001I said I It is 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January the 13, 2026. I call this workshop and special meeting of the Kingsville Independent School District to order. We will have roll call. Joe Melles >> here. Brian Kufall here, >> Martin Chapa here, Garcia >> here, Selenas >> here, >> Jacob Perez >> here, and Joseph Reese here. Let the record show that there is a qu for quum of board members present, and that this meeting has been posted in accordance with government code chapter 551, State of Texas, Open Meetings Act. We will move to a moment of silence, followed by the pledge of allegiance and the Texas pledge. 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
002justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God, one and indivisible. >> Move on to item number six, public participation. Do we have anyone who wishes to address the board? >> Okay, Miss Ramos. making you work hand. I got it. Excuse me. My voice is a little weird today. Uh good afternoon, superintendent and boards of trustees. Um I'm here to ask for you to put on a future workshop uh laws and procedures when it comes to uh pretty much freedom of open freedom of information. Um, there's been several complaints already this year of staff uh talking to parents and members of the community that they're not allowed to record events, meetings, or being inside a public building such as the campuses. So, I'd like to reiterate to
003you guys the importance of your staff being trained and educated on um the allowance of recording and video recordings on your public campuses. Um I just came also was the other issue but ma mainly it's it's the staff not knowing the laws and telling parents they can or cannot um do those things. Also, when parents ask for the school district for open records when it comes to instances or getting proof of um and asking for video or recordings of those events happening on the school campuses, the majority of the staff or let me go ahead and say all of the staff have told these parents and community members that they don't have a right to these videos, which is false. They state because students are in the videos. Um, I can stand on a sidewalk
004and video kids playing in the park. I'm on a private, excuse me, I'm on a public sidewalk. And the same applies when I'm on a public campus paid for by public funds. I have the right to those videos as well. Um, and there is a a fine line when it comes to educational records, which most, if not all, the community cannot get a hold of. But if it's just um students and staff doing their jobs in the hallways or the classrooms or lunchrooms and gyms and PE outside or inside, we have the right to that information. So, please um train your staff and educating the community about the rights that they have when it comes to obtaining information and recording information for their use. Thank you. >> Thank you, M. Ronald. Do we have anyone
005else who wishes to address the board? >> No, sir. Okay, we move on to item number five. Kingsville ISD board of trustees will conduct a board workshop to discuss the following. Item 5A, district calendar constraints. Miss Tanya Williams. It's this one. >> No one for this one. Okay. >> Good evening, board president, uh, Superintendent Dr. Martinez, and members of the board. Um, the copies that you are currently getting is a copy of our current instructional calendar and a one pager of some constraints that we would like to take into consideration in developing next year's instructional calendar. um and we would like some board guidance as far as um what you would like to do in reference to these constraints. So when looking at our instructional calendar um these are the constraints that we will take
006in play into consideration. Um I will be taking them to DEIC tomorrow um so we can start developing these drafts for next school year um surrounding these constraints. The first constraint is at minimum our instructional calendar has to meet or exceed 75,600 instructional minutes to comply with the TEA. Instructional days must align with state assessments. And in order to comply with the additional day school year grant, our instructional calendar must have a minimum of 175 instructional dates. Okay, we currently have 167. In reference to start and end dates and our daily schedule, um we would like some guidance um from the board as well. I gave some examples as far as not starting any earlier than the first week of August or not ending any later than the last day of May. Um when it
007comes to holiday and breaks um for Thanksgiving, looking at two different options. Are we still looking at giving the full week of Thanksgiving or are we only looking at maybe Wednesday through Friday? Um, for another option when it comes to stock show, currently we have two instructional days that we have off. So, are we looking at keeping those same two days going down to one or not having stock show included within our holidays? for winter break. Um we must include a minimum of two consecutive weeks um to be aligned and so looking at when we are wanting to start and end that winter break as well and then looking at spring break and trying to align with surrounding districts when possible. Um so those are um some constraints that we are are we are wanting
008guidance from the board um for me to take back to DEIC and for us to develop our draft calendars um taking these constraints into into effect. say something. >> Of course, >> I appreciate you bringing this to the board as far as giving our input, but I'll be totally honest with you. I think the deicing should be the lead in this and I know they probably will be getting, you know, some information from their their campuses as far as what type of calendar they would like. So, and I'm pretty sure some of the board members have some comments, but as far as I'm concerned, I would leave it to the AC. And I know we have to vote on it. And um this year, we can try to get it earlier than we did last
009year. Yes, sir. >> And I know the situation of last year, but we can do a little earlier so employees or the teachers will will be able to plan like summer break or whatever they need. >> Yes, sir. >> Mr. Williams, I do have a question and take it back to your committee. Um, and I'm glad you brought this up. When it comes to the stock show days, I know that's that's something that we've done every year, right? We don't we don't question it. Would be really nice to get some data on like how exactly how many students are we are because everybody benefits from those data. I guess you could say that, but also does it really benefit them and when we're missing school? Just some hard questions. Yes sir. >> Ask each other.
010Um is is it really working? >> Yes sir. Of course. >> Any other questions from the board? >> So what we're going to try to do here is u have 18 more days to we're at 157 now. We need to get 175. >> Yeah. We're at 167. >> Okay. 67. >> Yes sir. Okay. >> Yes. And the minimum days for um at the additional day school year is um the 175 days somewhere >> correct >> that. >> So how many instructional minutes is a 167? >> A 167 is a 7 75,000. Um >> yes ma'am. >> I do have another concern actually your question. All right. So, testing, can you can you make sure that you guide me along? When is when is the testing the state testing over with retakes and all that? >>
011Yes, sir. Um, makeups and I I have the the calendar um there on my phone on the desk. Um, but we are done by midMay >> and our last day of school is going to be on the 22nd 21st. Thank you. >> So, we think we'll probably done around >> I can give you the exact date. Um, thank you, Dr. Welch. We will be completely done with STAR testing and makeups by May 1st. >> Okay. So, you know, and we all know this as as educators and as parents that there's that's a long time between that and the last day of school. >> Yes, sir. >> And I don't know how much really how much money goes on. We have to be really honest with ourselves. I mean, I I I hope that can change
012with, you know, Dr. in and routine. But it seems to me that that last those last couple of weeks can really drag on because there's what I hear from from some of the students that I know there's not a lot going on. Um so I think that needs to be really honestly looked at. Can we end school sooner if we have to? I mean change calendar that way because I really do think that time is my own personal opinion. is that uh Mr. Vel may know this from back in the day as well as it's hard to keep a student's attention when you're basically you put so much effort on that state test and it's over I need to grab their attention for the last couple weeks are still working on credit so it's not
013over >> yes >> testing may be over but not over >> yes and and that is what the grades when the grades due is the final date for grades to be turned in because you might turn them in a week early, a week before the 21st. I mean, when is that deadline? Is that something you're going to >> correct? um the marking periods and everything is something that we'll have to look at once we have that instructional calendar and we go through those weeks and that's where um it's all determined once we have that laid out but yes ma'am >> right so if I may that is part of the mindset um shift that we have to embrace right um our kids are behind our kids have gaps if we are saying after the test
014there's nothing else for us to teach and it's just a drag, right? Um, we're really not serious about educating students because what we should be doing is continuing to teach what students need to learn. And so that's why on the day before the holidays, we made it very clear to everyone, this is not a free day because we're going into the holidays. that you get to do movies or you get to do parties or you get to do nothing. We have students that have enormous gaps and if we are saying no instruction after testing then we're teach we're teaching for the sole purpose of the test and that is not where we are. I have said this before that my philosophy is we provide high quality instruction from day one till the very last day
015and the test results will come as the as the collateral result of our great teaching. But we are not teaching to the test. We're not teaching for the purpose of the test. The test is something we have to do because it's part of the the TA violence and law. But what we have to shift as educators in the district is to ensure that we are focusing on teaching and learning not on what when is the test or when is the last day and again I'm going to say this is a mind shift that we all have to work on uh changing for for the teachers the administrators the parents everyone right we are we are focused on learning we're not focusing on the test. The test is a byproduct of the learning. Does that make
016sense? >> I like what J said and bring it to us earlier that last year it was a last minute vote on what we need to do, why we had to do it. uh bringing more than one >> this year of of what we're looking for with with this you know for example Thanksgiving uh things like that Christmas break bringing that to us where we're not forced to make a decision last minute decision. >> Yes sir. >> I think that would that would be take a lot of pressure off everybody. >> Yes sir. >> That is precisely Okay, that's precisely what well one of the reasons actually why I work with my team to ensure that we presented this to you as early as possible for various reason number one because of what you said
017there's a lot of planning that goes on between now and the first day of instruction there are dates we have to lock in for training purposes uh for you know vacation for the different administr ators uh etc. But it's also important because the grants that we apply for will we need to plan for those days accordingly, right? And so uh we don't want to have to put the the horse before the carriage or the carriage before the horse. I always say that backwards. Um but we we ask for your constraints because in my experience there's some things that sometimes boards will not want to compromise. Like for example uh in some districts I have worked at boards absolutely will not entertain their Thanksgiving break to be less than a whole week and that is a
018non-negotiable for them. And so we're bringing this this for your discussion and consideration so that you can tell us what are your non-negotiables. So when we present this to the DIC, we can say we want to develop the calendar, but we're not touching this, right? Because these are board um constraints that we want to make sure we respect. That way when you get to vote for the calendar that we present to you, you don't even have to worry about that. that's out of the way. So that's why we're we're kind of doing it this early to give us time to to really have a good product and plan effectively. >> I have one more question. The wellness days, will they be affected by the additional days that are going to be in the calendar? Because
