001It's 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March the 10, 2026, and I call this public hearing of the Kingsville Independent School District to order. We will have roll calls. Joe Mirez >> here. >> Brian Kufall >> here. >> Chapa here. David Garcia >> here, >> Jacob Pettis >> here, >> Delma Alenas >> here, >> and Joseph Ruiz here. Let the record show that there is a for quum of board members present and that this meeting has been hosted in accordance with government code chapter 551 state of Texas open meetings act. The Kingsville ISD board of trustees to conduct a public hearing to discuss the following Texas academic performance report or taper report. Dr. Welsh which one of choice. Where is it? This one right here. Oh, this one. Yeah, >> perfect. Thank you. >> Good evening, President
002Ruiz. Uh board members, Dr. Martinez and community members, uh thank you for being here and giving me the opportunity uh to discuss the taper report. Oh, thank you. Um I'll be covering the tape report. Um I do have my team with me. They very important and want to introduce as you all know Miss Williams, Dr. Arnold and Miss Flowers will be covering tape report and additional information for you this evening during the workshop. First I'd like to draw your attention to slide one. Um this slide explains what taper report includes. Oh, it's right here. Uh the taper the taper compi uh compiles a wide range of information about student performance across the district. Performance measures include results from the state of Texas assessment of academic readiness commonly known as as star and these results are
003broken down by the grade level subject area and student group. The report also includes additional indicators such as attendance dropout rates, college and career readiness measures, participation in college admin admissions tests, financial transparency reports, and information related to disciplinary incidents. Together, these indicators provide a broad picture of how the district is performing both academically and operationally. take a >> Kingsville ISD um re exc excuse me Kingsville ISD re received the taper report on December 18, 2025 and it has been available to the public on both the TA website and Kingsville ISD since that time. After tonight's hearing, the district will continue making report available to to the public as required by law. And we are fully within and compliant to the to the legal requirements uh for um posting the taper as well as providing
004it uh to the public. The taper also includes financial transparency reports. These reports uh provide information about district revenues, expenditures, tax rates, and fund balances. They also include campus level expenditures, data that shows how resources are allotted across different programs and functions. This information helps ensure transparency and accountability in how district resources are used to support student learning. Each year, the Texas Educational Agency assigns a excuse me assigns an accreditation status to every every district in the in the state. These designations range from the Okay, there we go. Thank you. These designations range, excuse me. These designations range from accredited to accredited warrant accredited probation or not accredited revoked. For the 2024 2025 school year, Kingsville received an accreditation status of accredited warning. The this designation indicates that the district remains accredited while also identifying
005areas that require improvement. This slide summarizes the district's accountability rating for 2025. Kingsville ISD received an overall district accountability rating of an F. Campuses ratings were King High School D. Gillette Middle School F. Herald Elementary D Harvey Elementary Ferez Elementary and F. The district also received a special education determination status of need substantial intervention. This slide explains excuse me the improvement plans required for campuses identified in the accountability system. Two campuses uh implementing turnaround plans also known as taps are Perez and King High School. Three campuses are implementing targeted improvement plans, also known as TIPS, Harold, Harvey, and Gillette Middle School. These plans are designed to address the root causes of academic performance challenges and improve in instructional systems at the campus level. Our instructional focus, this this slide highlights the district's instructional focus. Moving
006forward, the district is emphasizing stronger use of assessment and data analysis to guide instruction. The goal is not to only move students to the appropriate to approach move beyond approaches level, but to increase the number of students in achieving mastery, excuse me, achieving master and master's levels, which demonstrate a strong mastery of grade level uh standards. Excuse me. So as we go through the rest of this presentation, my focus while I do have approaches here, that is not our focus. Our focus is meets and masters. I will put it on there just for reference, but I'll primarily reference the meets and masters numbers. This slide breaks down the results by subject area. Reading performance declined significantly. Now this excuse me this slide summarizes academic perform performance across all grades and subjects. This the percentage of
007students performing at approaches grade level or above decreased slightly from 54 to 52%. And let me back up just so I'm on the same page. I know you've seen this multiple times but I do want to indicate that this is lag lagging data. So this is data from uh 2024 2025 also 2023 2024. So it's not current. Okay. So going back to this students performing at meets grade level decreased from 26 to 23% and mast's performance decreased from 7 to 6%. The results indicate that while many students are approaching grade level expectations, the district must continue working to increase mastery mastery level standards. This slide breaks down the results by subject area. Reading performance declined slightly. As you can see, math math experienced a larger decline and remains a key focus area for the district.
008Science showed improvement with an increase at meets level. Social studies decline compared to the previous year. And the these results help guide the district's instructional priorities moving forward. The next slide, slides 11 through 13 are going to be uh the elementary results. So these slides will uh present academic results at the elementary level. Grade three reading showed improvement at both the meets and masters level. Grade four reading also demonstrated growth. However, grade five reading and math declined compared to the previous year. And these results indicate the need for strong instructional support and alignment across the elementary grades. I'm falling behind. Thank you. Let's go to six. Next slide. Okay. Slides 14 through 16. These slides summarize middle school performance. Grades six reading and math showed modest improvement. However, grades seven and eight experienced declines in
009several subject areas across math, mathematics, and science. These trends highlight the need for strong instructional alignment between elementary and middle school. Slide 17. This slide um presents results from high school end of the year. Biology showed the strongest improvement with an increase in the percentage of students meeting the standard. However, English one, English 2, algebra, and US history showed declines compared to the previous year. Next, this slide highlights student engagement indicators. The district's attendance rate improved to 90.4% which represents an increase from the previous year. Chronic absenteeism also decreased slightly. However, the dropout rate increased slightly at both the middle and high school levels. And I wanted to kind of touch base a little bit. We really focus a lot on the dropout rate at the high school level. Um the state does look at
010some indicators of when students are moving from it's primarily eighth grade, but when you look at the taper report, it will show seventh and eighth grade, but it primarily tracks that transition from eighth to 9th. When students move and you don't you don't track them. Next this slide, college career military readiness. This slide present uh represents college career military readiness indicators. The percentage of graduates meeting readiness indicators increased to 80% showing improvement compared to the previous year. However, TSI readiness declined to both English and math. The next two slides are career readiness and dual credit. This slide highlights progress in career readiness. Career military readiness increased slightly from 41.9% to 54 54.9%. So we saw a significant increase there. Uh industry based certifications also increased and dual credit participation improved across several subject areas. Student
011practice. This slide provides context about the district student population. Kingsville Independence School District serves 2529 served 2529 students. Approximately 83.9% of students are economically disadvantaged and 65.8% are identified as at risk. About 20.9% of students receive special education services. The next two slides are going to talk about uh student safety. The paper report also includes the number of types of incidents as well as a description of the district safety programs. Kingsville ISD is implement so these are numbers from that we code in our discipline incidents that we have to track. And I I will call out the elephant in room the um violations of the student code of conduct which uh there were 2,173 incidents. Understand that outside what you see here those could be anything from tardies you know excessive or continued tardies to
012class disruption but there are something that we are addressing focused on. So this part this part this slide shows the the what we do for prevention and and abuse awareness. Um we use edgehero edero edihero um we also use our safe we have safety officers which are guarded trained guardians at each campus. Every campus has at least one middle school and high school have multiple. Uh we we use several reporting mechanisms for students and parents um so that they can report any signs of bullying or or violations of student code of conduct. And we have a district-wide threat assessment protocol that we use to monitor and evaluate threats of violence made by or to students. And in closing, the sorry the taper report glossery um published by the Texas educational agency provides definitions and explanations
013for each indicator included in the report. The resources available on both the TEA website and Kingsville ISD website for anyone who would like more detailed information about the data. Any questions? No questions. So now we actually um open up the floor to any public uh questions or comments. Please come forward to the podium if we have anyone in the public that would wish to ask any questions. One more question. >> Sure. Just the point of the modification. When it comes to the taper report, we did meet all the requirements established by statute. We were required to ensure that um we had hold this public hearing within 90 days of the taper report being released which happened on December 18th and the holidays do not count against those 90 days. Um in addition to that after
014this public hearing we are required to post publicly the taper report within two weeks and we have already posted the taper report since we received it on December 18th. So the public has access to this report in our website and it's again they might go back several years. They can also go into the website uh for kids or they can also go to the tea website and this is public information that anyone can access at any given time but we are within the um statute requirements for this u compliance portion. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Martinez. Hi. >> Um, I'm curious. The school district is doing this badly and you all can't figure out why. I mean, political correctness should not exist within the school district. Um, math scores are terrible. Reading is terrible.
