001Testing. Testing one, two, three. Justin, can you give me a thumbs up if you can't hear us? Yes, I can hear you fine. Testing one two three. Can you hear me? Okay, we cannot hear you. Let us adjust the sound. Sure thing. Thanks very much. Can you speak one more time so we can try it? Yes, absolutely. Testing one, two, three. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for the opportunity to present to you. My name is Justin Dearra. Testing one, two, three. Audio check one, two, three. Justin, we can hear you, but can you try one more time just so that I can make sure sound is loud enough? Absolutely. Testing one, two, three. Check one. Check one. Doing my best to speak in a normal speaking voice. Testing one, two, three. I feel like
002I should tell you guys a funny joke at this point, but I can't think of one. So, no, that's perfect. I think we got you. Okay, thank you very much. Um, has my colleague Cara Blue been present for a quick sound check as well or am I just later early? We will leave it running. Uh, so if at any point she jumps on, we can definitely test it. Okay, sounds good. Um, do you guys need any I have a PowerPoint presentation I would like to present during my uh section of the meeting today. Is that possible to do she via a screen share? Absolutely. Can you please try and do a screen share for me and pull up your presentation? Yes, I am not the most familiar with Google Meet, so it's going to take
003me just a sec. Is that a functional share for you? That looks perfect. Actually, we can see your first slide. Can you just switch slide for me? Yep. Can I test the audio on this slide? Yes, of course. Did the audio come through? The audio did not come through. Okay, I'll just take that out. It sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and troubleshooting it is more trouble than it's worth in my opinion. So, I'll remove that slide. We appreciate that. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Is there anything else I need to be aware of? And or otherwise I'll just be watching the video um on um and then I'll be just I'll think about just leave this connection running and muted. Uh that would be my preferred method. Is that okay with you? Uh yes
004actually that would be our preferred method as well. If you can just uh mute yourself and if you uh can turn off your camera. I will be monitoring this as we go. Thank you very much for the opportunity and um if you need anything else just give me a buzz. We'll do. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Okay, there we go. Okay. Oh, perfect. This meeting of the Midland Independent School District Board of Trustees is now open or is duly open for the transaction business or any pro any matters that may be properly presented. Uh we are a quorum. Uh note for the secretary. Well, he's not here that Mr. Hernandez is absent today, but we do make a quorum. Um, if you would and uh moving on to item number two, verification
005of compliance with open meeting law. This is to certify that the provisions of section 551. Texas Government Code have been met in connection with public notice of this meeting. And if you will please stand for a moment of silence and uh pledge to the flag. Thank you. And now for our pledges. 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 thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Thank you very much. Before we move on to the public hearing, Dr. Howard and I had spoken earlier and we wanted to bring up and ask the board if we could pull pull from the agenda um
006consent agenda. No, I'm cons. No, I'm sorry. Agenda item number nine, district information report C, planning, designing and construction of cafeteria facilities at the new high school campus. And just pull that from the agenda for a different day for discussion. Anyway, we needed to get a vote from the board to see if we could pull that off the agenda for this evening. Dr. How do you want to speak to it at all? I'm glad to. I believe the presentation's in board book. So if anyone wants to look at it, it's available as well as we provided the information that's been requested. Okay. All those in favor favor of pulling that agenda item for this meeting off the discussion, please raise your right hand. Okay, it's unanimous. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Now moving back
007to agenda item five, public forum. Mr. Gwen, Mr. Jared Sparks that he's the only speaker tonight. Good evening, Superintendent Howard and MISD board of trustees. I am here to speak to recent behavior and comments of board president Brandon Hodes. 13 days ago, a video was posted through the Texas Public Policy Foundation where President Hodgees spoke as a representative for MISD. One item that was pressed was the amount of students not reading on grade level and making fun of citizens and parents concerned with pushing unrealistic expectations of B campuses. These campus grades are heavily influenced by STAR performance. But STAR tests are in my opinion poor discriminators of performance and growth. And it appears that the majority of the board has misunderstood the meaning of approaches. approaches means that students are likely to succeed at the
008next grade level with targeted intervention, not that they will be unsuccessful and won't be able to get off the farm. I know a few students who just recently received their most recent star results and even though they are AB students have shown strong growth and performance on their MAP scores and are in honors English they received approaches on the star tests simply meaning there is a disconnect in what these scores mean and yet you all are putting a large emphasis on this one metric. In addition to those comments, Brandon, you indicated that the board has moved away from TASBY. According to the board policies pushed through on the consent agenda last month under the board's role, it states that quote, "The board shall behave in a manner that demonstrates the unity of the board, superintendent,
009and district. Your comments are in violation of the policy. What will be the consequence?" I understand that TASBY is nowhere close to perfect, but it isn't worthless. Brandon, you leverage tools or you personally have squashed any allowance for a TASBY representative to speak and potentially leverage tools that could be useful because of your personal beliefs. In addition, you provided personal attacks on other board members with lies that were deplorable. This does not appear to quote demonstrate the unity of the board. Brandon, you have lied to my face on your intentions to behave better. And you have not. I am a District 5 resident. You are my representative. Any honor you have as a man, you should publicly apologize for your comments about the other board members and for your comments about students and parents in
010this district. Do better. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you for sharing your feelings. Moving on to agenda item six, public hearing a overview of turnaround plan based on 2023 accountability ratings based on 2023 accountability ratings for bunch elementary, days of alla elementary, Lamar Elementary, and Scarbor Elementary. And do we have any public comment? Don't we do it? No. Okay, go ahead. Thank you. Good evening, President Hodes, members of the board, and Dr. Howard. Recently, the Texas Education Agency released the 2023 state accountability ratings. Due to this release, campuses identified for school improvement intervention must submit a turnaround plan and modify an existing board approved turnaround plan. Tonight I will present an overview over overview of the turnaround plan process and the proposed plans for Bunch Day of Alla Lamar and Scarbor Elementary. Achieving the district's goals
011within the strategic plan is driven by improving school performance and student outcomes. This focused approach not only enhances campus performance but also drives progress towards the district's mission of graduating all students college career and military ready. In February, as you see here of this year, campuses were identified as comprehensive support and improvement and targeted support and improvement based on specific performance metrics in domain 3, closing the gaps. They presented their targeted improvement plans and local improvement plans. The last step in the comprehensive support and improvement identification pro process denotes the criteria for a turnaround plan or a TAP. Campuses that receive two or more consecutive unacceptable ratings under 2023 accountability are required by state law to develop and submit a campus turnaround plan. A turnaround plan must include four components uh for success criteria. A
012school improvement strategy, progress and performance measures, reallocation of funds for resources and staffing, and feedback from key stakeholders. When deciding on a school improvement strategies strategy, districts may choose a new school model that redesigns a school's academic program. a new school model that restarts a campus which reconstitutes staff school closure and reassignment of all students to an A or B-rated campus and or an overall improvement of teacher capacity through effective research-based professional development and instructional practices. From there, the plan must describe the planning and implementation stages and outline the how and when the progress and performance measures will be reported to the district and other relevant stakeholders. These campuses must also allocate funding to retain and recruit highly effective teachers, purchase highquality instructional materials, and provide impactful coaching and professional development. All stakeholders must be
013notified of the campus turnaround plan and be given an opportunity to provide input. With the release of the 2023 accountability ratings, Desavala and Bunch Elementary failed to meet exit criteria for 2 years. Scarbor Elementary failed to meet exit criteria for three years and Lamar failed to meet exit criteria for four years. It is important to note that Lamar remained in year four. The derating in 2019 paused the count and did not add another year of unacceptable performance. However, Mi MISD could not allow Lamar to get to year five with data trending towards an F rating. In 2023, MISD took action in the form of a school restart which resulted in an 1882 partnership. According to the Texas Education Code 11.174 and Senate Bill 1882, this action exempts a charter from intervention for the first two
014years of operation for Scarbor. In 2023, MISD took action and received the effective schools framework focused support grant which provided funding to build capacity within their staff through intentional professional development and job embedded coaching. Scarbor and Lamar have previously approved turnaround plans for compliance purposes. These two campuses have submitted their turnaround plan modifications for board approval. Although 2024 accountability rating ratings remain in injunction, Bunch and Desala's 2024 accountability was projected as an F which could count as year three which would count as year three of unacceptable performance and a board approved turnaround plan must be implemented. Because of this, the district took action for these two campuses in the form of a new school redesign model through the school action fund in 2024. This option does not pause the chain. Therefore, further action may be
015taken if the chain of unacceptable performance goes to year four. Looking at where Lamar and Scarbor are now, according to 2024 accountability, they have successfully broken the unacceptable performance chain. After two years of accountability of a C or better, the turnaround plans for these campuses will no longer be needed. Now we will hear from all four campuses as they give an over an overview of their school improvement strategies and actions within their turnaround plans. I do want to point out real quick, Miss Brown, come on up. Um all four of the principles that you're going to hear from tonight um and Lamar were not um the principles are over the campuses in 23. Miss Brown has been the principal at Bunch Elementary for 24 hours. So, uh, we also want to welcome her to this
016to the podium and look forward to her leadership. Thank you, ma'am. Good evening. My name is Emily Brown, principal at Bunch Elementary. Bunch Elementary School improvement strategy is the K8 College and Career Prep model, which is a new school model supported through the school action fund, which redesigns the campus's instructional and cultural vision, mission, and expectations. This year was the planning stage which immediately shifted the focus on tier one instruction by implementing systems that protected classroom instruction, built instructional capacity in teachers through teach like a champion and raised the expectations of all adults and then students. During the upcoming year of implementation, the campus has retained and will continue to recruit more effective staff members who are in alignment with the new vision and mission centered on high expectations and creating a culture of excellence.
