >> You waved them up. >> Okay. >> Yes. Good afternoon. U so to explain
044a little bit about what this is. Uh the approval of this initiative uh is going to accomplish four major things. Uh one of them is the one toone replacement of most staff. uh devices, computer devices, laptops, desktops, uh some monitors and accessories as well. And uh this is going to provide modern productivity tools. Uh it also establishes a standard computing environment for all staff and uh it also kicks off a standardized refresh cycle that is predictable and measurable. So, this this four-year uh refresh cycle that we're uh targeting and then uh it will protect if we act uh in this month and this is the reason that we're bringing it to you in February instead of the originally uh planned um April or May. uh it protects us from current memory and storage shortages and
045major price hikes in the industry due to the uh AI and hyperscaler uh uh issues that are consuming 70% of the world's memory and storage. Right. >> Uh with this, we've worked with our vendors to uh essentially protect our pricing and and receive 2025 pricing instead of what it would normally be. >> And I'm not techsavvy, so forgive me. So I hear the the wording is lease, and I understand that. Um can you explain that aspect to the safety of our uh equipment when it's if it's >> Yes, of course. Uh with this we're also instituting systems that will protect our assets. >> Uh we have RFID tracking systems that have been uh built out in anticipation of something like this. Uh we'll be able to take uh uh better track our fixed assets. Uh
046as well as it will apply to other assets that we have at HCD, not just the computer and technology assets but all of them. to clarify. Um the benefit of doing this is that we're mit mitigating the risk to them for any failed equipment, right, when we're leasing through them. >> That as well as uh we are uh because we're not we're doing all of this at once in order to uh take advantage of this opportunity of these price protections that we >> Okay. So, it's a better rate. Otherwise, we would normally take a 25% per year approach to a refresh of computer equipment. >> Okay, that makes sense. >> Thank you. >> Is that in the report where it shows that difference that if if it's less if it's more fiscally beneficial than outright
047of doing what we are needing to do for the sake of this agency? I'm not sure if that's in the report or not, but one of the things I just want to stress is this is kind of a proactive measure. >> Okay, >> we're getting in front of a storm. >> It's a AI storm that has been software, but it's about to be hardware. >> And so trying to take immediate action to get ourselves in a three-year lease agreement protects us from massive increases to or four years to massive increases that we're seeing coming with technology. And it was a big step and a big deal for us to go from owning our property to leasing it. But we think this is the most prudent path forward for us. We don't know what 3 years
048or four years looks like from now, but I know that by you approving this now, it's going to protect us and we can avoid the storm for a little bit. >> Okay. >> Yes. And in addition to this, uh, we are pursuing a $1 buyback lease. So, at the end of the 4-year term, we will buy we we have the option to buy our equipment for $1 each and then we own it. >> Well, thank you. Thank you. We just like to hear the whole picture. So, appreciate that. >> And and do we make it available for staff to purchase at the end of that? >> At the end of the lease, that will give us the opportunity to do that. Yes. >> And for staff, individual staff to purchase. >> Correct. To take home.
049>> Correct. >> Okay. Great. >> Thank you, sir. >> All right. There's no other discussion. All those in favor raise right hand. Motion passes unanimously. 76. Consider approval of the resolution of HCDE Head Start impass procedure. The process has been revised based on updated Head Start performance standards. Head start performance standards 1301.6 Six requires that the Head Start program has an impass procedure to facilitate meaningful consultation and collaboration about decisions of the governing body and the policy council. So move >> a motion by trustee McGee. I hear a second. >> Second by trustee Joshy. Any discussion? If not, all those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimously. 77 consider approval of the Head Start school readiness guide due to a change in the Head Start program's ongoing assessment tool for the 2025 2026
050school year. We hear a motion. >> Oh, I didn't hear >> second. >> Motion by Trusty McGee, second by Vice President Dr. Davis. Any discussion? If not, all those raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimous. And now we go into executive session at 1:55 p.m. Under the Texas Government Code pursuant to any and all purposes permitted by section 551.001 to 551.084 included but not limited to 551.071 551074. Thank you. We reconvene in uh regular session. It's 2:13 p.m. Ready. I move that the board not adopt a resolution described by Texas Education Code section 25.0823A-1. >> Do we have a second? >> We got a motion uh and a second. A motion by Trusty Duhan, a second by Dr. McGee. Any discussion? If not, all those in favor? >> Right. Right. Uh, Trusty Canu, I vote
051yes. >> Trusty Davis, I vote yes. >> Trusty Duhard, I vote yes. >> Trustee Josh Malik, I vote yes. >> Trusty Dick, I vote no. >> Trusty McGee, I vote no. All right, the motion passes. Um 42. Any disc. Next item is any discussion or possible action regarding future agenda items. Hearing none. Uh I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Got a motion. Dr. Davis second. Uh, Trusty Duhan seconds. Any discussion? Not all those in favor? Unanimously, we are adjourned at 2:15.