015You've got over what, 2500 student code of conduct violations, and you all can't figure out what's going on. I mean, come on. This is silly. and it's been rated an F and poorly rated for several years. So, I would suggest that y'all sit down and throw out the political correctness book and whatever other junk is going on through life and get down to brass tax. These kids need to know how to read. They need to know how to write. They need to know how to add. They need to know how to tell time, which I bet you they can't do by a clock. You're not helping them by stealing their accomplishments by saying, "We'll just pass them forward." You're not helping them by not making sure they actually can read. They're going to have to
016fill out job applications. They're going to have to learn how to sign a lease. They need to know how to write checks, how to pay bills, how to do basic living things that you all know how to do, but don't seem to want to pass on to the next generation because this whole I'll just do it. it's easier. That's true statement. But you're not teaching them anything. They're not learning anything. They're not going to be able to survive on their own. And then when that generation gets up and is up there, they're not going to know how to be this country. They're not going to know what true freedom means. They're not going to understand how we achieved that. They're not going to understand how the United States of America came to be and remains
017if you keep taking their accomplishments from them. If you keep not showing them what they need to know, if you don't teach them how to think for themselves instead of just saying, "You need to know this and we're going to move you on to this next grade." No. Ask them to think how do they want to live? How do they want this country to be? They're going to run this country one day and they're going to run it into the ground because they don't know what they're doing. And to have a school rating be an F. I've never even heard that before I moved here. I'm appalled and I think you all should be too, but I I don't think you're appalled enough and I don't know what it's going to take to make you
018appalled enough to change to make this a better situation. Thank you. >> Anyone else wish to address the board and the public regarding the taper? All right, seeing no one, I this public hearing is adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Just Yes, sir. Yes. They will be here too. It is 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March the 10th, 2026. I call this workshop and special meeting of the Kings School District to order. We will have roll call. Joe Mirez here. Brian Kuall here. Chapa here. David Garcia >> here, >> Delma Selenas >> here, >> Jacob Perez >> here, and Joseph Ruiz here. Let the record show that we there is a quorum of board members present that this meeting has been posted in accordance with government code chapter 551, state of Texas Open Meetings Act. We will move
019to a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance and the Texas pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of to the repy and justice flag algiance to the Texas state. We now move on to item number four, public participation. Do we have anyone who wishes to address the board? >> Yes, sir. The first one is for local community in reference to procedures. >> Mr. Ramos hi hi hi. >> Good evening. I am being overly friendly and waving a lot because apparently at 5'9 brown skin with some tattoos like a large portion of our community, I am intimidating and scary. So, I'm trying to be more friendly and talk softly. The board of trustees need to place on the agenda the matter of public rights and safety. There are around eight
020board policies, state laws, and constitutional laws, the bill of rights that govern on how a board should deal with visitors in an open public meeting. It is obvious to everyone outside these walls that many staff, including guards, need to be re-educated on what they include. I advise you to have the superintendent create a checklist to educate staff and a checklist to be used to ensure that they are in compliance with and when an issue may arise, does arise, and did arise. Please add as well to the future agenda information pertinent to operating board meetings with your own policy of Robert's rule of order. Have any of you read the full manual and the most updated version? You should put that on your board goals and mission to read it, especially the president. Have a good
021day to the board members who blame parents for all their own problems, many of whom they created themselves. Thank you for not violating my rights again. >> Thank you, Mr. Ramos. Who's next? >> Myraal. H&T procedures. Missal. I want to start off by asking that the district put on a grievance process and open records request process on the agenda for discussion in the next workshop. For months now, parents in the community have done exactly what this district tells us to do when there's a problem. We've sent the emails. We sat in the meetings. We filed the grievances. We submitted the public open records requests. Emails, meetings, emails, meetings. We followed your process. We trusted your process. We were told there would be fair investigations and proper procedures. And then months go by and we're still
022sitting here asking the same questions. Where's our answers? Parents in the community have begged this district for help and accountabil accountability. Begged for someone to simply acknowledge what our children are experiencing. Instead, what many of us are experiencing is silence and delays. Is the grievance process designed to resolve problems or delay them until parents give up? Because for more families are standing, it feels like the latter. Meanwhile, students and parents have begun speaking publicly. Not because it's fun, not because anyone enjoys putting their child's experiences out into the world, but because after emails and meetings go nowhere, parents eventually realize that the only thing left is the truth. And once the truth starts being shared, the entire community starts paying attention. Students from the past and present have begun coming forward and sharing their stories.
023Messages are coming in privately because some families are afraid to speak publicly. But make no mistake, their stories are still there and they still matter. But the board has already seen them. The district's already seen them, but now the community has seen them. So the question tonight is very simple. KISSD, can you hear us now? Do you see us? Are you actually listening to the parents and students sitting in the room, or does this need to become even more public before anybody takes it seriously? We're watching concerns about students well-being and safety sit unresolved. We are watching the grievance process stretch on far longer than it legally should. And we're watching the people who speak up being treated like they are the problem. State law and district policy outlines timelines for hearings and responses so
024parents can actually receive timely resolution when serious concerns are raised. Concerns raised last year shouldn't be sitting here unresolved this year later. A process that's supposed to give family answers should never exist feel like it exists simply to delay them. At the same time, we hear public statements suggesting that parent concerns somehow aren't the reason the district is struggling and frated. But here's a thought. When students start avoiding school, when parents start losing trust in the system, maybe the question shouldn't be, "What are the parents doing wrong?" Maybe the question should be why are students feeling this way in the first place? Then there's the message sent to the community when people who speak publicly suddenly find themselves escorted out of meetings or restricted from district property. Whether people agree with someone or not, the
025objects of that moment were clear. And the community saw it. We all saw the video. People in this room saw it. People across the community saw it. When procedures that this district expects everyone else to follow are not followed during a public meeting, we notice when Robert's rules of orders are not applied correctly during a meeting that is supposed to be governed by those rules, we notice. And when a situation escalates in a public meeting without the proper procedures being followed by the preciding officer, we notice that too. You cannot ask the public to respect rules and policies while visibly failing to follow them yourselves. Once that trust is broken, people stop believing that the system's fair. You send a message that night, a message that speaking up might come with consequences. And when that
026message spreads, families stop coming forward. Not because the problems disappear, but because people become afraid to talk about them. Now, tonight, the board's considering reducing our time from 5 to 3 minutes. Think about it. We come here asking to be heard, and the response is to shorten our voice. At every meeting, the district says it wants parent collaboration, but collaboration doesn't happen when parents feel like they're being managed instead of heard. When parents start noticing the patterns of delayed responses, unresolved concerns, certain issues not being addressed, people start asking bigger questions. accountability, leadership, questions about how many chances does someone get when before the concerns involve our children. Because when families start having to keep their own record, screenshots, and timelines to be heard, the system's clearly broken. When a district fails to address these
027problems early, the consequences eventually get bigger. Sometimes reputational, sometimes financial, and sometimes, as taxpayers have already seen, the consequences come with a price tag, a very expensive one. When parents start having to do their own investigations, that should concern every person sitting on the board. Parents shouldn't have to fight this hard. So tonight, I'll end with this. Parents aren't speaking up because we enjoy conflict. We're speaking up because we've watched our children come home discouraged, embarrassed, and defeated. And we refuse to pretend that that's normal. We have followed your process. We have asked respectfully. We have waited patiently. But we're no longer willing to sit quietly while the elected system protects itself instead of protecting our students. The community is watching, the parents are watching, and the students are watching, too. Thank you. >> Thank
028you, Mr. All we have anyone who wishes to address the board in reference to proceed. >> Hi, good evening. My speech is going to be short, but change doesn't happen when people stay quiet. It happens when people speak up for what is right. Histories proves to us like leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and countless others who have refused and accepted the injustice. Silence never fixes problems. Accountability does. And with that being stated, I found it very offensive last month when a board member, an elected board member, spoke and stated that it was the problem of the parents. There are parents who want to be involved. There are parents who have have gone to the school and tried to make adjustments and talked to teachers and talk to parents and to talk to administration, but
