001Phone is on. Set it. It's not even that cold. I thought it was going to be colder. That sounds suspicious. Bring your jacket. Stop. >> Okay. Yes, >> thank Yes. >> Good evening, RomaD family and guests. We're about to start this meeting. It is now 6:00 p.m. and I call this regular monthly meeting of the Roma Independent School District Board of Trustees being held this Wednesday, December 17th, 2025 to order. Let the record show that this meeting was duly posted according to the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, chapter 551. First agenda item is roll call. Board vice president, Miss Yadira Bara, >> here. >> Board secretary, Mrs. Marylu J. Cruz, >> here. >> Board member, Mr. Himeskar, Sior, >> present. >> Board member, Mr. Eevee Garza, Jr. >> here. >> Board member, Mrs.
002Karina Mascaro >> here. >> Board member Mr. Jesus Rios Jr. >> here >> and myself board president Mr. Ricardo E Perez present. Let the record show that we have a quorum in attendance at this regular board meeting. Agenda items number two and three are invocation and pledge of allegiance. This evening's invocation will be delivered by trustee Mrs. Mary Lou G. Cruz and the pledge will be led by Trustee Mr. Eevee GarcA Jr. Would everyone please stand? Please bow your head as we pray. We ask dear Lord, we ask for your blessings and for your help as we gather as Roma ISD board of trustees. Please bless the agenda that is set before us this evening and guide us in all our discussions with a spirit of joy and enthusiasm for the betterment of our school
003district. We ask that the joys of the season fill everyone's heart with goodwill and cheer. May this Christmas bring love to everyone's heart, health to everyone's body, and peace to and joy to everyone's home throughout the year. Please bestow blessings to Roma ISD during this Christmas season. And let us remember that you are the reason for the season. Bless all employees and students as they are about to start their Christmas break. We ask you to protect and keep them safe. We also pray for any person who has a great need, especially those who are ill and everyone who is in need of a good shelter for protection during the cold weather. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. >> I pledge >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the
004republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. >> Agenda item number four are public comments. Presenter, superintendent, Mr. Carlos Gonzalez, Jr. >> Mr. Pettis, nobody signed up for public comments. >> Thank you, Mr. Gonzalez. We'll move on to agenda item number five. This is student staff recognition. We have three subletters. There'll be three separate groups that are going to be recognized here. And this is always a very very nice part of our meeting. Anytime that we recognize our our teachers and we recognize our students, it's a happy time. So, I'm going to call on our pres our district director for the performing arts, Mr. Danielle Renteria, who will make the presentations um for Roma High School Mighty Gladiator Marching Band,
005Roma Middle School, Mariachi Scandon, and Roma High School Mariachi Muan. >> Good evening, board president, members of the board, and Superintendent Gonzalez. It gives me great pride to stand before you and recognize the following groups for their outstanding accomplishments. As we all know, reaching this level of success rec requires countless hours of practice, commitment, determination, and of course, being in good academic standing. The first group I would like to recognize is the Arma High School Mighty Gladiator Marching Band. Students and directors, please come forward. From long practices in the heat to performing at the football games on Friday nights to traveling and competing on weekends, this group has been nonstop. Their hard work led to an extremely successful marching season, earning first place at the area G marching contest, which qualified them to compete at
006the 2025 UIL state marching contest. Our band program has year after year shown consistent excellence and is once again among the top 5A marching bands in the state of Texas. Congratulations to these students, their parents, and their directors. Our Next group I would like to recognize is Roma Middle School's Maria Scandon. Students and directors, please come forward. Their dedication and countless hours of practice helped them achieve something truly special. Mariachi Escond was named national champions at the 2025 Mariachi Extravaganza Middle School group competition. In addition, they were awarded best violins. We are proud of everything they have accomplished and of the great work their directors have done. Congratulations to these students, their parents and their directors. Our final group I would like to recognize is Roma High School's Mariachi Novo Santandere. Students and directors, PLEASE
007COME FORWARD. WITH CONSISTENT REHEARSALS, many community performances and a deep commitment to their music, this group also reached reached the highest level of success competing against high school groups from across the nation, earning the title of national champions at the 2025 mariachi extravaganza high school group competition. In addition, they swept all the caption awards and were awarded best violins, best armonia, and best trumpets. We are extremely proud of these talented students and their directors. Congratulations to these students, their parents and their directors. THANK YOU MR. FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. And uh congratulations, Mighty Gladiator Marching Band, Gromo Middle School, Maria Scandon, and and Maria of ROMA HIGH SCHOOL. ROMA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL District is richer, is so much better off for the music department that now involves our elementary schools as well. We look forward to this
008same this same production of excellence by by our middle schools, by high school, by our marching band year after year. And why not? Roma ISD is quickly becoming known. Now, I'll take that back. Roma ISD is known. We've already knew it. All of us here on this on this day is up here at on stage knew it. Your superintendent knew it. You know it. Roma ISD is the home of champions when it comes to music. Congratulations to all your directors. Every single one of you I know goes uh beyond what our expectations are. Long hours and students it goes without saying that you are working very very hard extra hours to prepare to become and to hone your skill as a musical champion. The musical champion that you are. So your all this parental involvement
009the uh the uh uh parent uh booster clubs and things of that nature. It is it is without a doubt a very very important part of the entire program. So congratulations parents, congratulations extended families that are here and uh in fact parents please stand up. Those of you that are here with us tonight, stand parents to be recognized. Outstanding applause. So, let's give him another one. Thank you. Thank you for joining us here tonight. So, congratulations once again. I'm going to let my colleagues if they if they uh care to make any uh congratulatory comments at this time. We'll start off with Mr. Rios. Well, again um congratulations to all the schools who got u this recognition. It's uh like uh Mr. Pettis says uh Roma create champions and this is an example how with
