001These are so scratched. They're right where I need to see. as well. Okay, here we go. Good evening everyone. My clock shows at 7 o'clock. So, I will call to order this regular scheduled meeting of the Am I too loud? Of the Midway Independent School Board and we have a quorum this evening with everyone present. We also have a new speaker system and I sound really loud. If I'm really too loud, let me know. Um, on behalf of the board, I extend a warm welcome to everyone here and to our viewers online. We appreciate all of you taking the time to be here and to listen and watch to what our board does to help make Midway great as it is. We appreciate you all. If you haven't silenced your phones yet, please do so.
002Just want to remind you that the board's role is to set goals, listen to reports of the superintendent and staff, approve budgets, set tax rates, approve contracts, approve personal recommendations, and make policy for the district. We are not here to make management decisions. Management is the responsibility of the superintendent and his staff. And for those of you that are here tonight for the recognitions of our fabulous students and staff, we want to let you know that we prefer you to stay to the end of recognitions before you leave just to respect everyone that's getting recognized tonight. And we will pause after that before we go into the um official business of the board. We always start our board meetings with one of our trustees reading the mission statement and tonight that is Colin Wit. Thank
003you. Okay, I think they're going to put it on the screen. I have it here. Uh, Midway ISD will maximize individual potential within a learner centered and supportive environment to prepare students to excel in a global society. And um I want to take you on about a 45se secondond journey in a circle. So starting with the mission statement, if you look on our website, we actually have core beliefs that sit underneath that. And one of those core beliefs says, "A welleducated citizenry is central to a free society." And when I read that the other day, I thought, I've heard that somewhere before, something like that. Well, it turns out in 1836, uh, when Texas decided to declare its independence from Mexico, one of the many reasons that we declared, uh, this is what it says.
004that says Mexico has failed to establish any public system of education. Although it is an axiom in political science that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuence of civil liberty or the capacity for self-government. So that core belief goes all the way back to 1836. And so we're halfway around the circle here. So the next step in the circle is the reason I'm wearing my Texas tie today, which is as Dr. Allan, I'm sure will tell you in a little bit, today is Sanino Day, which is a remembrance of the day in which we won our independence from Mexico. And um I have the words of Sam Houston, his last letter before the battle. And he closes with this. I leave the result in the hands of a
005wise God and rely upon his providence. My country will do justice to those who serve her. The rights for which we fight will be secured and Texas free. So today, Sanjaseno day, as we remember all of those 190 years ago who fought for our freedom, let's remember one of the reasons they did that is for public education. And let's make sure that our representatives in Austin don't forget it as well. >> Very nice. A good circle moment. Thank you, Colin. Yes. We will now pause for a moment of silence to reflect and honor those who are on our minds today. Please join me. Thank you. Next up is the Pledge of Allegiance and we have Casman Creek Elementary School represented by Dr. Clint Glazeman. >> Well, good evening uh Dr. Allen, President Vic, and members
006of the MISD board. Thank you all for the opportunity to be here tonight. Um, it's my pleasure to introduce some incredible students who will be leading the pledges of allegiance tonight. Um, but before I introduce them, I want to introduce my amazing assistant principal, Miss Key Jackson. She's going to be coming and joining us as well. And this is her first year as an assistant principal and she's done just an outstanding job and so I'm grateful for her to be here at Councilman Creek Elementary. We're in our second year um with all the other elementaryaries at Midwest and our and leader and me. And the outstanding young leaders that I'm introducing tonight are members of our junior lighthouse team. They have provided invaluable insights into our school-led initiatives and supported our campus in a variety
007of meaningful ways. And so at this time, I would like to welcome the following students. Reagan Mice, Kenzie Alexander, Emilyn Duncan, Valerie Estrada, and Georgia Lara. And if y'all would please join us for our pledges of allegian for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. >> Thanks. Good job, guys. >> Excellent job, students. Thank you. So during our recognition part of the agenda, we always have a board member that helps to hand those out. And tonight that will be um Colin Wit. Before we get to handing out the recognitions though, Dr. Allen is going to talk to us about the April recognition days. >> Yes, ma'am. And
008we're going to go a little bit off script. We uh were privileged to have some food prepared by our culinary arts group this uh evening prior to coming into our board meeting. And I want to just take a moment and recognize the hard work of the teacher and young people who made that possible. So Cora Warwick, Miss Warwick, if you please come to the mic and introduce the young people who helped prepare and present this evening's uh circuitry cups. And let me just tell you how much we appreciate the work that you did on that this evening. And we appreciate everything that you've taught to young people throughout the course of this school year and can't wait to meet them. >> Yes. Uh, I have Ulysa, Aubrey, Payton, Josh, Carrian, D'Angelo, and CJ with us
009tonight. I think we have a very impressive culinary program. They not only selected the menu and put it all together, they also did the table setting and got it out displayed. And I'm sure the floral department did our flowers that were out there tonight. I'm just assuming that or the culinary students might have helped. But y'all did an excellent job and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much. So now let me talk about April recognition days. It is National Volunteer Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, National Parent Professional Appreciation Day was April 1st, Texas Fruit and Vegetable Day. Who knew was April 3rd National School every other day is beef day. Let's just not get that confused. All right. National School Librarian Day. A group of people that we
010honor and we need to continue to honor. That was April 4th, National Assistant Principles Week. Where's Key? Stepped out already. We have a few other assistant principles in the room. Thank you for the work you do. That was April 6th through 10. It turns out that April 21 is today and it is Saninto day. Mr. Wit, thank you for that. April 22nd is Earth Day. National Administrative Prayer Professionals Day is also tomorrow. If uh my exact team hasn't done something for your people yet, this is your reminder. And National School Bus driver appreciation day is April 28th. And so, uh, we couldn't run school without some number of all these folks. We we need volunteers and we need pair professionals. We need administrative professionals and school bus drivers and obviously librarians and assistant principles. And
011so we're we're happy to be represented on this list of recognitions. Um, and so I just can't uh say how much I appreciate the opportunity to visit with you about that for a moment. >> Thank you, Dr. Allen. Okay, next up is robotic state qualifiers and Jess Wheeler is going to introduce those students to us. >> Good evening. First, I want to go ahead and bring uh Mr. Ben Casaric who coaches uh the robotics team. And if each student uh as as I call your name, if you guys will start to come in, we have uh Sam Felsburg and hold your applause till the end. Uh Axton Georgees Ryan Cult, Caleb Hathaway, Sarah Marzon Mendoza, Everett Bowden, Ellis Guyire, IAS Cibbei, and John Aoyo. >> There's a robot. So, tonight we're proud to recognize um
012as you can see they they brought uh the nice drone in here with us today. Uh we are proud to recognize Midway High School's robotic team 4707 and their coach Ben Casaric for an outstanding season of achievement this year. Uh team 4707 earned the Inspire award at the Waco League Championships, the highest award um in in First Tech Challenge. The Inspire Award recognizes the top overall team, highlighting excellence in design, programming, teamwork, and community outreach. This marks the third consecutive year that Midway has earned this distinction, an achievement no other school in this in the league has accomplished. Following their league championship, the team advanced to the Central Texas Regional and also qualified the for the UIL State Championships, competing against top teams across Texas. Beyond the competition, what makes this team truly exceptional is
013their commitment to learning and service. Uh over the course of the season, students dedicated more than a thousand hours to designing, building, and testing their robot while also contributing over 550 hours of community service. Their outreach included hosting robotics event for local students, partnering with the Huitt Library, uh mentoring young teams, supporting the Bledsoe Miller Steam Center, and engaging with the community through demonstrations and service. At this time, please give them a round of applause. any of those. >> All right. Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Congratulations again. See, >> we we can't see your robot. I can't see. Can you go further? Go back. There you go. Back away. Oh. Oh, he's big. Yeah, I love it. Very cool. Very cool. >> I know. >> If I can only do that. Um, thank you,
