001There we go. I call this meeting of the Mesquite Independent School District Board of Trustees to order. Let the record show that a quorum of board members is present. That this meeting has been duly called. And notice. Have this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, chapter 551. Excellent. With that, we're going to I'm going to start with, our invocation by Reverend River Padilla from Vida Life Church. Then after that, we're going to have our pledge. From who? Some of our kids from Rutherford Elementary, their sponsor is Brandi Lewis. Reverend. Good Evening. I'd like. First of all, I want to say thank you for the opportunity to do this. And my best wishes for you and for every student, every teacher, every member of the board for
002the New Year. God bless you and God help you. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we before you with really, really all I heart. Because we know, Lord, that you are sovereign over the world. In this moment we will not put in your hands the life of all students, teachers and members of the board or the Mesquite School Board to our laws too many times, maybe trying to do something for us, but we are trusting that you will not be the only one that can help us in this new year. Please put your hands over our lives and Lord at the end of the year and say thank you for your help. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Am I am I losing your gracious the very most, giving us a todos Los ninos given the
003run but a todos that I knew. And a number of the answers. Amen. Amen. Thank you. 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. I pledge allegiance to the Texas, one state under God. One and indivisible. Tell us your name. My name is River Coleman, and I'm in first grade. Thank you. My name is Knox Carter, and I'm in second grade. I got my name is Reese Bird, and I'm in second grade. My name is Mason Byrd and I am fifth grade. Okay. My name is Lakeland Coleman and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Jayden Vasquez and I am in fifth grade. Very good! This begins. We
004know it is the school board appreciation month. So we have a small gift to say thank you for all that you do. Thank you. Oh, my, oh my. Thank you. Over there. You have one already. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, kids. Good job. Hey, let's start training them young. Okay, next we're going to go with the team of eight moment. Miss Collier, I believe we had. So I just got back from, I'm a journalist. And the rest of my life. And the North Texas auto dealers gave this fantastic praise for our auto tech kits that came out of Vanguard. They are out there in the public being awesome. And so I just take this moment to be like, okay, yeah. So there they are. They're out there, respectful, polite, showing up
005to work, doing a great job and teaching people around them. So say, I'm really proud, really, really proud. But it's kind of, you know, how you get surprised when people like, I mean, talk to you about your kids? You're like and then high praise. So thank you. Thank you. Dr. Rivera, I believe you have. Yes, Mr. President. So as the Rutherford kids were just telling us, the students at Rutherford. Right. January is School Board Recognition month It is an opportunity to honor the dedicated individual who tirelessly serve the communities and as volunteers, because that's what they are. They're volunteers. They're elected officials, but they're volunteer. It's also the time for us to show, to show them how much we appreciate their work, their leadership and commitment to improving our schools. This year's theme is Our
006Future is Public, says it best. Our board believes in the power of public education and works every day to build a stronger future for our students and our community, It is so much so that our Board has been selected a finalist top five finalist board for the HB Award. Give them a round. That is not an easy task, and they will have their final interview in a week to see if they get HEB board of the year. Our board members have been presented with special tokens of appreciation tonight, including Thank You cards, personalized caricature drawings created by some of our talented Fine Arts students, difference makers coasters, and customized laptop bags featuring our Mesquite ISD logo. Hold your bags up, trustees and your pictures. If you want to It is. It is truly an honor
007as superintendent to serve at this board. And I don't say it just because they're my bosses. I really mean it. I have conversations where a lot of superintendents across the state, and I can honestly say that is the best board to work with to complete the mission of Mesquite ISD and serving our students and our community. So we also have a couple of groups here tonight that would like to address the board and share their gratitude. So first I'd like to call Mesquite or MEA or Mesquite Educational Association President Dani Boepple to the lectern. Please, Dani, move forward. Good evening, trustees and Dr. Rivera. January school board appreciation month. And on behalf of the Mesquite Education Association, I want to sincerely thank each of you for your service to our students, staff, and community. This
008year's theme, The Future of Education is Public, speaks directly to the partnership we value between the board, district leadership, and educators. Strong public schools are built for collaboration, transparency and mutual respect. And MEA is grateful to work alongside you in support of Mesquite ISD. As a small token of our appreciation, we are pleased to share a Taste of Texas Gift Bag with each of you as a thank you for your dedication and service. Thank you again for your leadership, your commitment to public education, and your continued partnership with MEA. We truly appreciate you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you very much. I mean, they're great partners. I know. Well thank you. MEA. Next, I'd like to call up, to the lectern. Mesquite ISD Director of Library Services. It's Emma McDonald. I'm going to give this
