001The board of trustees of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District is called to order at 6:30 p.m. This is a regular monthly board meeting being held on May 20th, uh, 2025. We have a quorum with six members present with trustee Bronzelle absent. Please join me as a moment of silence to observe as you feel appropriate. Thank you. Please join Oh, like actually let's please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance and the pledge to the Texas flag led by Khalil Moute. He's a sixth grader from Pauly Ryan Middle School. All right, so come on over to the podium. 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. Honor the Texas flag.
002I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. [Applause] You may have a seat. We will now uh have our recognitions and awards. Miss Dr. N. Yes, sir. We have Miss Co Hamilton at the podium. Good evening, board president, trustees, Dr. Nonsens, and those in attendance or virtually tonight. Our seniors may have graduated, but yes, there is still more to celebrate. And tonight we're welcoming several individuals and groups who have shown bright this spring both academically and athletically. We're also going to welcome a teacher who recently garnered a national award. And we're going to celebrate our amazing Lamar CSD board of trustees on their amazing win as well as acknowledging the trustees whose terms have come to an end. So first up, we're going to begin this evening with a very
003special academic recognition in honor of our Lamar CISD class of 2025 validictorians and saludiatorans. These students have been the top performers in their classroom and leaders on their campuses. And as they prepare to sit forth on the next stage of their respective journeys, it gives us great pleasure to recognize these extraordinary young people on their extraordinary accomplishments as valadictorians and saludiatorans for the Lamar CISD class of 2025. From Foster High School, valadictorian Michelle Chin. Saludiatoran Lillian Lilia Kovar. Liliana Kovar. from Fulsshire High School, validictorian, Ava Cathnack. Saludiatoran, Swam Shtori from George Ranch High School, valadictorian, Elizabeth Fam, and Saludiatoran, Rachel Lee from Lamar Consolidated High School. Valadictorian Neuvo, saludiatoran, Chase Chain, Randall High School, valadictorian, Alwin Angelina Oraniano, and saludiatoran Laya Isabelle Lawern. And from Terry High School, valadictorian Benjamin Watkins and saludiatoran Nor [Applause]
004Salam. We like to do a group photo with all of our balance and our board of trustees. Got it. Okay. Congratulations students. Next, we turn to a talented student athlete from Lamar Consolidated High School who took her track and field skills all the way to the state championship and to the top spot on the winner's podium. It's our honor tonight to congratulate sophomore Belle Lawson for her outstanding performance of the UIL 5A state track and field championship. Come on out, [Applause] Belle. Let me tell you about this young lady. Bel placed third in shot put, improving her distance by more than a foot from last year's meet. Additionally, she captured the UIL 5A state championship in discus with a phenomenal throw of 152 feet and 4 in. Belle is coached by throwing coach Michelle Cannon
005and head girls track coach Bo Granger. And we're incredibly proud of her growth and determination. Congratulations, Belle. All right, the following students were present earlier for their photos, but we're going to acknowledge them. We're going to recognize several of our CTE students from across the district who received top awards in their state level events and are headed to nationals. We'll start with HOSA, the CTE student organization for future health professionals. HOSA students from across the district competed at the state competition in Round Rock in April. Ela Mishler from Fulsia High School placed first in her competition. Come on down, April. Elaine and she's moving on to Hosa Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee, competing in occupational therapy. Is Elaine here this evening? Come on, Elaine. Yeah. In TSA, it's a career and technical student organization that allows
006students to compete in various events. From George Ranch High School, advised by Brian Sonier. Second place chap team um Emilio Arjo Bluke Brock Elvina Lynn Eli Nulan Elizabeth Fam and Daffy Daphne Sarapam from Fulsure High School coached by Doug Mat and Steven Santos. First place Geospatial Grant Noatney Bisan Abdala and Linda Wang. First place digital video production Linda Wang. First place engineering design, Bishan Abdala, Jeffrey Rap Rapaki and Mason Bird. Second place, video game design, Vashnavi Abaduri, Mauricio Murielos, Grant Noatni, Jeffrey Rapaki, Daniel Tifan, and Jose Bernal. Third place children's story, Sei Dorana, Duri, Mystery, Raquel Ortega, and Ishtia Jane. from Lamar Junior High School advised by Alan Gberman. First place junior solo sprint Dory King and Victoria Ramirez from Lamar Consolidated High School advised by Ashley Duran. We got second place in virtual reality.
007Cesar Alanesia, Angel Hun, Dave Tatandi, Joshua Thomas, and New Vo from Layman Junior High School. advised by Heath Hayner. First place in career prep, Naka Oritizu. First place challenging technical issues, Timmyi Orunia and Sophia Shafi. First place forensic technology, Asia Tekken. First place mechanical engineering, Ava Morris, Audrey Wood. Third place, construction challenge, Shauna Shauna Jamie. And third place, video game design, David Douglas. Keep going. Wright Junior High School advisor Richard Ember. First place middle school technology essay, Dar Patel. Third place website design, Muhammad Ali and Ahmad Hazima Dar Patel and Aan Rupani. Congratulations to all of our CTE scholars. Next, we're recognizing an engineering teacher who is one of three educators nationwide to receive the McGra Hill Pathfinder Award. Representing McGraw Hill tonight is Burkie Hernandez. But each year, McGraw Hill recognizes educators for their
008innovative teaching methods and creative positive learning opportunities for students. Representing the Lions at Wright Junior High School is engineering teacher Richard Ember. Come on out, Richard. He is a former business executive turned STEM educator. He inspires students to excel in science and math through immersive hands-on learning and story-based interactive labs. His efforts have led to higher test scores and increased retention rates. Congratulations, Mr. Embred. trustees. On Sunday, May 4th, HB announced the statewide winners for the 23rd annual HV Excellence and Education Awards during a ceremony held in Austin. The ceremony brought together hundreds of educators, education officials, and leaders from across the state, including members of our own board of trustees who were named this year's top winning Texas school board. And they brought home $25,000 for our district. As Dr. Even donated after the
009award is renounced. Our school board members are truly an elite team bringing passion, dedication, and commitment to their work as trustees and that bears remembering. They do this all for free as he often reminds us. And as elected officials, they serve their service to the district and the community mess. Let's take a closer look at what makes the Lamar CSD school board just so special. Parallel what? [Music] I'm Dr. Roosevelt Nven. I'm superintendent here in Lamar Consolidated ISD. This community that we serve is uh very diverse and so we have a little bit of everything in our school system which what makes us uh a melting pot which makes us unique. So the board and I have a very solid relationship. Uh we have our one-on-one monthly meetings. You know, we'll have dinner together. Um,
010we all know each other's families. I make sure they have all the information they need. They ask all the right questions and then they are not ashamed to make sure everybody has all the information. And so our relationship is really built on a firm foundation. With our growth and the extreme speed of our growth, uh, we're also seeing that as a bit of a challenge. Um, we're now labeled a hyperrowth district. So there's challenges of trying to figure out, okay, where are we going to put this new school? So we're trying to acquire land, get voter approval on building those schools. Then also providing top tier education learning for these students. We've introduced a new um way of learning this year called the innovation day, day of innovation. Uh where our students are learning real
011world skills. They're learning about taxes, credit scores, what it's like to change attire, how to do that stuff. But what what that's doing for us is that's creating opportunity for our teachers to have an additional day of planning. So the goal is that our teachers aren't taking work home to sit at their dining room table and grade papers. They're able to do it during the day. So while our teachers are doing that, our students are over here learning something new. So our board has done a great job seeing these different needs that our teachers that our students need and um supporting our district leadership and say, "Okay, we're going to help you. We're going to support you in meeting these needs as well." Coming from a student standpoint, I feel like I put so much
012trust in them because I know that they're bettering our schools for us. And seeing them, you know, go to elementary schools and go visit with kids and also coming to the high schools and really connecting with the students, we know that they're there to better our schools for us and you know how much they really care about us. I've worked in education for 23 years and I've come across a lot of different school boards and this is the first board I've ever seen where it looks like they're friends. They put differences aside. They agree that their common goal is to make Lamar the best that it can be and that they listen and they care and they respond. And so I am truly blown away by their commitment to our schools and most importantly to
013our children. [Music] With the pace of growth here at Lamar CSD and the enormous complexities that come with that growth, our trustees always have a lot on their plates, but they consistently rise to the challenge and it's amazing to see their efforts recognized and rewarded during this year's HB excellence and education awards. Congratulations, trustees. Let's give it up for our board of trustees. We thank you. We thank you. We thank you. And lastly tonight, we take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to three outstanding individuals whose time in the Lamar CSD Board of Trustees is coming to an end. Mandy Bronzale, who could be with us tonight, Trusty K. Danziger, and Trusty Joe Hubenac. Each of you have served your our district with passion, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what's best for
014students. Trusty Danzinger and Trusty Joe Hubenac have shaped helped shape the district in ways that would benefit generations of students to come. Trustees, you have stood tall in moments of challenge, celebrated our successes, and upheld the values that are near and dear to Lamar CISD. On behalf of the entire district, we thank you for your time. We thank you for your service, and we most importantly thank you for your commitment to our students, family, staff, and our future. You're always going to be a part of the Lamar CISD family. And at this time, I'm going to turn it over to President Lambert to close out with special remarks. Um, this is a time where, um, I think for all of us, the we've seen the work that these trustees have put in. And so, I'm
015grateful when I was a new trustee that all three of them were able to um, walk me through a lot and explain a lot. and I was able to drink from three different fire hoses at the same time and try to digest a little bit of water coming out of it. But, um, thank you. And so, um, first, um, want to recognize, uh, Trusty Joe Eubanak. Um, and for everyone that's now tuning in, uh, Trusty Bronzelle is out, um, at a conference and so we recognized her at our last board meeting and all that. So, um, I prepared a few thoughts for each of them. So, I'm just going to go ahead and read this. So, um, this evening we recognize Trustee Joe Eubanak for his dedicated service to Lamar CIC. Uh, Joe joined the
016board in 2017, but his connection to the district runs much deeper. He's a 1994 graduate of Lamar Consolidated High School and has lived and worked in the Richmond Rosenberg area his entire life. That kind of hometown perspective is invaluable. It keeps us grounded in the realities of the people we get to serve. Throughout his time on the board, Joe has been steady, thoughtful voice. He doesn't speak to be heard. He speaks when it matters. And when he does, it's clear he's focused on the long-term successes of our students, our schools, and our community. Joe has been a consistent V v and vocal advocate for our C career and technical education programs. He understands the value of equipping students in practical skills that lead to real careers. and he's pushed to make sure those programs are
017supported, expanded, and taken seriously. Along with CTE, Joe has also been a strong supporter of our agriculture programs. He knows that for many students, these programs are not just electives, they're gateways to responsibility, leadership, and future careers. Whether it's welding, vette, livestock showmanship, uh Joe has always championed the importance of keeping those opportunities alive and well in Lamar CIC. In addition to his role as trustee, Joe's a small business owner and area manager for AT&T. He's husband to Kelly, which is one of our district's uh dedicated teachers and a dad to two. Um to Kelly and his kids, thank you for sharing uh Joe with us. Um he brings a grounded perspective to every decision he makes. Um that lens has been a steady asset to the board. So Joe, thank you. uh you served
018with consistency and perspective and with genuine commitment to this community. Your support for students, especially those pursuing skills, skilled trades in agriculture, will leave a lasting mark. You've made a difference, and we're grateful for the time you've served on this board. Thank you, [Applause] Joe. No, I I appreciate it. I uh I am not one to speak just to be heard. Um it shouldn't be about me. It it should always be about the kids. Um I don't have a whole lot to say. Um it's been an interesting eight years. um you know that aside from what we deal with on a daily basis and then the natural disasters, floods, hurricanes, COVID, and everything else, uh I don't think it could have been any really any any more eventful than it than it has been with
019the added challenges that we've had. Um but no, I all I'd really like to say is just thank you to the staff, uh specifically the teachers for what y'all do. Um, it should be about the kids and the the teachers always make it about that. So, I appreciate it. I would like to open up to any other trustees if they have any words, please. I just wanted to say uh Joe has always been a steady hand. He's You never know what Joe's thinking sometimes because he doesn't speak just to be heard. So, but I appreciate your um you're just straightforward and you say what you mean and you don't mince words and I appreciate that. I have a pretty good filter. Um yes. where you're we we were side by side on a lot of
020what you just mentioned and there were hard decisions to be made, but we always had the focus and I appreciated your insight and direction and uh we always knew we could count on you, Joe, to help keep us on track and uh the board's going to miss you. I know. um a small token because on top of the massive salary that you don't get paid for being a trustee, uh the district has prepared a memory book for you and then also a lifetime ambassador. So for all those a shows and all that stuff you can come to anytime. [Applause] So, all right, that's it. Just kidding. Um uh y'all, Trusty K Danzinger. Um she's a saint. Um so few words for you, ma'am. Um tonight, we want to say thank you to someone who has
021not only served this district with distinction, but has truly given her heart to it. Kate Danzinger has dedicated over four decades of her life to Lamar CISD as a teacher for 32 years and as a trustee for the past 12. That alone is remarkable. But if you know Kay, you know that her commitment runs far deeper than titles or timelines. Uh Kay shows up. Kay shows up with compassion. She shows up with boldness. And she shows up with an unshakable love for this district, its teachers, and its students. She has never forgotten what it means to stand in a classroom to invest in children, and to support the people who make our schools work. Beyond the boardroom, Kay's impact stretches throughout Forbin County through her nonprofit work and tireless volunteerism. And let's be honest, she
022also has a gift for roping in her friends. Um, yeah, roping her friends into that work. Her support system of friends and family isn't just strong, it's generous. To each of you, thank you for sharing Kay with us all these years. She has a heart of gold. She's benevolent, supportive, and steady. She doesn't just talk about the problems, she meets needs. She builds people up, she encourages, she loves, and she leads with grace. On a personal note, I've had the privilege of being known as Kay's board son. Uh whether we're walking down the street or climbing a set of stairs, she says it with affection, and I take it to heart. It's a title I didn't expect, but one I truly cherish. I consider it an honor to walk alongside her, to support her, and