029we're shut out. We can't go to pep rallies. Senior parents aren't invited to have lunch. I encourage you guys to go right down the road to Ricardo, Texas, and take a look at what they do. I have a child there, and I it is so transparent. I get notifications when the bus is running late. I get notifications when the internet's out. I get every Sunday I receive an email letting me know what's going on. I get uh charts and graphs of things that I don't even know what they're about, but I get them and I read them and I pay attention. I feel as though there are parents in KISSD who do want to be here and do want to be around their students. But when you're met with shut doors and when you're met
030with going and making countless phone calls and sending emails that don't even get a response like, "I got it. Thank you. Received nothing or they end up in the trash box. I'm sure what I would like for this district to do is to challenge themselves to find innovative ways for what to bring parents around. We did a fundraiser for prom. Our prom has no money. But I will tell you that about 10 15 parents and students came out to support that and we raised money for our prom. And that that should speak volumes because there were parents who do show up at different times. When you invite them and when you're open and friendly, when you shut us out, then we don't come. And when you minimize our voices like this from going from five
031minutes to three minutes, that is not good. Or when you give us a false sense of security and I walk outside after getting up here and publicly speaking, this is a hard, this is not easy. And then I'm met with intimidation by a board member spouse. And I haven't even gotten an apology for that. There was no video cameras. There was no security. Where were my officers? When I asked for that record, you know what I was told? Oh, it's motion censored. And on top of that, there is no video. The only video that's around is the one of the car. Where where was that video? And then I find out the video was overridden because you guys have a policy that every 30 days you overwrite things. Why? That shouldn't be when I had
032a grievance process going in an open records. I request open records. I don't get them. I get them delayed, delayed, delayed on the 10th day. And then you guys forget to redact things. So you do the very thing that I was making agreements about. You do the same thing. I send emails unanswered. The public knows, the public sees you want change, start within your board. Stop giving yourself extra time. Remember that you are elective officials. And also remember the pro the the people that you serve. Your ex- superintendent just put a two-part expose. I challenge you to read that the community in which you serve is a proper community. It is not that. And those who do have the means are going to leave. So I leave you with that. I hope that you guys
033want change and that you are striving for change and that you stop trying to intimidate us parents from speaking up. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Do we have any anyone else who wishes to address? >> We have one more pet trailer in reference to the criteria. >> M trailer Hi. Um, just just really quick, I don't have a plan speech or anything, but I I noticed that on here it talked about that you're going to talk about the RIFF program tonight and understanding what the teachers have to go through to be rehired. they have to um I don't know there was a whole list of things that uh they have to be interviewed and you know they have to be rehired for next year right so anyway I I just kind of wondered if
034maybe we could include there's a lot of teachers that we really like a lot of parents have said you know hey I like really like my teacher I'd hate for them to be dis um you know not able to come back next year and so we were talking I thought well gosh I wonder if there's a component where we could write letters of recommendations to our about our principal about maybe teachers that we like. I don't know whether that's a policy thing or whether that's something that might be included in the the packet that the teachers have that they could like their resumes or I don't know. I just wanted to kind of drop that little seed and maybe we could think about it and talk about it when it comes to section uh you
035know down here on this section. Um because parent I I feel kind of funny you know piggybacking on all the parent things but um there's some good stuff going on and you know those good teachers you know I don't know maybe the kudos that it could help. So anyway that's that was my little two cents. Thank you. >> Thank you. We now move on to um item five. Kings Kingsville ISB board trustees will conduct a board workshop to discuss the following item 5A 2026 2027 instructional count calendars. T Williams. My apologies. We'll have technology go ahead and and open the presentation for us. Um, as that is happening, good evening, board president, superintendent Dr. Martinez, board members, and community members. Um what we will be doing today is giving an update on the current status
036of our proposed instructional calendars for the 2026 2027 school year. So the purpose of bringing this um to the workshop today is to provide the update um share how the board DEIC and stakeholder feedback inform the work and to update the board and the community on the current survey results. So, as we are aware, the district was notified that our DOI status is being revoked um effective July of 2026. Due to our DOI status being revoked, our instructional calendars had to go back to DEIC because we um have to start our school year on the fourth Monday of August. So, next year that does fall on August 24th. These proposed changes were taken to DEIC for review and uh discussion. We drafted three instructional calendars. We created a district-wide survey that was not only sent
037to our teachers and our students and staff, but also to the community. It is posted on our district website. Um and you are able to still submit results. This survey will close on March 23rd. So, it still is currently open. Final survey results will then be brought to the board on our March 24th board meeting. Our current survey results, we currently have um 139 uh responses to our current survey. Option two is currently in the lead with 119 responses or 85.6% um of our survey results um indicating option two. Our sideby-side comparison of the different options that we have um are listed here. Option two, the one that is currently in the lead, um does have 130 days prior to STAR. Um option one has 132 and option three5. All calendars are starting on the
038same date um of bringing teachers back on August the 17th, bringing students back on August the 24th. All three options also have six teacher work days and six professional development days. Option one has students ending June 4th and teachers ending June 7th. Option two has students ending June 8th and teachers ending June 9th. And option three has students ending June 1st and teachers ending June 2nd. Um for Thanksgiving break, option one has three days, option two five days, and option three um three days. Option one does have Martin Luther King Day being observed. So does option two. Option three does not for stock show. Option one has two days. Option two as well has two days. Option three has no days. All three options are observing Good Friday. And then within all three of these
039calendars, we incorporated um seven Saturdays that are being coded as additional day school year days or at dates. Um and that is in order for us to try to recapture some of that lost time with our students since we are having to have a later start date. Um so we have seven Saturdays embedded um in between all three options prior to start. We also have our ATS summer start days, all starting on June 14th and all ending on July 24th. With the ATS summer, the district is required to have 25 um consecutive days in the summer for ATSE. The next following slides are images of the calendars. Um if it is too small on the PowerPoint, we did provide you with some copies um if you would like to take a look at those as
040well. So our next steps for our calendar is we will continue to collect and analyze the survey results. Um we will then come back to the board on March 24th and provide our final recommendation on our instructional calendar for the 2026 2027 school year. Do I have any question? Yes sir. >> Who was able to participate in the survey? Our students, parents, staff? >> Yes sir. It was sent to students, parents, staff, community members. It is posted um on our district website. Um and anybody is able to respond to that survey. >> I have another quick question on the side by side. the student and teacher end dates. Uh for option one, I mean option two and option three there's like seven days. Is it because in option two there are more holidays in that
041option than option three? >> That is correct. Um because there is a longer Thanksgiving break um things of that nature. It does push back that end date. Yes sir. Any further questions? also like to note that these calendars reflect the change from 167 days instructional days to 175. That means teachers will be in front of kids 175 days instead of 167. Their contract will not be changed. They will still work the same number of days, but they will be in front of kids more than they used to. Any other questions? >> Thank you, Mr. Williams. We now move on to item 5B, the uh turnaround plans, actually 5B and C will be together. Turnaround plans or T plans for AD Harvey Elementary School and M Harrell Elementary School and John S. Gillette Middle School. Miss
042Jennifer Flowers. And then item 5 C will be a target improvement plan for J.R. Pettis Elementary School and HM King High School will also be Miss Flowers. Good evening, board president Ruiz, board members, Superintendent Martinez, and our uh staff and community members. Thank you for joining us this evening. Uh tonight the CNI teamself, Dr. Welch, Miss Jennifer Flowers, Dr. Hill Arnold, and um Miss Tanya Williams will present the tip turnaround plans for you. Uh slide one. Thank you. I don't have the clicker, so forgive me when I keep fumbling with this thing, so Miss uh Flowers will will click it for me. Um, tonight we will present an overview of the targeted improvement plan, also known as TIP, as well as the turnaround plan known as TAP. Um, currently being implemented in Kingsville Independent School