009out first. So, as you know, for the last few years, Library Services has purchased a book in honor of the school board. To show our appreciation. And thanks for all that you do. This year, we have chosen home by Matt de la Pena, and it's illustrated by Lauren Long. I promise I'm not reading the book to you. So good evening. School board members and Dr. Rivera, In honor School Board Appreciation Month, We have purchased Home by Matt de la Pena. I'd like to start by reading just a little bit of the inside flap. Summary of the book. For home is an idea more profound than the walls we build up around ourselves. It's the family that shows its love through small gestures every day. It's the community that sees one another through hard times. We
010chose this book because our school board continually strives to make Mesquite ISD feel like home, like a place where students and staff belong. Even in the hard times. And we are going through hard times right now as a district. In the book, the author writes, A day may come when it's hard to find your footing, when each gust of wind threatens to sweep you up and carry you away. But slowly, very slowly you will find a harbor of love. Although we are in the midst of a storm right now, I see hope in the way our board members and superintendent strive to keep the people of Mesquite. Students and staff at the forefront of all decisions. I see how as a school community, we are also a home for one another, ready to give a
011listening ear, a hug, or just silent support. We are a community that will see each other through these hard times, and that is because of the support and the encouragement we have from each of you. Thank you for all that you do for making hard decisions to ensure the longevity and success of Mesquite ISD. To visiting schools. Talking with teachers. And most importantly, reading to students. We really appreciate you. Thank you for all that you do. Back to you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you very much to all of you. It's very appreciative for this. It's always great to see, especially when we get from students. I received this from Perla Guerrero, and I want to mention her name. We should mention everybody's name that that, on a picture like this for us,
012because it shows that we have a group of students that understand the value of this education and what we're trying to do for them. That's the way I'm going to look at it. I do want to mention I received a Christmas card. Guys, that doesn't have anything to do with today, but I love this card because it was sent to me by Nathan. It says Nathan from Henrie Elementary, and he sent me these beautiful pictures and this nice little scribble. And I think that's commendable. Guys, when you have students to do this for you. It warms your heart. You can't push but realize you're doing this for them. So with that now we're going to go to student and staff guests. Miss Smith. Yes. Good evening. We are excited to have a special recognition section
013of the board meeting this evening. And the very first thing we want to do is celebrate one of our district departments, our professional learning department. The Learning Forward Texas Board of Directors has selected Mesquite ISD as the recipient of the two that 2026 Outstanding Professional Learning Award. We are grateful to have a representative that's familiar to this place from Learning Forward Texas here, that's Debi Tanton. She's going to tell us more about this honor. So if you'd please join our professional learning team at the podium. We are excited to hear about this. Good evening and thrilled to be here tonight on behalf of the Learning Forward, Texas Board of Directors. It is an honor to recognize Mesquite ISD with the Award for Excellence in Professional Learning. Makes me want to tear up a little bit.
014Yes, ma'am. Yes. Applications were submitted from districts across the state, reflecting a strong commitment to professional learning. The Board of directors selected two districts to receive this award. It is representative of their. They really stood out for their intentional job embedded professional learning that results and improve student outcomes. So please join me in congratulating Jennifer, Jennifer and Liz. Thank you. And thank you so much. Congratulations. All right. Next up, we're going to be recognizing, two new inductees into our prestigious Apple Corp, program. The Apple Corp award is made possible by a partnership between the Mesquite Education Foundation and Clay Cooley of Mesquite. So we'd like to thank both of them for supporting our amazing educators. Our first honoree for this month is Kristi McCall of Agnew Middle School. Miss McCall is a special education dyslexia
015teacher with eight years of teaching experience in Mesquite ISD. Let's take a look at what makes her an Apple Corps teacher. Miss McCall stands out as a model of compassion, perseverance, and instructional excellence. As a special education teacher, she goes above and beyond to meet the diverse learning needs of her students. She demonstrates an unwavering commitment to our student success. Through her tireless work ethic and her ability to individualize instruction, her high expectations, coupled with her supportive and respectful approach, inspire students and colleagues alike. Kristi’s dedication to helping students grow in confidence and independence makes her one of the best. We want to congratulate Kristi on being this month's Apple Corps recipient. Having two children of my own, it's very important to me that every student feels loved and accepted. And you know, I want
016them to know that they are cared for regardless of their situation or regardless of their grades. And I think that just encouraging them and giving them an environment that they feel safe and comfortable in will allow them to go out and be successful. And we need these kids to understand that they're going to be a leader someday. And I want them to feel prepared and to have the good qualities and characteristics of people that we want leading our next generation. This proclamation for you, but I'm also going to tell you, I took great joy in watching those two kids as they were so proud of their mom during that video and very special proclamation. Whereas the Mesquite Independent School District Board of Trustees seeks to honor outstanding classroom teachers who demonstrate leadership, innovation, and dedication
