001All right, good evening. It is 7 p.m. The board of trustees of Leaport Independent School District is now convened. I wish to extend a warm welcome to everyone present. Every student success is our number one priority. As the port ISD board of trustees, we are here to set goals, adopt policy, approve budgets, contracts, personnel appointments, and communicate the district's vision and success to the community. It is not the role of the board to make day-to-day operational decisions. The management of and day-to-day operation of the district are the responsibility of the superintendent. This is a public meeting of the board of trustees, not a meeting of the public. Schoolboard meetings are open to all who wish to attend and hear the matters discussed. Audience participation is limited to the patron presentation portion of the meeting. Board
002members may not respond to the public comment section. These proceedings may be recorded and I respectfully ask that you please refrain from talking while others are speaking. Thank you for taking time this evening to join us for and for your interest in the Leaport Independent School District. At this time, we will stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> Please welcome the member of Leaport High School, JOTC, American Rifle Cadet Staff Sergeant Summer, American Flag Cadet Captain Kotal, Texas Flag Cadet Captain Bailey, and Texas Rifle Cadet Private Powell. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> The Texas flag. I aliance to thee Texas.
003One state under God one and indivisible. colors. Ready center face mark time mark. forward march. >> Again, a huge thank you to the members of our JOTC. They're a phenomenal group. Please remain standing for the invocation led this evening by Trustee Melissa Crutcher. >> You would please bow your heads. Heavenly Father, it is truly a blessing to come before you today in gratitude for all you do. Thank you for our amazing students, teachers, and staff who pulled off a great first week of school. We ask you for a school year of growth and possibilities realized to the potential that you see beyond our imaginations. Lord, just surround and protect everyone in this community and all who enter LPISD. And as we make decisions tonight, please let it be to the glory of you and all
004that you do. It's in your name we pray. Amen. >> I apologize. It's Secretary Crutcher, so apologize, but thank you, ma'am. Please be seated. >> Now turn to section five, public comments. Board will now hear those who wish to make comments and who have completed and returned the public comment participation request. This section will be conducted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act and board policy. Complaints and concerns for which other resolution channels are provided shall be directed through those channels. Mr. Vice President, do we have any speakers? >> We do. Mr. Jason Bailey speaking about delinquent and tax collection contracts. >> President Martin, board of trustees, Dr. Jackson, administrator, educators, and distinguished guests. My name is Jason Bailey. I'm with the firm of Purdue, Brandon Fielder, Collins. I'm joined here tonight by my
005partner Justin Barlo and we're here to thank you. Thank you for allowing us to represent the district for over 27 years in the collection of delinquent taxes, property value, audits, and appeals, as well as truth and taxation matters. This district does not have a delinquent tax collection problem. It did back in the 1990s. It had a bad problem. the previous firm did not do their job. The district was owed a lot of money. Probably even more importantly to the community. There were over a thousand accounts in the name, real property accounts of unknown owner that were blighted, not taken care of. And so the district along with the city realized that something had to be done. They issued an RFP. Our firm, the firm that's on your agenda tonight, the firm that previously had it
006all responded to the RFP. and we were fortunate enough to convince the district at the time that we were the best delinquent tax collection firm for the business and I hit the ground running. This was one of my first contracts. I started in 1996 with the firm. We started representing in 1997. So that's why I'm here tonight. Uh Justin and I fought for the privilege to address with y'all, but I told him seniority sometimes wins. We hit the ground running. We began to immediately work with the tax office, the policies and parameters the district wanted and approved the delinquent tax collections. More importantly, we began to address the issues of those blighted properties and began to do the title work necessary to find out who these unknown owners were to flip those properties into new
007hands and new owners and clean them up. I remember doing title work and finding the last recorded deed was from a gentleman in Kayunga, New York from 1892. Became familiar with the adu and ladairs. It was a big project and there was a lot of issues involved with it. But over the next years, we were able to flip many of those properties and get them into the names, many local people who bought them and turned them into good properties. And it changed this community. And I'm very proud of that. It's an example I use today of how a district working with delinquent tax collections can change a community. And I'm very proud of that. And that's why I'm here tonight. I also made sure we had excellent tax collections and Justin has continued that in
008his career with our firm. Our property value study, audit appeals, has brought in over $3.3 million in additional state funding during that same time. And our truth and taxation division has worked with your administration and your tax office to fill out those forms and make sure those calculations are done correctly. It's very important to me when Justin came along and as an associate that you keep the high standards that he has. In fact, we kind of turned it over. He's the number one now and I'm the number two. Um, but we kept those high standards through all these years. And like your motto says, we built a legacy of excellence in representing this district. We're very proud of that. So, we weren't aware there any issues with our representation. So, we're very shocked when we
009got the termination letters that we've been terminated. Uh, nobody likes to get fired. Uh, and immediately began to ask the questions of our staff and people. What happened? Where did we go wrong? Where did we fail the district and these services? I talked to our call center, talked to Chestston, talked to legal assistants, nobody could give me an answer. So thinking open after 27 years representation, we'd have an opportunity to fix any errors, any shortcomings that we have. And that's why I'm here tonight. Respectfully request that y'all consider tableabling the matter on the delinquent tax contract. Issue an RFP. go into competition and see which firm you still think would best represent this district. The city did this several years ago. They actually switched from us to the line bargain firm. Then they switched back
010and so we still represent the city. But that's what we're asking. But I want to end on how I started. Thank you. It has part built my career representing this district and Justin may partner in part because of the continued good job he did working for Leaport ISD. We've appreciated being part of your community, attending the education foundation, gayla, and the golf tournament and the other events in the city. And so I just want to thank you and we hope to have an opportunity to continue representing the district. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Baylor. Any more comments? That's all. >> All right, board. We'll move to item section six, notice of public meeting for agreement for tax collection services. Notice is hereby given that a meeting of the Ford Independent School District
011will be held on August 19th, 2025 at 7 p.m. for the purpose of considering and taking action on all matters on the agenda for the meeting, including approval of an agreement with the law firm to perform all legal services necessary to collect delinquent property taxes and authorizing the execution of such agreement. report first or we need to get to >> so good good evening board and Dr. Jackson. So tonight we do have we we are bringing this to you um an opportunity for the district that we feel would be positive for the district and we have representatives here from Limebar who um I I'll ask that they introduce themselves and if you have any questions that you would like to ask feel free to. Brian Harms, director of operations. >> Hi, I'm Kanye Ericson Wood.
012I'm one of the capital partners in the Houston office. >> Trey Stone, one of the capital partners in the Houston office. >> Damon Edwards. I'm also one of the capital partners in the Houston office. Want to say I've been with the firm for 25 years. I don't think they told how long we've been here. Brian, how long you worked with the firm? since 1996. >> 21 years. >> 27 years. >> There any questions that they could ask they could answer for you? >> Maybe they do. >> I have some I guess more for the district. I'm just kind of curious. Uh it's too again with this district values relationships, right? And I know you guys I trust wholeheart diligence on this, but um the the idea of not coming for RFQ. I'm kind of curious
013as to this is a very important obviously thing uh revenue generation for the the district and so I don't want to throw the guess but I'm sure it's millions of dollars a year millions of dollars a year in back taxes or outstanding tax. So something that large why would it not go up for RFQ? Um it's it's not a requirement for it to go off to RFQ and we felt like uh you know we had we had met with Limeburgger we had talked to some of the other districts that use them um and we felt comfortable with that we could bring this to you and and ask for your approval but it's definitely up to y'all if y'all would like us to go to RFP we can go down that road. >> Mr. President, can
014we ask um our colleagues that are here what they feel they do different or what sets them aside from from Purdue Brandon to have >> Certainly. Our firm has been in the delinquent tax collection services for over 50 years. Come 2026, we will be there 50 years. Uh we provide innovative delinquent tax collection programs and we're uh leading the charge with state-of-the-art technology in order to facilitate these programs not only for collection performance but also to work with your property owners in each community that we serve. uh we not only try to collect the dollars but we also try to educate the property owners in the property tax collection process to try and help them not become another delinquent tax um owner if you will. Uh the other thing that we do, we have property
015value study, audit and appeals services that we provide and we also have truth and taxation or tax rate adoption um facilities and services including a software system as well as we have staff members who are extremely knowledgeable in that area including former controller tech public account staff members. Uh we also spearhead a whole separate group that is our governmental affairs department in Austin that helps lead the legislative effort of our clients in the property tax realm as well as keep them a breast of all things that are happening in the legislature. If something comes up that needs to be discussed further with uh folks there, we also uh help do that as well. Uh we have strong working relationships with the Harris Central Appraisal District um as well as various other uh taxing units that
016overlap the Leaport Independent School District. In our Houston office alone, we have 300 staff members. Uh we are very um resource intensive. We have separate departments to handle anything from our customer service contact uh area as well as our delinquent tax litigation area. We have a whole separate bankruptcy department with separate dedicated bankruptcy attorneys that file claims on behalf of our delinquent um taxing unit clients. We also have a separate foreclosure property department that handles all of our foreclosure sales and resales in Harris as well as surrounding counties. Um, our resources are very intense and they're always very very progressive in order to help our clients uh collect their dollars, but again, we want to work with the property owners to help them be able to pay their property taxes. Can you tell me how
017many districts um in the state of Texas y'all help with this >> uh school districts? Uh the number off hand is I'd have to find out the exact number, but it is um I don't know off the top of my head to tell you the truth. >> Okay. How many municipalities? >> Same thing. We represent overall 2,000 government entities in the state of Texas. >> Okay. Thank you. more questions. >> Stacy, doc, whenever y'all were, you know, looking to make a change, was there something that I don't know if we ever got back to um Mr. Bailey, was there something that, you know, they didn't do that was that we were looking for or was just there were there some services that uh Limeberger has that Purdue Brandon cannot do? >> Sorry. you start now.
018>> Oh, okay. All right. So, uh the services they offer, they're they're somewhat equal. Um we have been with Limebar, I've been sorry with uh Purdue Brandon since 2003. >> And so, we felt that this would be an opportunity. We're we're always looking to see what what consulting firms that we use, what kind of of of help can we find? Um because we you we you're going to see tonight one of the things in front of you is our certified um debt rate, you know, debt tax collection. It's at 96%. That any dollar that we leave on the table is is money that the district needs is 96% is is fantastic, but it's still over a million dollars that we're that are is owed to the district that that we need. Um and so that's
019what's spurred the conversation of okay, well, what can we do? We're we're constantly trying to find ways to be more efficient, to be better stewards of of the community's money. Um, Purdue Brandon, they they do I have anything specific that was No, absolutely not. They are a great company. I have nothing bad to say about them. They have given us service throughout the years, obviously, because we've been with them for 27 years. Um, but at this point, Dr. Jackson and I felt like, okay, well, let's see. I mean, we we are running at a deficit. we are constantly under the deficit. We are trying as hard as we can to find any any extra dollar that we can and so um it's it's an opportunity for the district and that's that's how we approached it.
