001Mic check. One, two. Mic check. One, two. Mic check. One, two. Mic. Mic check. One, two, mic check. Mic check one two. Mic check one two. Mic test. Mic test. >> Uh I think you needed >> Zoom test. Zoom test >> here. Zoom PC and mic check. Zoom test. Zoom test. >> Zoom test. Zoom test. One, two, three. >> I can hear you, but the audio is a little quiet. I'll try to adjust it. >> Okay. I can I can go closer to the mic. >> No, no, you're fine. That's not the reason. We have five trustees present in person. One trustee via Zoom and one trustee Miss Vapondo is absent. Um and then I would like to invite up Dr. Holmes from Crockett Elementary School who has a cohort of students here this evening
002who are going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. >> Good evening. >> Okay. Good evening. Um Dr. Cornona and board of trustees. Uh my name is Anna Lisa Holmes. I'm the proud principal of Crockett Elementary and I am extremely proud to present the superstars of Willy Wonka Jr. musical that we've had this year. And like the superstars they are, they want to present themselves. Hi, I'm Aiden Castillo. >> Hi, I'm Sawyer Justice. Hi, I'm Camille Hudson. Hi, I'm Blake Barra. >> Hi, I'm Jodie Carter. >> Hi, I'm Addison Mayhar. >> Will you please stand for the pledges? I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Honor the Texas flag.
003I pledge aliance to thee, Texas. One state under God. one and indivisible. >> Thanks all very much. And I heard that you got rave reviews on your musical. So, congratulations. Next, we have public forum and we have two citizens signed up to speak to us. The first is Dr. Jesse Gainer, >> good evening. >> Thank you. Good evening. Thank you for um all the service that you do for our community. Start with that. And I'm here to talk about access to high quality instructional materials, but not the kind that you're used to talking about. talking about children's literature and young adult literature. And these are the books that won the Tomas Rivera Mexican-American Children's Book Award for 2026. All of these authors and illustrators will be here in San Marcos in the fall to um
004receive their award and have a public presentation. Many of you have been to the presentations in the past. The reason that I wanted to talk tonight is because we have a really special um occasion and many of you already know about this but um I wanted to make a public statement. It's the 30th anniversary of the book award. So that means we've been doing this for 30 years. It's a national book award based right here in San Marcos. We've got this amazing collection of winners for the past 30 years. We have two categories. works for younger children, it works for older children. Um the range for ages is basically birth through 18 years old. The for the readers, um on March 7th, um so in a couple weeks, we're going to have the 30th anniversary
005celebration at the San Marcos Public Library over on Hopkins. We're going to start with a children's parade, but everybody's welcome, children's and adults. The authors will be there. We'll have 13 past winners of the book award who will be joining us. We're going to parade from the um Paulina Espenosa um hall in City Park over the on the sidewalk over to the public library where we'll start the book fair at 10:00 a.m. The um the book fair will include presentations by the authors, workshops by illustrators as well as many many kids from um from the schools here in San Marcos who will present their own original work inspired by their readings of some of these books. There's going to be folklorico by kids, mariachi by kids. Um there will be uh skits, poetry reading, and
006art displays um all by San Marcos kids. And so I wanted to invite all of you and all of y'all to um please come and join in the book joy in the celebration. It's going to be a really festive time. We're going to give away over 1,000 books by the authors and illustrators who will be there. they'll be there and sign the books for um families for kids and families who come. So, please spread the word. Um we have some posters for publicity if anyone wants one. Um and then lastly, I'm not paying attention. Ah, 23 seconds. Perfect. Um the day before on Friday, March 6 at the library also, we're going to have a uh the Magic Theater from San Antonio is going to put on a free performance of Tomas and the Library
007Lady, which was about Tomas Ria when he was a kid and how he fell in love with reading. Um learned from a librarian. Um so, so okay, I'll stop there, but everything is free, open to the public, and thank you for the time. >> Thank you very much. Our second speaker this evening is Matthew Young. Good evening, President Hollyy, members of the board, superintendent, Dr. Cardona, and the all those present tonight. My name is Matthew Young. I'm a special education teacher at Travis Elementary. Tonight, try to sneak it in here. I brought a special bucket with me. This is one of the buckets we use at Trafice that we intentionally fill with positive affirmations because we believe what we pour in matters. I invite you to imagine that every special education student that walks into
