001Good evening. Thanks for being here tonight. Appreciate it. By being here. And, of course, with the Texas meetings Open Meetings Act, I now call this meeting to order the Mesquite Independent School District Board of Trustees on Monday, March 10th, 2025 at 6:01 p.m.. I also confirmed that a quorum of board members is present, and that this meeting was posted in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. We will now proceed on with our agenda. And the first item is that the board will now meet in closed session under the Texas Open Meetings Act to discuss or consult with on items under title under Texas Government Code Section 551.071, in consultation with the board's attorney and section 551.074 regarding personnel. No action will be taken in the closed meeting. Will adjourn temporarily. Provided to okay. The
002Board of Trustees of Mesquite. I-s-d reconvened from a closed session to an open meeting at 6:30 p.m.. For action relative to items considered during closed session. And now that we got the superintendent back on the dais, we can start this meeting. First thing, we're going to have the invocation, led by the Reverend Harry Sewall, pastor at Family Cathedral. Praise Church. Following him will be the Pledge of allegiance by the Floyd Elementary School students. The sponsor is Sarah Middleton. Reverend. And thank you so much for the opportunity here. And I appreciate all that you do for us as mayor. Heads in prayer, please, Heavenly Father, and thank you for your many blessings in our lives. Thank you for one more day of life and breath, health, strength, privilege and it's an opportunity to worship you. Thank
003you for our great city of Mesquite. Thank you for Mayor Alomar and City Manager Cliff Kahele and the other leadership of this city. That makes you the great city that it is. Thank you for that river and this school board. Together they make humor is the one of, if not the finest school districts in the entire metroplex. I pray you continue to give them, not only man's wisdom, but your wisdom from above as they make decisions that affect each and every one of us in this room for years to come. And finally, for them and their families. I pray you bless them and I pray you keep them. I pray you lift your countenance upon them, make your face shine upon them, and give them your peace. And Jesus, you said of the New Testament,
004it's a peace who cannot give, and therefore the world cannot take away. It's in Jesus name that I pray. And everybody said, Amen. God bless you. For the States of America. And to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Under the Texas flag, I pledge allegiance to thee. Texas once again. God, one indivisible. It's Mike on. I am Thomas Bonner in fifth grade at Florida Elementary. I'm Natalie. I'm a Adams, and in first grade, I'm an inflammatory. I'm Gianna Spencer, and I'm so glad everybody for their very much. We. I'm Genesis Chris. Second grade Floyd elementary. I'm principal. Barato. Third grade Floyd elementary. My name is Abbas Rodriguez and I'm in February. Floyd elementary. My name. My name is Diego Cabrera, and I'm in fourth
005grade. Floyd elementary. My name is Jessica Alba, and I'm in first grade. And Floyd Elementary. Students, you are wonderful. Thank you very much for being here to do the pledges for us. Hope, hope all that you're doing that school every day too, aren't you? Well, great. Next on our agenda is our team of eight moment. I'd like to start with, Doctor Rivera. He had a couple things he wanted to share. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to ask, we have some visitors here, so I want to start, asking, Christie, Kaja, and, Kim Bertram to come up. We have some visitors today from Leadership Mesquite. They're going to tell us a little bit about what Leadership Mesquite does. And, can't wait to hear. Hi there. So Leadership Mesquite is a nine month program with
006the Chamber of Commerce. It is with, the private industry, with schools, city government. We kind of go through all the different areas. So everybody learns all about Mesquite. You know, set about forming relationships and making sure that we have partnerships with everybody in Mesquite. So we have a nice large class of 20 people. Yes. You. How many years is this been known on? Not 30. Not for Kim and I but 30. Kim and I both volunteer with the chamber to do this program. So. Okay. So I think we're going to ask you class to come up right. And take a photo. We're going to take a picture. Yes. Come on. So. That's. That's it for people that I'm. Not a crowd. You get us all. Together and. The technical. People. Oh, that's. I realize you're
007not giving that up for those of us. I. Know it's right. Here we go. There you go. Here we go. Thank you. All right. The next celebration is about students. Last Wednesday, we were. We hosted a conference, at the, Rulon Vanguard High School. And the conference was an important. And we have visitors that come to our district all the time. But what was important and special of this event was the students that participated and were able to talk about their experience at the Virtual and Vanguard High School, about the functionality of the building, and we were so proud. They did a great job at that conference. I got many great comments from the attendees talking about how our students represented the district very well that day, so I wanted to bring that up. Thank you
008so much. Thank you, Miss Hornsby. Yes. I had the pleasure of reading the first grade Miss Rebecca Ortiz's first grade class at Gentry Elementary. And I don't know if you have first graders in your life, but they are wonderful. And who doesn't love a privilege of reading the first graders? So it was my honor. Get to do that. Thank you for doing that. I know there were a lot of volunteers throughout the district during that read week, so it was great. Fantastic event. Next, I'd like to, just make a couple comments and I'm going to ask Doctor Fine's last come up and, elaborate a little bit more. But I had the pleasure and the privilege going down last Tuesday on March 4th with, 25 juniors and seniors from all six of our high schools to
009the Capitol to advocate on your behalf, on issues that they were concerned about, that were close and dear to their heart. And I will tell you, I was amazed with the amount of research, the amount they knew about the bills they studied. We didn't coach them. They did it on their own. But I also want to thank before I asked find to talk a little bit more. There were a number of educators that joined us that have these these students in their classes, and they did an outstanding job. And it was David Young from North Mesquite, Elizabeth Rose from Poteet, Jake Thompson from horn went from Vanguard, Stacy Coffman and Jason Kimmel from Mesquite High, and of course, Doctor Le Donegal. He joined us and a special thank you to Doctor Fine Glass for putting