023to be part of her journey in this role. It's been one of the great joys of my time on this board. So, K, on behalf of this board and this entire district, thank you. Thank you for being a tireless advocate, a wise voice, a true servant, and a faithful friend. You leave Lamar CIC better than you found it, and it's the highest mark of leadership. Thank you. And unlike Joe, I do have several words. Sorry about that. But you know, after you're here for about 12 years and you see so much and you hear so much, I'm just have a few things that I want to say and a few thank yous. Um to begin with, I first I really do want to congratulate the three people sitting up front tonight, our new Lamar uh
024trustees that will be sworn in later this evening. And I am so proud of you because truly in life there are the 90 in my opinion 99% of the people standing on the sidelines and complain and don't get involved and 1% say how can I roll up my sleeves and help. So by doing so and saying how can I be part of LCISD to make it continue being the school district it is. You said yes. So, whatever comes after tonight, you've already won in my opinion. But to help you along the way, I've made a top 10 list of what you might enjoy. And they're not really in a particular order because there and there was actually more than 10. It was hard to whittle it down. First of all, visiting schools and watching the
025amazing teachers teach. You'll never get tired of it. Convocation and confundation. Start to finish of a school year needs to be celebrated and we always do. Opening new schools, dedications, groundbreaking, especially of the CTE center. Whenever you can make some of those events and celebrations, they're amazing. Of course, we can't uh not talk about all our state championships. Too many to count between football, water polo, wrestling, volleyball, dance team, cheerleader, cheerleading, just to name a few, and all the ladies and gentlemen that just passed through us in their areas of expertise. Um, one that I love and I hope I can still kind of come around as uh, and that's the novice academy. That's the new teacher events. Come and see the new people coming into our district. It will warm your heart and you'll
026hear their stories of how they made it here. And some of them are Lamar grads and that's always exciting to see. And of course, handing out money, $100 to brand new teachers, bonuses to the whole district. Can't do it often, but when we can, great to surprise the whole district, even your best friend whom I didn't tell. We were told not to tell. There's many dinners, lunches, breakfastes when we celebrate our students, volunteers, teachers, staff, and milestones. You can't make it to all, but if you can, they're exciting to see. And as Joe and Mandy and I got to be a honor board in 2018 and then now HB Best school board of 2025. That was an icing on the cake. And number two, graduations. We just graduated over 3,000 this weekend and we shook
027hands and marveled at their success. It never gets old. But the number one reason that you're going to enjoy this, it's working through and solving the hard decisions and watching the district grow and flourish. So, those are just some things to look for in your next four years. Now, I just want a few thank yous and let me see who was in here. Well, first of all, I can't leave without saying thank you for their dedication. the cabinet there and their staff. I it marvels at how well not only you do your job but work together as a whole and you don't see that everywhere and I thank you for it. And I don't know where they are but our area superintendent, I know they're out there somewhere. They are a fun bunch, but they
028work very hard throughout our district in their areas, but they are always ready to step up and h help another area superintendent in theirs. And now they're going to have a seventh one because we're opening another school track. But they are definitely a backbone of our success. And of course, um, thank you to, you can't not say thank you to all the administrators, the teachers, the pair professionals, the, uh, the, uh, bus drivers who take our babies in the morning and make sure they're safely home at night. To the food nut nutrition staff, to our police department, keeping our schools safe. all of these and I know I'm missing the librarians. Oh, they're my heart because they make they help bring reading and love of reading like I did for so many years in the
029classroom. Um, when I came on to the board, we had about 3,000 people working in our district and now we're close to 6,000. We had about 25 26 maybe 27,000 children and now we're close to 47,000. 12 years is a long time, but the growth is definitely here. And as we grow and we bring on new people, maintenance operation, I mean, everyone, they step up and they do what needs to be done to keep our district working and being successful. to my fellow board members. I've worked with 17 different board members over the years and sadly a couple have passed on, but you let me speak whether you agreed with me or not, which I appreciate. But working together as a board takes listening and giving and taking and not just being there for yourself
030and your agenda. It's a work in progress. You will get there with your new board and you will even go further than we even can imagine. To Dr. Nonsens, I've worked with two great superintendent. Dr. Randall at first, which was kind of weird because I kind of worked uh as a teacher and then I turned around and became his boss. But I said if four years ago as we were doing the process of finding a new superintendent, I wasn't going anywhere for four years. I was going to bring you to the community. But you really didn't need my help. You knew what you you had done your homework and people on this in the community know who you are and know what you stand for and they know you speak the truth. So, I was
031so glad to be able to watch how you flourish these last four years. Um, and to my family and friends, some here today, and I hope some my family back in Austin or LA are watching, and my grandbaby, you know, I came on the board, I weren't even a grandmother yet, and now I'm nana to five, which hopefully I'll have a little more time for. But you know, Josh, Rebecca, Beth, Adam, Matt, and Jacqueline, and the grandkids, and I'm going to say their names because they're listening. Uh, Jackson, Laya, Hannah, Micah, and Jonas. Nana is excited that she's going to have a little more time with you, but I spent my career as a teacher and schoolboard trustee advocating and supporting the strength of public education, and that's not going to stop now. Um, you
032have a little bag on your desk that says don't peek. We I couldn't leave tonight without leaving a memory of what happened a few weeks ago. So, if you'd like to look inside now, you can. And I have one from when we got honor board and I look at it all the time and it just is a moment in time that we took and got our hard work validated and not everybody can say they can do that. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. trustees. Um, would anyone like to share? Yes. I'm going to try to do it without crying. I did it, but I brought candy. I know. We're going to miss you so much. You have truly left a legacy. 12 years of service. And I know this is not goodbye. Yeah, it is not. You
033will be around. We're going to build you a school eventually. And um yeah, not goodbye. We'll see you around. Thank you so much for everything. Yeah, I'll just say that I I always appreciate your perspective um coming as a teacher and and then someone who's been on the board for so long and just like she said, we'll see you around. Oh, yeah. I'm not going anywhere. Thank you. And you're always very thoughtful. Um very thoughtful and I appreciate that. And K, uh you and I have had some a few battles in this room. It's always been about ideas though and what we both think is best. So I I've respected you and I've told other people that too behind the scenes. So thanks for your dedication to Lamar. You all right? Um like Joe and
034Mandy, we got you a memory book and hers has got to be thicker than everyone else. I'm sure there's a flash drive somewhere that has a terabyte of photos and videos. Here you go, man. Proud of you. [Applause] That'll get you in all the press box for football games and all the theaters and plays and musicals and band performances that you love. So, right, your name is spelled right. Right. And pronounced correctly, too. So, uh, Dr. Dr. Nancy, you have anything you would like to Okay. In this report. Okay. Um All right. So, thank you very much to the three trustees that have served so graciously um and sacrificially. So, we will move on with the meeting. So, we will have introductions. So, Dr. Nons. Yes, sir. We have Mr. Bates at the podium. Thank
035you, Dr. Nonsens. Good evening, President Lambert and board of trustees. Tonight, I am proud to introduce the new principal of Jane Long Elementary School for the 2526 school year, Mrs. Ashley Thompson. Mrs. Thompson was born and raised in Bowmont, Texas. She's a proud graduate of Praview and University, where she received her bachelor's degree in interdis in interdisciplinary studies and the University of Houston Clear Lake, where she earned her master's degree in education administration. Mrs. Thompson is one of our very own as she's a proud Richmond resident and recently served in Fort Bist as an assistant principal. Ashley has a total of 18 years of experience in the field of education serving as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and assistant principal. Attending with Mrs. Thompson tonight is her husband, Lewis Thompson, and her son, Aiden, who
036is a sixth grader at Roberts Middle School. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the new principal of Jane Long Elementary School for the 2526 school year, Mrs. Ashley [Applause] Thompson. Next, I would like to introduce the new campus athletic coordinator and head football coach for Lamar Consolidated High School, Mr. Chris Lane. Mr. Lane was born in a Augusta, Georgia and raised in Germany as his father was in the US Army. He's a proud graduate of Western Carolina University where he received his bachelor's degree in business administration and Western Governor's University where he earned his master's degree in education administration. Mr. Lane is also one of our very own as he's a proud Fulshire resident and recently served in Aleaf ISD as an offense coordinator at his previous campus. Chris has a total of 21 years of
037experience in the field of education serving as a classroom teacher, offensive coordinator, and assistant head coach. Attending with Mr. Lane tonight is his wife Nikki, his daughter Nayana who is a junior at Forell High School, and his daughter Nalise who is a seventh grader at Layman Junior High. And I also believe he has a surprise visit from his mother-in-law, but she told me she's mama, Mrs. Charlotte Ingram. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the new campus athletic coordinator and head football coach for Lamar High School, Coach Chris Lane. [Applause] President Lambert, that concludes all introductions for this evening. All right, thank you. Welcome to the team, y'all. We will now have the board member reports and shoutouts. Um, trustees, if you have any, please keep them to one to two minutes, please. I think Yeah, Secretary
038Welch, uh, not too long ago, May the 3, I think it was, we had a LEAF fundraiser called Surfs Up. It's a big, uh, party for adults and staff members. And uh I wanted to give a shout out to our custodial staff that was there and they were busting their butt and you guys were doing a great job. Uh and one guy that I met specifically was uh Jose Raina and I just wanted to congratulate him and all the other folks. Uh not congratulate to thank you and just to to say we appreciate you. We saw you and uh I hope you were able to enjoy the festivities and the levity in the in the pavilion uh as we were all there to celebrate and raise money. Just one more huge shout out to the
039class of 2025 who graduated this weekend. It was amazing. Thank you to all the principles and teachers and staff that come help during those graduations. Sit at every end and row and make sure it goes smoothly. Um 3,000 something graduates. Just super super awesome to be up there. It's it's really cool. Yes. Um, I would like to publicly thank um all of our campus level staff that are wrapping up this school year. We know this is the time of the year where the kids and we're ready to get out and um there is ups and downs every day at schools and so huge massive thank you to our campus staff from custodial through food service through Paris, teachers, admin, um office staff. So massive thank you. Thank you. Thank you to all of our campus
040level employees. Um, next is board board committee reports. Trustees, are there any board committee reports? Yeah. Okay. So, I am the trustee who sits on the committee for our schools of choice partner search. Um, the committee recently completed the RFQ process with two organizations and conducted capacity interviews with Alpha Premier Comm and the YMCA. Um, and just to remind the public, earlier this year, the board approved the administration to start exploring the creation of schools of choice through um, under Senate Bill 1882, which allows districts to partner with nonprofits and other outside entities to create um, new schools. Um so and to the board like it says in your board book um both orgs were evaluated across nine areas including academic planning, financial stability and leadership structure and um both of the organizations were very
041STEM focused and I wouldn't say I wouldn't say they brought the same ideas to the table but they brought very complimentary ideas to the table um for what they thought a school of choice could look like in LCISD. Um, and based on the RFQ, the committee is recommending them as a qualified potential partner. And um, that is on our consent agenda, but I plan on pulling that item so that we can discuss it a little bit more in case the trustees have any questions. Um, but other than that, I feel really good about how the process is moving forward. And I want to thank Dr. Phillips and the other committee members who are being tasked with what is a very heavy lift for um all the work they've done so far and will continue to
042do as we move forward. Uh for the way our district operates, the officers get to sit on the budget committees and so uh myself, Secretary Welch, Vice President Hutzel, uh we get to sit on that. So, we've had a couple uh board budget committees. And so, we get to sit and listen to our financial team um process stuff um and how they're trying to get us, you know, away from that deficit, closer to a balanced budget. So, um we are getting closer to a balanced budget. So, big thank you to our team that is crunching all those numbers and all that. So, um we're looking at we announced previously the pay raise for teachers that came out of that board budget committee. And so, um, we also have a, since we're unveiling a new strategic
043plan, we have a bo, uh, school finance strategic plan that we're working on as well. And so, we had a, um, committee meeting last week, I believe, or maybe a week before that. They're all going together. Um, so we got to sit up there with some of the committee members and figure out, okay, now financially, how are we going to take the the priorities of the strategic plan and apply dollars to those priorities to make sure that um, the dollars have a name to it. So that was the budget committee. Anything else? No. Uh I was the chairman of the strategic planning committee and I'm happy to report that that committee has been dissolved. So all right. Uh Dr. NZ, superintendent report. Yes, sir. Uh I want to take my time and uh just say
044a few words to our outgoing trustees. uh as superintendent, you know, we uh we uh and the trustees, we spend a lot of time together and uh you always hate when this time comes because you feel like, you know, you're losing a part of your family and uh so to Trusty Hubenac, sir, I uh appreciate your spirit. I appreciate your attitude. You've always worked with integrity. Uh but also, I love how you tell me all the good spots to go eat in Houston. And uh and he he's not wrong. And so I'm not sure where he's putting it, but uh I think I'm getting it instead of him. Uh but you'll be missed, sir, and I appreciate you. And I've watched you as a dad and a husband. And uh I admire that. I admire
