001Wednesday, November 12, 2025. I call this board meeting and board workshop and special meeting of the Kings on Independent School District to order. We will now have roll call. Joe Mirez here. Brian Kufall. Brian Kufall. Martin Chapa here. David Garcia here. Delma Alenzas >> here. >> Jacob Perez >> here. Joseph Reese here. Let the record show that there is a quorum 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 move to a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance and the Texas pledge. [Music] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas
002flag. I aliance to the Texas. One state under God, one indivisible. We now move on to item number four, public participation. Do we have anyone that wishes to address the board? >> Yes, sir. We have Elizabeth Ramos community. [Music] All right. Hello. Good afternoon, superintendent, board of trustees, the great people of KISD. Um, I'm here to um kind of give some kudos to our superintendent. Um, I'm very proud that there's um extra transparency um since her takeover here at KISSD and I appreciate that. Um, I did have the, um, opportunity to sit down and talk with her and I remember she's like, you know, I can trying to get this ship sailing. And I looked at her, I said, "Well, well, this ship's located at the bottom of the ocean next to the Titanic, ma'am."
003And I'm pretty sure she sure realizes what what I meant by that, you know, starting here. And I know she's probably overwhelmed with a lot of goals that she needs to get to. And I know that's why we're here tonight. Um, I do want to kind of um I know it was posted in the paper or Kingsville record that uh Peter Pittz mentioned that the reason why the tax rate didn't go through was because a lot of people didn't know about it. But I I tend to disagree with that statement because um I was reached out a lot by a lot of people who were spreading the word behind closed doors. I gave my opinion on the benefits and the not benefits of doing that and allowed other people to make their own decisions. I
004believe what it came down to is that our past superintendent had cart blanch to do whatever she wanted. Um, we treated her sort of like a seven-month-old pregnant woman whose husband allowed her to go to the grocery store for for a grapes and milk but came back with grapes, milk, cupcakes, chocolate chips, like you name it. That's that's the way she's she was spending here at the district. um we allowed that to happen instead of giving the pregnant lady $20 and saying just come back with just these two items that she went to the store for. Um, and I think moving forward that hopefully you saw that and hopefully there's some transparency when it comes to spending, you know, just because you say you're going to give more to employees or the the I think
005you said employees and facilities and all these other things, but you have to barney style it to to people so they understand, you know, employees are the grapes, operations is the milk. We're afraid you're going to spend money elsewhere. So, I think earning uh our community's trust back when it comes to spending and on what's important to spend money on uh will help gain trust from the community at KIC. So, I did want to state that in the way. Um and I know we're here talking for the superintendent's updates. I know I mentioned closing down campuses. Uh I think that's absolutely needed and I hope that's a discussion. If not tonight, then soon, but I heard rumor that it is one. Um, I heard rumor that we'd be moving into Clayberg, which is fine. I
006don't know the tiny statistics of how many classrooms and the square footage and such, but I would really hope to, no matter what decision is made, that Memorial doesn't go to waste like the other properties at KIC have. So, if Memorial is not on the block for moving, um, please think about an alternative way to fix the roof and, um, have that become income producing in a way. Um, but that's all I wanted to say. I do want to give kudos to the superintendent. I know there's a lot of procedures and a lot of um paperwork that has not been updated online um when it comes to rules and regulations and how things should be done through procedure that's not there and it's actually confusing the community some. So I just let them know when
007they call and complain just give give them time to get it right. There's a lot of moving parts here and you know we're hopefully going in the right direction. So, I want to say kudos to you guys for your hard work and have a good night. >> Thank you, Mr. Romos. Do we have anyone else? >> No, sir. >> We now move to item uh number five, Kingsville ISD board of trustees will conduct a board workshop to discuss the following. Item 5, TA waiver for ESL. Williams. >> Is it Is it this one? >> Yes. while we while we are setting up. Good evening, Dr. Martina, superintendent, um board president, and our board members. Um good evening. What we will be reviewing tonight is our submission or of our ESL waivers, our um English as
008a second language waiver. The purpose of the waiver submission is we currently have 14 certified teachers who have um ESL, English as a second language. The CNI team will monitor teacher efforts towards certification attainment. >> Do we have any questions? >> I have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Uh I know you mentioned that we have 14 teachers that are going to be placed on this waiver. Do we have any teachers that are certified? >> Yes, we do. >> Okay. >> How many do we have? >> Um, I can get you that number. >> Yes. >> I was just wondering because I know Gillette had just one and I thought, I know there's has to be more than that. >> Yes. Yes, we only submit those for that are not certified. Yes. But we do
009have plenty of teachers who do either hold an ESL certification or a bilingual certification. >> So, this has already been submitted. >> No, it's it's going >> it's going to be upon approval. >> What about the class ratio weight? Yes, that was submitted back in September. >> Yes. >> Uh yes, thank you for that question. Good evening everyone. The class waiverss that we requested to TA were denied. Uh and that was due to our accountability ratings since uh we were asking for waiverss for um schools that were D or F. They did not allow that. And so we brought the principles in and we have to reshuffle some staff to ensure that our class met the criteria that TA demands. Okay. >> So yeah, those were not approved. >> Do you think the same thing
010is going to happen here if we do this waiver? So, I don't know. It's hard to predict. However, historically, the state looks at the waiverss for class size a little bit different than the ESL because it requires, you know, specific certifications. And we do know that as Miss Williams uh is pointing out, we have um allowed, for lack of a better word, our teachers that are required to be certified to continue to prolong the matter. And so now we found ourselves continuously asking for the waiverss and not just us, but many other districts as well. So the DA is trying to crack down on that and so they are now putting some safeguards in place to ensure that we take a more active role in pursuing and ensuring that our ESL teachers are certified. Um