008one of our schools has an invisible bucket. Some of these buckets are half full and other times the bucket is completely empty. And our job, no I say our calling, see if I can do this, is to help fill that bucket. But here's the truth. Not one person fills that bucket alone every single day. It takes a team. takes a classroom teacher who adjusts lessons so that every child can access the learning. It takes an instructional assistant who remains patient and steady throughout the day. It takes the special education teacher who provides targeted support and celebrates even the smallest victories. It takes the behavior support staff who continue to show up with calm care even on the hardest days. It takes the speech therapist, counselors, and specialists who show up to help students grow step
009by step. It takes the bus driver who begins the morning with a safe and friendly welcome. It takes the bus monitor to ensure that the ride to and from school is supportive and secure. It takes the front office staff who makes sure every student feels seen, known, and valued. It also takes an assistant principal. It also takes a building principal who works behind the scenes to support staff, remove barriers, and ensure every special education student has an opportunity to succeed. For you see, special education is not just services. It's people choosing over and over to pour into a child who needs them. So tonight, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you to every educator, every support staff member, every campus leader, every family member who shows up with a picture in the hand
010ready to fill a student's bucket. Because when we keep filling the buckets of our most vulnerable learners, we're not just changing the stories, we're changing the future of our schools, our communities, and every child who's waiting for somebody to fill their bucket. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Young. >> Dr. Fetta. >> All right, Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Mr. Young, I guess you're going to be a theater person here pretty soon. So, other duties as a sign. Uh, we have a lot to celebrate in San Marcus. We have just a few celebrations that I'm going to ask Dr. Parardo to come up here and showcase her students, but we have many more students across the district. We had our Crockett kids earlier. Our middle school kids are kneedeep in UIL this spring. Uh
011high school students are kneede track and field, baseball, softball. I've heard some board members or parents of athletes that are viferous in their calling for San Marcus Rattlers. Uh but to lead that off, I want to talk to Dr. Bart, have her come up here and showcase her wonderful, wonderful students. >> Yes, this is a highlight. Thank you so much, President Hollyy, board members, and Dr. Cardona. It's my honor to be here to recognize some of our awesome rattlers. Um, first, Kevin, you want to come up? Stand here so Okay, great. All right. This is our sophomore um photography student, Kevin Vieral, and he had a photograph. Yes, there's the photograph. game time focus and it was selected to represent SMCISD at the Bulock Texas State History Museum in Austin as part of the TAA's
012youth art month exposition. This exposition highlights outstanding preK through 12th grade uh students artwork from all across Texas and is showcased throughout the month of March. So, it's coming up this March. Uh Kevin has he's only a sophomore, but he has quickly become an outstanding sports photographer. He regularly attends athletic events and captures moments that showcase our incredible Rattler athletes. His ability to tell a story through his action shots and candid sideline moments highlights not only the intensity of competition, but also the heart and the pride of our Rattler nation. We are very proud of Kevin for this well-deserved recognition and are grateful for the passion and dedication that he brings to documenting our students achievements. So congratulations I can I just show you a couple of his other shots which are just spectacular. I'm
013super excited about >> his wonderful teacher Miss Lacroy. >> Yes. This is Miss Lroy. Show them. Mhm. And then this one. >> Really awesome. >> Yeah. If y'all want to come up here so we can get a picture of all y'all. Dad, come on up. >> Yes. >> Mom's here, too. No. >> Guess the next one's gone. We were just going to stay here. I want to thank Kevin, too. He does a great job of what you said, chronic chronicling our uh our sports, but he I can attest to this. He's going to be He's a true journalist. He can hustle a sideline pass better than anybody. Good. I want to I get I have the pleasure of um introducing some more Rattler excellence and it's in our wrestling program. I'm going to start with
014the two coaches that don't come up here. Coach Carvin Smith is our head coach. I want to brag about these two and Jeremy Cross. Um these guys have been leading our wrestling program for 10 years, a decade. I've had the pleasure of witnessing it for six years and um what I've witnessed is one they know the the discipline of wrestling. Um and what makes these two guys special is they can teach it. There's a lot of coaches that want to call themselves coach, but uh these guys teach it well and it's their resume is proof. In that 10 years, they've had a wrestler at the state meet every single year and that that that event is special. And in 2021, Giana Moreno was our first uh state champion in school history. And then we're going
