001Good evening. I call this meeting Valley ISD regular board meeting to order at 6 PM on August 25th, 2025. We have a quorum of board members present. Absent board members are Mr. Nash and Mrs. Lee. We'll begin with a pledge of allegiance followed by a moment of silence. First on the agenda is a public hearing for the 2526 budget and the 2025 tax rate. Miss Hermish. >> Good evening, Mr. President, board of trustees. Dr. Ka Loss. Um we we have met a couple times to talk through the budget, just a few, right? Um and so this is our our um kind of final budget presentation and then our public hearing. So at the end of the budget presentation, if y'all have any questions or comments, you're more than welcome to to join us and and
002share those comments. Um Mr. Lamman, do you have the presentation? I have it. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Um, so just to bring us back to where we started. So the budget is about an eight-month process as you can kind of see from this and we are finally at the very end in September. So we do give a lot of um feedback and a lot of data and elements throughout the process. Um, starting from our demographic report to our course selections and enrollment numbers to then um looking at our our data and determining what we need to best be successful for the next school year. So, tonight is our final um item on the budget calendar for for the 2526 budget. Um and then you'll get about a four-month break and we'll start this all over
003again in December, right? But I did want to take a second tonight to just talk about um our budget priorities. So, we spend a lot of time talking about scorecard and how we're measuring district success. And instead of just going over numbers that you all have seen a couple times, I wanted to kind of share a little bit about what we're doing with the dollars in the budget. So, if we break apart our scorecard um with every student grows every year as our first priority, this is just kind of a short list of some of the bigger things that are incorporated into the budget um that are going to impact how every student grows every year. So from blended learning to our PLC professional development to having instructional coaches on our campuses um to bilingual
004and ex expanding our dual language and creating a dual language program to CTE opportunities and giving kids access to um school links to plan out their course planning and their graduation and their um how they're how they're going to graduate and the pieces that they're going to have when they graduate. So a lot of this is included in here as well is a lot of investments in technology. So we have replacement cycles for technology and this year um this is just a snapshot of some of the things that we're going to be tackling um in regards to that. Moving into recruit and retain staff. Um obviously the state had a lot of input this year on compensation at least for teachers. And so we were able to do adjustments to our teacher pay scale, but
005we also were able to do things for our auxiliary pay scales and that's to ensure that we're we're still maintaining our custodians and our bus drivers and our maintenance workers as well as our administrative pay scale. Um we also as we're growing hired over seven or 5.75 million in new positions. Um and these are primarily at the campus with a few select positions um at the district level to handle growth. Um we have expanded our district onboarding to make sure that as we're growing new people, they understand Medina Valley and what we're here for and what we're about. Um as well as we're prepared and we've created positions for the opening of Creek View High School for next year. And then we're doing a lot of marketing for job fairs and vacancies. And um I
006know Mr. Dr. Mcgura shared a lot with our low vacancies um which has been a testament to the work that they are all doing. And then moving into the parent and family and community involvement. Um obviously we do a we do mailers. We have Selena does a fantastic job with the ambassador program to bring a lot of voice into the district. Um as well as the survey data that we receive and we build that into our scorecard. Um communication. We've been expanded to do student square this year to ensure that we have safe district communication with students and teachers as well as all of the work we did for our branding guide and logos. And as you are seeing a lot of that with Creek View this year as we start rolling out a lot
007of the new um logos there. And then finally, finance and operations. Um this is this is kind of the behind thescenes stuff. So, we're we don't typically talk about insurance and utilities and all the fun stuff that goes into there. Um, but the some of the key things are establishing the police department, um, the Marshall program, and then obviously we have some potential district improvements as we are monitoring enrollment and attendance and seeing what our budget will allow. But those include obviously updating our bus fleet um, for more buses and adding the AC and seat belts to all of those new buses as well as a benefit. um potential portable buildings. Obviously, as we open a new campus, we want to make sure we're being equitable with our current high school campus and then also
008some HVAC replacements um throughout the district, but primarily at the high school as well. So, those are just kind of a handful of the things that are built in and I know we don't always see the details, but wanted to at least give a little bit of a highlight on what some of those items are. And then just as a reminder um we are doing these are the assumptions that were used in building the budget. So that enrollment um the 10,617 as of last Friday we were at 10,354. Um so we're getting closer to the 10617 which is making us breathe just a little bit better. Um, but we did I also looked and we gained about 125 students between the end of the first week of school and snapshot last year. So I think
009that I think that we you know that would still have us shy about 130 students, but it's getting a lot closer to to the goal just to put you at ease maybe a tiny bit um or to put Dr. Kos at ease a tiny bit as as he's over there trying to breathe. But um but we also the property value growth and and the new law with House Bill 2 um the the addition of the homestead exemptions are built into this budget which reduced our property value growth um as well. So those are some of the assumptions that we used in building the budget. This is because this is the public hearing for the budget and the tax rate. Just sharing a little bit of the property values. Again, as you can see, as we
010with those additional homestead exemptions, which is how we have been asked to calculate calculate for budget purposes, we had looked at just under a 5% growth factor. And then be with that, these are the calculated tax rates that we'll be um proposing for adoption later this evening. So, the maintenance and operations at 65.27 27 cents and then 50 cents for the debt service tax rate. And this is just a little history of where our tax rate has gone. As you can see, it's just steadily decreased. And I know sometimes the property values are increasing. So some of that back in your pocket is a little is a little bit dependent on your current situation, but the tax rate has continued to go down with additional compression. Um and and coupled with the home additional homestead