011we part of the plans that as Miss Williams uh discussed is I'm certifying ESL and so is uh several members of our team. We are going to be developing our internal training to help the teachers that need to get certified uh prepare for the test. So, we're going to prepare them internally to ensure that they have a better shot at we pay for the test, we pay for the certification. Those are other incentives that we're putting in place to ensure we get them certified. I >> I think I know the answer to this question, but why so many 14? Is it just a shortage? Yes. >> Yeah. This is a statewide you offer in the first bilingual or ESL. >> Yes, we do. >> Is that like a signing bonus or is it >> they
012get it at the end of the year? Um they so with their June paycheck if they have s um ESL ser if they have ESL students in their classroom and they're servicing those students um they are given that stipen. >> How much is the stipen? >> $1,000. >> Okay. So, everyone gets a stipen or just the teachers that are certified? >> Only those that are servicing ESL students? So, yes, ma'am. So, even if they are certified um but they do not have ESL students in their classroom and they are not providing services to those students, they do not get that statement. >> Yeah. But what about the ones that are not certified? They're are they getting the other >> So, is it right to say Dr. Martinez that to your knowledge prior to to this
013this year. We had people getting paid to do ESL services, but we we're getting the extension after extension, right, >> after extension, and TA said, "Hey, we're giving the extension, but there's nobody being certified." So again, in my experience, having worked at other districts where we have struggled with getting certified ESL and bilingual teachers, it is not uncommon at all for districts to continuously ask for waiverss. But again, the the state is trying to to put some safeguards in place. And so they have uh created some guidelines that we have to follow. for example, um they will demand that we uh provide to them how are we actively recruiting for ESL and bilingual teachers. You know, what is our plan? Are we just sitting and waiting for them to apply or are we actively pursuing
014it? Are we connecting with universities and community colleges to ensure that we get them once we have certified or developing internal programs? So they're putting some safeguards in place to ensure that districts don't get comfortable continuing to ask for w for waivers but not actively pursuing a solution a long-term solution because at the end of the day it's not the waiver is we have to ensure we provide the students with what they need. And so the certification provides you the opportunity to get wellversed in what it's called one of the strategies is style which is shelter instruction for home observation and there's different strategies that are really good for all kids not just for ESL. Uh and then some strategies for example if a teacher is mentioning certain words for our um students that their
015second language is English they need to see the word they need to pronounce the word they need to have so there's different strategies and uh instructional decisions that teachers have to make to ensure that they are well connected with what the kids need and getting the certification allows you to learn all those as well >> to the intention >> and kind of pig back to that is you know that's the norm I mean honestly the for my experience it was always a shortage by >> what if you have a teacher that refuses to pass >> well then you know again I think that the lawyer will say that maybe that's a a sticky point but we I can say that we will do our best to to provide opportunities for our teachers to get certified.
016But moving forward, whatever happened in the past, nothing happened in the past. I I'm not going to look at how many times have you been, you know, not certified serving our ESO students. I think, you know, we're going to address it with the teachers and we're going to provide them with all the opportunities and encouragement that we can and then we'll see what happens. And but, you know, I don't see why they wouldn't want to do it. There's the the stipen of $1,000 to begin with. So we're paying for the test. We're providing the training. So it's a good incentive to entice them to go ahead and get certified and just, you know, learn, grow, get better, and at the same time get that out of the way so they don't have to worry about
017it anymore. >> I'm good. One last question. What is the difference between bilingual and ESL? >> Um, so the difference in certification, um, they they do >> the program. the program. >> Okay. So, um in our district, we offer an ESL program. We do not offer a bilingual program. Um we offer English as a second language. There was a transition um throughout the state where it did originally they were known as bilingual students which means they knew both languages. Um we transitioned to English as a second language because we do service um other languages other than English. Um but basically it is just mainly a title change um of the program itself. Um there are a few different components as far as are we pulling out or is it content based with our program and
018being ESL ours is content based. So they get those um different strategies within the general education content that we are providing. They provide those supports for the different languages that are sitting in their classrooms. And I know from my experience we have ESL programs but the reason being is that in order for it to be a bilingual program you had to have 20 students in a grade level. >> So we never had the 20 students. So we had to go to ESL and not >> and then in the bilingual education there are different models as well to be in the like 5050 you know etc. So there's different models and we don't have them in here. So that's why we hire for ESL teachers not necessarily by visual. >> Couple of questions um in regards
019to cert certification support. >> Can you go into detail about study resources? What what exactly are you talking about? >> So that is the PD that Dr. Martinez um was referencing. So, we will do our internal PD with those of us who either are degreed or certified in bilingual or ESL in order to assist the teachers um in prepping for that test to to improve their success rate >> and ongoing guidance. Who's who's doing the guiding? >> Um we have um our guidance here as well as Miss Yenna Yaalba um who is a certified teacher. She goes to the campuses every Friday and she provides that support for the teachers and the students um in assisting with those strategies. >> So the ongoing guidance is not really for the for the teacher is going to
020be tested or for the students >> for both. Um she yes she meets with the teacher she provides that assistance and these are strategies that you can use to assist in the classroom. Um things of that nature. We have a program called Summit K12 that tracks the progress of our students. Um so she has also gone to assist them in learning that program how to implement it and how to track the students progress um in order to help the students become more successful on talpas. Um and then she also assists with the students themselves. social meet with them and you know focus more on the speaking and the recording portion um of that because that is where they tend to lack in step um they get a little bit nervous and they only have two