020>> Absolutely. Um 6 months ago we went through a process with this board over the course of a series of uh board meetings and a very poignant uh question was asked. We've been doing the same thing for x amount of years as it related to our health insurance. Same company, right? wasn't bad, wasn't good, wasn't wasn't horrible. I guess I'm saying, >> right? >> We are just looking for an opportunity to earn a little bit more. And so there is nothing this company has done that we feel like we don't have a good relationship with. Um, but we are looking at opportunities, right? And to be with a company for 27 years, that's something to brag about. That's something to be proud of. But is there another opportunity out there for us to capitalize on
021that? And so this is what this is about. It's just the cost of doing business. >> Did we did we discuss with our partners because as we continue to grow, we become more and more partners with the city >> as to why they, >> you know, and you brought up the insurance thing. We we kind of did this back and forth with the insurance except it was vice versa, the board and then administration. So we're playing devil's advocate, but did we talk with the city of Leort as to why? >> No. Okay. >> But but we have talked to other school districts that that have used both. Right. And so, uh, again, we're just looking at opportunities. >> How long is the is there a contract period >> for this agreement? >> I believe it's
022a three-year period with two one-year removal. >> That's all I got. >> Which is a standard. It's a standard in the industry. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I don't want questions. I got a comment. So, again, I I don't want to be a hypocrite on this because I know we pushed really hard to switch the insurance and I know that the process we went through with that was it was like We had cut a lot of red tape, beat our heads to the wall. It was a very difficult thing and I want to say like, you know, we we had a very long outstanding relationship with a previous provider and I was one that championed the change, right? So, I do believe in change for the sake of like keeping people on our toes to bid
023it out. So, uh but on this one's a little bit different for me. Again, I don't want to overstep. I trust you guys and the diligence you put forward. But if the current provider is not given a chance kind of to if that if we take that at face value with the the comments we heard of not getting a chance to kind of write the wrongs or to know what they did wrong. So I just maybe it's because I have a personal relationship to some degree with Purdue Brandon uh and Mr. Bailey. I've seen as a member of some other organizations that work with the district that their involvement right and so I know they've done a great job and so I'm not going to vote for this but I'm also not in favor of
024tableabling it. I'll I'll probably be the lone one on that and I'm fine with it. Um, but again I I've seen live bargains in the city. We do a lot of stuff with the city of Little Port. So I know they're a great company as well. So please don't take it uh anything personal. I just I mean again I'm a relationship guy. I run a chamber of commerce. And so I do appreciate the the job that Mr. Bailey and his team have done over the last almost three decades, not just in the district, but of all the ancillary uh things they're doing in our community. So uh I just wish they maybe would have get a little bit more of a chance to kind of compete uh to keep the business. So uh with that
025being said, we don't have any more comments. I will um request board that we move item section 9 item B up in the agenda. It's one of our last items. I'd like to move it up uh for consideration of a motion uh in a second if you want to vote on that. >> Item B, which is >> item B it is >> to vote on their contract. Item N section 9 item B approve delinquent tax collection contract and adopt a resolution number 2025-09 for collection of delinquent taxes. Do we have a motion? Anybody make a motion? >> No, we don't have a motion. It dies. meaning it dies and it's tabled or meaning it dies in what? >> By it is it dies no motion up at another board meeting but >> you're not paying
026it's just >> I I also don't want to I guess I can't talk unless I'm that made a motion unless I make a motion. So >> no >> you can't. We're still in discussion. >> We're still in discussion. I I also don't want to sound like a hypocrite because I beat the same drum about the other thing, but there also was an opportunity for fair and equal competition. And you know, we discussed that when both these when both of these vendors came in and presented to the board. Not that we need a board presentation, but both of these vendors came in and presented one that had been here for 30 something years and one that was brand new. And in that case, the brand new person, you know, won the bid and everything was brought
027forward. But, uh, to Jeff to Mr. president's point, they were given a fair and equal opportunity. Mr. Bailey doesn't seem like he, and I'm not putting words in his mouth, but doesn't seem like he was left with very many answers as to why we we're making a switch, which I don't think is is fair. So, um, and I won't comment, you said you don't, not that they need to make a presentation to the board, but if they're going to ask us to approve it, then we probably need a little bit more information. And you know, I come from the government contracting world where we have to do RFPs for everything. So I guess um before I could vote on something like this, I would just need to know a little more about why we're making
028the switch, what really sets them apart. >> Um cuz when we met with I'm only bringing it up cuz we compared it a second ago, there were obvious changes of services and things that one one provider could have provided and not provide. And I really didn't want to bring those into comparison. But if there's not anything we can really nail down that Purdue Brandon can't provide that, >> you know, um, >> linear can provide, then I don't know. I also don't want it to come across that the sport doesn't trust the district, but >> this is why this people elected us to sit here and work on this type of work. So, >> I will not be making a motion. It's good that we have a um that we're having this type of discussion because
029obviously there there's uh there's a lot at stake for for both firms obviously and then obviously us. I want to commend the district for seeking out those dollars. 96% yes very that's a high success rate but if you've got 4% on the table and we're in a deficit budget we've got to we've got to turn over a relief and I applaud the efforts to do so. Um obviously I understand the the relationship component of it. um business is business and it it it's difficult to hear sometimes but um you know it it's a touchy it is a touchy thing but just feel like RFQ is a pretty vital part of us >> and I I really at this point if we are not I that would be my recommendation too. So, can we change the
030motion, Chris, to say we make a motion that the district go out for request for proposals for this type of service or does that really not need to be done? It could be an administration change if we just let this die. >> Administration. >> Okay. >> So, no motion to let it die. >> Let it die. >> Hi, board. So, we uh do not have a motion or a second. that we will essentially let it die and table this until the board gets back or the administrator come back with another option. So again, I apologize that we don't want to waste anybody's time on any of this front. Again, please don't I I don't think anybody here as a knock on either one of these companies and and Stacy and I can imagine how frustrating
031it could be um on this, but >> we we just this moral compass that I have. It's just again I I try to we try to be on the up and up on that. And so again, I think we'll trust you guys. I'm sure you'll come back with another proposal after going through. Uh so again, we apologize for any delays for all you guys and concerns. So we will now move back to item seven, administrative reports, superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. President. As a new school year begins, it's important to recognize all the work, the hard work and prepar preparation that has been brought uh to this moment. From behind the-scenes planning to personal efforts, a lot has gone into getting ready for the first day of school, which happened a week ago today. Here
032are just a few of the many things that helped pave the way. And this is not an exhaustive list, by the way. Classroom cleaning and organizing and painting throughout the district. Curriculum planning and lesson development. Scheduling and registration of students through multiple events. Transitioning from power school to Skyward. Professional development throughout summer in all subject areas, parent communication and outreach, including weekly messages from the superintendent through the e-leer and multiple messages regarding registration, cell phone policy, free meals, etc. and through Parent Square. Technology setup and updates and including iPads for our younger students. You'll hear more about that in the coming months from our director of technology. Libraries being stocked with books. You'll hear more about that from our academics deputy superintendent uh in the coming months. Summer programs and student support services, including numerous
033camps that kept students involved during the summer. Many great things continue to happen in Leaport ISD because of the collective efforts of the district and campus leaders, boards of trustees, and many other partners in education. We wish to thank you for your support. Leaport ISD is a B-rated district under the Texas Education Agency, and we're very proud of that. And not only are we proud of where we are, Leaport for many years have been under the letter grading system a B-rated district with a strong academic showing. Meals are free in Leaport ISD for all students for a second straight year, both breakfast and lunch. Students, all you have to do is get in line and eat for free. The fill the bus campaign and back to school bash resulted in many families receiving school supplies
034and immunizations at no charge. We have zero teacher vacancies and you will hear from our executive director of uh HR a little later in the uh we started school with zero teacher vacancies. We're very proud of that. Very proud of that. Board Bulldog Stadium and Legacy Complex are completed. We've had an opportunity now to spend some time in both of those areas and uh we look forward to spending many many more years in those venues. Construction projects at Leaport High School and Lommax Junior High are well underway and this will conclude the superintendent board report. Mr. President and trustees, are there any questions for me on that? >> Thank you, Doc. >> We'll move turn to item B, human resource update. see it. >> Oh, Brad, >> do I just got to present? It's like
035when you're the first one, you know, you have to kind of set everything up. So, working his magic over here. Okay, there we go. Okay. Well, good evening um board President Martin and trustees and Dr. Jackson. I'm uh excited to be here this evening just to share some by the numbers and some exciting things that have come from our department um over the spring and summer. Just some very busy months of um ensuring that we have the very best people in all the places for um for our students. So just have a few things to share with you. So just it all kind of starts with recruiting and we recruit in a lot of different ways. Um we did uh host two district job fairs this year both in March and in June. March one
036was our pretty big one and then in uh June we we scooped up just whatever you know whatever vacancies we still had remaining. Um but we we held those at Baker sixth grade campus that was a great location. It was centrally located so we had a lot of traffic a lot of um a lot of uh participation at both of those job fairs and I'm happy to say that out of both of those job fairs we we hired 12 staff members. Um so everything from teachers to uh pair professionals to manual trades all of our departments and campuses were represented there um and had an opportunity to recruit for their for their um departments. So great opportunity. So we we definitely love doing that. We did attend two university and region job fairs. You you
037may think, well, don't y'all normally attend like 40, you know, you go all across the state of Texas and um and we and we have previously and we've even gone outside the state of Texas just to try to find, you know, try to find good teachers. Um what we found over the past couple of years is really this is where the heart of our recruiting is. um locally at our district job fairs. You know, we certainly do a great partnership with UFH Clear Lake and so we we hire some some some uh some graduating students from that. But really word of mouth and this area getting the word out that we have uh vacancies and we you know people to come to Leaport ISD. So um in addition to that, it helps us be a
038little bit more fiscally responsible with our our budget and our travel expenses because it's expensive. you know, a lot of these places we have to stay overnight, you know, get meals and all those things. And so, and there's there's fees associated with all of those things. Not to say that we may not do that um in the future, but for right now, we we we're in a really good place. So, um just lots of opportunities there to to meet and network great people. Uh we did continue with our paraprofessional course and exam. And if you're not familiar with that, we uh all of our paraprofessional positions for classrooms require a certificate from the state just as if a teacher just as a teacher does. And so some people that are interested in those roles, they
039may not have enough college hours to be able to get that certificate. Um but they still want to work and we we would still love to have them. So we do offer a uh course for them to come and take um through our district and uh then they participate in the course and they sit for an exam and if they pass their exam they receive a certificate from us which says that they're highly qualified under the state of Texas then they're able to get their paris certificate from tea up once we um hire them. And so uh we for the course that we did this summer, we've hired 12 of those paras so far and we we're still we still have several that are that are seeking a position. So that garnered great results for
040us this year. Um and so that's just more people in the classroom supporting our our students. Then what I'm really excited about um along with our uh CTE program uh if if you recall we had our student educator program through one of our CTE pathways and two of our pair of professionals that we've hired came from that program. So they're are recent Leaport High School graduates and uh they were interested in a job getting to work right away. they already had the credentials um due to their programming and so it was very very smooth transition to for us to hire them and they're very excited to be giving back to the to the district and working with our students um after participating in the the class uh uh uh setting that they that they did
041last year. So we're really excited about that and and definitely want to continue that partnership. All right, so just some staffing updates. I'll start with teachers and professionals. Um, I just provided you um kind of a three-year look back, including this year on where we stand with hiring. Um, you can see that for 2526, we are pretty steady with what we've done. Um, especially last year, we were almost right on the money. Um, as Dr. Jackson shared, we are completely filled on all of our teaching vacancies um, prior to school starting. So, we were very, very, very excited about that. That's definitely a goal of ours and and we met that. Um, if you think about like how many teachers we hired versus how many either retired or or resigned, we're at 86% retention rate.