011exemption should be providing some taxpayer relief for most of our taxpayers in the district. And then just a quick snip of our revenue. So based on current revenue projections, we would estimate about 13 million in additional revenue this year. Most of that we would have we would have anticipated about $10 million just based on the growth, the student growth. And so the additional piece of that is related to a lot of the House Bill 2 legislation, particularly the the some of the funding for teacher pay is where you're going to see that that extra. So, not something that we would see potentially in a in a future year. Like next year's growth would be back to probably a $10 million increase. And then the expense budget is is in line to adopt a balance budget
012with with the revenue budget. Um we did leave from our last presentation um everything in the same functions that they were, but we've moved them into some contingency on those special capital projects and we'll bring those back to you all at a future meeting. And then just to give a quick update on fund balance. So again, this year anticipating putting a little bit of money into fund balance and we're still well aware well ahead of next year's 25% of our expenditures would be around 28 million and we project to have between 31 and 32 million at the end of this year. So still meeting that 25% threshold. This graph is a good indicator of when we receive revenue from the state and when we had that big spike with our property value collections in December
013and January. Um, and at no at last year the lowest point that we were at was around 29 million in fund balance. And so this is just kind of a snip of what that looks like as far as as far as where we are and how that cycle of cash flow um works for the district. And then moving into the debt service fund. So this fund is exclusively used for our principal and interest payments on our bond projects. And so the revenue calculated here is almost entirely from property taxes with a small portion of it in the hold harmless that comes from the state in the way um because of the additional homestead exemptions that have been placed. And so these are these are estimates. the state revenue piece help. Um, a lot of that
014came from our financial advisor. Um, but that piece is is important to our overall. And then based on that, we have principal and interest payments that are scheduled with including our new issuance out of bond 24 just under that $37 million. And again, fund balance um slight slight increase, but for the most part, the tax rate is set just to make those debt payments. And so we're going to maintain that same fund balance that we had last year. And then for child nutrition, um looking at just a slight increase in revenue for next year. So this year we're we haven't quite met revenue or expense projections. And so we're d we're maintaining most of the budget um with the additional growth um to be a little closer to targeted budget and revenue. Um, so you
015see a little bit of an increase in local because we have new more families that are going to be um, paying into their child's lunch accounts. Um, but have reduced the federal reimbursements a little bit. We're not seeing the big inflationary jumps that we saw several years ago. And so maintaining this a little closer to where we landed this year. And then the expense budget. This is the one budget that includes a fund balance spendown. And this will be used primarily for some really some big ticket um replacements. We have some chill walk-in chillers at Lacost and and others that need to be replaced as well as helping us open up and buy small wares and equipment for Creek View um as well. So that will help us with with spending down some of the
016fund balance that we are carrying in child nutrition. And this is just a snap of that child nutrition fund balance. So again, probably adding just a tiny bit into the fund balance for this next year, but pretty close to breaking even um and is well above the 25%. Um and you can carry now up to six months or 50%. So we're still um within that range between 25 and 50. And then finally, this is just a draft of all three of those budgets together. So when we come back later this evening to adopt this is kind of what you're adopting off of are the general fund child nutrition and debt service at the function level. Um and with that I will take any questions from you all. Um and then open it up for public
017comment. >> Crystal under the old law if the state had kept the $100,000 homestead exemption what would our our growth have been? Do you have any idea? >> We were at about 14 and a half. >> 14 and a half. So with the additional homestead relief, we dropped down to the four. So I was just trying to compare what our predictions were before the law changed. >> Right. So we were using 10 and that 14 would have put us in a really good spot. >> Yeah. >> Um the on the M side, it's not as impactful. The state will just pick up more. On the INS side, the hold harmless is our only mechanism and it doesn't adjust every year the way it does on the M side. So I know we have Mr. Koroga
018coming to our next meeting to talk about where we think the growth might be um for future bond sales and projections. >> So we're we're watching that. But >> we talked about that in the finance committee getting him to come back and redo the projections. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean we didn't know we were going to have this many legislative changes. So it was hard to predict. So >> correct. But I mean it is hard when you pass a bond under a certain law and the law changes. That is very fair. >> Yeah. because we, you know, with the additional commercial amount of commercial, >> you know, business in the county, surrounding counties, we that that explains why. >> Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. >> At this time, we'll receive public comment related to
019the 2025 2026 budget and the 2025 tax rate. Please come forward if you'd like to make a public comment. >> I know you all came for this. No. >> Okay. If we don't have any, we'll move on to student and staff recognition. Miss Ciss. >> M. I am here for >> Okay. >> Unless the microphone. >> Hi, I am uh Brandy Benson. I am here for Miss Leslie Solis. I am one of the vice principles at the middle school. Um I am here to introduce Miss Wheeler. She is an exceptional educator who views teaching as a calling rather than just a job. She creates a warm, structured, and supportive classroom environment where students feel safe, respected, and challenged. Her strong subject knowledge and effective teaching strategies engage all learners, fostering curiosity and excellence. During a
020recent classroom visit, she was actively teaching in the power zone with students fully engaged and contributing. Beyond the classroom, Miss Wheeler consistently goes above and beyond to support students and staff, exempl exemplifying leadership and dedication. She plays a vital role in developing student leaders on campus. Miss Wheeler. Thank you, Miss Benson. Um, I'm here to also help represent our new student class, student leadership team. Um, so if you're here with the student leadership team, will you just stand up real quick just as an act of recognition? Um, so we have a group of about 20 students on campus who are going to serve as our student voices. Um, and Brooke in the back, why don't you come on up real quick just to introduce the class and then I'm going to say a little bit