021shots at that recording and then other than that it's automatically submitted. So they assist with the students in becoming comfortable with those tools as well. >> My last question is we're paying for one fee waiver. How much is it? >> Um so it's one test. So this year the the state will cover their first attempt. So, we wouldn't come out of pocket for anything when when they register for the test um due to House Bill 2, they do not have to pay um for the registration fee. And if they're successful in passing it, they don't have to pay the $78 um to have that test put on their certification. Um if for any reason they are unsuccessful on that first attempt, the district will not provide reimbursement until they are successful on that test. So,
022if they're not successful, they do come out of pocket on their own for that test. And that test is um uh 128. >> Yes, sir. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you, Miss Williams. >> Thank you. >> We now move on to item 5, strategic planning for the tip and targeted employment plan and the tap the turnaround plan. Dr. Joseph Welsh. [Music] So tonight between president University Minister of public, thank you for being here. Um, as you know in our district, um, we have work to do in the academic area. So, we want to present to you um, our school improvement turnaround plan. Um, it it needs to be approved by the board for three of our campuses before the 21st of November. And then for two of our campuses uh that are doing a
023different kind of school improvement turnaround fund, it will be in March. And so today we're bringing to you the uh TAP which is for um for three of our campuses. And I'll go in detail on that. But um I want to start by saying not too far. >> Okay, here we go. All right. You can click over there. I guess it might not work. So this is the new realignment that we have done in the curriculum and instruction uh team as well as to support uh we have Dr. Welsh is leading as the assistant superintendent of CNI. Uh, of course I couldn't do the work without the great people here working in central office to include the admin and the staff uh, finance, HR, tech, support services, everyone who diligently worked to support the work
024of the CNI department. We also have Miss Jennifer Flowers and Dr. Hilda Arnold who was just confirmed at the last board meeting uh, doing the director of school improvement. and they are going to be directly uh coaching principles. They will be visiting campuses two days um per campus every week. Uh they will be assigned to different campuses along with uh Dr. Welch uh providing intense support uh to the principles and the teachers as well. And then we have um Miss Tanya Williams who continues to be the admin for accountability assessment testing and everything else in between. And so that's the core team for the CNI department. And then of course we have Miss Gloria Hamill um our director of special education. And then we have the campus principles and assistant principles as well uh to
025include all the teachers, counselors, nurses, uh special ed staff, auxiliary and support staff. It takes a village, right? And we know that for us to achieve any kind of change, we have to work together to uh to make things happen. So I just wanted to present that team to you. Let's talk about our reality in terms of the state of the district. I want to start with painting the picture of where we are and where we need to go. So as you know in the accountability rating we are a 59 out of 100. Historically for the last uh four years we have uh been performing at a DNF status. Um and so we we also have in the rest of the accountability uh and F student achievement and that is the indicator that measures how
026are students uh doing the test in the assessment. Do they pass the test for the elementary and middle school? And then in the high school it includes other criteria such as graduation rates and CCMR. And so in that area we have an a score of F in school progress which is uh the combination of um closing the gaps and growth we have a D and then in closing the gaps uh we have F um and so this is a change over time as you can see here and I want to make a clarification in 20202 uh I mean 2021 one, we got a score. Um, and then the accountability C points changed and so the state provided a what if if they would have applied the CO scores, what would have been our score and
027so you have it there for your reference as well. Uh this is how our campuses are doing uh for the last three years. that you see uh the district um grading as well as all the five campuses. We have two campuses that are being closely monitored by TEA. They are Gillette Middle School and Harvey Elementary School because they have been an F-rated campus for the last three years. And uh needless to say, as we all know, if we have two more years of an F rating, these two campuses, uh TA has the ability to take over the district or force us to close the school. And so um we are um prioritizing these two campuses. We're prioritizing all campuses, but in particular these two campuses because that's where the accountability rating is more pressing. And
028so that is that's the data that we have. when I first started and you asked me to do a listen and learn and and just talk to people and find out what's what's happening in Kingsville ISD. Um I I use this reference and so I wanted to um reverberate that when I said the problem isn't the kids because it's never the children. I've been in different districts throughout the state of Texas doing school improvement whether I was the principal at a campus level or a district administrator small as well as large district and it's never the children never the children however um you know rather the problem is how we approach the students that we have in front of us and so the students we know bring incredible potential Ghana and you know desire to
029achieve goals etc And the classroom teachers try their best. They want to do their best. Nobody comes to school and say, "I'm going to be mediocre today, right? They want to try their best." It's our systems and practices that sometimes fail to meet the needs of our students. And after all, we create a system and we can change them. So that's what we're doing, right? We're calling it a systemic problem. Um, so it's not the individual teachers or students, but it's the structure, the expectations, the instructional models that shape the way we teach and the way that we learn. Um, and so that's what we're working on. And so we know and and I have heard this this phrase for for many years um that every system is perfectly designed to get the results it
030gets. And so if we want different results, we must change the system. And that's what we're doing. we're trying to change the system that is leading us to achieve the result that we're achieving because the the sad reality uh is that in the region two there's I believe 42 school districts if I'm not mistaken and uh Kings is the only district that is immigrated the only district in the entire region so we got to change the system right because we have the same kids that other districts have. We have the same great teachers that other districts have. And so we got to figure out what's what's happening here. And again, it's the system and how we teach, how we learn, how we look at data, uh how we support our students, etc. that we need