014Mr. Wheeler. Next up, we have the PTA State Reflections. Emily Parks is going to handle that for us. Last month, we recognized elementary Midway students who earned honors in the Texas PTA Reflections Program. It's a statewide arts competition that encourages students to express their creativity through visual arts, literature, photography, music competition, dance, choreography, and more. This month, we'd like to honor the secondary students who competed in the program and earned honors. I will say that our high school students uh the three that are being honored uh are also being inducted into NHS tonight and so they are not here to join us. Um they have a lot of things pulling at their attention because of how amazing they are. So uh we do have uh students here to recognize this evening though. Um before we
015recognize these students I want to take a moment to acknowledge the role that PTA plays in our school. I mentioned last month when we talked about the elementaryaries, um, Midway is fortunate to have active PTAs at every single one of its campuses and their volunteer support give students and staff countless ways through their their campus programs, their classroom resources, events, and advocacy for public education. We are incredibly grateful uh for their partnership. So, I'd like to say thank you to the PTAs and for those of you that are here this evening. The reflections program is one of the many ways that the PTA encourages student creativity and artistic expression. And students from several Midway campuses, um, many elementaryaries, middle school, and high school, all received state level recognition this year. So tonight, I'd like to
016call up from River Valley Middle School. First, I'd like to invite up our PTA representative, Ashley Vandenberg. If you'll come up, thank you for sponsoring this program for our students. Uh Sophia Lovado, a River Valley Middle School student, if you'd like to come in. Sophia got state level participation award for her music composition. >> Awesome. >> I'm playing double duty, so hold on. I also have to take it different camera. Thank you again to PTA and for the students and the work that you do to be No, you're fine. You're Come on. I was just telling you thank you and goodbye. >> Mr. Wheeler's back up next. So, next we are proud to recognize Midway High School students and our tractor tech program and their coach Sean Rach. Sorry, guys. We wouldn't let uh Shawn
017and these students bring in uh their tractor like we did uh uh the robot. Um I don't know if it quite fit through the doors. This is a highly technical three-part competition that challenges students to apply real world mechanical knowledge and problem solving skills. Students evaluate tractor components and agricultural equipment, complete a written exam, and then work as a team to diagnose and repair multiple mechanical issues on a diesel-powered tractor, all within a time setting. After competing repairs, uh after completing repairs, teams must safely operate the tractor through a driving course, demonstrating both technical skill and operational precision. This year's team showed remarkable growth and determination. Despite being a young team uh including firstear students, they improved throughout the season and earned third uh at the area competition which qualified them for state. They went
018on uh to place 14th at the state competition, an impressive uh feat that reflects their hard work and progress over the course of the year. This year's state competition featured a John Deere uh 5075E four-wheel drive tractor and was held March 8th and 9th in Katy at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Um at this time, I will call the students. So, please join me in recognizing Austin Milikin, Pierce McClendon, Lucas Bolton, and Bonnie Wy. Let's give these folks a round of applause. Congrats again, guys. Congratulations. Excellent. I >> think on the behalf of the board, we can also say to all the PTAs out there, we all have seen firsthand the value and importance of a PTA on a campus and they really enhance what happens on a campus and it shows that um
019our citizens and our parents, you know, care deeply about our schools and want to help make them better. And I also want to thank all of our staff for making it possible for all these students to excel and succeed. All the extra hours they put into all the clubs and the groups you've seen here tonight and then take many of these students to state competitions and national competitions. It's a lot of their time, a lot of hard work and um is what makes Midway excellent, but we're very thankful and grateful for all the staff to put all the hours in. So, thank you. Okay, Dr. Allen, announcement of Park Hill Elementary principal. >> Yes, ma'am. As you know, uh, Miss Lippy, principal at Park Hill Elementary School, has has accepted a position with Baylor University
020in their school leadership. And so, that created a vacancy at the principal ship at um, Park Hill Elementary School. I have to slow down because if I'm not careful, I say Chapel Park instead. So, Park Hill to >> think about it. >> Okay. And so, uh, we did some work on, um, vetting out some potential candidates, talked to that staff a little bit, and we were able to find a candidate who actually came to Midway ISD in 2015 as an elementary teacher at Spring Valley Elementary School. And then from then there, she moved to Park Hill as a reading coach the year it opened. She's been an assistant principal there for two years, and she helped certify PHE as a national STEM school at 2425. That is their current assistant principal. next year's principal, Nicole
021Fanning. So, Miss Fanning, if you would please stand and be recognized. While she's coming up to get her picture taken, we were thrilled to be able to make this decision. And I wish you could have been with me when I announced this to the staff. I'll have to show the video with you at some point. I almost burst my eardrums, y'all. Y'all, while I'm talking. Um, and then the other thing I would like to mention is, uh, we obviously will miss Miss Libby, but appreciate the time that she took in contributing to Miss Fanning's development. Um, in addition to that, um, serving with her next year in administrative roles will be, um, Dr. Shannon Thai as an assistant principal coming over from Spigville and then Emily Arlet will be an assistant principal there as well.
022So, they're all out there being happy and rowing the boat in the same direction. But really, really proud of the work that they've done. I just want to make sure the board is aware of that. Um, I I've communicated that. I know you're aware. I got a chance to congratulate Miss Fanning yourselves. >> Yes, good job. >> Thank you. >> I just add a note of congratulations. Um, all of our elementary schools are doing an outstanding job and I just want to commend Park Hill and all of your staff for being such a young campus and being such a flag flagship school so early on in your history. It really is a a remarkable achievement you guys have created out there. Very impressive. >> Thank you, Mrs. Watts. Okay. Recognition of resigning board member or
023resigned. I guess he has resigned. Rick Tullus. Yes. Dr. Allen. He is. >> So, uh, we're gonna take a few minutes and talk about Mr. Telus. While we're doing that, there's going to be a slideshow that rolls and we're going to see the the many um looks of Mr. Telus over the years. And I'm I'm going to say one or two things and then I know there's some folks want to make some comments and I may say a thing or two more. But before we start the comments, I just I want to start off by recognizing two things. >> And one is just giving you a little bit of a little bit of background. Um, we've had an a student population increase from th 7,437 students to 8,700 plus. During the time that Mr. Tuls
024was here, he was part of the bond passage in 1360 of 266 million and the Vader passage that occurred uh not longer after I came here. This year, we did another 83 and a half million as part of a bond program under your leadership. um 7,74 graduates from 1314 to 2526 and then was obviously a schoolboard member during the time of COVID. And if you're an educator, you know why that's a big deal. Um to be on a school board during one of the most controversial times in in our lifetimes experience was quite the lift. And so I don't I don't think we can thank you enough for that. Um, I know others want to speak to this, but before I go any further, I just want to just say very briefly, school board members,
025it they carry a heavy weight. If I said this once, I've said it a 100 times. All they do is make decisions about other people's money and other people's children. I can't imagine something that has the opportunity to create more difficulty. They don't do it alone. They have friends and families who are with them. And sometimes the burden carried is almost as equal by the family as it is by the schoolboard member. and Elizabeth Tulles is with us this evening and we appreciate you being here and we we actually have some flowers that we want to make sure that you get home with that Miss W's going to go grab real quick. Um but it is it is not an easy lift. And so I wanted to make sure that really before we did anything
026else, we took a moment to acknowledge you and your four boys and what what that I know a little bit about family impact and some of the leadership roles. And so I just can't tell you how much I appreciate you what it has meant to have you with him uh during all that time. So I'm going to stop talking now. This would be a great time if others want to make some comments. Um I know we have some folks sitting out in front of me who may want to say a word or two or if anybody at the dis has a thought they'd like to share. Well, I just want to say thank you. Big thank you. Um, you came on not long after I did, so we've been here together for quite a while.