021more about them. introduce yourself. >> I'm Broo Woodbury. I'm in eighth grade and I'm here to show what she as student leadership does. Student leadership focuses on helping students grow as a confident leader and helps every student have an active voice on campus. Throughout the year, students work together to plan events such as pep rallies and dances. We also work to support school co school culture and make meaningful impact in our school community. For the year ahead of us, we plan to partner with administration to support school and activities, welcome students to our campus, help create a campus environment that makes students feel safe and encourages them to want to be a part. We will represent our peers and work to build the school culture that is val that is a val a valuable part
022of learning and representing Medina Valley Middle School. So already just in the first two weeks of school, our student leadership team has already been working hard this semester to create a welcoming and positive school culture. Students have put together thoughtful welcome folders for our new students on campus, led tours to help them feel at home, and prepared colorful signs and flyers to promote the upcoming pep pep rally. They have also designed personalized clothes pins to honor our military event, and crafted small welcome back gifts for our teachers to show appreciation and school spirit. Through these projects, student leaders are learning the importance of teamwork, responsibility, and service while making a meaningful impact across our campus. These students have great leadership abilities that I look forward to watching grow throughout the school year. We have some
023incredible leaders already at MVMS. So, thank you. [Applause] Thank you. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. All right. When I call your name, come on up. Gage Dalty. Audrey Ramirez, Katie Weber, [Applause] Ashlin McMichol, Brooke Woodbury, Hollis Bartlett, I don't think he ended up making it here tonight. Alan Duff [Applause] and Connor Benford. Anybody else? >> Oh, Brooklyn. Thank you. I'm so sorry. She was a last minute addition. Brooklyn. Brooklyn. >> No, thank you for catching that. [Laughter] This is your certificate. >> Oh, thank you. >> Yeah. So, you're being recognized as a employee, right? >> Oh, I guess so. Yes. I don't think very clear. >> No, that's okay. [Applause] >> So, so just just to be clear, Miss Wheeler was also being recognized tonight, too, as one of the outstanding teachers at Medina Valley
024Middle. So, Miss Wheeler, we appreciate all that you do. Yeah. So, if you want to come over and have a picture, too. Yeah. Next on the agenda is public comment. We have no one signed up to speak. And now we're going to move on to announcements, communication, and presentations. Parents, you are welcome to go. We're going to get to business. And I'm not sure that you're welcome to stay and listen, but you may want to go. So, we're going to move on to board committee reports and we're going to start with the finance committee with Mr. Leonei. I'm sorry, I should know that. Construction updates related to Creek View High School. uh the Medina Valley High School A and J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J
025J J J J J Rt, J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J R O TC upgrades, uh Medina Valley Middle School 3. Uh we talked about purchases specifically for the Creek View High School weight room equipment. Uh we talked about our tax notice and tax rate, which we discussed earlier and we will adopt tonight. Um and then uh we talked about the 2526 budget, specifically capital improvement projects and light ite line item approval for um purchases over 50,000. Uh we reviewed board policy CH legal the change um based on um exceptions as provided by the education code chapter 44. All district contracts
026for the purchases of goods and services except contracts for the purchases of produce or vehicle fuel valued at 100,000 that went up from 50,000 to 100,000 at the state level. Uh we also talked about 2526 purchasing cooperatives uh 2425 final budget amendment uh which I think we'll review later as well and then uh the marketing brochure that will be created by the communications department. >> Any questions? >> Not move on to the construction committee with Mr. Beeter. >> All right. The construction committee members consisted of myself, Matt Castalone, and Ben Huarez. Uh we met on August 13th and discussed the following items which are pretty much a repeat what uh Matt just mentioned here. So, first item was around construction project updates. I reviewed Creek View High School status, Medina Valley High School a uh
027JOTC JOTC building status and the Medina Valley Middle School number three status. Uh next item was around purchases and the wait room equipment for Creek View. Next item was we uh we reviewed the notice and the tax rate. Um that we will be discussing again or discussed already. Um next item uh discussed was the 2025 2026 budget. Uh next item was cap around capital projects and line items for that were for approval. Uh in regards to that, next item was board policy CH legal. Um changes were mentioned in in both committees for finance and construction. Uh next item was around the 2025 2026 purchasing cooperatives. Uh we we reviewed the list of purchasing purchasing cooperatives used by the district. Uh next item uh that we reviewed was the 202420 2025 final budget amendment. And last
028but not least uh we reviewed the marketing brochure that will be created by the communications department. >> Any questions? Now we'll move on to safety and security committee with Mr. Watis. >> Uh good evening. Uh the safety committee members including myself, Blaine Nash and Nathan Fillinger met August 14th. um and discuss the following items. Uh the police department updates, uh safety project updates, uh appointment of members to the safe and supportive school program uh team. Uh summer training for the marshals and the police officers with an overview of what they did this summer. Uh NVISD 24 and 25 accountability results, advanced placement class numbers and dual credit numbers, the advanced placement class stipen, which we'll discuss later today. uh the employee handbook revisions and district of innovation amendment needed to meet legal changes. >> Any
029questions? If not, we'll move on to curriculum with Mr. Bonnie. >> The curriculum committee meetings uh members are Susan Lee, myself, and Matt Castigleone. Uh we met on August the 14th. Uh we discussed the following items. 2425 accountability, the advanced placement class numbers and dual credit numbers, the advanced placement class stipen, the AP stipen, the employee handbook and the updates, the district of innovation amendments to meet local challenges, the MAP scores, CNI programs to include age of learning, progress learning and 95% phonics and district uh retesting policy. Any questions? If not, then we'll move on to the construction briefing with Mr. Baras. >> Good evening, Mr. Board President, members of the board. Dr. Kaos, we'll start with Creek View High School construction update. Uh so this project we are currently 76% complete as of pay
030application number 21 which is our August 20 uh or which is our August uh application and that is that includes the 9% of the stadium upgrades that uh were recently added to this project. Um we'll go ahead and show you all the drone video of this one as we talk a little bit about the site and uh exterior. So, as you all can see here, there's more flat work being installed on the academic courtyard um between area B and C on the first level. Uh there's a lot of final grading and preparation for uh for soil and um ultimately sod or grass or seed that will be placed here in the center of the screen. Now you see the canopy that will serve as the main entrance for our sped students and life skills. At