031to change. And so that's what we're doing. And um my tour in the school district, these are some of the priority areas that we are going to be hyper focusing on. of course beginning with increasing student academic outcomes first and foremost that's got to be a priority for us uh given the the accounting rating that we're facing we got to do that by improving the quality of instruction I am convinced in my 32 years of experience that if that tier one instruction that first teach as we call it is what makes a difference when we prepare effectively we internalize our lessons, when we identify misconceptions, all of those things play a role in how well do we know the students, what kind of relationships do we have, what kind of classroom routines and expectations we
032have. All of those will impact the quality of instruction. Um, by doing so, we're going to strengthen the leadership and instructional capacity across all levels. We meet with the principles every week. We provide them with professional development. We go do Calgary walks. We do coaching in the moment. We are intentionally growing one another because as you know coaching is the two-way street, right? The coach learns as much by coaching others as they the others are learning from the coach. And so we are learning together. We're embracing this this challenge together. um in the area of special edge uh because we are being monitored by TEA and we have certain deficiencies in that area. Miss Gloria Haml, our director of special ed is working in tandem with the principles and the CNI team to ensure that
033we pay attention to that instruction, the services and compliance and the accountability that we have for our special ed students. Uh, of course we want to expand the TCMR and K pathways. Um, you recently approve our move from an early college high school to a PEK high school and that's going to expand opportunities for our students and it's going to help us increase in that area as well uh in terms of accountability but most importantly opportunities for our students. Right. Um we are currently applying for different projects in that area to continue to support some of the programs and grow others as well. Um as you know we have a budget deficit and we will talk about this a little bit later but we have to implement effective systems to maximize and balance our budget.
034That is a priority. That's a reality that we're facing and that I take very seriously and I lose sleep at night trying to figure out you know where are we getting money? how can we tighten up where we are spending and um it's a um working collaboratively with Dr. Pitts and the Tim trying to identify those areas where we need to do better. Um we are going to engage in a very strategic budget planning with the principles for next school year. Uh and the way that that will look like is the principles will develop their priorities first and then we develop the budget based on those priorities and they will be able to manage their budgets directly which is something they haven't uh been doing like we kind of at central office have been managing
035their budgets for them uh and we have to empower them guide them and coach them in effectively managing the budget and and so those are some of the things that we are we're going to be looking into into that area to improve. Um needless to say the reason for district office to exist is to support the campuses and I have made it clear to everyone that when the campuses call or need us we are there we are there we drop what we are doing uh you know there are times that we can't drop what we're doing because it's it's it's a sensitive issue or what have you but for the most part we figure it out we have to support the campuses. Uh recently when we were having some challenges with the transportation um it
036I deployed two people to each of our elementary schools to go support uh for central office you know the administrators and everybody. So we exist to support we also have to figure out how can we streamline operations to be more effective more responsive and more serviceoriented. I sometimes hear from parents that phone calls are not being returned uh in a timely manner. Um or they don't feel that they're getting the support that they they need. And so we we address those. But I also hear oftent times, you know, words of gratification in terms of, you know, you're working with us. The principles are great. They are they they help me with this problem. So we have we will hear both right. Um but I always say that there's always a knocking of truth in everything
037and so you know out of the noise we have to hear what is the concern and and the complaint and and the thing behind what we hear on a daily basis and it's our responsibility to do so. Um, last but not least, um, strengthen partnerships with families and the community. That is super critical. Um, I often hear the concerns that we have this events and the parents don't come or the families don't come and so we have to figure out how do we build stronger partnerships with the community and with with um, businesses etc. So that's those are the priorities that in my administration we are focusing on uh and and we want to continue pursue further and they align with what I promised the board that I was going to work on and so
038this is coming together in that sense. >> Okay. So now I'm going to pass it on to the team who are going to explain the turnaround plan. >> Thank you Dr. Martinez. Um, good evening, uh, President Ruiz, members of the board. I'm going to go over I'm going to go over some of our, um, strategies that we've come up with for this turnaround plan. So, as Dr. Martinez mentioned, some of our campuses are required to submit a turnaround plan. Um, right here you can see right here you can see that um, there's three support labels that our campuses have. The first one is additional targeted support. So any campus that is not identified for comprehensive support and improvement or targeted support and improvement is identified for additional targeted support if performance by one or more
039student groups is below the CSI cut points and that's that comprehensive support and improvement. Um these cut points are built by TEA. Some of it is rather technical. Um but that is how you get that support label of additional targeted support comprehensive progress. So schools that were previously identified for comprehensive support and improvement are closely monitored to ensure they are meeting their improvement goals. As schools show steady growth and progress, the Texas Education Agency updates their status to comprehensive progress. And then lastly, we have comprehensive support and improvement. Schools receiving Title One Part A funding that perform in the lowest 5% statewide are identified for comprehensive support and improvement. Schools that remain in targeted support and improvement for three straight years are also moved into the CSI category. So our schools um support labels. We
040have Ad Harvey Elementary School is additional targeted support. We have NM Herrell Elementary School is comprehensive progress and we have John S. Gillette Middle School which is comprehensive support and improvement and those are the support labels um that we get from our accountability ratings. So the point of a turnaround plan is to create a two-year plan. It's going to be monitored through school year 2627 and 2728. The reason that these schools need to submit a turnaround plan or a TAP um is because that they have had multiple years of unacceptable ratings. Um the turnaround plans are focused on student outcomes. We want to the the goal of this plan is to transform this campus to a C by the time this plan is implemented. So in two years that is the minimum goal. These campuses