017to the students of Mesquite ISD and Whereas, Mesquite ISD, Apple Corps consists of exceptional teachers nominated by their peers to receive the school district's highest recognition. Therefore, be it resolved that the board officially welcomes Kristi McCall into Mesquite ISD applicable on this 12th day of January 2026. Thank you so much. Thank you. So a lot of people here. Good evening. School board members, administrators, family and friends. The other day, one of my students looked at me and very casually said that I looked about 52 years old. Now I'm actually 39, so I'll admit that caught me off guard. But instead of being offended, I chose to step back and turn that moment into something positive, not just for myself, but my students as well. That comment could have easily been taken negatively. Instead, it became
018an opportunity to talk about self-image, confidence, and the choices we make, big and small, and how those choices impact how we feel about ourselves. I even joked with them and said, well, I guess I've earned those extra years of wisdom. This experience brought me back to one of my favorite phrases. Make good choices. We all have the power to decide how we respond to situations, how we care for ourselves, and how we approach the world. Whether it's choosing how to react to someone's words, taking care of your body, or making decisions that align with your values, we can always make good choices even when faced with challenges. So the next time life throws something unexpected your way, remember, you can turn it into a teaching moment and maybe even discover a new favorite ice cream
019along the way. Today, I stand before you with a deep sense of gratitude and humility. To be nominated for this award is truly an honor, and I want to thank the incredible people who made this possible. First and foremost, my husband, RJ, thank you for being my biggest supporter and my steady source of strength. On the days I doubted myself, you never did. You pushed me to be better. Not just for myself, but for everyone around me. Your belief in me, your sacrifices, and your unconditional love have carried me to this moment and I am forever grateful to share this journey with you. To my daughter, Riley, an eighth grader at Agnew, you have such a kind and caring heart. You are always willing to help others listen without judgment and offer support wherever it's
020needed. A true inspiration to your peers and adults alike. And to my son, Jace, a fourth grader at Willett Elementary. You are an extraordinary young person. You have taught me the true meaning of patience. Not just waiting, but understanding, adjusting, and allowing growth. No matter how long it takes. To my colleagues at Agnew who show up every single day with one goal in mind. Doing what's right for students, whether it's in the classroom, cafeteria, hallways, athletics, or behind the scenes. You help create an environment where students can truly learn and grow. Agnew is a place I am proud to be a part of. Our instructional team is simply the best Shabani, who always comes to my rescue. Whether it's making copies, covering my class, or making me laugh. Trevino, whose ideas are incredible. Any time
021I want to try something new, she helps create a thoughtful plan and sees it through our testing coordinator. Gonzalez truly does it all. She always has the best advice and can build a spreadsheet for just about anything within minutes. To my lunch crew, Mrs. Castillo and Mrs. Holbrook. You make work so enjoyable. Mrs. Castillo, I can always count on you for your honesty, even when it's something hard to hear. Mrs. Holbrook, your positivity and encouragement can turn even the toughest day around. I am grateful not only to work with you, but to call you friends to the counselors Wendy's and Cook Brown. Thank you for being a constant source of support, guidance, and encouragement for both students and staff. I have personally seen the care and compassion you show while guiding students through some of
022their most difficult moments. To the Special Education team. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you for all you do to make learning possible for every student, from paperwork and lesson planning to behavior support and parent communication. You come together to ensure student success. I am truly, truly grateful for each of you. And finally, to the Agnew Administration team. I don't know how you keep everything running as smoothly as you do, but your leadership and dedication do not go unnoticed. Mr. Peterson, thank you for believing in me and trusting me to educate students who find reading and writing incredibly challenging. Mrs. white, thank you for holding students accountable and encouraging them to always do their best. Mrs. Johnson, thank you for your patience, kindness, and steady presence. I know I can always count on you to listen and
023remain calm. And Mrs. Morgan, though you are new to Agnew. Your impact has already been undeniable. Your commitment to fairness and support for both students and staff truly stands out. Thank you all for making Agnew such a special place to work and grow. Thank you again for this honor. I am deeply grateful and incredibly proud to be part of the Mesquite ISD community. Thank you. All right. And our second February Apple Corps honoree this evening is Kimberly Mormon of Thompson Elementary School. Miss Mormon is a first grade teacher with the 23 years of teaching experience right here in Mesquite ISD. If you please turn your attention to the screens, we're going to learn more about Miss Mormon. We are really excited for Miss Mormon to receive the Apple Corps Award. We're really proud of how
024she shows up every day that she is always looking for a way to make sure that our students have the best experience. In my short time here with her. I've already seen her just jump in with great ideas, things that will also impact our campus community, and just ways that she has to spread some leadership across the campus. And so she's so deserving of this award. And congratulations. Teaching is important because I just love when. The kids get that aha moment of they've been struggling along and then all of a sudden it just makes sense to them. And so it's so important for them to realize the struggles good in their life and will help them along the way in their future endeavors. Whereas the Mesquite Independent School Board would just not what it says.