017With these strategies in place, the Bunch staff is working towards improving student achievement and contributing to the reduction of students sitting in low performing seats. Good evening. I'm David Dwarte, the proud principal of Desavala Elementary. Desavala's school improvement strategy is the K through8 advanced STEM model, which is a new school model supported through the school action fund, which redesigns the campus's instructional and cultural vision focusing on STEM pedigogy, critical thinking, and student student ownership of learning. During the planning year, the instructional staff utilized this time to build capacity through effective PLC's and teach like a champion strategies which focused on lesson internalizations, rehearsals, and weekly data meetings that followed the plan do see act model. This informed the teachers plans to retach and intervene based on the students needs. During the upcoming year of implementation,
018the campus will continue to grow and recruit highly effective faculty and staff that fit the newly adopted STEM educator profile. The SAF committee or school action fund committee and campus leadership will work with key business partners such as Kle Phillips, Chevron and Exxon Mobile. Their involvement will play a crucial role in ensuring the successful rollout and sustainability of the STEM model at Desavala. This will be done by enriching and integrating all student learning experiences with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. With these critical shifts in pedigogy and schoolwide expectations, the campus is moving toward growing in its accountability rating. Lamar Elementary began their 1882 partnership in fall 2023. This school improvement strategy allowed the campus to recruit effective staff, provide professional development, and acquire research-based instructional materials and resources for their academic program. As a third
019feature school, the campus partnered with the Capernie project, which emphasizes critical thinking, personalized and hybrid learning models, maintain support structures via cohorts and learning coaches, and focuses on strong community engagement even under challenging circumstances. In 2024, Lamar's projected accountability is a B- rating. Modifications to Lamar's current turnaround plan have been updated to reflect the new school restart model and the start of their 1882 partnership through 2026. Sally Smith is the proud principal at Scarbor Elementary. The school improvement strategy at Scarbor Elementary focuses on leveraging their multiclassroom leaders or MCL's to drive professional learning communities or PLC's which included the datadriven instruction process and built educator capacity through observation and feedback coaching cycles. Over the last two years, the campus faculty and staff have improved their projected 2024 accountability rating two letter grades from an F
020to a C. The campus staff achieved this through systematically tracking student data to set individualized student growth goals, utilize lesson preparation strategies provided by Teach Like a Champion, and determine areas of retach to provide targeted interventions. Through the implementation of these strategies, the campus will continue to build on the growth from the previous school year and are trending on an upward trajectory. That concludes our presentation for our campus turnaround plans. Please note that the release of the 2024 accountability ratings are still pending and we will provide an update when they are officially released. Furthermore, the 2025 accountability ratings are slated to be to be released this August for full transparency. We will update the board and provide information regarding the possible imp implement implications for school action. At this time, I will turn it over
021to you, President Hodgees. Yes, this is uh Are there any public comments about the turnaround plan at this time? Seeing none, moving on to the next item. Uh, six, public hearing. D, I'm sorry, C. Financial overview for the 2025 2026 budget and proposed tax rate. Mr. Durham, good evening, President Hodgees, members of the board, Superintendent Howard. The required publication to discuss the budget and the proposed tax rate was published in the Midland Reporter Telegram on September I apologize on June the 14th, 2025. In addition to the publication um of the notice, the proposed budget was also posted on the district's website. TEA requires the board of trustees to adopt the budget for the general fund, child nutrition fund, and debt service fund at the functional level on a daily basis. The purpose of the public
022meeting is to discuss the school district's budget, which will later determine the tax rate that will be adopted this year. Annually, school districts cannot adopt a tax rate until TEA determines the school district's maximum compression rate. Once the state determines this, the district can move forward with adopting a tax rate to sustain the adopted budget. The district will bring the proposed tax rate back to the board in September of this year for the 202526 fiscal year associated with tax year 2025. So to start off, the district outlined three main budget priorities going into the 2025 2026 budget. The first was to build a sustainable budget. The second was to provide compensation increases and the third was in order to build a budget based off data-driven um board goals, strategic plan and the comprehensive assessment. Some
023of the major factors influencing the budget process are shown on the screen. However, one of the largest ones um that was a direct implication for the 202526 budget was the 89th legislative session that did bring in additional funds for the district um which is shown in the proposed budget. Shown is the historical and projected enrollment trends. You've been able to see since 2013 2014 the district has continued to grow um with slight fluctuations through some of the years um specifically during the co time. Um however we are projected to have um approximately 30,13 overall students for the upcoming 202526 fiscal year with a projected enrollment of right over 32,800 students in 2034 2035. Shown are the two buckets of tax rates. You have your general operating fund um which is known as the M tax
024rate. Um this is for your daily operating expenditures. And the second is the debt service rate better known as the INS and that is in order to pay down bonded indebtness that has been voter approved. Shown is a historical trend of tax rates going back to 2013. Um you can see on the far right hand side for tax year 2025. That is the tax rate um that will be coming before the board in September of this year after TEA releases the maximum compression rate. As of right now, I have a 87.7 cent tax rate, which is a flat tax rate um compared to the two prior years. However, um that is going to um slightly decrease based off the maximum compression rate and some of the items enacted by the 89th legislative session. Shown is
025the overall recapture with the offset of the formula transition grant. So the blue is indicating the recapture amounts dating back to whenever we first became subject to recapture in 2013 2014. The red indicates the amount of funds the district has received in formula transition. And so um for those five years we were able to slightly offset the amount of recapture going back to the state. However, you can see starting with the 202425 fiscal year, that red bar no longer existed because it had a five-year um expiration date. And so that is also going to continue. Um we are no longer going to be um receiving those funds. But I think that is a very important um slide to look at and it directly um shows the reasoning why we're in the fiscal cliff that we
026are um today. Shown is the MISD's property values comparisons between the April certified estimates, July certified estimates or certified values and the October tax row. Um you can see that whenever you compare the April certified estimates um to the October tax certifications, our values did increase. I do anticipate having that same um uh increase um whenever we compare the April certifications um to the October later this year. This is a graph showing the total state and local M revenue per ADA. Um you can see there for about five years the overall revenue per ADA was um pretty pretty flat because of the formula transition grant. However, you can see the sharp decline starting with the 2014 2025 fiscal year. Um, I also still showed the old law for this upcoming year versus the new law
027based off the 89th legislative session just to show that comparison between the revenue per ADA. And so the 89th legislative session, while it did not solve all of our problems, it is um very beneficial and will help get us um to next year being able to balance a budget um that is balanced. This is the projections for the 202526 fiscal year proposed budget that you will um later this evening u make a decision on. Some of the main factors is the enrollment projections of 30,13 students, ADA projections of 27,13 students which is based off an attendance rate of 93%. Um interest rates are have been continuing to fall and so we have been conservative on that. Two items that I do want to make sure are mentioned is that the royalty payments that are pending
028along with the sale of real property are not included in this budget. So once those um have been finalized, that will help further offset our deficit. Um and then this proposed budget will also take into consideration all the implications from the 89th legislative session. So um in short, the district is proposing um a budget that is a $7.89 million deficit. However, that is significantly um reduced from the 202425 budget that was adopted this time last year. This just shows the summary of the proposed budget. So on an annual basis, the board of trustees is required to adopt three budgets. The general fund, child nutrition fund, and the debt service fund on the functional level. So you can see um there about the middle of the screen a $7.89 $89 million deficit for the general fund,
029a balanced budget for the child nutrition fund, and a balanced budget for the debt service fund. That debt service fund um budget does allow the district to further defease um bonds um next August. Next August. Yes, ma'am. Um this is the 202526 projected outstanding bonds. Um to Dr. Howard's point, the the um resolution for this year's defeasence will come before the board next month. Um that will be in order to defease the two different rows highlighted in green. And so after the defeasence is passed next month and finalized in August, um then the only thing that we will have outstanding is debt related to the voter approved 2023 bond. This is an overview of the timeline of upcoming items. So um later this evening the board will take action on the budget adoption for the
030202526 fiscal year along with the final budget amendment. Next month we'll bring the resolution for defeasants and then in August we will actually finalize the defeasants and make the defeasants. At that time we will know the true amount of money that we were able to save taxpayers. And then September will be the month that the district um provides an update on our tax rates and um recommends approving a tax rate at that time. And at this time, I will turn it back over to you, President Hodgees. Thank you very much. Uh are there any public comments on this item? Seeing none, we're moving on to the next agenda item, which is seven consent agenda. A, approval of board meeting minutes. B, approval of monthly financials. C, approval of 2025 2026 fees and dues. D, approval