031the bottom uh you can see some uh of the u top soil that's being placed throughout the site as well as the trenching for irrigation that's being done throughout uh the open areas for Creek View. some more top soil on what will be the future uh student parking lot. As we pan on to the fine arts and gymnasium area, you're able to see the last bit of pieces that are missing from the metal panels as they're being installed in um the roof. Once the metal panels are installed in, uh the roof membrane will be completed. uh more flat work on what would be the outside of the uh competition gym. And on this area, really one of the huge milestones that this project achieved last week was uh CPS fully energized the or did the
032final connections uh for the main building. Um, so as of right now, Barllet and their subcontractors are testing uh main distribution panels uh to to start energizing the building. Another milestone that was achieved this week uh or this weekend was uh Zo pulled fiber from 381 over to the main IDF. There's still terminations to be done, but that that was another huge piece that was uh accomplished in the last u week. So on to the next images on the exterior again on on the stadium piece. Um the curve has been installed on what we what will be the track and you can see some of the um drainage system that's being installed in the competition field um in the future stadium. On the visitor side, uh the peers have been installed for the grandstands as
033well as the vapor barrier and um reinforcement for the pad of what will be the visitor side concession building and restrooms. On the home side, the pad, the select field pad for the concession building and uh the multi-purpose room is also completed. And here you'll see some uh utilities still being trenched out um on the home side as well. I'll hand it over to RT to talk to us a little bit about the what's happening on the interior. >> Good evening everyone. Dr. Kaos, members of the board. Um as Raphael mentioned, huge milestone getting CPS. I know we've all been waiting on that one for a while. So check that box off the list. Um, now we now have all major utilities tied into the building, which is which is great. This is second floor
034area B that you're seeing in the corridors. These temporary duck work will soon be out of there. Now that we're energized, it it' be about a two to three week process um with startup and different testing of the panels. Hopefully get that removed here soon. will have uh conditioned air from the from the units with inside the building blowing. The tectum panel ceilings have been installed in this area. Light fixtures have been installed and the wood PSI panels there on the wall as well. Similar area um on the opposite side of the building. Um, this is third floor, level B, open corridor area with the group room that you're seeing directly ahead of you with all the glass and then the classrooms on either side right there. Like I mentioned, tectum panels installed on the
035ceiling, lights installed. Um, this area is getting close to once we get conditioned air, you'll see the flooring going in and the corridors. Um, and a little bit of work left to do in this area. Then we'll we'll be out of the classroom wings. This is the ceiling inside of the library. The curved radius have been completed, have been painted. Now we're working on the ceiling grid for the layin ceiling of the high portions of that area. The PSI panels on the columns have been installed. Um, and there's some other interior panels that we're working through right now, getting those here and getting working through getting the overhead work in this area completed. Another ceiling picture. This is the cafeteria area. So, the layin ceiling in this area started about a month ago. Made some
036good progress about halfway through. You could see the supply diffusers have been installed as well. another two to three more weeks be done in that area. Tectum or the wall panels have been installed, the acoustical wall panels and uh tile at the very bottom down there. You could see um at the uh water water fountain areas. This is the serving area of the kitchen. Behind those um those tile walls is the actual kitchen area with tile. This is the serving area that has a sheet vinyl flooring. They just completed that this past week, which is a big milestone because we have kitchen equipment coming within the um early part of October. So, having this all complete ready for kitchen equipment um is a big milestone for us. So, that is it. >> Any questions on
037Creek View? >> Next one is our Medina Valley High School agertc project. Um so this one we're 18% complete as of August pay application. Um this image you see here was about two weeks ago on the build um buildup of the pad the select fill pad. However, as of today the building pad is now complete. The only thing remaining for that section is the 6 in of base and then they're going to start forming and trenching. This image is um taken earlier this morning. So, 6 in of base and then they're going to start um trenching for utilities and conduits um through the building prepping for um formwork, rebar, slab, and um before the end of the year, we'll we'll definitely have um steel structure um being placed on site. Um, another big piece that's
038being done right now, this is phase two of the electrical piece for this building. So, this will be the main service line that will feed the future act, but also um back feed the existing CTE building. Um, we got drawings approved by CPS. On this one, we'll be it will be a little different than the main swap through the summer. we can keep the existing CTE building life, tap onto it and the change over change over will be a lot faster being that we have a an existing transformer and feed um for the existing structure. Any questions on a JOTC? >> So far so good. >> Yes, sir. I know admin's been a lot of help in this campus for sure. Um, moving on to our middle school 3 project. On this project, we're 4%
039complete uh as a pay application number three for August. Um, this image is taken off of Montgomery Road looking towards our property. That brown spot towards the top right hand side. Um, as you see here, that's f what would be Falcon River, or at least that's what it's called right now. Uh, feeding off of Montgomery Road onto our middle school property. Then the Lite 10 um area you see on what is the LGI property, that's the temporary road we had to build to access our site being that um the developers working on on Falcon River. Um currently um this other image taken from the southeast corner of our property. Uh again a lot of grading and um and clearing of the site. We currently don't have the full permit still from public works. Uh however
040we do have a site clearing, grading, and uh peer uh permit that would keep us busy for the next uh couple of months. We're really only uh I want to say about two to three weeks from receiving the full uh permit. We've been getting some comments back, smaller comments uh on saws and we should be receiving the full permit here shortly. But other than that, there's a lot of clearing and dirt work happening right now, but uh as of next week, they're going to start setting cages setting cages for the peers and start um all the peer drillings. um early next week. Any questions on >> from the the view from Montgomery Road, where's the elementary site in that photo? >> So, if you see kind of the tan Well, it's top left green space.