043District. These plans are required by TEA, the Texas Educational Agency uh that fall for campus for schools that fall below the accountability uh expectations. These plans outline the district uh strategy for improving instructional systems, strengthening leadership capacity, and increasing student academic outcomes. This slide provides a high level Oops. This slide provides a highle overview of the state of the district and the context in which our improvement work uh is occurring. Kingsville ISD has experienced several years of academic challenges that have resulted in campuses being identified uh for the state intervention improvement plans. The district response is to build a stronger instructional system, strengthen leadership capacity, and align resources to support improve student outcomes. This this slide this slide of the district shows the accountability rating over several years in camp in campuses. The chart illustrates
044how campuses have moved between different accountability categories during this period. The data highlights the need for focused improvement efforts across the district particularly in core academic subjects such as reading and mathematics. Thank you. So on this slide you'll also see uh which campuses are tipped and which ones are tapped. As you can see, uh, GMS, uh, Gillette and Harold, I'm sorry, Harvey. GMS, Harold, and Harvey are TAP turnaround campuses, and HM King and Perez are tip. GMS and Harvey are F3 campuses, meaning they've been F for three consecutive years. We are committed to strengthening student success by focusing on eight key priorities that guide our work across the district. Together, these priorities ensure that KISSD creates a wellsupported high-erforming system that prepares every student for success beyond graduation. There are three school improvement labels. The
045first one being additional targeted support, a designation assigned to campuses where the performance of one or more student groups falls below the comprehensive support and improvement cut points. Number two, schools previously identified for comprehensive support and improvement are monitored for progress toward improvement goals. As they demonstrate sustained growth, TEA will update their status to comprehensive progress. Number three, title one part A campuses performing in the lowest 5% statewide as well as the campuses that remain in targeted support and improvement status for three consecutive years are identified for comprehensive support and improvement. Multi-year unacceptable campuses must submit a turnaround plan while firstear unacceptable campuses must submit a targeted improvement plan. Both focused on improving student outcomes and monitored for implementation two years for TAP and one year for TIP. And as Dr. Welch mentioned in the
046previous slide, our TAP campuses include Harold, Harvey, and Gillette. And our tip campuses include King and Bennett. This is the timeline for the turnaround plan. Um we submitted our initial turnaround plan by November 21st, 2025. Um we did receive feedback from TEA in January and we um have revised um what was asked of us to provide additional specificity. Um and then we are our plan is to submit by March 24th. Um and then we will get some final information from TEA. The TAP plan is a um the TAP timeline is a little bit different than TIP. Um as I'm sure you remember, you did approve the TAP when we first submitted. That was a requirement from TEA. Uh the TIP just needs to be um approved once in the spring. So this is our our
047first time bringing this to you. uh our tip and our tap are aligned with the effective schools framework which is um a framework tea uses. It's a a proven framework of how schools improve um and what schools are doing across Texas in order to become better. Uh our district-wide analysis showed three areas of need. Increase student academic outcomes, increased leadership and instructional capacity, and strengthen fiscal responsibility. And Dr. watch will go through uh these three in a little more detail. >> There we go. >> Thank you. This slide focus on academic improvement. Student performance data indicates the need to improve achievement and growth across all content areas particularly reading and mathematics. Classroom observations and learning walks show that wide while engagement strategies are improving consistent implementation of high quality tier one instruction remains a key
048area of focus. Improving tier one instruction ensures that the majority of students receive strong instruction before interventions become necessary. Another major focus area is building leadership and instructional capacity. Many teachers and instructional leaders in the district are in their first five years of experience. As a result, the district is focusing on strengthening professional learning communities, coaching cycles, and lesson internalization to improve instructional quality. Strategic, excuse me, by building teacher and leadership capacity, the district is creating systems that improve instruction across every uh classroom. The third district focus area is fiscal responsibility. The district is prioritizing the alignment of local, state, federal funds to support instructional improvement. This includes the strategic use of title one, lasso grants, and other funding sources to support staffing, instructional materials, and professional learning. The goal is to ensure that every
049dollar invested supports measurable improvements in student learning. So an overview of our elementary plan. Um just a point of clarification. So the tip plan and the tap plan are two separate plans. TIP is for one year 2526 and TAP is for 2526 and 2627. Um now as I know that you know our school improvement plan impacts all five of our campuses. So in this slide I have combined our plan. We are doing the same uh in supports and instructional uh focuses across all of our elementary schools regardless of whether a tap is required or a tip is required. Um as Dr. Arnold mentioned our support labels are listed here for each of our three elementary campuses. The priority levers that goes back to our um effective schools framework. And then our key actions um next
050year we're going to be modifying that um implementing a modified ACE uh program for our elementary campuses. our district-wide elementary realignment. Uh ensuring that our prek through second teachers feel supported and together and have time to collaborate. Same with our three through five. Um implementing that additional day school year as Miss Williams just mentioned in the uh previous presentation. And then our intensive curriculum and instruction support. So we all have a campus that we support every single day. um we are there next to the principles in classrooms um and and we're really doing some good work in in our classrooms. Um as part of our intensive curriculum instruction improvements for um 2627 we are going to be implementing the blue bonnet K through5 RLA. Uh that's going to have a foundational skills component for K
051through three uh which we're very excited about. I think that's going to help our students a lot. Um, a lot of our plan is just ensuring that we are providing the tools and the time for our teachers to implement this program effectively. So, some of the things that we're doing, we're looking at master schedules to ensure that we can provide PLC time for our core level teachers every day within the school day. Um, we are ensuring that we meet the recommended minutes for these programs um, which we already do. So, those are things that we are doing currently, but we are going to continue to do so. Um, our continued use of Blue Bonnet K through five math. Um and then again with our redesign master schedule ensuring that we are giving the teachers everything
052that they need um to be effective in the classroom. Um our additional day school year um we have that uh grant that's going to provide some funding so that we can implement this um with fidelity. We're going to add those 25 days in the summer of 2027 and we're going to have seven days on Saturday throughout the 2627 school year in order to recapture some of those kiddos. at the secondary level again. So Gillette is required to submit a TAP that's that two-year plan and HM King is required to submit a TIP which is that one-year plan. Our support is not changing. So we are there day in day out. Um our main focus is going to be that intensive curriculum and instruction improvement. So we're working on we've worked on calibrated learning walks. Um
053we've implemented PLC's every single day for our tested subject teachers at HM King and Gillette. So they have that opportunity to internalize lessons, lesson rehearsal, um student work analysis, things of that nature. And they are able to do that every single day for those uh tested subject teachers. Our milestones for the 2025 2026 school year were anchored on building strong instructional systems. The district strengthened instruction by implementing high quality instructional materials, providing ongoing professional development on lesson internalization, rigor, student engagement, and establishing structured PLC protocols, including daily PLC's at the secondary level. Instructional support was reinforced through frequent classroom walkthroughs, coaching cycles, and multiple assessment cycles to monitor student progress. Additionally, elementary consolidation planning and the launch of state funded improvement grants support increased instructional capacity and improved student outcomes. These instructional systems are being
054measured using multiple data points. Our milestones for the 2026 2027 school year are focused on strengthening implementation and measuring impact. The district will restructure elementary campuses to strengthen instructional focus, implement daily PLC's with a district-wide protocol, and continue the use of Blue Bonnet math. While launching Blue Bonnet RLA data dashboards and structured data cycles will be introduced to monitor student performance alongside strengthened support for special populations and the light professional development and instructional monitoring to tap tip priorities. The strengthening, implementation, and measuring impact will be measured through multiple data points. The Kingsville ISD improvement cycle connects classroom instruction, leadership monitoring, PLC collaboration, and student data. This ensures that instructional adjustments are made quickly to improve student outcomes. Improvement progress will will be monitored through the classroom walkthroughs, PLC, artifact reviews, coaching cycles, and multiple assessment