010all this together. It was a great experience for all of us, but especially those students, and they were very impressive. You'd be proud of them and they made Mesquite proud. So we took, 26 juniors and seniors from all six high schools, along with six teachers. They spent a couple of months researching bills that that mattered to them, and it was a long day. It was down and back to Austin in one day, but you would have never known it. Our students were so mature, so professional. They were very impressive. They showed up with their notes, their talking points. And it can be intimidating talking with your representatives and with senators and they handled it so beautifully. This is going to be something that we do every legislative session. Make sure all of our students get
011a chance to do this. It was very powerful. Thank you. Miss Smith, all right. Each month, we are honored to present two, new inductees into the district's prestigious Apple Corps program. The Apple Core award is made possible by a partnership between the Mesquite Education Foundation and Clay Cooley of Mesquite. Our 1st March Apple Corps honoree is the Sheila Holly of Galloway Elementary. Miss Holly. Miss. Miss Holly is a kindergarten teacher with eight years of teaching experience in Mesquite Ised. If you'll turn your attention to the screen, we're going to learn more about what makes miss Holly so special. Miss Holly deserves this recognition of being inducted into Apple Corps because she is simply an amazing educator. She is who I like to think of, just a very calm, nurturing spirit and the way that she
012loves her students, the way that she holds into high expectations and encourages them. And so to see miss Holly shine and half our students just grow and thrive throughout the year is really just such a blessing in our Galloway family. So happy to have Miss Talia part of our staff, and we are so proud of her for this award. Well, I think teaching is important because teachers shape the young minds of the future. What profession do you know has a hand in every single job profession there is? Teachers inspire the future. I want to be that teacher that do just that, to give them the tools and the encouragement. Push them so they can reach their full potential, whatever they want to achieve. They are able to be successful. Following March, Apple Corps honorees. If
013you come forward. And that's my piece. I want to read your resolution tonight. This blank sheet to proclamation. Whereas the Mesquite Independent School District Board of Trustees seeks to honor outstanding classroom teachers who demonstrate leadership, innovation, and dedication to the students of Mesquite I-s-d. And Whereas, the Mesquite Iced 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 the Sheila Holly, the Mesquite is the Apple Corps on this 10th day of March 2025. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for this distinguished award to the school board and for Doctor Rivera. It is definitely an honor to be here today. I know this is not the Grammys, but for someone who's been teaching 24 years, this is my
014version of the Grammys. So I'm very happy to be here. First of all, I want to honor God, from whom all blessings flow. My principal assistant principal, Miss Krause, Mrs. Darnell, for even those who was principals before them at my school. Sorry, Miss Mingo, the one who hired me. I thank you, you know, for caring not only about the students, but the staff and their well-being. I actually think, all the teachers at Galloway Elementary for inspiring me every day to put my best foot forward by the work that they do. I see them. Last but not least, I like to thank my family and friends, the people who always there for me, cheering me. Most of them, you know, they couldn't be here today. But those as here, I really appreciate you in all that
015you do. You know, let me tell you, it is definitely a joy to be able to wake up every day and know that you make a difference in the world, that you're able to teach and touch the young minds of tomorrow. I mean, that is a great work to be able to say you're doing. And I thank I think you know, God for this opportunity and our appreciate you. Thank you so much. Our next Apple Corps honoree this evening is Nicole Elliott of Wylie Middle School. Nicole is a sixth grade science teacher with 11 years of experience here in Mesquite. I-s-d, let's take a look at what makes Nicole an Apple Corps teacher. Nicole Elliott is a dedicated and passionate educator who consistently goes above and beyond for her students and colleagues. Nicole embodies the
016bully winds values worthy integrity, needs no excuses, and strives for excellence. Her positive, caring and fun approach makes a lasting impact on her students and the school community. We are incredibly proud to have Miss Nicole Elliott as a part of the Wooly Wolfpack. Teaching is important because this is our future generation of kids. I love my job every day and something new, something different, and I love to see the passion in my students. I want to see children because they are like my children and help them get there, help them see their full potential in life. And it starts here in the classroom with the teacher and the student relationship and connection that you build throughout the year. And that's why I think teaching is important. So clearly graduation is Nicole Elliott. Congrats. Gradually you
017read this proclamation. Whereas the Mesquite Independent School District Board of Trustees seeks to honor outstanding classroom teachers who demonstrate leadership and innovation and dedication to the students of Mesquite ISD. And Whereas, Mesquite, as the applicant, 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 Nicole Elliott into the Mesquite I-s-d Apple Corps on the 10th day of March 2025. Thank you for what you do. That's the criteria that. Okay. Number ten, your middle school kids. So I'm not nervous. First of all, I want to thank Doctor Rivera and Doctor Fields and the rest of the school board for this amazing opportunity to stand here today and be recognized. I've always wanted to be an Apple Corps teacher. I knew from a