031of the optional flexible school day program, OFSDP. D, approval of the optional, I'm sorry. E. Approval of 2025, 2026, 2026, 2027, 2027, 2028. Application for modified schedule state assessment testing day waiverss. F. Approval of memorandum of understanding between Milan ISD and Milan College concerning dual credit. G. Approval of memorandum of understanding with Odessa College for collaboration for preparation of educators. H. Approval of memorandum of understanding between MISD and Perian workforce for apprenticeships. I approval of the architectural engineering firm for the Bonham, Bernett, Fannon and Henderson elementary schools, Midland alternative program MAP and Viola Coleman High School project including construction delivery methods associated with the 2023 bond program and authorization to execute an agreement. A the superintendent's up to I'm sorry that's it. So all those in favor of any questions? Anybody want to pull any
032items off consent? Seeing none, all those in favor of accepting agenda item 7A, consent agenda. All raise your right hand. It's unanimous. The motion passes. [Applause] Moving on to agenda item eight, superintendent update. Dr. Howard. Yes. So, thank you, Mr. Hodes. Uh, just wanted to start off by thanking the board for being at the school action fund training on June 14th. Um, that was a training that, as you all know, was required for us to participate in the school action fund, and we appreciate you taking that time to be there. Want to thank our team. You heard from Mr. Durham. You're probably tired of hearing those budget updates, but all the work that's gone into getting us to the point that we are tonight with the budget compensation plan. Um, our team is working and
033we've put together a weekly meetings where we're looking at legislative updates and what do those updates mean for us, what actions are going to need to be taken, but then also looking at all the opportunities within House Bill 2 that provide for additional funding um if we do different things. And so really working to look at how do we maximize funding with those allowable additional funds um if the school district chooses to participate in various um programs or opportunities. Um our team is preparing I think for a welldeserved break um after this week and so July 1st through the 7th uh the district will be closed and uh then of course July 8th we hit the ground running for the 2526 school year. Um as of today we've retained 83% of our principles. That's a
034significant increase from years past. Uh we've retained um 79 84% I mean of our teachers and our school leadership is in the process. They've been working since our last leadership meeting on aligning their campus improvement plans with the new board goals, the metrics that are associated with that. And you'll see those in August. Those will come to the board uh for your consideration and approval at that time. Um also some fill rates. Our teacher fill rate uh through today is 95%. So you know with a month and a half to go before school starts, we feel good about where we are with that. And just some upcoming events that we have groundbreaking of course tomorrow at Legacy High School's new site, uh Midland High on Thursday. And then um we have leadership summit coming up
035the middle of July that we'll be sending you some information on and hope you can stop by or join us for some of that time. And then convocation on August 5th. We're going to do that at the Horseshoe this year instead of the Shep Center. I just got a quick question. Uh how are how are we compared to historical teacher and retention and fill rates? Yes. So the um historical teacher retention was 79% and we're at 84% right now. And then the fill rate is about the same. I think we were at 94.9 right now and we were 95.1 last year at this time. So right at 95%. Anybody else? Anyone else? Moving on to Uh, agenda item nine, districtformational reports, a bond 2023 monthly report. Mr. Smith, thank you, President Hodes. Good evening, members
036of the board. Dr. Howard, um, appreciate y'all let me give you another update, our monthly progress report on the bond. Um, jumping right in. Our overall progress slide has been updated for you and provided um, to you in your in your board packet. Um, package one, Lonear Trails Elementary. It's 80% complete, still on track to open uh for school this this coming August. Roofing, metal studs, elevator, and drywall has has all been completed. Um HVAC, not listed on this slide, is also uh fully installed and operational throughout the facility. Um and you can see cabinets there 50% installed. All cabinetry is on site. Um just waiting for that that to be installed. The parking lots and drives are 95% complete. Just some small amount of of curbing left to be completed. uh to to wrap
037that up. Package two, the new uh the new high schools uh construction documents 70% complete. Uh road work on Avalon, Thomasson, Wadley, etc. uh is still in the works um with the city of Midland and you've been provided some information earlier in the day uh regarding that. We do have our next uh furniture, fixtures, and equipment meeting uh planned to come up in in September. uh pilot or uh speaking of furniture, our pilot furniture uh for those campuses is uh scheduled to be delivered next month and will be uh installed at our current campuses so teachers and principles can get a feel for what that furniture looks like uh this coming school year. Our graphics package design has begun and our landscape design and tree count uh work has has been finalized. Excuse me. Um
038as Dr. Howard mentioned, our groundbreings are scheduled 1 in the morning uh at at the new at the new LHS site and then the new Midland High site will follow on on June 26th. Package three is our eight elementary school package. Those eight elementary schools did not have secure vestibules. We've got some updated renderings here for what Franks and Lamar and Houston will look like. Um, we're adding on to those those three facilities has to save classroom space instead of remove classrooms and and and turn existing classrooms into uh an administration building uh I'm sorry, an administration area. Uh we're adding on to those facilities and that that fell well within budget to to be able to do that. Um our fire suppression installation uh has also started at at those six campuses listed there.
039uh still on track to finish before the start of school uh in in August. Package four is our guard and Midland freshman package. Asbestous abatement at at both of those facilities is underway now. Still again on track to to finish before school starts. Uh we do open bids uh early July for both of those uh additions at those schools. The new the new entry uh additions at both schools. Um, package five is our standalone uh, middle school package made up of Alamo. 95% construction documents uh, are complete. Asbestous is also underway. Uh, asbestous abatement is also underway there. Package eight uh, is our four elementary school package. We're still uh, working on design development. It's getting close to being completed. Uh, we do have the Sanorita drive that is in progress right now. Uh it
040it is scheduled to be completed again before school opens this August. Much needed uh for that campus uh to help with drop off and pickup. And then our final package nine Sano uh and Abel uh geotechnical borings were completed last week uh at both locations and the flooring project that we talked about last month pulling it out of the main scope of work uh is underway at Abel scheduled to be completed um at the end of this week early next. Uh, with that, that concludes the monthly bond update and I'll turn it back over to President Hodgees. Anybody have any questions? Go ahead. So, I saw the uh the rough numbers that you kind of came back with from city. Um, was that kind of Do you think it was reasonable? Would you like to
041characterize your discussions in any way? I think it'd be good for the public and the board to kind of hear how that went. Yes, sir. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. We had a very productive meeting uh yesterday with the city and uh we think it's very reasonable. They're paying for just proposed. Uh we haven't got anything official back or anything approved by council or by our board, but uh they're just north of 60% I believe on on on what they're they're they're paying for u which I believe is more than reasonable. Um, anything really that is road work that is fronting our property or adjacent to our property, they're splitting with us right down the middle. Um, anything outside of of that, um, they're they're paying for 100%. Um, so I I do
042believe that to answer your question, Dr. Freeze, it is reasonable. I'm excited to hopefully get that that final interlocal agreement back from them by the end of this week. uh so we can get over to legal and and finalize that uh and take a a closer look at it and finalize the numbers. But where we're at right now, I think we're in really good shape. Yes, sir. And they did, Miss If I can point it out, they did pass a resolution, city council, right after the bond passed that the impact fees that they are charging us will go back to the work. So, I believe it's a little over 30% of the additional cost will come out of those impact fees. So, we certainly appreciate that. Uh, the other benefit of the the way that
043we're working on this is we will um our architects will control the project. So, we'll be able to time those projects alongside the work and building of the schools uh so that we don't get to the schools opening and not have the streets widened. Yes. Cool. And thanks a lot. Um I thanks everyone for coming here and I know it's a big day the next couple days so I'm gonna unfortunately be gone. and I got some travel plans, but uh I'm very excited for everyone and I look forward to the uh subsequent monthly updates with lots of pictures hopefully. So, yes, sir, we can provide that. Anyone else? Moving on to agenda item 9B, the 2024 2025 preliminary star performance report. Miss Bueno, how are you? How are you? Good evening, President Hajes, members of
044the board, and Dr. Howard. Tonight, I will be providing you with preliminary STAR data for the 2024 2025 school year. It is important to note that the data shared tonight includes all students who took the STAR assessment, regardless of their enrollment date. The data shared tonight could possibly change once we receive the accountability data set in late July. We will begin with a with preliminary 3rd through 8th reading language arts at the meets level. And I'll just give you a second to look at the table here. I want to can I just say something real quick before you we get drill deep into this? When everybody's looking at this data, it's very important to know that this is from a board governance standpoint to make it simple for us to understand it. This is first
045and foremost, it's preliminary data. And second, it's what we're looking for is not necessarily what the district is looking for, but this is to be used as a as data analytical tool. This is not to be weaponized. The point of this is to say we are have looking for opportunities to have continuous improvement. So anyhow, I just wanted to say that because we had a great meeting yesterday and we're really excited about some of the incremental changes that we're making. So thank you'all. In third through 8th grade reading language arts, the data indicates there is growth in four of the six areas. We will begin our third year of phonics based instruction and should see growth in third grade throughout the next few years. The current third graders had one year of phonics based instruction
046as second graders. Preliminary third through 8th grade math results show growth in five out of six areas. This marks the first year of STEM scopees implementation in grades 3rd through 5th. STEM Scopes math will expand to grades sixth through algebra 1 in the upcoming school year. And you will notice the dip from sixth grade to 7th grade. But it's important to note that over 480 7th graders took the eighth grade math star assessment as they are enrolled in honors math. Moving on to science and social studies. In fifth grade, MISD is showing a 1% decrease in comparison to 2024 from 28% to 27%. In 8th grade, MISD is seeing a 2% increase in comparison to 2024 from 31% to 33%. And in eighth grade social studies, MISD is showing a 2% decrease from 19% to