045that whole Harley. You love your kids, you love your family, you love your wife, and you uh do everything for them and everything you can. And so that's been recognized and I appreciate you, sir. And uh of course to my board mother uh Miss Danziger and you know Zach uh President Lambert said it earlier um she has a heart of gold and uh you know very seldom do you see people serve just for the sake of serving and helping and that's what she does and she is Miss Community. She's always around will always be around. Um and you have made an impression on my life that I'll never forget and uh I really appreciate you Miss Danziger. really appreciate you. Thank you, Mrs. Johnson. Are there any public comments? All right. With that being said,
046we're going to take action on the consent agenda. Are there any items that board the board would like to pull? I am going to pull item J just for a brief clarification. So, we're going to pull item J. Trustes, are there any other items? All right, with that, may I have a motion to approve the current consent agit item consent agenda with the exceptions of item J? Trusty Danziger makes that motion. Do we have a second? Trusty Yubenac with a strong and vocal second. Is there any discussion? All right. I will now call for the vote. All in favor of approving the current consent agenda item ex with the exception of item J say I. I. Motion passes. All right. So now we will talk about the item J. So may I have a motion
047to approve consent item J? All right. Secretary Welch makes that motion. Do we have a second? Trusty Yuben with a vocal second that time. So, is there any discussion that when I do this? Now, now you can discuss. Okay. Um, so just to make sure we're all on the same page about it because I did get a couple of questions. So, um, basically we are just approving it, but it does not commit us to a formal partnership with um either organization. It simply means they've been vetted as potential partners based on their written application and the RFQ process. Um, so now basically if we choose to, they're essentially pre-qualified. I know you were asking me about that. So this I would say just gives the district flexibility without locking us into a decision. Um, because
048I don't think we're quite there yet on our micro schools and how we're going to move forward. Um, but just as a committee member, I feel comfortable with the recommendation because I do think they both have valuable, you know, services to offer if we choose to. Um but yeah, just really wanted to make the nuance clear and that this was just an internal first step for the RFQ process. Um so I was told that so these are the only two that responded to the RFQ. Yes, so far I believe Dr. Phillips. Yes, that's correct. Those were the only two that responded to this RFQ. Okay. So are we doing anything to garner more people mean? that as we continue in the process in building out our idea of what schools we want to have, if
049we feel the need to do a another RFQ, then we can do that as well. Yeah, I guess that was my question. What are we actively doing? Because when I look at this, I I don't know. I'm not um just based on looking at what the results of what's on the paper, I'm I feel like that might be a necessary step. So on paper, I think what she means is they don't look like they scored super highly or met or partially met, but the application and the RFQ were pretty broad. I would say that's correct. There's a a lengthy process to this. They initially submit an application that required them to kind of paint a picture of a school that they would want us to help create within the district with no real parameters around
050that. And so that was really broad. And then we invite them to the capacity interview based on that initial application. And then in that capacity interview that allows us to ask them more specific questions and go a little bit deeper with what a school could look like. Uh and then the next phase of that would be for us to come together, the committee to come together again and present some things to cabinet and say which direction do you want to go with this moving forward? And then if those um applicants fit the model that we want to move forward with then we can invite them. If they don't then we don't invite them. If we'd like to go back out and seek other partners, we can do that as well. Okay. So, this is a
051just pre-qualifications. Prefall. Okay. Got to start somewhere. Okay. All right. Is there any more discussion? Hearing none. We'll call for the vote. All in favor? Oh, may I have a motion? I guess we already have that. So, all in favor of approving consent item J say I. I. The motion carries. At this time, we will take action on the action items. Dr. Neans, our trustees, we have Miss Dowick coming to the podium. Good evening, board of trustees and Dr. Nons. This evening, I will provide a small amount of information, but uh this uh item actually is about uh the truth and taxation requirements. uh those come from the comprollers's office and every year in the budget adoption process in order to be more transparent to the public and taxpaying taxpayers um we are required to
052do certain things as a school district. So with with that uh tonight we will be asking the board of trustees to do three things. one to vote on a date for the public meeting to discuss and/or adopt the budget for the 2025 2026 school year. Uh the proposed date will be June 17th. That's the date of the regular meeting next month. Requirement two is to vote on the tax rate that we will publish in our notice. The notice is very um it's very technical. there's uh certain requirements that the comprollers's office has uh and items that we have to publish in that notice. Uh they also tell us how big the font has to be and all those types of things. So it's it's a technical notice. Uh in that we are proposing right now
053that the tax rate uh that we will publish is $1.13 roughly 1.1337 and that's a total of uh two different components of the tax rate. One being the maintenance and operations tax rate that is uh roughly 65 cents 6537 and then also the interest in syncing tax rate which is uh meant to pay for uh principal and interest on our outstanding bonds. That rate is 48 cents. Uh that is the same rate as our current year. So there's no increase in the interest in syncing tax rate. Uh the third requirement is also to designate the individual in the district or the office that will calculate two tax rates. The no new revenue rate and the voter approval tax rate. And it's my office, the office of the chief financial officer that will do that calculation.
054So with that, those are the three requirements. And um I will take any questions you might have. That overall tax rate, is that higher or lower than this current year tax rate? It is lower. So say that one more time. It is lower. So Lamar CIC is about to vote to lower the tax. Lower the tax rate again. Again. How many years in a row have we uh I don't have that information on me right now, but we've been consistently going down, you know, roughly a penny or so, a couple cents this year. Okay. It's definitely a lot lower than there was one year I think nine cents. So, we've been consistently decreasing the tax rate. Any any questions discussion to about lowering the tax rate again? We are lowering the tax rate. Okay. All
055right. Trustees. Uh hearing no questions. Uh may I have a motion for the board of trustees to approve Tuesday, June 17, 2025 as the date for the public meeting to discuss budget and proposed tax rate. Trusty Dan, y'all can have a meeting. Trusty Danziger makes the motion for us to meet without her. Um, do I have a second? Trusty Yubenac makes that second as well. Any discussion? We'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. The motion carries. All right. Now, may I have a motion for the board of trustees to approve that $1331? Well, we'll just say 1.13370 be the proposed tax rate that will be published in notice for the public meeting. So, components of the two-part tax rate of 6537 for the M and 0.4800 for the INS. You have
056a motion. All right. Trusty Danzinger makes that motion. Do we have a second? Trusty with a solid second. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. That motion carries. And that vote carries. Um, may I have a motion for the board of trustees to approve that the office of the CFO be designated as the officer/mp employee responsible for calculating no new revenue tax rate and voter approved tax rate. All right. Trusty Danzinger makes a motion. Do we have a second? Trusty Yubenac with a second. Any discussion? All right. We'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. That motion carries unanimously. All right. Thank you, Miss Ladwig. Thank you, Dr. Nons. Our trustees, we have Mr. Buchanan to talk about design devel design development.
057Good evening, board of trustees and Dr. N. Snap. We bring forth a discussion and possible approval of the design development for junior high school number eight. Just to remind the public and the board of trustees, this is located on FM 359 north of downtown Fulsure and it will be located on the east side of FM 359 adjacent to high school number eight. This is option one. This is option one adjacent to the high school number eight that was approved. Option number two. Option number two next to high school number eight. Option number three. Option number three adjacent to high school number eight. These were our committee members that ranked the three options. Their ranking was option one received two votes. Option two received seven. Option three received zero. So again, this is option number two
058adjacent to high school number eight that was already approved and the rankings of the options trustees. Is there any questions or discussion regarding this? All right, we will need a motion from a trustee to select one. We need a motion. A motion to select option two. All right. We uh we have a motion from Trusty Yubenac to select option two to go along with what the committee has chosen. Do we have a second? Trusty Danziger makes a second. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. That motion carries. All right, Dr. Nitz. Yes, sir. We'll turn it over to uh Mr. Bates to have a discussion about the approval of establishing a legacy grant from HB. Uh and so this is a a great conversation to
059have. Also, Mr. Bates. All right. Thank you, Dr. Nven, President Lambert, board of trustees. Tonight's presentation is an action item regarding the establishment of a new scholarship opportunity for LCISTD students. If approved tonight, this policy would also establish a new local policy code and uh in the policy manual, it will be in the F section and it will be under the FG local section of our policy manual. This policy will also focus on students and awards uh for LCID students. The policy is divided and outlined into seven sections as you see before you on the screen. uh the purpose section, scholarship overview, funding, eligibility criteria, selection process, policy modification, timeline to award scholarships. And so next, I will go over each one of these sections briefly, but I'll be mindful to make sure that I
060pause for any questions or any comments and discussions amongst the trustees. So the first section, the purpose of the policy, and I'll be reading these verbatim as the policy will be outlined and uh listed within our actual policy manual. The board establishes the 2025 LCID School Board HB Legacy Scholarship in recognition of the district's achievement in receiving the prestigious HB Excellence in Education Award. This scholarship serves to celebrate the spirit of educational excellence by supporting post-secary opportunities for graduating seniors with special consideration given to students in non-traditional programs. So, I'll pause for any questions or any discussion. So, what does that last sentence mean exactly? like special consideration given to students I mean is it for all students or is for students in non-traditional programs or sorry like what would be an example of non-traditional
061program well that but what does it say with special given I mean is it for students in nontraditional programs or is it for any graduating senior oh I mean so the the once we get through the policy we'll talk about this the there will be a policy students will apply for it. It will be all students can apply for it but that special consideration and so um do you want me to go into where this came from right now or do we want to wait? I will cover that later on in the presentation. You'll cover that. Okay. It's down here. Okay. Any other questions? Go ahead. Okay. Next is a scholarship overview. Each year starting in 202526 the academic school year the board shall select one graduating high school student to receive the LCISD schoolboard
062HB legacy scholarship. The scholarship amount will be determined based on the available funds with a maximum amount award not to exceed $1,000 funding. The scholarship shall be funded through the district's allocation of award money received from the 2025 HB excellence in award education award donations or other board approved sources. Eligibility criteria to be eligible a student must first compete in a district career and technology education or CTE program or performing and visual arts PVA students program. That's the first section. or be a graduating senior enrolled in a district high school, including a nontraditional program such as an alternative high school, a GD program, a credit recovery or job dropout recovery program, a pregnant and parenting student program, or a night school or flexible scheduling program. So all of those are options for number two or
063be a graduating senior receiving homebound services which is a service that we off provide for certain students which is initiated by a medical uh doctor. So any of one two or three and combination of number of four demonstrate a commitment to post-secary education including college CTE military service or workforce training. So the next one is the selection process. A committee composed solely of school board members as appointed by the president of the school board shall establish the application process and selection rubric. The committee will evaluate applicants by prioritizing factors such as academic growth, perseverance, personal statements dedicated to the district's core values and community involvement rather than focusing exclusively on grade point average or GPA or class rank. Modification to the policy. This policy shall only be amended, repealed, or otherwise modified by unanimous vote
064of all seven board members at a duly called board meeting. Timeline to award scholarship. The scholarship shall be awarded at the regularly meeting held in May of each year starting in May of 2026. The LCSD scholarship, the LCISD school board ATV legacy scholarship be awarded annually through the 2047 2048 academic school year. The continuation of the scholarship beyond the 24748 school year shall be subject to board review and approval. So, a little background for the community. Um, so we won this award, was it two weeks ago? Um, due to timeliness, this is kind of one that's kind of just had to be done quick because we wanted the opportunity for this current board to sit and vote on it and be able to decide how where that money gets applied. So, we walked off the
065stage after accepting the award. Um, sat down at our table. Then the ceremony was over and then we went straight to a restaurant in the hotel and just kind of just all sat down. We're like, "Oh my gosh, did this really happen? And what do we do with this money?" Um, and so there was brief conversations about scholarship, but due to open meetings act and the law and the the board sitting around a table in a non-alled meeting discussing items that are school related, we're like, "Oh my gosh, we really can't make any decisions right now." So, um, we kind of Dr. Dr. Nons I think picked up on some things and Miss Cole Hamilton our chief communications officer were picking up what we were putting down um in a like a little bit about
066and so they were just like okay now let's work on a policy. So as the president I was able to give some guidance to that and say okay well we have to make a decision by the 20th on what we want to do with it to allow this current board to sit. So, um, from some of those just walking off the stage discussions, we're like, okay, what if we did a scholarship and what if we made it to where, uh, for the next 25 years, um, a student that will come through LCIC will have the opportunity to, um, get a scholarship and be blessed and maybe a student that, um, would normally not feel like they are capable of applying for a scholarship or they find themselves in a situation that maybe they got dealt
067a less than stellar hand and say, you know, you still matter and you can still apply for a scholarship and all that. So, I think that's where some of that uh wording comes from is like, you know, all of our students are capable and all of our students, it doesn't matter their their circumstances that surround them um can go in there, apply for scholarship, and go on to that next level. And so, that's where it was, you know, we wanted to add that they can go into a career training program. they didn't have to go to a um traditional four-year university. If they want to go straight into the workforce and get certifications, it can be applied to that. And so um but it would have to be so each year for the next 25