010the right team we can get our students to accomplish a lot of things. So again, congratulations and uh before we leave for the break, I wanted just to wish a merry Christmas to all of you and um God bless. Again, we'll just echo what our colleague said. Congratulations to all the departments, Mariachi and the band. You guys did an outstanding job. And again, you're second to none. This has always been the case. So, as he said, merry Christmas. CONGRATULATIONS >> STUDENTS. CONGRATULATIONS. Um I'm witness to all of the hard work and the dedication and the long hours that you all dedicate to the programs that you all belong to. Um the parents as well. Um all the coordination that goes behind the scenes for you all to be in the place that you are and
011for you all to succeed. So congratulations to you all. We always have high expectations of you all and you will always deliver. You all make us proud and you all represent this school very well. So congratulations. Happy holidays and may the may the success continue. >> Congratulations to the three teams that were being mentioned and honored a while ago and recognized. Uh you make uh Roma ISD school board very proud and of course the school district is very proud of you all. Um your hard work and dedication to your team and and makes you very successful and and that's what counts your perseverance and wanting to set your goals and go for it and that's very important. One more time, congratulations and congratulations to the parents also and happy holidays to everybody. Well, you all
012played an awesome presentation. Uh we all got goosebumps watching you play on Facebook. Uh we are so proud to have the best mariachi band in the nation. And this is just an example that hard work uh pays off and this is the just the beginning to a bright future. So keep up your great work and congratulations. Congratulations and happy HOLIDAYS on my part. Congratulations to the band program. Excellence always. Uh congratulations to the mariachi. Going in. I was invited uh the day before we went to go see the uh performance. The mariacha. I don't know very much about music, but I told my wife I think we're going to win it. uh the high school's going to win it the varsity and I think Roma Middle School they're ready to go varsity right now and
013I said um they just get this is the best group I've seen I don't know like I said this is the best mariach for as far as I'm concerned the best mariach ever so CONGRATULATIONS I'd like to thank the directors directors thank you for the hard work the extra time you put in and getting our kids ready. Parents, thank you for bringing the students uh to to the practices every day because they're long and a lot of practices, but the only way we stay on on top and being the best is by practicing, right? Uh students, thank you for making RomaD shine. Thank you for making Roma, Texas shine. And thank you for for every everything you do. We really do appreciate you. You know, the band, we just reload. Next year, we come back,
014we got those eighth graders coming in and we reload. Mariachi, we got three seniors leaving, right? This year, there's three of you guys leaving. We reload. Look at all of them behind you getting ready. And even the JD made the finals, right, man? We reload. Our kids work hard. We got the best fine arts program in the state of Texas down. You know, when I go to superintendent meetings, I'm going to be bragging because, you know, hey, we were in the finals. We were we were champions. So, when I walk to the meeting, I'm going to do my Travolta swag. If you don't know what the Travolta swag is, you know, you might be too young. YouTube it. Staying alive. When when they play that song, Staying Alive, the way he walks, that's the way
015I'm going to walk in the meeting in front of all of them. And I'm going to tell them, we are national champions and we made it to state again. What do you guys got? Right. We got to RUB IT IN. BUT STUDENTS, YOU ALL made this happen. Super super proud of you. Thank you very much from the bottom of our heart. We wish you the best Christmas ever and a happy new year. And hey, don't stop practicing because we got more competitions coming up. We're not going to let uh Macallum beat us in again, right? We're coming after them and they know it. Thank you, Mr. Gonzalez. Travolta. >> Yeah. You seen that walk? Has anybody seen that walk, man? He moves it. >> Can you show them? >> Okay. >> I'm sure that all
016women they're going to have to go to they're going to go to YouTube as soon as they leave here to figure out who you're talking about. Um, Mighty Gladiator Band directors, outstanding season once again. And uh, you've got your your your the other musical season that is now upon you and you're already participating and and qualifying for the next round, your area and your regions. Good luck on that. and Mariachi uh both middle schools and all all our our mariachi department. Congratulations again. And you've got competitions coming up in the spring as well. So keep working hard. Very proud of all our music department. Very proud indeed. I wish everyone on behalf of the board a very merry Christmas, a joyous Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year. We'll see you again. Well, I
017know we still have two days to go. Well, a day and a half, right? >> Yes. >> A day and a half. Um, if I don't see you then, we'll see you next year. You're welcome to stay. >> You're welcome to stay. We've got a very exciting business meeting going on here. Learn things every day. But if you want to leave and and uh start celebrating even more so, you may. Thank you for being with us. Good night. Oh, okay. Thank you. >> Hello, ma'am. Good to see you, ma'am. And I gave him the star had a little card. Thank you. >> And I gave him but the varsity only high school. >> The band didn't get >> but that's what we gave. She was sitting in the middle. >> That's That's my guess. like
018to invite all administrators uh to please move forward. The closer you are, the comfier this meeting. Okay, we're going to move on to agenda item number six, which is the consent agenda items A through I. Presenting this evening if you have any questions will be um Mr. Regulo Ramos who will be um here for Mr. Pedro Alanise who had to uh had to leave and our district Beam's director Mr. Martin will be available also for any questions regarding uh enrollment. >> Good evening sir. >> Good evening. I have a question on page 15. Uh, check number 72442 and 7244. Well, I think it's both 442. Um, the description says chop use. So, what exactly did that mean? This is the I believe this is the the oil that they purchased for the for the use
019of the of the the school buses. >> Okay. >> To change the the oil in the school buses. >> Uh they buy it in bulk, I guess, because I'm I'm not familiar how the process, but I guess it's in bulk. >> That is correct. Yes. >> All right. >> And the other one is for the gasoline. Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Ramos? on page 17, Mr. Hus, just a point of clarification. Check number 072169. Garolina Biological Supply Company. What are we buying from this company? >> Biological science. Science labs. >> Science labs. >> Yes. For the high school. >> For the science labs. Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Garson. >> I'm done. Any other questions from Mr. Ramos? Thank you, Mr. Ramos. >> Thank you. >> Any questions for Mr. Manuel Garcia regarding enrollment?