025Not at all. Let's try again where that begins. Okay. I'm back. We're at the Biscay Independent School District. Board of trustees seeks to honor outstanding classroom teachers who demonstrate leadership, innovation and dedication to the students of Mesquite ISD. And Whereas, the Mesquite ISD course consist of exceptional teachers nominated by their peers to receive the school district's highest recognition. Therefore, be resolved that the board officially welcomes Kimberly Mormon into the Mesquite ISD Apple Corps. On this day, 12th day of January. Thank you. That's my sister in law. So thank you. Board. Thank you, Dr. Rivera, for this amazing honor and this chance to be recognized. I want to first thank God for guiding my path daily and giving me strength. I'm a proud product of Mesquite ISD. And it's because of the many wonderful teachers who
026poured into me at Rutherford, Agnew and North Mesquite that helped fueled my desire and passion for teaching. Two of my first grade teachers are here tonight, and I just want to thank them for supporting me. Even now. I would not be standing here today without the wonderful teachers and administrators that I've had the honor of working with them beside along the way at Galloway Elementary, where Miss Wanda Mingle helped me develop who I am and where I stand today at Florence Elementary and at Thompson and Miss Bennett and Miss Baxter for the support they give us and help us to push kids forward and help them engage, engage, empower and excel each and every day. Thank you for pushing me to be a better teacher and a person. I know time, it took a lot
027of pushing, but I appreciate every step that in every faith that you've given me. Finally, thank you to my family, my daughter and my son can be here tonight. They both got ill today, so they're at home. But I truly am honored and blessed in the, support that they give me no matter what. Thank you to my wonderful husband, Kenny, who didn't know what teaching was all about. So we got married. He didn't know what he was getting into, but he's the first one to help cut, help, volunteer, help, grade papers, whatever I need. And he always welcomes me when I tell him, hey, I need to go spend some money on this. He's the first one to say, you get what you need, honey. You deserve it. So thank you again for that. And
028my sister in law's here as well. Thank you for being my best friend. And now my sister in law. Thank you again very much. Thank you very much, ladies. Miss McCall, if you would be so kind to introduce your family, have them stand up so we could recognize my son James and my husband, Natalie. And do you have your Agnew family with you? Anybody from your Agnew family? There they are. And Mr. Peterson is in the corner. You were looking for him? The same with Miss Mormon. And have your family please. Have they recognize. And you have your Thompson family. All students in the back. Oh, wow. Fantastic. And I was blessed. I grew up good. This section. And, of course. Welcome. Thank you very much, ladies. Very appreciative. Miss Smith. Okay. Next we're going
029to recognize and our outstanding paraprofessional of the month with our Star Para Award. This year Mesquite SID is excited to partner with First Financial Group of America to provide the Star Para recipient with a gift card. We don't have an FFGA. Representative here with us tonight, so our director of benefits, Lisa Porter, is going to come forward and join, Florence Elementary School principal Yvette Lozano-Cabrales with our January Star Para Ana Ruiz at the podium. And we're going to, hear about what makes Miss Ruiz such a special part of the Florence family. Oh. I'm going to say this in English and in Spanish, but you want her up here and you can say, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. All right. Okay. So good evening, everyone. School board of trustees, doctor Rivera and friends, I want to
030take a moment to thank Ms. Ruiz For everything she does for our school and community. She is the heart of our school. Her dedication to providing outstanding service to our parents, students and everyone in our community is just remarkable. Miss Ruiz is the kind of person who lights up the room. She's always helpful, friendly and incredibly generous with her time and energy. And boy does she know how to cook. She always finds ways to connect with everyone around her is just her warmth and willingness to go the extra mile that truly make a difference. Gracias. Congratulations. Thank you. Next up, we are pleased to recognize our February community partner for their support. Of our schools and students Ascend Parent Cafe has made a meaningful impact on our families by partnering with Mesquite Family Engagement to
031facilitate parent cafes during monthly moms club gatherings. These cafes provide a safe and welcoming space where mothers can openly share their experiences and learn from one another. We have a special video to show you more about this partnership. This month. We are proud to present our Community Partner Award to Ascend, specifically their Parent Cafe program. Ascend with their parent Cafe program, has partnered with Family Engagement to create a safe and welcoming space for all mothers. During our Moms Club gatherings. This is a space where moms and families can talk to each other, talk about their experiences, and learn from one another. In addition, as in Dallas has provided the opportunity to create a leadership role to all of our parents in Mesquite iSD by allowing them to become table hosts. Thank you so much Ascent
032specifically for your parent cafe. Thank you for your dedication and helping us strengthen our family engagement efforts here at Mesquite ISD. We're now going to proceed with our student recognitions for this evening. And first up we have a group of students that were selected as Quest Bridge National College matched scholarship recipients. Quest Bridge Awards top performing high school seniors with full four year scholarships to the nation's top colleges. Only to 2550 seniors from across the country were selected for this. For these scholarships this year, and we wanted to introduce you to ours. So first up, from North Mesquite High School, we have Kathy Avila, a QuestBridge scholar who matched with Brown University. She's here with sponsors Zach Brimager and Aisha Perkins are her sponsors. Congratulations, Kathy. Yeah. All right, next up, from North Mesquite High