019I know there's wellness days built in this calendar. The current one, >> we have six wellness days, right? >> That is correct. We currently have six bonus days, one for each month, excluding the months that have a long holiday with those. Um, that would be a conversation that we could also have um and get some board opinion on if that is something that we are still wanting to include or if we are not including those days anymore. >> I think we can definitely talk about that session. >> Yes, >> we're needing to add to it. >> Any more questions from the board? Thank you all so much. >> Thank you, Miss Williams. Moving on to item 5D, move on RA K through five, Miss Jennifer Flowers and Dr. Arnold. Which one was yours? Good evening,
020board president Ree, Dr. Martinez, and members of the board. Mrs. Flowers and I will be reviewing an overview of the Blue Bonnet Learning Reading Language Arts. Blue Bonnet um learning RLA instructional materials are state developed open education resources approved by the state board of education during the 2024 instructional materials review and approval also known as a IM cycle. These materials serve as a highquality instructional option for Texas school systems and are fully aligned to the Texas essential of knowledge and skills. They're also aligned to the ROA researchbased instructional strategies. The first one is the foundational skills which is explicit systematic practice with literacy foundational skills. Text complexity regular practice with grade level complex text and academic language. Knowledge coherence building knowledge and vocabulary through text in all content areas. textbased re responses reading, writing, speaking
021grounded in evidence from text both in literacy and information. Mrs. Flowers will now pass out the component navigation guide. You will be able to see the components at a glance on page three and four and by grade level starting on page five. Blue Bonnet learning RLA consists of two integrated components. This is the K through K to3 foundational skills. The K through five reading for knowledge and together these components ensure that students develop strong early literacy skills. Students build long-term academic success through background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. The K through three foundational skills components use research-based literacy practices aligned to the science of reading. Instruction is intentionally sequenced from simple to more complex skills, allowing students to develop fluency and confidence as readers. Key features include explicit instruction in print concepts, funological and phmic awareness,
022phonics and word recognition, decoding and fluency. Strong focus on grammar, writing mechanics, language conventions, spelling and vocabulary. Opportunities for independent practice and use of decodable texts. Strong emphasis on handwriting and cursive development. structured lessons designed to support mastery of foundational reading skills. Foundational skills product that are offered are the following. The printed teacher guides, the student activity book, consumables, large and small letter cards, printed student readers, printed spelling cards, printed big books, and the supplemental kits. In K through five, the reading for knowledge blue bonnet learning K through 5 RLA instructional units follow a knowledgebased approach that intentionally connects learning across grade levels. Students engage with rich texts that include literature, history, and science content to strengthen comprehension and critical thinking. The key features include the cross-curricular integration of science and history, exposure to highquality
023literature aligned to a classical educational model, daily reading, writing, speaking, and listening opportunities, written responses grounded in text evidence, development of research and analytical skills. content reflects the diverse people, places, and history of Texas, ensuring relevance for Texas students and alignment with STAR expectations for grade level success. RLA product offerings include the printed teacher guides, the printed image cards, the printed trade cards, I'm sorry, the printed trade book collections, student activity book consumables, student activity book consumables, printed student readers, access to components um digitally and authentic text collections and then also the novels for fifth and fifth grades for fourth and fifth grades. And now Mrs. Flowers will uh discuss a knowledge map with subject area focus. So, um as Dr. Arnold stated, the Blue Bonnet RLA materials do bring in uh some of that
024social studies and science content into the RLA. Um you can see they're colorcoded here. So, the literary subjects are that pink color, our science uh that tan color, and then social studies is blue. Um, and what we have noticed, >> um, what we have noticed is on the STAR test, they do sometimes bring in, um, questions that have to do with science and social studies because they're assuming that these students have this foundational base of knowledge, and this is going to help with that. So, across the RL RLA content, we'll see some science and social studies um, uh, subjects. The Blue Bonnet also comes with digital assessments. So all the digital assessment questions for three through five are going to align with the STAR language and the STAR item types. So we're going to have
025those short constructed responses and those extended constructed responses. Uh the short constructed responses are usually those um uh students probably no more than five sentences to answer those questions is what the students would be expected to do. And then those extended constructing extended constructed responses would be what we would consider um the essay in past test or past tests. The K through2 digital assessments contain a texttospech or audio component for our our students. They're going to read the passages and questions. Um this will allow us to continue to use Edaphoria. Uh speaking from personal experience, creating um tests that are not currently starlined and making them starline is a little bit difficult. So having these already done, we can convert them into edgehoria and still use our current platform in order to assess data um
026and analyze data uh in that manner. The K through5 digital assessments are going to include warm read passages. So passages the students have seen before. Um and they're going to be related to the the topics that they've been going over or the genre of the unit. Um K through K through three foundational skills do not have that digital assessment component. Um but we would be doing both the K through3 foundational skills and the K through5 rla knowledge and then each individual question is going to be aligned to one uh TE in particular. Uh as far as family support um Blue Bonnet does recognize that parents and families are key partners uh in student learning. So there are uh unit letter unit level family letters that can go out letting the parents know what the students
027are learning. Uh guidance for parents on how to support their students at home and then clear communication of instructional goals and expectations for their student. And these supports are going to help families stay informed engaged in their child's literacy development throughout the school year. As far as teacher support, these materials are designed with teachers in mind. So, we're going to give them everything that they need so they can focus on how they're teaching and not necessarily what they're teaching. The teacher supports include comprehensive scope and sequence, unit overviews with background knowledge, daily readyto-use lesson plans, built-in language supports and differentiation strategies, aligned formative and summitive assessments. These materials fully color cover the Texas essential uh knowledge and skills, the TEICSS, and the English language proficiency standards or the ELPS. As far as funding, because I
028know that's very important. Um we can use multiple sources to fund these. Um we get our a lotment for each student and then if we're going with an OEER, an open education resource, we get an extra $20 per student. So there is a bucket that we can use uh specifically for these resources and then we wouldn't we wouldn't necessarily get if we're not using the OEER resources and we did use this for our blue bonnet math this year. Um so we did not need to use local funds or or anything of that nature. Um and we do have some samples over here. So, if you guys want to peruse at your leisure later, you can look through the samples and um you know, ask ask questions as as you see fit. But any questions so
029far on what we've presented? >> Yes, ma'am. Um early on in the presentation it talked about something number strong emphasis on handwriting and cursive development. Is that a change? Are we going back to cursive? Um, I don't um I don't know that >> I I mean I agree. Uh there's plenty of students that don't know how to sign their name. Um but that is one of the things that um we did uh notice in in the literature that we've read too. Um so yes, handwriting is is a part of it. Um which I think will greatly benefit our students. I think a lot of times, especially with our test being online, uh they're taking assessments digitally, handwriting, like you said, has become a lost a lost art. >> Right. On the following page, it talks
030about student activity book consumables, and I'm assuming this ties into the finance part at the end. I don't know what OEER means. >> So, OEER is open education resources, and the resources are available digitally, but it would just be a PDF version of it. Um, so of course, we have access to it. We can just print out pages and pages about on the student activity books that are consumable, they are available digitally also. Correct. >> Uh yes, I believe so. So there's certain vendors that you can go go with. So for example, I'll give you an example of the blue bonnet math. We went with the great minds vendor that gave us the blue bonnet materials and we had some additional content because we chose that vendor. They weren't necessarily more expensive. Um, but we
031were able to go with Great Minds instead of ESC, whoever it was. It wasn't ESC2. I I forget. Um, but one of them had the digital content. So, because of the vendor we chose, we we got some additional content. >> Page 13 where the the whole knowledge map is kind of spread out there. >> Midnight Midsummer Night's Dream. We're doing Cervantes and Shakespeare in fifth grade. So there there is some high rigor content in here. Um that is certainly something that we've heard. So again, this is why we are bringing you this this information early in the process so that we can have these discussions and and make sure we're all on the same page with what our uh students are learning. And then I know um Dr. Martinez has mentioned, you know, getting some
032input from the community as well so that we can um you know, move move forward with whatever we decide. >> Yeah, I'm all for it. It's aggressive if you ask me. >> Yes sir. It is it is high quality instructional material and and that is what Texas stands by. So if we continue to teach our students at grade level with with high rigor grade level content, they're going to rise to the occasion. >> Page 16 talks about um 16 I'm sorry 15 the family support. What happens to the student that doesn't have that? >> So, how do we fill those gaps? >> Well, I mean, they will they will still be sent home. I mean, a lot of our students have somebody and and that is one of our goals in general. This is this
033is through K through five. Um, one of our goals with the ACE grant is to improve our family and community engagement and and actually is a requirement of that ACE grant. So, in general, this aligns with our uh school improvement initiatives. um page I believe it was 17 uh talks about ready to use lesson plans. Are these like on a daily basis that that the whole year is kind of scheduled out? >> Yes. So they will have a scope and sequence. They will have a yag. They will have what they're doing every single day. So they don't need to search around and find content that's going to um be at the level that their students need, but they're going to focus on how they're going to teach it. So that's how that's why we've moved
034from lesson planning to internalization. So the plan is there. What you're teaching is there, but you're going to internalize that so that you understand it fully and I'm able to explain it to every single student that's sitting in front of me. >> So if we look at the year, this kind of goes back to discussion we were having a little earlier. If we look at the year as a whole, it it doesn't end April with with testing. There are lessons plans for those last three weeks, correct? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> Um All right. That's all I had. So, I I actually have a question. I guess just for the record, move on. It is what TEA recommends. >> Yes, sir. This is their um so they have these instructional material review I forget