04717%. Preliminary end of course exams reflect improvement in two of five areas. This data also includes over 1,500 retesters. Next year, we will be implementing a plan to ensure retesters have the opportunity for tutoring in their areas of need. And this concludes my presentation. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Mr. Quinn, Miss Wo, when did you say we went to a phonics-based reading? So, last school year. So we will speech two years ago. Yes. So yes. Okay. Well, the only reason I ask is we always talk about early intervention and I have a fourth grader. So I just naturally like to look at fourth grade scores to kind of see where she compares. And you know, a lot of this data is already released on the TEA preliminary. and I'm I
048went through every elementary school and the fourth graders across the district like performed very well. So, um ju just an observation of mine, this would they started phonics base in second grade. Well, I mean it it's showing that it's paying off cuz fourth graders across the district I feel like outperformed other grades um across the pretty much every campus from what I could tell. So, thank you I just before I get to you, I want to bolt on to that. You as a dad should be celebrating that kiddo that's over at Scarbor. This she did excellent on the testing and Scarbor came up. So, you owe her a lot of ice cream. Anyway, Dr. Freeze, um I don't know if you have any theories or any any data or why our fifth grade scores kind
049of stuck out. They're kind of outliers a fifth grade math. So, I did notice if you look at the state, I'm sorry, let me go back to the left. They also um declined in that area and we are just digging deeper into that as well. But the state did drop by 5% um in fifth grade math and so I'm seeing that trend across the state. How about the uh English? Do you have that? Okay. It was English one. Well, yeah. I mean, we can get to there too, but I I guess I would like to know your theories on that also. But how about English fifth grade? Or maybe it was the level on fifth grade English. So, let me see. Yeah. But everything else was kind of increasing, but fifth grade and the, you
050know, if you look at the the the state increased by 4% and we were level. So, we're about four points below the increase of the state. So, I will tell you that um we did submit over 500 rescores um because we did notice a decline in just our ECRS and so um we are waiting for those scores to come back to see if there's going to be a change in that. Um but we were looking deeper into this data as well just trying to analyze is there certain teaks that um we did not do a good job and then we need to address next. if you just wouldn't mind kind of keeping us updated on what was going on in fifth grade. And then also if Dr. Howard may want to chime in, but also
051I'd like to I'd like to hear about English one and two if you have any theories on that. And so with English one I will say um we had several retesters um and I will share the data with you um just excluding that data. So when we pull our retesters out, um we're about the state level and when we include our retesters and so these are kiddos who have passed who have failed the test, right? Either once, twice, three times, four times, so on and so forth. Um they um are it's not I mean I'm not blaming them, but they did that's why we're seeing a a a decline there. Yeah, I I would assume the state also has retesters though in their numbers. So yeah, I think the the bigger thing that that I
052think about is these students that are sitting in our or were in our ninth and tth grade classes, they come up came up through elementary and um secondary schools or junior highs um not necessarily with any type of common curriculum resources. So um back in 23, 10 of our campuses were using one thing, everyone else was using something else. And so when we think about, you know, sending students from grade level to grade levels well prepared, um that's some of the gaps that we're seeing and I believe that contributes to that. I just I see a a huge disparity in our junior high and early high school um you know levels with the state as compared to our elementary and um I would hope that we can really kind of try to narrow that especially
053so Dr. Howard, I've just got one thing. Thank you. This is we're we're moving in the right direction, right? I just want to make the public aware that with the state, even though the increased funding we got, that there is a cost associated with those retesting. It's $50 a test. Correct. That's correct. Um, when we submit them, it's a $50 charge. If they come back and they've rescored them to a a higher grade, then we don't have to pay. But if they don't, we do have the $50 fees. So what our teams do is they're able to go through those list of students. When you see a student that you think that isn't possible, they shouldn't have had that score because we know the kids. We teach them every day. Um then they can look
054at those writing samples and if it looks like it should be rescored. Those are the ones that we're sending in. So not just every one of them. Thank you. We're just adding it to the list of our unfunded mandates that we're tracing back to the state that Thank you. Moving on to the next agenda item 10, action items. A, discussion of and request for approval of turnaround plans based on 2023 accountability ratings for Bunch Elementary, Davala Elementary, Lamar Elementary, and Scarbor Elementary. How are you? Hello again. Um, in regard uh to the turnaround plans based on the 2023 accountability ratings, um, I am happy to answer any questions that you may have. Um, and I'm also asking for approval for the required turnaround plans for Bunch and Desavala and the turnaround plan modifications for Lamar
055and Scarbor. Mr. Mr. Hodgees, I do think it's important to point out that based on preliminary projections for 2025, none of these campuses would be in a situation for required school action. So, while I don't want to say any ratings, I think it's important to point that out. These campuses have worked very hard. Yes, ma'am. Very much so. Thank you all very much. Any questions? Motion to approve as presented. Second. It has been motioned and seconded to approve agenda item 10A. Action item discussion of and request for approval of turnaround plans based on 2023 accountability ratings for Bunch Elementary Days of Wall Elementary, Lamar Elementary and Scarbor Elementary. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimous. Moving on to the next agenda item 10B, discussion of and possible action to approve the
0562025 2026 budget. Mr. Durham, you'll be excited to know that this presentation only has three sides. So, um, as previously discussed in the public hearing, the district, um, is bringing a recommendation for the approval of the 202526 budget. As shown, these are the three funds that are required to be board approved at the functional level. We have the general fund with a $7.89 million deficit. Child nutrition fund with a balanced budget along with the debt service um fund at a balanced budget. So at this time, the um administration recommends the board of trustees adopt the 202526 budget as presented. Any questions? I move to approve. Second. Second. It has been motioned and seconded for this board to vote on agenda item 10, action item B. Discussion of and possible action to approve the 2025 2026
057budget as presented. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion passes. It is approved. Thank y'all very I just want to say thank y'all very very much. This has been a work in progress. Those board charged all to really be efficient with y'all's capital. Thank you, the whole team, the whole district across the board. So, anybody else have anything to say about the hard work on this? I really appreciate um you bringing us kind of up to date as new board members, you know, in the last six, seven months and uh all your hard work to get this number whittleled down. Y'all done really good. Um Yeah, one thing I just want to reiterate on this is basically what uh Dr. Freeze and Hodge or Brandon said. Um is we know it was a
058tough task to get here. Uh I I think you can look across the state, there's not too many school districts going to be in the ballpark of cutting 31 $32 million off a budget. I know it wasn't an easy task. uh administration, Dr. Hower and her entire team had to make some pretty tough decisions and and make some cuts. But unfortunately, sometimes when you have um funds that were once there that are no longer, unfortunately, sometimes those positions have to go away, too. No one likes to see anybody lose their job. I mean, I don't. I own a business and laying someone off or letting someone go outside of performance base is extremely hard to do. So, I appreciate um all the effort y'all put in and I I know some of those decisions weren't
059I mean, they didn't come easy. So, uh just thank y'all for taking this serious and uh I think this leads us in a right direction to where next year we'll be back at a balanced budget and um move on, move forward. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Moving on to agenda item action 10, action item C, discussion of and request for approval of the 2024 2025 final budget amendment. Mr. Durham, you're back. This is the last one for the night though. So, good evening trustees. Prior to the end of each fiscal year, districts must review their current expenses and project where they will end the school year once the books are closed. This includes assumptions based on adjustments made to expenses and anticipated revenue that is still unknown at this time but will be
060included for the 202425 fiscal year. Once a district's books are closed, all functions for the three board adopted budgets must have sufficient funds throughout each function to cover all associated costs. As this is the final budget amendment for the current fiscal year, the district must ensure the final adopted budget has adequate funds to cover each function within the board adopted budgets. So in summary, um as I've mentioned, the board is responsible for adopting the three budgets, the general fund, child nutrition fund, and the debt service fund at the functional level. Before we get to the final budget amendment, I just wanted to provide an update of projections for the current 202425 fiscal year. You can see all the main factors over to the right hand side. However, I think the one that's most um most
061telling is the projected deficit of $29 million. Um this is in light of the board adopting a $42.5 million deficit at this time last year. And so the district has been doing an extensive amount of work um all throughout in order to um help make all the reductions needed for the current fiscal year along with the adopted budget that you just passed. I'll also mention too that this number um will be finalized um closer to the October timeline um right before the uh auditors come and present the audited financials for fiscal year 25 in November. This is just a summary of the three different funds and the final budget amendments. Um, however, these are conservative estimates for ending the 2025 fiscal year at approximately $29 million. And at this time, the administration recommends the board
062of trustees adopt the budget amendment number 11 as presented. Motion Motion to approve as presented. Second. It has been motioned and second that that we vote and approve action item number 10 C. The discussion of and request for approval of the 2024 25 final budget amendment. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes unanimous. Moving on to agenda item nine, action or I'm sorry, action item agenda item 10, action item D, discussion of and request approval of partial guaranteed maximum price GMP number one for the 2023 bond program package number two, new legacy and Midland High Schools. Mr. Smith, thank you, President Hodes. Yes, this evening we are going to uh bring forward and ask for approval our our first guaranteed maximum price for our uh two new high schools. Uh pretty good