041should be at a C based on our plan. Good evening. Uh Dr. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Let me get this. Dr. Martinez, board president, and members of the board. I want to talk a little bit about the TAP uh timeline. As you can see, the first thing we have to do is get board uh board approval to submit the initial u uh piece to TA, which we plan to do on November 21st with your approval. Second step for us would be January 23rd of of 2026 which is notification of uh we'll be notified of approval or denial by TEA uh again based upon them approving it. April 8th uh will be the final notice of approvement because we'll make any adjustments that they deem necessary and then uh school year 26 27 and 2728 will
042be the implementation years for the TAP. >> Just to clarify according to the accountability data it's one year in two years out. So when we are on a specific um accountability stance, we have to consistently show improvement for two years in a row to drop the label that the label that is assigned to the school. So it's one year and and two years out. >> And next you'll see the effective school frameworks which we'll be operating under. The the tap is based on the state uh vision of what effective campuses and districts do to produce strong student outcomes. You notice there are five lever levers, excuse me. First, strong school leadership and planning. Second, strategic staffing. Uh number three, positive school culture. Lever four, high quality instructional materials and assessment. And lever five, uh effective
043instruction. What we're what we're working toward is the following uh trends districtwide trends in areas of need is increase student academic outcomes, increase leadership and instructional capacity and strengthen fiscal responsibility. When we talk about increased student academic outcomes across the district, we're talking about student data indicate, excuse me, student data indicate a need to raise uh achievement and growth for all content areas, especially math and and reading. What the way we'll do that is through learning walks uh which will progress and eng will excuse me which will enhance student engagement strategies for teachers and it will it will help us become consistent in implementing high quality tier one instruction uh in the core areas of need. Our priorities include increasing student discourse, reading, writing and thinking at all times. Harvey and Harold first. Um the
044support label. >> Okay. The support label again for Harvey is additional targeted support and for Harold is comprehensive progress. So, our priority levers for this um strong leadership and planning, strategic staffing, high quality instructional materials and assessments, and effective instruction. And that's where we're going to focus our plan. Uh some of our key actions, and we're going to go into each of these in detail. Uh these are key actions that we need to submit to the state, and the these are our priorities for how we're going to turn this campus around. Well, these campuses around. Uh we're going to look into the ACE model implementation, districtwide elementary realignment, intensive curriculum and instruction improvements, an additional day school year implementation. >> And I'll I'll let Dr. Martinez start over. >> So as you heard previously, the
045accelerated uh campus excellence um it's a model that we are able to use to bring about uh strategic staffing, instructional excellence, uh extending the the school day or the school year, social emotional learning and supports, and then of course parents and community organizations. So, um in this particular model, we will staff the campus with highly effective teachers and principles. There are the T TR requirements the teacher incentive a lotment requirements for effectiveness levels like for example 50% of the teachers in the campus need to be TIA recognized uh and then uh we have to define as a district what does it mean to be an effective teacher and so we are working on defining those categories based on data Um and so we we will be presenting that uh to you but let us surprise
046to say that that's one of the criteria. Um this model will require all teachers and principles to reapply or apply for their jobs and particularly we want to do this in the elementary level not at the middle school or the high school but in the elementary levels. Um and there will be uh a different kind of compensation model for the teachers that are in the elementary campuses and so including bonus for performance uh and and I'll go into detail a little bit more uh further ahead in terms of the instructional excellence we will be focusing there. Sorry. >> So you're saying that we're going to reconstitute right now. >> Can you go to the next slide, please? >> That's his mic. I'm sorry. >> Yeah, go right there. So, this is what we are proposing
047and I should have started with this. >> That's okay. Um, so what we are proposing is to consolidate the three elementary schools into two elementary schools. Uh we are we are proposing this uh to optimize staffing to optimize financial resources and as well as instructional resources. Uh this will also allow teachers to collaborate. It allow it will allow students to be set in cohorts and they move together from the grade levels. Um so what we are proposing and of course it's it's not um it it it's tied to the ACE model which is why I didn't start with that but even if we do not get the grant for the ACE model uh that is what I am proposing um we have a $4.2 2 million budget deficit. As you know, if you go to
048the previous one, um, as you know, our major uh failed and so we are now in a, you know, pretty grim situation and we have to look for ways to to um do better in the in in terms of the finances. Go back to the slide. And so what we are proposing is to close both Perth and Hill and consolidate them into two grade uh level bands. Uh Harvey will serve the students in preK, kindergarten, first and second grades and then we will repurpose Clayberg uh to serve students in three, four, five. We are currently doing facility studies on these two campuses to determine the size and it seems based on our preliminary data that we will be able to accommodate our students in these two schools. Uh there is some repairs and some conditioning
049we have to do at Craigberg. Um and we are going to be working on that but it doesn't require a huge investment uh in in terms of money. As you know, we're currently using Craberg for the ECC uh to a contract. Can you tell what that is, please? >> Yes, right now at Clayberg we have Head Start and they are using the main building and then we are currently using the portables for DAP and we are using an auxiliary building for the CARES program. >> Right. And we also have the district pantry over there, which needless to say, many people don't realize that we do have the pantry there. So, I promise the young lady working in there because she feels like nobody comes around. You're the first superintendent that ever came to visit me.