068years um and potentially longer depending on if we're able to grow that interest and all that. Um the the sitting board for that year will have an application process. That sitting board will be the ones that will get to choose who that applicant is for that year. Um, but it will be done in the honor of this board that worked their rear ends off to win that award. So, I don't know if that anyone else. So, basically, you're saying we want to encompass everyone and by spelling it out, it doesn't mean that we're leaving anybody out. So that's just being more uh the clarification is there because a lot of children or students when they hear scholarship they'd say well I'll never get that because I don't have the grades or I don't have this
069or I don't have that. So I appreciate that because that's kind of what we want. And knowing the heart of the people that sit on this board and that have been a part of that that's falls in line with the heartbeat of the people that have stood up here and sat at these tables and made some hard decisions. And that's always been a idea of the the people I guess my question was more of it just didn't make sense to me when I was listening to it like more the secondary opportunities for graduating seniors in non-traditional programs. So I didn't and we realized that the timing of it where like you know normally we would have anformational item then we'll have a future action item and then an action item. just the timeline just did
070not allow us to that we had to go straight action item and not be able to have discussion as a board to to do that. So, um the the timing is unfortunate, but the reason for the timing is really darn awesome. Any other discussion questions? Okay, hearing none. Thank you, sir. Yeah. So, may I have a motion for the board of trustees to um approve the establishment of the 2025 school board HB Legacy Scholarship in recognition of their achievement in receiving the 2025 HB excellence in education award as presented and I will like to make that motion. All right, Trusty Danzinger makes that motion. Do we have a second? Trusty Yubanac makes that second and we'll do an honorary trust third for Trusty Bronzel. I don't know if that counts but hearing none. Is there
071any discussion? By proxy. All right. Hearing none, I'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. None opposed. The motion carries. All right. It is 7:36 p.m. We are journeying to close session pursuant to Texas Government Code sections 551.071,551.072 551.074 and 551.082 the open meetings act to discuss personnel land acquis land acquisition or consultation with our attorney. The Lamarcisd board of trustees are now returning from close session. It is 7:57 am. We are back in open session. Um, are there any motions to be made? I have a motion. Um, I move that the board of trustees approve the purchase of an elementary school site in a neighborhood called the George uh and authorize a superintendent or designate to negotiate and execute the contract as discussed in closed session. All right, we have heard
072the motion from Secretary Welch. Do we have a second? Trusty Box makes the second. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes unanimously. Um do we have any more motions? Yes, Mr. President. I move that the board of trustees approve the deductive change order for Lamar Consolidated High School, Lamar Junior High School, Pink Elementary School, Smith Elementary School, and Long Elementary School as discussed in close session. All right, we have a motion from Trusty Danzinger. Do we have a second? All right. Secretary Wilch makes a second. Any discussion? Hearing none, we'll call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes unanimously. Any more motions? Yes, Mr. President. I move that the board of trustees approve the employment of the professional personnel as
073discussed in close session. All right. We have a motion from Vice President Hotzel. Um, do we have a second? Trusty Yubenac makes a second. Any discussion? Okay. Hearing none, we will now call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries unanimously. Uh Trusty Yubac and Trusty Danziger, thank you so much for your service. Y'all have served exceptionally well. Lamar CIC So, thank you so much. So, we're going to take a momentarily break break. We're going to um next section we're going to doing the swearing in for the new trustees. So, we'll take couple couple minutes. Okay. Click that whenever it's green. um and stand uh in district order in front of your folders. There's a couple of items that I need you to sign first. If you um open it, you'll see
074that the information on the left hand side um pretty much mimics what's on the right. It is going to be your certificate of election which just says that you have oh do I need to hold this I'm sorry it's your certificate of election that just says that the basically the votes have been canvas and you truly won you got more votes than the other person and um you will be our uh next trustees for the districts that you serve. um the the documents that are uh they don't match because I've already taken the district's uh copy of your certificate of election. The second document is your statement of office. it. Basically, I want you to read over it and then you can sign it, but it says that you have not been bribed or offered
075gifts or um any of those fun things to be in the office that you will serve. And then the third document is your oath of office, which each of you will take individually by your um selected oathgivers. So, if you just want to take a moment um and look through and sign and then we will get you all sworn in. So, I'm going to start Okay. So, if I could get you to please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, and please state your name. I, Zachariah John Lambert, do solemnly swear Do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the duties that I will fa faithfully execute the duties of the office of the board of trustees for the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. of the office of the board of trustees for
076the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. Single member district number one. single member district number one of the state of Texas of the state of Texas and will do the best of my ability and will do the best of my ability to preserve to preserve protect protect and defend the Constitution and to preserve protect and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States and the laws of the United States and of this state and of this state. So help me God. So help me God. All right, you are official. There we go. [Applause] Okay. And now, all right. In the name of by the authority of the state of Texas, please repeat after me. I, Monica Neely Henderson. I, Monica Neely Henderson. do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute that
077I will faithfully execute the duties of the office the duties of the office of the board of trustees for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District of the board of trustees for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District single member district number two single member district number two of the state of Texas of the state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and of this state. So help me God. So help me God. [Applause] by your mom. If you'll please raise your right hand. In the name and by the authority of the state of Texas, I state your name. Vanessa
078Crystal Marers. Do solemnly swear Do you solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office the duties of the office of board of trustee for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District of board of trustee for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. Single member district number three. Single member district number three of the state of Texas of the state of Texas. And will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and of the state. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations, Miss Marcers. Thank you. Get on my Ready? Raise your right hand. In the
079name and by the authority of the state of Texas, I state your name. I, George R. A royos do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will that I will faithfully execute faithfully execute the duties of the office of the duties of the office of board of trustees board of trustees for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District for Lamar Consolidated Independent School District single member district number six single member district number six of the state of Texas of the state of Texas and will and will to the the best of my ability. to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect, and defend preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States. the Constitution and the laws of the United States and of this state and of this state. So help me God.
080So help me God. Congratulations. Thank you. It is 8:12 p.m. We're going to take a short recess and reconvene in 15 minutes. This will be for y'all to take pictures with your families and celebrate this. So, 15 minutes. We'll be back. We are now back in open session. It is 8:26 p.m. We have a quorum with seven trustees. So, uh, I would like to say welcome to our newest teammates and trustees to the Larid ISD. I look forward to serving with each of you along with our current trustees. So, um, thank you for stepping up to the call, saying yes, and sticking your neck out there and doing what is best for Lamarcist. So, thank you so much. And, um, Trusty Aoyos has requested to say a few words. So, I'd like to pass it
081over to Trusty Ayos. Thank you. I'll be very brief. I know that we have a busy agenda, but um, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my predecessor, Joe Hubenac. I believe he's probably already left the building, but uh uh Joe, I you know, I'd like to echo Dr. Nan's remarks that he served with integrity and he he he served at a time when we needed Joe. I slept much better at night knowing that Joe Hubenac was serving on our school board along with my friend Mandy Bronzelle. So, thank I want to thank them and their families for their service to our community. Um the Hubanac family and my family have a long-standing relationship and I just wanted to mention that um my sister-in-law who's in the audience today is Stella McIll. Stella, wave your
082hand. Was a an educator here in Lamar Consolidated Independent School District for 40 years. And as a 40-year educator, she worked with Mrs. Hubenac, Joe's mother, when Joe was Joe's mom was a school nurse at J Meer Elementary School. my brother-in-law, uh, Rick Ardodando, who's here as well. Rick did give us a hand, waved us a hand. He he worked collaboratively with Joe Hubanak's father, uh, and Joe Hubenak's father, uh, and and my brother-in-law collaborated on the accounting for our the family business of my sister-in-law. Much like Joe, I married up and so my wife and is in the audience. Manuela, most people know me as Manuela's husband in Fort Ben County. And I and I'm proud of that. her or uh Joe Hubenac's father and my my brother-in-law Richard uh worked on the accounting
083for their family business which is a business which has was established in Needville for 50 years and is still in existence today. So they are Forbing County natives. Um also Joe and I share a passion for agriculture. I grew up in the Texas panhandle in farm country and so I too share a special interest in agriculture. My my wife started making me wear shoes when I met her. Otherwise, I'd have had my boots on as well. Um, but I just wanted to thank Joe and his family, his wife Kelly for their for their service. Wanted to thank Judge Patel for being here this evening and swearing me in. It's been surreal. Judge Patel and I have sat through a lot of Randall football games. His daughter Sandress is on the Royals dance team, the national
084champion Royals dance team along with my granddaughter Isabella Marillo sitting there on the front row. So, thank you, Judge Patel, for swearing me in. He he and I have sat through many, uh, Vent Randle football games together, including the state championship. Uh, so, uh, so thank you, Judge Patel. John Healey, our district attorney for 26 years. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for your support. I appreciate you very much. U, thank you so much for for your for your your support throughout the for for the many years, for being such a good friend and um, and a good campaigner for us. Commissioner Dexter McCoy, thank you so much as well for your guidance, for your support. Thank you for being here this evening. Appreciate you very much. I consider you all to be
085family. So, so thanks. Thanks again for being here with us tonight. Uh, unfortunately, Mayor Benton could not make it. I want to thank Mayor Benton as well. He's uh he's he too is family and uh but unfortunately he could not make it because he's presiding over a city council meeting here uh this evening. But um otherwise um thank you to my family, to my friends. My I'd be remiss if I didn't point out my daughter Natalie. U give us a wave. Natalie Terry High School graduate. Lisa is a Terry High School graduate. Both U Sam Houston State and Texas A&M graduates as well. I'm very proud of my uh son-in-law. Where is Steve? Right there on the front row. He's a Lamar Consolidated High School graduate. Also a veteran in the in the Navy. He
086has been the volunteer of the year at Wright Junior High and at Randall High School and he established the POPS program in the silver track which is comparable to the dads on duty. So, thank you all for your for your uh service, for your unyielding support. God bless you. I love you. [Applause] Yeah. Uh Miss uh Trusty Marshers or Miss Trusty Henderson, would you all like to share a few words? Would you like to share anything? No. Okay. All right. Um, it is 8:30 p.m. We are journeying to close session pursuant to Texas Government Code sections 551.071,551.072,551.074 and 551.082, the open meetings act to discuss personnel land land acquisition or consultation with our attorney. The Lamar CISD board of trustees are returning from close session. We are now back in open session. It is 8:44
087p.m. We have a quorum with all members present. We will now proceed with board officer elections. We'll accept nominations for board president, board vice president, and board secretary. We will hear all the nominations for positions in that order. And then we will vote in the order in which in the nominations are received. Trustees, you will have the options of I, nay, or to abstain from the vote. The first vote we will take will be for board president. Once we have a majority for that position, we will move on to the next position. The floor is now open for nominations for president. I would like to nominate Trustee Hotsell as president. All right, I second that motion. Oh, one minute. A nomination I understand it's like yeah, let's rock and roll. Um, a trustee for nomination
088for trustee Hottzel for the pos position of president was made by trustee Henderson. Um, trustee Hutzel, do you accept the nomination? Yes. All right. Trustee Hutzel is nominated for the office of president. Are there any other f further nominations for the office of president? Um, one one point we for the board officer positions we don't need a second. So, um, you can second. And so, is there a second for this position? All right. All right. So, um, hearing no other nominations, um, we'll now call for the vote. All in favor of Trusty Hotzel for the office of president of the Lamar CIC school board, say I. I. Can I vote for You can vote for yourself. I I motion passes unanimously. All right. We will now um open the nominations for position of vice president.
089Are there any nominations? I'd like to nominate John Welch. All right. Trustee Box nominates uh Secretary Welch for the position of vice president. Um let me go back to that part of the script. Um are there any further nominations for the office of vice president? Hearing none, we will now call call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. Motion passes unanimously. We will now um accept nominations for the office of secretary. Are there any nominations for the office of secretary? I would like to nominate trustee box. All right. We have a nomination for trustee box for the office of secretary. Are there any other additional nominations? Hearing none, we will call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. None oppose. The motion passes. All right. Oh, well, I didn't say trusty
090box, do you accept the nomination? Okay. And John, do you accept the nomination? John accepts the nomination. Thank you very much. Good. Thank you, sir. Um, we will now pass it on to the new president. So, oh great ma'am. You have a script that has been prepare been prepared for you. So, great. There we go. I just keep I just go right from here. Yes, ma'am. Okay. All right. May I have a motion that the board of trustees wave board policy CFF local, which requires two signatures on each check drawn against internal accounts and allow one signature for the maximum of 90 days to allow administration time to order new FAIML signature plates for the president of the board, Jackie Hodzel. Is that what I say? And the secretary of the board, Suzanne Box. Okay.