018young age as a student at Mesquite, that this award means you have achieved excellence as an educator. I was blessed to have amazing teachers throughout my educational journey here in Mesquite, kindergarten through 12th grade. I am a teacher today because of the teachers I had here in Mesquite. I want to thank my principal, Miss Morris, my assistant principals, Miss Griffiths, Mr. Peterson and Miss Taylor and the rest of the leadership team at Wooley who felt I deserved this honor. I want to thank my peers and my sixth grade team. We have amazing teachers at Wiley who deserve to be here, where I am today, standing before you to my family. My husband Blake, who knows how much I pour into my students as if they were my own kids. He is my number one supporter
019and all that I do to my own kids. Colleen Reed, thank you for sharing me with my students. Everything I do, I do for the two of you. To my mom, Kathy, for showing me to love others and spread kindness in this world. Thank you for passing down your work ethic to me. And also thank you for always saying yes to my Amazon order when I need something for my students in the science lab. I also want to thank my sister, Renee. You set the example for what it takes to be a leader in education. I look up to you. You are my big sister and I love you more. People often ask me why I teach. My answer is simple. Why not teach? I know this is what God put me on earth to
020do. Is teaching easy? Of course not. But is it worth it? Absolutely. I love building those relationships with students. What I teach them goes beyond the classroom walls. I love watching them grow and their education and seeing the excitement they have for learning. Middle school kids are the best. You never know what emotion or mood you will see each day. But middle school is the most important years of a child's life. You're able to help them set that foundation for the future. Thank you again for everyone for this amazing opportunity to become an Apple Corps teacher. I am forever grateful. I have to say, not only do we have amazing educators in this district and your two shining examples, but because of your work, we have amazing students in this district that you've heard earlier
021about. And that continues. And we're proud of you. What you didn't do is, miss Holly, would you like to introduce your family here? We'd like for them to stand so we can recognize them because of their support for your family. And then secondly, your family at the school. If we can just get your parents to stand or family members are there. Yes. I have my spouse, Angelia. I, my mother in law, brother in law and sister in law. My mom, my dad, you know, they couldn't make it. My sons couldn't make it. I have some staff members that thank for if we can get them all to stand and wait. There you go. So my principal, miss welfare system principal. Go now. Counselor. Miss or I have some other former staff members and staff. Staff
022members who are here to support me. Thank you so much. Thank you. It sounds like from the chair. And you have a lot of fun at your school. Miss Elliott, same thing. Your family. If they're here, we'd love for them to stand so we can recognize them and thank them. Hey. My husband Blake. My son Reed. And my daughter Chloe. I'm so. My sister Renee. And my mom, Kathy. And then my principal, Miss Morris, and the rest of the valley. The Whitley. You get the rest of the Molly Clay clan here. I think that's it. That's it? Yeah. It's track meets today. It's track. Well. Thank you. We're proud of you and mom. We need extra money. You got some credit cards we can use. Thank you for helping out, Miss Smith. All right. Next
023up, it's time for us to recognize our outstanding paraprofessional of the month with the Star Power Award. We are excited this year to have First Financial Group of America partnering with us to provide that star para recipient with a $50 gift card. I'd like to ask our FGA representative to join our March Star parent, Jovita Ransom and Floyd Principal Christine Alvarez, at the podium up front so we can, From you, Miss Alvarez. Do we go? Okay. Did she go? Well, you just tell us a little bit about her. Yes. So, miss, miss Ransom has been a member of Mesquite ISD for about, 20 to 25 years. Majority of her career has been a paraprofessional at Floyd Elementary. So she is definitely a a definite forever. Floyd family family member. She currently is, para and our,
024special education TLC, classroom. And she is a vital part of our everyday staffing with not just her students and our whole community and and family here at Floyd. You. Congratulations. I take a picture. Yes. All right. Congratulations. Next up, we are pleased to recognize a community partner that is making a difference in Mesquite I-s-d. And for the mesquite community. Oven Head Pizza is a local business eager to support read play talks mission. We have a video to show you more about this amazing partnership. This month we are excited to recognize Evan had pizza as our featured Mesquite ISD community partner. I'm really big on Give It Back and coaching and mentoring and inspiring the people for individuals that are younger than, especially kids because the future is the kids. Romeo and I, we're connected through
025the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce, and after I came and visited his space and saw how welcoming and inviting it was, I thought it would be the perfect place to set up a kids reading area filled with pizza themed books. I have three kids myself. We go to a restaurant. First thing that they want to do is pick up an iPhone or tablet or some technology. And how boring is that in my opinion. So watching the kids that come in here to pick up a book and have their older sibling or their parent read to them. I believe that is the one of the most beautiful things to see. Thank you. Evan had pizza for supporting replay talk, Mesquite ISD and the entire Mesquite community. Thank you to Evan had pizza. Next up, we'd like to
026introduce you to our District Principals of the year for 20 2425. If I could have Stacy Bennett and Doctor Regina Jackson join us up front. Oh. Thanks to a generous partnership with Clay Cooley Auto Group and the Education Foundation. District officials have chosen these two principals to represent Mesquite ISD as our elementary and secondary principals of the year. They were recently honored at the Education Foundation Gala, where they were presented with a $500 check for personal use and $1,500 towards their campus. Doctor Regina Jackson of AC New Middle School was our is our secondary principal of the year. And Stacy Bennett of Smith Elementary is our elementary principal of the year. Congratulations, ladies. And she's attending. Hey. All right. Congratulations. Okay, so next, I'd like to introduce you to our District teachers of the year.