015to talk about one more. Mila, if you'll join him. Mila Warez is u wrestling's new to me these last six years. So, but I've gotten the firsthand seat of just watching uh one, it's very strategic, but it's also very physical and and taxing. And to be at the level she is at, you have to invest a lot. a lot of time, a lot of energy, and this is one of those, you know, you see those shirts that say blood, sweat, and tears. This is one of those sports that is truly blood, sweat, and tears. Um, but she is the testament of a true student athlete. She carries a 3.9 GPA along with all that training she does. I knew she was different. I knew she was different her sophomore year. I don't know if we're
016at regionals or at state. Uh, hadn't had many conversations with her, but I found myself talking to her. She had her headphones on. She was jamming out the Kodak Black and and I asked her I said I said, "Hey, are you ready for this?" And she just took her head sets off and she said, "Uh, I'm just here to do two things." And she was chomping on gum. "I'm here to do two things. I'm here to chew gum and kick butt." And and uh and that's what she's done. As a freshman, she was a state alternate. Uh meaning if someone got hurt in her weight class, as a freshman, she was going to compete at the state meet, she didn't get to. was a sophomore. She was determined uh to put herself on the map
017and she did that. She uh she won regionals and then she got second in state. Um and then after after that second in state's a big thing, but for her it was not what she wanted. It's not what she wanted and she made it known uh not only to you know us but she knew to the to the wrestling world and in in her classification that she was going to she was going to win state next year and that's what she did. She's u she won district this year. She won regional this year. She was the most outstanding wrestler at both those events. And uh not only when you go to these wrestling matches, you can tell when people say a name, uh they want to watch. Well, Mila became one of those wrestlers at
018the state meet. And um I want to introduce our second 6A state champion uh wrestler in school history, Mila. You can't see the I'm sure next month we Congratulations, Mila. You see me in the hallways at the high school help me out if I'm you see me in trouble. Um many great stuff. Our FFA, our CTE director is not here, but our kids are competing. They just did very well. I think our floral team got six out of 91 teams in the state of Texas. So, a lot I'm sure we'll be recognizing them pretty soon. But I'll end it with Dr. for Valadez and our attendance winners uh for the superintendence award. >> Good evening, President Holl, board of trustees, Dr. Cardona. Uh so for the month of January, we have surprise uh Ernnandez uh
019principal Gonzalez. Uh Ernnandez had 95.76% ADA and that is our district goal is 95%. So they met that goal and actually went above it. So let me grab a picture. >> Congratulations. >> And for our middle school campus or for our secondary, we have Miller Middle School with 93.26% ABA. Come on up. Thank you. >> Do want to end the superintendent report by shouting out Dr. Young who was recently named to the board of directors. I'll get it wrong. National Association secondary school principles. So she's going to be representing Sam San Marcus nationally uh in policym for education leaders. That's an important step. So thank you Dr. Young. and also Jennifer Gonzalez and Hernandez got selected to the Hollessworth uh I guess I'll call it leadership two-year leadership pipeline where they'll be working with the
020Hollessworth Center and her team that she selects uh for the next two years on leadership development. That's a really big honor for both of them. So congratulations to both of them. >> And with that that's the superintendent report. All right. Next, the next item are the reports for the board of trustees. And it looks like up first the proclamation, the CT month proclamation, which pastor Kane will read for us. Whereas the month of February has been designated as career and technical education month by the state of Texas. And whereas over 85% of SMHS students are enrolled in at least one CTE course and opportunities for CTE engagement have been developed for all students in SMCISD from K to 12. And whereas teachers in the CTE classrooms, labs, shops, clinics, and studios continue to find innovative
021ways to engage students and build their desire to connect with the school community. And whereas CTE provides students with career exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic coursework and pursue established programs of study and career pathways. And whereas students enrolled in CTE programs develop the skills necessary to continue after graduation in both postsecary educational pathways and career pathways through authentic meaningful experiences that improve the overall quality of their education. And now therefore, the board of trustees of the San Marcus Consolidated Independent School District does hereby resolve that February 2026 will be observed as career and technical education month throughout the district. The board encourages our community to express their support to our CTE teachers and staff for their work in preparing students for