091Um, yes. May I have that motion, please? I'll make it. Okay, Trusty Welch makes the motion. Do I have a second? I'll second. Trustee Lambert makes the second. Um, any discussion? Hearing none, I call for the vote. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Okay, we will now have reports and presentations on the information items. All right, trustees. Uh, we have uh Mr. Buchanan to talk about our school lunch program. Good evening trustees and Dr. bring forth some information about our student lunch pricing program for our 2526 school year. So our child nutrition program is basically funded by uh federal funds. That's a primary source of revenue that we receive for our meals. And there are three different categories that students fall within in that c on those reimbursements. It is free, reduced price
092and full price. There's a paid lunch equity tool. Um, so the federal government requires us to annually evaluate our meals reimbursements to what our paying meals are our kids are paying for. So the tool is ensuring that the funds from free and reduced meals do not help cover cost of a student who does not qualify for free and reduced meals. So, if you're a paying student, they want to make sure that the federal government is paying for a free student, that those funds for a free student are not helping out a paying student's lunch. And they require us to evaluate that annually. If there's any kind of discrepancy within the pricing, the district must adjust its meal prices accordingly. Are there any questions about the paid equity tool? Okay. So, currently we have meal pricing
093for the 2425 school year is $245 for Pegasus through fifth grade. 6th through 8th grade is $2.55. 9th through 12th is $2.65. We're looking at increasing all of those dollar amounts by 10. So, there's 173 days of school. So, if a student eats lunch in the cafeteria every day for the 173 days, it's a total increase per student of $17.30 per year. Are there any questions or discussions? All right, board. Now, we will have Mr. Buchanan and Mrs. Lovewick talk about our 2025 possible bond. Good evening board. Uh just to remind you currently since the 2011 school year, we basically been on a three-year bond cycle except for the uh 22 year where our growth uh really accelerated and we needed to move that up a year. So from 2022 to now is three years.
094So now our bond cycle has has come back up. Our our bond committee was made up of uh three board officers. Uh Dr. Mr. Nven, Miss Lewig, myself, Mr. McKver, and then Terrell Palmer, our financial adviser, and Stephanie Labai, our bond attorney. The committee met on April the 24th of 2025. We discussed proposed projects, and then we also discussed the financial impact of a future bond. So, tonight I will start with the proposed projects and then we will go into the uh financial impact. So this data currently that you see before you is based off of the Q4 data that we've gotten from our dem demographer. It is seven elementary schools. The first elementary school uh would be elementary 39 would be at Peak and Beachnut. It would impact the gold and green track and
095open in 27. Um there would be another elementary school on the purple track and red track both opening in the fall of 27. In the fall 28, we would have elementary 42, which would be the purple track impact. And then for elementary 43 would be in the maroon track. In the fall 29 would be the silver track of elementary 44 and the gold track of elementary 45. So these would be seven elementary schools that would be part of the next bond. Are there any questions about the elementary schools? Mr. Buchanan. Um there's quite a big difference between number 39 and number 40 and number 45. Um help us understand. So yes sir. What we currently do is we take our latest elementary school that got uh that we received bids on through a competitive sale
096proposal which is elementary school 38. We took the highest bid that we received out of the bids that we re uh that the biders uh gave the district. That is our base price for a new elementary school in today's dollars. Um we add our soft cost which is our FFN uh material testing uh geo testing along with our architectural and engineering fees our furniture that goes in the building and structural materials and once we get that we get a total today's cost for the entire project. What we do is for every year from now until the school would open we add 7% inflation. So the difference between 53 and 56 million is 7% and between 56 and 60 is one more additional year of 7% inflation. And and the capacity of these uh elementarymentaries is
097what? All of them there would be 854 of our regular ed students along with additional five classrooms for our special education department which is our current prototypes that we're using. And these are all singlestory buildings. These are non double deckers. That is correct. All our current prototypes are are single stories. Next in prop a would be our secondary campuses. Uh one thing that uh the board approved in our last bond was the uh additions to all our high schools. We did a thousand seat edition at Fulser High School instead of a 500 seat edition that we had done at the other campuses. Because of that, Layman and Roberts currently do not have the capacity within their building to meet the capacity of Fulcher High School. So, we need to add capacity to both of those
098campuses. So, that middle school, junior high, and high school would be a feeder pattern of students all being able to be within the facility. The best year for that to happen would be in the fall of 27 for that construction to occur to open in the fall of 28. And the reason being is is high school 8, junior high 8, middle school 8 open in the fall 27. So the year that it would open the enrollment would drop as low as it's going to a drop through the uh resoning process. We would do the additions at that time so that by the fall of 28 those additions would be up and functional for the campus. Second, as we look at the demographers uh report, we're looking at Fulsure High School because that's currently the attendance
099zone for both Fulsure High School and Secondary Complex 8. When we look at it, the two high schools are roughly 6200 is what would fit within both high schools before we run out of capacity. Well, in the um fall of 2930, it's reaching the 6,000 just over 6,000 mark at that current attendance zone. So if those attendance zones are split perfectly in half, you would b basically be f two high schools completely full of students. So that is the need for a third high school to be opened up in the fuler area to be able to service those students and it needs to open by the fall of 29. And that would be a high school, junior high, and middle school. The other thing we looked at as we continue to grow is fine arts.
100are our performing and visual arts students. We were looking at currently all our high schools are between 800 and 850 are our capacity of our current high school auditoriums. Looking at expanding one of our current high school auditoriums or one of the new buildings to be able to expand that out to 1,250 student or 200 1,250 um members of the audience to be able to uh look at any kind of performance that they would have. The other things we would be looking at is putting in an orchestra pit so that you could have the band and orchestra underneath the stage and perform live musical for any actor play that they are currently having. Also expanding the stage area. The other thing we were looking at is expanding the prop and prop production area. One of
101the things that we have a a difficult time now is as we go from one to an plate to another, we have to tear down a lot of our props because we have no place to store large props. we'll be able to create a fine arts area where those large area props will be able to be stored and wouldn't have to be teared down and can be used over and over again within the facility. Then if you look at the uh final option on uh secondary schools is a uh Terry High School, George Junior High, and Navaro Middle School replacement again opening in the fall of 29. board of trustees. This is our current um layout of our secondary campuses. High school 8 I have as an octagon because we don't currently have a tendant
102zone, but it is um currently being built. When you look at at the layout of our our secondary campuses, we have two campuses that are basically adjacent to each other and that is Lamar Consolidated High School's secondary campus and Terry High School secondary campus. What we would be able to what we're looking at proposing to do would rebuild Terry High School, George Junior High, and Navaro Middle School adjacent to the CTE center on spur 10, putting it in the middle of the current red track attendance zone. So, we'd build all three campuses. The other thing that would allow us to do is building the high school at 2575. Terry High School's current capacity is 1,875. So we'd be gaining additional 700 seats at the high school level by moving the campus there and providing them
103a um facility that is on par with the other campuses that we're building currently. The other thing that would allow us to do is as we continue to expand on the southern section with Emberly and Brookwater and other developments coming in that area is to take the Lamar attendant zone and take it and be able to expand it between the river and 59 being able to increase the number of students that go in there. Currently, anything that we would do would probably put Terry High School inside of Lamar High School's attendance zone. So, you would have a high school inside of another high school's attendance zone in its current locations. Are there any questions about any of the four secondary propositions? We had a we had a long large long discussion in in the committee
104meeting about this. So, I just want everybody to and I really want public feedback on this because I'm I'm really not sure what to think of it myself. What we're talking about doing is relocating the red track secondary schools pretty much. Would you agree with that? That is correct. So the current buildings of Terry High School, Navaro Middle School, and George Junior High would not be used anymore, possibly torn down. We no decisions would be made right now. And we would rebuild those uh next to the CTE Center down close to roughly Spur 10 and Highway 59. That is correct. Um, I would really like the public's input on this. Um, this is a big lift. Can you address, uh, as a question I asked you in in the committee meeting, what about all the
105millions of dollars that we've spent in my six years on this board poured into Terry High School and Georgia Junior High and the expansion? What how do we address that? that we I mean we've just done so many upgrades of these campuses and and and now the idea would be to come along and do what? Um so we have a committee that we currently have within the district that looks at academic programming uh along with other support facilities that we're looking at. Currently we're exploring different options for all three campuses, not making them um a feeder pattern but using each building for a different purpose. Um, and we're continuing to explore those. One of those that we would be possibly looking at would be maybe a fine arts academy that would be 712 that would
106be housed at the current uh Terry High School. We're also looking at professional development, ALC there. There's a lot of things that that we have needs within the district that we could utilize those facilities as well as um being able to um you know, those students will be in there until the fall of 29. So even though we say that now, they're still going to spend four more school years in those current facilities before we do anything with those. So I have a comment on that. Um, so what I understand is that repurposing those facilities is a very real possibility. Initially, I like the idea of relocating Terry High School because I believe that that would provide stability and zoning for the students in Kendleton that reside in the Kendleton area and the Beasley area.
107So, and and of course, obviously puts them in closer proximity to the CTE center. So, that's my initial thought on that. Many of of the my constituents in the Kendleton and Beasley area would like to see some stability in zoning and I believe that this would offer that opportunity. Not to mention the fact that Emberly and the other subdivision are coming up are going to need are going to have significant needs. Yes, sir. Uh Mr. Welch, I forgot to answer your other question is is um June 10th we will be having a bond citizen committee um where we'll be asking every uh trustee to provide four names. Um and what we'll do is we'll take every um uh every project within the bond and then what we'll do is we'll ask them were they in
108favor or against each one of those individually line items and then we'll be able to bring back that input to the board at the June board meeting. So that that is our plan to be able to gather that input from the community to feel how how you feel about each individual project and then we'll be able to bring back those percentages and present it to the board for your consideration in June. So trustees, uh I know how emotional this conversation is going to get uh with our community and um this is not something that we bring to you lightly. Um but also this is something that has when we started our strategic planning process and we did town hall meetings across the district. Uh we did focus groups across the district and uh our groups
109that represented the red and blue track all said the same thing was when is it our turn to get some better facilities? And so listening to the communities uh ask those questions and the students ask those questions uh is why we bring this to the board. Um it was pro it was probably the number one or number two comment uh and need through our strategic planning uh town halls and through our um u focus group conversations. And so this is uh us trying to respond to the question and I and I can tell you uh now Mr. Buchanan as one trustee. I'm going to request of the administration once we get this whole package before we vote on it as a board to send it to the public. I'm going to ask for uh not
110not necessarily line by line uh itemized, but I'm going to want a lot of detail. I'm not going to want um we want repairs to uh Folure High School. I'm going to want are we are we going to add canopies to sidewalks? Those kind of things. because those kind of things are what uh the public is paying for and and I want to make sure that we all have a chance to look at that kind of stuff and and ask some some honest questions. Um the uh juxtaposing that the administration's desires with with our representation of the public uh and and it's unlikely we're going to nitpick you that much, but we might. So, and thank you for leading into our our next section of Prop A. Um the these will be our land and
111land development. U we we've learned a lot as we went through this of of making sure that we have a land bank and we've also made sure that we have drainage and utilities for those pieces of property so when we do need to utilize them they're prepared. Um we're continually growing in different areas and until we can get campuses open we will be needing to move portable buildings um to ride the board of trustees even if we don't purchase one to move one is $300,000. So to be able to to to keep and to balance those, we were putting in $20 million to be able to line item those. Again, as we continue to grow, both our staff and our bus uh we continue to bus more and more students is being able to have
112funds to be able to buy buses and the white fleet and not to be able to impact the classroom with those type of purchases. Safety and security will be discussed more in close session as we work through that, but those will affect all color tracks through safety and security. And then Mr. Wels you were talking about. Currently, we don't have any of those building improvements. The only thing we have are roofing and air conditioning. Um the the reason that we kept those as a priority within this bond package is we have a lot of air conditioning equipment that has went out over the last three years at, you know, somewhere between 600 to $ 1.5 million uh piece every time we have to replace a chiller. Roofs are are really expensive. So, we will bring
113back a an itemized list of those roof and air conditioning equipment that we'll be addressing through this package. And again, those will be across all color tracks. This is the end of Prop A. Do you have any questions about this section of Prop A? I don't. But can we go back to Yes. High School 9. Okay. So you mentioned this is til relieve folure which will be at 6,000 something capacity and if we were to split it in half. So we're opening Tomas without a senior class is that would we are we looking at opening this school possibly with a senior class in order to relieve fuller enough is I can that that'll be a board that would be the board's decision. Uh traditionally we've done sophomores and now we're doing junior and so if
114we want to give maximum relief we we have to do that if we want to give maximum relief to the campuses it's supposed to support. Okay. But that is a board level decision when is when is that time and that time will be coming within the next year to have a discussion. Okay. Could I ask about the so like the auditorium upgrades to 1250 seats. Do you all do we have information on how how often those seats are full? the seats. I don't know what number we have now, but we can gather that information. Um I I do know that that we do have productions where they are completely full. We also currently don't have like most of our high schools at Fcher High School, you have no place to bring an entire grade level.