027I miss Albert Quiroz and Melinda Francesca. Come on up. Each year, our. Each year, each campus selects their own teacher of the year. And from that pool of 52, the district selects, an elementary and secondary teacher of the year that will represent us at the region ten teacher of the year contest. These teachers were also honored at the recent Education Foundation Gala, where they were presented a $500 check from the Doctor David Vernon Endowment. Melinda Francesca is a teacher at Wilkinson Middle School. She's our secondary teacher of the year. And our Quiroz is at Lawrence Elementary and our elementary district teacher of the year. Congratulations. Okay. Okay, now what most of you may be here for. We got some amazing students to recognize. We're going to start with some students being recognized for their academic
028achievements through Destination Imagination, Sphero Global, and the Academic Decathlon. First up, we have the Vanced and AR, VR team. Second place in the Sphero Global Challenge in the Rover competition. Again, this is Kamden Standish from Vanced in middle school. His. Okay. Same group. We have sponsor Lora Brown and Nick Coleman. Interpreter Rhonda Cole. And, sorry. Nick Coleman is interpreter and Rhonda Cole is intervenor. Those are those sponsors with Vanced in middle schools are VR team. Next step in the planet XR destination imagination team. Third place in elementary technical challenge. These guys have advanced to the Lone Star finals. They're from Kimball Elementary. Their sponsors are Sarah Slater and Aaron Gordon. Congratulations. Planet Zord, destination imagination team. All right. Congratulations. Next up from Smith Elementary, we have the legendary leopards destination imagination team. These guys took
029second place in the elementary improv and advancing to the Lone Star finals. Their sponsor is Earl Wilson, and they're from Smith Elementary. All right. Congratulations to the legendary leopards. Next up from AC New middle School. We have the new Knights team, third place in the Sphero Global Challenge state competition. Their sponsor is Lauren Dennis. And. All right. Those are your new knights. Next up from Seaborn Elementary School. We have team friendship, destination imagination. They got first place in regionals. Advancing to Lone Star Finals. Their sponsors are Ashley Cook and Elizabeth Nunez. Team friendship from Seaborn Elementary. All right. We're going to have sponsors Ashley Cook and Elizabeth Moon as stay put as we welcome We the People destination imagination team from Frazier Middle School. These guys placed third in the engineering challenge, advancing to the
030Lone Star finals. All right. Next up from Frazier Middle School, we have the Falcons team with sponsors Brown and Skinner. They placed second in the Sphero Global Challenge and state competition. These are your Falcons from Frazier Middle School. Next up from John Horn High School, will Burroughs got a bronze in interview at at the state academic decathlon competition. Also from John horn High School Anthony Ortega. Silver in literature and bronze in music at State academic Decathlon competition. The three. Next up, Maya Oriana got a gold in speech, art and literature, and bronze in music. Second overall varsity score, earning a $2,000 scholarship from John Horn High School. Next up, from John Horn High School, we have the Academic Decathlon team that placed third in the state competition. Every student on this team earned a $500
031scholarship. John Horn, Jaguars sponsors Ashley Blakely, Amy Bruce and Brittany Snyder. The next one earlier. And it's this one. No, we're still in Union. All right. Next up we have Camila Ramirez, second place and state qualifier, and you will cross examination debate from North Mesquite High School. Both of them. Next up we have a team Trinity respire and Nuvia Ramirez. They placed first and their state qualifiers. And you will cross examination debate also from North Mesquite High School sponsor Naomi Bell. Of science. He's going to pronounce his name for you. Ash. Next. Okay. Now we're going to recognize some excellence in fine arts. We have Noah Vasquez, TME, a All-State choir member with sponsor manager. Sign up. Daniel. Manager Cyrus again from the Mesquite High School. Coming out. Next up, let's welcome North Mesquite varsity
032pacesetters. They complete. They competed at Crowd pleasers Timber Creek Showcase on Saturday, February 15th, where they won Grand Champion in the classic small team division. Sponsor Mary Garcia. Mastering okay. All right. Congratulation, ladies. Our last group of students today. Are we going to recognize for some excellence in athletics, Nico Nico Cordero, a varsity swim and regional qualifier from John Horn High School. Sponsor is Stephanie Bernier. Next up we have Gabe Cordero, varsity swim regional qualifier from John Horn High School. Boys. Boys 203 and 403. Relay team. Next up, also from John Horn High School. Let's welcome the boys 200 medley and 400 free relay team. I got that mixed up. Qualified for regionals. This team did from John Horn High School with 200 freestyle and 200 medley. Okay, 90. Yeah, that makes sense. More excellence
033in swimming from John Horn High School. Your girls 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay team have qualified for regionals. Okay. So. More from John Horn High School. We have Darius Greaney on varsity wrestling state qualifier with sponsor Brett Barnes. And also from John Horn High School. Noah. Oh, yay. Varsity wrestling regional qualifier. And Gray Barnett, varsity wrestling, a regional qualifier from John Horn High School. All right. Moving on to swimming from West Mesquite High School, we have Julian Carden, regional qualifier. And also a regional qualifier from West Mesquite. Varsity swimming Clio Morales. Sam Corrado. And Mackenzie Perrotta, a varsity wrestling regional qualifier for the Wranglers. From Mesquite High School Troy Slater, regional qualifier. Swimming. Another regional qualifier from Mesquite High School. Swimming Peyton Williams. Giovanni challenge. And back to wrestling Giovanni Martel. Mesquite High School
034varsity wrestling regional qualifier. Austin Murr regional qualifier. Mesquite High School wrestling. The. Ariel Sosa regional qualifier. Wrestling. Mesquite High School. And let's recognize some pirates from Poteet High School Katie Johnson, varsity swim, a regional qualifier. As you. Christopher. Zara Zula, swim regional qualifier from Poteet. I'm standing in the audience section with you. Chris Angel Mendiola, regional qualifier for swimming from Poteet. Thank you very much. Nice. Kendrick Quinonez, regional qualifier, varsity swimming from Poteet. David Hernandez, regional qualifier for swimming. Poteet High School. Christian Moreno, regional qualifier for swimming. Poteet High School. Jay Cardozo regional qualifier. Swimming. Poteet High School. Billy Keltner, regional qualifier. Varsity swimming Cody High School, senior. Whatever just mentioned. So hang on, guys. We got a couple that swam away, but I'd like to recognize our boys. 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle
035teams. They qualified for regionals. They've come back from Poteet High School. Congratulations. All right, back to the mat. We have Travis Martinez, a regional qualifier in wrestling from Poteet High School. Salazar. Regional qualifier. Wrestling. Poteet High School team. Now to the north side. Giovanni Jimenez. Varsity Slam, a regional qualifier from North Mesquite High School. And. Rebecca martinez, a regional qualifier swimming from North Mesquite High School. All right. Do you want to say. Next up we have Marlin Martinez, varsity swim regional qualifier from North Mesquite. And McKayla Banda, regional qualifier for swimming from North Mesquite High School. And Delilah Soto, regional qualifier for swimming from North Mesquite. Let's see you. And, Alyssa. Yep. Regional qualifier for swimming from North Mesquite High School. It is called our 40 and. If we get the other three ladies that
036were part of the girls 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle teams, regional qualifiers from North Mesquite High School, Makai Hawkins. All right. Makai Hopkins regional qualifier for swimming. North Mesquite High School. And welcome Kingston Barker, wrestling state qualifier. North Mesquite high school. Thank you. And we have Leo Lopez, another state qualifier in wrestling from North Mesquite High School. And ladies and gentlemen, this completes our staff and student recognitions for the evening. We'll go ahead and take about a seven minute break. For the other. I guess the seven minutes is up. Yeah. Okay. Where are we? Here. I'm here. Oh. The next item on the agenda. Hear here. Next item on the agenda is our audience portion. For those wishing to speak on items on the agenda. Do we have anyone? No. Nobody from the leadership.