035what the A stands for. Um so but these instructional review committees uh go through they pick their very best curriculum that's going to cover all of the TEICS 100% and TEA is not recommending any curriculum that's not um 100% aligned. So this is the one that is 100% aligned to the TEICSS. remedial radio lessons are built into this for kids for students that are falling behind. >> Say again. Oh, remedial. So, I mean, obviously the the purpose is to get our kids on grade level with grade level content in front of them. Um, we do have the foundational skills units that are for K through three. So, that's going to build those foundations. And again, they're two separate books and and two separate things that the students will be going through with phonics and and
036things of that nature on the foundational skills. Um, as far as bringing in those remedial materials, there's differentiation and supports and scaffolds, but we're not bringing in lower level content for the students. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Can you talk about in the summer the lessons that we have that are built in the >> the summer time for the summer school? So the um the adsy days that we've been talking about and discussing in workshops, there's going to be material that we can use for those days um in particular and they have a whole module that's these are the things you are supposed to do during those days because that's also one of the things that school districts are moving towards and obviously with the grants it it makes sense to do the adsy days
037as opposed to a traditional summer school. Um but but that material is going to be there for the the teachers >> and and I appreciate um the board questions particularly to the fact that our curriculum doesn't end when the students take the start test. And so our students and our teachers have the ability and the opportunity to continue learning after the test because remember there's also next year and we consider um what it's called the summer learning cliff during the summer time, right? So every opportunity that we can have to impact the learning our students have is critical. And so there's no waste of time. We we teach the curriculum because not only are we assessed on the curriculum that we're teaching for from the beginning until April, May when the testing happens, but what
038they learn after that are foundational skills and building blocks that they need for the next grade level. So it's it's imperative that we teach the entire curriculum that the students are supposed to learn at each grade. Any additional questions? >> Thank you, Miss Flowers and Dr. Appreciate it. Moving on to item 5C, Senate Bill 11, daily prayer time. Miss Ida You can just open your next one. Good evening, Board President Ree, uh, board members, and Dr. Martinez. The first item that we're going to be looking at is Senate Bill 11, the daily prayer. This comes from the 89th legislative session and it adds it's added to the Texas Education Code section 2500823 which allows school boards to designate a time each day each school day at every campus for students and employees to pray and
039read the Bible or other religious texts. The bill requires that within six months of the effective date, which is March the 1st of 2026, that each district board must take a record vote either to establish the daily prayer time and reading of religious texts by adopting the resolution set out in the new statute or to decline the established daily prayer time. Okay. Is there any questions regarding that piece? >> I have a couple of questions. are are we getting a lot of um guidance from the state as far as the reading of religious text? So, we are getting a guidance uh through the through the act regarding what the resolution will look like. And so, they do have some some guidelines for us and those are going to be determined once the board um at
040the second reading decides if we are going to adopt that resolution or if we're not going to as a district. >> Is is that resolution already available? There are samples that are out there, but I can share some of the um items that must be in the resolution and and the admin rags that must go with it. So, of course, it would be consent for the uh student to engage in that period of time acknowledging that they have the choice to participate or not and um the express waiver of the personal right um to bring claim. So meaning that they couldn't come back and sue the district for for y'all voting on that resolution like if if they did not want to participate. >> So this this designated time this time has to be done
041within the school day itself. >> Yes sir. >> Maybe I didn't specify is it open to all religions? >> Yes sir. >> It's it's an individual private time kind of isn't it? >> Yes. Not >> Christled or anything? >> No sir. >> Okay. >> So it's just time set aside that if a student wishes to >> read religious text or pray >> Yes sir. >> They certainly can. >> Yes sir. >> And and there is no uh does it give any guides for how long it has to be? I is it like five minutes or 10 minutes? >> What I have read I have not found the the limit the amount of time that is sent. So I'm continuing to research that. But I want I also want to reach out to other districts to
042see what they have um adopted and decided on. >> Could it be like something like >> those are all that's already embedded in our policy. We already do that. This is separate and this is specifically to religious text. >> In my opinion, a lot of it's going to come down to exactly what this resolution says TEC code. Maddox, have you any of that language? >> No, sir. It's too new. >> It just came out. >> We've got until March I mean March 1st. So that means the January meeting or the February meeting. We've got to vote either up or down >> to create the resolution. Yes, sir. >> And and I I agree that it's it's pretty new. Um, on the one hand, I think it's a great idea. In theory, I I think the
043application level is somewhat difficult. Um and real frankly with the position that this district is in one hand we did every prayer we can get but on the other hand we need every minute of of instructional time that we have also. So I'm curious to see the resolution. >> I mean right now if you look on any social media platform even if the big TV channels decide to show it it's a gigantic movement right now. You're looking at uh&m, you're looking at looking at all these big colleges that are actually doing I mean not during class time but it's a big movement as far as religion coming back right now. It's a huge movement. You see it you saw last night pretty much you know what the quarterback was saying and and what the college
044kids are saying after game. So it's been it's it's coming back and it's not being said. Any other questions? I did a quick research on some districts actions regarding the SB11 for the prayer and um districts like Denton for example uh LILE ISD uh and other districts have declined to adopt a prayer period policy. They have stated that um they're trying the policy that will set aside dedicated time during the school day for prayer or religious studies under SB11. Um they said the board concluded that existing state and federal law already protects students rights to voluntarily place pray religious text and express religious view points during the school day. They determined that adopting a specific SB11 policy could limit rather than expand those freedoms for example by placing constraints on when and where students could
045pray. And then the policy's procedural requirements such as signed consent forms and designated times and places were seen as potentially restrictive relative to current rights. And so that's just some examples, but we can bring um more information. Again, this is new and it hasn't been entertained or adopted by many districts because everybody's in the process of researching, but we can do more more findings for next board meeting and and present it for your consideration. >> I have I have yet to find a district that did adopt it. So, that that's I was waiting like Dr. Martina said, it's very new. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Yes, sir. Moving now on item 5D localized policy update also miss. >> So this is the update 126. It is a bit extensive. There are uh 24 changes and
046uh four new policies and the f this is the first reading of update 126. It includes revisions to the legal framework based almost exclusive uh on legislation from the edit 89th regular legis legislative session. Unless otherwise noted, references to legislative bills throughout these explanatory notes refer to Senate bills, House bills, or House concurrent resolutions from the 89th regular leg legislative session. Uh some of the areas that we'll be looking at and consider for changes are going to fall under board meetings, board meetings, public participation, contracted services, contracted services, criminal history, buildings, grounds and equipment management, flag displays, technology resources, cyber security, facility standards, safety and security, facility construction, employment requirements and restrictions, conflict of interest, compensation ben and benefits, leaves and absence. ES term contracts non-renewal personnel management relations employee complaints grievances employees employee standards
047of conduct instructional resources instructional materials special education video audio monitoring academic achievement grading progress reports to parents wellness and health services medical treatment student welfare crisis intervention student welfare Student safety, student welfare, child abuse and neglect, student rights and responsibilities, student and parent complaints, grievances, student discipline, public complaints, community relations, conduct on school premises, and we'll be reviewing new local policies offered for consideration that address the following: technology resources, artificial intelligence, instructional arrangements, lesson plans, parents rights and responsibilities, attendance release time. In looking at the first one under be local board meetings, the changes for this policy are u language under meeting time and place to state 3 days rather than the 72 hours before the meeting and held outside of the typical workday. Under deadline, it states, I'm sorry, agenda items uh be submitted
04810 calendar days before a meeting to provide districts sufficient time to comply uh compile items and post agenda by statutory deadline. Also, the language at voting is changed to uh record vote and has been revised to read to show um of show of hands or roll call voting. And under the subtopic minutes, it has been removed because it's not required to uh be stated separately since it's already under the CPC policy. >> Can we can we go through these one by one and stop and discuss? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> Yes, sir. >> I have issues with the very first line. You're going to earn your money today. Right. >> Board meetings shall be held during a time that is outside of typical work hours which I have no problem with. This is a local
049policy too. Um and so my my question is going to be exactly how far did the legislature go here? Because we have always made a conscious effort at least in the last five to six years to not have meetings anytime other than in in the evening mostly for public participation. But there is on occasion the need for a a special meeting. It doesn't rise to the level of of emergency meeting, but there have been times when in order to get a form to meet the deadline, we have had to have a very limited meeting at noon or at 3:00 or something. In order to have something approved for either contract renewals or sometimes it's been uh to meet a a deadline for submission of of something or another. the way it's forwarded does not allow
050for that and it uses the word shall and I'm wondering if we can either adjust that to say regular board meetings or change shall to will usually and and I guess I guess what I'm looking for some guidance here. I don't I'm not familiar with the specific Senate Bill 12 to know whether this is prohibited or not, but we all know that we have had occasion that we had to have again not an emergency meeting. That's allowed, but it's very very limited for what emergency meeting is, but we have had very limited agenda special meetings um when it became absolutely necessary. That's the first one. The second one I have is, can we walk through the three business days? If we have a meeting on Tuesday at 5:30, does Tuesday count as a business day?