063timing considering our groundbreaking is is tomorrow and uh the next day for these these new schools, but uh we do have a a short presentation to go through. You you've been presented with about I think 110 pages uh of information. um we've condensed that down for you to about eight slides that we would like to review uh tonight before asking um for that approval. And before we get into that, I do have some individuals in the room that I would like to to introduce. Um first being uh two representatives from Fluger Architects as we all know put a lot of work into this project on the design and on the back end. Uh Casey Muro and Kip Sheek are here uh this evening and thank you guys. Just have them wave so they can put
064names with faces. Uh thank y'all for being here. And then um our construction manager at risk um for the Legacy High School site, Satderfield and Pontikas has some group a group of individuals here. I'd like to introduce Mr. George Pontikas, Nick Flannry, Barkley Pitman, Sean Morris, Ryan Busking, Charles Reagan, Debbie Moore, Victoria Bicowski, John Marshall, and Bill Pisky. Thank you both. Uh thank you all for being here uh this evening. from Lee Lewis. There are obviously our construction manager at risk for the Midland High School site. We have Lee Lewis and Ryan Lewis, Devin Sherman, Josh and Tim Williams, Amy Bowlinger, and Taylor Brown. So, thank thank them for thank them for their attendance this evening. Um, and lastly, I'd also like to introduce and we you've you've heard from them before, our program manager
065from Park Hill, we have Mr. Jay Edwards and Dr. David Finley. Um, and they're going to kind of run through run through this this slide deck for you. I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Edwards first uh to say a few words and then David uh Dr. Finley will will run through the presentation. So, good evening, President Hodes and board and Dr. Howard. It's great pleasure to be here and again want to thank you for uh allowing us to uh serve in this role of program manager. Uh I believe um it's hard to believe actually that uh it's November of 23 when this passed and um and the wheels started in this and so we're now well into it and it's a big day today uh as we have been uh looking towards um
066this work moving the slides got the magic touch. Yeah. Um and so just a brief overview because uh as we come and talk about um some very significant dollars tonight in this partial GMP, I wanted to just kind of give a bit of an overview. As you know um in the 1.4 million billion dollar uh bond program, we have to break it up into packages in order to be able to do that. Of course, the largest package of the bond program is package two, which is the two high schools. and and um so as we go into uh tonight uh I wanted to just focus attention on this organizational chart. Our role as program manager really is to assist the district in administering the overall uh program and um as such what we do uh
067it's just impossible for the district to be able to cover all the bases with all these different projects going parallel. And so we're um actually have representatives at all of the design meetings, all the user meetings. Uh we interact with the uh contractors and staff. And uh and so tonight is representation of a lot of work that's been done. Um as you know, we made the decision about a year ago, last June, to hire two different construction managers at risk, one for each campus. And there was some debate whether we should have one for both or we should have one separately. And I would tell you that we felt like the benefits of having two con two separate construction managers at risk was um was very beneficial. And so you have as was introduced uh
068the Satderfield Pontikas team and the Lee Lewis team and the Fluger team. And so tonight you're we're talking about the subcontracts that will be assigned to those semars underneath that. And um and so uh I wanted to just uh uh kind of give that overview of of what we've been doing and let you know that um introduce Dr. David Finley. He's the one that's really been managing the the GMP with the two Seymours. And so uh and they're here to answer questions tonight. Um, one of the things that I wanted to point out was that um, we weren't going to take uh, we weren't going to take originally take this process of doing partial GMPS. We were going to finalize all the design and come to you in a few months with the overall GMP,
069but there has been concerns as y'all have discussed and asked and and we've been concerned as well about the volatility in the market. And so we appreciate Fluger as the architects and the engineers that are working for them uh have accelerated the design and was allow have allowed us to put out a bid package um that earlier so that we could actually bid the projects um this in the last two months and over that period of time we've had really good coverage. Um, Montikas and Satderfield are headquartered in Houston and Lee Lewis is headquartered in Lok has a big presence in DFW and we feel very comfortable with the amount of coverage that we've had on um the amount of subcontractors. In fact, about 280 different subcontract bids have been reviewed, interviewed, discussed with uh
070individual firms and vetted to get to this point tonight. So, tremendous amount of work and I think it actually has done us well to have that broad um pool of subcontractors and so um I'm anxious to go through this and we feel very comfortable uh that even though this is the partial GMP, this provides us the best pathway to get to the final GMP that we feel very confidently will be in budget. So, uh, we're anxious to get started and, uh, we look forward to answering any questions after the rest of our slides. Thank you, David. Thank you, Jay, Mr. Hodgeges, Dr. Howard, board members, it is indeed a pleasure to be able to present this partial GMP to you tonight. It is a monumental day. This is an exciting day for Could you pull
071that mic closer to you, please? Okay. How's that? Yeah, I'll lean in a little bit. So, I was saying that this it's a pleasure for us to be here and then we're very excited about this monumental day for the community of MISD, for your kids, and for you as the board that are overseeing this project. Um Jay mentioned that uh this is a partial GMP. Well, the we have set a precedent already with partial GMPS. If you recall, three months ago, we approved a partial GMP for package three. I will tell you that partial GMP has proved to be very successful and and Courtney mentioned that in in realizing some real significant savings from that GMP presented to where we are now. Um and so we are doing the same sort of method at a
072much larger scale now um for this early GMP for the two high schools. And so I h what you're seeing on the slide deck is some of the reasoning why and one thing that was not included on this but maybe one of the more controlling pieces is scheduling. This allows us to get ahead of our schedule for completing these two very very large projects in West Texas. And so and then you can look at some of the other reasons I want to point out a few things. Jay mentioned a couple um this volatility in the market. We want to make sure that we sign up people early. And when we sign up people early with real numbers, we take away that volatility. We discrecrease we decrease escalation. Prices are always going up. So as soon
073as we get those nailed down, that escalation stops. We can get subcontractor on board and early in the design process. And why that's important is we can utilize their expertise to start refining the design that's still early and realize even more value to the district constructibility materials um all those things that the board is really interested in to make sure we get the best value for the district. Um, we leverage the expertise of the subcontractors um to to push our design team and our semars to solutions that work best and are cost-effective. And then we also can establish a path forward which you'll see on the next couple of slides that I will present. So there's a lot of reasons and these are just a few on why we believe this is a critical step
074and why we're coming to you with this recommendation for GMP1. So here is our path forward and this is really an important piece. So if I could walk you through the structure of these two spreadsheets that you have in your packet. They're identical by the way. One for legacy and one for Midland High School. Um you'll see three separate GMPS. GMP one is what we're talking about tonight. But it's only it's only critical and makes sense if you look at it in light of GMP2 and GMP3. That is our path forward. And so in each of the GMPS you see a column highlighted blue. That is going to be the actual GMP bid numbers that we are recommending tonight. And you see our anticipated bid numbers for GMP2 and GMP3. The next column critical column
075is the cost design refinement. So a GMP as you know is a guaranteed maximum price. That means the subcontractors are contractually obligated to not go above that cost and they're also uh involved in reducing that cost. Part of the contract is any savings in value that is that we find in these subcontracts that they realize and is documented that goes 100% back to the district. So again, we are doing this exact procedure for GMP1 on package three. Yes, sir. Do you all get any incentive to save us money? Like, do we have anything written in the contractor? The incentive is a incredibly huge project. I'd like to give you 1% or something to get a little more, but it's all right. But but it's a it's a very good question, but the size of this
076project is is incentive enough. And I mean Jay mentioned how many for our Seymours in the room. How many how many bids did you get total? 300. 300. That's an incredible amount of interest on an early release set and that is 100% beneficial to the district. And so the last column is a reconciled GMP which is just the math between the two and that is our target number as we move forward. GMT GMP2 and GMP3 may change or subject to change depending on how successful we are in the reconciliation of the GMP1. We may modify GMP2 or GMP3. The goal has and for ever been the same. Our budget is $42700,000. That is the budget that we have targeted and that is the budget we're going to hit. That CMR's told me that they are
077very confident as we are that that budget is going to be met. And so we are pushing forward with this with this early GMP. I will tell you I was privileged to sit we actually called them big room meetings. So the group that you're seeing here and many more on the phone. We had all day meetings in the office in Dallas and we went through every single line item on this sheet and the everything on the left is all the divisions, all the components that make up a construction project. We went through every single one. We talked to subcontractors. We talked and that was just the work in the big room. On the back side of this is our SEAR as our Semar's incredible work in vetting and having interviews. They actually call them interviews
078with each subcontractor. Make sure of what assumptions they're making, if those assumptions are valid, what they're bidding, if there's gaps in scope. And that helps them vet all these 300 subcontractors. All this happened in the last month. And as I said, I was part of these discussions and it was a very powerful um diff or difficult conversations but having both semars in the room which was I applaud the board's decision and moving this way created this really um superb collaborative atmosphere that provides this kind of information going forward. And so, so this GMP we're presenting, as I mentioned, is that first column under GMP1. And then that's when the work really starts on reconciling that the red numbers. We can tell you many of those red numbers have already been realized on the reconciliation. Um,