042And so, while I would love to see us well over 90%, we're on the way there. Um, but we we feel like that's very very good compared to a lot of districts around us who >> Do you know what that number was last year by chance? it was probably right about the same just based on kind of the numbers that we had last year because our our total teaching uh staff hasn't fluctuated, you know, ju just, you know, >> we've added a few positions due to due to uh you know, growth in special education, which I'll talk about in a minute, but it stays it's it's pretty pretty well around 85%. >> I think that number is fantastic and it's a testament to Dr. Jackson and all the work of our administration, you know, keeping
043culture alive because we all know that some teachers if they get offered, you know, an extra $2,000, well, they need the money and they can move. But, um, you know, when other people may be paying a little bit more around us, you know, it says a lot about our culture and and us as a district. It's the 86% retention rate. I'm very thrilled with that number. >> Yes. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Thank you. Uh so when we break it apart from teachers and professionals, um just as as kind of a refresher, professional would mean anyone from like an assistant principal, uh district administrator, uh a lot of our special education uh positions like uh diagnosticians and things like that, instructional specialists, those are all considered professional positions. So we don't have any campus
044administrative positions open. uh the the the couple of professional vacancies that we have are um in our sped with our uh evaluations. Um and so we've Billy's done a great job of contracting those out for now um until we you know while we continue to recruit for district uh positions. So those positions are covered and those needs are being met uh through contracted services at this time. And th those positions were um existing positions or they were positions that we decided we want to add um additional profession. >> We did not add really any teaching positions this year as far as uh regular education positions. >> But on those three professional vacancies I'm sorry. Um, so we add we had uh a diagnostician and an LSSP take other opportunities closer to home. Sometimes that happens,
045but we did add one additional LSSP due to the high case load. And right now we are contracting one LSSP and one diagnostician. We have an out in our contract that says if we hire direct, which we'd love to. We just didn't get any applicants this year. Um that we can terminate that contract and do a direct hire to the staff and we're constantly looking. So, >> okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Billy. >> Okay. Just some further staffing updates. I just like to provide you some information about our first year teachers so that you kind of know, you know, where we stand on that. Um, as as far as first year teachers, we've hired, we've hired 22 this year, a little bit up from last year, but that to me was encouraging because, you
046know, you probably hear, you know, there's people just not going into teaching anymore. People are getting out of teaching. These are either college graduates who've gone through the traditional preparation or they're a college graduate and they're going through that alternative certification program um, and they've met those requirements to be able to get a job. So, we're definitely going to support those people. the campuses are doing a great job uh to support them and uh we're we're excited to to have them join us. And then retirees, our our numbers are pretty pretty stable um as far as teachers and professionals, you know, around the same same numbers uh from year to year of of how many decide it's time for them to move on and and and enjoy some time with their their families. Okay. Uh,
047as far as special education specifically, um, this is some information about how many teachers we've hired for our special education. That could be everything from an inclusion resource inclusion teacher all the way to our special programs with focus, BSP, sale, um, early childhood special education. Um, and so you can see that we did hire 12 teachers this year. uh we did add four positions this year like Billy said just due to the growth of uh the needs of those students and and requirements that we need to meet. So really we we really didn't lose any teachers because we we hired four extra. Um so our retention rate on those stayed about at at 85%. Again very very strong. Great testament to Billy and her team because they do provide a lot of support for those
048those staff members. And then as far as special education paraprofessionals, again, this would be uh paras that work in the in everything from an inclusion aid all the way to our special program aids. Um and so we're right on track. So with with teachers and and other professionals, you know, they're under a contract, so they they're going to stay with us all year and then, you know, if they decide retire, whatever, we we replace that. repair professionals um just as as other hourly employees, they're not under a contract. And so sometimes they make a decision or they get a different opportunity. Sometimes we've hired them to be a teacher. And so uh we're we're we're constantly looking at those vacancies and filling those positions throughout the year. And so when you just look at overall
049for the 2526 school year, we've we've over the last year we've hired 25 pair of professionals. So I I know it's kind of hard to explain or uh look at but um because it is kind of a revolving number at times u but it is pretty stable with with what we've had in the past. Uh right now we do have five vacancies within our special education paras that we're actively recruiting for and uh we do have good applicant pool uh along with uh those parah course participants. So, uh, working with principles on making sure they have applicants that they're looking at and that can can work through those positions. I will say though that in the meantime, the campuses along with Billy do work to make sure there's either a sub in place because we
050still have to have uh, you know, adults monitoring students and making sure they're having all their educational needs met. And so, uh, we we do plan for that with substitutes. Um, and then working with Billy with her staff on making sure there's coverage for those students that their needs are being met. We did add two sped pair of positions this year just due again due to um the case load and and students who need those uh those services. Um, and then six of those specialed vacancies were filled with our paracourse participants. So, we're we're again love that program. All right. As far as substitutes, just to give you some updates on where we are with substitutes. Right now, we have 142 teacher substitutes. Um, and and maybe a few more as as we've gone through
051these last couple of days. Uh, we've got 41 pair of professional substitutes. Um, and that is our that is our current pool for this year. We just did uh our our last summer training today. We did six of those over the summer. uh we we uh retrain all of our returning subs and then we onboard new subs as well and then we'll begin our monthly trainings in September so that again we're just constantly onboarding new subs. Sometimes they decide they you know need to get a full-time job and so they can't sub anymore. So, we do want to make sure we keep a healthy pool of substitutes. And then we'll continue our monthly recognitions for a teacher and manual trade subs uh to to recognize the the hard work that they do and and what
052they they add. And I just I this the picture that's up here is uh one of our subs that uh was with us and she happened to be at Leaport Elementary that day that we recognized her and I point her out because we just recently hired her to be a pair professional and so we're happy about that that she was able to get in get some experience and feel confident in, you know, the different roles that she could participate in and and she's now joining us as a Paris. So, we're we're excited about that and that that's one of the great things about uh people starting out as subs. Just some other recognitions I want to make sure you know that that we do and you've probably seen a lot of these on social media
053and and and other places, but uh one of the ones that we really that that we've been doing for several years are the LP heroes. And so every month we have a recognition form that goes out and all staff members can nominate someone, a colleague uh that they feel is going over and above really exemplifying the Leaport way. Um and just being a role model for those around them. And we have all walks of our employees that that get nominated. And we we choose a certified professional uh teacher or uh another professional. And then we also uh choose a manual trades or um hourly employee. And so those are just a couple of pictures at the bottom of some people that were recognized last year. We love love love our GF Coast Educators Federal Credit
054>> Federal Credit Union. It's like 12 12 things in that name. Uh they are our sponsors for LP Heroes. They donate two $100 gift cards every month and they go with us. Marissa from the bank. She goes with us every month to recognize these employees and just really celebrate them and they get to keep their traveling bulldog all month. Um, and we we usually have tears every time we go. So, it's like a it's the best day of the month for us to be able to reward and and we always share what their colleagues said about them. Uh, because that that really means a lot to people. Uh, we're going to continue with our campus staff attendance challenge this year. We started that last year. Uh we do a monthly challenge to just kind of
055keep the the uh the competition going among our principles. They they can be pretty competitive, but um that's just a picture of Lommax Junior High. They had won uh a couple of times and they got a banner uh along and and we provide some incentives and rewards for them every month. just another way to just kind of spotlight and keep attendance at the forefront because if our teachers are here and our our pair of professionals are here and our office staff is here, the the wheels are rolling and and the kids are learning and so uh just anything we can do to help promote that we love. And then finally, uh one thing that we started last year um an initiative was our studentto staff program. And so that is something that was very very
056wellreceived. Um right now I will tell you we have over 200 staff members who work for us that are Leaport graduates and um so we've collected lots of data on them. Uh we've asked them to you know tell us why why do you work in Leaport ISD? What you know why do you choose to give back to the community? And so while we value every employee, you know, not all of us are Leaport graduates, um, but we there's something special about good >> growing up here and being a student here, graduating from here, and then giving back to the to the district that that that helped raise you. And so we're we're continuing that this year. We've got lots of more lots more posters to make um so that people can display those in their
057in their classrooms, in their workspace. So, just uh one of the ways that we're recognizing our staff, employee health and wellness is something that we're really focusing on this year. Um if you recall, we had our superintendent legacy walk while uh back in May when it was really hot and we all uh sweated out a lot of calories that day. Um but we had a great time. Obviously, the new stadium was a great venue to have that. Uh we did have students and and staff walking in that. We we had you see that picture down below, but we we had probably aboutund 150 staff members that participated in our walk. Just an opportunity to get out, fellowship together, spend time together, enjoy the facilities, and also uh get a little exercise. And uh I think
058I think Coach Mack, I think, didn't you walk like 85 laps or something like that? He was he was he was out there trucking it >> on a motorcycle. >> But that was a great event. And so we're looking for some fall opportunities that we can we can do again. Maybe when it gets a little cooler, we can have a turkey trot or, you know, something to where we can just bring everybody together and just again add to that positive culture um and employee wellness. And then finally, just some preventative care steps that we're looking at. Um maybe perhaps working with the city, with the gym, uh and having some discounted memberships. I know that's kind of in the works right now. And so, um, just anything that we can do to help our employees