051>> That is counted as a third day, I believe. Right, Mr. Maddox? And and so where I'm going here is you've obviously got Monday, you've obviously got Friday, but if you were to say that it was required by Thursday at 5:30, the 5:30 on Thursday is no longer a business day. So, so has anybody worked through the math to know whether this is required to be hosted on Wednesday or Thursday? So, in looking at it, I think what they're intending here is because before it used to say 72 hours and that was a specific time frame, I think by changing the wording to a more general statement as third day, I think they're giving us that flexibility. But I can definitely follow up with Tasby and with Mr. atics to see what what exactly do
052they mean by that >> because when when your meeting falls outside of the regular business hours which it's requiring then was that day a business day >> does it count yes I see what you see >> right so we can't short change it's not a loophole to the original rule of 72 hours >> right >> so we can't backtrack under 72 hours typically the day post day So that would be walk us back to Tuesday. >> Would it be Thursday? Because Okay. Thursday. At what time? >> 5:30. >> But then Thursday is no longer a business day. If I >> Friday, Monday, >> Tuesday. >> Do you count Tuesday if that's the day you're meeting? I don't know. >> Tuesday after business hours. We can't short change our business. >> Yeah. I mean, I would
053assume that that would be be all right, but I just think it's a technicality that we need to we need to make sure that we don't have an issue. That's all I have on beed local board meeting and public participation. The changes in this policy meet Senate Bill 12 regarding public comments occur at the beginning of board meetings as well as changing to u meeting management uh for time allowed and that allows the presiding officer um which would be of course our board president that he can adjust the time allotted when large number of individuals are wishing to speak during that specific board meeting. And we currently already do this. Any questions on beed? CJ Local Contracted Services now states that contractors may not engage in or assign instructional activities prohibited by law to include
054pro prohibition prohibition of de DEI violations resulted in and that could result in a termination in contract. So they cannot be um assigning any instructional activities or discussing regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion prohibited by law. >> Yes. As it's stated in the actual policy at the end, the contract is subject to termination if the district contractor intentionally or knowingly engages in diversity, equity, and inclusion duties. What does that mean? I mean, I I get where we're going. Knowing the conservative nature of of of our state legislature, I know that that this a nasty word and they want it done away with. But if you've got a company out there, say you have an architect or something that in their business chooses for their business model to have DEI components. H how does that affect I
055mean by the by the reading of this language it's basically saying we can't do business with them and that just seems draconian to me. The other concerns that I have Mr. while it is a violation of policy. My opinion would be a hard pressed argument to terminate a separate standing written agreement for services. In other words, unless we lifted this language and made it part of our termination clause in our contracts, which we can do from now on, but simply violating a local policy, I think would be a hard cell in a state or federal court or outright termination the contract is otherwise val. So, I do have a couple. All right. I I I think it's a pendulum we swing and I think it will swing back at some point and I'm not hold
056>> it it continues throughout in other policies. We'll see it. My apologies. CJ contracted services criminal history. The subtopic has changed um background checks and reporting uh requirements to and it was previously criminal history. So now it's background checks and required reporting. That's the only change there. Just the titling of that subtopic. Any questions on CJA CL um buildings, grounds and equipment management. This is regarding the flag displays. Now it's just changed to required displays. the subtopic. The rules are still the same. It's just now saying instead of flag displays, we're going to call it required displays. Any questions on CL? CQB local revisions comply with House Bill 150. It moves training requirements from the Department of Information Resources to now the Texas Cyber Command and includes details about uh notifications for cyber security. It
057those notifications it guides us and tells us what types of notifications that we will have to send which would be written notice, email, uh any conspicuous postings on our district website and of course publications via uh via broadcast media. Any questions on CBQ? CSA local added sections regarding uh designation and use of private spaces. The superintendent will designate spaces spaces in accordance with the law and develop regulations for compliance. These private spaces are defined as uh designated uh in each multi-occupancy private space for use only by an individual of one sex. >> You're going to have to explain that to me. My good question is for what what are these private spaces used for? So that would be like a a um mother's um >> I get that I understand that that's and that's been
058part of the law for for a while. >> Yes. >> But is this saying that every employee must be allocated some private space? >> I believe that it's more towards identifying those areas and making sure that we have the proper posting. So if it's a female restroom that it is indicated as a female restroom. If it is a mother's room it's indicated for that. If it's a family restroom that it's indicated for that and that we make sure that they are used according to those postings. >> So for as as far as you know and from what you've read this has to do with with mother's room and restrooms and that's that's >> Yes. And we have already gone through with our um maintenance and operations to make sure that we're already in compliance with
059that and we are. >> I'm good. Any other questions? CV local under subtopic construction contracts. It now reflects the language um of the legal framework rather than the specified dollar amount under the project administration headline um or designate language is removed since the superintendence authority is established under BJA. And this again is regarding the change from the 50,000 threshold to the 100,000 threshold. And I believe that Dr. Martinez and I spoke about this earlier regarding some admin regulations that she would like to put in place because it is her intent to continue to share the that amount regardless if it's the 100,000 if she would like to continue. >> Yeah. If I may add um this is a shift right from 50,000 to 100,000. So what I discuss with the team in the spirit of
060transparency even though these items now don't require more approval I will still continue to bring them for your information so that you are aware of those items that might be within that threshold and then once you feel comfortable or you want me to cease to to do so then we can move forward with a different plan. But in the spirit of transparency and to make an easy transition, I'd rather be um you know make sure that you were informed and >> I agree. But while we're looking at this, the only numbers specified in the actual amended policy are 25,000 and it has to do with construction contracts. um and change orders. Is that too low? And while we're changing this, should we be changing it? >> So, the law now states that it is it
061is going from the $50,000 threshold to the $100,000 that will require board approval, >> but we through our local policy have a level of 25,000 and that can be found on our policies. Two 255 And I'm just saying that if we're and I remember when we did it and I remember why we did it. Um but it just 25,000 just seems low to me for >> I know that it's also recommended that specifics like that if I'm correct Mr. atics that those can be done through ad admin regulations versus adopting a policy so that we're closer to the legal framework of how it's it's being asked for us to look at. >> So, a couple things. So, the superintendent's spending authority is different than what's addressed in this policy. So, this is not $100,000 of
062authority before seeking board approval. This is $100,000 before the district is required to competitively bid out a contract. So, the superintendent spending authority, I do believe, is at $25,000 in our local policy. Most surrounding districts, perhaps not most, but many surrounding districts um utilize the old max for procurement, which was $50,000. So, it is somewhat low for some districts around here to be at $25,000. But this policy specifically addresses some areas of concern with your construction which traditionally there's lots of money issues within construction and insuranceances and establishes that your policy will track whatever the law is in terms of procurement which we have to follow anyway. We can't change that. So we did want to increase the superintendent spending authority that's actually located in a different policy than this one. >> Yeah. But this
063one, this one, even though we we had 50, it's now being changed to it. It does say 100. It says the competitive purchasing threshold established in law, which would be 100. But then in the very next paragraph, we limit that to 25,000. And then we limit to 25,000 on change orders further on down. And I'm just saying I don't think that that's necessary. And I would like to stand and as long as we're changing, why not increase that to at least 50 or the recommended statutory limit of 100 >> and these are on the other policies that you're referencing, correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> On CV that's just >> the the current uh spending authority, the superintendent is at 50,000. >> I I we're we're mixing apples and oranges. This is policy CB which
064has to do with construction contracts and the law has changed to say the superintendent the the competitive purchasing threshold is now at 100,000. We have limited that further through local policy down to 25,000 to where the the um superintendent has to get board approval. And I I'm just saying we're having to change this policy to meet with the the law anyway. And I I just think that the 25,000 is low and then it should be increased to at least 50,000 if not higher. my opinion. We move on. >> Any other questions? >> DEEC local now includes new definitions for the daily rate of pay and how it should be computed and that is that the daily rate uh the salary will be divided by the number of contracted days. Under the FMLA section, it defines