027And you did so much, I think, to help broaden our minds on the CTE and getting the community members involved with our CCT programs and and looking forward in that way. I was always very impressed how you thought outside the box on that. And you just added so much to our board and the decisions we make. And you've also been a great person to work with. You're a wonderful person and you're open-minded and you're thoughtful about what you say and do and you do what you say and it's just been a pleasure to work with you. So, thank you for your service, >> Jess. Well, on that note, then I'll just go ahead and add some CTE flavor to it as well. So, I remember the first time I actually met Mr. Tullus. He had
028just been elected. Dr. Kudson has shared that he was going to be coming by uh to to see CTE programs. Uh didn't know what to expect. I had met lots and lots of board members and and um to the interesting point of that conversation, he got right down into the deep and dirty real quick. Uh he wanted to know who we were, what we were teaching, how we were teaching. He wanted to know how we were connecting with businesses and industry. uh questions I could answer but not questions that I had a answered uh to that level before. Uh and it kind of set me to a point that uh this guy knows what he's talking and uh there's some importance to this. When I stepped into my my role and getting to work with
029CTE, I got to work with Mr. Mr. tell us uh more extensively uh with the with the Waco chamber with the economic development of um and the greatest difficulty that I saw coming into this position was was in and around the culture within the Mlennon County area as they engage with schools. And I think um to Mr. Tol's greatest credit, we have made significant headway uh with industries uh in and around the Mlennon County area that I think 3 to 5 years from now uh we'll be able to rival many of the metroplexes uh where many of those cultures already exist. And that is solely due uh to to his work with those businesses, but his work within schools and the integration and being able to build uh the bonds between. often times schools speak
030one language and business speaks another. Uh and to have somebody like Mr. Tullus that knows both of those languages to merge it has been purely impactful for our students. And for that I say thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Um well yeah so I started at at Midway about the same time Rick uh came on board as well. And so just thinking about a few things just getting to work with Rick and getting to know him that I appreciate about him. Um, one is his sense of humor. So if you know Rick, he doesn't take himself too seriously. Um, he has ability to, you know, to crack a joke, to, you know, bring levity to a tense situation, just kind of make you feel comfortable um, around him. And also kind of to
031Jess's point, he always, as we're making decisions for the best interest of the district, he always has an eye out for our neighbors, right? So, how is this going to affect the local economy or business owners, our neighboring districts, the greater Waco or Mlennon County, Mlen County area as a whole? And so, he's always had um eye out for just kind of the bigger picture in those partnerships. Um and lastly, I admire um his desire to honor the Lord. So, he's Rick's a man of faith and he makes decisions prayerfully and with a desire to have godly wisdom in those things. So, I appreciate that and know that you'll use those well in your next uh position. So, thanks. >> Well, I'll I'll just say real quick. Um, I think uh obviously since you're you're
032unopposed in November, it's it's it's not a stretch to say that you're you're likely to be our next county judge. Um, and uh and that's good. That's a good thing for ML County. um having gotten to know you for the last five orish years here on this board and the way you the way you do things out here in the open and the way you do things in meetings and the way you do things in close sessions and everything else. Um uh you do you do things right. Um you are thoughtful uh deliberative and you do have a great sense of humor as well and that helps. Um but you uh Mlennon County is is glad to have you even though we're going to be hurting to lose you. So, good luck. >> Good luck.
033>> All right, Reggie, you have join me on the floor. >> Okay, I'm sorry. >> When you ran for office, you may recall I was involved in campaigning for the bond election for 2013 that was running concurrently. and you may also recall those of you who are here then that was a lively debate going on around some of those things and you were really a role model for me and how to uh to run a campaign with dignity and commitment and integrity. Um I'm sorry to see you go, but I'm I'm smiling thinking about lots of memories shared with your family. When Elizabeth Tolles and I met, we had four children between us and now we have eight. So, lots of shared family things. Um, one of the things I've appreciated about, you know, serving
034alongside you on this board, um, that the general public may not realize while we are often united in our votes on decisions, that doesn't mean we always see everything the same way. And, and y'all heard me say it a hundred times, the more comp the matter is the more critical it is. We look at it from multiple points of view and Ricky can always be counted on to share maybe not the most popular view but the most pragmatic view the let's make sure we're thinking about this. You're a very visionary guy. Um, you're an incredibly wise and thoughtful individual and I love have loved working with you knowing that we're not going to miss the things just because everyone wants to go along and this is great. We're excited and Rick will always say, "Okay,
035well, let's think about let's make sure." Um, I just love the perspective that you brought to this board, the wisdom, and as Jeff said, my goodness, the connections we've had with the business industry in this community is you have have established an amazing legacy, my friend. We're sorry to lose your participation here, but wish you well and hope to keep seeing you around. >> Absolutely. >> And work with him as the commissioner judge of the county. >> Judge, >> county judge. You ready to go? Elizabeth, you'd like to join us at the podium, please? Everybody like to come. Yeah. Everybody on behalf of the Midway School Board, we want to thank you for your 13 excellent years of service and commitment and loyalty between kids first and just a wonderful job. So, thank you. Why
036don't you come up a little bit? >> All right. mind if I say something real quick? >> Yes, please do. Um, well, it it's it's uh it's been a team effort, right? I've got my home team with Elizabeth and my boys and so thankful for all they've uh do to support me. Um, you know, being the uh spouse and the child of a schoolboard member is not always as glamorous as people think. They have to put up with a lot. And uh u now Elizabeth, you know, won't have to get stopped in in the grocery store to go, hey, could you tell Rick this? You know, um so I'm so thankful for you guys. Two of my boys were here earlier. The other two are are college and our youngest is graduating. Thankfully, we'll we'll
037be we'll be done. Of those 7,000 kids that graduated, we help provide four of them. >> And then um and then there's this team. We call it the team of eight because it's seven board members and and the superintendent. But, you know, I'm thinking back over the years and I don't I should have done the actual number, but of all the individual board members that we've served with, we probably a team of 20 plus and um I I was thinking what what a blessing what what incredible human beings I've I've gotten to serve with. Um every one of them took my call and I said, "Hey, will you support me for county judge?" And they all said yes. I mean, what a blessing and u so so thankful. Um one of the great things about
038going into the position as county judge is you think about workforce development because that's a huge part of our economy growing and there is no greater engine for workforce development than public schools. And so uh I've been asked in a couple interviews kind of when you know is my time supporting public schools over? I'm like no it's just beginning. And uh >> so I think this is this is sacred work. I think the administrators and the teachers, the people I've I've been blessed to come in contact with, uh they they the ones that love it are they see it as sacred. They're called to it. And I'm so thankful for that. We have a high percentage of that in Midway ISD. It's one of the secrets of our success. So um thank you team. Thank
039you team Tullis. Thank you team at Midway. Uh so grateful to have had this time with you guys. So thank you Rick. It's my understanding we do not have any public comments this evening. >> Yay. Okay. If all if you would like to leave if anyone's still here from the recognitions now you may do so. And thank you for staying till the end. We appreciate you doing that. You didn't cry. Okay. Next up is the information items. We have the quarterly investment report, the MISD police department racial profiling report, gifted and talented program annual update, summer school offerings, and list of library books for procurement. Does anyone have any questions or need to discuss any information items? Can I just say real quick because I know a lot of times we get a presentation but
040uh it's on our information items but how uh how I continue to appreciate the work that Tiffany Bromett and our GT facilitators do elementary, middle school and on up. And uh anyway, I just wanted to say that I know Tiffany's not here. In fact, I told her I wasn't going to say anything since she decided to not be here. But but I'm saying it anyway because I appreciate the work. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Rick. I mean Rick callin. Okay. We are going to move an agenda item up. We are going to move item 9 C1A uh director fine arts to this moment in the agenda and I will hand it over to Dr. Allen. >> Yes, ma'am. So this evening with us in the audience is Jennifer Martin. Miss Martin, if you please
041stand. There you go. I'm going to talk about Miss Martin for a moment. Um, but before I do that, uh, she she's obviously going to be the administration's recommendation to serve as the next director of fine arts. I want to tell you a little bit about how we got here. And to do that, I want to start by talking about process. So, Dr. Kudson, if you would share just a little bit about the process we use to narrow candidates, interview, and arrive at a a place where we're bringing this recommendation to. >> Sure. Um, I can nerd out on this, so I'll try not to go too. Um we had an incredible uh in amount of interest in this position almost 60 applicants around the state and um Dr. Oima worked to work through those
042applications and to start to categorize characteristics conraints that we were looking for. While she was doing that I was gathering input from spine staff across the district and use that input to develop a candidate profile and then questions for our first round of interviews and Um once we narrowed down our top eight to interview in first round, we asked several representatives from our fine arts disciplines to join us. And we've got a couple here tonight. Actually, Joel Wilkinson and Lindsay Benny were on the committee with us. Alison Smith was on the committee. Um Clintman was on the committee as well. And um Shay Towers, Mr. Towers was a parent representative on the committee. So, we spent a couple of days getting to know our candidates and the committee recommended three for second round interviews to
043meet with Dr. Allen and some of the exact team and we are so happy to invite Jennifer Martin to join our family here. >> In those second round interviews, it was myself and Dr. Ojima and Mr. Ael and we kind of do that on purpose. He hadn't been to any the first round. Paul had and so it's like a fresh look at all of them one more time and then Dr. Ojima and I could carry forward some of the things that we observed in first round interviews. Um, in the process of looking all this, um, we came to the conclusion that she was the absolute right fit for where we are at this time in Midway ISD for several different reasons. Not just how she handled herself in the interview process and the way she
044rose to the top in the way that we orchestrated that selectment and recruitment plan, but I just want to talk to you a little bit about who she is and her background. So, she currently serves as the orchestra and mariachi specialist for Fort Worth ISD and is serving as the president of the Texas Music Educators Association, TMEA. Um, she has also I'm sorry, >> I'm just trying to >> Oh, yeah. Um, she has a lengthy work history, but I wanted to acknowledge the fact that her first uh job was as the Midway Middle School orchestra director. So, this is a Midway person who's coming back. She's student taught in Midway. She's a graduate of Baylor. She continues to play in the Waco Symphony. If you went to the event last week where they did the
045um yes, the Broadway tunes, I guess is what that was, she was playing and so has maintained a connection to Waco over the years. And so we feel blessed to be able to bring someone before you who has local knowledge of what it is to be Midway and local knowledge of what it is to be Waco, but has also been in some larger systems, Fort Worth and Arlington, just to name the two and has seen some experiences and we'll be able to bring some things uh to us that maybe we haven't seen in central Texas and we'll get an opportunity to grow and learn from that. And so Jennifer's here tonight. We we onboarded her this afternoon uh and showed her around the building a little bit. Um she has a husband um that we
046also hope to on board in Midway in the coming days. He's a teacher and so we're excited about that. And uh it's administration's recommendation that the board approved Jennifer Martin to serve as the next director of fine arts in Midway Independent School District. >> And we need to vote on this. So do I have a motion to accept the administration's recommendation? >> So moved. >> Okay. So um motion made by Mr. Tullus. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. Second by Miss Watts. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. >> So, welcome to Midway, Jennifer Martin. >> Thank you to our committee members. It's hours of commitment to be a part of that process. And so, Allison and and Miss Benny, Miss Wilkinson, thank you
047so much for your help on that. and uh we appreciate your work and commitment to that process. >> It's exciting to have one of our own that has spread her wings and gone far and then is coming back. So, we look forward to all the exciting things you're going to do, Miss Martin. So, thank you. >> Well, what we saw the symphony performance this last week has been an indication of that one performance was worth the season subscription alone. But if that's reflective of what you bring just as I'm sure it is that embodies the innovation, commitment and excellence u by what you offer and perform at the symphony all year long and that is just one of your many qualifications. So if y'all don't realize we're working a heavyweight, I'm beyond excited and impressed.