055checkpoints throughout the year. Uh district leadership will review progress regularly and adjust uh strategies based on student performance data. By May 2027, success will will include strong instructional systems, consistent use of high quality curriculum materials, effective PLC collaborations, and instructional coaching embedded across campuses. Teachers will consistently deliver rigorous instruction aligned to grade level standards. Any questions? Yes. I think it's safe to say that this has been somewhat of a transitional year. We've had a new administration, Kevin. There have been some changes made, some readjustments, and an awful lot of monitoring going on. And so I think it's safe to say that we aren't expecting any miracles in this year's star test. Um, I think it's also safe to say that change many times results from change many times takes a lot. You can't turn an
056F district around to an A district in a year. You can't. Maybe you can, but it's it's somewhat unrealistic. We we are taking some drastic progressive needed measures in next year's school year. One of them being moving the curriculum and reading to the blue bond curriculum. Obviously that takes a transition period also. And I understand the consistent monitoring. How do we prevent next year from being a non a a it will be transitional. We have a potential roof coming through. Um, we've got some aggressive changes being made to some of the ways that things have been and necessary changes. But how do we prevent that from being simply a transitional year and seeing that student achievement really does improve? >> Uh, really good question and thank you for the question. Uh there's a couple things
057well several things that where we're looking at next year for us is not a transitional year but an implementation year and where we're going 100 miles an hour and we're doing that right now as we speak. We've come in with the coaching in the moment. We've come in with um internalizing helping support our our instructional leaders um with internalizing lessons and and understanding how to really um teach at grade level and also increasing the rigor. We've we've already started working with our campus leadership increasing their instructional capacity so that they can continue to coach our teachers. Um, as you know, this is why the team is here. Um, we're on campus every day. But what we're doing and more so than just always being in the classrooms is we're building the capacity of our instructional
058leaders to continue doing that when we're not there on the campus because that's how when it hits home. Um the other things that we're doing um as we move forward again thanks to the grants that we've received we will be implementing the modified ACE which is which is really looking at effective levels of teachers. So we're we're working toward bringing top tier instruction into the classroom. This summer we'll have um um learningmies so that with that new curriculum the first time teachers see it will not be in August when they show up. We're bringing our teachers in early. We're going to uh sit down with them. We're going to work through all of those lessons, help them understand how to really use those resources because uh the high quality instructional material that we're that we've
059selected through Blue Bonnet has so many resources. Um it's really more so a matter of teachers not having to look for go out on their own because again I'll use a personal story when I taught way back when you got the keys the grade book and the textbook and said good luck. Um what we're doing now with this high quality instructional material is it's it has everything aligned for our teachers. And so what our teachers will be able to do now uh Miss Flower spoke about uh using student work analysis. They'll be able to really focus on what their students need and be able to pull those resources from this high quality instructional material and then in conjunction with the coaching that they're receiving to build their instructional capacity to make sure that they're always
060delivering high quality instruction every day. We feel that the teachers will be ready and so it will not be a transition year but a full implementation year for us to look at and expect high results. >> Thank you for that. One one followup. Could you drill down a little deeper on and and put in somewhat layman terms for a non-educator what the term building the capacity of instructional leaders means? >> Yes sir. So when we talk about building the instructional capacity of of of the building the instructional capacity for leaders, what we're really talking about is helping leaders as uh instructional leaders and also campus leadership understand how to use high quality I won't even say use instructional strategies that really focus on our students continuously be engaged in thinking speaking um student discourse to
061really be able to elevate instruction. instruction and be able to also anticipate misconceptions and already have planned on how to how to teach those misconceptions. And when we do a really good job at building that capacity, we avoid those misconceptions because we plan for them in advance and we're able to maximize student mastery levels because we're able to fluently engage students back and forth with the curriculum and and have them continue to push at a high a high level rigor and make sure that we're always staying at at least the the grade level or higher with their with their rigor. I don't know if did I answer your question? >> Thank you very much. I would like to add to that um to what Dr. W stated in terms of building the instructional capacity for
062school leaders. No doubt the teacher in the classroom is the number one factor in improving student outcomes. Right? So we know we have to invest heavily in building the capacity of the teachers to be able to determine if this is what I have to teach today. Right? This is the guidance. These are the TE's, right? Texas education knowledge uh and skills. This is what I have to teach today. Knowing my students where they are academically speaking, what gaps do they have? How many students I have that may have learning challenges or other challenges whether there might be linguistic right etc. Students that are chronic you know in terms of absences and a disadvantage I know my students not the teacher. So if I have to teach this, how do I ensure as the leader in
063a campus that I am going into that classroom understanding what that teacher had to put together which I don't know as a leader because only the teacher knows the students in front of them right but how do I support that teacher that that teacher is is quick to implement strategies and pivot during the instructional process so that the needs of the students are met. So campus leaders have to be able to walk into a classroom and know what they have to support and how they have to coach the teacher so that the teacher can be the one continuously making those instructional decisions that are in the best interest of students. When we talk about building capacity for leaders, we're not saying they are there to teach the lesson. They're there to grow the teachers. So
064the teachers continue to be the masters of that classroom environment and making the decisions because they themselves are the ones who know the students better. But we know also and research says that that without strong leaders in the schools instructional capacity cannot be developed at the max. And so we have to make sure that we focus on developing leaders. We coach the principles and say, "Hey, these are some of the strategies that we believe if they're implemented with fidelity, they can add value to what you are doing in the classroom. And the campus leaders will then have to go and support that. Leaders will also be looking at data with intentionality with the teachers looking where at where the students are, how many failed an assessment that they gave, how many are moving along, how
065many are staying behind and helping support what decisions need to be made so that the students can advance forward and the teacher knows what other things I can do. So it's essential that we have strong teachers in the classroom but we also have strong leaders that are supporting that and our job and and the district office is to ensure that this machinery works in synergy right and that is aligned with the priorities that we had set on our court. One of the things that I strongly believe in is the power of professional learning communities. That is that dedicated time during the instructional day that teachers have to collaborate to take a lesson and say this is what I have to teach. How can I teach this better? How would you teach it? What ideas would
066you do? I have three students that have a reading disability for example. I have two students that are um that have limited proficiency in the language. I have two students that are absent a lot and have tremendous gaps or they read at third grade level and we're a fifth grade, things of that nature. So teachers collaborate and they discuss strategies and they help one another make those informed instructional decisions that are going to benefit the students. So part of the grants that we are receiving will allow us to have at the elementary levels one um period of professional learning communities every day. So teachers don't have to stay up to school. They don't have to juggle different things to be able to collaborate with one another. And this period is in addition to their own
067conference period which is always required, right? And so we were hoping and I know as a fact that PLC's done right with intentionality with structure will yield the fantastic results that we're seeking to achieve but it they have to be done with fidelity and so part of the grant is going to allow us to bring um a provider that as well help support the PC's as well. So we are internally supporting the process but we're also bringing people from the outside that understand what is what are our priorities and goals etc. and they're going to come and supplements and super fun. So we will be working together on it. Um that the grant provides for us to um select a provider and we already went through the process of asking several providers to do a
068presentation to us to see how they can support it. And so we're waiting for TA some details to select that provider. Once we select it, we will present it to you and and tell you a little bit about how they they're going to be supporting uh the campuses. But the power of PLC's is going to be absolutely fantastic. But you also something that is very near and dear to our hearts now that we're changing curriculum right because one thing is how I teach that's the instructional part of it and teachers get to decide that. The other part is the what to teach and that is the curriculum. The curriculum is determined by the state of Texas based on the Texas knowledge and essential skills. Right? Texas essential knowledge and skills. I got it backwards the