065a concurrent use of paid leave as well as the ex exemption for an absence related to pregnancy. And that just allows the teacher stating that they have to notify their appropriate administrator if they choose to use their uh leave concurrently with FMLA with regards to pregnancy, birth, or adoption of a child. >> Okay, I've got a question here. Yes, we're on DBD, correct? D. Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped a whole page. I'm sorry. My apologies. My apologies. Um, this uh DVD logo is a new section titled uh there was a new section titled person personnel services performed by an administrator and includes the language of prohibited financial benefits. So, this is talking about an administrator. Now, previously it only would talk about a superintendent. Now it's talking about an administrator that is defined as a
066person with signi significant administrative duties relating to the operations of a district, operations of a program, campus or other um subdivision of the district. So what it's saying is that they cannot profit without board approval if they're going to do something outside as a contracted service. >> Okay. So there >> I'm with you. But then it says an administrator other than a superintendent or an assistant superintendent who wishes to seek board approval to perform personal services permitted by law shall submit that request to the superintendent in accordance with administrative regulations. Got it? Not a problem. But what does the superintendent and the assistant superintendent do? The superintendent's ability to work outside of his or her contract is governed by their specific contract. It's almost always addressed in their contract by the board. I do share
067your concern about assistant superintendent because >> we had that issue here where there was a college course um involved. So I just I just think we need to get a little clarity there. and I can contact Hazby on that one as well as for the assistant superintendent piece. Now, DEEC logo leaves and absences. Again, this is regarding the employee having to uh let the administrator know if they want to have concurrent use of that uh leave if they go on FMLA for those specific reasons. Was there any questions on this policy? DFBB under reasons for non-renewal of a term contract section. It adds a language to clarify performing essential functions of the job. um as well as two new reasons for non-renewal of a contract and that is when an employee engages or assigns another
068individual instruction, guidance, activities or programming prohibited by law and engages in or assigns another individual DEI duties prohibited by law. Again, this is similar to the >> I get this I get this on on our employees, you know, that's not problems with the contract. >> Yes, sir. Any questions on DFBB? DGBA logo is an extensive revision there. It is uh regarding the employee complaints. It includes revisions prompted of course by Senate Bill 12. It now includes information regarding online access to the policy. Edits uh under guiding principles include the name change now to informal process and formal processes. There's been a rearrangement of subtopics to better align subject matter to the grievance process. There are new subtopics options to continue the informal process which describes the encouragement of an informal resolution even after initiating that
069formal process. There's a lot of change in wording under grievance conferences uh and hearings throughout under the uh filing subtopic were changed from 3 days to three business days. Uh under notice of of complaint, it states that the now the district employee against whom a complaint has been filed shall be provided notice and given sufficient opportunity to submit a written response at levels one and two. response now referred to as a decision and updated instructions for subtopics under cost incurred, record, remand, assignment of hearing officers and investigation. Edits to the complaint levels including that decisions within 20 uh decision within 20 days of the hearing and at level uh two 20 days from the date of the level decision. appeal submission from it went from 10 to 20 days and if a level three is
070filed, the board shall hold a meeting to discuss the complaint no later than 60 calendar days after the level two decision was made. Uh under the subtopic uh level three, it now states unless the board delegates a committee in accordance with the law, the board shall hear the appeal of the level two decision as well as providing at least five business days before the uh level three. They should provide those five days to the um employee and any information that they uh intend to rely on that's not contained in the record. And it says that they will have to make a decision within 30 days of that meeting. Those are for the level 3es. Okay. We've got this one and we've got several others that will be going through dealing with with grievances. In in
071my opinion, Mr. Maddox will lean very heavily on you in terms of grievance procedures. So, frankly, I don't want to know what the procedures are. I'm going to lean on you to tell me we're either legal or we're not. Yes, sir. >> I will say in this one section, specifically on page 271, there is a new addition that I think every board member needs to read closely because it prohibits certain communications between u employees and board members when there has been agreements filed and that's that's a new addition that has always been kind of known and understood but not committed to right >> sir I'll piggy back on that a lot of these changes are actually matters of practice by schoolboard council and boards across the state anyway. So it's it's really taking a lot
072of the traditional procedures that we would implement as a matter of fairness regardless and codifying into policy. So it looks like a lot of changes and is a lot of changes but a lot of this has been formed by you as a board and many others for a long time. >> Any other questions? Under DH local, employee standards of conduct include changes under Senate Bill 706 regarding reciprocity with a handgun license from other states. So they changed that so that it doesn't just say Texas, now it says from another state. Three sections were added. Prohibited classroom instruction or activities, prohibited diversity, equity, and inclusion duties, and social transitioning. These uh this inclusion is pursuant to Senate Bill 12 under new requirements of Senate Bill 571 regarding notice of suspected misconduct by an educator. That word
073educator was removed and it now says that it's a district employee or a person acting as a service provider for the district. Any questions on DH local? EFA local will now include sections on parent requests for instructional uh material review in accordance with Senate Bill 12. And this uh is one of the areas where the administrative will develop regulations to ensure that the parent or guardians can request a review of instructional materials individually or through a petition process with other parents. Any questions on EFA? Recommended revisions on EHBAF local include updated language and updates on the time frame for reporting suspected suspected misconduct or child abuse from 48 to 24 hours as required by Senate Bill 571. So, we are now moving from a 48 hour reporting time to a 24. Any questions on this
074one? Revisions for EIA local reflect that Senate Bill 12 requirement that each parent of a student be offered the opportunity for at least two in-person conferences per year. Under section academic dishonesty, it indicates that the use of artificial intelligence without permission constitutes academic dishonesty. Any questions on EIA? A revision under FFAC local has been made due to Senate Bill 920 now allows school employees including nurses to administer non-prescription medication provided by the parent in accordance with legal requirements. This is something that I know a lot of people have been waiting on. Are there any questions on this one? Okay. FBB local requirement under House Bill 2 in includes a new section notification to teaching staff of threat which requires notice of a threat against a campus be given to teaching staff and it includes teacher
075aids who may be directly affected by the threat and it includes that the superintendent shall develop administrative regulations to ensure that the required notice is provided to the teaching staff. >> Huge questions here. Yes, sir. >> In practicality, h how does this happen? I mean, we've got a threat going on. We've got an active shooting. Everybody on that campus has protocol that they're supposed to be following at that point in time. >> Yes. >> And and now we're required to notify every single teacher while We should be following the protocol of whatever it is to to prevent that. And I get it. It says as soon as safe and and practical. >> Yes, sir. Are there code words, colors, things like that that can be used to just basically say a and I get you
076don't want somebody in an out building not being aware that that something's going on, but the reality is and and we've been beat up in the past, not so much from from employees, but by, you know, the public in general, you know, well, they should have put out a robocall. They're dealing with a crisis here and we've got to stop and and notify people that there's a crisis. >> Yes. H >> how in in in I get it in theory, but in in the real world, how does this play out? >> Mr. Maddox. >> Yes, ma'am. Yes, Mr. Kall. So this policy was not specifically meant to be a crisis in the moment notification system policy. So our crisis in the moment policies and procedures to keep students and staff safe during imminent crisis are
077are somewhat different. This is more and as you can see here it's you know targeted threats made through social media. This is more attempting to address those known by upper administration, not known by other campus staff threats that were received perhaps after hours. The uh you know the called in bomb threat, if you will, where there's time to analyze this, make determinations as to whether or not we believe it's credible, whether or not we believe the campus should be closed, police call, that sort of thing, which are all guided by their policies, procedures involved in analysis. But this is more about letting staff know that traditionally wouldn't be have been in the loop that there was such a threat involved. Does that make sense? >> Okay. So there's no time sensitivity necessarily. >> Not really.