041Um kind of towards the end of the road, >> further down. Further down. Yeah. Couldn't remember it was closer or further >> right there. Yes. >> Thank you. Whoever's doing that. Thanks. >> Any questions? All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we have a financial briefing with Miss Hermish. >> I'll sit down if you want me to. No, I'm just kidding. Um here here is the um financial briefing as of the end of July. So until we finish audit, this will kind of be the last one for the 2425 school year. Um it's just high level in the general fund. We've collected about 85% of our budgeted revenues and spent about 87% of our budgeted expenses. Compared to last year, we're right on target on the expense side. On the revenue side, um we're
042a little we've collected a little bit more than what we did last year at this point. I think we had more in settle up last year from the state revenue side than what we do this year. Um but we are still um we are as I scroll to the next page, we're still waiting on about $13 million from the state um from state aid. So So we still have quite a bit of settle up state aid that's going to come in. Uh and so we still anticipating um more than meeting budget. I think we're looking at about 60 million in state aid total. So um so we should be um well on track and those funds are pretty well pretty well set and determined. So not an issue on the revenue side there. Um for
043the child nutrition fund, we we are a little less collected and also a little less on expenditures than what we budgeted. And as we talked about a minute ago, we're adjusting some of those projections to be a little closer to actuals. And some of that is just related to um inflationary costs when we budget. Sometimes we don't have all of the the information on what our inflation rate is and things like that at that time. And so just this is kind of where we are right now. Um we are at 81% collected and 68% of expenses. So um plenty of wiggle room um on that budget. So you won't see any final budget amendments on that one. And then if we look at debt service, um again, we do have a final budget amendment today
044to to allow for the addition that we moved in from the bond fund for the additional payments. And so so we will make sure that we're covered um from an expense side on that piece. Um but as of the end of July, we hadn't made the August payments yet and we um were still sitting with with budget available. Um this one we did it's going to be I think it's around 11 and a half million that we are we transferred in of the 15 in the debt service fund. And so that will be um what we have the final budget amendment for. Um but again this our local collections were slightly under like we're under collecting a little bit. that we were at more at 97% and we were at 99% at this time last
045year, but we ended up making that up and hold harmless money from the state. So, we still ended up fairly break even as far as the budget went. Um, the next couple are our bond funds. And so, um, as you can see, we're kind of moving along with the bond. And so you'll start to see more in the expense column and less in the encumbrance column is um as high school 2 nears more completion. And so that's that is where we are. We're also working a lot on the FFN pieces of of Creek View. And so we'll we'll be bringing a lot of purchases over the next couple months really between here and January to get a lot of those bigger ticket um FFN purchases on the books and then working through also the um
046the additional really it's that and then we have a little bit of land money um left in there. So most of the other projects are pretty well complete. um the Agon ROTC building obviously that one is is just kicking off but hopefully we'll get that one rounded out um for the next fall as well. Um still looking good on the interest side. Um we will in the August piece you'll see an additional in addition to the 8 million that we moved over in the middle of the year for the debt service payment. There's another three a little over three three and a half million that we moved over in August to make that final final defeasance payment. Um but still still even with that we're still looking at a pretty good balance in there and
047we are allocating for arbitrage as well. So taking out the six million for arbitrage you still have about 16 million in in interest in that fund. And then moving into bond 24 um as of the end of July it's really the stadium improvements um that are still on the books in here as we work through the rest of the contract for middle school 3. But we should see that one um in here on the next on the next go round of statements. Um but this is where this is kind of where we stand. Again, still collecting interest um but a little bit smaller than on the smaller amount of bond than what it was on on 23. Do you all have any any questions about the financials? >> Any questions? >> Thank you. Moving on
048to discussion related to district practices on retesting. Miss Hendricks. >> Good evening. So just an update after lots of discussion um we have decided to keep the grading policy as is. So it is um posted with um the what it was before any of the discussion and we have notified the high school that that change is not going to move forward. I think we will you know get to get a committee together and start looking at how the whole policy not just not just one part of it. Um but at this time we're not moving forward. The year started so we're keeping it exactly the same. Are there any questions? >> Any questions? >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to superintendent briefing. Dr. Kaos. So, just to comment on the start of the
049school year, I thought we got off to a great start and I want to u compliment our campus administrators and teachers and support staff as well as our departments on their hard work and ensuring that we got off to a great start. Couple of areas of focus uh as we start the school year and this is pretty typical u for this district and being a fast growth school district or traffic, right? We're trying to work through some some traffic concerns as well as transportation. And um I I I I want to compliment our safety and police department for their input and working on trying to to get the traffic and safety concerns and uh addressed as well as our transportation department, Mr. RmIrez and his his staff have done a great job of handling our
050our buses and trying to address concerns that come up with buses. But can you you can see here as we started the school year, we had our back back to school bash where uh we had uh quite a few of our students receive free backpacks and supplies. So again, thankful to all those staff members that were part of this and made this possible. Things like this take a lot of work and and so we appreciate them and all that they do for our kids. We had our new teacher lunchon as as we uh began the school year and so that was a couple of thank yous here. First Baptist Church here in in Casterville allowed us to use their facility uh to to host this event. So very thankful to them for allowing us to
051do that. And then our Chamber of Commerce, right, the Casterville area Chamber of Commerce. Uh they provided the lunch for all of our new teachers as well as some uh door prizes. Um so, you know, they had to they had to put in a lot of work to go out and get sponsors to sponsor this event to provide all of this. So very thankful to our Chamber of Commerce as well. Uh we had a great start with our convocation, right? And so we had um we had it split up. We had all all of because we're getting so big, right? We can't do it all at once anymore. And we had it here in our at our fine arts center. So we had our elementary uh campuses for one of our convocations and our secondary
052campuses and then our our auxiliary staff. And so it was a it was a great start off. U you can see the picture of our teachers there. they they like to have fun with this. So, they get they get into it and get get the spirit for the district going. And then this year, we had some of our students talk to our to our staff and kind of we we did a little Q&A with the students and so it was a big hit as well. Our students did an outstanding job and and we're appreciate we appreciate them. You know, also our students run the convocation. They lead this. So, uh, very fortunate to have these students do this and, you know, they're taking time out of their summer to do this. So, we're very thankful
053to them. We also had our community pep rally, right? Our yearly community pep rally uh, held at the stadium here. A great turnout. We recognized all of our all of our extracurricular, right, from our athletics to our fine arts. And so, got the got the year off to This is a great time of year, right? Very very excited. Everybody's back in school and we're ready to start competing again and so a lot of excitement in the air. We had a military night with our big uh military population. We want to make sure that we are um you know a lot of these a lot of these kids by the time they graduate they've been in seven, eight, nine different school districts. So we want to make sure their transition into Medina Valley is a smooth
054transition. So, we set this event up so that they can meet other military families and also see some of the programs that we offer here at the at the in the school district. Uh we just we just uh produced another bond dollars at work. Uh Miss Vieira and her communication department head this charge up and they they do a great job of informing the the community and parents uh where we are with our bond projects. So, I'm sure most of y'all saw that video here recently. Uh, one of our volleyball players, Alana Smith, she's a senior, four-year letterman in in the sport, was named uh to the 6A list for uh the SA Express News as a player to watch. And so, very excited for her and our volleyball team as they start their season.