020Good evening. >> Any any presentation that you might want to make? >> Uh no sir. Uh the only difference that we're seeing here is the uh the decrease at the high school and it's uh relating to transfers to ING that were pending to activate. That is the the main difference between November and December. >> So our snapshot date for this year was October 23rd. >> Uh the last Friday in October. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, compared to from October 25th, 2024 to this year, it's a difference of 81. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Not so bad. >> Yes. >> We did see that trend statewide uh decrease in enrollment. >> Mhm. >> Um, so it's it's it uh we tend to look for a plus or minus of 60 students every year. So 80 80 students
021is pretty much on around the area. >> We're within the the new realignment for high school. >> I was commenting that within the the new numbers for realignment for the next two years. >> I got that. >> So that would be we we 1505 to 1829. >> Yep. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> All right. At this time, I'll entertain a motion. >> I shall move that we approve uh the consent agenda which includes items A through Y as being presented. >> Thank you, ma'am. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. Is there any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trusty Cruz and seconded by Trusty Bara to approve agenda item number six as presented. All those in
022favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. And I abstain from Flowers Baking Company. >> Seven in favor, none opposed, one abstension by Miss Trusty Muscore. Motion carries. Thank you. We'll move on to agenda item number seven, consideration possible action to approve the purchase of food service equipment for district cafeterias. The uh presenter will be our district food and services director, Mr. JJO. >> Good evening. >> At this time, we're requesting board approval to purchase replacement of pass through coolers and warmers in uh Roma Middle School. the ones we currently have are the ones that were the initial uh pieces of equipment. So, we're having hard a hard time replacing the parts. Uh so, we're requesting your approval to approve these. Uh we I went to three different vendors. Uh they're
023they're region one and also by board. So, I got the the least expensive one. Uh and you'll see the prices there. And the recommendation is >> um ACE >> ACE I believe is yes. >> They're the same models, right, for each other. >> Same models. >> And initially I had uh quoted some extra ones that we decided not to get because I wanted to get them under a grant, but we didn't qualify because we had already bought two uh some equipment for those two campuses. So it's every 10 years. So >> So what's the total, Mr. I believe it's it's $40,9644. So, I ended up scratching out some of the pieces that were there included. >> It's It's 45 because I'm seeing >> it comes out to $40,964 with 444. Um because it's it's a
02414, uh 800 with 10 cents, 21,51 with 02 cents, and then on the carts instead of eight, we're only going to need six. So that's why cut it down. >> Okay, >> very good. >> Okay. Any other questions for Mr. >> Thank you, Mr. Thank you. >> I'll entertain a motion. >> I'll make a motion to approve agenda item number seven uh as presented. >> Thank you, ma'am. Is there a second? >> I second the motion. >> Any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trustee Mascoro and seconded by Trustee Rios to approve agenda item number seven as presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. >> Seven in favor. None opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. We'll move on to agenda item
025number eight, policy update number 126. Our presenter will be our district deputy superintendent, Mr. Lui Garisa. Mr. Garan, you have the podium. Thank you, Mr. Perez. Um, good evening, Mr. President, trustees, Superintendent Gonzalez, and members of the audience. Update 126 includes 141 legal policies and 28 local policies. As a reminder, the board only takes action on the local policies. Tonight, I will walk you through the 28 local policies included in this update. For each one, I'll also share a brief example to help explain how the policy works in practice. If you have any questions or would like to clarifications, please feel free to let me know either during the presentation or at the end. The first policy I'll cover starts on page 104 uh and it is titled BE board meetings. A copy of the
026local policies has also been printed and placed on your desk for your convenience. First policy be board meetings. This policy clarifies the required timing and posting of board meetings. Meetings must occur outside regular work hours, typically after 5:00. An agenda must be posted at least three business days before the meeting. An example, since our regular board meeting are held on Wednesdays, the agenda must be posted by the previous Thursday by 6 PM. Policy D, public participation at board meetings. This update clarifies that public comments must occur before the board discusses or votes on agenda items. Example, parents wishing to comment on a curriculum item must do so before trustees begin their discussion. CJ contracted services. This update incorporates requirements from Senate Bill 12 prohibiting contractors from providing certain instructional activities including uh diversity, equity, and
027inclusion related contents. Example, a contractor providing supplemental reading instructions includes prohibited content, the district terminates the service. CJ, contracted services, background checks and required reporting renames the subtopic to more accurately reflect requirements for background checks and mandatory reporting. Example, a parent or guardian with a prior criminal conviction is notified that their child has fallen ill at school and must be picked up immediately. The district employee in charge allows the parent to enter the facility escorted at all times by a district staff member. Policy CL buildings grounds and equipment management updates clarify that US and the Texas flag must be displayed where required during the pledges. Example, classroom must display both flags each morning during pledges. Policy CQB, cyber security. This policy requires the district to notify affected individuals when a cyber security incident occurs in
028accordance with legal timelines. Notification may be provided by written notices, emails, the district website or broadcast media and includes required disclosures involving confidential students information. Example, the district identifies a cyber security incident involving student names and ID members and numbers, excuse me. Parents and and guardians are notified by email and uh and written notices and a notice is posted on district's website all within the timeline required by law. Policy CQD artificial intelligence established guidelines for ethical use of AI within the district. An example that I can give you, a student uses AI to brainstorm a topic ideas but still produces their own written work. Policy CS8, facility safety and security clarifies restroom and locker room assignment to comply with privacy and safety regulations. Example, multi-occupancy restrooms must follow state required genderbased assignments. Policy CV, facilities
029construction raises the threshold for competitive beating for construction and maintenance projects. Example, projects under 100,000 no longer requires formal competitive bidding. policy DBD, conflict of interest, as restrictions preventing administrators from performing paid personal service outside their assigned duties. This is very important. An example, an administrator cannot serve as a paid consultant for another district during work hours. Policy DEEC leaves and absences. The policy ensures the district provides family and medical leave act which is FMLA leave in compliance with legal requirements. FMLA leave generally runs at the same time as an employes available paid leave and compensatory time. However, teachers and only teachers may choose not to use paid leave concurrently with FMLA for absences related to pregnancy, birth or adoption, provided provided they notify the appropriate administrator. Example, an employee takes FMLA leave for a