059be well, feel good, um, you know, maintain their health so that they can come to work every day and be the best that they can be for our students. >> You know, I'm I'm really glad to see that. Dr. Jackson knows because I've I've I've talked about it quite a bit. But, um, you know, some of those health initiatives and preventative um, you know, health issues are are great things to address. And I don't know if um HPS or someone or maybe TRS, Active Care, has some sort of incentive that says they'll contribute $10 a month to your gym membership or whatever it is. But some insurance companies do, some insurance companies don't. Um that may be something worth us investigating to see. >> Sure. >> Um as well, cuz you know, teacher health is
060very important. If they're sick, you know, they're not there. >> Stress relief. >> That too. >> Yes. >> I mean, mental health is equally as important. I was going to say I have to be um coerced into doing some of the things that we should be doing naturally. So having a group activity that kind of motivates me to do it and then I feel better afterwards. So hopefully you can like that. >> Absolutely. >> And you know for our a lot of our teachers that are in the classroom, you know, it it's hard for them to you know be out and go make a doctor's appointment and so sometimes we put that off and you know if we have those opportunities to make it easier and more accessible then all the better. Uh, and then
061just lastly for me, um, everything that I've just talked about, it doesn't mean anything if we're not really working to to retain our employees. I just want to say our principles and our administrators have done an excellent job this season on interviewing, spending time looking through applications, calling references on, you know, and then our department onboarding and and it it's a it's it takes a lot of work and it's a lot of a lot of effort. So, we want to hold on to these people that we've worked so hard to to get. And the very first thing that will allow us to do that is our positive culture. Um, you spoke about that a few minutes ago. Um, that that that's really all it boils down to is um our positive culture. Uh, but a
062couple of other things that that help um is, you know, we we've uh embarked on the teacher incentive aotment and so we we feel like that's helped us hold on to some of our teachers who were in our first cohort. they know that, you know, now there's there's a possibility that they could get a payout and they have to be here to get that. So, um, we we feel like in and adding more teachers into that second cohort this year has, uh, will really, um, just further bolster that. Um, and then lastly, but certainly not not least, is just you as as our board. um just the generous generous approval of uh salary increases, increases to our supplements um and the starting teacher pay of $63,000 that has just been tremendous. So just from my
063department on behalf of of us, we just we thank you for that. Uh because you know we we have our employees have to live also and so this this just matters. It really does matter. So, all of those things just really help to um to to hold on to our people and uh and make sure that Leaport stays strong. So, that's all I have for you. If you have any questions for me, I'll be happy to answer. More of a comment. I guess I'm chatty tonight. Not that it's any different from any other night, but the um I do want to say I I have heard from people who were um applying for jobs this year and who needed some assistance with um human resourcing and you know, I just got you know, glowing um
064glowing remarks from them. I mean, HR team was responsive. They helped me resolve my problem quickly um and things like that. And not that we haven't seen that in the past, but it was certainly certainly nice to hear the good things when you're not hearing it. And when you go out to a restaurant, you don't you don't usually leave a review when it's good. Um, but you certainly leave one it's bad. And for people to go out of their way to say that the HR team was doing a good job, um, means that y'all had to go above and beyond. And so we certainly appreciate that. >> I appreciate that. And our our team is excellent. We we have some new staff members on our team. Uh, and so they're they're learning and and we're
065all working together to to make sure that our processes are good, but customer service is the most important thing to me as their leader. And uh you know if if we can do that then we can make sure we're helpful and getting and being responsive like you said. Um I do want to just introduce Miss Meyer Renee Meyer our new director. She joined us in July. Uh if you've not had a chance to meet her, she's just jumped in and uh you know helped finish hiring and and all learning and all doing all the things. So we're really happy to have her on board in our department. So any other questions or >> I just want to I have a comment as well. So like Mason, I've gotten comments. this funded for the first time
066ever. People have been complimenting us on your HR hires Renee and and and your team and you guys have done a phenomenal job. And so I've only been on board maybe four or five years, but this is the first time I think that we've ever had it where uh you guys are fully staffed year and being the largest employer in the city of Leaport, which I don't know if everybody realizes that's a that's a very big deal and all the the things that can happen with employees, right? And so thank you guys. And I know it's not just the beginning of the year, but all year round. So thank you'all for for the job you're doing. >> We appreciate that. And thank you all for your support ongoing. We feel it. Thank you. >> Thank
067you. >> Thought you did good, too, Angie. We're not You think that we were just forgetting about it, it's all great now, but uh >> just want you to feel left out. >> We will move to the uh Thanks, Jackson. Uh 2025 accountability update. >> Good evening. President Martin, Board of Trustees, Superintendent Dr. Jackson, thank you for letting me talk a little bit about 2025 accountability. Super excited to share some great news with everyone. Um, please note that we're also going to talk about 2024 just a little bit because if you recall, this is the first time that we've had official accountability results to brag about um in 10 years. >> No, three years. years. It's been a minute. Uh we're going to we're going to we're get right to it. Just a quick reminder,
068since 2022 was the last time we had official accountability results that we could brag about publicly. Um since then, we've had a lot of changes as we've talked about. We've had changes to the way our weighted performances. It used to be all of the campuses weighed equally. Now the campuses are are are calculated based on their enrollment. And so there's a waiting to that. Um we've increased the cut points for CCMR calculations and they've gone up significantly from used to be 60 raw score would equal an A. Now it's um 88 or above equals an A. So a significant increase in CCMR. And then we've also as as we've mentioned STAR 2.0 has been um a much more rigorous online testing that we've um been working on last few years. So all of those changes
069have come um to fruition and now we're here to talk about the great things that we're doing in the port as a result. So the 2024 2025 accountability rating for the court IC we are a B. We are very excited about that designation. Um we are ranked number 17 in the in the region out of 47 school districts. I think that's really important to note that we are not at all um we are very we are very proud of where we are with our peers. We certainly recognize that we aren't we aren't um in the top five yet, but we will be very very soon. So, we we are very excited about that. We are outranking most of our neighbors um to the north, to the south, to the east, to the west. Um and
070I want to also make mention that there are no D or F campuses um in Leaport ISD. And sometimes a B accountability rating can can mask the fact that there are campuses that are not performing well. And I'm happy to report that that is not the case here in Leaport ISD. Okay. All right. So, I just want to quickly go through what our campuses look like. Um, Leaport High School, 40% of our district accountability um is attributed to the success of Leaport High School and they are rated a B this year. We're very proud of their work there. >> Yes. >> The other secondary campuses um make up in total almost 32% of our district accountability. And so between all these secondary campuses, this is um nearly 80% of our accountability. So, Lomax Junior High
071is a B at 84 this year. Very proud of that. Leaport Junior High School at a 75 a C. Baker Sixth Grade Campus 76 a C. And the Academy is 75 a C. So, all of these campuses together make up almost 32% of our district accountability. Our elementary campuses, I'm very excited to announce that we have three A campuses in Leaport ISD. Lommax Elementary at 91, Rudo Elementary at 91, and College Park Elementary at 91. Very excited and very proud of the work that those campuses are doing. Leaport Elementary is a B at 87. Heritage Elementary a B at 84. Jenny Reid is a B at 80 and Beayshore Elementary is a C at 76. So those campuses together make up the remaining accountability. Um, each of these campuses weight about 6% of our district
072accountability. I also want to celebrate that we have many distinctions that I want to showcase for you today. Um and our distinctions are earned based on our performance in comparison to our like campuses. So every every campus has its comparison schools and so this is how we perform in comparison to our peers. So we have six elementaryaries and one junior high school that have earned distinction designations. So we have um two distinctions in academic achievement in reading and language arts in their comparison group and that goes to College Park and Leaport Elementary. Very proud of them. In science academic achievement we have five campuses Beayshore, College Park, Jenny Reed, Lomax and Risto earning a distinction for science. Excellent work there. We have a top 25% um for academic growth again in comparison to their their
073like peers. We have four campuses earning in the top 25% for growth. College Park, Leort Elementary, Lommax, and Rudo. Closing the gaps, meaning those those groups of students who are typically underperforming. Closing those gaps toward all students, College Park, Lomax, and Lomax Junior High, earning a distinction for being in the top 25% of their comparison groups. And then lastly for post-secary readiness meaning the number of students that earn a meet or masters or higher on their assessment which is towards college readiness. We have five campuses as well. College Park, Jenny Reed, record elementary and risoto. Very proud of the work that those campuses are doing and how our students are achieving on those campuses. Much much to be proud of. I also want to mention that the state in all of its wisdom has decided
074that they would also provide us with our 2024 accountability. You know, two is better than one. So um we have 20 24 accountability rating and again we are a B and I think you were provided with all those all those numbers earlier but I I would be remiss if I didn't mention that that we have them both now they are official and they are about that we can brag about them for one >> it was a two for one special indeed >> and they're changing it again. Yes, hopefully. >> Of course. >> Hopefully. We'll see. Okay. Um so lots and lots of things to celebrate. Um we we recognize though that we are not yet in the championship round. We are not number one in this region and until we are we are not going
075to rest. We have lots of things that we have planned to ensure that we move our campuses um a full letter grade. Dr. Jackson has given us all that directive and that expectation and I feel very confident that we have everything in place that we need to to get there. Our focus this year on all of our campuses is on quality first-time instruction. making sure that we are really working hard in those PLC's to ensure we are carefully planning, we are looking at data to inform our decisions and we're making sure that we have careful interventions in place um to help develop those teachers and the instruction that happens in the first time in every classroom. Making sure that we have focused interventions to ensure that all students meet their targets and all students meet
076growth um so that we meet the needs of all students. And then lastly, just ensuring that we are leveraging the high quality instructional materials and making sure that the the things that we provide students the the materials that we ask the students to learn from are at grade level and are rigorous um to ensure that learning is happening. So that is our focus for 2026 in a nutshell. Certainly we have lots things to celebrate in terms of individual performance in the different content areas. We are we are we are just performing very well as the as the accountability ratings show. and we are going to leave a legacy for 2026. Any questions? >> Yes, ma'am. On the um on the intervention and in tracking that how are we tracking accountability in that in that category?