055And then last, you can see enrollment. So we compare enrollment where we were at the end of last year to where we were as of last Friday the 22nd. So you can see um overall we are up you know from the end of the year as uh I believe Miss Hermish mentioned earlier our projected enrollment by snapshot which is at the end of October is right around 10,600 kids right so we have some growing to do hopefully we we get close to that mark but if you look at the individual campuses you can see all of our secondary campuses are up from the end of last school year in enrollment And then at the elementary level, uh the the the we've got we've got a couple that are up over last year. Then we've got
056a the two that really stick out right now for us are are um uh not Petranco, but Lucky Ranch and Silos. They're a little bit down from where they um finished this the school year last year. So those are the two that um you know are a little bit of a question mark right now. You know, but the enrollment is is growing daily, right? So, we anticipate it to continue to grow. Uh, we know we're going to get a few more kids in after the Labor Day holiday. That's usually a time when we have additional kids enroll as well. And so, we'll keep monitoring the enrollment as we go through the school year. Any questions for me? Nope. Okay. We'll move on to discussion and possible action items. First on the agenda is consider approval
057of consent agenda items. Dr. Kos. So I items listed under consent have been discussed with U board members in committee meetings or have been uh you have been provided information through board updates. Um so they're presented here tonight. Information is provided in the board book for the public as well on each one of these agenda items, right? It's one of these consent items. And so if you have any questions, we can pull them at uh pull pull that item and discuss further if needed. Anybody want anything pulled? >> Then I'll look for a motion. >> Hi, Matt Castleion. Move to approve the consent agenda items as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I been want to second the motion. >> I have a motion and a second. Any further
058discussion? If not, all those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next, we have consider approval of amendment to the 2526 compensation plan for AP dual credit stipen. Mr. McGro. >> Good evening, Mr. President, board members, Dr. Kaos. Uh we did present this to uh both committees uh last week regarding our dual credit and AP. Currently our dual credit is already $600 uh semester uh per class and we're requesting to do the same with advanced placements. We will be receiving funds from our college partner to take care of the dual credit. So what we have budgeted for dual credit, we can now pay for the uh advanced placement classes and do the same thing there as 600 per class per semester. And then the stipulations for both would
059uh want to provide a reward for teachers that do excellence with those teacher uh students in the class by finishing the class and meeting the passing requirements needed to get the additional 400 per section per semester. So, we're presenting a total of $1,000 uh per section per semester for each the dual credit and AP uh classrooms if they meet all the requirements necessary. >> Any questions? >> I I do want to add this is part of our our push to um put put a major focus on our advanced academics, right? We want to we want to do some things in this area. um to make sure that our kids are are prepared, you know, when they when they graduate from Medina Valley and head on to college. So, this is a big push for us
060moving forward. >> Any question? >> I'll look for a motion. >> I Jason Bonnie move to approve the amendment to the 20 2025 2026 compensation plan for AP dual credit stipens as presented. I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I Joe Beer second the motion. >> Any further discussion? I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Not all those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next we have consider approval of revisions to the district of innovation plan. Mr. Mcguro. >> Yes sir. So on the DOI plan, our innovation number seven uh by law we cannot have in there. So that would be strike strikeout number seven. We did present that to the committees last week and to our DWAC, our district-wide uh
061uh committee and they are supporting that. And then the amendment we want to bring to you is regarding uh grievances. So we would like to propose that we stay with our current policy with grievances um and not follow the new guidelines that the state is is is promoting which is uh 15 days to file a complaint with us. Uh once we hear that, we have 10 days to respond back to them and then the grievant has 10 days to appeal to level two and then same timelines to appeal to level three. Um so at this time administration does approve adding the grievance to our district of innovation and DWAC approves it as well. Uh so we're bringing it to you to approve. >> Any questions, comments? Uh so these are both based on legislation legislative
062changes this year right? >> That is correct sir. >> Okay. Yeah. So the grievance policy I know there was a specific call out with that but under our district of innovation plan we can add this clause to our plan and then we're >> Yes sir. They did they get did give us the advantage of adding it to our DOI to be exempt from the current law. >> And remind me why the change why the state mandated change for the designation of the campus behavior coordinator. They they don't want one at every campus, but >> they want one. >> They do want one. >> What we had was at the high school having 3,000 students. We wanted exempt so we could have multiple behavior coordinators so that wouldn't follow one person. Uh but the state says
063now we cannot do that. So it's still all the behaviors go through one person at the high school that has 3,000 students. So there's a lot of other districts that have to remove that this year. >> So we were doing better than they wanted, but they want us to drop back to one. So Okay. >> Yes, sir. All right. Thanks. >> Any other questions? If >> not, I'll look for a motion. >> I'm Matt Castleion. Move to approve the revisions to the District of Innovation Plan as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I want to second the motion. >> I have a motion. Motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor raise your hand. All board members vote it for and the motion carries.