115So you can't even bring the freshman class in to address them. You have to split them up to be able to bring them in to do announcements and things like that. So but we can bring that information back to you. Okay. Then we only have two propositions. All of that was prop A. Um the second one is Prop B. And this is prop B because it's required by law. Um so these are devices. These devices are both our desktops, laptops, and iPads. This dollar amount at 54,814,528 would bring us to a one:1 district. So, not only is our computer refresh, but it would bring us up to a one one um district as far as devices go. Are there any questions about Prop B? When you say one to one, you don't um you don't
116have details on what that would look like. I mean, like, you know, like Katie, everybody has their device assigned to them. That would So right now these numbers are are for planning to do onetoone laptops with students in grades 3 through 12 and then it would be iPads for students in prek through two iPads 1:1 for prek through two. We have this would not we would not have to add any iPads to our environment. They would already be available for us to be able to use in those classes. Not saying it has to be part of daily instruction. we would have the devices available at those levels. Um, you mentioned required by law. What part of this is required by law? So, there are certain things within law that requires us to have separate propositions
117and I can have the bond attorney come up if we need to, but like a stadium that has more than a thousand seats, things like that, we are required to have its own separate proposition instead of being in our main prop. Okay. I thought you meant the technology devices were required by law. So, okay. Gotcha. Can you uh remind me Prop A? What's the dollar the estimated dollar amount for Prop A? The total. You just lead right into everything. Mr. W. One second. One second. I want to uh if Dr. Jones, come back to the microphone because uh one question that I heard earlier was uh if we do one to one, are those checked out to the students to take home? Are they just carts in the classroom that teachers will have on hand
118for student use? What what's the general plan for that? Uh right now we're looking at solutions where those would be devices that could be used on campus and checked out through locker systems to be able to utilize in that way. If the leadership wants to change some direction there, we could. Uh but that's the current plan right now. Thanks, sir. So to answer your question, Mr. Well, prop A is1 bill944,691 $91,344. Prop B is $54,814,8528 for a total cost of1,999,5,872. What was our last bond? The last bond that we took out to for public vote was just over 1.7 billion and 1.5 billion got approved. So the plan now is to present this to the committee and you're going to come back to us and then what's the plan after that? Are we going to
119discuss it amongst the seven of us of what we want to go in? I mean, this is usually a How long of a process are we talking about before we have to vote? The vote will have to take place in mid August. Uh, and so we think we have a meeting set for August 13th, I believe, is the date. Uh, that's about 7 days prior to the deadline. And so, we'll have that meeting to discuss it. Our attorney will be here, our financial advisor will be here, and the board will have that conversation in open session about what, you know, kind of how we did in 2022. We talk about each project. You know, you take some out, put some in. uh we do the math on the on the spot and then once the
120board has settled on that and they vote on it then our bond council will take the language right and create the language for the actual proposals that'll be given to the public but right now what we'll do is we'll have a committee have a conversation uh get their input and then we'll always bring that back to the trustees and however much detail you guys will want um and then you would make a decision on what to go forward with and then uh August 13th possibly call for the bomb election and then we'll start We start, we're good. Let's roll. And and we think we can do this without we're if we if if we pass it and the public passes it, we are adding to the debt of the district, but we is it also
121true that we would not be raising the overall tax rate. I will wait because there's some financial data coming after me. But if we can answer all the project questions first, then Miss Lugwick is going to be up and speak about tax rate, bonded debt, and all of that. Sir, thank you, sir. Can I ask one more question about the technology? So, when you pass a bond for $55 million on devices that have a shelf life of, you know, not a very long time. How do we handle that financially? We actually um sell bonds with maturities that are shorter. Okay, that's the short answer. Um whereas some of our bonds might be 30-year maturities, 40-year maturities. Uh these are usually like a weighted average of maybe seven years, something like that. Five to seven years.
122So we're not paying for an iPad 30 years later. Correct is what you're saying. Correct. Correct. I actually think there are some regulations as well that we have to we have to do that that way. Okay. Thank you. Just take yours. Oh, okay. All right. So, a quick snapshot of how we will pay for this. Uh first of all uh I'd like to cover where we where we are right now. We have just over $3 billion outstanding in bonds and our current interest our our current um interest in syncing tax rate is 48 cents and in the past four years we've actually decreased the tax rate by 12 cents a little bit over 12 cents. So that was actually an answer to a previous question. Um and with that um for a to support a
123an election of$ two billion dollars uh we have started modeling uh various different scenarios using different assumptions and variables. Uh we have been working with our financial advisor Terl Palmer who is here. Um and we have we have done this with very conservative assumptions. Uh for instance, um we are looking at doing four sales of bonds if we uh if we do have an election of $2 billion pass. Uh we'll do four sales starting in 2026 and our tax rate uh in that model will never exceed 48 cents. Um that is a highlevel overview of where we are. go back to your last slide because I want to point out that last line. Uh can you just point that out? Yes. Specifically, no tax rate increase. Bottom line. And that is if all of the
124variables hold true and we feel confident that they're reasonable but conservative. And so as as a school district, we currently have $3 billion in outstanding bond debt. And if we pass this and at the current and the public passes it, we would have $5 billion in in bond debt. Correct. And that would be stretched over uh what 40 years. Is that correct? Something roughly. Let's see. The last maturity on this any other questions or discussion? I just want to clarify one thing just for the public to know. So when we talk about no tax rate increase that that's that's exactly it. However, people see an increase in their in their taxes they pay because their property values go up, right? And so, uh, you know, as you see, we're we're planning to decrease the M
125tax rate. The INS tax rate will stay the same. But also, I just want to make sure that we're clear on that is that although we don't plan on increasing the INS tax rate, people's property taxes go up, their property values go up, and so that means their taxes go up, that doesn't mean that we increase the tax rate. Okay? So, I just want to make sure that we're clear on that because that's a common misconception in the public when they say, "Well, I just got my tax bill and my my my my bill went up." Wasn't because the tax rate went up, it's because your property values have gone up. And we can just know for sure then the Marcisd with everyone coming here, your property taxes will probably still continue to increase more
126than likely. And so, those are conversations we'll make sure that we have very specifically with the public. Um, we'll be very transparent in having those conversations and having all the data available for everybody to see. Uh, but I just want to make sure that we're clear on that and we say it on camera. Yes. Thank y'all. Thank you. Facility rentals. Yes, ma'am. Facility rentals. This the great Buchanan show. Go ahead, sir. Good evening, Board of Trustees and Dr. Nons. Uh, tonight we want to bring forth a consideration or a discussion about facility rentals. We're hearing a lot of comments from our public about different rates, uh, different ways that facilities are being utilized. So, we just want to make sure that we're transparent and and what's governing us and and how we operate our facility
127rental. So, currently we have board policy GKD legal and GKD local. They are both both board policies governing non-school use of school facilities. We also have a facilities rental fees and guidelines that was approved by the board of trustees on June 13th of 2017. So that is where all our rates are set along with our hourly rates for our employees. We're going to go over some brief highlights of GKD local. So some of the the order in which we follow is if there's an academic or extracurricular activity sponsored by the district, it will take precedent. So you have school use which is number one and then after that when we start looking at non-school use we look at academic and extracurricular activities. Second would be school and district uh support organizations. So these would be
128any kind of booster clubs things like that that are supporting the district. And then the third bucket would be all other organizations shall be considered on a first come first serve basis. would like to also point out that the superintendent does have the authority to cancel any non-school use of any facility if an unexpected conflict arises with the district activity. So for instance, if somebody were to use the foster gym and the FER gym were to flood for some reason or a pipe burst and a basketball game had to be relocated to Foster, he has the authority according to GKD local to be able to say, "I'm sorry, but we have to use it for district use." The other thing is is you have approval of the use. So the first level approvers for all
129campuses is our campus principles. For all of our district athletic areas, it is our athletic director to be able to approve those. And then I am the final approval for all non-school use of all the facilities. So our non-school users shall be charged a fee according to this policy. And then the like we talked about earlier, the fee schedule that was approved by the board in June of 2017, it establishes the fees based on the cost of operation and breaks down and is compliant with GKD local. So our facility rental guidelines, facility rentals must be received 10 days in advance of the event. Um because of this it's it's also difficult for us to get workers um because all of these events that happen that are non-school use. We have anywhere between a site supervisor,
130custodians, police officers, other things to be able to get not only the approval done but also to ensure that we have the personnel to work any of the events that show up. So these are excerpts out of our facility fee and guidelines that was approved by the board. So you have school day and then you have non-school day and then you have a breakdown of each individual area and then you have additional staffing and it's based on an hourly uh rate. So we're about to dive into this and let you know a little bit more deep of how we implement this as a district. So we currently use Facilitron. They are a software that allows users to schedule events at all districtwide sites, but this is also for internal and external use. So, all of
131our campuses want to be able to use a facility. It helps us coordinate all of that at the campus level. So, make sure that no uh double booking is done between fine arts and athletics or CTE or anyone else within um the school itself. They also help set up our uh support services including security and HBAC. They manage our insurance requirements. So, one of the big things when you start utilizing your facilities for non-school use is making sure that those uh renters have insurance and indemnify the district as part of the process. So, that way if anyone is injured, anything were to happen at that, it falls on their insurance policy and does not fall on liability of the school district itself. So, they make sure that those meet all our current requirements. They also
132invoice and collect all the facility rentals. So, they do any kind of invoicing that needs to be done. they issue any kind of refunds and they also distribute a revenue check to the district once a month. It also provides a district with dashboards and reports. So, how often is our facilities being used? It also allows us to be able to say are we getting more wear and tear on one facility than another. So, it provides us all those reports. It also provides reports of actually who's using the facility and how often they're using it. So uh the payment for this so right now facilitron the way the agreement is set up is they get 10% of all the revenue that comes in within the district the 90% that is left they cut the district to
133check at the end of every month of the 90% of the remaining basis. Are there any questions about the software that we use and utilize? Okay. So, now we're going to run through a quick deal of how you submit uh a rental if you're out in the public. So, on our homepage, we have underneath community, it's a facility rental. If you click on that page, it uh produces a facility renov reservation, outlines a little bit of it. It's cut up at the bottom, but there's a YouTube video of how to if you need that. But once you get through this page, you click the access to facility rental on the bottom left. Once that does, it brings you up to here. And what this dropown box for a search is, it lists every facility within
134the district that is able to be rented by an outside vendor. So once they get to that, you pick your facility. So I picked Austin Elementary School because it was close to the top. So once you do get to click on that, it brings you to Austin Elementary School and then it you it shows you on the dropown menu everything within that facility that could be rented out and then you pick the areas that you would like to be used as part of the rental. What it does, it takes you to this. So, this is um Beauty and the Beast show. This is something that we just put together and said it was at George Ranch High School. So, you look, the total cost of the entire rental is $1,830. So, that's what it would
135cost for you to be able to utilize that facility for 375 people. If you break down, you have George Ranch Auditorium, and it's used from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. So, it's a 4-hour rental. So, the cost of renting the actual facility is $720. So, if you'll notice on here, you have a custodial fee and then you also have a custodial staff. Custodial fee, the way it's currently charged is we charge them 30 minutes prior to the event. So, the custodian can get there, make sure the event set up properly. It also on that custodial fee is an hour charge after the event is over with to make sure that that facility is set back up for instruction and the school to be able to use it after the event has been closed. Then you
136have HAC which is zero because part of the $720 for the hourly rate for the auditorium includes the site supervisor and the air conditioning cost. Then you break down and you have custodial staff. Well, this would require four staff for four hours. You multiply that out times the hourly rate. That's where you end up with the $400. The police officers, if you'll notice, there is a police officer and a police fee. The police fee is the same as a custodian, putting security there 30 minutes prior to the event up to an hour after the event to ensure that they're uh safe both getting into the event and coming out of it. Once that gets broken down, one thing that is unique about the auditoriums, our uh policies and rental guidelines require that a staff member
137operate those lighting and sound for those auditoriums. So that's the $160 at the bottom. Once you total that up, that's where you end up with the $1,830 for a 4hour rental. So, a lot of things that may change is if you'll notice this attendee had 375. If that were to go to 800 attendees, you would probably end up adding well, no, not probably, we would be adding more custodian and more police. Um, so some of the renters that we have that utilize certain areas of a of a facility, such as gyms or cafeterias, well, if there's a difference between a 100 or 500 people attending, even though they're using the same space, there may be more personnel needed because there's more people sitting at the facility. Any questions or discussions? So, excuse me. So, when
138I'm looking at the the we have the chart for the facility rental, the proposal and comparisons, it looks like it didn't really change the I guess the hourly rate didn't really change a whole lot. Is that true for Sorry, it's not in your presentation. It's in our board book. Oh, just we had seen the present. Yeah. So when when you look at the facility guidelines that was approved in June of 2017, yes ma'am, because that was board approved, unless the board we bring it back to the board and the board decides to change those rates, those rates are set in stone. We we those are the only rates that we charge and currently we're basically a break even as far as using our facilities. I thought we discussed increasing the rates, right? Okay, trustes. So
139free FYI, we we have discussed uh the rates um in a committee meeting with the board of trustees um and next month we'll bring to this board uh just one rate increase is for our police officers. And so we want to make sure that we do that and that and that we take care of our officers. Uh but we'll bring that to the board next month. I probably said next week. Did I say next week? Next month. Any other questions or discussion? Thank you. I do I do have a question. Uh how did how did you and I this is I don't think that you have this but how did you pick the um the ISDs to uh compare the rates to? How did we choose the the uh the school districts to that have
140the the different rates that we're comparing? So we're looking as adjacent districts currently around us. So that that's what we're looking at is comparable um because one thing that that we would don't want to do is is take if our rates are higher say for instance as Fort Bend we don't want to take our current community and they go to Fort Ben because it's providing them a better value than our current facilities. So you try to make them comparable to districts around you making sure that you're utilizing your facilities for your community. Okay. Anyone else? Good. Okay. Thank you. Um, now we will have reports and presentations on the future action items. Mr. Buchanan. Good evening, board of trustees and Dr. Ne bring forth a discussion about design development for middle school number eight. So,
141middle school 8 is located adjacent to uh an elementary school site that we have. It's on the west side of FM 359, which is north of downtown Fulcher. So, we've already approved the design development for high school 8. Earlier tonight, the board approved junior high school number eight. So, tonight is a future action item for middle school number eight, exterior design. So, this was option one. This was option one compared to the high school. Option one compared to the junior high school that was approved earlier. Option two. Option two, compared to the high school. Option two, compared to the junior high school. Option three, option three in high school eight. Option three in junior high school number eight. These were our committee members that uh viewed these provided comments and also ranked uh the options.