077How do we how are we categorizing who needs intervention? What is our what's our metric in that? >> So, we have several progress monitoring tools that we have in place for the different content areas. We have um CBAs which are common or curriculum based assessments. So every unit, every week, formative assessments and those content areas, we track students growth towards mastery using those tools. We have um our unit assessments, our CBAs. Um we also have our MAP assessment which helps us beginning, middle, and end of the year track student growth towards nationally norm standards in terms of where they should be with skill development at their grade level with their peers nationally. Um, and so to to your to your question, there are lots of tools that we have that principles use then to determine
078on a regular basis, weekly, bi-weekly, what students need different interventions and where those interventions are going to take place. >> Okay. So, my the followup to that is, is there a a any kind of cutting edge technology or system out there that if if we can wave our magic wand that that we could really use? Is there something out there that we need to look at, evaluate, discuss? >> I can get back to you on that. I think that we have I I will say this and you're going to say something. Go ahead. >> We we have all the tools. We have great teachers in the classrooms. We have principles who are looking at all the data. The m now the messaging is just really being intentionally monitoring of what's happening and ensuring that time
079doesn't get away from us, right? Like some I think that's that's some of the more leveraging work that we can do is just ensuring that you know each week we're we're attending to where are kids and how we're pulling them and what that looks like. We are implementing a new system in the junior highs to help um pull groups of students. To answer your question, we're we're moving to RTI scheduler. Um that is going to be kind of a for lack of a better term mini master scheduler to help us pull intervention groups for for our campuses. We've um we're excited about how that's going to work. But the the greatest challenge of a great intervention at a secondary campus is just the magnitude of moving students around different groups based on need. And so
080that we're excited about that software. We're hoping that that's going to really help us. Um, >> what is I ask those questions because I again I I want to issue a charge to keep it in the forefront of everybody's mind is that dream big whatever it is and and let us have those discussions and try to shake the tree and find the money for it. I just want to make sure that we have every resource that our teachers need and that we can close the gaps further and get to where we want to go. So I just anything just continue to push the envelope in in every way uh especially in in uh we'll find it. >> Okay. Five or six years ago we had somebody who I would say was a data genius and
081he came and presented to us. Can somebody nod their head so I don't I'm not going crazy. >> That was Justin >> and showed us how they track and how that maybe we need because we have so many new board members. Maybe we need to have that presentation again just because um I thought it was very beneficial >> and it would answer Danny's question. Now is there something better out there? I don't know. Are we still using that method? I'm not sure. But I found it very enlightening that night when he came and presented to us as to how it helps the principal and you know the lead teacher of science look at this thing and they're like we need to work on these takes with these kids with that. I mean it was just
082down to a science. >> We do have a lot of those tools and Justin Bford is here. He's the data genius Justin. Um he >> Justin I'm sure you have a better title than that but that's what came to my mind. whatever you want to call it. >> He has created um a plethora of tools for our principles that get and drill down to that TE's level. So every time there is an assessment that our that our teachers um deliver, he is there to pull it by standard, pull it by teacher, by section even so that we can look at anomalies based on oh my gosh, what's happening in fourth period? why are you know what's uh really trying to help make sure that then those teachers can really figure out what the intervention needs
083to be next. So we have a lot of those tools. We're always trying to figure out what else do we need or how can we do it better. Um and certainly we can bring him up here to uh another time to to give you more of an overview of what those things look like and what we do. >> Well, I just don't want the opportunity to to be lost on what the district has accomplished the last couple years. Obviously, there there's been some turmoil and and uncertainty. Um, and it's like hitting a moving target. And I think, you know, for us to stabilize in that climate, I think is a testament to obviously what's going on, the plan y'all put forth and and the execution at the in the classroom level. Um, that that's huge
084and something everybody should be very very proud of. I know that we still have bigger ambitions and I have no doubt that we we will meet those. I just I I want to acknowledge the the effort that it took just to do what has been done. Um I it's just the last couple years have just been crazy. And I know I'm preaching the choir here, but anyway, just want to commend everybody in the classroom and and involved with curriculum that have really gone in there and and helped elevate our our kids and their performance. So kudos to everybody there. >> And I just I just want to say the campuses lead the mission. So we are here to support the campuses. They have worked very very hard. We have great teams in place on every
085campus. Um they are they are in it to win it and I know that um you know they were already calling before the scores even came out like with plans and ideas and suggestions and recommendations and so we we are all um aligned in the same goal and we we will do whatever we can to to continue to move the needle. So >> I think to Danny's point it's just that this board is open to any expenditure. Don't don't Don't think, you know, we don't have the money for that. I'm not even going to ask for it. >> Yes, ma'am. There may be an area where we have to say no, but you're good. You're good. >> You want to have a discussion? >> Yes, sir. >> Great. Like, hold on. Um so I did
086have one more question because the other piece of that um you know we we're talking about the student progress and and the things that our teachers are implementing. Um for um for the students who are pulled for intervention um you said this could just kind of looks at the data and says hey we need to pull these students correct. So are we is there some sort of um you know we have the parent teacher conferences obviously but is there any kind of notification or anything like to get support from parents in that regard of hey just wanted to let you know we did you know some intervention on this just something um we're going to continue to watch and then maybe if the parents are able um to help support in continued uh conversations working
087one-on-one whatever um is there any way we're communicating that to so that they can be. >> So the encouragement is always that teachers communicate often about student progress with with our students. We do have some um expectations about student success and and there are some you know standards if students are not successful that communication go home to families so that they're aware of any concerns that we might have about students. um if students are not successful on a STAR exam, there are um some very formal procedures that we're required to put into place. And so we expect notification to families regarding that and progress reports to go home about that on an intermittent basis. Um and so I I'm really looking forward to schooly being a place where more of that communication can happen because
088the it will open don't get once we really learn how to use the software and get better at it. It's really going to open, I think, that door for parent transparency of what's happening. We'll be able to see more, you know, more of the assignments, more of the more of the schedules, more of the things that are happening through the Schooly platform, you know, and so I think that will help with that communication as well. >> And I have one more question. Okay. um are the students who are being pulled for intervention um I know they'll be based off of the testing and stuff but are are we expecting it to be um more of the previously identified students who have needed the same resources or assistance or are we will it be a collective
089of all students as the testing goes on hey we noticed a slip in this it could be anybody um that could could participate in those groups >> so we know that we bless you we know that um we know that 80% of our students will be successful with curriculum um in instruction in the first time are in tier 1. We know that 20% of our students will always need additional support whether it's tier 2 intermittent pullouts based on whatever we're learning or if it's just long-term supports that they need in the tier three. Um we know that there are going to be some students who on the off chance that they don't get you know polomials that they're going to need some extra support. So we we we Our philosophy is and the belief is
090that tier 2 interventions which should be fluid and short-term based on need. The tier three interventions that I think you're referring to are those longer term. We recognize that you know students just have a struggle with reading or students just have a struggle with math or students just you know whatever whatever their deficit um that we recognize that they just need longer term support to be able to close those gaps for them to learn the content in the grade level. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Do I had a a comment and a comment question. So, um Stanny's point about extra resources. Dr. Jackson and I had a conversation. So, I want to speak this into existence, I guess. Um I know that our district can't we have we have to make very difficult financial decisions,
091right? And so, you guys do a phenomenal job with the money that we have and we're not done any favors by the state. We all know that. But what makes Leport unique are our our the companies and the people, the families that are have so generous. And so we did this, we got a a report tonight about all the money we raised for the stadium in a very short amount of time, a substantial amount of money. And that's great for all the marketing and stuff. I I would be willing to bet anything I will ever own that if we have the opportunity to present these companies with say if to help hire additional tutors and whatever it is like uh >> I'm not another word, but like um additional support staff. I know that technology
092and systems are the great, but I will I will I will put my money every day on extra people like with qual spending quality time with these kids in front of them. So, we've had several campuses and CPAC meetings talk about like how did you guys make this increase and a lot of times it's well we we had tutors and the people that are spending the time with the kids and I know that we had to cut that back this year again not not on our own accord but if we can get a number of like what again it how big this number is like what is the number that we had to cut out based on last year's budget on to be able to put towards tutors interventionist specialists whatever it is we're doing
093and I would like to take that to the community like I would be will I we'll make this a board project like we will go out and I promise you uh we can't get all of it. We'll get a substantial amount to go back into those schools. And again, I know it's not about throwing money all the time, but >> but it's the it's the people that count, >> right? And I I I feel I overly confident that we can get that done. >> Not volunteer. Maybe they you know, maybe they just don't know there's a need. >> We just they don't know the need and they >> but I've pitched that idea what you and I have talked about with Julianne. We agree. So I I think we just need to give you a
094hard number that you're asking for that >> and understanding that those are what we would consider maybe grant funded positions that and eventually when the grant stops if it ever does that you know >> right forever >> they're not forever jobs and we can't promise you a job forever. This is coming from community grants. >> We can't pick up a bunch of new roles. >> We'll get you a hard number for that. >> Little comment question. I guess this is more directed to Dr. Jackson and probably even Adam. So, um, one of my frustrations with school life in general is that all our data is lagging for, you know, >> and this is more more current, right? But like I got two emails this week from from people sending me uh the world news report
095about high school rankings, right? And so, but the problem with this ranking is that it's from 2023 24, right? But if you guys one of these people, oh, I was looking to move back to that probably screwing be like, I move back Leaport, but you guys are ranked number 142 out of 219, right? and that doesn't represent the work that you guys are are telling us tonight and and the strides we've made. And so my question to Dr. Jackson, Adam, what can we do to like push this? They're going to go to like these national reports and they see like, you know, Leaport is in the bottom 35th, right? Like, you know, and they know that that's a lagging number and it's we've been massive improvement since then. How do what do we do to