033School, we have Antonio Charles and a QuestBridge scholar matched with Rice University. Antonio's sponsors are Zach Brimager and Aisha Perkins. From West Mesquite High School, we have Elizabeth Pardo, QuestBridge scholar who has matched with College of the Holy Cross. West Mesquite sponsor is Sam Parker. From Vanguard High School, we have Luis Ibarra, Quest Bridge Scholar, matching with Rice University. Sponsors Emily Roth, thank. You. Also from Vanguard high School, we have Tiffany Nwoke, QuestBridge scholar matching with Boston College. Let's have another round of applause for those QuestBridge scholars. Before we meet some of our excellent athletes, I want to share some, news hot off the press today, we want to extend a special congratulations to both Mesquite High School and Vanguard High School, who received the bronze AP Honor Roll status from College Board for their
0342025 college culture college credits, and college optimization for their students. This is a culmination of hard work and commitment to college going culture, so we want to take this opportunity with those amazing scholars to recognize Mesquite High School and Vanguard. Now let's talk about some academic I mean some athletic excellence. Excuse me. First up, we have, recent district and area, championships and games from varsity volleyball. This is the North Mesquite High School, representing representatives of their varsity volleyball team. They were by district champions for the stallions. Their coach is Larry Lema. All right, next up, let's welcome John Horn high school varsity volleyball team. These ladies were by district champions as well. Their coaches, Courtney Linton. Thank you. I also want to recognize the Poteet High School varsity volleyball team. They were unable to be
035here with coach Erika Dupree-Myles. They had a conflict this evening, but they were area champions this season. And want to bring to your attention a very special accomplishments this year by our West Mesquite High School varsity football team. They were 14 five a district champions undefeated by the way, and also area champions. Members of the team are here tonight with, assistant head coach Trey Allen. All right, we're going to switch gears and talk about some excellence in fine arts, specifically our marching bands who were very successful this year. First up, we have representatives from the Mesquite High School marching band. They advanced to the UIL area marching band contest. They are here with their sponsor, Lance Flisowski. All right. Next up we have the North Mesquite High School Marching Band. They advance to the UIL
036State Marching Band contest. This year. They're here with director Scott Rives and assistant directors. Thank you all. Thank you guys. All right. Next up, please help us welcome the West Mesquite High School marching band and representatives, along with their director, Jennifer Borders. They advanced to the UIL area marching band contest finals. Congratulations. Next up, from Poteet High School, we have our marching band with director Tish Gomez and representatives. Also, the assistant directors are here. This, marching band advanced to the UIL State marching band contest, and were UIL Area C marching band champions. All right. And please help me welcome the John Horn High School marching band with director Todd Burke. And assistance looks like we they advance to the UIL Marching area marching band contest this year. Lastly, to conclude our student recognition portion tonight,
037we'd like to recognize four theater students from West Mesquite High School who were named to Texas Thesbian National qualifiers. They couldn't be here tonight because they're currently in a mandatory dress rehearsal for their production of Annie, which opens on Thursday. But we very excited to celebrate them, and we wanted to honor them by letting you know who they are. Savanna Jones, costume design Lalia Perdue, solo musical. Giovanni Resendiz, theater marketing. and Alysha Roan, stage management. Their teachers are Phil Elins and Ryan Burke, and we are very, honored to congratulate them on that accomplishment and all these exceptional students. That concludes this portion of the program. Thank you, Miss Smith. At this point, we're going to take a five minute recess and we shall return. We'll reconvene to our session. Next item on the agenda is
038a consent agenda. Is there any item the board wants to pull or any discussion on that? That was, yeah. All right. Thank you. Good question. There's a motion by Mr. Everett, a second by Miss Hornsby to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye, opposed same sign. Ayes have it. Motion carries. Next item on the agenda is item a, personnel first item is approval administrative contracts. The director of Health Services. Dr. Rivera? Yes, Mr. President, I'm going to call Mr. Taylor Morris, to the lectern and he's going to introduce, the candidate that we are recommending for tonight. Good evening. Board. It is my pleasure to recommend Miss Pam. Sherrill, is that as the director of Health Services, Pam has been serving as the interim director since July of 2025. And
039your action tonight would remove that interim tag. Miss Sherrill has more than 25 years of nursing experience. She joined Mesquite ISD in 2015 as a registered nurse at Floyd Florence Elementary. She later served in the role of nurse facilitator, providing district wide support through coordinated health screenings, CPR and emergency response training, clinic support and professional learning for campus staff. In addition to her service in Mesquite ISD, Pam has served as Assistant Health Services Director for Camp Kanakuk and previously spent 17 years as a lead school nurse at First Baptist Academy. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Baylor University, and was named a 2021 DFW great 100 Nurses Honoree. Pam has a passion for her work, and she leads with patients poise and wisdom. She's an amazing teammate in the Administrative Services division,
040and I look forward to what she will accomplish in our health Services department. Again, I believe this is an action item for you all. It is. with that board. There's an action item on the table to approve the administrative contract or director of Health Services. Yes. There's a motion by Mr. Bingham, seconded by Mr. Seward, to approve that administrative contract for the Director of Health Services. Any comments? Questions? Corrections being there? None. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye, opposed. Same sign. Ayes have it motion carries. Congratulations. Thank you. Doctor Rivera and the members of the Mesquite ISD school board. Your trust and confidence in me as I accept this position of health services director. I've had the privilege of working under two outstanding leaders, Miss Beth Dittman and Mrs. Macy Melton. Learning