050Um, and so we do have a pantry for our families. And, uh, we have it located in the Clayberg um, school as well. So we will have to relocate the DAP the care program as well as the pantry the food pantry and then we will be notifying um the head start that we will be using that facility. We're going to propose to them if they would like to use Perez or Herald you know uh but that will be a decision they will have to make obviously but uh but that is what we are proposing uh whether we get the ACE grant approved by TA or not which comes with some financial resources or not because of the financial situation that we're confronting questions I think >> still in workshop mode, right? I got a little
051input. Not too long ago, had we did a study on KISD on all the campuses and which campuses were best for growth and cla came out number one. It had the most base than any other elementary with the exception of Harvey because it a numerous school. But Clay that study has already been done and the board somewhere on file should have that. Clayber has a inside gym. It has a cafeteria and the and the most space of any elementary here at KISSD. Aside from that, uh, Clayberg is in Navario, 97% economically challenged population. And it's sad when we close Clayberg because grandma and grandpa who walk their kids to school could no longer do that. So, I think it is imperative that an elementary school open on the north side of town in the virus
052for those who can't walk to their kids to school. and and I will I will add to this uh discussion that of course we're proposing this to the board and and you get to provide us with the go ahead uh with the plan in terms of continuing the study right there's a lot of data and information that we have to present to you before a final decision is made um I want to also ensure that we engage the community uh we want to do town halls and inform the community and get feedback from the community in terms of what concerns they may have with this realignment. Uh understanding that um I wish I was in a position to be opening schools, but unfortunately we as many districts in the state of Texas um and in
053the nation for that matter, we are closing schools. you know, like we are not this is not um just Kingsville ISD. Uh you have seen in the news recently Austin embark in a in a big um school closure. They're closing several schools and just like that they're you know I think they closed several in San Antonio ISD etc. So this is happening right uh as a result of losing uh enrollment um you know financial reasons consolidation of of resources just like we're trying to do here staffing financial and instructional resources um but um we again this is this is something that I want to make sure the community the teachers I'm sure will have lots of questions about um their employment in the district and so we want to be very sensitive about all of
054those questions and provide responses as as as we are, you know, developing the plan together. Um, is going to cause disruption. No doubt. No doubt. Uh and and I would be the first one to tell you again that it is not what I would have wanted to do. But unfortunately, you know, the failure of the vector put us in in a deeper situation that now we have very little choices to make. And so it's it's something that that um we will be moving forward with your you know approval. And then of course we'll bring you all the data. I put discussion and approval. More of a comment. I would use clothes when you talk to them. I think it's massively confusing. You never know in two three years maybe you need to intermediate school or
055whatever. But clothing sounds like it's gone forever. Okay. And I don't think the community um wants to hear that. I think because I think that they are operational and other needs and also there's the whole jet program thing that could be utilized at PED they can just walk across the street technically high school so that PED could be used for a multitude of things as well. So I would I would just say align or consolidate not use the word close that freaks people out. I don't really think that's what we're doing here. I just think we're doing the right thing by being able to provide our students and teachers with close resources by aligning a break like this and this is the best way to do it. >> Thank you. >> So in conjunction with
056the strategies that Dr. Martinez mentioned, we are also going to continue with intensive curriculum and instruction improvement. Um we are proposing the implementation of um blue bonnet rla and these are things that we are going to discuss uh with community with you but these are just things that um we are proposing as of now. Uh the curriculum requirements for K through 3 are 60 minutes per week and um fourth through 5th 450 and our master schedule right now allows for 600 minutes per week. So these are things that we are already implementing so that we can give our teachers and students enough time to master these the content. Uh continued use of blue bonnet math K through five. Again, the curriculum requirements are only 300 minutes per week and our master schedule um uh allows
057for 500 minutes per week for our elementary continued use of our scholastic curriculum for prek and redesign the master schedule to allow for for daily grade level professional learning communities for our core content teachers. In addition, uh we're looking into the additional day school year implementation, which is extending learning opportunities through additional full day instructional days at the end of the year. It's designed to increase instructional time for targeted student populations and accelerate academic growth. And it would be up to an additional 30 days. Um and that targeted student population is important. We are not looking into year round school. That is not what this is. Um it's going to provide opportunities for retaching, enrichment, readiness for the next grade level. And it's going to support our implementation goals on increasing our academic outcomes and
058our instructional capacity. >> We got a Saturday any Saturdays scheduled for that or is that just going to be after school? >> So throughout the school year, it will be weekdays extended into June. Yes, but uh we can add the Saturday school and and unfortunately Saturday school has some rotation. So what we have been talking around is the idea of collaborating with other community partnerships to bring about some level of uh student active engagement and different activities and then also interface the the academics. And so that's that's part of the long range plan. But what we are talking about it here with the ASI that additional day school year, it's extending the the school year into the summer uh to target those kids that need the most support. >> And Dr. Martinez, if I may,
059one of the curriculum that we already use, the blue bonnet for math K through 5, already does have modules that we have already for that curriculum. So, we would not have to be reinventing the wheel. We already have that high quality instructional material for um these dates. >> And that is the other I'm glad you mentioned that. I don't know if we had mentioned it but we do have the the high quality instructional material um using blue bonnet for math. We don't have it for reading and so we are going to bring to your consideration for approval the blue bonnet in English as well so that we can start implementing it next school year and um um and have that high quality instructional material that also provides us with the lesson plans for that extended