142So option one received three votes, option two received one, option three received 14. So again this is option three compared to high school number eight. These are new designs, correct? We have not used these before. That is correct. These are three brand new prototypes. Three brand new prototypes. So will we use these prototypes again typically for for junior highs and high schools? We repeat. Yes, ma'am. So, we would be using these for possibly high school 9 and the Terry complex if we decide to relocate those. Those would be the um prototypes that we would use. Again, we will change exterior some. We have some a little bit of uh things we can do with the exterior. A lot mainly is do with the um construction of materials, different stones, different glass tanning, different metals, different
143metal colors, things of that nature to try to get it to blend in closer to the community around it. Do we save money when we repeat designs like this? Yes, ma'am. Right now, currently, our our prototypes cost us 6% of the construction cost. Um, so if whatever the cost of the facility is, once we get a construction bid, the architect and engineers get paid 6%. If we reutilize that design, they get paid 3%. So, it's 50% less when it cost our design cost. Okay. Anybody else questions? Okay, thank you. Next. So, board, next we have our discussion of our 2025 2026 compensation plan. So, Mrs. Lovewick, good evening again. Uh, this evening I will provide information on uh several things that uh the board will be addressing this summer. uh mainly our 2526 budget, the
144compensation plan and also the 2025 tax year assessment uh and levy of property taxes. So first of all uh there are three budgets that are legally required to be adopted by the board of trustees every year. The one for the general fund, the debt service fund and the child nutrition fund. uh the district adopts a budget at the functional code level. Uh the functional code is um the way the the uh tea requires us to account for costs. Um we they have a uniform coding system and so all transactions have to be coded accordingly so that that data can be used for analysis uh legislation and things like that. So the functional category is uh relates to where the types of expenditures are used or focused. Um the the budget can be amended during the
145year and any um any amendment that crosses functions has to then be approved by the board as well. So with that uh I will discuss the general fund first. Uh at this point in time, uh we have a total revenue budget estimate of $57.8 million and an expenditure budget of $510.2 million roughly. Uh we are looking at a $2.35 million deficit. However, as was mentioned earlier, we are uh making progress toward balancing that budget. uh we will ask the board to adopt the budget for 2526 in June as if we were operating under our July to June fiscal year which we will be moving to in the 25 in the 2627 year. So the 2526 budget will actually be a short period or a 10-month budget. Uh our revenues and our sources of funds for
146the general fund come from three main sources. Uh two of which are the greatest of course which are the local and state funds. Uh as I mentioned our budget is uh 57.8 million at this time with 215.5 million of that coming from local prop local uh sources with property taxes being the greatest of those sources. And then um from state for from state sources $290.7 million. The bulk of that is from the state funding formula. There are some things that we are required to discuss with the board and the public each year. First of all, um we have received a certified estimate of value from the Fort Ben Central Appraisal District at this point in time and that's what we're using to base all of our U revenue estimates at this time. In July, at
147the end of July, actually, we will receive certified values and all calculations will be redone and we will um update the the budget estimates. At this point in time, taxable values used for our tax levy estimate, uh, based on the certified estimate of value, um, we are looking at 29.4 billion roughly. That's an increase of almost 5% over the 2024 tax year values. And that would be at certification last year, so last July. Uh, you'll see there the increases in value over the last few years. In uh 2024, we had a little over a 12% increase, 9% the year before that, and then a big increase of almost 24% in 2022. The M rate that's used for this budget estimate, which is the same one that uh the board approved earlier in the meeting, uh
148the M rate uh of roughly 65 cents, uh 60 cents of that is our maximum compressed tax rate estimate. uh and that's calculated uh according to a state formula and then we have five enrichment p pennies on top of that that were uh approved by the board previously. Our state aid estimate is based on an enrollment figure of 48,951 students but as you know our our funding is based actually on the attendance of those students. So we are looking at a 94 and a half% attendance rate and uh also there are some allotments within the funding formula that are being prrated. So some detail about that revenue budget. Uh you'll see that 42% uh is from the local sources. 57 and a quarter percent are from state sources and then a small amount of about
149a third of of a percent is from federal sources that are reported in the general fund. So you'll see um of the $215.5 million 207 million of that is from property taxes and that's from current year levy plus delinquent taxes. About 7.6 million is from miscellaneous local sources. The largest of that is interest revenue. Uh there are revenues from athletic events in there. Um donations and things like that. Those would be the big categories of the $290.7 million in uh state sourced revenue. Uh the biggest piece of course is the foundation school program at uh $247.4 million and then there's a a per capita rate of $17.4 4 million. The $1,575,000 uh are from federal sources. Uh two of those uh of those three sources relate to Medicaid. And so the district uh files claims
150for Medicaid eligible students where we are providing um eligible services during the school day. So you'll see um that is about a third of a percent of the budget. Uh moving on to a summary of our budget of revenues and expenditures, you'll see the $57.8 million in revenue compared to last year's $473.8 million in revenue. Uh against that, we have $510.2 2 million estimated in expenditures with $436.6 million being related to payroll and benefit costs. Uh and then the next largest category of $41.3 million relates to professional and contracted services. our utility budgets in that um category. Also, um supplies and materials follows that at $22.7 million and about $9.5 million for miscellaneous operating costs. So, um expenditures exceed revenues by about 2.4 million at this point. Uh moving into salaries and benefits, they compose
151over 85% of our budget and that's typical. Uh the board budget committee did make salary increases a top priority this year and ALS to um to also promote uh the retention of staff and also maintain competitive salaries. Uh our starting teacher salary next year will be $65,700. Uh all teachers and others paid on the uh teacher salary schedule are receiving are receiving a flat raise of $2,000 each and all other staff will receive a 3% of midpoint raise. There's no increase in health uh health plan premiums being passed on to student off to over to staff. The district is going to absorb any increased costs in the health plan. And if you'll remember, our health plan is a self-insured plan. Uh district staff were required to use zerobased budgeting techniques this year to ensure that
152budgets weren't just rolled over routinely as as sometimes happens with organizations of our size. um expenditures were uh combed through, reduced, analyzed, and from a starting point of zero dollars to make sure that everyone was really um conscious of what was being budgeted. Uh with that, I can answer any questions on the general fund that you might have. Otherwise, I'll move on to child nutrition. I have one quick question. When you say that we absorb the cost of the health care price increases, can you explain that a little further? So, uh, every year during the year, we um we analyze the various costs uh of the health plan. The bulk of those would be the claims costs and also the administrative costs. uh we do uh look at the makeup of the plan benefits and
153what we offer and how the costs are performing against our estimates and then uh we propose an u a budget for the following year based on the results. Um so typically as you know health costs rise from year to year and um we analyze whether the uh premiums that we're already receiving from uh participants in the plan uh for the staff and for their dependent. We look to see if if that plus district contributions will cover the costs of the plan. And so this year we feel like um what we're currently contributing or what the staff are currently contri contributing plus district contributions will cover plan the plan expenses for next year. Um in in this number uh where you see the $436.6 million um that is the category where we uh budget the monies
154that'll be transferred to the health plan. It's all accounted for in a separate uh separate fund. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to child nutrition. It is a self- sustaining budget. Uh this year we're looking at a budget of $31.2 million. As Mr. Buchanan said earlier, um most of the revenues are generated from breakfast and lunch sales, but the bulk of the revenue comes from federal uh sources. In there, we have a a budget that's um very similar to the general fund budget. It includes salaries and benefits, food costs, supply costs, and then capital outlay. As you'll see, 11.9 million of the child nutrition budget is uh payroll and benefits. $335,000 contracted services. Of course, uh 6,300 supplies and materials are $18.8 million. That's where your food costs, your paper goods, all those types of
155things are are accounted for. Um other operating costs at 72,000 and capital A at outlay at 48,000 will give you your expenditure budget of 31.2 million. I'll take questions on that fund. All right, moving on to debt service. Uh we have we are estimating our resources for the debt service fund at $173.6 million in the middle of the page. Um property taxes at a 99% collection rate are estimated at 150.8 million and delinquent taxes at another 550,000. Uh this fund is supported also by various different sources of interest uh interest earnings on the um fund balance of the debt service fund and also capitalized interest from previous bond sales. So we're looking at $4.9 million in those s resources. And then um we receive state hold harmless funding uh in the amount of $17.3 million.