079and so, and we we feel very confident that that's going to move forward in that same direction. I'll stop there if there's any questions. I have just a quick question just help me understand this because it's a pretty big project. Thank you'all for putting the work in. How exactly have the cost escalators been factored into this GMP? Like just materials cost rising or what all what all are the factors that are being included in those escalators? Oh, obviously material cost is one of them. Tariffs we've looked at. There's also PDM cost because these subcontractors are much bigger than many of our local contractors can abide by. So people have to travel. So that's part of the cost that is included in this. And so now we're getting a handle on this PDM cost for traveling
080subcontractors. That's all included in these numbers. As as a board member, Dr. Howard, if you could charge Courtney to get us a breakdown of how all those different cost escalators are factored in and M I did a quick um search and uh yeah, I think these numbers align. I see, you know, we didn't save anything in concrete, but I did a quick um search and it looks like concrete's gone through the roof in the last year and a half. So, I'm I'm happy that we're able to keep that level. Good job. and uh even electrical which we're saving 5 million it looks like those those have gone up too so um just based on my quick 10-second research it uh looks pretty good so and and that's like it yeah I appreciate that Dr. ries
081and and I'll throw a question at our Sears. There were a couple of subcontractors that we felt really good about the numbers coming in. I think electrical was one of them. Could you could you could you two come up to the mic so I don't have to scream and then you guys don't have to scream? No, but but hold up one of hold up just one of the I had them bring this for show and tell just because I'm impressed with it and I and I appreciate the explanation, but again, I would like a breakdown of the cost escalators that go in because there should be a relative safety factor and I want to know what all was included to come up with that overall safety factor plus or minus. Yes, Mr. Smith shook his
082head. We No, absolutely, Mr. Hodgees. But I do want to point out that we got really great numbers that went actually the different direction than what we were anticipating. For instance, steel was one of those tariff factors that we thought we'd be hit really hard with and I believe we had really good numbers. So char this is Charles Rani. He's one of the chief estimators or the chief estimator for S&P. Yeah, thanks David. Um we're still carrying a factor in there for escalation. uh GMP1 since we actually bid it and if our trade partners had escalators that they were coming, those are included in the numbers. For GMP 2 and three, we're still carrying an escalating contingency in case costs go up before we get to the bid deck. Yes, sir. I understand that. I
083just want to see what all broken down into those formulas that and I think that Dr. Freeze also would like to see a general breakdown on a list of it. What? And just just so I'm clear, Mr. Hodgees, you're asking for what are the factors that go in that provide safety to the numbers. So like what's what's your logistics time on it? What's your plan? like kind of a redundancy plan if you don't have it just so we because I would imagine with a project this big it's an isotope that we're going to chase on trying to be great and it is a huge project and it's just for the board to be able to kind of look and say hey we've got if this happens the this is not a good example for y'all
084but the straight of Hermuz is shut down we've got supply chain issues what are we going to move on to be able to stay within a plus or minus 10% on either side just it does not have to be very detailed, just some for me, Dr. Freeze might he's a doctor, so he might want a checklist on it, but just something in general to go, hey, if a happens, our our partners have a plan to be able to to to not get us off track because we want to open these schools on time. So, it it just if we want to if we need to save a little money here and there in order to pay for something that we were wrong on by plus or minus a small percentage to get those schools open
085on time, we want to know a rough estimate of where we need to claw back some piggy bank if that makes any sense. We will get that for you. Absolutely. I it's you're looking for a detailed contingency plan that includes all these pieces. I will tell you um to answer a piece of that, Mr. Hodes, is this early release GMP reduces that fear and that because we're and we had anticipated less than 50% of the project to be included in this first GMP. We're now well over 60 something% of the project. And why that's important and needs to be stated is it's setting already a cost that we don't have to build contingencies around because we know what it is. I appreciate your positivity. I'm a little bit more cynical and when we've got the
086US Air Force going across the world to drop bombs, I think supply chains can I just We're on the same page. Thank y'all very much. I know it's a huge project. I just lie to me. Tell me we've got it. You know, hey, we've got it. I and I have to tell you just a point of personal privilege. I'm on your side on being cynical and a pessimist and I am not a pessimist on this one. All right, let me rephrase that. I'm not cynical or pessimist on any of the people involved in this. So that was not how I'm that we've just got things that are outside the scope of our control. So I just want that. I'm just I'm just saying I'm right there with you. We have a opportunity for continuous improvement,
087shall we say, Dr. Howard, that's right. Um, if there are other questions, they're glad to answer them. Otherwise, I think they're ready to recommend approval. I have a question. Um, do we know what percentage of local contractors are going to be involved in these projects? So, we anticipated that question. Um, there are few and not that we didn't try. They There are two things happen. One is you have to be by law you have to be bonded and they didn't have the ability to bond at this level nor did they have the workforce to bond but I will I will let when you say few are we talking like 5% 0% I I just think it's if they're if they're within the scope of the law right and they're they're bonded and insured that we
088give them the opportunity to bid I mean this community just invested 1.4 bill $1.45 four or five billion dollars and I think out of courtesy we'd give local contractors a chance to bid if the quality is there. Yeah. And and that chance to bid absolutely occurred but okay. It is something that we're very concerned about and one of the one of the challenges on this size of project just as for for as an example um we had a contractor who wanted to participate um has 16 or 20 employees and we have five different groups that are estimating what the level of work um staff is required to be able to meet the schedules that we have in this and we were anticipating a hundred of those types of people to be and so we have
089done efforts to try to team up local partners with others and that may happen. We don't have a percentage yet on that but in the bigger picture when we're um managing the whole bond program. Uh we have taken great care in each of the packages to try to provide different size projects. We we come to you with a package that's 10 or 12 million. We've come to you with $50 million projects. we've come to with some hundred million and those are in different delivery methods as well. So that and that all has been targeted to be able to allow the local subcontractor and contractor uh to be able to participate in the bond program if they can't or aren't able to commit to on the high schools themselves. Thank you. I I just want to
090say something. Thank you'all for all the hard work on this. And so in agenda review, I want y'all to know it because I said this. it came up on some other projects coming up to bid on or what have you. And I talked to Dr. Howard, Mr. Smith, the executive team, and I said, "We we want you focused on our big projects right now, Jay. We appreciate your work, but you're more than happy to bid on it, but me, y'all y'all get this done and then we'll work on other projects, right? Like, I want you focused on this, not drywall, you know, on something somewhere else." So, we appreciate all y'all's hard work. Anybody else have anything? This is absolutely our number one priority. I want you to know Well, I know you'll do you'll
091bid everything out. You'll have I'm ready to move. I'm ready. I'm ready to move. I move that we approve the guaranteed maximum price number one amendments for New Legacy High School and New Midland High School totaling 568,787,856 to secure earthwork, concrete, masonry, metals, roofing openings, finishes, elevators, fire suppression, plumbing, electrical site, utility materials and trade for 2023 bond program package number two. two new high schools. GMP number one amounts are 282,316,00 282,316,585 for new legacy. New Midland High 2PM is $286,4 286 million471,271 for a total package of 568,787,856. Second. So hold on. Hold on. This is a nice germaine that is not listed on the agenda that was approved 72 hours prior to. So we've got a motion. So you what's on the table right now is action item or agenda item 10 action item
092discussion of and request approval of partial guaranteed maximum price GMP number one for 2023 bond program package number two new legacy and Midland high schools. So that's what we're appro that's So is there a motion to approve that as stated on the agenda? Mr. Smith is that correct? The motion should be that that's correct. Correct. That's right. We motion that. I motion that since not listed. Is there a second? It has been seconded. It it has been motioned and seconded that this board approve agenda item number 10, action item D, the discussion of and request approval of partial guaranteed maximum price GMP number one for 2023 bond program package number two new legacy and Midland high schools. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes. It is approved. Moving on to the next
093item, agenda item 10, action item E, discussion of and request for approval of competitive seal proposal CSP number 24 through 278 Benm International Academy new walking track. Mr. Smith. Yes, sir. Thank you, President Hodes. Look at all these guys headed to somewhere. Um, we are asking for approval of tonight. um for a walking track at Ben Milem. Um this was previously in the scope of work for the drop off lane uh that was previously installed a few years back, but they didn't have the funds to to accommodate this work. Um so along with the track that they're proposing just north of the of the campus, east of the new lane, uh it also includes some soccer goals for the kids, some hydro mulch turf, uh and some new landscaping. Um it's uh asking for approval
094of just under $400,000. $399,000800 uh $399,800. This is going to be paid for with 1882 funds. Um we put out six $861 invitations to bid on this project. Uh four vendors submitted proposals and Cooper Construction uh came in with with the lowest bid. I've worked with Cooper before and they're very reputable, do great work. Um, with all that said, we would recommend Cooper Construction uh as the the vendor for this project and request approval of the track. Mr. Smith, I know you just said it, but just to reiterate, this is coming out of like Ben M's 1882 partnership funds. It's not coming out of MISD's M. You're you're spot on. Yes, sir. That's correct. I move to approve it. It has been moved and seconded this board vote and approve agenda item 10. Action items.