060school year. So we don't have to put another burden on the teachers to create their lessons. we already have them uh and they're tied together with what they're running over the course of the year. >> So, moving on to Gillette Middle School. This is going to be our t um turnaround plan for um Gillette. Again, they are labeled comprehensive support and improvement identified. So, our priority levers here are strong leadership and planning, high quality instructional materials and assessments, and effective instruction. And our our main action is going to be that intensive curriculum and instruction improvement. >> Then we're talking about intensive curriculum and instruction improvement uh milestones. So first thing we're talking about is capacity building to continue professional learning communities focusing on curriculum implementation and instructional best practices. implementation checkpoints, quarterly implementation reviews, weekly
061classroom walks, instructional calibrations, and I want to kind of clarify that um we talk weekly classroom walks and those calibrations are with principles, but there will be daily ongoing uh classroom walks that will happen on the campus with my team as well as principles and uh we will also have those calibrations. The principles will have daily calibrations with their admin team also uh coaching uh coaching touch points weekly daily instructional coaching continues with modeling and co-planning learning walks focusing on planning and internalization engaging instructional strategies aggressive monitoring and classroom learning environment coaching in the moment when visiting classrooms to effect immediate instructional adjustment and again I want to elaborate on that Um you all know we we have a a schedule if you will year at a glance and one of the things that we
062emphasize in our coaching technique is that you can't let a moment pass. So when we talk about coaching in the moment as as instructional leaders the principles and ourselves when we see an opportunity for a teacher uh rather than allow them to miss that opportunity to engage students and master the learning because traditionally what would happen you talk to them afterwards. Well, we've lost that opportunity. We'll be coaching in the moment. And so, again, not very respectfully, we'll use various signs. Sometime we'll do it the way, you know, we'll do it the way a teacher likes. It may be a whiteboard. It may be a hand signal or if they want us to, it'll be a a whisper in the ear, but we will make adjustments in the moment so that the teachers can engage
063those students and not miss that opportunity for learning. um assessment cycles, curriculum based progress monitoring assessment based on the scope and sequence beginning, middle and end of the year NWA MAP assessments beginning, middle and end of the year uh summitive analysis of student growth and curriculum impact. >> I will add to this before you you move from the assessment cycle. As you know, SV8 uh changes the way testing is being done and that will be implementing implemented school year 2728. And so we have the rest of this year and next school year with the same type of testing situation. But moving forward, what is being proposed in in the legislation or what is it's it's expected I should say is that uh there will be a beginning of the year assessment, middle of the year
064assessment that is going to be determined by the district. So the TA will select uh or previously select different types of assessments that they are betting. Um and so we will select the the type of assessment that we want to use for POI and MOI. Uh and it has to be a criteria based or a norm based assessment. And so they're working with different companies to develop those tests. But the good thing about it is that we get that information right away. Like within two days, teachers will get the result of those tests. So they're able to use that data to make informed instructional decisions rather than one big test at the end of school year and the kids are gone, right? So they will have again the BOI MOI that will be administered over
065the course of the year. Then at the end of this of the school year, they will have an end of the year assessment which will be determined by TA. If same thing as STAR pretty much because it will be determined by the state, they will develop that test. Um and um the the importance the implication about it is that they're reassigning the test. So it will be shorter. So it does it will reduce hopefully the anxiety that many kids are feeling when it's a long TA doing that. >> TA is doing that. >> They're they're changing the format. They finally decided what they're going to do with the with the star test and the and the course. I think it's going to be pretty much the same as the start test, but it's going to
066be a shorter test and and they are going to eliminate English two at the high school level. So, we will only have for the high school only four tests, algebra one, English one, biology, and US history. >> There was so much going back and forth in the legislature. So, they finally decided >> Yeah. Yeah. And to actually continue on that conversation, a campus progress monitoring and assessment plan. The campus will implement a comprehensive assessment plan to monitor student progress and guide instruction. Required assessments will include STAR, ELC, NWEA, MAP at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. District created benchmarks and curriculum based unit assessments. Data will be analyzed through edgeoria to track growth, identify learning gaps, and inform targeted interventions and instructional adjustments that promote continuous improvement in student achievement. >> So, teachers
067then will have their day as soon as it's done and run through, they'll have access to it immediately rather than waiting weeks. >> Yes, sir. Pretty it it will be pretty much immediate once that is done electronically. >> Yeah. As uh Dr. Martinez said within 48 hours they will typically have all of their data to review. Great. >> So >> yeah, live time >> and we want to begin the utilization of the NWA map which allow us the opportunity to use a bi and end. Um I have used that test in other districts and several of our principles um and administrators have had experience with the NWA map. It's a nationally norm test meaning that the students um data or the results of the test are compared at a national level. So it's not just
068the kids in Texas. And the test is adaptive in nature and it uses a formula that they call a zone of proximal development which basically says when I take a test as the student it starts me sort of like in the middle and depending on how I answer that question the test adapts higher and if I don't get that answer right then it lowers to another easier question and then it goes up again until it finds that threshold is is more um that zone that basically says this is where you are as a student. And so it's a powerful data point for the teachers because they can clearly see where the kids are and the research on this test. uh this data has been going on for several years again nationally and it has a