030medical condition and their available paid leave runs concurrently with FMLA. I have another example for this FMLA because it's very important. A teacher takes FMLA leave for birth of a child and notifies the administrator that they choose not to use paid leave concurrently. Policy DFBB term contracts non-renewal. The current policy lists 36 reasons under which a term contract may not be renewed for teachers or staff. TASBY is now recommending the additional of two reasons which is item number 34 and number 35 to provide clear guidance regarding prohibited instruction content. For example, a teacher delivers diversity, equity, and inclusion related instruction outside the adopted curriculum that includes concepts prohibited by state law and port policy. Policy DGBA, employee complaints and grievances. This policy aligns grievance procedures with Senate Bill 12. Example, an employee must receive responses
031within the uh updated timelines. Policy DH, employee standard of conduct. This policy prohibits employees from intentionally engaging in or assigning to others instruction activities or programming that is prohibited by law. This includes duties related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and assigning students with social transitioning. Violations may result in disciplinary action up to an including termination. Example, an employee provides a student with guidance or information on social transitioning that is prohibited under state law. Policy EF lesson plans before each before each semester and this is a new policy and it's very important. Before each semester, teachers must provide their instructional plan or course syllabus for each class to district administration and the parents of enrolled students. Additional copies must be available upon parent request. The superintendent will establish procedures to post all instructional plans and syllabi
032on the district's website, ensuring transparency and accuracy for all parents. Example, a teacher submits the syllabus for their algebra 1 class to the admin uh administration and the parents before the semester begins every semester. Policy EFA instructional materials clarifies procedures for parents to request a review of instructional materials. Example, a parent requests a review of a reading assignment. Policy EHV AF, special education video audio monitoring outline camera installation procedures for certain special education settings. Example, a parents request for monitoring in a self-contained classroom must be honored if criteria are met. Policy 18, EIA, grading progress reports, emphasizes communication with parents and addresses artificial intelligence related to academic integrity. Example, students who rely on AI tools must still demonstrate mastery. Policy 19, FA, parent rights and responsibilities. The district will maintain a parent portal on its
033website for submitting comments to the campus administrators, district administrators, and the board. The superintendent will set procedures for portal placement and how comments are addressed. Example, a parent submits a classroom concern, the principal reviews and response per procedures. Policy 20 >> FEF related time courses allows approved related time instructional programs under specific conditions. Example, a student may attend a faith-based class offampus with parental approval. Policy FAC medical treatment clarifies staff authority to administer medication. Example, a nurse may administer non-prescription medication to a student with parental consent. Policy 22, FFB, crisis intervention, requires immediate notification during credible safety threats. An example that I can give you, a social media threat must be communicated to all staff quickly. Policy 23, FFF, student safety, requires prompt parental notification when a district employee or contractors engage in misconduct. Example,
034parents must be notified immediately if an employee behaves inappropriately. Policy 24, FFG, child abuse and neglect, reduces the deadline by which employees must report suspected child abuse or neglect. A teacher, this is an example that I can give you, a teacher must report suspected abuse within 24 hours. So, the time was reduced. Policy 25, FNG, student and parental complaints and grievances. This policy was refined and it states refineses the complaints and appeal process for fairness and timelines. The example that I can give you, a parent may request a conference with a campus administrator or dis uh or discuss concerns before advancing to the next grievance level. Policy 26 FO student discipline clarifi clarifies optional hallway cameras and limits on changing discipline policies through district of innovation plans. So our district of of innovation when it
035was approved by the board was changed because of this policy. Example, the district may install hallway cameras but it is not required. Policy 27 GF public complaints outline steps for community members to submit complaint formally. Example, a community member questioning the implementation of a district policy may file a complaint 28. GKA conduct at school premises clarifies policy language to align with current Texas law regarding lawful firearm storage in vehicles and district approved activities without expanding access to weapons on district property. The example that I can give you, a visitor with a permit may store a handgun in a in a locked vehicle so that the firearm is not visible from outside but cannot carry it inside the building or classrooms. This concludes my presentation. Are there any questions at this time? Yes, Mr. Rafa. Um,
036so I know at the beginning you mentioned that we only take action on local policies, not the legal policies, but where did these recommendations for change come? Because I see that some of these have were issued like in uh the 27th of October. So are these recommendations coming from the attorneys or the superintendent or from who? >> That that's a good question. The the way it works is like this. The legislature they they met in you know in June. They uh the the governor approved all the policies but all the laws. So they came into effect in June. At that point TASBY acquires all those laws. Okay talking about the legal laws. what they do, they implement this into local policies if needed and then at that point is sent to the to the school
037districts. Now, this happened again in June and throughout that process, TASBY is working on those policies. I'm talking about the local policies, not the legal because legal every school district in the state of Texas, they have exactly the same legal policies. >> The the local sometimes they're identical, sometimes it varies. Okay? Now since the law came into effect at that time in June, TASBY has a uh has a lot of school districts to work uh with with this policy. So it takes very long time to submit this to the local polic I mean to the school districts. Some school districts started receiving these policies let's say in October. We got this ones early November. Some school district is possible that they might not have received this yet. Now, but there is another policy that states
038the following. Even though the legislators approved this and and the the governor signed this into law and you're going to be approving this right now, let's say in December, we still have to follow the polic. We still have to follow the law. So even though it has not been presented to the board, these policies are supposed to be implemented. Now as far as the legal to answer your question, the legal again that is the law. What you're approving right now are the local policies and the legal and the local sometimes they're almost the same. So those are the ones that you're approving right now. >> Right. So what I understood and this is just for clarification is that the legislation is the one or the legislator is the one recommending for us to adopt these
