Northwest ISD Board Meeting - April 13, 2026

001Good evening. I call this meeting of the Northwest Independent School District to order at 5:00 PM. Let the record show that a quorum of board members is present and this meeting has been duly called and that notice of the meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551. At this time, we will begin our budget workshop. Good evening board. So, we're going to go through the budget workshop. I do want to preface this by saying I think there's a lot of information here. So, if you have questions, please stop me at any time because I it does build on the next slides on a lot of these. So, let's make sure that we understand and if you have questions. So, the first thing we're going to look at

002here is our budget timeline. This was adopted in our January meeting. As you can see here, um in April, we we said that we were going to bring you the comp plan as well as a budget workshop. The budget workshop was originally scheduled for April 27th. However, these two are now combined. So, we just moved up the workshop because the comp plan is a big piece of this budget. So, first of all, let's look at our 26 27 budget assumptions. I think y'all are used to seeing this every year. What are some of the things that we have to kind of assume when we build a budget? One of them is always property value growth. So looking at property value growth in this district, it was in the high teens, low 20s for a number

003of years last year. I think it was somewhere between 6 to 8%. So we have bumped that down quite a bit just to be safe. We got a 5% growth. I did get preliminary values from Denton and it jumped way up there. But preliminaries I don't trust because those change rapidly. So, um I still think 5% 5% is a um good assumption. Currently, from our end of the year or snapshot data for student enrollment to next year's student enrollment snapshot date, I believe we'll grow about 410 students based on the demographers estimate. Now, if you remember correctly, we were short in our projections for this year by about 350 kids. So, that's about a 60 student increase from the beginning of last year's budget assumptions. attendance projections is around 94%. Um, we actually have a

004little higher attendance. It's usually around 95, but because of some of the preK students and the numbers, we don't get full credit for some of those. So, it's been averaging about 94 when you bring those in. So, I'm using 94 as our attendance projection. And then the the biggest one here, special population increases. This one is the hardest to estimate. And you're going to see this on a slide here in a little bit, but when I talk about special populations, I mean our special ed population, our CTE, our bilingual, our dyslexia, our economically disadvantaged, all of those generate different weights. And so those have been increasing at a lot faster than 5%. We'll see that here in a minute. Our tax collections, how many people are actually going to pay their taxes? Um, luckily in

005this district, we've had very good tax collection rates, usually above 98%, but we always budget kind of at that 98% collection rate. And then a couple other things, voucher impact, no clue what that's going to do yet. The TAD frozen value impact, they are still frozen. Now, this will be the last year and supposedly next year reevaluate. So, that'll be interesting. The new budget templates, some of those are still being kind of massaged. But the last one's the hardest one is the sped weight changes due to severity. Um that is supposed to be we're funded based on the severity of the needs of the special ed students but no one has seen how they're going to weight that how they're going to pay that and what severity those get paid at. So we have no

006information on that. So all of this is based on old law and hopefully we'll see something on that soon. A lot of numbers here um just so I can go through it all. But in the end we're going to come down to that bottom one number. So if you don't hear anything else, remember that bottom number. But looking at the original budget for 2526, when we look at just taxes and just money from the state, we were budgeted about $319 million. Based on that same information, our students, our weights, if nothing else changed and there was no Vader, I would say our amended budget would be around 322 million. So if all things were equal, we would have gained about 2.8 8 million in revenue. However, we did pass a Vader. With the passage of

007the Vader, that increased that number to about 344 million. So, the amended budget for this year would be about $19.4 million higher than we originally budgeted last year. 16 of that's due to Vader. 2.8 of that is due to just changes throughout the year. I always use this number. I asked Dr. FA if I get within about 3% accuracy on my budget, is he happy? Because that's a 97% passage rate. I think that's a good number. But he says no because I'd be off about 10 or 11 million. So, um, he says that's too big of a number. So, looking at the 2627 budget, we always go back to the original budget that we adopted because that's what we're changing from, right? So originally the budget for 2526 was 319 million between taxes and state

008funding. Looking at that number with our growth and special population so the 410 students and the special populations that number would increase to 327 million about 8 million but again you have to put the new Vader dollars coming in as part of that. The Vader will generate because of the increase in property values and the Vader about 17 million in additional funding for next year. So from original budget last year to the current revenue that we're projecting, that's a $25 million increase, but 17 million of that is due to the Vader election that passed. That's a lot of numbers, but I wanted to make sure we understood how that all worked. Right now 25 million is what we would be increasing the budget from last year. Okay. So budget priorities, we've not changed these in

009the last three years. Our budget priorities is number one to protect student programs, maximize compensation for staff, and of course protect fund balance. All three of these were Vader commitments, especially the first two. Those were led out. I would argue that protecting fund balance was also that because we did not want to have to adapt deficit budgets unless needed. So protecting student programs, the big things we're going to talk about is our growth budget which includes our studenttoteer ratio, the the rapid growth in our special populations and then of course our needs that we call second staffing. These are needs above and beyond the matrix that we need for staffing. And then the next one is maximizing compensation which includes the max raise for all staff. We want to look at some of our sped

010stipens as well as our benefit package. So when we say protect student programs, which is that first budget priority, I want to make sure that we understand kind of what our goal is, and that is continue to offer all of our programs at the current funding and high standards that we have here at Northwest ISD, which includes curriculum, athletics, fine arts, and our high need special needs population. So this includes the studenttoteer ratio on all these programs. To maintain that, we have to maintain those ratios. In February, the board approved our growth budget and our ratio adjustments. If you remember, changing that ratio in elementary and secondary, as well as bringing back the fine arts staffing, some of it, not all of it, but some of it that we had to to reduce the previous

011year. And then, of course, the biggest factor in all of that was maintaining our current staffing programs. The board approved $8.7 million, almost 8.8 in February for this reason. Our original Vader commitment for this category was $8 million. So, we did hit that and exceed that already. I'm going to continue to grow to this slide, but if you remember, our our budget was 25 million in additional revenue. Here is the 8.7 million that's already been approved in growth and ratio adjustments. So, let's talk about our special populations. If you look at our enrollment since 2019, our special our general enrollment has increased 33%. That is one of the reasons we are one of the fastest growing districts in the state of Texas. But it gets way more interesting than that. If you look at our

012special ed population in that same time period, it has increased 136%. If you look at our emerging bilingual 216%, dyslexia 138, economically disadvantaged 78 and our CTE has increased 128%. The reason these things are important is we went back to the structure that we talked about that we had to reduce, right? Our structural deficit that we had before. A lot of that is because we were funding our doing our staffing based on those current levels of funding that didn't change over six years. But what has changed our population with that? That means we have a lot more special needs that we have to fulfill. A special needs classroom requires more teachers and paras than a general ed classroom. So that staffing model, some of those resources have to be redirected. The same thing with emergent

013bilingual dyslexia and some of those special populations. So that was one of the reasons we had to restructure some of the design of how we staffed. There's a lot of information here and you're going to see this again in our um compensation presentation later with Kim. I want you to remember that number of 2.5. Some of the categories we combined in her comp in her presentation where I broke them out here. So it may look a little bit different on the categories, but the total number of 2.5 is the same. So looking at our second staffing, the first one is special ed needs. We went back and looked at some of these classrooms and there was still a lot of special ed needs that we needed to fulfill. That's about a 1.2 almost $1.3 million

014ad in second staffing that we're requesting today. Comped ecodis about 196,000. The teacher residency program is a new program somewhat led by state mandate. I don't remember the number. I guarantee Miss Barker over there would remember it, but it's with our partnership with North Texas on some of the student teachers and how we have a residency program for those teachers coming in. That cost would be about 144,000 for the upcoming year. Emergent bilingual 156,000 CTE 158,000 and then this next one says support all the above. What that means is these special pops other than teacher residency. There's a few positions that are going to support those needs, but not in that specific level. They may be supporting all of them. And then the last one, of course, is just operations. These could be in facilities,

015they could be at admin, but there's about 390 in operational funding that we added for the current year. That's a lot of information. I want to make sure if you have any questions. Yes, ma'am. I will repeat the question. Uh the question was did any of the funding change the revenue side generated from these special pops and as of this time the answer is no. There has been no more funding changes other than in special ed which we have no idea what it's going to look like. They're going to base that funding based on the severity of the needs of the students. We have not seen how that's going to be funded at all. The state has said some districts will be winners. When they mean that, they mean more money and some will be

016losers. So, I do not know where we will end up in that. Um, but I always try to lean towards being I hate to say this, being towards a loser in that category just to be safe. The other thing about this I think is so important is when we talk about the Vader and what we promised or committed to our our constituents was that we were going to maintain these programs in lower ratios. The four highlighted here would all fall into that category of maintaining that commitment. Special ed maintaining that commitment of that program at a high level as well as keeping that studenttoteer ratio as good as we can for those students. Same thing with ecodis, emergent bilingual, and of course CT. As we're continuing to grow those programs, keep that ratio. You're going