048>> Very good. Thank you. Next on the agenda we have presentation discussion items. First, we have the monthly finance report by Wesley Brooks. >> Good evening, uh, members of the board. Um, I know the quarterly investment report, uh, was in the information items. I don't usually comment on that. Um, however, I did want to point out, uh, and it's on page six of your board packet if you want to, um, flip back there, but last month we uh, received bond proceeds of $83.5 million. Uh so I just kind of wanted to show you guys exactly where those funds are currently uh currently sitting. Uh so on that investment report uh there's a column called capital projects kind of in the in the center there and you can see we have 11 million u with the
049Lonear investment pool. Uh 55.8 million is with South State Bank. That's the district's depository bank. Um and 15 million is at TFN TFNB. Um TFNB it's a money market account. The South State is an index account. um and they all are earning a little over um 3.8% interest. Uh we are restricted um because it is a tax exempt financing. Um we can only earn up to 3.24% um in investment earnings. Um and so anything over that uh we'll have to actually pay back an arbitrage to the IRS and we annually um have a firm that evaluates that for us and tells us you know what we may need to to owe to pay back to the IRS. But I just wanted you to be aware of where those funds currently are and um it's about
05082 million sitting there. We are have already spent some on um vehicles and some technology. Any questions on the investments? >> Okay. Um move down to the uh financial report. Um on page uh 86 um you can see our tax collections. Me skip down there. Um and so usually at the at the end of March uh we've collected about um 99% of our adjusted levy. Um and you can see in the far column there uh cumulative collections of adjusted levy. Um by June we're always over 100%. And that's because we collect most of our current levy and then uh prior year collections that come in in the current year. We record those in the current year. That's why it's over 100. Uh we're a little low at the end of March about 97 um.9%. Um
051I don't expect us I mean I expect us to to um collect all 100%. Um usually at this point in the year that's about half a million but now there's about 1.1 million we still haven't collected. Uh so again I expect us to get 100%. Just something to kind of keep an eye on over the next couple months. Uh the next page is our um uh transactions over 25,000. Um and you can see there we have added a section there in the middle for bomb projects. You'll kind of see those as those expenditures are being made. They'll be reflected um here on this report. Um listed in that uh for the month of March uh we have some technology items uh some police vehicles and then our architect Huckabe there. Um also below that and
052other operating items, you'll notice a pretty significant expenditure there to Apple for 1.1 million. Um, and that's this last round of iPads um that we did. We actually broke that out in four payments interest free. Uh, this is the third payment, so we'll have one more um next year um at this time to finish off that. And then the next round of iPads, if we choose to do so, will be funded through um through the bond proceeds. Uh the final page here in the report, our general fund projection uh for the current year, we're projecting a deficit of 1.3 million. Uh that includes all budget amendments the board has adopted uh thus far to date. Um also we got um results of a a property value audit from 2024. U Visela helped file for us
053um and we're um receiving 654,000 in additional state revenue from that that we'll recognize in the current fiscal year and that's reflected um in these numbers. Uh next month we'll have the fiscal year 2027 budgets uh ready to present uh for you guys to look at before we post those budgets um at the 1 of June and then officially adopt them um in June. So any questions? >> Why do you think that collections are down so far? >> Yeah. Did the county did the tax office >> seen across other districts or is that just >> No, I just noticed it. Um you know, just kind of the one-year thing. I haven't reached out. um to to the county. I can do that. Um if I feel like we may be short, but um I'll kind
054of give it another month and see. >> Yeah, I was going to say curious if the county had a or had a reason >> if it's countywide. Sometimes with with us it could be we have, you know, um some large taxpayers industry, you know, company. It could be a sometimes there's even litigation or a lawsuit that goes years back and we have to refund, you know, some of those tax dollars. >> Okay. Wesley, did the major expenses over $25,000 under technology, did those reflect the purchases that that department made that we save money on if we bought them early? >> I believe so. It's a Red River. Um, is that >> That's right. >> Yeah. Mhm. >> Do we can you recall how much we save because you got on the ball and got ahead
055of these expenses? >> Yeah. I mean, it's because you guys allowed me January. Had we bought the same bill of materials uh this month that we purchased in January, we would have been about $650,000 more today. >> And that's one of the reasons we're closing that gap on our deficit because we have staff to stay on top of things like that. Just wanted to chat about again. >> Okay. Any any other questions? >> Yeah. just in general, is it our practice sort of going forward to highlight these bond projects expenditures as they happen on the sheet? So, we'll kind of know where >> Yes, I'm glad you brought that up. So, next month I am going to start presenting um a bond budget worksheet um to show, you know, where everything was budgeted in each
056area, what we've spent so far, and kind of what we're expecting to finish out. >> Very good. >> Mr. W along those same lines, they're also just kind of preparing bond updates on big projects. And we are uh already starting to put together the process for our bond oversight committee. We'll be inviting those who are we're going to start with the group that did the facilities planning committee, but Emily and I were talking about this week. We're going to start working on invitations to citizens who can come look at all these. They can look at every bill they want so that that continues to be as wide open and transparent in the execution of the bond as it was in the building of the bond. And so everybody will see where every dollar goes. And
057if there's any question that's asked, it's it's like an outside third party validator for lack of a nicer way of putting it. But it's our citizens looking at the bond dollars and seeing exactly where they're going. >> I think that's tremendous that that level of transparency and and I'm I'm guessing posted on the website like we've been doing >> the whole nine yards. Yes, sir. >> Very good. >> Excellent. >> All right. Thank you, Wesley. Out of district transfer students for 2026 2027 school year. Paul awful. Thank you. >> All right. Well, good evening. uh you'll see on the consent agenda an item about approving or for out of district transfers for 2627. So I just want to provide a little bit of context to that because we've made a couple changes to policy FDA
058throughout this school year that talks about out of district transfers. Um what you see there is the same information you see in your board packet. That's just the historical data of outofd transfers that we've received in for the last 5 years. Uh these are out of district transfers that are paid. their employee transfers that are non-paid. Any type of category of of out of district transfer we get are reflected in these numbers and again that you can see a steady increase. We did have a little decline um last year and you can see that specifically in the high school as we tried to research that and look and see what happened there. The best I can find out is we had a larger group of graduating seniors that were transfers and not as many incoming
059freshmen and it just offset that. But you can see we only went down two in the elementary and we increased in the middle school. But we we climbed back up this year with our out of district transfers. This is just something I wanted you to see as a comparison. And let me kind of explain the math that I did here. Uh in 2122 we had 263 transfers in and we had 432 go out. So for every student that came in we sent 1.64 students out. But as you can see over the last five years that has reduced down to only 1.41 41 students going out for every student coming in. So to say we are relative to what we're sending out, we are gaining ground on the students we're getting in. And if we were
060still at that same rate we were 5 years ago, instead of the 527 transfers are going out, that would have been 614. So we are attracting students even though we are sending some out. We are attracting more students with the things that we're doing in Midway ISD. As a reminder, FDA local does outline our transfer criteria for out of district transfers. They are approved on a one-year basis. So being approved one year does not guarantee you're approved the next year. So each year we look at number one, the availability of of space and instructional staff above anything else. Uh we look at that and then we look at students disciplinary records, any criminal history they may have, their attendance and their academic performance over the past school year. And those are all the things we
061look at. They are considered on a case-bycase basis. Uh myself and my assistant, Miss Linds, we scrutinize these documents for each individual student to make decisions on whether they meet our transfer criteria each year. Uh I mentioned the changes we made to FDA local this year. Back in July, we made a change uh that said that students who became non-residents at any point in the year may remain through the end of the grading period, but then past that they had to qualify as a transfer. Previously, that policy said if students transferred out of the district after the end of the four six weeks, they could remain tuition free for the rest of the school year. And as we started looking at that and think and looking at other districts policies, we found that we were
062probably a little lax on that. And all it does is just provide us a little bit of protection there that if students do leave uh at some point during the school year, they're they're able to stay tuition free through the end of the grading period. Then at that point, they just have to qualify as a transfer. So they have to meet those same criteria to stay enrolled in the district. Uh and the vast majority of our students meet that. And notice it's pre-K through 11. If a senior moves out at any point in the school year, we're those students are allowed to stay so they can complete that senior year and graduate. And then remember back in January, uh, as part of our budget talks we were having, we did decide you you approved removing