039local policies. But for my understanding local policies is for what we decide for what we want to do with our district and not what the state wants to do. That would be the legal. >> The legislators approve the laws. The governor signs this into laws, but the ones that send the legal policies to us are is TASBY, >> not the legislators, not the governor, TASBY. TASBY are the ones that are sent that sent the policies to to us. Now, of course, a lock can consist of one specific lock can consist of 20 pages. What Tasby does, they reduce that into just maybe one or two pages. Then task will recommend the local policy. It's a recommendation but based on the legal policy. I want to give you an example. Let's say for ranking and I'm
040planning to bring this policy uh probably in January the high school administration they want to change the policy as far as the ranking. I'm going to bring it to you and you'll say yes or no. Now that particular policy that we're going to or that we're going to present to you and if you approve it is very different from the one in Rio Grande, very different from the one in Macall. That's a local policy. The legal is exactly the same. >> So I don't know if I explained myself >> yes >> using those examples. >> I Yes, I understand the concept. It's just you know there's so many um I guess modifications to the current policies that we have. So that's why the question is where are these recommendations coming from? So if it's a
041recommendation coming from the legislation to my understanding that would fall under a legal versus a you know instead of it being a local >> I'm going to give you an example >> policy you know what I'm saying >> give you an example the local policy that we have and I and I can give you one example >> if there's some issues at the campus level >> and the and the teacher knows that something happened they need to report it to the um to the police the way it was it was within let's say 48 hours >> by law now you have to report it within 24 hours. So that is legal. So now what's going to happen is that under the local they modify that local policy to change it based on the legal policy.
042So instead of 48 now it's 24. Why? Because it was based from the legal policy. >> Okay, that makes sense. That makes sense now that we just have to be in compliance with the legal policy now. >> So basically if it's a legal and they modified a law, it has to at least match to the local. You're going to leave it at 48 hours. >> That is correct. So these are some of those changes, examples of the changes that are occurring. >> That's an example that I gave. Yes. >> Yes. >> And another example that I can give you, in some school districts, they were allowing for students to go um use the male and the female restrooms, same same restroom. >> Right >> now, by law, we cannot do that. We cannot do that.
043So now they're telling you that by law, now you cannot do that. So if some school districts were doing that now you can do that >> based from the legal. So now you they have to put >> you have to change the local >> they have to choose the local. Yes. >> Okay. >> Very good. >> So and the example of the facilities construction uh the change of competitive bidding is also legal modifying it to >> into the local. That's a good that's another good example. Uh now they they raise it to another value. Yes. Now, since I've been here at the central office and I've been taking care of the policies, this is the first time that so many policies were implemented in this particular update. Many many but 28 policies. >> So, what
044I tried to do was just give you a very brief >> brief overview of each policy, but I decided to give you an example. So, maybe with that example, it clarified the the overview that I gave you. >> Right. >> Now, another one. Mr. um on the parents rights and responsibility. It was FA uh local. Um I'm going to read it. It says the district shall establish a parent portal on the district's website through which parents may submit comments to campus administrators, district administrators, and the board. How is that how is that going to work? That caught my attention. >> That is that that policy was not modified. That's a new policy. That's a new policy and already made contact with the individuals that are in charge of the uh of the technology and that
045one uh with the guidance of the superintendent and see what he what he decides is that if a parent wants to complain uh or has a question that individual based on the portal that we have that individual can place a question or place a concern or even to the board and Now at that point you have to respond to that. That is a new policy. >> Well the policy doesn't say you have to respond. It just says that you can hear the complaint that we do. >> It' be wise that we do. >> But trustees >> but trustes on behalf the district can respond by the trustees >> but what I'm saying is that the question can be presented to the board. >> Yeah. >> Via portal. Uh again this is new. The portal will
046be the the website that we currently have with a link for concerns or comments or complaints. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Uh the comments could be dealing with the curriculum can be dealing with discipline >> suggestions or >> suggestions, recommendations or just questions. Yes. >> Instead of social media. >> Right. >> Any other questions for Mr. Ar? Th those are good questions and and I appreciate you asking those questions for clarification. >> Well, Mr. Thank you for your presentation, sir, and and for your brevity with the presentation. I mean that sincerely because I know that uh your presentation would be even longer had you have to go word by word. Um but uh it is a lot of information and we appreciate uh you taking the time to explain it for us and
047give us examples. Thank you very much, sir. >> Thank you, M. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on then to Well, wait. Is this an action item, right, Mr. Guts? >> Yes. Yes, sir. I'll entertain a motion then for agenda item number eight. I move that the board add, revise, or delete local policies as offered by TASBY policy service for consideration in according to the instruction sheet for TASBY localized policy manual update 126. >> Thank you, sir. Is there a second? >> I'll second it, sir. >> Any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trusty Garza and seconded by Trusty Gurus to approve agenda item number eight as presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I >> I. >> Seven in
048favor. None oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Now we'll move on to agenda item number nine. Consideration possible action to approve new library books in compliance with Senate Bill 13 following 30 days of review by the public. Our presenter will be our district curriculum coach, Miss Patricia Gonzalez. Miss Gonzalez, you have the podium. Good evening, board president Ricardo Perez, members of the board, Superintendent Gonzalez, and esteemed guest. In accordance with Senate Bill 13, I'm pleased to present the proposed RomaD library list for your consideration this evening. The list has been carefully reviewed and selected to support the academic growth and personal development of our students. As required by SB13, the list has been duly posted on the district website for a minimum of 30 days to ensure transparency and allow for public review and input. At
049this moment, there have been no public comments on the list being presented tonight. Our campus librarian has worked diligently applying both district guidelines and professional judgment to ensure that every book includes a included aligns with educational standards, age appropriateness, and our district's commitment to providing high quality enrich enriching reading materials for all students. I am respectfully asking for the board's approval to purchase the propo proposed library books. Thank you for your support as we strive to provide the best possible resources for our students. Are there any questions at this time? >> Is this the list? >> This is from one of the campuses. >> Gumdrop books. Yes. >> Is that it? >> That's correct. >> And so the total price here is $3544. Miss, I'm curious. How do you go about um having the campuses