078That's why it starts off as as soon as state or practical which means as soon as we have a real time and method which we can notify lower staff and I'm using the word lower staff but other staff that wouldn't have been perhaps in the know to begin with. And just for the board information, what I will do is I will ask Mr. is who leads our safety uh department and he works with us on developing the emergency protocols that we're required to submit to the states and we recently submitted them that to a short presentation uh for you for the benefit of the community on what are those plans that are put in place to include communication when different situations happen based on the threat level. And so that way we're for the content.
079>> So just to reiterate what this would likely look like in practice is campus received a thread protocol and law was was put in place and implemented the campus determined it wasn't credible decided to continue with school and then at that point where it's safe and practical to notify the rest of campus staff of that analysis. FF local includes an added section regarding notification to parent of a student with whom an employee or service provider is alleged to engage in misconduct to no later than one business day. So that notification now has to be done within one business day. Any questions on this? In accordance with Senate Bill 571, FG Loco now states that reports of abuse and neglect must be submitted within 24 hours of learning the facts giving rise to the suspicious of
080suspicion of abuse or neglect. Under subsection making a report, it has been modified now to state uh they have removed um the wording and it now states that it's a law enforcement agency. Before it said state and local, now they just left the law enforcement agency. Any questions on this policy? FNG, which deals with the students rights responsibility, student and parent complaints and grievances. This is the similar as uh the DGBA one, the revisions that reflect under Senate Bill 12. The changes are pretty much the same except with um the uh time frames here which are now um going from 10 to 20 days of appeal notice and um it is the same for the 30 days after the level three. So it went from the 10 to 20 days Any questions on this one?
081And it will be similar for the public complaint area in a little while as well. Fol local policy had two minor edits under video and audit monitoring. a change in the word from shall to may be used and they added when a video recording equipment is in use. So just some minor word changes there. Any questions on EPO? GF public complaints there again the same substantial changes that were made. Um some include the removal of subtopics again guiding principles and days. The information guidance of these subtopics have been embedded within the new subtopics complaint levels. New subtopics include filing deadlines, which states that a public member who engaged in the informal process in an attempt to resolve a complaint has uh and has not reached a resolution during this informal process, the individual must file
082the complaint within 15 business days of the date of the individual first knew or with reasonable diligence should have known or action given rise of the complaint or grievance. The hearing must be held with the complainant within 10 calendar days after the receipt and a decision should be provided to the complainant within 20 calendar days. Appeals may be filed within the 20 calendar day of the decision and at level three uh that shall be shall be held shall be hold a meeting to discuss the complaint in no later than the 60th calendar day of the date of which the level two decision was made and a decision shall be made uh 30 no later than 30 days after the board meeting. I'm sorry my throat is getting very dry. Under subtopic deadline extensions, it states
083all deadlines shall be strictly followed unless otherwise required by law or modified by mutual consent. Are there any questions in this area as well? Thank you. And we we will be updating all of the exhibits to reflect these um changes as well. GK local community relations conduct on uh school premises. This is a revision due to Senate Bill 706. Under subtopic prohibitions uh prohibitions exceptions, changes to the language have been made. Under the statement, no violation of this policy occurs, Gwen removed, they removed the word a Texas and they added an individual who holds a handgun license. So, they just removed a Texas to now just an individual. Any questions on GKA? So now we're going to look at some local policies that are being asked of of the school districts to now include. The
084legal policy has been in existence in these areas, but now they're asking us to include local policies. The first one is CQD, technology resources, artificial intelligence. This um new recommended policy falls under the technology resources framework, House Bill 150 and House Bill 1500 established that the board delegates to the SE superintendent the authority to determine the artificial intelligence training program to be used in the district. Verify and report compliance with training requirements in according with the guidance from the Department of Information Resources. and remove access to the district's computer systems and databases for non-compliance with the training requirements. This policy also states that districts will complete audits to ensure compliance with AI trainings under the subtopic use in district. It gives employees and students permission to explore AI and implement its use in and out
085of the classroom in accordance with the policy and administrative regulations. The use of AI shall only be used as a support tool to enhance student outcomes and shall never take the place of a teacher and student decisionmaking. It continues to state that a student shall only use AI tools with teacher permission and shall be expected to produce original work and properly credit sources. The use of AI tools to deceptively harm, bully, or harass others shall be disciplined in accordance to the student code of conduct and policy. >> Any questions? >> I do have a question. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes. Because this is brand new. It talks about you just read that use of AI in and out of the classroom in accordance with policy and administrative regulations. Do those administrative regulations exist? Okay, >>
086those are we'll have to develop those once the board uh approves at the second uh reading. Yes, sir. >> Thank God that y'all are not. >> Okay, another new policy again these exists already in the legal framework EP local instructional arrangements lesson plan. This new policy includes recommended language from Senate Bill 12 and falls under the instructional arrangement legal framework. The policy requires that prior to each semester, each teacher shall provide a copy of the teacher's instructional plan or course syllabus for each class for which the teacher provides instruction. This information shall be made of shall will be provided to the district administrator and the parent of each student enrolled in the teacher's class. The superintendent shall develop administrative procedures for the posting of the plan and course syllabi offered in the district on the
087district's website. Any questions on this one? FA local parents rights and responsibilities. The policy meets the Senate bill uh Senate Bill 12 requirement to establish parent portal and falls under the parents rights and responsibility. It states that the district shall establish a parent portal on the district's website through which parents may submit comments to campus administrators, district administrators, and the board. The superintendent shall develop administrative regulations related to the portal, including placement on the district or campus websites and how campus or district administrators are to address comments received through the parent portal. Any questions on this policy? I know it's a lot of them. And our last one, FEF, local attendance release time. Senate Bill 1049 reflects the requirements around release time courses. In this section, release time course means a course in religious instruction
088offered by a private entity. It states that the school principal can give permission for the student to be released for the release time course. requirements to allow permission for a student to attend a release time courts are established under this policy as well. And these um there are five different ones. Parent written consent, private entity offering the release time course maintains attendance records and makes them available to the district. Uh the third is the private entity or parent or guardian or student assumes responsibility for transportation including transportation for a student with a disability to and from the location. The fourth would be that the private entity assumes liability for the student enrolled in the release time course while under their care. And the fifth, the student is responsible for any school work or assignments issued
089during the students absent from the district for this release time course. The district is prohibited from using district funds uh to facilitate the student attending the release time course. The private entity shall be prohibited from offering the release time course on district property unless they follow policy G KD and the district shall not interfere with the parents or guardians ability to request or access release time course for a student. So again, this is a release time course means that they're going to a private entity um for religious instruction outside of the district. Any questions on FEM? And again, if anybody has any questions, >> can I drink a little water? >> Thank you, Miss. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. So, now we move on to Uh item number six, Kingsville SD
090board of trustees will now conduct a special meeting. The time is 7:03 p.m. So we start with item 6A, communication from administration superintendent update, Dr. M. Good evening board president and board members and members of the public. Thank you for being here. As you can see, we have been presenting to you uh different components of our school improvement plan um or components of that school improvement plan that will ultimately um lead us towards improving student outcomes in K ISD. Um, at the next board meeting on the 21st of January, we will present our draft plan of school improvement. And we're very excited about that. We're working on it and ensuring that we have all the data that we need to have to make sound decisions. At the same time, we are conducting community forums. We
091already had one uh in December on the 17th I believe of December and uh it was well attended. Some of you also had the opportunity to attend that that community forum. We have the second community forum tomorrow at 5:30 here in this room and we have uh probably cited in our website as well. uh and um we are doing presentations in different community organizations to ensure that we disseminate as much information as possible on our school improvement plan. Um we also will be scheduling individual sessions at each of the schools to ensure that we invite the parents of each school as well as the staff of each school to address the questions they may have. We intended to do that in the first week of January, but we didn't have all the data that we
092needed and so we decided to push it a little bit uh further to ensure that we are giving the most accurate plan possible. At the same time, as we promised, we launched a school improvement website or page within our website that will have up-to-date information, copies of the presentations that we are given to the community and uh a live survey where all members of the community can provide feedback on on the plan. And so that continues to be open to the public and we encourage everyone uh to do so. We are second semester as you know and so we're looking at our students performance for first semester. How do they do in terms of grades, in terms of attendance? Um and so we're looking at different data points to continue to make informed decisions. But