041from each of them has prepared me well for this role. I'm grateful for the example they set and the knowledge that they shared. I'll add one brief personal note. When I graduated from high school and went to Baylor to register for freshman classes, it was required to declare a major. After going back and forth, we have with the advisor, my mother said, just tell them you'll be a nurse. You look good in white. What began as a simple suggestion has become one of the best decisions of my life. After Baylor had the opportunity to work at Baylor and at Arkansas Children's, as well as in private practice with an oral surgeon, a pediatrician, and an orthopedic surgeon, those experiences ultimately led me to school nursing, where I have spent the past 30 years. I found
042it to be a rewarding calling on my life. Thank you, Taylor, for your steady encouragement and patience as I asked many questions along the way. I'm also thankful to work alongside many dedicated nurses in Mesquite. I'm especially grateful for our technology facilitator, Lisa Marie Rainwater, and our special education facilitator, Allison Dickey, who consistently go above and beyond to support our work. Finally, thank you to my husband Ed of 38 years for his constant support. As I step into this new role. I'm honored to serve Mesquite ISD and look forward to continuing our work and support for our students and staff. Thank you very much for sharing. With that, the next item is item two. It's an action item to approve termination of Chad Berry's term contract for good cause. I'll entertain a motion moved to
043approve. Second. Yeah. There's a motion by Mr. Everett. Second by Miss Collier to approve the termination of Chad Berry's term. Contract for good cause. All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, Same sign. Ayes I have it. Motion carries. With that, we're going to go to item B effectiveness report. It's a report on personnel services. Yes sir. We're going to welcome I think is Chassordee Willie. Emilio Duran to the lectern and they'll be taking care of the Effective report for the personnel services. Take it away. All right. Good evening. Thank you, President Carbo. Dr. Rivera and, board for allowing us to come and share our personnel services, effectiveness report with you this evening. I'm Emilio Duran and Chassordee Willie. Okay. You figured that out? I believe, we serve in the best department in
044the entire district. Our personal services family, is led by a great boss. And, exceptional leader, Dr. Hensley. And it's an honor to get to work with such amazing, such an amazing group of people every day. It's a pleasure to go to work every day. We we do some hard things, but it's very nice to be with them. Also, I have to take the opportunity to recognize our support staff. They they're the true heroes in our department. They work tirelessly to ensure that our department runs effectively and efficiently, and, we just can't thank them enough for what they do. Okay. Personal services has many areas of responsibility. Beginning with personnel operations and compliance. Whether it's through federal or local law, employee handbook policies, recruitment, hiring and staffing with that includes professionals, paraprofessionals, auxiliary and substitutes, employee
045benefits, the enrollment and the coordination of benefits. Compensation, which includes salary schedules and pay structures, employee relations and performance, which has everything from employee concerns, complaints and investigations. Records, contracts and classification. Contract actions. As we just took in some, administrative leave, leave administration, FMLA, sick leave, local and military and then certification on board compliance is licensure, renewal, tracking, fingerprinting and background checks that everybody knows. It's a little more stringent nowadays with the new laws coming in, background and background information, professional learning. And, the Mesquite Employee Health Center are also two that fall under our area of responsibility. Personal services. We have our mission and vision. Our mission is our. Why? We exist to retain, support and develop excellent employees. And our vision, which is our how we will provide positive client experiences fostering growth, trust
046and confidence. The two questions that we're always going to ask ourselves in personal service is what's best for kids. And that's high quality educators. And then how do we keep those high quality educators by treating them the right way? And that's what we're going to ask every day that we do our job. We've had several, celebrations this year, just to name a few, you know, automating and streamlining our systems. We're very proud that, our new hires and our onboarding documents for new hires and new employees are all paperless, and which makes this a very effective and very efficient and trying to get contracts out to them very quickly. We want to celebrate our in person, onboarding sessions. They're large groups. That takes a lot of collaboration between lots of departments to get them ready. You'll
047hear about that, shortly, our documentation series, training for principals and department supervisors. We take extra pride in doing that, especially those that are new to their role as supervisors to ensure documentation and appropriate, you know, filing policies and such. And then our staffing and guideline ratios, we have some some staffing and guideline range, ratios that are set. And that's going to help us when we have to make some decisions regarding staffing. And that way we can strategically staff our campuses in an effective manner. So those are just a few celebrations that we have on top of the challenges. Like every every year, we have staffing in the high need content areas, especially in bilingual and and special education. And then there's a lot of new learning happening with the new misconduct reporting laws, with the
04889th legislative session. So we're learning a whole lot of things in that realm. But, we're doing a good job in that as well. Okay. So this slide summarizes our exit survey feedback. And nearly half of exit employees accepted positions in other districts when they left the district, and about 39% left education altogether. But we had some employees who shared that our career advancement and compensation areas are places where we could improve as a district, but they also told us that they value the working environment and the communication from the district standpoint. So we're very proud to know that they feel that our buildings and our work environments are conducive to them being, successful in their job. Overall, 81% reported being satisfied of working at Mesquite ISD. This is about our new hires and our non