050make their list? Do you give them a deadline like every six weeks, every month, or >> It is as they're coming in, as they're, you know, it just depends on each campus and their needs and they just go ahead and turn it in. As soon as they do that, I go ahead and review it. uh make sure I count the 30 days uh post it on our website and then after I count those 30 days we see what's the next board meeting that's coming up so we can present it. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Well, thank you Miss Gonzalez for your presentation. Your recommendation I'm assuming is to is to follow through with this uh proposal. Okay. At this time, is there a motion? >> I so move
051to approve agenda item number 10 as recommended. >> Thank you, Mr. Squad. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trustee Esco and seconded by Trusty Bara to approve agenda. Item number nine is presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. I >> I. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. We'll move on to agenda item number 10, consideration, possible action on adopting the resolution of the Roma Independent School District Board of Trustees, approving a one-time early notice of separation from employment incentive program. Our presenter will be our district executive director for human relations, Mr. Edgar Gau. Mr. GarcA, you got the podium. >> Uh, good evening, Mr. members of the board
052to present Mr. Gonzalez. I'm here for you to consider adopting the resolution of um the RomaD Board of Trustees approving a one-time early notice of separation from employment incentive program. Uh this would be the fourth year that uh it's being brought up to you. Um it's basically the same. There was one change um in communication with with um finance. Uh we have a few employees, well, I don't know exactly how many, but we have some employees that are not full-time, but they're permanent employees, meaning that they work with the district and they've worked for the district for 20 years or or 30 years or 10 years. Um but normally they wouldn't qualify because they're not considered full-time because they work, let's say, only five and a half hours a day. But they're permanent employees. They
053work every year. they've been working with them. So, um changing the terminology from full-time to permanent employees. Uh that way they would qualify as well. This would be mainly uh custodians would be the ones that would fall under under this. So, we wanted to make sure that they're included as well. >> So, according to legal, just a change in terminology will suffice. >> Yes, that would be because they they're considered permanent employees. They're not full-time because of the hours. uh there's a a a time a certain number of hours that they need to work a week to be considered full-time. So, these employees are not considered full-time, so they wouldn't qualify based on the language, but if they're permanent employees, then then that would work because they're they're considered permanent employees um with uh with
054the district. I mean, they have employment every year different from, for example, a parent tutor where they're not permanent employees because every year they need to reapply um or uh different positions where they might have to reapply every year. So, this would be permanent employees that do that. >> All right. Any other questions for Mr. Thank you for your presentation, sir. >> I will entertain a motion to approve this item. I'll make a motion to approve it for the permanent employees. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Any further discussion? If none, there's a motion on the floor by Trusty Bara and seconded by Trusty Garza to approve agenda item number 10 as presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. I. >> Seven in
055favor, none opposed. Motion carries. Thank you very much, Mr. G. I just wanted to add real quick just uh for public knowledge, right? It's $2,000 for contracted or professional employees and 1,000 for par profofessionals auxiliary like the last uh three years. Uh just so that it's out there and they know how much it is as well. >> Very good. >> Thank you. >> We'll move on to agenda item number 11. consideration possible action to approve a resolution to join and participate in the ESC region 19 Allied States Cooperative. Uh Mr. Ramos, you're going to make this presentation, sir. Go ahead. >> Good evening again. Um, at this time we are requesting approval of a resolution for the district to join and participate in the education service center region 19 allied states cooperative. This uh pro
056this cooperative provides member districts with access to competitively bid contracts, cost savings and uh expanded vendor options. Joining the cooperative supports compliance with state purchasing requirements and increases efficiency and in our procurement uh processes. Therefore, we ask the board to consider and approve the resolution to participate in the ESC region 19 allied states cooperative. >> Thank you, Mr. Ramos. Any questions for Mr. Ramos regarding this agenda item? >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to approve. >> I shall move that we approve the resolution to join and participate in the ESC region 19 Allied state uh co- cooperative. >> Thank you, Mrs. Kus. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trustee Kus and seconded
057by Trusty Mascoro to approve agenda item number 11 as presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. Seven in favor. None opposed. Motion carries. >> Thank you, sir. We'll go to agenda item number 12 and this will be a presentation on the U priority regions grant. The progress and update uh on this particular grant will be presented by our district career and technology education director Mr. Ivak Jr. Mr. Esco. >> Okay. Thank you. >> We can pass it. >> Oh yes. Let's do that. Okay. Good evening, U board president uh Perez and uh Superintendent Gonzalez and members of the board. Thank you for taking this opportunity to to allow me to to present on one of the grants that we participate in. Before I continue, I want
058to introduce Mr. Ernie Gonzalez. He's uh from region one and he's our our coach, our grant specialist, and he wears so many other hats, he'll be helping me out with a with a presentation. >> Welcome, sir. So basically um on on top of many of the responsibilities that we have with CCMR CTE, one of the things that we take great pride on pride in is um working on grants and helping grants that help um our students get more information about college readiness. And so I'm going to read over this presentation and we can look at this packet at this time. Uh the priority regions grant is a $1.1 million grant that was um issued to region one and uh four districts school districts were part of this um this grant that uh partners is Donna
059Idalgo of course Roma ISD and valley view and the higher uh ed uh partner is South Texas College. So again, we have those five institutions that are part of this grant. If we turn to page two, I'll read the goals really quickly. The goals are for this grant are to uh early college coursework access, increase the percentage of students who are enrolled in early college and coursework and earn at least 15 potential credits. Now, that's a goal established by this grant. Uh if you all remember the you your school board and uh Mr. Gonzalez's leadership has a program called Early College Academy. So we're already doing beyond the 15. We're targeting about 42 hours at least, but this is one of the goals for the grant and that's going to help us meet the the