093in all, I will say that uh we're moving forward and um I every day I have more questions than answers and I'm sure the community does too. But um I encourage everyone to continue to bring those questions forward. Uh because no question is is is good, right? All questions are good. Um or not good, I should say. Um we invite all the questions and if we don't have the answer right away, we won't research it. It's going to take all of us to change the story of King ISD and we're committed to doing so. That is my report for today. >> Any questions? We move on to now item 6A number two, teacher incentive aotment or TIA update, Miss Tanya Williams. Once again, good evening, uh, board president, Mr. Ruiz, Superintendent Dr. Martinez, and members
094of the board. Yes. This evening I will be giving you an overview of the teacher incentive aotment and what we are currently using for our local designation system. The teacher incentive aotment provides districts an accessible pathway for effective teachers to earn a higher income while remaining in the classroom. And how TIA works the teacher incentive aotment is there are currently three levels of designation. There is a fourth level um that is being introduced for next year but the current three levels are recognized, exemplary and master. The stipens for TIA range anywhere between $3,000 to $30,000. Annual additional funding for each designated teacher. They are able to qualify for those stipens. It prioritizes hardto staff positions. So it offers greater funding for high needs and rural campuses. It is teacher focused funding. So 90% of the
095TIA funds go to the teacher directly and then the district is allowed to keep 10% of those funds and once a teacher is designated through TIA they do hold that designation for 5 years. The way that funding is calculated um these are the current three designations that are available for teachers. This bottom chart shows the fourth one that is coming about for next year. Um, so traditionally in the recognized area, you're looking at your top 33% of teachers. They use the base stipen. They have what they call a multiplier. And then from there, it is added or it takes into consideration the economically disadvantaged percentage of what your campus is and whether your campus holds a rule status. And that is how um the state then calculates how much funding goes for each campus and
096each teacher at which level. So this is a chart that shows how that is calculated. It is a three-year approval process. Okay, we are currently in year two. Um so we are currently in our data capture year and we are collecting the data for all of our teachers. Um we currently have all of their boy boy data. Next year in October, I will submit that data to the state for it to go through the data valid um to see if the data is valid. Um after that, we will then be notified if we have approved if we have um successfully been approved for data validation and we will move forward to um collecting stipens for our teachers for that following year. >> Miss Williams, can you explain what that data integrity should look like to
097ensure that we get approved for that? >> Yes, ma'am. Um and so what the state looks like is the TIA takes into account um what your data is and what your tea test um is comprised of. And so right now it is weighted at 50/50. So what the state looks at is is that correlating? If you're stating that Miss Williams is a master teacher, are we seeing that in her student growth and in her student data? And if those two data points do not correlate, we will not pass data validation. Um so the state looks at both of those um pillars the student data and student growth and how a teacher is being evaluated in TESS. Um as stated um for TIA we are looking at individual student growth not achievement. So student growth is
098measured um by the teacher's percentage of students who meet or exceed the expected growth target over the course of a single school year. And rather than using a magnitude of growth, effectiveness is measured by the impact teachers have on all students in sending um in setting those individual growth measures. So looking at the individual student and stating this is where Tanya was when or Mrs. Williams was when she got to you. Did she grow a whole school year's worth by the end of that year? So looking at that individual student growth for Kingsville ISD, we are using the pre and post test. Um so we are using last year's star compared to this year's star. Um for those grade levels who have those for example third grade who does not have a prior test in
099second grade we used a district created beginning of year test which was a star release test and they will take that data compared to how the students perform on star at the end of the year. aotment funding and amounts do vary per campus per year um because they take into account the base allotment, the social economic level, the um what percentage is your campus in um economically disadvantaged um and then your campus rural state uh status. Um currently Kingsville ISD does not have any campuses that have that rural status. Average funding for the district. If a teacher falls under recognized, they are looking at an average of $6,224. For exemplary, $12,447. And for masters, 22,746. As stated, each campus will produce um different um stipens dependent upon their eco, but this is the district average
100of what we are looking at. Our current eligible teaching assignments and subjects for preK all of them are currently eligible. The um instrument that we are using is circle and we have already completed the boy for that. For kindergarten through 2 grade it is reading only and we are using MCL class. for fourth through 8th grade and high school looking at reading, math, English one, English two, and algebra 1. We are using prior year star compared to this year star. For third grade reading and math, we are using a district created beginning of year, which was a star released, and then the star that they will be taking at the end of the school year this year. for fifth and eighth grade science. Um same as the prior district created um which was star released
101compared to um end of year star. Eighth grade we're using that same um method and same thing for high school for biology and US history. All boy assessments have already been taken and that data we do have. So, KISSD's performance data and designation eligibility. Um, in order to be designated at the recognized level, you are looking at about your top 33% of your teachers, um, which have a performance standard of a 3.7 or higher in their test, which means that 55% of their students have to have either met or exceeded their student growth target. For exemplary, for average, you're looking about your top 20 with a test um average of a 3.9 and with 60% of their students meeting or exceeding that student growth measure. For masters, you are looking at your top five with
102an average of a 4.5 in your test and 70% of your students meeting or exceeding that growth target. for performance data and student growth data. Student growth is reported as a percentage of each teacher students who have met or exceeded their expected growth target. The boy assessments were administered within the first nine weeks of school and the endofear assessments will be administered within the last 12 weeks of school. KISSD will then compare the students endofear test results to the expected growth target set for the students at the beginning of the year. How will funds be spent? 90% of the TIF funds have to go back to the teachers in the form of their TF stipen. The district keeps 10% of those funds and we had to come up with a spending plan to submit to
103the state on how we are going to utilize those funds. So those funds will be utilized for the implementation of TIA and for professional development for the teachers um in order for them to reach those uh distinctions in TIA. So now we have several different scenarios that can come about with TIA and with the funding um that I will be going um over with you um as far as movement of teachers either within the district or if they are to move outside of the district. So scenario one, if a designated teacher leaves the district or re retires prior to winter class roster verification. So there they're talking about our winter PE submission which happens in February. If a designated teacher leaves or retires prior to us submitting that roster, Kingsville ISD will not receive any
104funding for that designated teacher and therefore no TIA compensation will be given to that teacher. Scenario two, if a designated teacher moves between campuses within Kingsville ISD during the school year, Kingsville ISD will provide TIA compensation to that teacher based on the campus that they are at during that winter submission. So, wherever they are at when we submit that roster. Scenario three, if a teacher if a designated teacher moves into the district prior to winter class roster verification, the designated teacher will receive TIA compensation based on the campus in where they are assigned during that winter class submission. Scenario four, if a designated teacher retires from Kingsville ISD after winter class submission, the teacher will receive funding um the funding amount allocated to them based on the TIA approved by the Texas Education Agency and
105those funds must be paid prior to August 31st. Scenario five. If a TIA designated teacher leaves Kingsville ISD for reasons other than retirement after winter class submission, the teacher will not receive funding amount allocated to them based on the TIA approved by TEA. The funds will be redistributed to teachers at that campus where the teacher was employed during winter class submission. Scenario six, a designated teacher leaving the district after winter class submission due to termination will not receive their stipen. If the designated teacher is terminated prior to May, their share of the allotment will be redistributed to the campus in which they were employed. Scenario seven, Kingsville ISD cannot recommend a teacher to the state for TIA designation if they do not remain in an eligible teaching position for that following year following the data
106capture year. For example, if a teacher is designated as a result of the data collected in the 2526 school year, but the teacher moves into, let's say, an assistant principal position for the 2627 school year, that teacher cannot be recommended for a designation because they are no longer in an eligible teaching position. Scenario eight. If a TIA designated teacher is not employed by Kingsville ISD at the time of winter class submission, then Kingsville ISD will not be responsible for paying TIA compensation to the designated teacher. In order for a teacher to receive TIA compensation, the teacher will need to work with their new Texas school district or charter school to be compensated under TIA. In this case, the amount of funds earned under TIA would follow the new district's TIA spending plan and aotments provided
107by the state for that particular campus based on rural and non-rural and economically disadvantaged tier stats. Average funding. So, the designations are valid for five years. Teachers can only hold one designation at a time and designations are subject to change to a higher designation based on the district's performance criteria. Okay? A teacher cannot be recommended for a lower standard or a lower designation. Um and then they can only hold one designation at a time. So for example, if they are nationally board certified and then they um are being recommended for a recognized designation, the state will look at which one holds a higher status and that is the one that the state will recognize. The state will always give them that higher status um in a designation. So KISSD's estimated timeline April of 2025 um
108it was a system application. We were notified in August of 2025 that we it had been approved. We are currently in our data capture year. Next October, October of 2026, we will submit the data for data validation. In April of 2027, we will then receive notification if our data passed or if it did not pass data validation. And then in August of 2027, funds will be paid to teachers um in addition to any potential school improvement stipens that we may have. So with TIA, we are able to have a phased in approach. So for the first year, we went with what do we currently test, what do we currently submit to the state and that is where our starting point was. So all the assessments that we are currently using and the grade levels and