017to need to add teachers to keep that ratio. This is also important. One of the things that we've done for the last three years is the listening sessions. In these listening sessions, we have heard a lot of things and we go back in and review all of these top topics, as I'm calling them. Um, I think you're going to see some more presentations on all the things that we got out of the listing sessions, but some of the biggest ones were special ed, the special eds needs, we need more behavior support, all of the things. Same thing with emergent bilingual and comped. And we also heard a lot of support. Um, some of these might be even at the elementary level, whether it be some aids in some of the special classrooms or PE, those

018kind of things. So, a lot of that is what those are when we start talking about listening sessions. So, we really tried to hit what we promised in the commitments on the Vader and what we heard in listening sessions from our staff. If you look at this, the 25 million, you have the growth budget that's already been approved, the second staffing of 2.5, and then there's this employer portion, what I'm calling taxes or TRS. Um, when we originally presented the growth budget, I wanted to make sure that we had all of the things covered for taxes and TRS. So, I wanted you to actually be able to see that number of what it costs for both growth budget and second staffing for benefits. And when I say benefits, really the employer paid portion of taxes,

019uh, your FICA, your TRS, those kind of contributions that we have to pay. That equates to a total of 12.3 million in those two categories with the taxes and TRS. That leaves 12.7 remaining dollars. So that was priority one. So now we go to priority two. Um priority two would be maximizing compensation for staff. The first bullet is we wanted to make provide the largest race possible of course within our budgetary constraints. The second one is super important. We wanted to beat the market for paras. We are paras are one of the hardest jobs we have in this district and it's one of the hardest to fill and keep. So we wanted to be very competitive in this and try to beat the market for Paris. We also had some areas where market adjustments were

020needed. What we did was we compared this with other ISDs and wanted to remain competitive where we weren't competitive as well as look at some of the pay categories of individuals that were in groups that did not receive the teacher retention aotment. So teachers received that a lotment. There are some other groups that didn't get to receive that. So we wanted to look at those groups as well and make sure we're staying competitive in those areas. Stipens for special ed is a big need. Districts around us have been doing this and we are kind of a little bit late to the game possibly here and we wanted to be very competitive especially in those hard to need or hard to fill and and hard need positions. And then the last one is benefit ideas. What

021could we do that would be most advantageous for all employees in our district? So just a little reminder here's our compensation since 201718 what we've done and you can see that we've been very very very aggressive we've given raises every year if you remember a lot of districts around us have not the other one I want to point out is you can even see even in the tough years of 20 2021 and 2122 we were still able to give one or one and a half% raise if you look at 2425 that we gave a 2% raise the average the teacher average was a little over 3% if you remember That was the year we did market adjustments for teachers. So some teachers saw upwards of five 6%. No one saw less than two but the

022average was around three. So we did that in 2425. 2526 TR was announced by the legislature. We gave a 4% for all staff but teachers received between 8 and 9% when you add the TRA as part of their salary. So you can see that we've been very aggressive and we're going to continue to try to be aggressive. I will say 2019 2020 you can see all the different deals that we did there and how difficult that was. I hope if you remember that it's going to be kind of like that this year by trying to make a lot of these adjustments. So we did a lot of work here and I think it's um it's it's going to be really good. So here's some of the things we're looking at compensation increases. We want to

023give a 2% minimum on actual pay. So this is actual we always talk about whether it's on midpoint or actual. Everything we're presenting today is on actual not midpoint. So we want to give a compensation increase of 2% to every single staff member as a minimum. However, you can see below it teachers would be at that 2% which would be about $2.9 million. Now paras 5%. We want to beat market and so we're going to be aggressive with the paras and we want to put that at 5%. The one little anomaly there would be the bus drivers. You see it says two plus percent. Bus drivers will see approximately a 2.5% increase on their annualized hourly salary. However, due to some uh requests at the transportation department, they want to change their calendar and move

024some days back so they don't have to work as many days. Well, if you take those days out and give them a 2 and a half% rate, their hourly rate's actually going to jump up to 4.7 or 4.8%. So, they're going to be right at that 5% like the other pairs as well. And then the remaining staff, that's everybody that's not a PAR and not a teacher, they would also get the 2% minimum raise. You'll also see there's a market adjustment. There are a number of categories in which we did try to be competitive. Like I said, the ones that didn't receive the TRA and some of those other ones that were just out of market as compared to districts around us, that total cost would be about 86,000. So all of those compensation increases

025equate to about 6.6 million, just under. That also does include the TRS portion employer played and the taxes. So we did equate it in on this number. Again, going back to what were some of the things we committed into the VATRE, if you remember correctly, we said we were going to take four million of it and do it towards compensation, market adjustments, future raises, and remaining competitive within our area. That's exactly what this is. It's also exactly what we hear is one of the listening topics, hot sessions. Everybody wants more money. So, no matter what listening session we went to, this was very important. I will say one of the highlights here that even when we were in the listening sessions whether it be teachers or principles it didn't matter one of the biggest needs

026was what can we do for parap pay so that's another reason we really went aggressive on the parap pay and tried to get it closer to 5%. Other compensation ideas um that we wanted to look at or recommendations was our special ed teacher stipens. So, what we're suggesting or presenting here is a non-unit pair would receive a $1,500 stipen. Currently, they do not receive a stipen. So, we would be giving them a $1,500 stipen as a non-unit sped teacher. The unit teachers currently receive a $2,000 stipen. We would like to increase that $1,000 to make it 3,000. So, that would be a total of unit pairs getting 3,000, non-units getting 1,500. districts around us are doing somewhere between four, five, I've even seen one do six for these same type of stipens. So, I think

027we're a little late to the game in this one, but we're trying to get back in there and be competitive. The next one is benefits. One of the things that's hard right now is benefits. It's hard to chase the premium. It's it's becoming impossible whether you're in school business or in the private sector. So, we're trying to look at some other options. So, one of the things we're looking at is a program that would benefit all staff, not just those that take the TRS that would actually help them in needs with their insurance and will be for all employees. We're going to look a lot more at this program in a later session, but I did want to put that cost that placeholder here as a benefit option. Whenever you do get to the compensation

028approval later on, that number is not in the compensation plan. Everything else that we talked about is that's just a placeholder so you can see it. But we're really looking at this and really excited to show this to you. >> Jonathan, I was just going to add um this consideration of a no employee cost benefits program is something that Jonathan's going to present at our next board meeting. So, it's something the board would approve in the budget um in June when we present the budget. But we really want you to see the different options that are available for all employees, not just the ones that are on the TRS uh insurance. So, more news at 11 on that particular piece. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Those two um compensation recommendations are about 1.2 million. Again,

029Vader commitments. We talked about compensation, how we wanted to be aggressive. Guess what else? We heard it in staff listening sessions. Everything talks about taking care of our sped staff as well as everybody talks about our benefits and how can we increase that. So both of these were hot topics. Well, here comes our running total. You can see the only thing I added on this one was the other compensations which was 1.176. Now we're at $20 million. Leaves right at $5 million. So last couple things to talk about here is one our ABM contract change. If you remember correctly, when we did the reductions, we changed our ABM contract to where we did not have them pick up our trash and they only cleaned every other day. We added that back after the Vader passed

030in this current cycle, but we have to add it back into the next budget as well. We were able to negotiate that down from 2 million to about 1.6. So adding that back is going to cost us $1.6 million. the new campus additions. When I talk about that, this doesn't include staffing or anything like that. This is your cost to open that building. Water, electricity, sewer, phone, the utilities, those kind of things are in this for the three n three new campuses we're opening next year. Hicks, ROR, and Barksdale. So, we had to add those new campus operational costs. So, the two of those together are about $3 million. This was a super hot session in our listening sessions and crazy enough we actually heard it a lot in our Vader presentations where where um

031non- staff so parents and constituents were also bringing this up and complaining that they thought that we weren't being as clean. So be definitely both hot topics that we added back. Here we go back to the running total. You add the 3 million for the non-payroll increases. That total is 23 million. That leaves about $2 million. Y'all didn't think I could spend money that fast, did you? So, looking here, I want to go back to our Vader commitments. Our original Vader commitment for ratios and maintaining our current programs was $8 million. If you look at what we just presented, we did that plus some. We did 12.4 4 million in those program maintaining and ratio adjustments. So that's a difference of about $4 million to the good that we went above and beyond our original