095E, discussion of and request for approval of competitive sealed proposal CSP number 24 through 278 Benm International Academy new walking trail. All those in favor raise your right hand. This unanimous motion passes. Thank you. Moving on to agenda item 10, action item F, consideration and potential adoption of resolution approving contingent fees legal service contract including findings needing for submission of contingent fee legal service agreement and request for expedited review by the Texas Attorney General. Mr. Justin Demurs is presenting. How are you, sir? Good, sir. How are you today? Can you hear me? Okay. Sure. Great. Thank you guys. Uh my name is Justin Dearrath. Good evening, President Hajes, Dr. Howard, and ladies and gentlemen of the board. Uh I'm here today to present on items 10F and also G. Uh related to social media addiction
096litigation that's taking place in our country. I'm here today with Cara Blue, uh another member of our law firm, O'Hanland, Dearath, and Castillo. I've got about a five-minute presentation for you with about six slides to discuss with you the nuances of this potential case that you may want to consider joining. Uh I'm going to give you an executive summary of the litigation itself. Uh we're going to look at the causes of action that are being presented in that litigation and the other districts in Texas and across the nation that have joined this litigation. I'm going to briefly present to you the damages that are alleged in this litigation and how it pertains to Midland ISD. and we're going to talk about the logistics and costs of potentially joining this litigation if it's something you'd like
097to consider and then briefly talk about some of the precedents. Um we will uh give you a uh a slideshow and uh I'd be happy to take any questions that you might have as we go through this. So please stop me at any moment. Um so in order to consider this piece of litigation, we first have to consider exactly what the uh what this social media companies are about. So, social media companies uh generate revenue off of attention from children and they've become very very good at generating revenue off of attention from individuals especially kids. And over time, the algorithms that they use uh have increased attention to social media and cell phones for quite a while. Uh and it's gone exponentially up as time has gone on since 2017. Um along with that attention
098that children are giving to social media, negative mental health outcomes have been increasing at almost exactly the same rate. Depression, anxiety, shortened attention span, uh and other things that school districts have to deal with have been going up. And so that is foundationally what this case is about. This case is not about the school district sitting in loco parents or as they were the parents of kids and alleging damages that were uh that were sustained by children. This case is only about schools recovering the increased costs that they have incurred due to social media and cell phone addiction. And so um getting into the executive summary of this case, we've been following this case for quite a while. In uh early 2002, cases were filed across the country uh and they were consolidated into one
099individual courtroom. There are approximately 1,500 districts across the United States that have filed suit in this litigation. And the litigation is consolidated into what's called a multi-dist litigation. So any case in the country that is filed in this litigation is consolidated to this one court which is a Texans's court. Judge Yavon Gonzalez Rogers. Uh she is a native Texan that sits on the federal bench in California is the judge that is overseeing this case. She has taken the litigation to three main groups. The first is states attorney generals. The second is school districts and local governments such as yourselves and the third are personal injury plaintiffs. We are just going to talk about the school district nuances. So I mentioned that there are about 1,500 school districts across the country. In Texas currently, there are
10079 districts that have joined the litigation. Uh this is a view of of some of the districts, there are a few more than this. Of the 79 districts that have joined the litigation, approximately 49 of them have been approved by the attorney general and the remainder are pending. And as this is contemplated contingency fee litigation, uh it must be approved by the attorney general. And so the materials that you have before you in your board packets today, we have presented to the attorney general's office for other school districts and those exact materials have been approved by the attorney general uh in 49 districts and the remainder uh are currently pending. So of the students in the state that are educated by those uh 79 school districts, it's about 2.25 million students. So to date approximately
10150% of the student body of the state of Texas has uh moved forward or boards have moved forward to join this litigation. So the litigation is essentially alleges two main cause of action. Number one that the social media companies have created a public nuisance that interferes with the community's health and safety and their right to an education due to uh the addiction to cell phones and social media. And number two, that they have designed their platforms, the social media companies have designed their products to keep youth's attention for a longer time than is reasonable. Uh, and they were aware of the negative mental health impacts that have come. Now, I will admit to you very transparently, when I first heard about this litigation in 2022, being a attorney that represents schools day in day out
102for a living, I was very skeptical. I will say that as I got in further and further into this litigation, it became very clear to me that there is a very real cost that schools have incurred and there is a very real cause of action here. And Judge Ivank Rogers agreed with us in this litigation. Uh there were motions to dismiss that were filed in 2024. Um they were litigated over the course of a long time. uh and the orders on those came out in early 2025 uh really late 2024, early 2025 and those motions to dismiss were denied. The judge agrees with us that this case has merit and we have moved forward in extensive litigation the case. So we didn't want to bring this to Texas schools until we knew it was moving
103forward and as of those denials of those motions to dismiss, the case is absolutely moving forward. So, let's talk briefly about the damages that are alleged in this case or what the school districts are seeking to recover. Um, the first main one is that two days ago, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 1481. That bill requires school districts to remove cell phones from classrooms. Now, school districts get to choose how they're going to do that, but the bill and the law that was signed in uh that was signed into law by Governor Abbott does not provide any funding whatsoever for school districts to comply with this legal mandate. And so, first and foremost, this litigation is designed to recoup the costs of those cell phone separation efforts that schools are going to be
104entering into. Um secondly, uh mental health expenses have gone through the roof for all districts in Texas and specifically in Midland ISD. In 2017, Pee's data reflects that Midland had about 34 healthcare workers on staff. In 2024, that amount increased to 114 healthare workers. That trend is something that we see across all schools in the nation. And those increased expenses from 2017 were about 2.1 million. And in 2023 that was about 3.6 million. So the school districts are not only having to separate children from phones, but they're also having to pay the salaries and other uh nuances and counseling and uh other nuances of these increased mental health costs to the tune currently at Midland ISD of about $1.5 million per year. Um there are a host of other damages that are shown in the
105slide, but the main ones are the cell phone separation costs and the mental health increase costs. Um so to get into the logistics of the case for the district's consideration, um our law firm is representing and our law firm is working in conjunction with two other law firms, Island and Bonn, which is former state representative Craig Island, uh and David Thompson's firm, Thompson and Horton. Um, we are working on a contingency fee basis, which means there's no out-of- pocket costs for schools to join the litigation. Um, in the event that we are unsuccessful and there isn't a recovery, there is never a scenario where there will be any out-of- pocket costs for school districts. Um because it is a contingency fee fee model, the Texas legislature passed Texas Government Code section 2254, which caps and
106mandates the attorney's fees in the scenario as a percentage or the of the total recovery or four times the attorney's hourly rate, whichever is less. And so the fees and costs in this litigation are set by statute. And furthermore, they are required to be approved by the attorney general, as I've already discussed. Um we don't believe that the time commitment for districts to participate in this litigation uh is very large. The main nuance of this is filling out discovery forms which we use PE's data like the data I cited to you earlier today to fill out those discovery forms. So we don't think that it the uh the time for the district to move forward is is very large. uh and we have retained consulting experts to use uh PE's data to try to fill
107out the majority of the discovery materials that are necessary to provide as little a lift for the districts as possible. Now the the question that boards always ask me when I'm presenting this issue is thank you so much for the presentation but what could we expect from this? How much money is it is in it for us and litigation is impossible to predict. The only thing I can cite to you is the precedent of the jewel ecigarette litigation. Now, Texas districts did not participate in this litigation, but there was 1,500 roughly districts that did participate in the litigation that constituted about 16 million students. And the settlement in that litigation, which alleged similar causes of action, that the ecigarette companies marketed their product to children and schools incurred costs in separating children and educating children
108about ecigarette usage. um was uh the the uh the final result of that case was that the the industry paid about $435 million to the schools to compensate them for the cost of educating students on the issue. Now, when we look at the market capitalization of Juel and the amount of harm and wrong that was done there, we believe that it's much larger in this situation. The market capitalization of the social media companies that are in this litigation are approximately $4.5 trillion. Facebook's annual revenue last year was $136 billion. Um, but in the dual litigation, the settlement was roughly uh around 27 to $30 a student and it was some districts got a lot more than other districts got a lot less. Litigation is imperfect. I can't say what this litigation will be, but I
109can say that we've dedicated a lot of our time and effort uh into working on this case with no compensation unless there is a positive result. Um, so, uh, with that information shared with you, uh, I would enjoy any questions that you might have. I got a question here. So, in your, uh, discovery process, do you get any personal health information or how do what what are you looking what are you acquiring in your discovery process? That's a great question. Thank you for allowing me to explain that. I meant to put address that in the main presentation. uh there is no personally identifiable information that is requested in the discovery process and the judge has been very sensitive to that issued not only a very staunch protective order but also a directive that the schools
110are not to provide any PII in any way shape or form. Uh so there's no nuance that there would be any uh student data that's shared. The majority of the discovery information is PE's data related to the hiring of of uh of additional healthare workers, the cost, the actual financial data about the cost that the district incurred. And then there are some nuances of like how many children were referred for mental health, not who or which children were referred for mental health, but the number of additional children that may have been referred to additional health. So there's never any personally identifiable information of students that is shared in this case for any reason. How much time do you foresee the um district spending time to get data to you etc? We have started the process
111with multiple districts and we have had reports back that it is approximately 20 hours spread across the roles of the superintendent, the COO and uh the curriculum managers of the district. um it's been uh not a huge lift. The majority of the information that's required by the discovery is uh from PE's data and we have tried to prepopulate that data as much as possible for the district. I don't know if this if you can do this or not, but uh can you kind of tell us what the summary of the defense is? Well, uh, the expert reports, yeah, it's a very good question. The expert reports, uh, that the social media companies are putting forward are not due yet. They come out on July 7th, I believe, is the date or July four, it's right
112after the 4th of July. Uh, and so their defenses will be contained in that uh, document in a lot more depth. Um the obvious one that we know they'll be alleging is that a lot of these issues are related to COVID rather than related to social media and that there are other uh issues at play in addition to social media and it's not all their fault. Um the data is pretty clear that uh the addiction to social media is is providing a lot of problems. Uh so while that is a defense it that may adjust the expectations we don't believe that it is a bar to the case in the whole. I should add probably the most aggressive offense uh defense that has been put forward is the section 230 of the communications decency act
113uh creates immunity for social media companies. Uh this court has ruled that there are limited exceptions to that immunity and uh that section 230 defense has been denied in this litigation already. I have a question. So this is beginning in California, right? Is that correct? or it's been filed in California or the the there the the the case was initially filed in over well 38 states have filed cases in various different capacities and there is a judicial panel on multi-dist litigation when there are 38 different CA judges and courts that are going to be hearing this. It's much more efficient for one court to hear it. And so of the 38 states, there were multiple federal districts. And so they were all consolidated into one judge and that judge happened to sit in California. Okay.