109content areas that we are currently including in our TIA application are ones that already have a state required test to them and ones that we are already submitting data to the state for. However, we do plan on expanding and doing it in a phased in approach to then include more content areas and more teacher positions to make the more of our teachers eligible for TI. Are there any questions from the board? >> Yes sir. >> All of this information and keeping track of this is this through PS you put this information through PS for the state. >> Um so the winter fall the winterfall submission is submitted through PS. Um but as far as the data that is turned into the state I was given a template um that I have to fill out. >>
110So you're responsible. >> Yes sir. Yes sir. So, um I'm collecting all the data on all the teachers, each individual student. Um there is a template that has to be filled out. Um I then go into what is called the TIA portal and all of that will be submitted next October. Um we are working very closely with our service center um in ensuring that everything that we are doing is following the process of TAS. That way we are um able to pass that data validation. My last question, teachers, how are they informed about this? Do you go to the campus? >> Yes, sir. >> How does that happen? >> Yes, sir. I have already visited all of the campuses. Um, they called faculty meetings. Um, and we met with all of them. We provided them
111with the PowerPoint, answered any clarifying questions or any confusion that they may have had. So, yes, sir. >> Thank you. I would like to add that the intent of the the teacher incentive allow allowance is to ensure that we keep the best teachers in the classroom. Right? There is a potentiality that teachers will make more money than administrators which is why we discussed with you reviewing the salary scale for administrators moving forward. Right? uh but the intent of the law and this incentive is actually to ensure that we incentivize teaching and so before the data is submitted to TA through the portal the TIA portal we are going to engage with the principles of the campuses in conducting a data validation review because the last thing we want is to submit incorrect data and then
112having to backtrack. So, we're going to put some systems in place to ensure that we are reviewing and validating the data. So, teachers know for me they're submitting these numbers and I'm okay with those numbers. I certify that those are that's my data so that we minimize hopefully right or eliminate completely any conflicts that we may have >> because this is a lot of information. >> It is. >> It really is and keep track of it so people will get teachers. And then I do agree about administrators of course, but I also wanted the board to keep in mind other staff, custodians, food service, clerical, you know, they're we're all in this together like you say all the time and that includes them also. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> Any further questions from the board? >>
113Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Miss Williams. We now move on to item 6B. Is Oh, I'm sorry. We We have one one thing in the >> My apologies to the board. Um I failed to introduce our fine arts director, Mr. Corpio Mendes, who's going to share wonderful news with us. Mr. Mendes, please come to the podium. Good evening everyone. Board, Dr. Martinez, community, administrators, everybody. Good evening. Um, my name is Portfido Mendes. I'm the fine arts director, headband director. Um, I I do want to thank Dr. Martinez for allowing me to put this on on on the agenda. Uh, not really last minute. I mean, normally it takes a few days. Uh but this just happened on Saturday and um again before I start this entire uh process of stuff you know there's
114been a there's a lot of student groups and groups in our KISSD community from all levels that have uh succeeded have a lot of great you know accolades and different things. And before I explain to you the the two accolades, the major ones that we have, um I do want to say that we do have a lot of great things going on in KISSD at every level. And these accolades that I will explain to you here in a second prove that we will not and should not be defined by a letter. That being said, there is an audition process for individual students over the course of the entire year. It takes many many hours of the students individual practice work with their uh the directors who by the way didn't want to come this evening
115because they didn't want to cancel the rehearsals. Okay, I get it. That's a great thing. That's okay. Um so we did over the audition process we did have six students audition uh that made the all area cuts and went to the state auditions this weekend. Um and through that process we ended up with two students Isabella Mendes and Dari Mazone that made the 4A all state band and understand also yes it is absolutely the highest individual achievement that a a student can reach on their own. Um they are they will be performing in San Antonio at their the convention where they will now audition for chairs. But they already Dari is already in the top five of all 4A bass clarinetists and Isabella is already in the top 35 of uh clarinet instrumentalists and they
116will audition for placement when they get to San Antonio. They are um there are more than 10 to 12,000 students across Texas in 4A and they are not governed by division any divisions. It's all 4A where you're the biggest 4A or the smallest 4A. There is no division one or division two. So out of these between 10 to 12,000 students they advance from 22 regions and place respectively in the region bands. The top chairs in all regions advance in one of the five area auditions that held were held this past weekend. Only 286 of these 10 to 12,000 entries make and earn their competitive way into the all-state band. They will meet and rehearse in San Antonio February 11th through the 14th and they will be presenting a concert Saturday morning at the Lyla Cockro
117Theater at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio. Uh they have major composers and people of high fame in our business uh that will be conducting them and it is a wonderful event and it is something that again should be completely applauded for these you know kiddos. I have to say not only am I a proud band director um for these students but Isabella is my daughter. She's uh finally all her all her brothers and sisters have been state alternates. All missed it by one and right now she's the one that crossed the threshold. Her brother and sisters are very happy but a little salty either way. So again, and another caveat is that uh myself, my wife Sylvia, uh and Dari's parents, um Danny Garansza and Jessica Garanza are also very
118proud employees of KISSD. So I wanted to add that right there. But again, uh again, thank you Dr. Martinez for letting me come up and give this news at such a late notice and everything. And again, so we are very proud and we will introduce them at a later date after the convention has uh been said and done. But again, thank you very much and again um there are great things happening and these students are proof poding that we do have great things going on in this district. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Mendes. Um, we now move on to item 6B, discussion and possible action regarding the policy update 126 first reading. Um, do we I guess have a motion to accept the first reading. It's not all rush to make the
119motion. >> I make the motion that we accept. So motion made by Jake Bettis. Second by Joe MZ. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose. The motion carries. 70. Item 6 C. Discussion possible action regarding the middle school principal stipen. So, what this typen is asking uh the board to consider is allowing the administration to have an available stipen up to $15,000 to recruit um a strong instructional leader for Gillette Middle School. we are in the middle of the school year and it's very difficult to entice people to come you know make moves at this time due to to middle of the school year commitments. Uh in addition Gillette Middle School is one of our F3 campuses that uh continues to to struggle with in regards to to leadership. We are very
120fortunate to have Dr. Sanova leading the effort there and we're very thankful for that. Uh and we are we would like to ask the board to consider this hiring one-time stipend for um to bring a strong instructional leader to help us turn around Gillette Middle School. >> So I just ask one quick question. So the stipen is just for this one year or that part of the >> Yes, it is. It is a one-time hiring stipen. Now, as you may recall when we did the presentation on the grants that we apply for for Gillette, um I should say if, but I want to change it to when we get the the grants because I'm very hopeful and prayerful that we will get those grants. We will be able to supplement the salary of the principal
121uh with the grants. And so we will continue to be offer uh to be able to offer a competitive salary with the help of the brands. >> Question. >> You mentioned one of the reasons is because you feel that you're going to have difficulty finding someone. Is that one of the reasons that you're wanting to pay this typ? >> Well, two reasons. the difficulty in finding somebody that will move mid semester, >> right? And then also the the requirements that that campus uh presents to us, like we can uh afford to hire a new principal or someone who does not have school improvement experience. And so we're if we have a little bit more money, we can entice uh someone from another district or another area to want to take a an opportunity here at
122Kingsville with us. >> The request says not to exceed 15,000. >> Correct. >> We don't have to use all 15. >> No, we don't. Um yeah, we you know, of course, we will take different things into consideration like the current salary they have and you know, do they have to move out of district? Those kinds of things that might calling play to help entice somebody to to take the position. I I agree with the statement, but I just have a little issue of with this type of position doing that because you have other principles that they're in the same situation. They're current now. They're working for us. Are we going to think about them? But then, you know, and again, I'm going to vote yes, but my only concern is doing something like this. Um,
123it's it's kind of treating like if we're hiring a superintendent. The you know, like you're talking about if they have to move, you know, give them a little bit, you know, and it just depends whether they want to use the 15,000, but that's just a little concern I have with with that. You know, I need I like for the administrators in certain positions, the principles, assistant principal. I would always love that for us to just be fair with with and I'm not saying I'm not saying that, but just to be consistent with all the other individuals in those similar positions. Any more questions from the board? Do we have a motion to accept the recommendation administration for the $15,000 potential? >> Make a motion to to accept the amount presented. >> Second. >> Motion made
124by Delma Salenas, second by Chapa. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? Motion carries 70. Moving on then to item number seven. Enter into close session. The board will enter into close session in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551.071 and 551.074 to deliberate and consider the following. Uh item 7A, consultation with legal counsel regarding legal and personnel matters. No action will be taken until we return over the session. We are entering to close session at 7:37 p.m. We now return to open session. We can take necessary action on matters of support and discussion open session and upon which action may be taken. We are returning to open session at 8:59 p.m. U being that there is no action that needs to be taken. Um do I have
125a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion made by Martin Chappa, second by Delma Salenas. All those in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? And we are adjourned at 900 pm.