032commitment. On the compensation, we committed $4 million for current raises and market adjustments and being competitive. Here we've done 6.5 in the presentation we just showed. That's about 2.5 million more than our original commitment. You add those all together, our original Vader commitment was 12 million. Right now in this budget, it would be about 18.9. So we'd be 6.9 above where we committed. And then the last one, I wanted you to see the Vader totals. We're getting 17 million invader and we're spending 18.9 in the categories that we promised that we would spin it in. So you can see we're in excess of that 17 million by 1.879. So being that the revenue came in higher, we put that same money towards those things that we talked about in the VATRE. And then priority three,

033protect our fund balance. We prefer to be at four months or 33% of operating expenses. As you see here, this is for the last few years where we have been in between 24 and 25. You can see we added over $4 million into fund balance, but you can see my percentage still went down 1.1%. Because as our budget grows, the required amount in fund balance needs to grow and it didn't grow as much as our budget grew. So again, need to continue to keep that very competitive in where we are. We prefer to be about four and a half months of operating. You can see here we're right at four months. Um going next year, I do expect that we'll put some money in a fund balance this year because the Vader passed. Uh, but

034going forward, we would probably continue to have a very tight line on that. Now that I've probably given you more information than you wanted, are there any questions on our budget or did I miss anything? Oh, yes, sir. So, one of the things is we are super early compared to usual um with regards to this level. Usually, we're just about compensation, maybe second staffing for a couple reasons. The first one is the market's hot right now. People are moving and shaking and we got to hire some of these high need positions, especially in special ed. Those are hard to fill. We got to get those posted, but we also need to be able to pay tell people what we're going to pay them. So, that's one of the big things that we're really trying to

035be aggressive on. As well as Dr. FA has made it a priority to us that he would love our salary letters to go out prior to people leaving off contract. That's a very difficult deal by getting all this information into the system by every single employee. So, we've had to push the timelines up pretty quick. That way, we can ensure that everybody gets a salary letter so they know exactly how their salary changed before they leave on summer break. So those priorities make this budget a lot quicker and a lot more um I would say this 95 to 98% of the budget would be pretty much complete with just the little things that we have to work out coming like what's our property values going to be which I say is a little thing but

036um we don't know that until August or till July 25th anyways. >> Yes sir. Jonathan, I have a question and this is mainly goes back to Steve, one of his s favorite subjects and Kelly back there at the back is we have had an effort to increase the number of students in CTE programs because we get more money back from Austin on that. So, what kind of efforts are we pursuing uh to increase those numbers? Because I know we have been they've done a great job on that. >> If I misquote, I'm sure Miss Henderson can can fix me. But one of the things that I would say is over 80% of our students are involved in CTE, which is higher than anybody around us. And I know our revenue has increased. If I remember

037correctly, it was only in the 18 millions a couple years ago. Now it's 25 million in revenue. So, she has done a great job of maximizing that along with our new programs we're offering at the new high school as well as at Northwest. But I bet she has a better answer than me. So, our staffing request this year is a really good reflection of this. So, we need a Byron Nelson business teacher. Um, the need for this teacher is not just because we have more students. Not only do we have more kids enrolling in business, we are retaining more. So, we went from a 48% retainment to a 72%. And the reason why that is so powerful is because they are getting into those upper level courses that yield more return. So um by adding

038this one business teacher, we will be able to service 150 more business kids. Um so that comes from intentional master scheduling, that comes from really great teachers that kids want to stay with. And that comes from giving the opportunity and making sure that we have those senior level courses truly planned for so that we can have the double block practicums in our schedules and just supporting those opportunities that we say we have for kids. So that's just one one of many examples. >> I have a question. >> I told you she would have a better answer than me. Can you go back to the Vader slide? >> So the the Vader did generate this 17 million. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And but we're spending 18. So the other amount will just come out of our

039>> normal what I would call growth, other revenues, all of those things. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. And uh then on the um the next slide on the the um fund balance. What is your projection for 2026? >> Oh, you wouldn't try to put me on the spot, would you? It's hard for a couple reasons. One, our our number of original enrollment of students, we missed by 350 students. So, there is a there's a negative there. However, our special populations are higher than we originally projected. So, what's that balance and what's that offset? super hard to know that as well as some of our property values still coming in because of the later some people are paying a little later. It's hard for me to tell just yet. As you'll see in our financial report tonight,

040we are trending very well and I expect to be trending very well when we generated another 16 million in revenue. Our expenses are trending very well. I don't want to promise something. I can't guarantee, but I I I do believe it will be close to double digits in millions this year. I could be overstating it a touch, but it's going to be um it's going to be a most we've put in in a long time, but because of a one-time Vader increase that we're using in the second year, >> but we it looks like we would definitely be within that four months. >> Yes, ma'am. five months from >> we will not get to four and a half months but we will be above four months. >> Okay. >> So I think we're still staying

041in that pretty good spot but we're being aggressive with the compensation with our staffing because of that Vader and we want to make sure that we we can stay within that four month to four and a half month window. I did want to add um Miss Hatfield that we because we came in short 300 and something students were technically overstaffed this school year. Um we and it was earlier grades or a lot of that was at the elementary. Um so when we talk about staffing standards and we adjusted those ratios and added teachers back. There were campuses that would have lost four, five, six or seven because they didn't hit their enrollment projections. Uh instead they lost two. And when we say lose, they just get transferred to another campus. But um so that's something

042that we've experienced that people aren't used to in Northwest. And we we have to articulate that out loud that we didn't hit that number. This is the first time in a long time that we came up several hundred short. So the other offset is thank you uh community for voting for Prop A because that 16 million will be offset somewhat by the loss of revenue 3 to four million in students that we didn't we won't be funded on. So there's and then the weights and then the intensity of services for special ed. There are some unknowns for this cycle that we'll get very late in the game after after the game's played. We'll find out what the rules were. Deian remembers our near final doesn't come to September after the year previous. So that's near

043final. That's not even final. So it's we don't even find out till October, November after the year is over. >> Hey Jonathan, uh actually yeah, stay on this slide and you you might have mentioned it and I apologize if it went over over my head, but you you said that I think the slide previous the goal is four months of fund balance. is what's the state requirement and what's the the district's goal? >> The the is it one of the >> to maintain a good financial rating, you must have at least three months or the 25%. That's why we have that on there. Um that is it affects your bond ratings. It affects your first rating, all of those things. It also can be very difficult in cash flow, especially for districts that don't receive

044a lot from money from the state because of the way they fund us. So there's also a cash flow operation side that you want to be above that 25% especially if the state doesn't give much funding. >> But the four to they always used to say 3 to six months. So we've always tried to stay between that four four and a half months to be competitive as well as you never know if the bond doesn't pass in the future because of tougher requirements or something like that. You may have to go into this to pay for some of those things like air conditioner repairs and so forth. So having a fund balance, especially with the current political climate, is super important because I'm really worried with the way the political landscape is looking right now

045that they're going to try to push where school districts can't pass bonds. >> If we don't pass bonds, you can't repair air conditioners and all those kind of things. >> That's also, you know, obviously what city council uh we're getting ready to vote on city council with the with the two-lane farm roads and that's going to be an issue as well. So how do how does the city of Fort Worth pass future bonds going forward? But anyway, let's let's pause on this slide. Go back to the running total. I think um the one the last one that had Yes. So that 1.9 and again I apologize if you said something at the bottom the remaining dollars 1.9 million. What's the plan for that? >> We still got a lot of things we got to look

046through. So you've got more kids, you've got higher supply budgets, you've got software that's based on number of students, whether it be our um what we call our student information system, whether it be some of the programs that they use in CNI. I always get the names wrong, but an edugent or any of these other programs that they have to do is based on number of students. So, we still have a lot of non-payroll things like that are part of contract that we have to look at. Um, so, so there's still a lot of things like that. Insurance, property insurance, we're going out for bid here pretty quick. I don't know what it's going to come in at. So, I need a little bit of wiggle room for those kind of increases. Just normal operations.