069so we are as Dr. Welch mentioned um offering learningmies during the summer and because we have to start so late in August, we can do this in August, right? Which pretty much is the normal time where where teachers were heading in in school. And we are also able to pay them extra to come in and and participate in that in that um work. The other thing that we're doing and we're in the process of reviewing our teachers data is ensuring that we handpick teachers that are very very strong instructionally speaking to teach English and math. So I only have to prepare for English and math. I don't have two or three or four different lessons to prepare for the rest of the day. My focus is English. My focus is that and those teachers are
070going to be compensated in addition to their salary because they're going to carry the load, right? And we're going to be supporting them more um strategically because they have those areas. We want our kids to be able to read. We want our kids to be able to perform mathematics calculation, etc. So, we get them ready for the world. And so in layman's terms, that's that's what we are. >> I I think that sounds very very promising and and very much in a roundabout way student focused and and definitely honing in on student achievement. And I think it emphasizes supports the decision to take and consolidate the grades at campuses. It seems like that's going to make it so much easier to gain consistency and and be able to provide that level of instruction consistently throughout
071the district on campus rather than having them spread out. >> Thank you. >> Yes. I just had a comment. Um there's um there were some people who spoke earlier today and I think they're it it it's frustrating that they don't think that we know that we're in school and we're not doing enough. I mean we're very aware what's going on, you know. Um and one of the things we did about this we hired this person. We're behind it 100% and everybody else is she hired. So to say that we're just not I don't even know how to put into words, but we we're aware that this is an issue, you know, we're working together. We want this school to succeed. We want the school district to succeed. We are in it with y'all. And it's
072we have the right person in place. And I know you probably don't want to hear that and I know everybody's upset and I understand that. But we're started. We've started. It's going to take a little while. We thought maybe we could do it sooner, but it's a lot of work. But I can assure anybody listening or anybody watching online, we're aware of the situation, we have hired Dr. L. Martinez, and she is doing her best along with all her team and we're with you. next thing. >> Anyone else? >> I just want to, you know, just piggy back off what he said and uh we're in it. You know, we're back up 100%. We're doing what we have to do to support you in order to move forward. Uh there's some growing pains and it
073hurts a little bit but um you know the last few years as we've stated had shown have not been good here. So it's going to be a big u a big job but it's going to get done. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you all. >> We now move on to item number six. The Kingsville ISD Board of the Trustees will now conduct a special meeting. The time is 6:24 p.m. We move on to item 6A, communication from administration, Superintendent Dr. Linez. Good evening board members, board presidents and members of the staff and the public. Lots of things are happening in the district. So my comments today are not necessarily an update but a plea for everyone to understand as the board members have stated that we know where we
074are and we are taking this work seriously. I don't want anyone to be confused about our result. We understand where we are. We understand that the lift is heavy. We didn't get here in one year and two years. This is a long time in the making. However, as I I have stated repeatedly when I go to the campuses and talk to the staff, this is not the student's fault. This is not because we have students that do this or have that or don't have this or don't have that. This is not the students fault. At the end of the day, we the professionals, we the educators have to embrace the challenge and realize what do we have to do differently to reach the students that we have in front of us because they deserve the
075best education we can provide. We are not going to blame anyone, but we're certainly not going to say it's the student's fault. And I stand firm on that. Again, as professional educators who have been through various degrees, certifications, all of us, we have to figure out how to reach the students in front of us. And so moving forward, change is difficult and change takes courage. and determination and grit >> and we all have to understand that there might be as you all said pains but we're going to pull through and Kingsville IC starts to be an a district there is no reason why Kingsville ISD needs to be where it So we we know that it's a long haul, but those who choose to stay in the district and work towards the strategies, goals that
076we are putting in place and that we're trying to achieve. they will understand what it takes. Not for the faint of heart because all our schools are on school improvement. Every single one of them. So we can't say we're going to focus on one school and not the others. We have to spread thin across five or four schools. But we can do this. We really can. This is what we as a community are going to step forward and say, "Do we have what it takes to turn the district around?" And yes, we're going to make mistakes. And yes, sometimes things are not going to go right. I am not a miracle worker. I appreciate people who think that I can do this and I certainly can, but it's going to take all of us. And
077I keep saying this, it takes all of us. And so my plea today is for everyone to understand that this board and this superintendent and this team understand the sense of urgency. I don't want anyone to be confused about that. We do understand where we are. We're committed to getting there. Sometimes it feels like baby steps and sometimes we're we're going to take great leaps and move forward. Whatever it is, I am confident that if we work together, we can make this work. Thank you. Trusty Chapa present this next section. Well, >> good evening everyone. KSD Education Foundation is proud to to award four grants tonight and representing the KSD education foundation is myself Chapa and Miss Delma Selenus. Come on up DMA and we have our president Miss Evanita Ramos. As you know the
078KSD education foundation is dedicated to raising money and giving back to students in KSD. For example, Dr. Martinez is also a member. We have also al also other members as well. Uh exeicio members, you want to stand. You all come on over here, please. >> Max, >> Johnny, >> no. >> Oh, former. >> Well, we are proud to to award these four grants. And I'm going to go ahead and name the recipients. I don't know if they're here, but they're worth mentioning. >> Are the principles with Stan >> or the principles of this the campus? Yes. Delila Ramirez of Harold Elementary. She's receiving $467.82 from Harvey Elementary. Stoia Rodriguez Ozuna. She's awarded $876.98 from Hep King High School. is ID Amaya. $1,870. And HM King High School recipient is Miss Katie Pois, $1,950.87. These grants
079celebrate the creativity and dedication of our teachers as they implement innovative ideas and enrich classroom instruction and elevate student learning. Congratulations to all the recipients >> and I'll always take a few minutes to talk about the KingsD education foundation and because there are so many uh new faces here uh the foundation has three basic goals. One support students, support staff and involve community. So through our uh student involvement, one of the things that we do is is is scholarships. We provide high school uh high school seniors some scholarships. We've we've presented from 23,000 to 10,000 depending on the applications. We also provide school supplies to them. Supporting our staff. Part of it is the grants. We we present it up to 10, 15, 20,000 depending on how much funds we raise during the year. Uh
080we have a golf tournament coming up in April. So any of you golfers come golf. It's swing uh swing for scholarships. All that funding there goes to our uh high school uh seniors. Uh community involvement. Part of it is increasing community involvement and we've done that through our um we started a hall of fame. We have a a welcome back um homecoming tailgate and which we've had great responses. Um and I I just want to say and then the the tone there is a lot of support. We're here to support our students, our staff, our administrators doing a great job. There's some great teachers, these innovative teachers that are funding these innovative um um applied for these grants for funding for their classrooms. They have to do it by the end of the year. So,
081there's awesome things happening in your classrooms and you have some awesome teachers and you have some awesome parents that are also wanted to be involved and we have great support. I'm out in the community and I hear, you know, uh, let teachers know you're doing, you know, we're we're here for you because again, it's Kingsville ISD and how Kingsville go ISD goes, our community goes, too. So, uh, again, I love your your plans. Keep up the good work. You know, hang in there. It it it's it's a tough job and we do appreciate what you're doing. So, thanks again and thank you for I'll get off my soap box. Thank you very much. a few minutes. >> Okay. And now we'll have Dr. Martinez talk about the 2526 accreditation status for Kingsville ISD. >> Good
082evening again. Um, as part of the requirements by the Texas Education Agency, uh, we have to disclose this information on a public meeting and post it in the agenda. You have previously presented this information as superintendence update when we received it um originally but we are required to provide this as a board item. So this is why we're bringing this back regarding the accredititation for the district. I'll be staying here. Thank you. All right. So, as you know, the Texas Education Agency awards um districts with a specific status and the accredititation has four levels. The first one, which is the one that we all aspire to have, it's accredited. We have accredited warned, probation, and not accredited revoked. And so currently our district is labeled as accredited warrant and this happens when the district has
083received two consecutive school years of academic accountability ratings of needs improvement or academically unacceptable or F. This is the data for the district um which illustrates in the last three years where those ratings are coming from and why do we have this um accountability accredititation status as required by statute and this have to be completed by March 13. We have to notify the parents of the students enrolled in the district. This is the letter that was sent back in February 13 as well. What a coincidence. February 13. Uh this letter was sent to all the students. We also posted it on the website and we also um posted it on the uh newspaper but it was not required to be posted. Uh but we wanted to make sure that we took it a step ahead.