064Next, we have consider 2425 final amendment budget. Amended budget. Mrs. Mrs. Hermish. >> Okay, we're going to rock and roll through a whole bunch of fun things. So, ready? No. Um, so this is our final amended budget. This last year, I know we had a lot more variances as we went through the year and we're kind of gauging on a budget that um that we hadn't necessarily adopted um in house anyway. And so as we're looking at this one, as we kind of scroll through, this is this is where we stand kind of as a as a final budget. Um the first column is your adopted. The second is our amended as of the beginning of August. And then the final one are the adjustments that we'd like to make by function. And then the
065last column in orange is your final final budget. So just to point out just a couple of the things that really lead led to this. Um the first the on the revenue side the 1.2 two million is we do our acrruel every year. It's based on our we have an expense acral for salaries for our teachers in the month of August that would go that need to be booked. And then we also have um we also have revenue and state aid that gets booked to offset that. And so this year because we are gaining quite a bit in state aid that's actually a positive revenue piece to us. So we're anticipating additional revenue than what we than what we budgeted. um with the acrruel in in place that 7900 or that other resources is is
066for something called Sabidas which are super exciting accounting lingo for instructionalbased subscriptions and they the Gazsby or the government accounting standards board requires us to capitalize these and then pay them as part of debt service as an expense um just to just to make sure that we're accounting for future obligations. ations for things that we've signed a threeyear four-year contract on. And so where you see so we've added a little on the revenue side to that um because it is an offsetting entry. But then on function 71 that's where you see our biggest one is the is for those debt service payments. And we're not anticipating it being over the 500,000 but we did want to make sure and give us room because that is something we get a lot of advice on the auditor
067for. So, they may find something we didn't pick up that they want us to pick up and we just want to make sure we don't overspend a function. Um, a lot of those agreements do come from function 11 because they're instructional based software or from 53. And so you or at least on on the 11 side you see that's where some of the decrease has come because we know we're going to reclassify some of those expenses to 71. Um, and the rest of them are really just minor tweaks to make sure that we don't overspend with overtime or extra duty or anything that um that isn't a necessarily encumbered expense between now and September one. But we've ran we've run payroll and we've booked most of the entries. So, we feel pretty confident with where
068we are. Um, if we keep going, the next one is child nutrition and we don't have any any adjustments to child nutrition. Um, as we said, we both we've we have plenty of funds in in function 35 and so we're not concerned with that one. And then finally, the last one is our debt service. And so again, um, the revenue comes in and in a because it's transferred from another fund, it's not property tax collection. So it's in that 7,900 which isn't really part of our adopted revenue. But then we do want to make sure we increase the function 71 expense side to account for that debt the additional debt service payments we made through the defeasence. And so those are that is what we are recommending for a final budget amendment. I'm happy to
069take any questions on this one. >> So I know we talked through this last year and about just distributing for audit. All of that is baked in and where are you just kind of expecting us to land overall? we so I think um I may actually suggest that probably that adjusted budget amendment is a little closer to actual than than where we are currently as far as budget. So if I was guessing I think we're probably in that million dollars potentially going into fund balance and it may be more like a million and a half if some of if we have some rolled POS that don't get finished before the end of the year but that would be a >> come right back out. So >> yeah, we need it. I mean I mean yeah
070I mean we're >> it's close but it's not like this is rare for a school district in Texas. So for us to put an additional million and a half in fund balance the uh just to clarify I mean um the additional resources this was the 11 million 698,000 that was from bond interest earnings >> correct >> that we put back in to make additional principal payment or interest payment >> interest payment. >> Yes. And that really just allowed us to build capacity um for for the next issue. >> Correct. Yeah, >> that was part of the 15, right? >> That's part of the 15 million. Yes. Took out. >> So, we ended up not moving the whole 15. And so, we'll have additional money sitting in interest should we need a future defeasence or again
071to kind of allow if for some some reason we're short in our INS fund on a payment year with as we're dealing with the the new homestead exemptions, then we have we still have some left. Now, remind me with the legislative changes that came in place, are we going to be able to do this in the future? >> Didn't they change the defeasants? >> Yeah. >> So, >> where we can pay off debt early? They don't want you to pay off debt early anymore. I don't understand that either, but >> I know it's not it's it's about taxes and not about financial um or fiscal responsibility so much. Um but it will the way the defeasence law works now is that we you all would have to have a super a majority vote um in
072order to allow us to do that. Um and so I think it's a 60% um vote in order but the district could still do it. The only 60% >> the little cliffhanger in there at least that I see is that if you if you set a tax rate and you don't spend every penny of what you collected then they're going to reduce your hold harmless. And so so but that's why we made decisions not to put any extra into the fund balance. Not so we're going to be tracking that carefully so that we're not losing anything. Right. Not overcharging taxpayers for versus what we need. And going back to the food service, I'm sorry, I just got a bunch of questions. I know you probably went over there with finance committee, but the uh the
073spend down for this year. So, we're what what is our I'm sorry, I can't see at the bottom. Uh the 1.5 um so that will reduce our fund balance. Is that enough or? >> Um, we are probably in all honesty really break even on child nutrition this year. We'll see. August is a big um well both kids put money in their accounts and we have some big expenses as food orders are coming in and we're restocking the fridge and whatnot. Um and so I still expect 8% probably in both revenue and expenses. Okay. >> Um for the month of August alone. So, we'll still we'll get a little closer. But, um, as far as the spendown plan, some of last year's was also in salaries and additional positions and like our kitchen HVAC position has
074been available has been posted all year and we haven't been able to fill it. And so, there are some things that we weren't able to do. Um, and then so we are we're planning a little bit more on the big equipment and then we know that with Creek View opening we'll have some opportunities to to spend down some funds next year. Yeah, we need to leverage that for HVAC in the cafeteria if it's allowed, you know. So, >> thank you. >> Yes. >> Any other questions? Now, I'll look for a motion. >> I'm Matt Castle. Move to approve the 24 2024 2025 final amended budget as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? I >> Joe Beer second the motion. >> I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?
075If not, all those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next, we have consider approval of the certified appraisal rules from Nina Valley Independent School District, Miss Hermish. >> So, we've talked about the the certified property values quite a bit since they came out in July. Um, but this is the official board acceptance of those certified values. And so, in the board packet, um, we had both the values at the 100,000 um, exemption and the 140,000 exemption. So you had copies of both of those. The um some of the high points are just in that consideration piece where we've t as we talked about before the 4.91% increase when you're looking at the 140. Um it does there were the two different homestead exemption increases, the 100 to
076140 as well as the um per elderly and disabled from 10 to 60. And so both of those are are included in what was the original rule and then the supplement that um allowed for the those additional exemptions. Um these do get sent to TEA and that's how our tax rate is calculated. And so that is where we come up with the 65.27 um rounded out four whole decimal places um is because they calculate our growth and only allow a certain a certain tax rate um on with that. And so so it is a big piece of of how we get to our tax rate calculations. But for this agenda item, it's really just accepting the values as they were given to us or provided to us from the from the chief appraisers. >> Any