060other goals. The other one is early college coursework attainment. increase a percentage of graduates who are earning at least 15 credits of early college coursework. The third one is post-secary enrollment. Increase a percentage of graduates enrolling in a post-secondary institution immediately upon graduation. And the fourth one is college on track higher ed partner increase the percentage of students entering from Rome ISD who remain on track with gateway course work course course completion during the first year of post-secary education. So those are the four goals outlined. If we go on to the next page, I'm just going to go through this very very quickly. Um high quality advising. One of the main things that this grant is trying to achieve is ensuring comprehensive post-secondary advising. So they work through this grant there's a lot of um
061opportunities for counselors for teachers for directors to to get a professional development so that we can find better ways to uh advise our students about these opportunities. The next the next part of that is dual enrollment access and success. You'd be surprised the years past uh there were a lot of uh kids that really didn't know about the dual enrollment uh program. So what this uh grant aims to do is to help educate our parents uh of course educators and students about how they can become uh dual enrollment students. And one of the major the last one is data infrastructure. What we've been doing as part of this grant is we've been selling we've been selling not selling sending a lot of our data as far as the number of students at our high school
062for example the number of students that are involved in CTE programs that are completing the programs of study the number of students that are u doing enrollment courses the number of students that went graduated last year and went to to college. So with all that data, what this grant is doing is forming a database that allows us to continue to track uh student achievement not during just their years of high school but beyond. So this is a a huge initiative and again enroll is a big part of it. If you go to page four, >> Mr. Scott. >> Yes, sir. >> One quick question. >> Yes, sir. with the dual enrollment. >> This this grant I'm reading here, it says creating coherent pathways for students to access meaningful early college coursework. Uh how are we
063identifying them? Is that through the guidance and counseling or or how is that done? >> Yes, what we're what this grant allows us to do is do a lot of the outreach. For example, this semester alone, uh, we've been having meetings and, uh, I say me, we, uh, I'm meeting the counseling department at the high school. Okay. The counseling department at the middle schools. >> Sure. >> To to, uh, inform parents about these opportunities. >> Okay. So, it's through the guidance and counseling. >> Through the gu guidance and counseling, and through South Texas College and region one, uh, there are representatives from South Texas College that come and help and and talk to the parents themselves. I think uh Mr. Gonzalez could tell us a little bit more about that in a bit. Um if
064you look at page four, you'll see you'll recognize one or two people there in that picture. The guy with the biggest heart. uh page page four is there in the >> he's uh these were the superintendent and the district representatives and region one representatives and South Texas representatives that were uh notified about this grant and this grant is a 4-year uh grant and of course Romed was part of it. Let's go to the next page. The next page all it does is outlines all the opportunities. If you look at for example August 27th to the 29th it was called uh there was professional development session called advising and action that was for our counselors for a lot of district personnel. Uh if you go to the CCMR guide book training September 24th it's u for
065directors for the CTE specialists for counselors as well. So, all this does is just list all the professional development opportunities. And I'm going to be very honest, never in education had I had I been given so many opportunities to attend uh trainings at region one. And the thing is that there's a lot more funding for professional development through these types of grants. So, that's why we're sometimes we've gone Mr. Gonzalez, but we're we're at the region one trainings and trying to get all the information that that we need. If you turn to page six, and again I just numbered them at the very bottom. Um, one of the main things that allows students to be in dual enrollment courses to take uh be part of the early college academy uh initiative is TSI. So throughout
066the year, we have TSI um training sessions that once the students pass TSI tests, they're able to take college courses. So just before I let Mr. Ernie take over, uh I want to let you know that now we're having eighth graders take TSI exams and they're doing really well. In fact, not just because she's here, but Mrs. uh Bara's uh son uh Alex Alexito he was one of the ones that passed what was it two years ago I lose track >> as an eighth grader as an eighth grader he passed three exams and uh he did it by himself >> my son was another example so we're very proud of that but give if given the opportunity eighth graders can do it and this was supposed to be TSI is supposed to be an exam
067uh before it was taken by 11th graders and 12th graders just to get into college. So, I'm going to allow Mr. Ernie to continue with this presentation. >> Good evening, sir. >> Good evening. >> Um, a big part of this grant, Mr. Scabbad said, is the collaboration, the partnerships and uh the next slide it's talking about STC. So, a huge part of this is um achieving those goals is the advising and the alignment of the courses. So this is where SEC has stepped in and they've provided uh advisors to come to the campus once a week and help the counselors there. So whether it's a college applications, whether it's FAFSA, TASA uh and any other advising that the counselors need assistance with um the students, there is somebody from SEC coming over once a week
068to provide that. So we were able to secure that with the grant and SEC was willing to provide that as well. Also SEC um is having a lot of their dual enrollment. We can now through the grant provide uh make sure that Roma is part of those um professional developments and they are involved. Another big part of this is also the Valley Promise. So, not only is dual enrollment department helping out, but the Valley Promise and they're basically helping students make sure that if they qualify and whatever financial aid doesn't cover, they'll cover for the students to attend um their campus and family and student engagement. That's also part of the advising which region one is assisting with and SEC is assisting with as well. And then the big major um part of the grant
069which Mr. Escobad went into is the data hub. So the grant is through the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation has made a big investment with EMS to provide a data hub. So right now one of the big things a lot of districts face is they have three or four different platforms they have to use to get data whether for uh one platform for CTE CCMR data another platform for TSI SAT ACT data to keep track um and so forth. So with this grant they're creating a data hub which basically incorporates all that data into one platform. So that should help the adviserss, the counselors. So whether it's with HB3, CTE, whether it's TSI, how well the students are doing, it's all there on one data hub. So right now it's in the process of gathering
070all that data, putting it all together, and then making it available uh to the district so that way the district can use that data to make informed decisions. And that pretty much sums up the whole grant as far as how everybody's working together. >> You said the dollar value of the grant is how much? >> 1 million something. >> Is that $1.1 million? >> 1.1. >> So it's from the Gates Foundation given to Texas Impact Network and then Texas Impact Network chose region one as some grantee to be the intermediary between the four districts. But that grant will be uh divided in by five. >> It's being used to support the four districts which is Donna, Valley View, Hago and Roma. >> Oh, I thought I heard uh Mr. Squad say something about South Texas.