022post-secary life and express their support to our CTE students for the ongoing dedication to their goals. >> The next item is the bond construction update. Mr. Sandabal, >> good evening board president Hollyy trustees, Dr. Cardona. Um, tonight I'm going to give you all a very brief update on the 2023 bond construction projects. Uh, and then at the end I also going to provide you some additional information for an action item that you all have u later on this evening related to the the to the bus purchases. Uh, we're going to start out by talking about Mendes. Uh, as anybody that drives down Interstate 35 can see that we're we're trying to beat the HB that's being built right now and I think we're going to win. But anyway, it is progressing nicely. We started in
023May of 2025. We are on track to finish in July of 26. Uh probably middle of July towards the end of July and then we'll start the demo of the existing Mendes and with the completion date of November of 26. Uh as far as the middle school projects, we are finally completed and I'll have some pictures at the end to show everyone. Uh but we are finally completed with our middle school projects which was the middle Miller athletics and the goodn night fine arts and courtyard. Uh we are doing some site work and we're also uh doing some work on the detention pond in front of Miller. We expect that to have uh be completed in the next week and then I expect to have this project in front of you all for acceptance either
024in the March board meeting, probably the April board meeting so we can get the financials all wrapped up. And then of course the natiatorum continues uh we started that in June of last year, last summer with a completion date also of November of 26. the high school project. Um, as you know, the phase one, we completed that this past summer. Phase two, which we're right in the middle of right now, is the we started in September of 25, that's the new band hall and the new blackbox. We do have a completion date of August of 26 before students return for those two areas. Uh at that time in May of 26, which is a couple of months, we're going to start the renovation of the theater and music areas with the completion date of January
025of 27. Phase two, which is the classroom addition, we started that in November of 25 with the completion date of January of 2027. And then the last phase would be the sped renovation which is inside the high school uh January of 27 start date uh with a completion date of May of 27. Uh we are working with the campus almost weekly on logistics to make sure we're moving students safely and also parents and visitors to the campus. And then we also expect to have that pack and gym entrance uh opened after spring break. The when when everybody returns after spring break uh it will be open for uh access into the pack and gym. So that's a picture of the band hall uh and the black box. The black box is in the lower left
026hand which is got water in it when we took this picture. But uh that is the uh the view of the new band hall in the blackbox theater. And then that's just a different uh shot from uh looking at looking at the band hall. The parking lot expansion which is the parking lot up by the u staff parking and the bus loop is complete. Uh that's also going to serve for uh parking for the natiatorum but we are we have completed that and it is being used today. That is the classroom edition on the back side and that's sort of an outdated picture by about two weeks. We do have still up that is going to be a twotory. Uh we'll have seven brand new classrooms on floor one and six brand new classes on
027floor two. That is Mendes. And I know that's a lot of pictures, but just like I said, uh there's a lot of work that's already happening inside the building with um you know, mechanical, electrical, plumbing. Uh a lot of the walls have been up. We have also started giving uh some of the staff at Mendes tours, including Principal Perkins. Everybody's extremely excited about this project, about this school. Um that top left photo is just the exterior. We ask our our our projects, most of our projects, we ask them to do a mockup. We want to see what it's going to look like. And that's going to be the exterior of u of Mendes. And then uh of course the the uh picture in the middle all the way to the right, that's just an interior
028view of the courtyards um on the academic side of the building. That's the natiatorum. Uh we are expecting still or actually still for the building to be delivered in the second week in March. And once we have that that'll be about maybe 3 to four week process to get the building up and then all of the all of the interior work starts which will go pretty quick once we get the uh once we get the building up. So like I said earlier that's a a u November 26 completion date. Some final photos here. This is the exterior of the midnight or the middle school at at goodn night. um the band hall and the orchestra room. And then we've got some photos of the interior, which is the new um new music area and then