096be proactive to get the word out? Obviously, we got new top-notch like facilities, things like that, but what are we doing to like promote like the academic side of the port? We have absolutely taken advantage of all of our free opportunities on social media. If you go to social media, it is plastered all over our campuses are doing it. The district does it, but our campuses are each sharing their distinctions and all of the wonderful things that they're doing. Uh but over the last two weeks there's just been this campaign media campaign uh this media blitz uh you know um I mean I I happen to speak for the district and so today at at 2:00 we were on Fox 26 news talking about Leaport ISD. Last week it was channel 39 I think it
097was on the news talking about you know Leaport ISD. So we're doing those things. I think our principles have uh each of them have uh a designated uh media specialist on campus, a court, somebody on campus that is responsible for that. But we we're trying our absolute best to take advantage of all of those opportunities. We have a Tik Tok page, we have a Instagram page, we have a Facebook page, we have a LinkedIn page, and so we're utilizing that. And of course, we have our website. And all of them are saying those things in some iteration of how well we are doing, how awesome we are. And we put kids faces in front of those letter grades because it's really not the letter grade that counts. It's what are we doing with the kids
098that represent that. And so we'll do a better we'll continue to work on that. Uh but but we're taking advantage of all of those opportunities. When I first got here, Deian, you'll remember I rented one of those uh signs on 225. I I said I need folks to know that Leaport's here and we are an open enrollment uh priority school district that would love to have young families move here and and become a part of that. So slowly but surely it's trickling in. Uh Mr. President, uh but it takes all of us doing it and and we're doing that and I would encourage every parent that hears us tonight to help us by bragging about our school district as well. The more we do that, the better off we're going to be. >> I thought
099it's kind of a loaded question. I knew those things. That's one publicly. >> So for I mean for those of the naysayers like you know friends from other districts down the street that like to badmouth. I love you are the the biggest advocate and champion. I love you. Thank you for sharing that. I know y'all doing a phenomenal job and it's obviously it's paying off with our retention rates and things like that. So >> thank you. We're we're we're clear to say and and several folks are now used to hearing me say this. there is a line from here to El Paso of people that are moving to Leaport and enrolling their students. All right. And so we want to make sure that that is part of our slogan to some degree. >> We're doing
100any more questions, comments. >> Thank you, Miss Abrams. >> Well, I just want to thank you all for your support. Thank you for your trust and and we're going to continue to to meet your expectations. Looking forward to next year. Thank you. >> Last least, we'll turn to it D, bond safety and security updates. They're going to tag team finance. They're talking financed overnight. >> All right. Good evening board and Dr. Jackson. Evening. >> Uh Dr. Martinez and I are going to do a co-presentation for y'all tonight um about a bond financial update. So I'm going to talk the finance side and then Dr. Martinez will fill you in on uh what we've spent the funds on so far. So we'll begin with uh Prop A, our maintenance and operations. Our original budget was 37.5
101million so far. Again, this is two years in was 23 24. So we've spent two fiscal years so far. Our expenditures were 8.1 million and therefore we have 29.4 million left which is a 22% of our budget that has been spent. So some of the examples of projects uh out of this fund uh would be painting. You've seen painting at several of our campuses. I believe at this point virtually all of our campuses have been touched with some sort of painting efforts. Uh most recent being Lommax Junior High and DeWalt. If you've been to those two campuses you've seen the interior. They look fantastic. really thankful for that work there. Uh, also HVAC has been um an ongoing commitment for the use of those funds and so we've uh installed several new chillers uh and
102boilers. Uh examples being Heritage, a chiller at College Park, boiler at LXJ, um another chiller at LPJ, and one of the most recent chillers of three at Rudo Elementary that are scheduled to um to go in this fall. And so that's going to be an ongoing commitment again for use of these funds is to bring our HVAC systems, you know, just have that recurring cycle where you're have having to constantly um commit, you know, to those projects, but uh painting and and just some other uh projects across the district um from from the maintenance uh budget. >> And we'll move on to transportation. So our budget was 7.7 million. Our expenditures so far have been 3 million. Therefore, we have 4.7 left. And we are that's 39% of our budget that's been spent. >> Okay.
103And again, uh transportation is easy. You see the big yellow buses driving around. So, you know, we've got uh several new of those uh in the district. Um in 2023, we purchased five new buses uh for special education, another three for general ed. All those have enhanced uh security features, enhanced cameras. Um and so that that's definitely um assist with student safety. Um and then uh this past year we had 20 buses. Um and of the 20 we've received nine. It does take some time to receive those once they've been ordered. Uh but of those 20 we have nine and uh they're already on the on the road ready to go. We're able to prioritize trips right based on newer buses. And so really um excited about all the new that we have. >> Are
104are we getting rid of some old buses? I noticed like by the FFA barn on that side there's a bunch of them parked on that road. What are they over there? We had a conversation about that today. >> Yes, sir. So, the the 20 buses that um we are working on receiving, those will all be destroyed. And so, those are part of the grant um that we received from TCQ. And so, those have to have um basically permanent destruction um and can no longer be used in North America. So, we have to cut frame rails, drill holes, and engine blocks um and then decide what to do with those afterwards. We can scrap them. Yes. And take, you know, take whatever we can get for whatever they're worth. But yeah, if you need any anger,
105you know, anger management, you want to relate, >> maybe that could be one of our health and wellness, right? >> We have power tools and we would be happy to help you relieve some pent up. >> Yeah, that's pretty intense. >> But yes, all of those that you see parked by the egg barn or just parked around the lot, 20 of those that are um you know, your model 2007 or older will are part of that that gra will be destroyed. they get vandalized, we're in good shape. I mean, that's >> so one of the neat things that we're able to do with some of our older buses. And so, you may have seen some of our neighbors, unfortunately, they've had some incidents related to buses uh and students, you know, and so we're able
106to work with our uh city management and uh the emergency management to to run some trainings should we ever have events, any type of events, so that they can be prepared for those types of things. And so it's one of the conversations that Alyssa and I had today was about working with the city of Leaport uh to use some of our older fleet to be able to simulate some of those trainings um so that we would uh they would be prepared, we're prepared, and we have good systems in place uh if we ever had while you're in communication with um Leaport PD and the city of Leaport, it may be worth um I know this uh text dot or DPS state troopers do a program um you know where they're really harping in on other
107vehicles stopping where buses are stopping. You talking to bus drivers, they always say that's a problem and it it is um maybe a partnership with the port police department on, you know, following a bus around or whatever it is to to really promote or even some of our own um advertisements and in PR to to show the importance of stopping when that bus is stopped with the red lights on. >> When stops, >> yeah, just some education because >> do you stop on sins or do you stop on Spencer? I mean, people don't know which road they can and can't drive on when that bus has red lights. >> People do it all the time. Good job. >> Okay. Still in Pra, we have our fine arts and theater renovations. So, the budget was for
108both of those projects together was 5.4 million. So far, we have $300,000 that we've spent um and the remaining 5.1. So, 1% of budget spent, but >> Dr. Martinez is going to talk about all the wonderful things that are going to spend some money. >> So, this is an exciting project. really like the musical because we know we kind of set our timeline for construction based on all the fantast but at our most uh recent board meeting you guys approved um for the sound and so you know we've we're getting ready to to get that uh rolling to have sound uh installed a full overhaul of our sound system there. Uh we've already done some uh painting of the foyer area and so um we've got the grid painted, we've got uh the color painted
109on the walls and uh we've got some exciting things happening just in that uh front space. And then uh we're looking at um additional renovations um with lighting. You know, again, full overhaul of our lighting systems. Actually got a quote today. Um there's some advantages to um securing some of that early even though we may not go into the um full renovation with the lighting just because of the musical timeline. But if we can get our supplies in now and we can you know they can assist us with storage at no cost, then we can um take advantage of possibly no inflation later down the road with ordering some of that stuff that we know that we need. Um so so we're really excited about that. And then the classrooms, um, we've, uh, done, we're
110almost complete with our theater classrooms. We've did, uh, painting. Um, we've got a carpet replacement. Um, and so they look great. I stopped by there today. Um, you know, we're almost complete. And one of the things that we do, really proud of our maintenance team. Um, you know, just kind of looking up at these LED lights, right? So, when we go in and paint or we have a project that we're working on, um we'll go ahead, our own people will replace the lighting uh to update with LED lights. And so, just like you're looking at right here, uh in those cedar classrooms, they're also going to have the updated uh LED lights in there. Um and again, they're working on that today. They're almost complete. Um it looks fantastic. So, really excited about our fine
111arts programs um in the in specifically the theater renovation. Cool. And then one other thing on the quote that he was speaking of today, one of the reasons too we want to go ahead because they're going to give us a discount. We can go ahead and and go forward with the quote then we're going to it saves us more money to begin with. So >> um that's always what we're looking for. >> Uh prop a long lax junior high renovation. So the budget 15.3 million expenditure so far is 6.5 remaining of 8.8. So we have spent 42% of the budget so far on that project. And this is a recent picture of Lowmax Junior High Gym. If you haven't been out there, I mean, it's definitely going moving quickly. Um really uh thankful to Principal
112Rose and her team. She's been um you know, phenomenal to work with. Um you know, from our construction um crews, they they just sing her praises and and the team that's been very uh receptive to the changes out there. Uh but we're about 95% complete with our CMU block um for the renovation in the new gym. uh exterior face break is about 40% complete. Um you're going to see basketball goals start going up. Uh some of the curtain walls are ongoing. Um we contractually we're scheduled to be complete by December 1st. Uh but we're hoping to uh be uh complete sooner than that. So, you know, a few weather delays over the summer, but we feel like we're on a good uh track and um it's looking great out there. Hope to have some tours
113out there soon where people can actually see the space and see how far it's come. >> Talk about the bestkept secret in L lowmax area. If you pass by that campus, you haven't a clue that that's behind there. >> Right. You know, we almost need a big sign that says, "Hey, behind here, you know, but uh I'm very proud of the work that happens. I sometimes just drive out there even on the weekends and just sit and watch them kind of, you know, how it's coming up." So, very proud of that facility. So the port high school renovation that just began our budget of 29.9 we've spent 2.5 so far so remaining 27.4 so 8% of our budget that will be spent all this year as they complete the project. >> All right. So um
114again thankful to Dr. Griffin and his team. They've been met with a lot of challenges over the summer and planning anticipation for that start of the school year. you know, how are we going to get all these kids with only designated uh entry and exits? And so, they've done a great job reimagining what that can look like. Very appreciative of their efforts. Um, don't let Dr. Griffin fool you. His principal office in affordable building it is pretty nice. So, don't don't let him give you a soft story. >> Very nice. >> It's very nice. >> He's not going to want to go back inside. his coffee maker could make coffee for the entire school. I mean, it's ginormous. >> But, uh, really really uh again thankful to the team out there. Um, so we are
115complete with GMP1. Uh, we did get substantial completion of that on August 15th. And so we've got um, you know, a lot of the GMP1 was the demolition of the work on the detention. Um, that's that's still where we are now. Uh again, walk in that space today. Uh you know, kind of looking looking out. A lot of work in that detention area. Uh but had a great conversation with our contractor, our PM out there today. Um you know, because we were able to um get a LOI for GMP2 um while we were already there on site. We got a lot of we got ahead of schedule and so uh you know, we're about 15 days ahead of schedule. Um I don't think Dr. Griffin even knows that yet. And so that was a a