114So they're going to consolidate. So when the judgment comes out, if there's money involved in it, then it'll be divided equally. Well, it each case rises and falls on its own individual merits. So this is not a class action. there will be and the cases are only consolidated for the purposes of pre-trial proceedings. And so if there is a individual trial that is necessary in the case, which we very we I think is very very unlikely for a for your district. I can explain why if you'd like me to. Um but uh if there isn't an individual award, it will be be based on your individual metrics, your number of increased hiring costs, your number of students and districts with your data and your discovery information. So it won't be divided equally at all. It
115will be based upon your individual district's data. And what is the last date that that someone can join a lawsuit? That date is unknown at this point. Um there is uh deadlines that are moving forward pretty aggressively. Um there are uh the final summary judgement motions must be filed by the end of this year. The first rulings on those summary judge motions could be coming out at the beginning of next year. Their judge has not set a deadline currently for the addition of new cases, but there could be legal reasons why the deadline might come sooner rather than later. So I can't give you a clear answer to that question with the information I have right now. But we feel strongly that time is of the essence and if districts would like to join, it's
116important that they join sooner rather than later because the precedent in the Juul litigation showed that the late joining districts received significantly less amounts of of of settlement awards because of their late joining in the litigation. There was a penalty for joining later. Is there any uh consequence to withdraw at any time? No sir, there is uh always the ability if the board would instruct their council to non-suit the claim uh and withdraw and not present those claims, the board is always within its right to do so. Mr. Hajes, just for the board, um having worked with our the district's general counsel, they've actually presented the same case to different districts and it's pretty straightforward. They don't see any reason that as a district we wouldn't make the recommendation. My question is the non-monetary side
117of it. If we I would imagine this will end up in mediation and get mediated out before trial. But is there a way not only to like recoup some of our cost or expenses in the healthcare and different all the monetary side, but are we going to require these social media companies to do some type of educational requirement to protect our kids or to educate the parents and the district and these the different educators across the board? you know that we do have this data showing that that there's a direct correlation between these social media sites and and smart devices as well or is this just a monetary suit? So the causes of action when you allege a cause of action of public nuisance. One of the damages that is coupled with that allegation is
118one of abatement that being that you created a problem in the public and that problem needs to be solved. And so you are uh the answer to your question is yes. There are abatement requests that are coupled in this lawsuit to educate to and and potentially funds that are available for districts to participate in the abatement process. Uh to educate students on the potential uh better outcomes that could be had by limiting screen time and screen use and also requiring potentially social media companies to remove the algorithmic marketing to students. Uh those are certainly uh elements that will be discussed in the lawsuit and any potential mediation. And where is Ken Paxton on this? Kim Paxton has not uh blessed the lawsuit one way or another. Ken Paxton has approved districts participating in the lawsuit.
119And so when when when Attorney General Paxton issues a uh an approval of this, the approval spec specifically states that he does not uh make any comment on the litigation, but he does approve the district to move forward. Uh so I cannot uh make a representation about his position on it. I can say that the attorney general's office did quite successfully bring similar action against Facebook some time ago in a very similar method on behalf of the state of Texas for collecting students biometric data illegally and there was a significant award in that scenario and so the attorney general's office has supported similar litigation in the past but I couldn't make representation as to their position in this litigation uh because I just don't know. Thank you. Yes, sir. Anybody? Any more questions down here?
120Booker push. Anybody? Any more questions? Somebody want to make a motion. What? Who? Oh, that was somebody on here. Say that. Who? Who spoke? I heard somebody speak. Um, this is Cara. I don't know if you can see me or not. Um, I was just going to mention that several boards in Texas that have um their board members appointed by the commissioner of education, Mike Morath, who is um obviously an appointee of the governor. Several of those major boards um have voted for the legislation, meaning, you know, boards that are appointed by Commissioner Mike Morath um are are part of the lawsuit. Thank you. Motion to approve as presented. Second. It has been motioned and seconded that this board approve agenda item 10 action items F. uh consideration and potential adoption of resolution approving contingent
121fee legal services contract including findings needed for submission of contingent fee legal services agreement and request for expediated review by the Texas Attorney General. All those in favor raise your right hand. Motion passes. It's unanimous. Moving on to action item 10 G, consideration of potential adoption of contingent fee legal services agreement with Thompson and Horton LLP, Eland and Bonan PC and Ohannon, Dearath, and Castillo PC. Um, Mr. Justin, you're back again. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Uh, there are two elements of this motion. The first is a resolution that's required for certain findings in 2254 of the government code. The second is actual entering into the into the contingency fee arrangement. And so this is just a coupled uh motion along with the resolution that has been adopted that is required to be adopted to
122move forward. Uh and I would note that should you desire to move forward, the documentation needs to be signed uh on the same day as the board meeting if possible uh and dated the same day of the board meeting as possible for the attorney general approval process. Any questions? Motion. Mr. Booker, you want to do this case instead of them? No. Okay, we got a motion. Question. Are there other law firms in the state of Texas doing this or are y'all carrying the entire state? These three. I have not been made aware of any other law firm other than the three that are uh being considered by the board that have uh submitted and been approved by the attorney general's office. Um, they may be out there, but I haven't been made aware of them.
123One else. Is there a motion? I move to approve this 10G. Is there a second? It's been motioned and seconded that this board approve uh agenda item 10, action item G, consideration of potential adoption of contingent fee legal services agreement with Thompson and Horton LLP, Elen and Bonan PC and Oh Hannan Demer and Castillo PC. All those in favor, raise your right hand. This motion passes. It's unanimous. [Applause] Well, moving on. We have nothing. Anybody have any anything else? Questions? No. Uh, do we have a motion to adjourn the meeting? I do have a question, Mr. On uh agenda item 13 uh 13B where it talks about the reportable uh purchase orders over $5,000. [Applause] Yes, sir. I would like to I know it's in there where it shows where we're paying the our uh
124general counsel for the board the monthly fees or or the fees up till now. I know it's it's in there is just as board members, but I would like to see it broken down individually to each board member, including myself. So like a more of a detailed list breakdown on each individual item. Yeah. Well, I mean, not so much on the item, but if if I make a phone call to the attorney, then I me personally, I just want to be transparent about it that Tommy Bishop made the call and this is what it called. Like broke down like regular expenses tagged to like an expense code essentially. Yeah. Right. Yes. Agreed. It's not on the agenda to vote on, but agreed. Is that Did you have something? No, I was tracking. I didn't know
125if you could hear I could hear him, not you. So I was like, okay, perfect. Uh, motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Is there a second? Second. It's been motioned and seconded that we adjourn this meeting of the Midland Independent School District Board of Trustees. All those in favor, raise your right hand. It's unanimous. Motion passes. Meeting adjourn. Thank you'all.