156This year our bond principal is estimated or is $40 million and bond interest will be about 133.5 million. Um any funds in in this particular fund can only be used for debt service. We can't use it for anything else like salaries or anything like that. Um each year we do have a small amount of fees related to processing um and payment of bonds. Those go through to those fees go through those fees go to paying agents and um for arbitrage calculation fees and things like that. Miss Le, I have a question for you about that. You you uh went over that pretty quickly about the uh debt service fund. And so uh I have a question about that just for public sake. So we have three buckets, right, of money basically. We have M INS
157and M INS and our child nutrition. Um the question I get often is can we increase our lunch um our u lunch prices to help pay for things inside on at the school level as far as increasing programs for students, increasing teacher pay. Is that is that allowable? Uh well, it probably is allowable, but typically our child nutrition fund uh salaries and benefits follow the same uh standards and the same staffing guidelines and things as the rest of the employees. Um the and like we said earlier the uh bulk of the funding comes from federal sources and that's uh based on lunch um participation. Um could we use our debt service funds uh to pay teacher salaries? No, definitely not. uh anything that is first of all we have we levy a tax rate for
158uh that fund and it's specifically for that fund and those uh dollars cannot be deposited in any of the other funds whether it be general fund uh child nutrition or any of any of our other federal funds. We do have a number of other federal funds but the INS money is strictly for debt service and that is it. um no salaries. Okay, moving on to the tax rate. Um as was approved earlier uh this evening, we will be p publishing a uh tax rate in the public notice of $1.13.137. um that once the certified values come in that rate could change and as long as the rate does not increase uh we do not have to republish. We'll only have to publish that notice one time. The reason it might uh or could increase would
159be if certified values came in very high. Um and our maximum compressed rate grew or increased. Typically though, if values grow, that rate's actually going to go the opposite way and go down. So, we don't expect to have to re uh republish anything. We feel if anything, the M rate will go down rather than up. um compared to the 2425 year we were at 1.1469. So you'll see the decrease again in the total rate there and the uh interest and syncing rate stayed the same. Miss Lewig, uh, we are changing, just to remind everybody, we are changing our budget year from September 1st to July 1st as as state law allows us to, and it's like a two-year process, if I remember right. Yes. Um, so we are going to vote on a tax rate
160and a budget in the month of June, but you do not receive the certified property values until the end mid July. Is that correct? The end of July. The end of July. So talk to us about if if that comes in different from the tax rate we set in June to something changes by the end of July, what what do we do? So this this year will be a little different than other years. Um this the budget that you'll be adopting really won't become effective until September 1st. So, if there were some uh you know large magnitude changes or something like that, uh we could still amend uh the budget that's adopted next month um prior to the end of August because um technically we're still on the September to August fiscal year and we
161would have to have the final final adopted budget before September 1st. So, we could still amend. Now, um once we do get through the 10-month short year and move to the July to June fiscal year in, uh July of 2026, then we will definitely have to use the estimates um for budget adoption. But typically speaking, um our appraisal district here gives us uh a reliable estimate. So we feel comfortable about being able to estimate what our revenue budget will be. Um and of course uh our uh values impact our state revenue as well. But we feel like we get reliable estimates. Um the certified estimate of value is actually a written estimate that's certified and signed off by the chief appraiser. Uh but and that's that's actually received in April, but after that we continue
162to stay in communication with the appraisal district and the chief appraiser as they go through the protest process and things like that so that if we need to tweak the estimate along the way before the June adoption, we can hopefully that makes sense. I want to ask one other question and I I am going to ask you this again next month just to get it on the record. Uh the one of the worst things I think a school district could do is overt tax their local folks and and and through the recapture what was used to be called Robin Hood. So with the rate of 1.1337, are we in any danger of overt taxing our local population, sending it to Austin so they can redistribute it to other parts of the state? No, we will
163not be in um what TEA refers to as an excess revenue position. We will not be in that position. Anybody else questions? Okay. Thank you, Miss Lugway. Um we will now have discussion of the student code of conduct and the K through8 telecommunications revisions. Good evening, President Hodzel, uh, trustees and Dr. Nonsens. Uh, as she explained, I'm here to discuss, uh, some potential revisions to the student code of conduct as it relates to, uh, pre-K through eighth grade students use of cell phones and telecommunication devices. Before we get started, I do want to remind and um some of you may be aware, some of you may be aware that in the fall, we first started this conversation uh and during that time we convened a committee uh to review the the policy around misuse of
164electronic devices, what we refer to as MLDD, uh the policy around that and and you know discuss any potential need for revisions. Uh and the committee consisted of trustees, uh our superintendent, Dr. Nibbons, all the secondary uh campus principles were there. Uh our leader of of uh student discipline, our leader of technology and myself. We met twice uh in the fall. Once on my birthday and again on December 4th. Uh and uh these are the topics that we discussed at that time. Uh we looked at again the the the policy as it was written at the time. uh we discussed uh the campus level practices the principles shared how they uh the things that they do to enforce the code of conduct with regards to misuse of electronic devices. Um Mr. Nvice shared the the
165data around the infractions. Uh we'll look at some data in just a minute. Uh and we also um discussed the impact on learning and student culture uh enforcing the student code of conduct uh around misuse of electronic devices. Uh and then finally we discussed a need uh uh see if there was a need to adjust the code of conduct. So now I want us want us to take a look at some of the cell phone data. Uh again, uh for those who are new, we have a tracker that we use to uh uh you know, anytime there's a student found or with a cell phone device, misusing cell phone device or the telecommunications device, uh uh we put it in the tracker and we list the tracker uh uh we so that we can see
166the data in a number of ways. For example, uh again, MLDD at the top is a misuse of of electronic device. That's what we use uh as a code. Uh um and so looking at this, we have a total, this is this is as of last week, we have a total uh infractions of 7,12 across the district. Uh and the first thing I noticed is is that the lion's share of those infractions are at the high school level. Uh very minimal at the elementary, the middle school. Uh a little tick up at the junior high, but still almost almost 75% it seems like at the high school level. Here's another way of looking at the data using a pie chart. Uh and again as I said 72% uh the lion shares at the high school
167level of infractions uh 1% elementary 1% middle school junior high making up 26% um and this is our our total students uh in the district and this is uh to date as of last last week. And here's another way of looking at the data. Something we do we we we work really hard at uh looking at data different ways. Uh you can see that zero in pre-k, zero in kinder, only eight in all of our first grade classes throughout the district. Uh and you can see again it start to creep up uh once students get into seven eth seventh and eighth grade. Uh peeking out in 10th grade and then and then it reduces as uh I guess I guess as students mature. Now before we look at the next set of data, I do
168want to remind everybody or share with you that uh we have a graduated uh consequence for the infractions. Uh so basically the first offense uh parents contacted the device is confiscated and it's returned at the end of the day. Second offense parents contacted device confiscated parents now must retrieve the device and pay a $15 fee. Uh if there's a third offense with that student, the parents contacted confiscation of the device. Uh parents must retrieve with a $50 fee and we assign inschool suspension. Uh the fourth offense, again the same as the first or the third, except here, uh we suspend out of school. Uh and then the fifth fence and beyond, again, contact a parent, confiscation of the device, uh $15 fee. The student now is recommended to our alternative alternative learning center. Now, keeping
169that in mind, uh the next set of data looks at the uh number of infractions per offense. Uh and the first thing I notice here is that uh uh it it significantly dramatically reduces after the first offense. So, the first offense consequences seem to be working. Uh some students need a little more reminder and uh they move into the second offense. Uh and that continues to reduce. And noticing that at the fifth offense, we've only had 53 53 students um uh at that level of infraction. And that's with a total of 47,000 students in our district. And this is this is to date as of last week. Now before back up. Sorry. Before I pass it on to Dr. Weights, are there any questions regarding this? I do have a question. How are you ensuring
170that it is enforced exactly the same on every campus? Uh uh great question. uh so one of the things we have done is meet met with the the principles at the secondary level particularly because that's where the where the where the issues are happening uh we at that meeting we discussed again that's why I had part of it was the discussion of how the in or how the policy is is implemented on the campuses when we discuss the practices uh but also our work is area soups my five colleagues that that oversee those those tracks in the high schools we work very closely with the principal uh we walk the building we monitor we ensure that everyone's on the same page uh with regards to implementation of the policy So do you have the data
171by campus so that you would be able to see if a certain campus maybe is not following the policy as strictly as another campus? We do uh with regards to the students following the policy. Correct. Wait. Right. We do have that data. Do we one is that something you can get? Do we need to get that now or No, I'm just curious. I mean things that I have been told, you know, is that you may go to one high school and it's enforced very strictly, yet you can go to another high school across the district and it's not enforced in the same way. And so I'm just curious if we have the data to support that. We do have data that we look at and that data is shared with our area superintendents who are
172responsible then to to if they see a tick up in the data with certain campuses that they oversee, then they then they intervene and and work with the principal in the campus administration. And this is this is something that the board would that uh possibly approve next month. And so if you would like us to bring that data, we can bring that data to you next month by campus if we have it. Uh if we don't have it, we can we can uh uh figure out figure out a way to get it to you. For sure. Yes, ma'am. And can I just say too, this data really doesn't is not really an indicator to me to me of enforcement. It's an indicator of who gets caught or when they get caught or you know I
173mean that's obviously it's not going to be perfect and it's a lot of kids to monitor but but you're right enforcement I think is diff you know looks different on different campuses and they have different they have a little bit of discretion as far as can you walk in the school with your phone in your hand and your iPods your earpods or whatever in your ear while you're watching all the way to first period and then the bell rings you put it up or no you can't walk in the building with that. I mean there's some discretion and I think I think that leads to you know also lends to other issues too but I I will say so one of the things that we do did look at maybe as a a proxy for
174that uh u how it's being implemented is we looked at trends in other kinds of data right uh um you know student fights for lack of better terms right tick down because students will have their phones out and typically students convene or get together organize those things uh I think contraband has gone number of things that that have gone down resulting from from you know making sure that students don't have those devices out. Uh so there have been those are the conversations we had in the committee meeting. What are the trends that we're noticing uh what's the impact of student culture? But also to be clear we've shared this that our our student learning data has has improved significantly uh over the course of the year and I would attribute that partly to the fact
175that students have their phones put away and are paying attention. Any other questions? While I don't think that the the data, this data necessarily, like you were saying, bears out that it's working across all campuses the same way, I do think that it shows that after one infraction, K kids start to get the picture, especially in high school. Um, and like you were saying, I think it's also proven that like recording fights in the hallway, there's less there's less of that that has gone down. So I really think that the policy in and of itself has been, you know, successful in high school. So that that's so far. I appreciate your questions. Thank you. Good evening, trustees, Madam President, Dr. Nib. In this section, we're going to focus on the updates for preK through 8th
176grade students. And these are proposed uh student code of conduct updates. And this is approximately about 33,000 students who will it affect. So here's our current student code of conduct. And if you focus in the highlighted section, it speaks of students are allowed to bring their uh devices to lunch. And teachers have the discretion to use their device during instruction purposes. At this time, this is our current student code of conduct. So here you see it in blue text meaning we're going to indicate what's going to be the text going to be implemented into the student code of conduct if approved uh in our June board meeting and in this section I'm going to give the key points on the next slide so you don't have to read every line but this section focuses on
177devices are turned off uh it's in students backpack not in clothing and entirely for the school day. So the key points of that section that could be implemented are the cell phones are in backpacks not in are in lockers not in pockets and the use of cell phones are prohibited through all areas of the building and uh devices can be turned on after the final bail for communication. So this next section here is a part that can be implemented as well and it focuses on what dismissal is for junior high, middle school, elementary A and B. So, Virginia High Middle School, it's 4:30 p.m., Elementary A 2:40 p.m., and Elementary B 3:10 p.m. And our key points in that section are this the dismissal times. And the student cannot use the phone at all in
178the building or in the class. And for emergency, students can call the front office and students can go to the front office if they need to utilize a telephone. So for student exceptions, so at this time for students with a 504 plan or which is indivi individualized health plan uh is going to excuse me indivi individualized education plan. It's when an R committee comes together and they uh vote and approve for a student to to uh utilize a cellular phone device or pouch. Uh, and this section also talks about students can use the telephone or excuse me, the cell phone in an emergency and it has to be a serious emergency. So those key points, students with the IEP or 504 plan can utilize the device with the pouch. Also, students can use the phone
179during emergency if it's a serious threat to health or safety and the school district is not responsible for damage, a loss of personal devices. So, pending the June board meeting, these uh these uh code of conduct implementations will be implemented uh and our 202526 school year. And I want to let you know that we're looking very closely at our House bill and Senate bills uh that can come into the uh that are currently in the 89th legislation legislation led session, excuse me. And that led session will end June 2nd. And here's what we're really focusing on. House Bill 1481 with no personal devices throughout their entire day. House, excuse me, Senate Bill 2365, no devices during class time. And both of these uh bills applies to all students pre-K through 12. Both bills have passed
180one chamber and this could start September 1st uh 2025 if approved. At this time, I take question and discussion. question. Do we currently have a police officer on every campus? Yes, sir. Okay. All right. Thank you. Uh Dr. Weights. Um Yes, sir. So the current code, the current policy on this, just to remind everybody, is that the either the campus principal can make a policy no cell phone use in their building during the school day? Yes, sir. If that does not happen, the individual teacher can say, I have a policy in my classroom, no cell phones. Yes. With administrative approval. Yes, sir. So if if this passes, if the legislature doesn't do anything with that and we pass this and a kid gets caught at lunch with the cell phone, what's the what's the consequence?
181So it can go to the consequences for for instance here, I'm going to go back to this part here and you go through these five offendencies. So it just be the same thing. Yes, sir. So what's so materially what's the difference in what we currently have and what we have except the change on paper? So right now with this within we implemented the eighth excuse me the pre-K through 8th grade it the principal there would be no discretion at all from the from the teacher and there will be no cell phone use in the building at all. So we would take away the discretion of the campus principal from K through 8th grade and the classroom teacher. Yes sir. Thanks. Mhm. Currently the majority of our campuses K through 8 are cell phone free. They
182already have that policy in place. So yes ma'am out of the 46 uh campuses K prek through 8th grade uh seven of only but seven of them uh don't have a zero tolerance policy. Okay. Where are we? Does the policy say for junior high and middle school lunches, no cell phones during lunches? Is that the new one? Okay. But in high school, we are we are allowing cell phones at lunch. Yes. Yes, ma'am. But I think I believe they all do. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So we could we could draw some sort of correlation line as in there's a going to be a gap that if House Bill 1481 passes um and a lot of or some of the learning on campus does require some sort of technology. And since we're currently not a one for
183one district, the passage of the bond and that portion that we talked about earlier for technology is going to be imperative. Absolutely. And so if we enforce some of this and since we're moving towards you know Canva sorry excuse me Canvas and all the digital learning things if we move towards this and say whether it's SB 2365 or House Bill 1431 um I'm going to assume that there is no dollars attached to that for schools to supplement digital devices. Correct. Correct. So for us as a community, if there is going to be an implementation of this law, that this is going to happen without the supplementation of dollars to do that. As a district, we'll need to pass a bond for that. Correct. Yes, sir. Thank you. And and I think yes, with the bond
184that would be beneficial to not to have phones removed and then we have that, but I I personally don't think that LCISD needs to be a onetoone district. I certainly don't think we need to be onetoone when we're talking about K through fifth grade um on iPads and that this is I just um I do think having obviously access to more computers would allow our teachers to reserve more and have those options but th that computers aren't used every day in our classrooms not even in high school. Um so I think it's important to not use computers every day in high school. I do think interaction with people and with your your peers and your teachers um is beneficial in the learning environment instead of just being on a device and interacting with a device.
185So I'm not saying that I don't think we need dollars for for devices. I do because I do think that's the way to keep cell phones out of our classroom. I'm just saying whether we need to be onetoone. I don't I don't know about that. Any other questions or discussion? Thank you, Dr. Wait. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Okay. Are there any items on the future consent agenda that trustees would like to pull for discussion at the June board meeting? No. Okay. Can I borrow this? It is all yours, ma'am. Can I borrow? It is 10:11 p.m. Is that right? No. Okay. We are adjourning to close session pursuant to Texas Government Code section 551.071,551.072 551.074 and 551.082 the open meetings act to discuss personnel land acquisition and consultation with our attorney. Look at this. Mhm.
186[Laughter] I don't know. Ask the question please. Why are you still playing The Lamari board of trustees are returning from close session. and he's okay. It is 10:42. We are now back in open session. It is 10:42 p.m. We have a quorum. The meeting it is is adjourned. It is 10:42 p.m.