029some um uh practice rooms and storage. So, we are on budget on all these projects. I'm happy to report that we are on budget with these projects. they are going. We we have our our contingency which we set aside for things that happen along the way. We are looking good in uh in that aspect as well. So everything seems to be going well with this 2023 bond. Any questions? >> Okay. >> Thank you very much. >> No questions. Okay. So, I do want to talk a little bit about uh Anthony Shields, our director of transportation was up month ago, maybe two months ago, talking about these these buses and there is an action item this evening and I just wanted to share with you our since 2018 how we've purchased buses in this district. Uh
030in 2018, we purchased five buses with with local funds. In 2019, utilizing the 2017 bond funds, which was a planned expenditure, we purchased an additional five buses. Uh because we had uh some supplemental funds in 2017, we purchased an additional six buses in 2022. And then from the 2024 bond or 2023 bond, uh we did purchase six buses and that was a planned expenditure. And then in uh this year we took uh delivery of nine electric buses and a percentage of that because some of that was purchased via grant is going to be with local funds. Uh the information on the right is just showing you the increase of a bus, the cost of a bus and that continues to rise as y'all could probably understand. So, um, this sort of outlines our replacement plan,
031and it's admin's recommendation, administration's recommendation, and and pushing aside um, Senate Bill 546, which is the those seat belts that that Mr. Mr. Schills talked about, we need to replace buses. And, um, the proposal from us is that we've got these 2313 buses. And the way to read this is the buses on the left are currently what we have in inventory, the type of the bus, the amount that we have, and the projected replacement year. So, it's our recommendation that we purchase out of the 2023 bond supplemental funds, nine buses. I know y'all have 10 on your on your list. Uh but we also have a sped bus. So, that's the 10th bus right there. So, there's 10 buses that we're we're asking to be purchased out of the 2023 bond supplemental. And then a
032year from now, we're going to probably come back and say, "Okay, we want to buy another 10 buses utilizing 2023 bond supplemental funds to replenish the 2014, 2015, and 2015 buses. And then one of those buses, uh, because there's a total of 11, one of the one of those buses will be purchased out of out of general funds. So, like I said, that's that's our recommendation. Um, we the Senate bill is important. It's important for safety. It's important for a lot of reasons, but at the end of the day, we have to replenish our buses and either we take them from local funds, general funds, or we utilize the the supplemental bond funds that we're projecting to have. I know we talked about it last time. We expect that we'll be back in April with
033some projects for y'all to consider. and make a decision on on what you want to do with that. But we would definitely be able to afford the 20 buses that we're projecting out of supplemental bond funds from 2023 to help um replace some of these older buses. >> Turn your mic on. >> President Her um what's the expected lifespan on on a bus? Excuse me. Like a 2014 bus doesn't seem that old in my in my head. Um but my Jeep's kind of old. Um like how long do they last? Good morning or good afternoon, excuse me. Uh expected life cycle of buses is between uh 12 years, sometimes pushing to 15 uh but it has gone down to 12 uh and then also about 150,000 mi. After that, we start getting into a lot
034of mechanical issues. Um, and being that the buses are now becoming more technologically uh driven, uh, we're having we're seeing we're having to replace them earlier just because of the technology that's being put on the buses. And like for instance on these 2014 buses or 2015 buses that are on this projection or propo proposal that's not what's before us tonight but just so I understand how many miles do those 2015 buses on average have on average our 2015 buses are currently running between 125 and I want to say the highest 2015 bus currently has about 175 to 180,000 miles and those are the buses that we are 2015 and above are the ones that we're seeing a lot of uh repairs happening just due to the age of the the vehicle. >> Miss of the
035buses that were purchased in more recent years that I see down here toward the bottom, how how early did we start purchasing buses that already had seat belts? Uh, we started purchasing buses with seat belts in 20 The list looks a little wonky. We technically started in 2018, but on the list they're 2019. They were uh purchased in 2018 and built in 2019. And that was another legislative update. um transportation code 547 uh went into effect September 1 of uh 2018 that we have to uh buy buses with the three-point lap and shoulder belts. >> Okay. So, anything on this list that's before 2018 has to be replaced by what year right now? >> Uh currently, as it states in SB546, it needs to be replaced by September 1 of 2029. >> Okay. Thank you.