077questions? >> I know you guys watched it pretty closely. I mean, you agree with everything that you've seen there? >> Yeah, it's there. I think that's why we were talking earlier about them coming back because really when you drop to the 4.9 it's we get the whole harmless this year but the bigger issue is whenever we're actually running 10% off the lower number for next we may hit 10% next year but we actually need >> 15 or 16 to hit where we projected >> which on M is not going to be a big deal but INS is going to be a big deal. >> So that that's why we're having Victor and then come back and run everything and go through it. >> All right that's it. Any other questions? If not, I'll look for
078a motion. >> I, Jason Bonnie, move to approve and accept the certified appraisal rules for the 2025 tax year for Medina County and Bear County for Medina Valley Independent School District as presented. >> I have a motion. I have a second. >> I Ben want to second the motion. >> I have a motion and second. Any further discussion? Not. All those in favor, raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next, we have consider approval of the non-new revenue tax rate and voter approval tax rate for the tax year 2025 from Medina Valley Independent School District. >> So, these are not the tax rates that we are adopting as our official tax rate. Um, well, I guess the voter approval tax rate is, but the state does there are multiple tax
079rate comparisons that were asked to calculate for truth and taxation purposes. Um, and one of those is the no new revenue tax rate. And this is basically if we collected the exact same amount of property taxes, um what would the tax rate need to be? So it's not assuming any growth. It's not assuming your state aid versus local. It's just calculating a tax rate. And so that is where you get the 1.07. If we weren't growing um and we collected we didn't have any new properties, then it would be set at this rate. Um and then the voter approval tax rate is that um maintenance and operations and interest in seeking. And then the maintenance and operations is split out with the 60.27 as the tier one piece that's provided to us from from TEA
080based on our growth and then our five enrichment pennies get us to the 65. So that's how we end up with with our tax rate for this year. And so this one is a resol um Yep. This one does require require approval and it will go out on the on the CAD sites for truth and taxation purposes. >> Any questions? >> I'll look for a motion. >> I'm Matt Castle. Move to approve the no new revenue tax rate and voter approval tax rate for the tax year 2025 for Medina Valley Independent School District as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I, Joe Beer, second the motion. >> I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Not. All those in favor, raise your hand. All board members voted
081for and the motion carries. Next, we have consider adoption of the 2526 budget. >> Yes. So, as we talked about before, we we held the public hearing and so the next step in budget adoption is for you all to take take a vote. Um we are looking at a budget in the general fund of 112,746,593 the debt service fund of 36,695455 and the child nutrition fund of 8,374,54 and um I know if if you scroll you can see a copy of of those adopted funds by fund and function. Any questions? I think we've talked about this one quite a bit. >> I'll look for a motion. >> Uh Ben Watus move to approve the adoption of the 2526 budget as presented. >> I have a motion. I have a second. >> I Jason Bonnie second
082the motion. >> Have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Not. All those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next, we have consider approval of the 2526 budget line items over $50,000. >> You wasn't kidding. This is your show tonight. >> I know. >> Only two more and then I promise I won't talk next month if it'll make you feel better. Um >> I bet you do. >> Um so this is this is what we call um the over 50 list or it is our budgeted line item approval. So, all of the items listed on the list are built into the budget that you just approved. Um, we did make a couple of changes um from when you saw it at at the budget workshop. And
083one of those was to add the Bear County appraisal district. We had lumped everything into just Medina County and so we split up um that into Bear County and Medina County because we do pay both appraisal districts. Um, the other addition was for Republic Services. We went and got quotes. We've been using Waste Management. Um, and either one of them would have been over 100,000 to bring. Um, but we we went out and just just received updated quotes and were able to get a much le a less expensive option. And so, we're excited to be able to change that over um here in September to Republic Services. And with that, I'll take any questions that you all have about any of these on the list. >> And we've been having some issues with waste management.
084Correct. >> We've had some minor we've had we've had some issues with just pickups and not making it out. >> Didn't Castville just change? They're no longer using waste management either. >> And I I think a lot of this area use Republic. >> Yeah. So, and it's it's almost $50,000 less >> of a contract. So, um so it was a significant savings to switch. >> I mean, they're both reputable companies. >> They are. And they're both on co-op. So, >> yeah, we use Republic at work. So, I know they're they're can handle the definitely can handle the the job. So, >> we've been we were excited about that the potential for the change and then the cost savings that came from it. So, I'm sure we'll use it for Hback. Any other questions? Not I'll
085look for a motion. >> I Joe Beer move to approve the 2025 20226 budget line items over 50,000 as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I'm Matt Calion second the motion. >> I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Not. All those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and the motion carries. Next we have con consideration and approval of resolution to set the Medina Valley Independent School District tax rate for 2025. So this is the the official tax rate adoption. Um as you know there there is some specific language that has to be adopted with the tax rate. Um so although we as we published in our public notice um that went in the paper and we talked about earlier we anticipate the
086average home owner to receive a decrease in what they actually pay in taxes this year. we we still have to have language that specifies that this is effectively an increase because you are um you are collecting more taxes than you did last year from the total population. So as we've increased people um that spread amongst more people but but we still have to say say that language and so um as we we are adopting the tax rates as as we talked about um at the 1.1527 um will be our resolution to set the tax rate. But we do have to state in in the um motion that this is a property tax increase um which is and and you see that there um nicely quoted for you. So I will take any questions you have
087about that. >> So that's 7.43% increase in tax revenue but they make us say rate. >> Is that what that means? >> Yes. Kind of. >> Yeah. >> All of Yes. All of the All of these calculations are slightly different. So, you see like a 5% whatever and then you see a 7% increase because they're all calculated just a little bit different. But, um, and I'm not sure it's helping you understand them any better, but >> we're going to do it. >> Any other questions? >> Not. I'll look for a motion. >> I'm Matt Cassion. move to adopt the resolution to set the Medina Valley Independent School District tax rate of $1.15 or 0.1527 for 2025 as presented. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I Jason Bonnie second a motion.
088>> I have a motion and a second. I'll proceed with a roll call. Please vote for or against when I call your name. Mr. War. >> Mr. Bonnie. >> Four. >> Mr. Beer. Four. >> Mr. Castigle. four. Mr. Nash is absent. Mrs. Lee is absent. And I and Nathan Finger vote four. All board members vote at four. And the motion carries. The time is 7:15 p.m. And the board of trustees will now convene in in close session as authorized by section 551071, 551074, 551076, 551089, and 551072 of the Texas Open Meetings Act to discuss agenda items 5 A through D. A through D. No action will be taken in close session. The board is now in close session. The board is reconvening into open session at 8:12 p.m. For the record, no action was taken
089in close session. Uh, next on the agenda is consideration of future meeting dates. The next regular board meeting is scheduled for September 22nd, 2025 at 6 p.m. And last is adjournment. I'll look for a motion. I'm Matt Cassion move to adjourn the regular board meeting at 8:12 p.m. on August 25th, 2025. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> I Jason Bonnie second the motion. >> I have a motion and a second. All those in favor raise your hand. All board members voted for and we are adjourned. Thank you.