047My hope is they're saying the insurance market is actually competitive this year. Maybe a chance for a decrease. Fingers crossed, but we're growing three new buildings and square footage. So, I don't know about that. So, there's lots of factors in that that I just think that we still need some to work through it. As we continue to go into the next budget workshop and we get closer to June, probably in May, we can come back and have a better number solidified on a lot of these things >> for the 2 million. >> Okay. So, that I guess that answers the question. There's still more discussions to be had on other things. >> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. >> We're not getting to the end yet. So, Okay. So in that case, I will hold my future

048questions for future meetings. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> I am curious. One almost 1.3 million into our special ed. Talk to me about that. What does that look like? Because we we're trying to be intentional about that. I can see that. So what does that mean? I'm going to have Micah, if she's here, she's going to be able to describe them all off the top of her head way better than me because that's a lot. And you also know we had some in our growth staffing because we put that as part of the teacher side knowing how many we're going to need, but this is for above and beyond that. So, I'm going to let her speak to it. >> Yes. So, this is Good evening. This is for uh things such as occupational

049therapist. uh there are some teachers and some pair professionals in some of our units where we have really high numbers of students with significant needs and we need to be staffed with more adults supervision in those classrooms. So at some of those uh there's a teacher of the visually impaired. Our numbers of students with vision impairments has increased greatly. So we need another one of those um positions like those kind of positions. School psychologist evaluation staff. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I I have a full list if you'd like me to provide that. >> Oh, thank you. >> Yeah. >> No, later we'd be fine. That Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Thank you. >> Are there any other questions from the board? Okay, I think we're good. >> Thank you very much. >> You're

050welcome. Just go to close session. >> Okay. Um, do we have to move out of the budget workshop or just move to close session? Okay, just want to make sure. Okay, so now at this time, the board will convene in close session pursuant to Texas government code, chapter 551, including sections 551.071, consultation with the board's attorney, and 551.072, real estate matters, 551.074 personnel matters, and 551.076 security devices or security audits. It's 5:38 p.m. I got a bear. Thank you. They did a great job. Let's do I'll do both. Yes. Good evening everyone. will reconvene our regular meeting now at 6:34 p.m. We will move to the invocation and the pledge of allegiance. >> I'm going to invite you guys to join me in a word of prayer. If you wouldn't mind, uh, please stand. And

051if you'd like, I'm just going to bound pray and you can join me. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for this day. Lord, we thank you for the many blessings that you've showered upon our students, our staff, our community, and our school district. Lord, we ask for your continued uh protection, that hedge of protection that you offer us. Lord, this evening, we pray for godly wisdom for our board of trustees as they conduct their work in the presence of our community. We pray for continued safety o for our students and our staff as we finish this school year. These things we pray in the Lord's name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Thank you guys. And I'll ask you to help me welcome some special guests. If you guys want to come on down, I'll

052I'll introduce you. Um, we're going to do the pledges of allegiance next, but we have a special treat uh this evening. Uh, a group of students from uh Eaton High School who are also American Sign Language um experts. Uh they're an American ASL 2, three, and four are going to help us with the pledges. And so, you're going to hear the pledge and we'll say the pledge. You're also going to see the pledge. And before we get started, um Annayia Mulam is with us, a 10th grader from Eaton. Adriana Santiago is an 11th grader from Eaton. Ariana Porterfield is with us as well, another 10th grader from Eaton. Uh Khloe Wright is a 12th grader from Eaton High School. And Leah Waterman uh are going to be our interpreters this evening. So you have the

053floor. >> Ready? 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. Now for the Texas flag. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. >> Awesome. Thank you guys. If y'all would hang by the podium for just one second, our board president, Miss Murphy, is going to bring you an appreciation. The rest of you, please be seated. And we'll get started with our recognitions in just a minute. But in the meantime, could we please give these ladies a round of applause for doing a great job here? Good evening, President Murphy, Dr. fast. Members of the board, tonight we have a lot of recognitions. It's

054the end of the school year, so we have a packed audience, which is a great thing. And I'm actually going to turn it over to Joel Johnson for our first recognition, which is our most recent undefeated middle school team. >> Thank you, Anthony. Good evening, Dr. FA, President Murphy, members of the board. Like Anthony said, tonight we get to uh recognize our first middle school group of the year. So tonight we have with us the eighth grade girls basketball team from Worthington Middle School. And I'll get them up here first and then say a few things about them. But we'll start with Coach Stit, Coach Osmer, Kaylee Hine, Brie Mitchell, Kylie Jackson, Kimora Steel, Jalia Booker, Harper Nickel and Casey Hulie. So, as most of you know, Worthington's been this is the third year for

055Worthington Middle School. And uh it only took three short years to get our first eighth grade girls basketball team undefeated. Um a few things about this team. Um other than being undefeated, they won the North Texas Middle School Madness Tournament. Um they defeated Argyle this year and Argyle had not lost a game in two years. They beat them. Their average margin of victory in district was uh 30 points per game and their average margin of victory throughout the course of the season was 24 points per game. And they averaged um only giving up 13.5 points per game for the season. So, uh, congratulations girls. Um, fantastic, uh, team here. I know they're all going to be a little bit scattered next year. Sounds like when they get into ninth grade, some going to somemies and

056some going to eaten. So, um, but you, we appreciate everything you did this year. A phenomenal year, phenomenal season, and look forward to watching you next year as you enter high school. And thanks for being here tonight. So, congratulations. Open. So, we'll continue our recognitions tonight, if you look to my right, with a very large group that's continuing to prepare for future success because this year we have 39, excuse me, Northwest ISTD seniors who have earned their certification in cosmetology from the state. So that number marks the most in Northwest ISD history for a graduating class. And in addition to the 39, 18 also earned their barbering license. So they're double certified which is incredibly impressive. And cosmetology is our only academy program as you all know where you can remain at your home campus,

057your home high school. So we have students from across the district who are being recognized tonight in terms of our high schools. So, our students historically outperform the state average in terms of adults earning their license, and that's no exception this year. They outperform that rate. And to hear about these students and what their future plans are, I'm going to have each of them introduce themselves. Hello, my name is Alicandra Heisen and I plan on being an independent hair stylist and also work on Runway Models as well. >> Hi, my name is Skyler Goodell and my plan is to be a independent nail tech and work and build my own salon. Hello, my name is JC Goodell and I plan on entering the workforce with cosmetology and barbering. >> Hi, my name is Bella Strunk.

058I plan to enter the workforce as a barber whilst in college studying biology. Hi, I'm Delila Ortega and I plan on continuing my education at TCC and joining the workforce as a cosmetologist and barber. >> Hi, my name is Giana Perez and I plan on entering the workforce as a cosmetologist and aesthetician. Hi, my name is Kayla Croft and I plan on entering the workforce as a cosmetologist while also getting my real estate license. Hi, my name is Maddie Kim and I plan to further my education at Texas Tech while also entering the workforce as a cosmetologist. >> My name is Ashley Hernandez Germaldo. I plan on entering the workforce while attending TCC. My name is Bersca Germaldo. I plan on joining the workforce as a hair stylist and working my way to owning my

059own salon. >> Hi, my name is Gura Bach. I plan on entering the workforce as a cosmetologist and while attending TCC. Hi, my name is Wendy Greenhaw. plan to attend uh TCC while also having my cosmetology license. >> Hi, my name is Sydney Anderson and I plan to enter the workforce as a cosmetology while studying dermatology. >> Hi, my name is Christine and I plan into going into nursing aesthetics. Hi, my name is Yaslyn and I plan on Oh my gosh. I plan on attending nursing school and entering the workforce as a cosmetologist. >> Hi, my name is Molina Wana and I plan to go to the Air Force. >> Hi, my name is Madison Lawrence. I plan to attend the University of Missou while entering the workforce as a barber and cosmetologist. Hi, my

060name is Talia. I plan to attend TCC for radiology while also continuing my career in barbering and cosmetology. Hi, my name is Chloe Gelber and I plan to go to TCC and further my education in film makeup artist. Hi, I'm Alexis Han and I plan on continuing my career in cosmetology as a hair stylist. Hi, I'm Malli Xavier. I plan on continuing my career in cosmetology while becoming a nurse. >> I'm Isa Foco and I plan on entering the workforce as a cosmetologist. >> I'm Brley Bigourse and I plan to enter the workforce as a cosmetologist. >> Hi, I'm Jasmine Gomez and I plan to join the Navy. Hi, I'm Brenn Sander and I plan to continue my career at Mutton Salon. Hi, I'm Savannah Olds and I plan to go to while working in

061cosmetology. >> Hi, I'm Kayyn White and I plan to go to while continuing cosmetology. Hi, I'm Reagan and I'm planning to be an extension specialist. Hi, my name is Kaylin Van Beerren and I I am studying to be a nurse and also continue my education in cosmetology and barber. Yeah. Yeah, really good. All right. Wilson. >> All right, for our next recognition, we have a a unique one, and I want to make sure I stick to the script on this one because it's uh I don't want to get anything wrong. So earlier this year, a student in a PE class lost consciousness and lost consciousness, excuse me, and had no pulse, which was discovered after the nurse assessed the student. So several of the staff members at Wilson Middle School saved the life life of

062the student who was in medical distress. The nurse and staff members administered CPR and used the AED or automated electronic defibrill's heart. Other staff members cleared the area and brought EMS personnel to the location. After analyzing the data from the AED, the actions of the staff, including CPR and the AED, quite literally saved her life. So, we're happy to report the student has fully recovered thanks to the effort of these staff members. So, being honored tonight for their efforts to save the student are nurse Rebecca Tarvin, Coach Elijah Chrisman, Coach Adam Murray, Councelor Jennifer Stinson, And we also have Wilson principal Tim Barubi here this evening. One, two, Next, we're recognizing three of our schools and the their counseling staff that recently earned the top counseling department award in the state. The Crest Award stands