084Um we also have to send notification to TA that we have complied with all of this requirements which we are in the process of of doing or have already done it uh since the deadline is the 13th of the month. So as part of the accredititation warned that uh Kingsville is uh rated right now we are required to come up with solutions. What are we going to do about it? Right? Because we had to go back to the accredititation stats. And so you heard today the tip and the tap which delineates the comprehensive plan that we are implementing currently and will continue to implement uh moving forward. center on high quality instruction and the use of high quality instructional materials as well as providing ongoing leadership support, coaching, feedback, monitoring, etc. And establishing clear systems
085of accountability, support, data-driven decisions, etc. to improve our high performance culture. And so that is the information that I have for the district accredititation. Now, needless to say, our status as accredited warrant also gives TA the right to assign additional sanctions to the district. We haven't received any information on any potential sanctions that they will assign to us to support us to get get us back into the accredited status. Once we received information, if we do, um, I will certainly come back and inform the board and the members of the public as well. Subject to your questions, questions from the board. >> Thank you, Dr. Martinez. >> Thank you. We now move on to item 6B, discussion and possible action regarding the turnaround or tap plans for AD Harvey Elementary School, NM Harrell Elementary School
086and John S. Shellet Middle School. Good evening. Administration recommends that the board of trustees approve the turnaround plans for resubmission for Ad Harvey Elementary, NM Harrell Elementary School, and John S. Gillette Middle School as presented. Submission is due to the Texas Education Agency by March 24th, 2026. >> Is there a motion to accept the recommendation? >> Motion made by Bill Savinas. >> Second. Second by Jacob Bettis. I roll call vote. Joe Mirez, >> yes. >> Brian Tu, >> yes. >> Martin Chapa, >> yes. >> David Garcia, >> yes. >> Jacob Perez, >> yes. >> Alas, >> yes. >> And Joseph Ree, yes. Motion carries 70. We now move on to item 6 C. Um discussion possible action regarding the targeted improvement plan or tip for JR Pedes Elementary School and HN King High School. Miss
087Flowers. >> Uh the administration recommends that the board of trustees approve the targeted improvement plan for J.R. Pettis Elementary and HM King High School as presented. Submission is due to the Texas Education Agency by March 24th, 2026. We have a motion to accept administration's recommendation. >> Motion made by Delma Selinez. Second. >> Second by Joe Melz. >> By roll call vote, Joe Melz, >> yes. >> Brian Kuall, >> yes. >> Martin Chapa, >> yes. >> David Garcia, >> yes. >> Jacob Perez, >> yes. >> Delma, >> yes. >> And Joseph Ruiz, yes. Motion carries 70. We now move on to item 6D, discussion and possible action regarding the second reading of BEB local uh board meetings public participation. Miss >> good evening Mr. Ree and superintendent and board members. We are bringing administration is bringing
088the second reading of EED local which concludes reision revision to public participation changes to local policy offer for consideration address the topics of public participation under procedures and the recommendation is that the board of trustees consider taking action to add or revise or delete the ed local policy as discussed this serving as a second reading and that is that the we will we are recommending ing that the public speaking not to exceed 3 minutes versus the current 5 minutes. >> Was there a motion to accept the administration's recommendation to move from five minute participation to three minutes? Some move. Motion made by Joe MZ. Second. >> Second by Jacob Pettis. I roll call. Joe Melz. >> Yes. >> Brian Kufall. >> No. >> Martin Chapa. >> No. >> David Garcia. >> Yes. >> Jacob Perez.
089>> Yes. >> Dama Sinas. Yes. >> And Joseph Ree. No. >> So motion carries four to three. We now move on to item 6E. Discussion and possible action regarding the third reading of DEC local please and absences. Miss Nava. This is the third reading of DEC local which includes revisions to leaves and absences. Changes to the policy offered for consideration. Address the following topics. Leaves and absences. Uh administration recommends that the board of trustees add, revise or delete DEC local policy as recommended by administration. This serving as the third reading and those changes are under page three. The employee shall submit a written request for discretionary use of state personal leave to the immediate supervisor or designate in advance in accordance with administrative regulations. In deciding whether to approve or deny state personal leave, the
090supervisor or design shall not shall not seek or consider the reason for which an employee requests to use leave. The supervisor or designate shall however consider the effect of the employees absence on the educational program. An example, the day before a school holiday, the day after a school holiday, day scheduled for end of semester and end of year exams, day scheduled for statemandated assessments or professional or staff development days or district operations as well as the availability of substitutes. Also, under duration of leave, we would uh like to recommend that the days should not exceed five consecutive. Instead, it should be three consecutive. So, do we have a motion to accept the third reading of the DC local and absences? I have a quick question. On the duration of the remember, if I'm remembering correctly,
091the last time this was presented, we had said two consecutive days. Are we changing that? You're all changing it to three now instead of the two. >> Yes. In conducting some research with local school districts, we wanted to be similar to what was around us and they all have three. And so that's why we made that change. Sir, >> any more discussion? So do I have a motion to accept the recommendation from administration? >> So move. >> Motion made by Jay Pes. >> Second by Delma Selenas. By roll call. Joe MZ. >> Yes. >> Brian Kufall. >> Yes. >> Martin Chapa. >> Yes. David Garcia, >> yes. >> Jacob Perez, >> yes. >> Delas, >> yes. >> And Joseph Reese, yes. Motion carry 70. >> Thank you. >> Recommendation from our council due to the
092personnel matters of item 6F and G. If there is no objection from the board, I would request that we move to close session. Do we have any objection? Okay, we now um move on to item number seven, entering into close session. The board will enter into close session in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551.071 and 551.074 074 to deliberate and consider the following. Uh this the reduction in force uh due to program change and to adopt the related criteria and implementation plan for the 2627 school year. also the um administrator one-time hiring stifen and also consult with consultation with the legal council regarding legal and personnel matters. No action will be taken until we return to open session. We are entering into close session at 6:47 So we now return to
093open session and take necessary action on matters the board may discussion open session and upon which action may be taken. We are returning to open session at 7:59 p.m. Okay. So um item 6F discussion of possible action to approve a reduction in force due to program change and to adopt related criteria and implementation plan for the 2026 2027 school year DFFB. Dr. Lusma. >> Good evening board members again and members of the public. I'm going to run through the school board uh reduction enforce presentation that we have previously presented with very slight modifications for your consideration and approval. Uh the first thing to say is as we all know change is urgent and necessary in Kingsville. So we are focused on doing exactly that. Um, as I always said, it will take all of us,
094everyone working together to ensure that we address our challenges and opportunities in the budget area and the academics area as well. Um, as discussed, we have seen no meaningful improvement in student achievement or growth uh in our schools. We have two schools that have been out for three consecutive years. uh and the district has received uh F ratings for the last three years as well. Um this might trigger a TA monitoring takeover as we have previously discussed. Chronic absentism is pretty high currently at 32.7% which is triggered after students have been absent 18 or more times. And uh we budgeted for about 94% in attendance for first semester and we only achieved 92.0% and that's we are experiencing the same things other districts we have decline declinment in enrollment of approximately 579 students from 2022
095till present. So we have challenges right and the data shows a compelling need for transformation and we know that the urgency is needed. We are awaiting re response from tea in terms of assigning a monitor or conservative conservator to oversee school improvement actions and if we don't improve um by the end of year 2026 27 um at specifically at Harvey or Gillette uh we might see some action taken by TA to include removal of the elected board and the superintendent and other sections. For that reason, we have developed a pretty comprehensive transformation plan that includes, as you have already approved, the consolidation of the three elementary schools into two elementary schools by grade bank. So, Clayberg Elementary School absorbed all the students from Perez, Harold, and Harvey uh in grades uh prek, kindergarten, first and