069a huge correlation with star performance. So meaning we can predict how the kids are going to do in the math test how they do in the math test can be a predictor of how they were doing the start test. So we will be able to track that data and use it to grow kids. And you know my philosophy uh for what it's worth, I don't worry too much about the test. I worry about instruction. If we have high quality instruction, if we're teaching the teach, if we are following the scope and sequence, if we're using high quality instructional materials, we don't have to worry about the test. The test will happen. The kids will do well because we're preparing them for whatever. whether it's test, whether it's a discussion in class, a special project, whatever
070the case might be. And that's the the mindset that I want us to um embrace because it it's really not about the test. It's about learning right at high levels and the the test will will happen beautifully. It will align beautifully. Any questions that we haven't answered? >> I make a comment again on on the presentation, us knowing where we're at, where we're headed, and be detailed. That's >> showing everything. And I appreciate that. And the team uh working together with campuses, I I could see that uh we're going to be moving in the right direction because we know where we need to go. We're not guessing anything. >> Yes, sir. I appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> I have one question. So, this is the actual plan that's going to be submitted to TA
071when discuss and and we will send that one to you so you can take a look at it. But it's very it has a lot of technicality and a lot of information. But yeah, >> and Dr. Martinez, if I may, the actual plan that we submit is a Qualric survey. So that's that's the Excel sheet that has every answer that we need to input on every question that pops up. So this is an overview of our >> those questions are from TEA. >> Yes, sir. >> So I want to thank the the team they have been working really hard also the principles um you know the the rest of central office as well. This is not easy work. uh and a lot of thought has gone into developing this plan. I'm sure we will tweak
072some areas because you know nothing is set in stone where we're going to adapt it as the needs arise. Uh but I'm very grateful to the principles and the team for for all the work they're doing. So, I don't know if the board would like to take a break or we want to move into the special meeting. What is the consensus? You want to keep going, guys? Keep going. All right. We move now on item number six. Kingsize board of trustees will now conduct a special meeting. Um item 6A communication from administration uh Dr. Martin. >> Good evening everyone again. Uh first of all I want to remind everyone that we have one and a half week now as it turns out uh before the dance break which the school district will be closed during
073the entire week. uh our students will continue to be uh enjoying will continue to enjoy their their vacation that Monday the 1 of December because on that day we have a district-wide professional development. Uh we are planning great professional development. We sent the survey to all the teachers uh asking them what were the the their interests right what what they wanted to see in professional development and so based on that data then we came back together with the principles and then we selected certain areas and the principles are presenting the team the curriculum and instruction team is presenting as well as some of the teachers and so this is going to be the collaborative professional development that uh it's going to include everyone and I'm looking forward to it. I will give you more information
074later on, but it's going to be at the high school and um everybody will will be together at the high school. We're going to do round loading sessions. Teachers will get to choose the sessions that interest them the most. So, they get to craft their learning based on what they need. And so uh they will be asked to pre hand select the sessions they want to attend prior to us leaving next week for the break because we want to make sure that we have the right size of classrooms and everybody gets the opportunity that will tell us if we have to offer a session more than once because you know there's a lot of people that want it etc. And so that's going to be a lot of work on our part to figure that
075out. We're happy to do so. Uh but we're excited about that professional development uh on the 1 of December. I will also um remind everyone that um after we come back from from the the break, the Thanksgiving break, we will have three weeks before the Christmas break. And um we are going to continue to stay strong in instruction. Of course, we will have end of the year celebrations and all those great things that improve culture and make uh learning joyful, but we are going to focus on instruction. We are going to stay strong and we are going to expect our teachers to continue teaching and our principles will be providing that support um as well. Last but not least, I just wanted to reintroduce to you the newest members of our team. We have Miss
076Nava uh who is the executive director for support services and then Dr. There are no our school improvement u. >> All right. Thank you. Now move on to item 6B. By common consent, the board agrees to consider as one action item the following. Waiver of tuition uh for transfer students. as our student can be found on pages four through eight. Hope anybody has any questions. Okay, hearing none. Do I have a motion to accept the w of tuition for trans students? Motion made by Damas Alenas. Second made by Jake Perez. All those in favor say I. I motion carries. Six. >> Yes. On item 6. Discussion and possible action regarding the TEA waiver for ESL that was previously talked about by discussed by Johnny Williams. Have a motion to accept. >> Motion made by Delma
077Selenas. Second. Second by Joe Mirez. All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. 6. Now on item number seven, enter into close session. The board will enter into close session in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act of Texas Government Code 551.071. 071 and 551 for to deliberate and consider the following. Uh item 7A consultation with legal council regarding legal merit matters a personal matter. No action will be taken until we return session. We are entering into code session at 7:02 We now return to open session and take necessary action on the matters which board may discuss open session upon which action may be taken. We're returning to open session at 8:06 a.m. >> I don't think we have any discussion possible action. Um so there'll be no action taken because there's
078no uh action to be taken. So uh there being no further action uh do I hear a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> Motion made by Jake P. Is there a second? >> Second by Joe Mes. All those in favor say I. Uh meeting is adjourned at 8:06 p.m.