063for the counselors reinforcing excellence for students in Texas. Each year, the Texas School Counselor Association Association names counseling departments from across the state who earn this prestigious award. Earning the award is a recognition that a school's counseling program is adhering to best practices, supporting student needs, continuously improving, and obtaining positive outcomes for students. School counseling departments submit multi-part submissions to show how they are meeting student needs and implementing best practices. From there, a committee of school counselors from across the state evaluates the hundreds of nominations. So this year, three Northwest ISD schools earned the honor. Hughes Elementary School, Pike Middle School, and Wilson Middle School. So we'll go one by one and then we'll take a group photo at the end. So from Hughes Elementary School, we have counselor Shelby Russell who is now our

064district-wide counseling coordinator. From Pike Middle School, we have counselors Adam Aldridge, Terry Evans, and Whitney Martin. And finally from Wilsonville Middle School, we have counselors Mike Hayes, Laney Johnson, and Jennifer Stinson. And for our final recognition before we get into new leadership introductions, we are recognizing our top volunteer for the month of March. So, as you all know, we're incredibly fortunate to have tremendous support from our community, and that includes volunteers who help out at our campuses daily. Throughout March, this individual provided 70 hours of her own time to her campus, assisting with a variety of activities, which just like anyone who works here, could vary by day, but she definitely worked quite a bit. Principal Amy Lawson said of Lance to of Lance Thompson Elementary School said of this individual, "She is always willing

065to help. Anastasia is up here for anything we need her to do. She is a positive light on our campus and we appreciate everything she does for Lance." So for her support of Lance Thompson Elementary School, our March volunteer of the month is Anastasia Hegman. All right. One, two, three. So, next we'll hear introductions from our new campus and department leaders. And first, I'll turn it over to our inaugural principal of Davis High School, Dr. Ron Meyers. He's returning to Northwest ISD after serving as a professor at TCU where he led educational leadership classes. And obviously, we all know prior to that, he was principal of Byron Nelson High School. >> Good evening, President Murphy, members of the board, Dr. FA, thank you so much uh for the opportunity to return to Northwest ISD uh

066and to serve as principal of Davis High School. It truly means a great deal to me to be back and I'm honored to join this community in a role that allows me to support students, partner with caregivers, and work alongside educators who are deeply committed to helping every student succeed. I'm grateful for the chance to return to public education. I love it. And while I have valued the experiences I've had over the past four years in a different role, I have been reminded that my heart remains in public schools and and in the relationships that make them special. Being part of a school community and contributing to the growth of students and staff alike is is work that continues to inspire and energize me. Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of meeting with Dr.

067and Simpson who shared stories about her parents and the work they did to invest in their community. Their generosity, vision, and belief in the power of education were both meaningful and motivating as we continue continue building Davis High School. And I did see some future Davis students here. I think that we're going to get them back. I think some that basketball team's coming back. As we continue building Davis High School as a community centered campus, we will carry forward that same spirit, one rooted in hard work, learning, and a belief in people. Together, we'll help our students see the incredible potential within themselves and others. And even more importantly, we will encourage them to take thoughtful, purposeful steps to turn that potential into action. I'm excited for what lies ahead and thankful to you for

068the opportunity to be on this journey with you all. Thank you so much. >> Next, you'll hear from someone who's been on our campus for a little bit. Trisha Lucenhouse, the new principal of Northwest High School, who was previously acting principal. Prior to that, she was principal of Barksdale Middle School, which she prepared for its opening this August. And the Northwest High School feeder, Pike Middle School. We had so much fun the other night. I wanted to come back and get on the mic again. So, thank you. This one will be much shorter. I promise. There's only one of me. But I would like to sincerely thank the school board for the opportunity to lead at Northwest High School, a place that has meant so much to my family and has been home to all

069three of my boys and my husband at one point. Two. It is truly an honor to continue to serve a community that has given so much and I'm incre incredibly grateful for your trust and support. I am proud to lead Texan Nation as we work to move from good to great, building on the strong traditions that already exist while also challenging ourselves to grow, innovate, and take Northwest to the next level. Thank you to the entire Texan community, my Pike family, my Barkstdale family, my Northwest family for the warm welcome and for embracing me so so fully. I look forward to working alongside all of our students and staff and families as we strive for excellence in everything we do. Now, it's time to get to work. Texans, the foundation is strong, the vision is

070clear, and the future of Northwest has never been brighter. Thank you. Next up, you'll hear from Natalie Childris, our next executive director of student support services. She currently serves as principal of Warthingington Middle School and previously served as principal of Wilson Middle School. Good evening. I wanted to share a a common connection that it was almost 20 years ago that I received a telephone call from a Mr. Kyle Cop uh offering me a job at Northwest High School. And so I accepted with enthusiasm in 2007. And for the past 20 years, I've had the privilege of serving students in Northwest ISD as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, associate principal, and as a campus principal. And all four of my children have gone through the district. I share this history to affirm Northwest ISD's strategic

071goals of recruitment and retention and to express my gratitude at the professional learning opportunities that this this district has given me over the past two decades. I look forward to supporting the amazing team that uh bring makes up the student services department as their work impacts each and every one of our school communities from prek all the way through graduation and beyond. I likewise I look forward to serving under the board's leadership and the direction of Dr. FA. Thank you for your confidence and support as we continue to provide access to success for each and every one of our students. Thank you. For our final new leadership introduction, you'll hear from Chris Kelly, who was recently promoted to executive director of special education. And if you all don't visit Facebook groups or anything like that,

072I can tell you there are Facebook groups for special education populations where they say, "What district should I move to?" And they always say, "Northwest ISTD." We have a great reputation, so she'll, I'm sure, uphold that going forward. Thank you, Anthony. Good evening, Dr. Faustst, President Murphy, and our amazing board. I thank you for having me here this evening. Um, I thank you for the opportunity to step into this role for the upcoming school year. What drew me to Northwest in 2007 and what has kept me here almost two decades is that belief that kids come first. That is a core belief for myself and what has drawn me to this work and the work of my team. During my time here at Northwest, I've held several different positions from Jenna, teacher to special ed

073to coach to assistant principal, coordinator, now director. And during all of that time, each role has given me the perspective on how we can best support students, our staff, our families, those key stakeholders, and it helps us equip our staff to make sure we ensure we're supporting our students. Our focus has been under our great leadership with Micah and will continue to be building strong systems and strong teams, ensuring we are not just compliant but collaborative and student centered while creating a culture where educators feel supported and our families feel heard, which is our utmost importance. I'm proud to be part of a district that prioritizes doing what's right for kids and I look forward doing our work together. Thank you again for this opportunity to serve Northwest, our staff, students, and our families. >>

074And that concludes our recognitions. >> Thank you, Anthony. Okay, we'll move to item seven, which is public testimony, public comment on agenda and a non agenda items. And there are no public comments tonight. So, we will move to eight consent agenda. >> Consent consent agenda. >> Oh, yes, Madam President. Mr. I'll first ask if any of the board members have any items they would like to have removed from the consent agenda. >> Seeing none, I move to approve the consent agenda as submitted. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Schlutoter and a second by Dr. Roush to approve the consent agenda as submitted. All in favor? >> First, then raise hand. For those of you watching, we have digital and we have hand raising tonight. So, we're we're working it out. Okay. 70.

07570. Thank you, board. Okay. Nine is consider any item removed from the consent agenda and there were none. So, we will move to 10, our discussion action agenda for the evening. The first item on that agenda is the naming of principal for Floyd Barksdale Middle School. >> Um, Mr. President, we are very excited to recommend Michelle Jennings as the principal of Floyd Barksdale Middle School. >> Madame President, Mrs. Cop, I move to name Michelle Jennings as the principal of Floyd Barksdale Middle School. Second. >> I have a motion by Mrs. Cop and a second by Dr. Roush to name Michelle Jennings as the principal of Floyd Barksdale Middle School. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Seven. Um, fast. >> There we go. 70. Thank you, board. Working out the kinks there, friends. Okay. Item B

076is the naming of principal for CW Warthington Middle School. >> Yes, ma'am. Administration recommends Danny Fasi as the principal for CW Warthington Middle School. >> Madam President, Mrs. Tatfield. >> Make the motion to name Danny Vicosski as the principal of the CW Warthington Middle School. >> Second. I have a motion by Mrs. Hatfield and a second by Mrs. Cop to name Danny Forassi as the principal of CW Warthington Middle School. Any discussion? All in favor? 7 seven 70 7 There we go. Thank you, board. And item C is the naming of principal of Cinderea Ranch Elementary School. >> Yes, ma'am. Madam President, the administration recommends Kenny Dwire as the principal of Cinderea Ranch Elementary School. >> Madame President, Dr. Rous. >> I would like to motion to name Kenny Dwire as the principal of Cindera

077Ranch Elementary School. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Dr. Roush and a second by Mr. Daring to name Kenny Dwire as the principal of Sinderea Ranch Elementary School. Any discussion? All in favor? 70. Thank you, board. We will move to item D, which is naming of principal of Molly Leven Levvengood Carter Elementary School. >> Yes, ma'am. Madam President, the administration recommends Britney Curley as president of C um sorry, principal, not president, principal of uh Carter Elementary School. Madam President, Mrs. C. >> I move to name Britney Curley as the principal of Molly Living Good Carter Elementary School. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mrs. Copman, a second by, excuse me, Mrs. Hatfield to name Brittany Curley as the principal of Molly Levengood Carter Elementary School. Any discussion? All in favor? 70.