063the transfer fee beginning with next school year. And that transfer fee was $1,000 per student. And we we felt like removing that fee could entice more more people to want to transfer to our district. So just a number of key takeaways for you to consider. The criteria of out of district transfers has not changed. Even though we have removed the transfer fee, the criteria remains the same. Uh, also our district of innovation plan does give us the ability to revoke an out of district transfer at any point during the school year. Uh, and just to let you know, last year we revoked zero out of district transfers during the school year uh, for failing to meet our criteria. This year we've had to revoke two and but they were for very very significant behavior incidences
064that that we revoked the transfer. So, it's not a very common practice, but again, it just does give us the ability to do that should students not meet that that criteria. Um, at this time, I'll take any questions you have. >> Have you seen other school districts uh drop their transfer fees in the area? >> Yes. Yes. And even in in metroplex areas, too, we've seen a lot of districts drop their transfers fees. Any other questions? >> Hey, so just walk us through real quick because this you and I were in an email exchange last week with a a potential occasionally I find them and bring them to you who might want to transfer. Um >> talk talk to us about how that process works. So you're transferring in how do we assign them to
065a campus? What what input do the in transferring in families have about that? >> Great question. So part of the transfer application, we do ask for a campus preference. uh we can't guarantee that. It's all based on available space. And so as we look and see we can accept a transfer in a grade level. So we would let families know at a certain point during the summer we can accept you and we'll let you know your campus assignment a little bit later in the summer. And so we we love to try to honor all those requests families make, but just make it make it clear that it's going to be based on available space. Uh we like to consider where the family is located. If families are located east of the district or west of
066the district, we take that into consideration. um along with the available space. >> And obviously if there's multiple siblings, try to keep them together at the same campus. >> Try to keep those together at the same campus. Yes. And so we we do consider that there may be available space in this grade but not this grade. We try to find the fit that's going to work the best for the family. >> Yes, sir. >> So then help me understand too for for the consent agenda, what are we actually approving? Because we've already made the changes to FDA local. So what are we actually approving? You're just approving that we will accept out of district transfers next school year. >> Oh, okay. Just the fact that we will. >> Yes, sir. It's an annual. >> Any
067other changes? No, I'm sure. Okay. >> No, sir. Thanks. >> And can you remind us the window when people can apply for the transfers? >> Our our out of district transfer window is going to open on June the 1st. We're going to have a big countdown thing going. We got a lot of information coming out about that. So, that's when that application will open for any new or out of district transfers or returning out of district transfers. >> And it stays open until school starts. >> Central stay. I mean, it's it's essentially open all year long. It's all based on available space. If we've got available space and they meet the criteria, >> they want to move middle of the year, they can. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Kind of to piggyback on those two questions,
068how long does that vetting process take? I mean, is that like a two-day thing? I mean, like when you're looking at all the data on the hon, >> is that a quick thing or is that a week? as quick as families can get those information that information to us. We just require those documents and it doesn't take long to look at grades, behavior, attendance reports uh for each student. It takes a matter of five minutes. >> Okay. >> I mean, it doesn't there's there's two or three days this summer. That's all we'll do is we'll look at those and then inform families on on whether they're accepted or not. >> Gotcha. >> Yeah. >> Just kind of curious the process. If it's a uh if it's a uh a student of a a child of
069a teacher who's coming in, do do you apply the same criteria >> loosely? Uh if it's if it's a child of a teacher, we do look at things u but they don't always have to meet the same criteria. Um mainly we look at attendance and behavior and there has been times that we've not been able to take uh the child employee but that's been very very rare in my experience. >> Yeah. >> Do we know what the impact of children district employees are faced under this number. >> I said, >> "How many of these of these students coming in are children of staff who don't live in the district? Do you know that?" >> Um, well, of the 347 that we had last year or this year, 220 of those are employee children, right? >>
070And only 146 were paid out of district transfers. So, the vast majority of that is our employees who don't live in our district bringing their children here. >> Okay. Do you do you take every student that meets these four transfer criteria or are there any outside of this that might dictate whether or not you take the student or is it just based purely on >> if there's available space and meet they meet those criteria we we take them. >> Okay. No other questions. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Compensation plan update. Dr. Ashley Kudson to the podium please. Good evening. Uh, as is pretty typical in April, I provide for you an update on the work that we have done with TASBY um, over the course of the last five or six months to look
071at our pay systems and compare those to market values and make recommendations within our budget um, constraints on what we would like to see in compensation for our staff. So, I'm providing you an update. Most of these slides will look familiar um so that uh we can kind of talk things through from year to year. And I've got a couple of comparisons in here we'll talk about as well to show some trends that we're seeing in our teacher pay. Just as um our our kind of our guiding force uh district goal two, looking at recruitment and retention of staff. Um as we go through pay maintenance, we make TASBY aware of what our goals are as well. and recruitment and retention are obviously um right up there, but also controlling costs with within what we
072um uh design in our budget and provide for and then looking at the job value and making sure that our pay is staying appropriately aligned with market and who we're competing with for our employees. So when uh TASBY does a comparison of our local market, they are compare comparing us to these districts here um and the data that those districts provide. And um this list hasn't changed much. I will point out a couple of things. China Spring and Connley um are both they've been on the list with our comparison. They're both four-day districts. Their their schools are four- day weeks um for many of the weeks of the school year. Coppers Cove is new to the list this year. they provided data um for the first time in the work that I've done over the
073last four years. This is the first I've seen with Coppers Cove being on there. Um and uh just to sort of give you the the the most um apples to apples comparison with Temple ISD is the one that most closely aligns with us in both student enrollment and total FTEES for staff. I highlighted on here for you the districts that um have less than 5,000 students enrolled. So those are the districts if you'll recall that those teachers receive a higher TRA amount or teacher retention aotment amount than the districts that are not highlighted. >> This is >> Can we go back to slide? >> Certainly. >> I don't I don't want to I don't want to beat a drum here, but I know from time to time all school districts are accused of not necessarily
074being as efficient as they might otherwise be. And I just want to point out talking about Cove that they've got, you know, a thousand less students than us. But then look at the number of employees they have compared to our number of employees and we run a pretty tight ship. And then the next comparison is is Temple and they have more employees than we have when you just look at numbers of students. And so I just say that to say that um we try to be very focused and intentional about our staffing formulas and all those good things. And I know you've heard me say that before, but every time these little data points come up to kind of give you some comfort that we're we are running pretty tight controls on the relationship between
075enrollment and staffing. I just kind of want to point those out. >> To piggy back on that being the data nerd that I am, um we do have 6.39 students per FTE compared to 6.22 in Temple and 5.64. >> Yes, sir. >> So that I think exemplifies what you're saying. Yes sir. >> Thank you. Um if you take a look at this graph, this represents, it's kind of hard to see in the bottom corner. This represents our teachers. We have um just about 600 605 um 605 teachers. And if you'll notice the um distribution here of years of experience, about half of our teachers have experience within 6 to 20 year range. Um, and just of note, we um, compared to last year, we went down in our 20 to 25 year range and went
076up a bit in our 1 to fiveyear range. So, seeing people retire, seeing new um, less experienced but um, fresh to the profession teachers joining our ranks. So, this slide represents teacher pay scale um, our teacher salary plan for the 2425 school year. I just wanted to to remind us and bring this um back to our attention. We spent a lot of time um in the last few years working on our teacher pay plan to um make that starting point that that uh minimum salary offer there at zero years of experience. Very competitive when compared to our market peers. And we know that we've been outpaid by our market peers in the 5 to 20 year range. But we have really worked to close that gap with adjustments for our teachers um over at least
077the last uh three years that I've worked with this. When you look at that chart compared to this year's you will see that um the starting salary that zeroyear salary we're really equal just about equal to our peers. Um and the gap between the 5 to 20 year has grown and that is that is due to the the teacher retention aotment difference of many of our peers paying more teacher retention aotment because they have uh less students uh below 5,000 students. So we we see that gap um and it it can feel alarming but I will say if we had not done the work that we had done over the last three years together then that gap would have been even larger. And so I still feel very good about the work that we're doing.