037Mesquite. Good. We'll close that section. Didn't want to put you on the spot, though. Yeah, that'll put you on. The next item on the consent is our consent agenda. Board members, are there any items that you wish to have pulled and discussed and voted on separately? If not none. I'll entertain a motion. So it was the second down here. Have a motion by Mr. Rose and second by Mr. Bingham. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Nay. Motion passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda is reports of the superintendent. First area is personnel. I'll turn that over to Doctor Rivera. Thank you, Mr. President. And first item, that we have is the recommendation for, executive director of special ed for that. I'm going to call him Mr.
038Taylor Morris to the lectern. Good evening, President Stewart and school board. With the pending retirement of Doctor Carpenter, I'm excited to bring forward a recommendation for executive director of special education. Doctor Morris, can you come up and join me at the podium? Doctor Matt Morris has built a distinguished career in education, holding a variety of leadership roles that span both K-12 and higher education. He earned his bachelor's in elementary education and master's in school administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and then his Doctor of Education from the University of Houston. Doctor Morris began his teaching career in Sherman ISD, before returning to his collegiate alma mater as an to serve as the coordinator and then Director of Academic Services at Southeastern. After obtaining a certification as an educational diagnostician, he returned to Texas public schools
039and served as a diagnostician for several years. He most recently, has overseen the educational diagnostician certification program at region ten, and he's currently serving as the Assistant Director of Special Good Gravy Special Education at Keller ISD. In addition to his leadership experience, Doctor Morris is an adjunct professor at East Texas A&M, where he teaches graduate courses in the Department of Psychology and Special Education. I'm excited to welcome him to our Misd team, but prior to that, I understand this as an action item. Mr. president, I move that doctor Matthew Marsh be appointed executive Director of Special Education. Assuming that you're not related to Tyler Morris, nobody's going to own me for a second. All right, I have a motion by Mr. Everett, a second by Mr. Campbell. Any further discussion? Besides the, is there a
040limit on the number of courses we can have? There should. Have one. Can we swap more? I don't know what my all the time is with you. All right. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying I, Those opposed. Nay. Motion passes. Seven zero. Congratulations, doctor. Good evening. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve as the next executive director of Special education in Mesquite. I-s-d. I would specifically like to thank Mr. Seward. Doctor Rivera, the other members of the board of trustees, Doctor fields, Mr. Morris and Doctor Hensley as well. I'm looking forward to partnering with you all to provide the best opportunities for students, while ensuring they are prepared for a competitive workforce. In closing, I would also like to thank my wife of 11
041years. I would not be where I am today without her. So, Connie, would you stand? Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Looking forward. All right, Mr. President, we also have a coordinator of safety and security. And for that, I'm going to pass it on to our chief communication officer, Sabrina Smith. Oh, there we go. They turn me off. Elizabeth Baker brings over two decades of experience, including ten years of military service as a crypto logic linguist and an intelligence analyst. Her work involved translating and analyzing foreign communications and providing threat assessments based on intelligence findings. Following her military service, Baker began her career in education right here in Mesquite ISD. She taught physics and computer science for ten years at Mesquite High School before transitioning into school counseling. Over the past five years, she has worked
042as a school counselor, including three years as the lead counselor at Doctor Rulon Vanguard High School. Baker was the 2020 2324 Mesquite ISD Secondary Counselor of the year, and in 20 2425, she was named Texas School Counselor Association's Secondary Counselor of the year. Baker holds an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University, a graduate degree from Clemson University, and a postgraduate certificate in School Counseling. Elizabeth Baker. Do I have a motion to move? Second. Motion by Mr. Bingham. Second by Miss Collier. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please indicate by saying I, Those opposed. Nay. Motion passes seven. Oh, congratulations, Miss Baker. Miss Baker, we can get together later. I used to be in. I had a crypto clearance when I was in the Air Force Security Service. So we can go talk about some
043secrets. Wait a minute. I don't remember if it's been too long, but it was Air Force, so you don't have to speak so long. Well, Mr. President, we have one more item. Is the approval of contracts for directors, assistant directors, managers, coordinators, assistant principals, counselors. Diane, and licensed skilled specialist. And so who moved cabinet? Is there two second line item I have a motion by Mr. Carbon. Second by Miss Hornsby. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Nay. Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. Congratulations. Next item on the agenda report board members. You have that before you if you have any questions. Nope. Board members, in the interest. We talked about this beforehand, and I forgot to let you know that we're going to move up. If
044you don't have any objections, we're going to move up. Under administration action items three and four. To consider at this moment, having to do with the contingency, legal contracts, who's going to present that? They've left the presentation. How much should I move that? The Board of Trustees adopt a resolution approving the contingency legal services contract that includes the findings required by Texas Government Code 2 to 5 for subchapter C, and that are needed for submission of the Contingent Fee legal services Agreement and or request to the Texas Attorney General for expedited review. Second, Mister. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying I, those opposed, nay, motion passes seven oh. Next action item, Mister president. Move that the Board of Trustees adoption approves entering into a contingent, free local,
045legal legal services agreement with Thompson and Haughton LLP. Eland and bond in PC and Hanlon, Desmarais and Castillo PC to represent the district can use social media usage and related litigation. Second, Mister I have a motion by Mr. Campbell and second by Mr. Bingham. You heard the motion. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Those opposed? Nay. Motion passes seven zero. Next on the agenda under effectiveness reports, we'll have a report on academics, dual credit and CMR. Mr. weeks and Miss Upton, I believe. Is that right? Hello. Thank you so much. Good evening everyone. Thank you, Doctor Rivera and school board for giving us this opportunity to share our effectiveness report with you all. My name is Russ Weeks. I'm the director of advanced academics who have at least up
046to an hour CMR coordinator. You'll hear lots from her in a couple of minutes. We have Doctor Laura Brown, one of our advanced academic facilitators, here tonight, and Tyler Walters couldn't be here tonight. But we are here in our department to guide our students to graduate and to thrive in all of their post-secondary endeavors. That's been our big, theme always, but we've really been focusing on that the last couple of years that you've got to add that and we're helping our students be successful in school now, but we want them to thrive and be successful when they leave us as well. Thank you. We're going to give you kind of an overview, a big overview, and then we're going to dive in, as you can see, to, as you look at these, bubbles here, many