078Thank you everybody. Okay, we will now move to item E which is naming of executive director of student affairs. >> Okay. Um, Madame President, the administration recommends Cynthia Hollis as executive director of student affairs. >> Madame President, >> Mr. Daring, >> make a motion to name Cynthia Hollis as executive director of student affairs. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Dearing and a second by Mrs. Hatfield to name Cynthia Hollis as executive director of student affairs. Any discussion? All in favor 70. Thank you board. Okay. We will move to F which now is the personnel recommendations including reorganization and assignment assigning administrative duties and titles extension hiring and/or renewal non-renewal of contracts of individual teachers administrators principles support staff assistant superintendent and resignations. This one this line item pertains to administrator contracts. >>

079Madame President, >> Mr. Sprouls. >> I move to approve the administrator contracts as submitted by and as recommended by the administration. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Sprouls and a second by Mr. Excuse me. Boy, that was a good tongue twister. I'm going to start over. A motion by Mr. Sprouls and a second by Mr. Schlutoter to approve the administrator contracts as submitted and as recommended by the administration. Any discussion? All in favor? That's a 70 vote as well. >> It seems like Steve is always the last one. >> I am not. My name is on the bottom. >> Sorry, Mr. Sprouls. Just calling it like I see it. Okay, we will move to item G, which is person. What? It's all right. We will move to item G, personnel recommendations, including

080reorganization and assigning administrative duties and titles, extension, hiring, and/or renewal, non-renewal of contracts of individual teachers, administrators, principles, support staff, assistant superintendent, and resignations. This line item pertains to teacher contracts specifically. >> Madame President, >> Mr. Schlutoter. >> I move to approve the teacher contracts as submitted and as recommended by the administration. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Schlutoter and a second by Dr. Roush to approve the teacher contracts as submitted and as recommended by the administration. Uh any discussion? All in favor? This one should be four. Okay, we have four that are four zero against and three that abstain. >> Perfect. Thank you. Thank you, board. That that uh item passes. Okay, we will now move to H the 2026 2027 program staffing. Miss Barker, welcome back to the microphone. Good

081evening, uh Dr. FA, President Murphy, and board members. I'm excited to bring you um our next set of staffing for the upcoming school year. You've got a preview of that in our budget workshop tonight, but I can talk through some more specific details for you here at the podium. As you know, everything that we do in our department falls under strategic goal two for recruiting, valuing, and retaining our highly effective staff. So, as we take a look at the program staffing needs, you did see our total dollar amount um earlier with Mr. Pastus um his presentation at 2.5 million. We, as he noted, we do have ours broken down a little bit differently. Um, but these are the specific dollar amounts assigned to each group and type of staff that we are requesting. On the

082next few slides, I do have the app the specific titles of those of those positions. So, as you can see, special education and comped at 1.2 2 million. Our CTE program at 158,000. Campus support at 417,000. Secondary campuses 127,000 and some change. Our teacher residency program that we'll be putting into place 144,000 facilities 337,000 and then other at 53 for a grand total. All right, we'll take those. These are the exact same categories that you saw on the slide prior to this. So in special education, we do have quite a few. That's where the bulk of our second staffing is coming from. As you heard, uh we are seeing increasing needs in our students and needs to support them and our campuses. So, we are looking at bringing on board additional pair professionals and teachers

083in those areas as well as special education counselor. Um a teacher for the visually impaired and mobility. Those are two specific types of of skill sets that we're looking for in one teacher to help our students that are visually impaired. Uh we're looking at two behavior registered behavior techs that says teach. My apologies text. Uh art facilitator, an an art administrator as well to support our campuses as well as an administrative assistant in that department. In our CTE department, we're looking to add a business teacher as Miss Henderson shared earlier at Byron Nelson as well as an academy facilitator that will be in our logistics academy. They will begin this upcoming school year at Northwest High School in the construction academy and then help build the Tala Academy and move to Davis High School. Um,

084in addition for campus support, we're looking at ESL specialists to support our emergent bilingual population as well as student success facilitators at the middle school level to support the needs there as well. Another campus support is the addition of three PE aids at our elementary campus campuses to assist with some highle behaviors and some campuses we identified that had some needs. Um at the secondary level we are adding a high school counselor. We have one we'd like to add over at Northwest High School and an ACP pair professional. That is a pair that is in our ACP lab. That's a credit recovery lab at Byron Nelson High School. The remaining of our staff request are a PAR teacher residents for our teacher residency program. That's a new program we'll be bringing on board. As well

085as for our facilities, additional bus monitors to help support our current special education routes, landscapers, and an additional journeyman plumber for our facilities. In two other categories, we need uh we are requesting a records assistant to assist with student records in the district as well as providing an administrative assistant to the executive director of student affairs. So all of these together are a grand total of $2.5 million. And if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer those at this time. Miss Parker, just real quick, as we talked about in the budget workshop, a lot of these decisions were made because of listening sessions. Yes. >> Yes. >> Can you talk a little bit about that? >> Oh, absolutely. You'll hear as well in the next presentation for our compensation plan as well as here.

086um our staff have done a great job advocating for the needs there on the campuses and we are hearing a great deal um of concern for the types of behaviors our students are coming to school with. Thus, we're needing to provide the staff to provide the support for that. That's where a lot of our special education staff will be. Our um registered behavior tech will help provide those uh support for those teachers as well. So, absolutely these are absolutely a direct result of what our campuses are needing. >> Thank you. There any other questions for the board? We'll entertain a motion. >> Madame President, >> Dr. Roush, >> I would like to motion to approve the 2026 2027 program staffing as recommended by the administration. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Dr. Roush

087and a second by Mrs. COP to approve the 2026 2027 program staffing as recommended by the administration. Any questions? Additional questions? All in favor >> 70. Thank you board. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll move to I, which is the 2627 compensation plan and proposed staff raise. >> All right, good evening. You've got me again for another presentation. Um, joining me is our CFO, Mr. Pastus. Uh, we've been working together quite a bit on bringing you this full compensation plan for our employees. Again, a brief look at strategic goal two. We feel that this plan does um support recruiting great individuals to our district as well as valuing and retaining those that we do have here. So, as you recall, um this past legislative session, our legislators brought forth a teacher pass through for um individuals

088with experience that are classroom teachers for three to four years of experience at $2,500 and five years of experience at $5,000. That is still part of our compensation um for our individuals. You'll see that in the teacher uh salary schedule in your packets. As you know, last year we approved a local teacher aotment to give a little bit to our individuals that come to us with zero to two years of experience at a little over $2,000. We still have that in place as well for this this school year. Just wanted a quick reminder of that. As a look, this is our updated teacher salary schedule. You can see where those allotments are broken out and where our initial new hire salary has been raised from 61500 to 62500. And you saw this briefly uh in

089in our budget workshop, just a brief history of our pay increases that we've had over the past years um and how we've been able to take care of those teaching staff and the rest of our staff as well. So, a couple uh updates to the compensation plan from what we did previously. Um we made some structure adjustments. I think you remember we did some of this a couple years ago when the we knew that the the state was going to make some rules like this. We started looking at it and we broke librarians out into their own category, counselors out in their own category. So we did a couple other things. One of these is head band directors. One of the reasons is they fit the requirement for TRA and we wanted to make sure

090that they were in their own pay category because the way we are structured is all those that receive it are in a pay category by themselves. So that way it's easier to track and follow from a um data services end when we start applying pay rates and pay raises. High school principles were also lumped in with another category. We pulled them out to their own category. High school assistant principles, we did the same thing. Elementary principles were in a category with directors and positions that are very unique to and different than an elementary principal. So we pulled them into different ones. And then again instructional coaches were pulled out of their own category. One of the other adjustments or we made two calendar adjustments. We talked about one of them in the budget workshop and