049certified teachers. So this school year we hired 811 new employees across all employee groups from teachers, counselors, administrators, paraprofessionals, and auxiliary staff of our teaching hires, 99 were non-certified, and that's representing about 12.5% across the district. But what we really wanted to break down was for you to see the different levels that they are elementary, middle school and high school and how many we have at those campuses. This information will help us target recruitment and support efforts, while maintaining a strong environment for all staff. Now ESS. we've been with ESS, this is our second year with ESS, and we have some celebrations here as well because compared to the 24-25 school year, our numbers have increased for teachers. We've gone up to 99% fill rate for the instructional aides. We've gone up to 95% feel
050right. And of those substitutes ESS has hired 945 substitutes. But we only have about 724 that I shouldn't say only because that's a good number that we have 724 that are actively working. And a success for us is that we were able to hire 59 of those subs to be teachers and paraprofessionals in our district. So our great partnership with ESS help keeps our classrooms and support roles covered, ensuring everything runs smoothly for our students and our staff members. Our health plan. So, Mesquite ISD offers five health plans, with 59% of employees enrolled in the EPO Low Plan and 31% in the EPO High Deductible Plan. Our new hires are required to enroll in the High Performance Network Plan. And as you know, we have a great Mesquite Employee Health Center, and we want to
051encourage our employees who are enrolled in our insurance to use the Mesquite Employee Health Center. And we were able to keep the copay at $15, where if they were to go outside of the district to another practice, they would be paying $70 for a copay. Since April, the MEHC has recorded 3088 visits by 1407 unique patients, which means that some of those employees return to the Mesquite Employee Health Center more than once. This represents 33% of employees and 27% of the eligible population. Our onboarding experience is something that we're very proud of as a department. This was our second year doing. Yes, I'm sorry. This is our second year doing large group onboarding and has gone very well, but we could not have done it without the support from our departments in the district. Instructional
052technology, technology services, Administrative services, payroll. Benefits, professional learning and teaching and learning. With our planning and teamwork, we made sure everyone had what they needed on the first day so they could focus on our students. We're very proud of our onboarding survey results, and overall, the rating was at 4.92%, and we call that a success. And I just want to share with you some of the quotes that were shared, as a result of this survey that we gave them. I love the time you took to provide onboarding training. This is amazing for new employees. This is one of the best onboarding experiences I've ever had. Everything was very well put together. It is impressive that everyone, regardless of position, goes through the same onboarding information. I just want to share that the overall new hire
053onboarding process has been stellar. So to receive feedback like that, you know that we were very proud of the great job that we as a district did to onboard our new employees. So in closing, all of these efforts demonstrate our commitment to providing a strong working environment for staff and a great learning experience for our students as a department will continue to build on this progress and appreciate all of your support helping us achieve these goals. Thank you. Very good. Thank you for that report. And then we'll have any questions. Excellent. Thank you very much.. Great success rate 59 out of 724. That's 8%. And we get that's pretty good okay. Thank you for that. And next we're going to section C administration. Number one item is a report on the Leadership Empowerment team. Doctor
054Gulley. I want to start by saying good evening board and happy Board Appreciation Month. Thank you for allowing me to come out and stand before you and talk a little bit about our department this year and the great things that we've done so far. So, of course, you know that our mission is to remove any obstacles that may impede dignity and belonging for our staff, students and families. And why is this so important? Well, because you've charged us with that, you've charged us with creating a culture of dignity that leads to belonging for all. So what has this done and how have we done this? We've used the Mesquite Promise, which is, how we have, created a lens, to show our shared commitment to a collective vision for youth. We've also promote, a framework that
055identify opportunities for adults and ways for them to be able to engage with our students. And then, of course, finally, there are just some simple strategies and resources that we have used throughout the district to make sure that we're promoting, dignity and belonging. So I want you to take a look at this, bell curve chart here. And I'm going to be very specific. But the information that I provide you, of course, it illustrates the 90th percentile, which is a relative score to our panorama National school data set. What you may not know is over 2 million students are surveyed throughout the country. And they're surveyed on various things. And definitely belonging is one of those. Of course, the center represents the 50th percentile and located at the far right of the curve, this indicates a
056score that is higher than 90% for all schools. And so when we take a look at our, school district and looking at all schools nationally as well as our comparison group, we are beyond the 90th percentile. We are considered an elite school district, outperforming the vast majority of our data set. This speaks to our intentionality around dignity and belonging within our school district. Today, we have over 900 elementary, middle school, and high school students that actively participate in our emerging leader programing. Whether it is amazing shake on the elementary level, junior emerging Leaders at the middle school level, and our I always say it's our beginning, the high school component of emerging leaders. Right now we have over 900 students, and I'm just really being, just complimentary of that. I also want to show you