047of the buckets that we manage and support and advanced academics, but we're going to spotlight tonight. CMR because it's been a huge board goal and it's been a mission of ours to grow and have, significant progress for our students and college readiness. We exist to provide advance learning opportunities for every student that will persevere, that prepare them to thrive beyond graduation into those post-secondary endeavors. And that's not just a high school mission. You'll notice we're kind of spotlighting several things on this list here and in these images that are K through 12, of course, we have Dallas College showcase our seniors who are already earning, Dallas College associate degrees. But we also are showing our Discover Your Excellence book bags that we're taking to elementary, our elementary campus, and just ensuring that we're producing collegiate
048and advanced opportunities for every student, whether it's artist outreach, Sphero Global Challenge, our quests, field trips, apps, Super Saturdays, helping our students, study for those AP exams, and even in our targeted pl for our teachers this year, we're really focusing and making sure every teacher, regardless of what their teachers, are getting, to connect with teachers from across the the district that teach like subjects, whether it's AP Onramps, dual credit, anything that is connected to CMR. I wanted to give you all a quick overview, especially for those that, might want to know and understand some clarity surrounding three of our collegiate opportunities for students. these are courses that can provide college access and credit for students while they're in high school, whether it be in dual credit. They're sitting in a high school class that with
049that credentialed college teacher, that they're earning that college credit on their transcript by sitting in that class, AP courses offer very rigorous content. And if they earn a three, 4 or 5 on an AP in an AP course, then they can earn college credit at, a college or university. And then Onramps is one of our newer opportunities. It's dual enrollment. So the student gets a high school grade and a college grade, and then they get to choose whether or not they want to accept that college credit. I'm going to turn it over to our fabulous CMR coordinator for a few minutes, and let her share some insights on how we've grown in CMR. Thank you. So the next couple of slides are showing some metrics for CMR. Dedicated to the senior class in CMR. We're
050working with every student in high school. But these are some metrics because that's what the the state grades us on right is where we are with our seniors. So we just kind of wanted to highlight a little bit of where we were, which is what you'll see on the left and where we are. So these are sat C two scores. We've really had a focus this year to try to hone in on some of the opportunities that we're providing for students, whether it's in our curriculum or in programs that we've purchased to help students be more successful on these tests that we're giving them. So you can see at the end of last school year, our senior class, they had an SAT evidence base. Reading and writing is what that stands for. Overall of 28%,
05128.7%. And right now we're sitting at 30.6. You can see the same there. There is an increase in math TSC LR, which is the English portion of that test. We're already over a percentage point higher than we were last year, and we still have two months to go. So those numbers will continue to rise through this school year. And even through the summer, we get to continue to allow students to take the TSI with us, but they can also start to take the TSI, on their college campuses. And then that that will come back to us as well. These are these are some metrics of, of where we're sitting with AP dual credit and on ramps. And again, this is just our senior class. So this is not total enrollments. You can see again with
052AP that we've already increased the number of students not only who are in an AP class, but who are actually getting that three, 4 or 5 on their AP tests, which equates to college credit in most cases. Dual credit. We're up to we're already at 27%. That will grow a little bit, the rest of the school year, not too much, but it still will grow a little bit. And then the same with on ramps. We're already ahead of where we were last school year. And really, what we see in the metrics is that the more students we have participate in these programs, the more students succeed. Our students who are in these programs are succeeding. So we just got to get the word out and make sure that more students are participating in these programs.
053This was a big one, especially for me this year. We've been part of Dallas Promise for a few years, as you know, and this school year was the first school year that in mIS-C as a whole, made the 99% club, meaning that 99% of our seniors have completed their Dallas promise path, which again, is the first step into them really taking ownership of this of this college process. And also our numbers are indicating that our applications and our Fafsa completions are up. I will tell you that our our applications, our college applications for our senior class are at 82%. So 82% of our seniors have completed at least one. Many of them have done three or 5 or 7. But at least one at 82% means they're really ready to, to take that next, next
054step. And then this is a metric that we receive every year from commit. And this shows our overall enrollments in two and four year institutions. One of the programs that we manage, is Summer melt. And summer melt is really about getting kids to enrollment. And you can see that our two year enrollment was up 5% from the class of 2023 to 2024. All right. So if we're looking at our AP participation and performance from and 2023 number of AP exams taken was 3548. And this past year it was up to 4115. And this year already we're projected to have 4834 AP exams taken. So it's another, big jump. And if you'll notice, our AP earned credits in 2023 was 1249. And in 2024 it was, 1397. And we're we're just constantly looking at that intentional
055professional learning, of course, helping, supporting, teachers to to grow and do even better, helping our students perform well on those exams. Again, with Onramps, it's newer to our district, so fewer numbers, but our enrollment in 2223 was 639. In 2324 was 808. And this year we have over 1000 almost 1100 students enrolled in enrollments in those onramps courses. And our current seniors college credit eligibility is already higher than last year's seniors. And that's before this semester has even finished. Some other advance competitions you saw earlier tonight, our Dei teams being honored, Academic Decathlon and our high school u-i-l speech and debate. But we're trying to take all that down to elementary, in alignment with our, college readiness and how students perform and providing those opportunities for every students at elementary, middle school and high school
056level. One of the big things that we did in Misd last year to help improve college enrollment, because it can be a really tricky process for our students, not just our students, any student, you know, it's hard. I mean, even with Dallas College, you go to Dallas College to try to enroll, and you've got to meet with five different departments before you can get a schedule. And so we brought those five different departments here to this building. And we had our students meet with each of those departments. And sometimes they would hit a roadblock like, oh, I don't have my final transcript. And we would kind of hold them hostage and say, you can't leave. We're going to print your final transcripts, or we're going to get your Texas College Bridge certificate for you, or