091that is the bus drivers. They're going from 187day calendar to 183day calendar. So that will increase their hourly rate with the raise that's in we talked about in this would increase it even more. So that's where that calendar makes a big difference. And then we also have some technician twos in um Cara's department. care uh CTO department where some of them will be going from a 27-day calendar to 235. Currently, she has a lot of needs in the summer that these individuals will be able to help at. We do hire a lot of summer staff to come in and help. That will lessen that burden by moving these onto the 235 calendar. So, budget-wise, it's kind of a budget wash or a budget neutral. Again, this was very exactly what you saw earlier. It's just

092kind of some rounded dollar figures, make it a little easier, but you can see the teacher pay grade at 2% would equate to about $2.9 million. We wanted to make sure that all staff got at least a minimum of 2% pay raise. One of the big things we wanted to do was be beat the market with regards to pair of professionals. That was heard in the listing sessions as well as part of the Vader. So, we are recommending a 5% increase to all pair professionals within the district. That's about $1.3 million. The bus drivers are including that 1.3, but again, it's a little over 2%. With the calendar going back, their hourly rate will actually jump up over 4 and a.5%. All other all other professionals in the district will receive a 2 point or

0932% pay raise, which equates to about 1.6. And then, of course, the market adjustments that we spoke about in the budget workshop equate to about$.8 million. So, all of those compensation increases equates to about $6.6 million. The last part we added was some stipens. Again, talked about in the budget workshop. Special education unit teachers would receive a $1,000 increase to their current stipen. They currently receive $2,000. This would take them to $3,000. Our special education non-unit teachers currently do not receive a stipen. This would propose that we give them a $1,500 stipen to total of $1,500 total for their stipen. That's about $.4 million in stipens. So, total budget impact for this compensation plan for pay raises for all staff and including these stipens is approximately $7 million. Could Miss Barker or I answer any

094questions? >> Okay, I have a question. Um, back to where the teachers are getting the 5,000. They're going to get that again on top of what whatever year they're on. Will the 2% be before or after that's added? it. The 2% is only on their actual salary, not with the allotment in there. That allotment is a set amount from the state. >> Okay? >> So, it is a 2% of non not the stipen part. It's not a stipen, the pass through amount. It's not on that. It's on their salary. >> So, it wouldn't even count what they got last year from the for for that aotment to >> for the TR. No, because that will stay the same no matter what. >> Okay. Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> That is a good question. Madam

095President, >> Mr. Schlutoter, >> I move to approve the 2026 2027 compensation plan and proposed staff raise as submitted and as recommended by the administration. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Schlutoter and a second by Dr. Rous to approve the 2026 2027 compensation plan and proposed staff raise as submitted and as recommended by the administration. Any other questions? All in favor >> seven. Thank you board. >> Do you mind if I make one comment now that that is over? >> Go for it. I just wanted to say thank you to our finance department um Jonathan and a bunch of his teammates um also to um HR uh and again a bunch of Kim's uh teammates there. Um but also to the feedback we got from campus administrators. Um the listening sessions were

096incredibly important in steering uh some of the decisions we made, particularly special ed stipens as an example. Um, we didn't have any stipen for non uh self-contained special ed teachers, but we heard it repeatedly in the listening sessions and we know we're competing with other districts for those staff and so many other minute details that we gathered feedback and we looked for actionable or lowhanging fruit things that we could do or afford to do and sustain over time. But the partnership between finance and HR, the partnership between CNI, all of the departments, the partnership between listening to the campuses and what they express as their needs for behavior, behavior intervention, speal special ed staff, all of those things are this very thoughtful two packages, I guess, um, that we brought to the board with compensation

097and second staffing. And I'm just grateful for folks um honesty and and their uh proactive behavior to share their needs and then we get to work and try to find a way um to make that happen. So uh thank you guys board for approving but thank you teams plural for all the work that put together again what I would characterize as a very thoughtful and forwardthinking but also responsive uh compensation package and staffing package for next year. Um, one of the most important things I I want folks to understand is we talk about uh under promise and overd deliver. We don't want to commit ourselves um to putting so much back from the deficit cuts that we're right back in a structural deficit in 12 months or 24 months. We really want to be uh

098conservatively aggressive um with our compensation to be competitive, but to get the right people in the right places so we can serve our kids. So just I'm loving the entire planet right now. I'm really happy that both of those items um are uh completed. So now we can get to the work of posting jobs and hiring folks, building the budget for next uh school year with that compensation package. So just a giant thank you. >> Okay, we will now move to item J, which is math instructional materials adoption. All right, good evening. So, I am excited to bring you our math instructional adoption recommendation. As I um let you know in October when I brought you the committee recommendation, we um had to put this adoption on hold by four years. TEA required us to

099um delay the adoption by four years. So the teachers and the coordinators and coaches are really and principles really are excited about this adoption. So I just wanted to remind you of that timeline and the the gap years that we had. The process kind of looks like this. So all education um publishers have to take their materials and send them to TEA for review and then a committee reviews all those materials. We actually had an instructional coach that um is with us that was on that committee and reviewed materials with TEA and then they determine if those are considered highquality instructional materials that TEA will deem highquality and to be high quality it just means that every um that the TEICS are covered 100%. So once they filter those out and they determine if they're

100high quality or not, then we um looked at those materials. Our um coaches and coordinators went to the region centers both 10 and 11 and looked at the materials and then narrowed those down to the options that you see on the right for our teachers to look at. And then um you can see we went through this process. They curated those down, narrowed those options down, and then distributed physical copies to all of our campuses. So, both our committees, but also our teachers had their hands on all the materials and all the options for them to look at. The teachers um at the campuses then could use the materials. We really strongly encourage them to actually put them um in front of kids, use them on their hardest to teach teaks and see which ones

101that they really liked and which ones they didn't like and really um try them out. So they implemented those materials and then they evaluated them. Our committee then met with all of the publishers and we did a showcase here um at the district and they could really dig into the materials even more, ask questions, see what options they had, what supplemental materials were available and um ask like I said any questions that they had and really um dig into them even more. Once they did that, then they could go back and answer any other questions they had with their campuses and their teachers. And then the teachers would vote and they would give all their suggestions back to their committee members. And then they brought those votes back to to our coordinators that were leading

102the adoption. And so you can see there, elementary had those options. Secondary had three options overall to look at. And um overall, Savvice was the overall winner um for both elementary and secondary, which is really unheard of to have a K12 adoption, especially in math. I've never ever ever seen that. Um so while strong options really did exist in both areas, SAS really outweighed everything. So Blue Bonnet um was available. That is TEA's recommendation for everyone. That's the one that they um chose and that was not popular with our teachers at all. You can see that here. Um this shows you at the elementary level. Um if it was their first or second choice, it um showed up here. So Amplify and Desmos and Savas were the top choices here in elementary with just one

103vote different between those two with Amplified Desmos winning by one vote and Savas um right behind it. And then in secondary you can see um their first, second, third choices were listed here. The first choice is the red choice. So overwhelmingly all secondary teachers chose SAS as their first choice. So when you think about putting those together really with elementary SAS being their top tier, secondary being in the unanimous choice, we chose to choose Savvice overall for a unified adoption. We felt that was um an important option to do um really because having a qu K12 alignment will ensure really vertical alignment across for students that's going to ensure common vocabulary across that um having that platform familiarity is going to be great too. You may or may not remember SAS is what we also

104adopted in science. So our teachers especially in elementary are going to be be familiar with the platform from science. Um our principles are familiar with it. We're familiar with the way that partnership works with that company and it has been amazing. Anytime we go to them with questions or concerns they are quick to respond and have been um a great partner. And then um an economic efficiency by doing a qua K12 partnership. Um we're saving half a million dollars on the adoption alone. And because we are adopting K12, they have um also agreed to free shipping for the life of the adoption, which is another half of million dollars. So overall, we're saving a million dollars um by going this way. And we feel like it was the top choice anyway. So that was just

105an additional bonus that we had. And that is it. Any questions that I have that you have for me? If there's no questions, we'll entertain a motion. >> Madam President, >> Mr. Spurs, >> I move to approve the math instructional materials adoption as recommended by the committee and by administration. >> Second. I have a motion by Mr. Spurs and a second by Dr. Rous to approve the math instructional materials adoption as recommended by the committee and by administration. All in favor thank you 70. Thank you for the presentation. Okay, that concludes our um discussion action agenda for this evening. We will move to 11 which is reports. The first report on the report agenda is outsourced operations district effectiveness report. >> Good evening Dr. F, President Murphy and board. Um presenting to you tonight the