096second grade. Likewise, Harvey will revert to grades three, four, and fifth. So, all the students in the district will go to the one of these two elementary schools. For this purpose, we are requesting that the board considers the approval of the reduction in force that is due to program change. And who's impacted by this? It will be all elementary teachers and staff as well as all elementary administrators to include principles and assistant principles. They have to meet certain criteria. So administrators um have received this information and uh will continue to observe this guidelines in the RIFF process as well as the teachers. We will ensure that we follow the riff program change guidelines and I want to go over that in a moment. But before that we have developed a timeline and we have shared
097this timeline with the employees so that they understand what process or step is going to be followed every single uh time so they're informed. Our goal is to ensure that we issue contracts before May 5th. Um and unrenews will continue to be brought to the board's attention as they these decisions are made. In this effort and due to the rift, we want to build a system of great elementary school through the accelerated campus excellence initiative. It's a plan that even though we did not get the plant approved, we still moving forward with implementing the ACE modified uh plan which includes strategic staffing where we have highly effective administrators and teachers. provide instructional excellence to include high quality instruction with high quality instructional materials in a high performance culture and provide social emotional supports for the
098students with extended learning. That's why we are proposing uh in the next board meeting that you consider approving a calendar that includes 175 instructional days with some uh additional school days included uh in the summer. uh and at the end of the day we need our parents, our community to partner with us to make this happen. So that is part of the plan. Step one is the comprehensive review of all data which has been conducted January, February and through the m month of March. uh where we consider the RIFF policy to include qualifications, performance, extra duties, professional background and seniority as stated in DFFP local. With that, we're defining the performance in these categories. uh we conducted that review considering the t test and other data, current principal recommendation, certification status, attendance for the teacher
099and then most importantly student achievement and growth data uh in different um assessments that are provided to our students, years of service, campus specific needs and the ACE program structure. So with that we determine the um effectiveness levels for the teachers. We're also doing the same with the campus administrators at the elementary level. Step two is between March 11 and March 13, employees are going to receive official notification letting them know if they are invited to interview, which will be the next step in the process. they're not invited to interview or do not qualify to interview. And this is all based on the FFB local. If they're invited to interview, they are going to be asked to move to step three, which I will explain in a in a minute. if they are not invited
100to interview because they don't meet the criteria that we have set uh in alignment with DFBB local um we will um let them know that we are proposing their non renewal and if they do not qualify to interview it's because they might be a DOI or they don't made certain um recommendations um in in the process. Step three, as I said, includes the employee completing a questionnaire in powers school between March 11th and 24th where they will indicate a number of things. However, failure to submit the questionnaire will let us know that the employee does not intend to return to the district. But we will make take an extra step and ensure that we reach out to the employees to make sure there is no glitches in the system or they forgot or they got
101busy. So we will double check to ensure that they are required to complete this and provide name, address, contact information, employee ID and add any additional information. We're also giving employees, teachers the opportunity to indicate the preferred grade level, teaching subject content area in the campus they want to work on. However, we made the clarification that when we make decisions on assignments and grade levels and campuses, we will do what's in the best interest of students and in accordance with policy. Step four and five are going to happen concurrently where uh we will have interviews between March 23rd and April 24th as well as instructional observations. The interviews are going to be conducted by two separate teams and the that includes administrators at the school level and the district level. is the 30 minute interview
102where we're looking at the will and skill and their alignment with the uh school priorities and district priorities. Uh the observations are going to last up to 15 minutes. They're going to be scheduled during a one week period. So teachers will not know exactly when we're coming, but they will have a one window a week a one week window where they know we are coming. Um and we will be using the instructional walkthrough that teachers are familiar with and they have seen that we have been using all year round. Uh the purpose of the observation is really to assess that instructional practices and the overall classroom effectiveness based on our priorities and and the strategies that we're implementing and the observation teams again will be conducted by campus and district level administrators. Step six is
103we're going to look at the totality of the data and we're going to make decisions in terms of uh if we are recommending to the board for um renewal or we are recommending for nonrenewal. Step seven is the board approval of contracts and then step eight will be the issuing of contract. These dates are flexible because as we are uh for sure knowing understanding that the employees will be asked to return they will be offered the contract. So it's up to May 5th. Again, certified employees have rights. And so if they are recommended for nonrenew renewal, they have the the um right to appeal. And so they have been advised to contact human resources for guidance and support. And then of course we will ask them to file the statutory timelines which is uh 15
104days after they have received notification of the nonrenewal they have to petition for that uh hearing regarding their proposed nonrenewal. We continue to encourage people employees to complete the school improvement survey that we shared with them. uh this survey is is really essential to continue to ask questions cons expressed concerns about the reduction in force the consolidation of the campuses am I moving where am I moving where am I parking etc right so again we develop a presentation over at the three elementary schools on the second the third and the nine yesterday um at the three schools where we gave them the information uh in detail. This is how many people have completed the survey so far. So we continue to encourage them. This is when we did the employees orientations at the different campuses
105and again this is the timeline that we will be following. At the end of the day, our students are their priority and we are committed to systemic and transformational change and it's already happening this year. So, we're not waiting for next year. We are having it um even this year as we speak because we recognize that the need for change is urgent and necessary. And that is my presentation. So after hearing the uh the presentation once again Dr. Martinez is there do I have a motion to accept or to approve the reduction in force due to program change and adoption adopt the related criteria implementation plan for the 2026 2027 school year. So moved. >> Motion made by Martin Chapa. >> Second made by Brian Ku. >> By roll call Joe Mes. >> Yes. >>
106Brian Ko. >> Yes. >> Martin Chapa. >> Yes. >> Garcia. >> I'd like to share something first, Mr. President, before I vote. Uh, I had this pop up on my my daily uh reading that I that I received last week and it's by a by a motivational speaker by the name of Simon SK and he said this and I want to tell the staff and Dr. Martinez because you you mentioned something up there that made me think about this that leadership is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your church and you're taking care of our kids and we saw there mentioned that it was a systemic from the top failure and we we take I take responsibility as a board member and we should have done better for kids.
107be the first one to stand up and say that you're going to get a lot of heat, which you have probably already. But you all need to know, each and every one of you all need to know that just like we have Dr. Martinez's back, we got your back as well. We will go to the ends for you all because we know what you all are doing. It's not easy. and and uh we're going to we've hit the bottom, but we're going to come back up. I trust God in that first. And and I just want to let you all know is that I vote yes. Let's just move forward. Let's move forward with this. Keep your head up. You know, you're still a brainer. We're we're here for you. And uh that's all I
108wanted to say. I wanted to leave that. Thank you. Jacob Edis, >> yes. >> Damas, >> yes. >> And Joseph Ree, yes. Motion carries 70. Um, item 6G, discussion, possible action regarding administrators one-time hiring stipens. Is there a motion to accept the recommendation by Dr. by the administration? >> So move. >> Motion made by David Garcia. >> Second. Second by Delma Selenas. I roll call vote. Joe Melz, >> yes. >> Brian Kufall, >> yes. >> Martin Chapa, yes. >> Darren Garcia, >> yes. >> Jacob Perez, >> no. >> Don Selenas, >> yes. >> And Joseph Reese, yes. Motion carries 61. Uh there be no further action um or any additional action need to be taken. Do I hear a motion to adjurnn? Motion made by Delas. >> Second by David. All those in favor say
109I. >> No. >> Yeah. All right. So, we are officially adjourned at 8:16 p.m.