057we're going to print your SAT scores so that they really had, support here in the building to get everything they needed before they walked out with their, college schedule for that fall. And we really were able to see, both students and families really breathe a sigh of relief that this process was done here in Misd with people that they knew and trusted. Before they were moving on to the next step. And again, we did see, enrollment at Dallas College last year increased by 9%. And as we as we start to get to the end, I promise, I wanted to mention just, how we have to collaborate with departments all across the district, whether they're in teaching and learning or outside of teaching and learning, in order to make this work for our students, this is,
058it takes a village all hands on deck. We're all providing wraparound services for our students. We collaborate with library services. They even have a CMR task force this year. Instructional technology. We collaborate with them for to present professional learning. And through this Pharos Global Challenge CTE. Of course, they're providing industry based certifications for students and we are collaborating with them. We've received, we're doing an AP, CTE, Kickstarter pilot with cybersecurity. So it's both AP and a CTE course. Our content coordinators are providing, supplemental resources and embedding TSA, a and S.A.T. curriculum. And of course, with our counselors, we're doing more intentional advising, along with our advanced academic specialist and with Avid, we have forged an amazing partnership because avid is that ultimate bridge to college, as you all know. And then just just looking at
059this year, we've we zoomed in, we zoomed in on CMR. But if you zoom back out you can see all of these things we, we support and provide opportunities for our district every time. The team and I look at this, we like, oh, we need to add this, we need to add this. And, you know, it's not just us, it's everybody. But we could have added more bubbles, but there's no more room. So we all have seen the report and, you know, the things that we provide for our kids, and we have a big heart for these kids. Something else I really wanted to mention is we've we've grown a lot, but we have a long way to go, and we'll keep pushing. We'll do better. We'll help our students grow on, and we'll make
060sure they're ready for the next step when they leave us. But one of our biggest things is mindset. We're not just, you know, adding all these this advanced coursework, that's for an exclusive kid. We're trying to provide advanced opportunities for every kid as much as we can. And, we will continue to provide and expand those advanced academic opportunities for all students while increasing student participation and success. And our job isn't done until that's done. So thank you for letting us share. And do you have any questions for us? I do, I, I just wanted to make a comment. CMR, as you know, is a lagging indicator. You might explain what a lagging indicator sort of does. You do it. Sure. It makes our job hard. You know, one bad thing you do because, you know,
061any time the state is reporting data, it's really from it could be, depending on what the data is from the class of 2023 and 2024. And while, of course, we know that it's good to look at what we've done so we can do better, we're now in the midst of class of 2025, and so we've got to do what's best for them right now, in this moment. So some of our lagging indicators that you'll see, you know, are from the class of 2024, some are from 2023. So, yeah, I would add to that you're seeing this growth. But, this is Upton's second year in this position as CMR coordinator. And just the way, she has led and our campuses have led in this initiative that those lagging indicators that you're going to see in the
062coming years, it's going to it's going to keep expanding and growing. I do have a quick question to talk about when you said on ramps and you said that they get to choose whether or not they accept college credit. So kind of what's the difference between that? And do I understand the AP part. But what's the difference in that in the dual credit. Why why would they not choose to take the college credit on on ramps? I'm so glad you asked that. So they get the two grades. They get the high school grade, which is more like modules that the high school campus teacher is supporting them through. And then they get the actual college grade, which is an actual grade through UT Austin. And so that grade, they're good. They have got different assignments
063with a professor with online work that they're doing, and if they the grade they get on the college side, the student, through advisement from their teacher and support and their campus, they decide if they want to accept that grade on their transcript or not. So with dual credit, they're just getting credit for the course. They're getting they're getting your grade and dual credit. But it's this the high school grade and the college grade are the same. And whatever grade they get, it goes on their transcripts. Okay. Onramps can be a little lower risk in that the student gets to decide that second grade that is through the university. They decide, I'm going to accept this grade on my transcript or I'm not going to accept, but give them a C and they don't want to
064see. They want to take correct signature. Take the C they can. They don't credit. Yeah. And in their high school work they're great. Could be very different. they could have a high school grade of an A and a college grade of A C or D. And in which case they might not want to accept that D. But again, they're getting an opportunity to try something without the fear of failing. That college course and it going on their transcript forever. Okay. For parents whose kids might not be participating in some of the programs, what are some of the advanced academic programs that are like for everybody? Not just specific populations? Well, all of our advanced coursework is open enrollment. So if, a student is academically willing and ready, then they are invited to participate in advanced
065coursework. But as far as all of our other, extracurricular opportunities, destination imagination, I would encourage them to start young with, like, elementary, a dual spelling bee, all of these different things we're talking about because that's going to build a pipeline into all of those other things as they go into middle school and high school and even like Sphero Challenge and, some of the, the coding they could do there that could build a pipeline for them through like AP computer science principles and courses like that. I would also say that for every student, there is an advanced opportunity. It's just a matter of having, the correct advising to say, well, what's what's right for student A is not the same thing. That's right for student B, and definitely not every student is going to take advantage
066of AP and dual credit and on ramps. But even having a student attempt and onramps course one time throughout their four years is a great opportunity and a great experience for students. Because again, like I said, on the one slide, our students who are participating are succeeding. So if our students can participate and see that, I mean, even maybe if they end up not accepting the grade because they didn't really do well, maybe the first semester, but they really figured it out. And then they say, you know what? If I had done the same amount of work first semester, I'd have that B. So it gets it gives them the opportunity to try something. So I would say that any of those opportunities could be right, depending on the student in the class. And we