106operations uh outsource operations district effect report for 2026. And if I can get this to work. Did it work? All right. Here we go. Sorry. All right. Transportation. Uh, so here's just some pictures of just the different fellowships and trainings that we've did throughout the year. Um, transportation. Um we're in our fourth year taking it in house um from being outsourced. Um and it's it continues to thrive. We just have um just better and better opportunities every year. Um just more camaraderie and just uh you know making it a family like the rest of the departments that we have in the district here. Uh just some information. So on time performance looking at 98% daily average. Um at one time we were 98 99% staffed. Um we are just kind of eb and flow with

107that currently. Um but we we are working hard for next year as well. We're actually interviewing people for next year already. So uh really going through that. Um we participate in the angel tree every year. we load the the uh presence on the buses and get them delivered to the campuses. Um and then again just with smart tag um continuing to to operate with that as well. It's it's been uh beneficial across campuses and and for transportation. Um just some comparison numbers here. Um staying pretty much the same. Uh midday routes went down a little bit just with all day uh prek. Um the miles are up per day. We're still on track to um in projection just shy of 3 million miles for the year is where we're projected for the for this upcoming

108year. Then moving on to custodial um as as everyone knows. So they're currently staffed at about when they had these numbers actually they're about 90% right now. Um they did reduce the staff at the beginning of the year. um they have bounced back and just done excellent with that um with just getting the you know riding the ship and just getting the buildings clean and and and so forth. So um tonight we approved the um their their renewal or their extension for that and um we have some really good things in in planned for that for next year. So um things really worked out well with that. um just some of the for ABM's rec uh recognition that they do with their employees just with employee appreciation and and long-term tenure um and just try

109to um again just you know make them feel like a family like you know like they see the rest of them. So um they do a really good job of recognizing their employees. Um then jumping into into food service uh for this year. Um so just some some numbers there. 1.289 million meals. Um that's just for breakfast and and lunch for elementary and middle school. Um we did uh implement ramen at the high school and middle schools which was a really huge hit this year. Um uh there you can see the fresh fruit and vegetables. We actually did just receive award uh from TDA uh for their Mega Con. So, it was the um fresh fruit and vegetable um award for, you know, just getting that and that's been a big push for us to

110to get away from, you know, cans and stuff like that. Um open the beastro here. Confectionary is open in all the high schools. Um and then there's a picture of the waffles. So, we do homemade waffles. Um they the the food service workers in the back just pump out waffles and then they do them like they had red velvet uh for Valentine's Day. So they do different flavors and stuff and um they the middle school and high schools really really love it. So uh student engagement we are doing junior chef again this year. Um I want to say there's only like three posi three spots left for junior chef. So they they filled that up and we actually have three different sessions this year. Um, so it's um it's very popular and and things are,

111you know, really really working out. Um, we have a new executive chef, uh, Marcus that came from the Dallas Zoo. He's down now in our district. Um, and then we have also big, uh, student response for surveys for student viewpoints. Um, tastings and presentations at the quarterly shack meetings. Um, and then the culinary team, they came in third. uh the three little bobcats uh competing in the the region for the culinary star competition. Um so they came out really really well in that. And then Alphabest um roughly serving about 1,800 students weekly. Um they've been a great partner with us. Uh they donate uh child care for Engage every year. Um and then we've also been um offering staff um child care for PD days. Um, so really really good partners with us and and

112flexible with us as far as you know our needs and and and growing in our district. So and then that just kind of highlights what I had just mentioned there. And that is it. And I am open to questions. >> Why does everybody look at me when they ask if anybody has any questions? I don't get it. >> Cuz it's not construction related. It would be Mr. totally put us at the end. >> I mean, Mr. Slutter, sorry. >> So, I just want to uh um thank y'all for all the hard work you do, all the the third party contractors. ABM, you've been been a contractor since I've been sitting up here and uh doing a fabulous job year in and year out. And um Alphabest, I think I mentioned to y'all at the uh

113the thing the other day, I really appreciate the partnership y'all have with our CT teaching pathway uh getting the kiddos some experience there. And of course, uh, Air Mark Culinary. I've given you all a hard time over the years, but I love you more more than you know. And I'm I'm glad the junior chef thing is back in full force. And three three camps, >> three sessions. Yes. >> Three sessions. And I'm looking forward to the cookbook that comes out of that at the end, too. So, can't wait to make some of those recipes. So, thank y'all for making it easy for us up here. Appreciate it. >> Any questions from anyone? No, thank you for the presentation. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Well, we'll go to report B, which is the February financial report. >>

114Good to see you, Boyd. Sorry you had to start off with me. Had me in the middle and at the end. So, I apologize for that. So, real quickly, we're going to look at our financials as of the end of February. I know he's working on it. Um, the first thing that I can go for memory is if you'll look at our revenue. Oh, wait. You can't see it either. Hold on one second. >> I would tell a dad joke, but I would disappoint Dr. F. Okay. So, looking here, you can see our financial and I can't see them. I should have brought my paper. Let me grab it. Okay, back to where we were. Um, looking at the revenue for last year at this point, you can see we've collected about 86% of our

115revenue. Trending right now, we're at 97%. That looks really good. Couple things on that that's a little misleading. One, the state decided because of the TRA, some of the money we get from the state, they frontloaded that a little quicker. So, it looks like we've received more state money at this point than we had last year at this point. So, that's a big chunk of this as well as we should receive a little bit more in taxes because of the voter approved tax ratification election. So, that's why that number is quite a bit higher at this point than it was last year at this point. The one thing that's very interesting here is looking at expenses. If you look at our expenses at this point last year, we're at 56%. Currently, we're at 53%. And

116if you actually look at our total, we spent 187 million at this point last year and we're at 187 million at this point this year. If you remember correctly, we grew what 850 students and we're still at the same expenses. That goes back to all the budget cuts and the reductions that we had to do prior to passing the Vader. And we're trending very, very well in expenses, better than I expected. So, um, we'll continue to watch that. In fact, in every functional category but one, we're down in expenditures at this point than we were last year. So, trending very well in expenditures. Looking at our debt service, um again, this is the one that um I feel like we're still in really good shape here. Uh I'm sorry, food service, we are at 72%

117of the revenue compared to 64%. Now, what's interesting on this is we budget a little less, but we're seeing more participation, which means expenses will be higher, too, but we won't have all the one-time expenditures we had previously because of the mandate that we had to expend money due to fund balance. So, those those percentages may be off a little bit, but we're trending very well. Uh, revenue is up 8%, expenses are up about 12%, but again, I think we're trending very well. You can see we've collected more in revenue than expenditures. I expect that to continue. And then lastly, our debt service. You won't see a whole lot of change in this going forward. If you remember correctly, our debt payments are in August and in February. So, we made our second set of

118debt payments in this financials. So, you can see that our expenses are at 163 million at this point. Um, and we've received 181 million in revenue. So right now we're to the good 18 million, but do not forget we have a refunding that we will probably be conducting here before long and pay some of that debt down. So that's why that is there. So we're trending very, very well in all three of our programs and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions? I think we're good. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll move to 12, which is the board president's report. A couple things. Um, it's time to establish the nominating committee for the 2026 2027 board officers. Um, I have three people who we've identified and have stepped forward

119to do so. Um, and these uh people are u Mr. Schlutoter, Mr. Sprouls, and Mrs. Hatfield. So, this committee will um be the subcommittee that uh brings forth all the nominations for our reorganization at the May 18th board meeting. You guys think you can handle that? >> All right. And then, um couple other things. May 3rd is election day. Um good, uh lots of good local elections on the ballot. Um, early voting is April 22nd through the 29th and the NTASB meeting is April 15th in Lake Dallas ISD. Please let Jennifer know or you probably should have already let Jennifer know if you're going. Um, anything else? I think that's it. Dr. Faustst, yes, just a couple of upcoming dates. Um, we have another opportunity at secondary art show, elementary art show last week was

120incredible. Um, so I have no doubt this next one will be um, pretty e pretty equally impressive. Uh, also fine arts scholarship breakfast is April 23rd. Uh, that same week, there's just a lot going on obviously over the next uh, six weeks until we get to the end of school. But communities in schools North Texas, there's a banquet on April 24th. our teacher uh Jennifer Cahack from uh Prairie View Elementary is going to be honored as the educator of the year for communities and schools for North Texas. So um that'll be a great event. And then athletics hall of honor banquet is on Saturday uh April 25th and I think that was a snow delay. Uh that was snowageddon. And then finally, don't forget this year it's a little bit late but um May 2nd

121our nefala will be back at the Lucky Spur Ranch Retreat. So, um excited for these events coming up. The celebration of kids incredible work and their uh scholarships they're getting for fine arts and then a outstanding teacher and then our hall of honor community members um former athletes and and then Nef to wrap it all up and uh for the year on their fundraising efforts to keep pouring into our teachers in our classrooms. So, we got a lot going on and a lot of great stuff. That's all we have. Move.