057this, this chart here, because I think it really speaks to some of the outcomes that has happened, as a result of the work that we've done within emerging leaders, we've had two of our students that have had grants funded and, programing actually happening at Mesquite High School. And then, of course, across our district with our Enhancing Education initiative that is led by, Miss Carla Ramirez, who is a student, was a student, at West Mesquite, but now is a student at Yale. Of course, I spoke earlier about Amazing Sheikh and having over 330 students currently in that program, we have a retention rate so far of this year of 70%, and over 17,000 student service volunteer hours were met. This last year and currently right now, in terms of what our students have given back right
058here in Mesquite, this is not a number that I generated. This number comes directly from the city of Mesquite. And then of course, last year we had 26 students receive emerging leader calls for completing our program. This year alone, though, we already have 24 students that are identified for just one of our campuses. And that's Poteet High School. So we suspect you guys will be courting quite a few students in May. We also have our project Lee program, which, engages our student, sorry. Our citizens, through engagement, we want to make sure that we're increasing awareness of opportunities within the city and the school district, and, of course, that we're building a pipeline of diverse and future leaders, hopefully to maybe sit where you currently are one day. Right, but definitely hold lots of committee positions
059within our district and in the city. I do want to take a moment to highlight our, our members here. These are our captain captains across our district. They do incredible work on our campuses and really work hard to make a difference and make sure that our strategic goals, making sure that the Mesquite Promise lessons are being taught, that we're creating a mentor mentee program, and that we are really engaging our community on purpose, is happening on their individual campuses. And finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention, just all of the hard work I was to tell you that it takes about 250 volunteers throughout our district to do this work and do it effectively. And yet these people, just take it on. They never say no. They always go over and beyond,
060and they do it because it is hard work. I just it just really makes me proud to be able to serve in this capacity and be able to, share this really great news about how we are continuing to grow and expand opportunities for our students in Mesquite ISD. Do you have any questions or share price? You know, this is wonderful to watch. So to engage with the students. So thank you for all that you do I appreciate it. Dr. Gulley, I remember when we first started this, the first meeting was in this same room. As a matter of fact we had tables in a rectangle. And about 2020, 25 people in the room. Three of them were students, as a matter of fact. And the conversations we had and to see it grow into what
061it is today, this is just an honor to you. I mean, you have grown this program. You have done wonderful things with it. And I could see it's going to be even bigger and better. So thank you very much for what you've done with this program. Thank you everyone. Quick question. I know if I remember last year and the year before our junior high, kids were struggling as far as the belonging, if we made any headway on that, have we gone back to reassess and kind of where are we on the junior? You know, we definitely did a reassess. And in fact, as a result of that, we not only created junior emerging leaders and made sure that we created that pilot last year at this time. But then we also have instituted what we
062call our middle, the Mesquite Promise days. And those are for Fridays right before major holiday or break, where our students spend the entire day focused on one principal and the four habits. And they do activities all day long that really enhance their understanding around our expectations for them, as a school district. And to answer your question specifically, yes, in fact, our percentile rating has improved from about 10% when we started this to about right at 40%. So our kids are continuing to grow and gain high levels of empathy and understanding and create that sense of belonging that we want for them. Good and okay. Thank you. Great job. Okay. Our next item is an action item two and the annual performance report to PR. Yes. It's, Miss Austin now. Good evening. So TEA has released
063our TAPR reports. That is the Texas Academic Performance report. We get that for the district and all campuses. It includes assessment data broken down by grade level subject subgroups. It's a lot of information. I've presented some of it to you, but this is a lot more granular. It also includes staff data and some financial data. And we released those were released mid December kind of right before the break. So they have been out for public review. And and now it's time for a public hearing on that information. Okay. With that on the hearing there, there will be lists of zero. Different. That will close the hearing. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Miss Austin. The next item, our third item under administration is discussion of the district wide intruder detection audit report findings. Mr. Taylor,
064good evening. Board. As I said last month, we expected a handful of, intruder audits before the winter break. We got those. We got all we got seven that we were expecting. So we're at 27 of our 52 campuses have been seen by the auditor. Still no findings. And again, we discussed those. Jeff, Willie and Elizabeth and their team work tirelessly every day with our campuses, and they continue to do that. It's a constant pursuit of perfection that's really hard to attain. But, they're they're working their tails off, trying to ensure that that our campuses are in the best place to be successful. So, nothing to report today, but we would report that in the Safety and Security Committee meetings or an executive session, if there was anything to report. Thank you, thank you very much,
065Mr. Taylor. That's our last item on the agenda. With that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved by Gary Bingham. Guys, thank you very much. Have a great night.