078>> So in the last month I have met with the chair for Pubed in the House and the Senate and I've showed those two slides to both of them and and asked them to think about the impact of that $5,000 $8,000 difference on school districts. um and try to give them what I think are some realistic solutions to try and begin to work on that should they have the appetite to do so. You they're not going to solve that in one session. The money's too much, >> but I've at least given them some ideas about how to begin to chip away at it. Um and so I've been very vocal about the impact of that on Midway specifically. This is just another way to look at that same data from the previous slide in comparison.
079Um so that you can see some true number differences, dollar amount uh differences there from where we compare with our markets. So um this is something we will continue to monitor and we do our best to to continue to support um this pay scale as best we can. >> So Ashley, >> yes sir. Does that effectively mean the difference between the five and 8,000 is the gap? >> I mean, that's pretty much the gap between us and >> Yes, we we had when you look back at 2024, there was still a little bit of a gap there, but we had really narrowed it and um we're going to continue that work, but that difference is due to the the teacher retention aotment. When you look at stipens for teachers, um you may recall last year
080we did quite a bit of work and recommended uh increases to these stipens to better align with market and we did a really great job with that. Um the the highlight here is our special education stipen for our high needs classrooms. We um gave a significant increase to that last year and we're very proud of that. Um, these stipens again remain competitive, but when you layer those on top of a pay scale that doesn't feel so much um they don't clo they don't do enough to close the gap. But I do think that um the work that we did last year was very much appreciated by our staff this year and um very happy with that. So we're not recommending any changes to that. When you look at our other pay groups, um I feel
081really good about where we are in these pay groups. when you compare our current employee pay um to the market value, we are right in line with market um a little bit below in a couple of categories and a little bit above in others. Um so that tells me that we're we're right on with with where we are speaking of an average of pay. Um the midpoint, that next column is important because when we um vote to give a GPI uh in a certain percentage, it's on that midpoint and it's based on that midpoint. So the work that we have done on these pay scales together over the last few years, we're we're riding solid there. So this is a um history of what we've done with with regard to compensation increases. Um if it
082looks like a lot of numbers, it is. And it made me crosseyed enough that I have a typo, so I will um bring that to your attention. Um but if you'll kind of take a look back over the last five years um we are pretty solid with um maintaining about 2% when we provide compensation. We've tiered that a couple of times in the past. You can see in 2023 24 we tiered our employee groups. Um and then um you know we've we've sort of talked about that but we uh in other years but we are really have really been focusing on adjustments to certain pay groups that seem um where where something is doesn't quite seem aligned. And so we hold strong at about a 2% recommendation on a on a GPI. Um last year,
083well for this year, what we did is uh the TRA covered our teachers in their increase and then all other employees, we worked on that 2% on the midpoint. Um and that was their compensation increase. And just as a reminder, here's where the typo is. Um our teachers with 3 to 5 years experience, that TRA amount was $2,500 and for five and up, it was actually 5,000, not 5,500. Um and so that brought their salary bases up to a place that we will maintain this year. They do not get an additional TRA amount. Um and so that's something to keep in mind. So with the work that we did with TASBY, they developed several models for us to consider on um employee compensation increase. And the one that we um are strongly considering and recommending
084is a 2% increase on the midpoint for all employees. That would include our teachers and um some additional adjustments on any employees and pay categories that that needed that in order to stay market competitive. But what we've decided to do is put a cap on those adjustments. So if there are any um that are large, we will narrow that down and put a cap on that so that we can um maintain those costs. And if you'll look in the bottom right, the 1.7 million, that is is the uh representation of what 2% GPI for all employees would look like. So, what we're recommending and asking you to consider and um take vote on next month is a commitment of no more than $2 million. We feel confidently that's a worst case scenario. We're going to
085be able to come in under that. You just saw on the previous screen our projections there um come in under that. We just want to leave ourselves room to cover these other hidden costs like TRS and benefit um contributions and things. So, $2 million would be our worst case scenario. Um, that would allow us to make the adjustments that we've just talked about, allow us to give all employees a 2% GPI. Um, it would uh allow us to to be able to maintain adjustments that we're working on to really focus in when we have employee categories or employees specifically that we feel need some adjustment in pay. And I think that shows um significant um value for those employees. Uh we are not recommending a an increase to contribution on health insurance. If you'll remember
086last year it was a pretty big jump. We were going to recommend um no increase but because of the size of the jump we actually went and and met kind of the half of difference there. We went halfway on on that increase but we are currently recommending no increase. We do not know what pay rates will be until about the first week of May. So when I come to you next month I'll be able to speak to that a little bit more. Um, you may recall that our employees who do not take health insurance with us receive a flex spending card. Um, in the past it's been $300. We're recommending lowering that to 150. Not completely doing away with it at the moment, but seeing some cost savings there. And that is all I have.