067want those students to give it a shot at the college coursework. Now, while they're with us, we want to challenge them, whether they're, a GTA kid or maybe it's their first time ever attempting a course like that. We want them to do it now so that they can push through it. Then when they get to college on their own, so they'll have that stamina and be able to do it on their own. Thank you very much. Yes. Thank Russ and Lisa. Thank you, thank you. Report. Okay. Next item is under administration. It's an action item to approve the House bill. Three updated goals. Miss Austin. From the other, Alicia, we got Morrises and Alicia's all over the place is to do. Good evening, everyone. So, I'm here to review the House bill. Three goals with
068you and then plans for you to approve or not. I checked with Doctor Rivera before we started to make sure you didn't really want to go through all 74 goals one by one tonight. They are in your board book so that you can review them. And, of course, ask questions. What I want to talk more about. But I think the Leadership Mesquite group, the chair, would like to go through all 74 pages. All right. We can do that too. My main goal is to and to explain the rationale and kind of the methodology of how we got the goals that we got. So, what you'll see in front of you is I'll do some review here and there as well. House Bill three goals are set in three areas third grade reading, third grade math
069and CMR for reading and math. Those are set at the meats level for CMR. It's whether or not students earn that point at least one for achieving one of those CMR measures. So what we looked at first was what's what is a reasonable goal. And so we decided to look at domain three closing the gaps since that is federal accountability. And there are targets set for individual student groups. Those are the targets that we're shooting for. If if the federal government wants us there, then that's an area that we need to work toward. Right now, we have what's called the current target. And a lot of our campuses are hitting the current target. There's also the next interim target that becomes the goal in 2028. So that interim target is where we set. So by
0702028, we want to be on track to hit those targets. And you can see that for third grade reading that's 55% means for third grade math it's 58%. That means right now those numbers are 46 and 49. So what we did was for each campus, where are they now for 2024? How did they finish up and then incrementally grow that goal to ultimately achieve that number? Like I said, we have some campuses that are already there and some that are on the on the way to get there. So, ultimately, as a district, those are the goals we want to hit. And we have three more years. Call it two and a half. About third grade in particular, I think it's important to note that it's the first year we're testing kids on Star, but it
071is not the responsibility solely of a third grade teacher to achieve those goals. That starts with our early literacy work. And every year leading up to that, for as many as four years prior to that first baseline that we then use to measure growth from year to year. The other thing about this goal is that it stays in third grade. It's not a cohort. It's not a group of students. It's every year we're looking at third grade. So it's speaking to what is instruction happening in that third grade. But also with all of the lead up to that through early literacy. So the goals that you'll have in your book are for all 34 elementaries in reading and also one in math. The other goal that we have to set is CMR, which was great
072that I got to follow them because I don't have to explain a whole lot of what just happened. I will say that we set a more aggressive target for this because for a couple of reasons. One, the target of 90% by 2028, that's partly there because for state accountability, we have to be at 90% to be on a rated campus. And CMR. We're currently last year we'll call it mid 60s as an average, but we're growing exponentially with all the work that has gone into place. So that's why the goal is set where it is. So whether a student gets a college, a career or a military point, then we want all of them to fall in that bracket. So and then just know that once these goals are approved, if you approve them, this
073is work that will then go to the campuses to put in their KPIs to work for for next year. So any questions I can answer for you. Thanks for all your hard work on this. I know it's taken an awful lot. We appreciate it. Thanks for the summary. Two I'm sure leadership leadership, Mesquite folks out there are very appreciative they didn't have to listen seven four slides. All right. They want to be leaders are going to start listening. And the other questions this is an action item. So second I have a motion by Miss Hornby Hornsby and a second by Mr. Cabell to approve the House Bill three updated goals. Any further questions? All those in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed. Nay. Motion passes seven zero. thank you.
074The next item on the agenda is a discussion of district wide Intruder detection audit report findings that who's going to give that report. Is that a one of the morrises. I miss? What if one of us. As you know, double checked our, list this morning. We're at 71 point something percent of our schools into this week. It marks three quarters of the school year being done. So they're on pace to be done with, 100 or 100% of our schools by year's end. So, we're still moving in that direction. We still have not heard about the district vulnerability assessments, but we're ready. Just been training campus leadership on what that's going to look like and what they need to have in place. So we're in good shape there. Any any questions or ideas or divas. Good.
075Thank you. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is under business. It's an action item to approve a resolution for the purchase of school busses. Mr.. Good evening. President Seward, Board of Trustees. Doctor Rivera, before you is, say, resolution, declare an expectation to reimburse expenditures with purchases of future debt. The reimbursement resolution is being presented to the board for approval to allow district maximum flexibility with respect to its use of funds. The purchase of the school busses, were paid or will be paid from district funds on hand if the bond election passes in May, the reimbursement resolution will allow the districts to finance the acquisition of the school busses with tax exempt bonds and to repay this general fund with bond proceeds. The reimbursement resolution does not obligated the district to issue bonds to finance
076the school busses. It just allows the district the option to do so in the future if the bond election passes. So I'll be happy to answer any questions. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Prada. That is an action item. So Mr. Bingham. I can just Kabul. We have a motion by Mr. Bingham and a second by Mr. Kabul to approve the resolution for the purchase of school busses. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please indicate by saying I, those opposed, nay. Motion passes, seven. Thank you. Board members. Any other questions or discussion? We're at the end of the agenda, if not before you. You do have the tentative agenda and activities for the upcoming month, and I have to make a correction under other upcoming events and activities. I had, Tuesday, March 12th. So it
077should be Wednesday, March 12th. With that note, I hope everybody has a nice spring break next week. Enjoy. Be safe, have fun. But also, I want to thank again the Leadership Mesquite for being here. Appreciate what you're doing and looking forward to what you bring to our community going forward. We haven't had this much clapping in a meeting, and a lot of that's right there. And if there is no other business before us and board members, we are now adjourned at 803. Thank you.