116date that they were comfortable with me sharing publicly, but we are ahead of schedule. And so we are looking at um hopefully um having access to that courtyard by mid- November. And so that would be, you know, turfed uh you know, ready and that would be a usable space where students could potentially cross across the courtyard to get from building to building instead of having to to go around that uh horseshoe um interior. So very excited about that. Um and then you'll start to see the exciting stuff happen, the steel structures, you know, just more of the building uh envelope come together at the high school. But um very um you know, moving along nicely and thankful to to again everyone on that planned total completion date. >> Uh so we're I don't have the
117completion date, but we're looking around this time uh next year. I mean, we're really looking at mid August, mid to late August um for completion. All right. So, still in prop a safety and security budget of 5 million. We've spent 300,000. So, remaining 4.77% budget spent. We'll say on that reason we haven't spent as much budget because we had a grant >> that helped take care of a lot. And we were also spending down our 2014 bond, our safety and security piece of that. >> So, you always spend the the older one before you get to the newer one. So, Yeah, and just uh want to thank you board for prioritizing and Superintendent uh Jackson for um you know the safety and security there. There's plenty of funds there. We've been able to do a
118lot on the perimeter fencing which you've seen um at at all of our spaces. Also the security film, uh silent panic systems, uh the the controlled access uh to the campuses and panic buttons. Um, you know, those are just a few of the items that we feel like we've gotten accomplished um in the district, but there's uh still much left to do with safety and security, but those are some of the priorities um that the district has um you know, been able to to get accomplished over the past couple years. >> I would just like to recognize that um Leaport was one of the leaders in the getting the buttons. Um, I am seeing social media posts from friends who live all across the country who are saying, "Wouldn't it be great if we had
119this? >> Isn't it, you know, isn't this such a great idea?" And I get to say, "We have it >> and how well it's done." So, >> I just I just have to say thank you again for for that idea and for putting that through. It's we are definitely leaders in that. And >> yeah, that's amazing. There are a lot of districts that reach out and they want to know our systems and they want to, you know, uh they're looking at implementing those systems on in their districts. And so to be able to say, "Sure, come on over. Let's let's talk." And so even though it may not be benefiting our district, it's keeping kids safe in another district. And so we're all about supporting and being a friend to to to those districts that
120want that assistance. That's >> right. Martinez, in the past, I know it was kind of like security wasn't all it wasn't uniform. Like what I mean is like entry points co, you know, cameras that were different in certain locations, some had fences, some had bulletproof glass. Are they all now uniform? Is that my understanding? >> We've worked on that over the last couple of years cuz it's been brought up before and um Dr. Bramley and I worked on trying to do that and I know some elementaryaries did not have the same uh access entryways. And so we have worked on that. I I won't say on record that we're 100% done, but um I know for a fact that we have done that. So, I'm answering that part of that on where we are and
121share that with you guys. Um but I know that's again been a huge priority for the district. Um >> I feel like the uh >> the entry point, you know, the intern keypad deal where you rebuzzer, I think that has all been uniform, but I'm more curious like we we talked about there was a proposal. >> Yeah. like having the fence. I'm looking at the fence and that what brought this to mind is that >> um at one point some campuses were going to get like a bulletproof film on the glass and I thought I think that we talked about making it all uniform >> where it was but wasn't it on back order or something cuz everybody >> that was that was an issue that's been a while now you had to have one
122or the other everything you had either had a non-scalable fence or the the film on the glass and yes there was an issue at one point I want to say in terms of supply cuz everybody was trying to do the same thing >> and it all depends on how the campus is built too. So when you have you know gates guards like this you you absolutely can put that up and I'm going to let Mr. Wickliff kind of help us with some of that. Yes, sir. Good afternoon guys. Uh yes sir. U the uh tempered glass has been installed in all the buildings 100%. And so that was part of the cycle one grant that was uh two years ago and so we have actually uh we're up to standard on all campuses. And we're
123able to pass all our ratings with TEA as well. So they did our uh audit last year and we are 100% compliant. I say we were the first to >> to get it but I just didn't know if it was what he was answering. >> No. And again, so again that's a I don't want I'm not minimizing that at all. That's a phenomenal accomplishment. I just I still feel that we are small enough to we have 12 total campuses that one elementary over another shouldn't have a gate, a fence. And whether you made the case that's better or worse, I don't know. But like I don't know like why you know as a parent why would one school have one thing over another and I would Dr. Brley it's been a while since >> it's
124been a while since we talked >> but I thought the conversation at the time what we decided as a board we wanted them to be uniform and so I know I'm kind of throwing this at you right now but I would just like in a future uh meeting to talk about >> if they're not uniform is there something we have planned in action to to bring that up to >> Yeah. So the good news is we've got some budget there that uh our priority is to get them uniform. >> That's we we'll get the board an update on that. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> So integrated technology um our budget was 23.1 expenditure is 7.8. We have a remaining 15.3 million. So we've spent 34 uh% of our budget. So remember
125in Prop A you have a integrated uh technology piece and then in Prop B it's it's one to one and we'll talk about that one later. But before Dr. Martinez starts I do want to say another thing that we have been beating our neighbors at is parent square which is part of this. >> So we rolled out parent square last year and everyone loves it. >> Someone else is just now rolling it out and they all love it. We all love it. Go ahead. >> So, um like Stacey mentioned, uh this uh part of this prop was focused on some of the also supporting some of the classroom technology and so bringing uh some of the classrooms up to a minimum district standard uh with things like sound reinforcement systems, short throw projectors and docking
126stations in every classroom. Um some additional laptop laptop carts and there were some other portable technology um efforts that we'll talk about. You just probably saw some uh iPad um photos yesterday and for K2 campuses. So, >> and then we have campus projects. So, a budget of 10 million. So far, we've spent 4.4 remaining at 5.6. So, we've spent 44% of the the budget. >> And just some of the um projects, classroom furniture, um you know, at several of our campuses, um Lomax Junior High, LP, Razudo are just a few of those. um campus storefronts. And so this is a picture of Beayshore. And so just the graphics and and um you know being able to uh provide that for our campuses. Uh backpack hooks, just four of our elementaryaries got backpack hooks all throughout
127the hallways and that is super helpful when you're trying to get those little ones um organized each morning. Uh playground equipment, updated sound systems, and um several of our elementary campuses. uh new scoreboard and staff chairs for the entire building at um LPJH. And then one of the things that we're doing as a maintenance team is doing a full furniture audit um so that we can look at u replacing um you know outdated furniture and just discuss that. So, and I will say on a maintenance side, it's the simplest thing, but keeping the grass mode and landscaping looking good is a is it's not the easiest thing, but it's certainly something you notice. And first, the district has gone above and beyond on keeping up with those things. It used to be a major problem,
128and I'm sure a dog got tired of people sending pictures of tall grass, but it has certainly not been a problem lately. >> I was talking about Deian, by the way. >> She's talking about me. >> It's okay. First questions are >> kudos to the maintenance team. >> Hugely important. >> Uh so we also have uh and the last part of Prop A is our legacy complex which we just opened. So budget of 34.9 million. We've spent 30.3. So the remaining 4.6 and so we've spent 87% of the budget for that project. >> Yeah. You guys have seen just what a fantastic space this is, not just as a professional learning uh but a community space. We've had several events in there already, welcoming our new teachers, several staff trainings, uh new um chamber lunchon
129for our new teachers, and several other community organizations uh that have and will benefit from that space for years to come. So, so it's really um another fantastic uh project. U we're about 50% completion on punt on punch list and so they're still going through working through warranty issues, those types of things. So, um, um, you know, fieldhouse and weight room has been getting a lot of use. Um, so it's it's again exciting to see the students utilizing that space. Uh, as they're utilizing the space, we're identifying some things that may need to be addressed. So, we're able to do that um with with that uh space, but then we're also looking at additional um, you know, additional purchases that we can make to support the project. So, um, if there are other technology needs
130now that we've had a few events and we can say, okay, well, it'd be great if we were able to, you know, kind of, uh, have sound in this room, but then also in this room simultaneously and just, so we're able to kind of work through that and and so we're allocating some funds to be able to address some of those, uh, things as well. So, really exciting. >> Moving on to Prop B, that's our portable technology. So, as you remember, this is a $15 million uh budget that will be every two years it will be um uh $3 million is used. >> Is that right? Every 3 years, >> five >> $5 million. >> That's right. >> I apologize. >> Five. That's right. >> Um anyway, so we have spent 3.1 million so far
131and we just did our second um and our second bond sale. We did uh another three months. So we have 11.9 and then 21% left. >> And Lord, I will, as I said earlier, we'll have um Brad to um give you an update uh next month on, you know, all the things that are happening. We wanted to at least have six weeks of school going on so he can really give you a comprehensive uh update on that. So next month, Bobby. >> So So they were able to start yesterday with some of their iPad deployment. And so we've got 1,700 iPads for uh kindergarten through 2nd. Um an additional 500 student laptops, uh desktops for CTE, uh server hardware, access points throughout the district, and um control switches. And so that's just examples of the,
132you know, where those what those funds are used for with portable technology. >> And finally, uh Prop C was our Bulldog stadium. So our budget was $56 million, expenditure is 53. We have 3 million remaining. So, we've spent 95% of that budget. Jesus. >> So, again, just thank you to everyone involved with Bulldog Stadium. It's it's one of the gifts that keeps on giving. Um, you know, we're able to look at uh concessions. You know, we had a meeting today with coolers delivered. And so, how do we um, you know, kind of get that space set up so that we can serve? And so, uh, Stacy and her crew and Ralph, they've done a great job of, you know, getting in there and and kind of visioning that for us. Um, so, uh, you know,
133concessions, uh, we look forward to that. We're about 90% completed on punch list items at the Bulldog Stadium, as you guys can imagine, that's a an extensive process. Um, and so until we're um, 100% complete, you know, they're not able to come in and and finish those things. We still have a few things to tie up. Ribbon board uh, installation uh, which were close. Had a great meeting today, uh, re uh, emphasizing our expectations to have that completed. um bleacher transitions. Um you there's a few lighting areas that we're addressing. Uh we had a concrete pour uh today where we set um for getting ready for the street signs to go up. Um and so you know just just a few kind of those last touch-up items. Um but you know we're getting ready for
134the community pep rally on the 27th and our obviously the border battle game on the 29th. And so we look forward to it. And again, thanks to everyone who's um you know been involved in making that stadium a great place for our students and staff. >> Can we please say out loud that we are not over budget? >> We are not >> on the stadium. >> We are not over budget stadium right between the two. I I consider both be the center and the stadium. So of that 90.9 million total budget, we are about 7.6 under currently. Are there any substantial expenditures? Yes, we are we are not finished paying for uh the legacy complex. Uh we're pretty much done with the Bulldog stadium. We have obviously different things as the punch list comes through.