087What questions can I answer for you? Oh, it's disappointing um because the state gave the rules teachers more than we re our teachers receive that we had this larger discrepancy between salaries because we've been working so hard to close that gap. But I know we'll, as you said, we'll continue to do that. And I should I think it shows to anyone that is working here or might come work here that we do care and we do want to have competitive salaries and we'll, you know, keep trying to do that in these difficult um budget times, but it's frustrating. >> To give this a little bit of context, next month um Wesley is going to bring you a look at the 2627 budget. And because of all the work we did this year to reduce our
088expenses, um we think we can bring you a recommendation of a compensation plan not to exceed $2 million and have a negative budget of not more than $2.5 million and that be worst case scenario. Um so have pulled it down from 3.8 to 2.5 with compensation increases because of the work that we've done this year. And again, I think that's an absolute worst case scenario. The other thing I think it's worth reminding the board of is because of really, really hard work done really across the system led by Becky, but um largely implemented by learning coaches and principles and others. We'll be bringing in uh right at $2 million worth of teacher incentive aotment money this year for staff. I say we, they will have earned that. It's the best way to describe that. So
089it's not really represented in our compensation plan because it's not ours. It's coming from the state, >> but 65% of teachers who are in an eligible category are getting TIA money. And and that is a result of hard work being done because of the way that our TNL department leads instruction. Our kids actually show academic growth because our teachers are being prepared to teach in ways that are effective. It's also hard work being done by our administrators to coach those teachers, but also give test evaluations that really set the target and goal for our teachers in appropriate ways. And so I'm I'm not trying to belver the point, but that $2 million isn't coming in because it's being given to anybody. It's being earned by teachers because of support being provided by the system. Um,
090and I I don't know of anybody who has 65% of their eligible teachers receiving TIA. And so I'm I'm really proud of that. Proud of the work that's being done by other people, not named Chris, um, in the district to get that knocked out. And so that I think it's worth keeping in the back of your mind as as we have these discussions. >> I'm glad to hear about the TIA. I think that's tremendous. You know, I every time we look at these slides and look at these graphs, I I kind of beat the drum occasionally for what can we do to make this more performance-based instead of year-based, but I know that's a um that's a hard target to try to hit uh in this in this business. So, um I think TIA is
091a great example of how we're able to do that to some degree. Um cuz I know that man, we got we have great teachers across the board here and I appreciate all the work you guys have done to bring us what looks like something we can feel like we can do. So, but I'll just beat that drum one more time. >> Speaking of beating drums, these are the numbers where I think we feel most powerful the impact of decisions that are being made in Austin. I would love to be able to get consistently give not just 2% but 3% not cut flex car spending off more but these are the hardest numbers I think to deal with because they're they don't so much money and we just heard about one which is you know rural
092districts which is districts under >> 5,000 >> which means Midway categorized in the same month with like Houston ISD and KSD and I think it we have plenty of money to pay for our future. So I just want to beat that drum of help us move the needle here with decisions that get made in November thinking carefully about who you want to represent you and in Austin this coming year. So think >> hey Chris you talking about the the that TIA a lotment 65% of our teachers earn it. G give me some scale about what that average payout is per teacher. I talk to other >> do the quick math. >> The highest 15, the lowest what? >> Well, the highest for master teachers on one of our campuses is 17 plus. >> Okay. >>
093That's the master level and the lowest is 13ish. >> Um >> 13,000 or 1300,000 >> 13,000. It's real minor. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And then the middle level, the exemplary teachers, they range between um six and 9,000 in that range. And then for recognized, it's a range between three and four and a half thousand. They've also just added a new level of designation in the last legislative session. So the there now will be an acknowledge level that's lower than recognized, >> but they've bumped up all the pay tiers >> by about acknowledged will now start where recognized was previously. So, it'll start at that 3,000 number and then um recognize bumps up 2 or 3,000. Exemplary bumps up 3 or 4,000 and then master stays about the same. So, even if we designated no new
094teachers next year, we're well over probably 2.4 million if we just had the numbers we turned in this year because of the new levels and the new payout. So, so would it be would it be an accurate recruiting point to go, hey, you you may be getting paid less base salary, but your opportunity to make TIA money will exceed your opportunities in other districts because of the systems we have here. >> Is that inaccurate? >> That's not inaccurate. And we've done it for longer. Like we this is our fourth submission and some people are just coming online now. >> Yeah. So, we have a system that's about to roll to the part where you start over on the system because we have to renew every 5 years. Um, but we also um just submitted on
095April 15th, we submitted all of our fine arts teachers as well. So, we have one sort of cluster of teachers in our CTE programs that we're looking for a way to get them designated and submit that the next round. So, we're very close to having all teachers with a pathway. >> Great. So when I say 65% of eligible, not all teachers are eligible yet, but we're getting very very close. >> Yeah. >> Um so >> well, I think that's a convincing argument to to choose this district. So >> Well, and not I mean we're just belaboring this point. The other thing that that um Becky and I have talked about, if you stay with us for 3 years and go through at least one coaching cycle, you're qualifying for TIA. >> Yeah. So when I
096talk about the work that we're doing to support teachers to get that, that's what it looks like. Be here for three years to learn what we do and go through at least one coaching cycle. And so when you when you expect to do a TI will you do a TI presentation in June? Is that I mean in May? Is that when you normally do it? >> That's when we'll have the solid numbers on payout because we'll receive that from the state. >> So you'll get a deep dive in TIA in May. Um and and maybe and I don't know if we >> these are public meetings. That's funny. Um and then maybe as part of that also um a little bit on that data that shows the relationship between time and district cycles and t
097success maybe. >> Yeah. >> And I'll email it to you. >> Yeah. No, I mean I think he's right. I think that it's tremendous to show, you know, it's one thing to look at a graph showing the base salary and sort of where we are, but to show, okay, what does it really mean actually for the average teacher who's been here 5 years, 10 years, 15 years? I think that's the kind of thing that can move the needle with some people trying to make a decision and and again, it's performance-based, which I think is tremendous. I love that. So, thanks for your work on that, Dr. Ojima. I know you've been doing yman's work there. >> Any other questions I can answer? Okay, thank you. >> So, thank you, Ashley. Early childhood update, we have
098Kim Johnston and Dr. Becky Odima up to the podium. Who's going first? Kim, good evening. >> Hi. Um, I'm excited to share our early childhood update. That is our prek students, as we say, meeting the needs of our youngest Panthers in Midway ISD. And I will say each year when I put this presentation together, I email our prek teachers and they send me the absolute best pictures and it is so hard to choose what goes in front of you. But um so they are very proud to show those and I am too. Like truly um as it said like what we invest in our youngest really does make us an excellent district. And so I wanted to give you an update on our prek program this year and some things to expect as we move
099into next school year. Um our eligibility requirements with the last legislative session changed just a bit um by this school year adding qualifications of children of classroom teachers. Um it's not all employees but those who are considered an 087 teacher contract now qualify for prek. And so that um you'll see in a moment the impact that that has made on our numbers of um like what we now consider employee children are those that don't fall in that 087 um category. Um so any at this school year any other employee children that are not classroom teachers um we wanted it to be competitive to what um they would pay in other places. And so we actually um reduced the rate just a bit this year um for um to be comparable to what our community is
100paying for preK3. So any employee children um it's $300 a month September through June. So that's $3,000 to have your child in prek in Midway ISD. Um we this school year have four classrooms of preK3 on the campuses that are listed there. We have about 88 students. And then in preK4 we have 11 classrooms with about 224 students. Um you'll see here we have um the majority of our program is students who qualify. Now when I put qualifier on there now that's all the criteria you saw before including the classroom teacher. So in the past that column there with employee has been much higher because that's where all of our classroom teachers have fallen. And so you can see our our um prek3 program has been mostly full this year. However, in the past, we've
101had a wait list. This year, we did not. These are our PE preK4 classroom enrollments. Um, same thing. We we are we are nearly full and most all of our um classrooms. Those with larger numbers do have two two sections of preK4. We um use a curriculum that is aligned to prek guidelines. Those are much like the TEICSS we have in all of our other grade levels. Um and we have a common scope and sequence that's being used in each of those places. Um within our instruction, we make that um balanced with content with stations um and then differentiated center so we're meeting the needs of all the kids whatever level they may be even in preK. We have flexible grouping and include time with our special education programs on campus. And um one of
102the highlights of our program um we are required by the state of uh Texas to have teachers who are considered highly qualified in our pre-K program. And so if you don't have certain degrees or certifications, we work to provide those 150 hours through coaching, through mentoring with a real focus on early childhood education. And we've made a real effort to make sure our training is focused on early childhood for our pre-K teachers. Um, and then you'll see our our kids, they're doing specials classes, too. Not quite as long as everyone else, but they go to PE Music Art Library or it comes to them. I did want to add the picture on the right there um is a grant that has um kind of taken off in our prek world through the education foundation. These
103are the smartboards that are in our classroom. So, they we can get them right down on their level and they're super >> Yes, you are right. um we are we are just super um excited to see our youngest kids interacting in such a way um meaningful with technology and it makes sense in their world. So um they sent me that one and I wanted to share that as well. Um so we we do continue to look at how we can best adapt to the challenges we face. um when we were talking about um prek enrollment, that is sometimes where we try to get um keep families together, but when enrollment happens through the school year, we may not be able to keep um students on the same campus as their siblings because once our prek4
104classes fill um their field and so we may have to do some some campus changes there. Um, as we've mentioned um, in the past and um, part of the impact we have on the changes in the upcoming school year is that we know the funding from the state is full day funding for preK4. It's only half day funded at preK3. Um, we feel it is critical continue to keep a 22 to2 ratio in our 4K classrooms. Um, there there's just a lot of them when there's 22, so it helps to have two adults in that room. And w with preK3 as we've had it, we've kept that at 24 to3 which is also very important um to have. So um as you know, as we've talked about again earlier this year um we have made
105the decision as a district that we will discontinue the prek3 program and that will um help us reallocate resources and time to really focus on our 4K program. Um, this is also allowing us to have two sections of preK4 at all campuses except Spring Valley. Um, that program has not completely filled, so we haven't seen a need to add a whole other section there. Um, but we hope that does help us with enrollment to keep our our siblings together on campuses. Just a few things coming up on April 1st this year, we did open enrollment for our prek employees. Um, so far we have 17 enrolled. Um, this upcoming Saturday, um, Ashley Brewster, who also works with preK, she and I will be, um, working, um, with the Junior League of Waco for a preK
106awareness day that they have in the community. Um, we have connected with Huitt Library and getting out the word to families to come see if they do qualify. So, um, Ashley will visit the Huitt Public Library twice for story time to talk to parents and let them know, um, come on to Midway SD and see if you see if you qualify for preK. And then um last but not least, it is that time of year again. On May 7th, we're going to have prek and kinder preview. So it is here again. And a couple last pictures there for you. And what questions do you have? >> Any questions? >> So the uh the the decline in birth rate, do you do you see that as being a challenge for these programs? And >> we do.