071>> South Texas College is a big partner in it and they're assisting us. >> Oh, I thought it was high school. >> But the uh the grant itself is made to help the districts, but South Texas College is brought in because of the dual enrollment part. >> Okay. Yeah. >> And in working together, actually, to be honest, in working together, it's a win-win. >> Yes. >> Because the district's being helped with HP3 and SEC is being helped with HBA. And that's the 15 um college um goal uh credit hours because that helps as far as our HBA funding. >> Outstanding. And this is this is incredible. >> And then one of the big things also is through this grant, it the collaboration of bringing region one also is that everything's being offered region one. We're
072trying to make it available. So, what you have with you is the high school handbook. We make that available to all the students in the four districts and it basically walks the student through college application, FASA, TASPA, everything they pretty much need know CTE, um, pathways, it's all there in the book. So, it's a kind of quick cheat sheet to high school and what they need to do to be prepared to for postsecary. >> Excellent. It's mindboggling to me uh how how a student can graduate high school and he's already or she already has an opportunity to be a junior in college basically. >> Yeah. So the handout is available to every uh grade school like freshman's or just to at what point >> we're made available to the high school to pass out to
073all students. >> Okay. Yeah, it's very good. I I've kind of glanced at it. It has every tool possible. a checklist and QRS for more information. So very good handout. >> Outstanding. >> Thank you very much for your presentations. >> Okay, we will uh go on to move on to agenda item number 13, consideration possible action on board members training requirements. The presenter is yours truly. And I have to publicly state uh the standing for each trustee. And um we had uh three topics uh that needed to be completed. Special required training and team building and topic three additional continuing education. These are the completed required hours that each trustee um has to complete within the academic year. >> So today >> um right now I'm looking at uh for example Mr. Henad got a
074C. >> Oh no no no it's not a C. It's it's completed. I'm sorry. It's not a C. >> Okay. Okay. I just I just >> All right. A little bit of levity. It helps the meeting go smoothly. The C is for completed >> and every single trustee >> is complete. Maybe not the president, but he's a little incomplete. Uh but yes, this is uh this is the education records for the record. All trustees are complete with their requirements. Congratulations, trustees. >> Thank you. >> I will ask for a motion to act. >> No motion. >> No, no, no, no. We're not done. >> Well, somebody told me that there was a motion. >> No, not for that. >> Not tomorrow either. Okay. They have to they have to approve it. >> Yes. >> Oh,
075we have to approve it. >> Well, I was right. >> Okay. >> Stop telling me that. >> Like always. You're right. >> See, I'm the only one that's complete. >> Is there a motion to accept this report as presented? >> I'll make a motion to approve it. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Thank you. Any further discussion? If none, there is a motion on the floor by Trustee Bareda, seconded by Trusty Gasa to approve agenda item number 13 as presented. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. I. >> That was seven in favor. None opposed. Motion carries. Agenda item number 14, employment and resignation of professionals and professionals. Superintendent Mr. Kloan Gonzalez Jr. >> Mr. Pettis and members of the board, I
076ask that you approve the employment and resignation of professionals and pair of professionals as listed in board book. >> Thank you, sir. Any questions for Mr. Gonzalez before I ask for a motion? >> If not, I'll entertain a motion. >> I shall move that we approve the employment and resignation of professionals and par profofessionals presented by Mr. Onales. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cruz. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any further discussion? If none then there is a motion on the floor by trustee Cruz and seconded by trustee escal to approve agenda item number 14 as presented. All those in favor of the motion please indicate so by saying I. >> Seven in favor. Motion carries. Bear with me as we conclude the business agenda of this December regular meeting. I want to take a
077moment to extend heartfelt holiday wishes to each of you in behalf of my colleagues on the board of trustees and superintendent Gonzalez. This season is a time of joy, reflection, and gratitude. To our students, thank you for your hard work, creativity, enthusiasm. You are the reason we strive to provide the best education and support possible. to our dedicated teachers, auxiliary and support staff, and administrative staff. Your unwavering commitment and passion make our district a thriving place for learning. Your efforts often go above and beyond amp for that. We are incredibly grateful. Enjoy this well-deserved break and recharge for what lies ahead in 26. I also want to express our appreciation to the families of our students. Your support is invaluable and we are thankful for the partnership we share in nurturing the growth of our
078children. As we move into this new year, let us carry the spirit of kindness and community with us. May this holiday season be filled with warmth, peace, and cherished memories. Happy holidays to everyone. Agenda item number 15, adjournment. I'll entertain a motion. >> I move. >> I second. >> Is there any further discussion? If not, there is a motion on the floor by Trusty Garza and seconded by Trusty Rios to adjourn this monthly regular meeting. All those in favor of the motion, please indicate so by saying I. >> I. I. >> Seven in favor, none opposed. Motion carries. It is now 7:27 p.m. And this regular monthly meeting of the Roma Independent School District Board of Trustees held this Wednesday evening, December 17, 2025, is adjourned. We appreciate your attendance at this meeting and we
079wish all of you a most enjoyable rest of the night and week and holiday break. Good night. Blessings to all until