135There's things that you learn. I mean, as as Dr. Martinez spoke of, um but we still have a couple of payouts to come through for the legacy complex. And so we are we are dwindling it down. The big payments are >> until we're substantially complete, right? We're not going to pay out on certain things until we've got assurances that we're where we need to be. And so that that's kind of where we are on. >> So this is paid, not allocated. This is paid. >> Do you guys have a like an estimate on what will come in under like the total underbudget number would be? >> No, but we can we can get that for you. >> I was I'm curious. I mean, I'm glad that we're under. We're not going to be >> just
136be under. But I mean, we'll get you that if we if we can. Okay. That's awesome. Okay. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you all very much. >> So, real quick, I just have to say the Uber driver that brought me home today, we had to come down Broadway because of the traffic and we he saw the the stadium. He's from Friendswood, but he works at one of the plants and he said, "Yes, I've been hearing a lot about this stadium from some people that work in a that live in a certain district." and uh he said, "I think they're really jealous." But he also said, "How do I get tickets?" Because I'd like to come see a game in the stadium. So, that's exciting too to hear people say that. >> All
137right, guys. Russell has threatened my life if I don't get him out of here. 4 a.m. So, we're going to move to the uh item eight, consent agenda. Um A, determine approve any consent agenda items. B, approve board meeting minutes. One, regular board meeting minutes June 10th, 2025. Two, called board meeting minutes June 23rd, 2025. And three, called board meeting minutes July 22nd, 2025. C, receive financial reports for June 2025. D, receive notice of employment of professional staff. Excuse me. E, receive quarterly investment report for June 2025. F. Receive report of cooperative fees paid by Leort Independent School District. G. Receive 2024 2025 school health advisory council report. H approve budget amendment. I approve contract for athletic training services. J. Approve interlocal contract with University of Houston Clear Lake. K. Approve purchase of facility commissioning
138services for Port High School renovation. L. Approve purchase of special education contracted services. M. Approve second reading and adoption of policy updates to FM local. N approved second reading and adoption of policy updates FNCE local. O approved second reading and adoption of TASBY policy update 125 affecting local policies BDAA local, BDB local, BDF local, EI local, FDE local, FEC local and FFAC local. Paging >> I can read jinx me thinking. P. Approved 2025 certified anticipated debt collection rate. Q. Approved 202526 Leaport Independent School District Student Code of Conduct. R. Approved 202526 Leaport Independent School District Student Handbook. S Approved 202526 Texas teacher evaluation and support system appraisal calendar and TA test list of teacher appraisers. >> Mr. Vice President, will you please read to the agenda items are presented? >> Yes. Consent items A, B,
139C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, and S. >> We're seeking a motion and a second to approve. >> Second. A >> motion, a second. All those please vote. No favor. All those plates. >> Hello. >> I'm pressing not working. >> Start the meeting over >> board. Interest of uh if you guys will don't mind show of hands. All those in favor? >> I opposed. The record show that is unanimous approval. We will move now to item I, approved contract for athletic training services. >> I just wanted to vote on this separately. I'm not in favor of the contract and I don't like how it was written. So that's all my comments. >> Are there any additional comments? Any clarity? If not, I make I solicit a
140motion and a second to approve. >> I'll make a motion we approve the contract. I >> second. Have a motion to second. Let's try this one more time, guys. Again by show of hands, all those that approve. Any opposed? We're going to show it is 6 to one. The motion carries. Okay. We will now turn to item nine. Uh a approve receipt and adoption of policy EFB local as per policy BF local. Good evening once again board. Um so the EFB local is related to instructional resources and the library materials. Um so this we're asking you guys to approve receipt and adoption of it. Uh this was one of the policies that um TASBY recommended that we uh get before you guys before September 1st. It was kind of the big three, right? FMCE and
141uh EFB. Now, normally we would do a second reading on EFP, but because of the September 1st um and BF local, our local policy allows us to um under extenduating circumstances to adopt um you know, with just one reading. And so, uh Mr. Gilbert and I had some uh consultation about that. Uh that was also the guidance that we received from TASBY that would be able to present this to you all uh for consideration and adoption after just one reading. Um and so again this one has to do uh deal with uh a wide range of uh library material materials for students and faculty. Um it provides standards for collection development and the selection and evaluation of library materials. And so that that's the policy that you have before you right now. >> We'll take
142a motion and a second. >> I'll make a motion we approve the uh policy as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Show of hands. >> Any opposed? No. >> I'm in favor. >> Motion carries unanimously. Thank you guys. All right. Finally, item C. Considering approval of Port ISD distinguished alumni/staff/citizen nominations. >> I move to approve the distinguished alumni staff citizen as nominated. >> Second. Second. >> A motion from Trusty Hanks and second from >> Press. I think it was all those in favor. >> Any opposed? Russell. >> No, I'm not seeing it work. >> All right. The uh Candace, the the motion carries unanimous. Thank you guys again. Uh we do not have any action on closed items. Uh we will turn finally to closing comments of the board trustees and superintendent. >>
143Russell, >> I did. I enjoyed my uh trip this summer to College Park Elementary. Thank you for taking me down memory lane. I didn't realize how small those little tables were in the cafeteria. Either that or I've just gotten really fat and big. Uh which is probably true. But also other than that, enjoy the school year, have fun, but enjoy time for yourself, too. Cuz after 4 days, I'm worn out. >> And by this Wednesday, I mean, by this weekend, I'm going to be tired. Next week's going to be a wild wild trip. So, >> sure is >> be ready for it. >> Say a prayer for me cuz I'm on both sides of the place. >> Um, yeah. Great job to to start the year by everybody. And I would just encourage and remind
144our staff to continue to keep the important things the important things. Look at those kids' faces. You're making an impact every single day. Your work matters. Everything else will take care of itself. Don't get lost in that in those those details. So, good luck and uh also go out and and support the non-OOT sports. There's a lot of things going on. I know volleyball played tonight, but the the sport of all sports and I did not play it. Water polo. I swear I I did play Yeah, I played football and I thought that was a tough sport, but when someone's trying to drown you for an entire game, that is that's got to take the cake. But they're doing really really well. We used to take the cheerleaders to the water col. >> Um I
145just want to say welcome home. Um welcome you know back to our schools. Um for the new teachers who are from Leaport who came through as alumni. Welcome home and um welcome back to Bulldog Stadium. And it's going to be a great year for everyone. I look forward to hearing all the wonderful things that our students and teachers are doing. Karen, but and I will second what Russell says. There is no tired life teacher after the first week of school tired. Even if the week is only three days, feels like 30. So, um I think I congratulate everybody on a great start to the year. We haven't seen the laundry list of complaints about the phone policies. I feel like that's gotten off to a really good start and I'm excited to see that. and
146um I've just heard really good things and so I'm excited and looking forward to a great year. Thank you guys for doing such a wonderful job. I I won't repeat everything that everyone said, but y'all have a great year. Um you are appreciated. We do want to know if you need something big or small and um just keep doing what you do every day because you do make a difference. Um, you know, I hope you had a great start to your school year. I want to thank Linberger Lindberger for coming out. Um, probably not the meeting that you anticipated it being, but we certainly appreciate your um, willingness to want to work with the district and um, we hope you appreciate the process that we had to go through. And, um, Mr. Bailey, thank you
147for coming as well and speaking to the board. So, with that, I'll wrap it up. >> Yeah. Again, there's there's hundred different thank yous I want to go through and I have interest of time. I I'll just do a few. But um we at the chamber was able to have our I don't know probably 50th new teacher lunchon. We're honored to welcome the new teachers and staff. But this year was different because we had in the legacy center and on the staff Dr. Jackson all the way down uh to the maintenance crew. We had interns out there booming tables and y it's a ton of work to get that done but we have heard an overwhelming um just support and success. people really excited uh to see the new facilities and things going on and
148all the things that are happening in LOID. So, thank y'all for that and allowing us the chamber uh to be able to to host that. Um, also I would be remiss I've kind of worn you guys out over the years I know over library books and so I got the word that they we got a load of library books and so I got to check that out and uh I think several teachers actually uh texted us cuz I'm a village idiot but they texted me and they were so thankful. They they love that that we have these new books and things. So again, thank you guys for uh for making that happen. >> The board will get an update about that next month. >> It's awesome. And then lastly, um I just want to say
149thank you. So again, comication is always an experience every year and um there's always way you always make it unique and special uh in so many ways, but this year, man, I the thing that really stood out to me, I was so impressed like uh with Leaport High School choir. Uh it it took, again, I'm a little slow. It took me about 2 minutes to realize that uh when they started singing that I wasn't recording. And it's just I mean the amount of work and effort I mean the band everybody everybody was there did a phenomenal job and so again thank you guys that's a great way to uh kick off the start of the year. So I appreciate all the hard work that went into to making that happen. Dr. Jackson the people out
150there board are the people that help to lead the charge. All right. We're not the only ones, but the people out there that you're talking to, uh, those principles, those directors, those central administration, all of those folks helped to lead it. And so I want to say have a great year and we appreciate