107I I am not sure. Um, and we've talked about this how to predict what our 4K class sizes will be this year. I think we'll see see an even larger impact possibly, but yes, we continue to see that. >> Yeah. One of the things after our discussion about Spigville is seeing if I can dig in and find out what the county birth rates have actually been over time because >> that'll probably be a good indicator three years ago, what the birth rate was versus historical >> what the challenges are going to be across the county. So, >> right, >> I'll let you know if I find that data. >> Yes, sir. >> So, >> that'd be great. >> And an email. >> I might email it. Yes. >> Any other questions for Kim? All right.
108Thank you very much. >> Okay. An update to appointment of new Midway ISD trustee. Just wanted to put it out there that the deadline for applications was April 15th and we are fortunate again to get a very nice group of applicants to apply for our open trustee position and we will have a decision made um by the next board meeting. Okay. Consideration items. A we have the consent agenda. We have one, the minutes of the March 24th, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting. Two, early graduation request. Three, new MHS club hiking club. Four, business professionals of America out of state trip. Five, Palm Panther Palm Squad dance team, also an out ofstate trip. Six, food service management company renewal for 2026 2027. Seven, consideration of out of district transfer students for 2026 2027 school year. Eight,
109instructional materials for 2026 2027 school year. Nine, K5 math curriculum adoption. and 10. Consideration and adoption of resolution approving contingent fee legal services contract, including findings needed for submission of contingent fee legal services agreement and request for expedited review by the Texas Attorney General. And 11, consideration and adoption of contingent fee legal services. Does anyone wish to remove any items from the consent agenda? And if you didn't note, I was just going to say 10 and 11, they were on our agenda last month, but we had some wording that wasn't quite correct for the um attorney general. So, we had to put it back on this gin again in a different worded manner. So, that's why you're seeing it again. Nothing has changed. It's just the way we worded it on our agenda. Okay. I
110don't see anyone want to pull an agenda item out. So, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? Items 1 through 11. >> So moved by Mr. Alfred. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> A second by Mr. Barry. Do I have um second? Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Same sign. All right. The consent agenda motion passes. Notice of board member continue education training requirements. I am required to read this out loud in public. The following board members have completed the required training. Brad Alfred and Jonathan Green. The following board members exceeded required hours of training. Susan Vic. The following board members are deficient in the required hours of training. Pam Watts, one hour and Colin Wit, one hour. The following board member
111is sufficient in team building but is a new trustee and will receive team building in the month of June. That is Jordan Barry team building. Completion of the required annual training is an obligation expectation of any board member under state board of education rules. So said if I can offer a word of not excuse but by way of explanation. Um, at our annual convention this past fall, I represented Midway and Region 12 at the TASBY delegate assembly, which historically offers, I believe, around 2 and 1/2 hours of continuing education credit for what's basically a four to five hour participation and uh we were not awarded that credit this year. So happy to be there. I love going to delegate assembly, but I came out of convention not realizing that I spent half a day doing
112something that I didn't get continuing ed credit for and so did not really budget my time accordingly. And so I won't obviously get caught up, but >> there was a kind of a numbers game that that found out. Is that the new pattern? They're not going to award any hours for that. When I was at the uh legislative advisory council meeting in Austin on Saturday, they talked that we we got some updated information about what delegate assembly is going to look like. I believe yes, she did tell me there will be continuing ad credit, but I think it's uh 45 minutes or so. I mean, there there will be some, but not representative of the time that that is committed, but there will be some, which is better than nothing. >> So, I've got you
113beat on that one. I actually stayed to sit through the conversation with Mike Morath to discover that that also did not give any uh credit. >> So, I sat through that and didn't get credit. >> So, our education commissioner does not give us credit for >> it's not valuable. I guess I don't know. >> So, >> I'm going to go on the record and say I'm not going to get caught up in my continuation. >> You're just lucky I didn't read your name out loud. >> I'm okay with it. you you won't lose any sleep. Okay. Um we're now at the consideration of personnel. Um one, deliberate deployment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee. Two, hear a complaint or charge against an officer or an employee. Okay, this
114is getting confused. Three, consideration employee contracts, renewal, proposed non-renewals, and proposed terminations. Um that is our contracts for all the teachers. Correct. So we need to vote to approve that. >> So do I have a motion to approve the professional contracts for 2026 school year? >> Miss Vic, I would like to abstain from that vote due to my wife being on >> that list. So moved. >> Okay, we abstension. And Mr. Barry and we have a motion by Mr. Wit. Do I have a second? >> Second by Mr. Green. So all those in favor say I. I >> any opposed same sign. >> Okay, that motion passes. Okay, now we um the other two items under consideration personnel are consideration of the 2025 2026 performance goals as part two of superintendent evaluation and the superintendent's
115employment contract. We are going to discuss those in close session. But before we do that, I thought we would move the superintendent's communications up to this point. >> Thank you. Um, I really don't have a lot to say this even. I just want to highlight a few things. One, that I have been visiting with elected officials um talking about some of the issues we've been talking about tonight. I've spoken with uh Representative Buckley, Representative um I'm sorry, Senator Campbell. I'll be with Representative Cook, I'm sorry. Yes, Representative Cook Friday. Um, and so we've been working on that. I also want to bring to your attention, you've got this, but I just want to draw your attention to the invitation to the May 9 event celebrating Spigville, the legacy of Spigville Elementary School, and make sure
116that you take a look at that. Um, and um kind of end where we started just saying thank you, Mr. Telus. It's um it means a lot to be able to find people who are willing to volunteer to do this work and so I appreciate it very much. >> Very good. Okay, with that said, I will announce the board will go into close session pursuant to Texas Government Code section 551.074 to discuss the appointment of a new trustee and the superintendent contract at I always get the time wrong at 8:33. P went to the bathroom. >> February 9th. What time is it exactly, please? >> 9:56. >> Okay. >> We are reconvening the public meeting at 9:56 p.m. and no action was taken in close session. We do have some motions to make. I'm going
117to present a motion that we amend the superintendent's contract to extend it by one year and to increase the salary by 2%. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> That's correct. Yeah. Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose. Same sign. Okay. Nobody. the um contract amendment and increase passes. >> Do we need to Sorry, >> I would like to have someone propose an a motion that we accept the superintendent's goals for 2026 as presented. >> So moved. >> Okay. Motion by Mr. Barry. Do I have a second? >> Second by Miss Watts. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Same sign. >> That uh goals passes. All right. Any other further business? >> I wanted if I could take 30
118seconds to make a personal announcement. You all have at your desk a graduation announcement from our daughter Elizabeth who's getting her masters in a couple of weeks. And after that, she is moving back to Waco to be with us. And if you'll note, I'm wearing pink and blue with an emphasis on pink because she is expecting our first granddaughter, >> our first grandchild, period. And it's a little girl. So congratulations. >> We are we were surprised and we are celebrating. So >> congratulations. Congrats. >> Great. >> Thank you. All right. >> Is your grandma name is it? You work. >> My grandma name is going to be Mia which is Spanish for mine. The only people who can call me that will be my grandchildren and hopefully there will be more after this one. So
119>> very good. >> All right. Any other announcements? >> All right. We are adjourned at 9:58. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. Try to get that motion right for you. Come on. >> I'm tired. She'll write it. She'll get it right.