036Thank you very much. The next item is the approval of consent agenda items. Miss >> Oh, sorry, Miss Ku. When when we return these buses, do we collect any money? Is there a resale value to them at all after we're done with them? So, we do auction off all vehicles uh per our district policy. So, depending on the uh the condition of the vehicle will determine on how much we get for it for them. Uh since I've been here, I think really the highest that we've received on a vehicle has been probably no more than like $8,000. Um, but the better condition the vehicle is, the higher the the uh the amount that we can get in the auction for it. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Seeing none, approval of the consent agenda
037items, which include the approval of the minutes for the regular scheduled board meeting on January 20th, 2026 and the special board meeting on February 2nd, 2026. >> Madame President, I'd like to remove 7C from a consent. >> Okay. Okay. So that would leave that item in the considered approval of the quarterly investment and financial report. Is there a motion to approve items A and B? >> So moved, Madam President. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Motion made and seconded. Any questions? Seeing none, please raise your hand if all in favor opposed. Is there a motion to approve item C? >> I have a question. >> Mhm. Um, I'd like to understand why this was a surprise. Like, do we how many kids do we have total in the program? Um, did we budget for five
038and we ended up with nine? I'm just trying to understand how this came. >> No. Um we didn't budget uh for this particular item just because we don't know at the beginning of the year when we actually approve the budget how many students we're going to have. >> So we just bring it as a board amendment once we know how many childrens are going to be enrolled. >> So there's four total children and they've already been going there. >> Yes. >> Since when? Um I guess at the be the beginning of the school year beginning of the school year and then they bill us. Um we just got the bill like last month I believe. >> Okay. And can we not meet these children's needs on campus? >> Not to my knowledge. No. We have
039to send them to the regional day school. >> And we're all four of these children SMCISTD students last year. I could not tell you that. I can find out. I don't know. So, the reason we don't add it into the budget at the very beginning, cuz I, like I said, I don't know. So, I can either add to the budget, you know, additional $500,000 that we don't know if we're going to spend or not. So that's why we were like, well, let's just not put it in there and then we'll bring the amendment when we find out exactly how many students are in the program. >> I don't I mean as at least individually not too fond of this approach because they've been there since August. We owe the money but we have never allocated
040it. What happens if we don't? >> Well, we have to pay it. They're there. So we need to allocate the money. Um, or we can I mean look within our budget to see what's there, but then it's going to short something else by the end of the year. >> That's what I'm saying. I don't like a budget amendment at gunpoint. Like it I think you have to plan for this type of expense so that we can make a considered decision about the money. You can't just be like, "Oh, you got to approve it." You know, it's February and they've been there all year. Seems like a backwards way of approaching a fairly significant investment. So, we can, like I said, we can add money in there going into next year and have a budget amendment,
041but if I say that we maybe have three students cuz they fluctuate in and out of there. So, I don't know how many actual students they're going to bill us for until they send us the bill. But, we can come up with an estimated amount of of how many students we think we're going to have. But I mean, you know how many we sent, right? They're not just they're not counting the kids like we know how many kids go to the the school, >> but sometimes they don't start at the very beginning of school. They might start two months later or what have you. I understand what you're saying. And if you want me to bring a board amendment every time we send we know we have another kid going, then we can do a
042board amendment for that. I mean, I just don't have an amount at the time when like when we're going to do our budget this next coming months. I don't know how many children are going to be enrolled next year. >> How many were there last year? >> Um I I can't tell you off the top of my head. >> Someone's bound to know. 75,000 a kid. Like we probably have an idea, right? >> I don't know. Was it four? four. >> Okay. And are these the same four? >> Are they the same? >> Yes. >> Okay. And some more questions. >> Mr. Ardondo. >> Thank you, Miss Hoy. Refresh my memory. Did we tip did we partner with HCIS to do this or or is this the Texas School of the Deaf that we >>
043This is the Texas School for the Deaf. We used to partner with Hayes a few years ago. So, can you explain that history to me? Because again, I remember I thought we housed it and then gave it to them and and now we're obviously all transferring them to a different facility campus. >> Good evening, trustees. We partner with um Hayes CISD with their regional day school program. Um they provide deaf education for us for our four students. So, they actually require ACL and interpreter services. We do not have the capacity nor the resources here to actually pull with for students. So we actually outsource with the regional day school program at Hayes CISD. So the art committee determine that level of service is needed and we we work with directly with Hayes as relates to
044them implementing that service for our students. So, I guess my followup to that is um and I'm guilty of like I guess I don't know how many years we've been doing this, but is there a way we can get like an invoice from HCIC to see like what these services are that are provided? Cuz again, I'm not an expert here, but I mean at 70,000 per student, you're telling me we can't hire an interpreter to just be full-time with said student here in San Marcus, right? Like if it's a dollars Well, it's a dollars higher. >> Yes, sir. It is not just interpreter, it's also deaf ed teachers. So along those lines, you are paying for deaf ed service, you're paying for aology, um different layers of services as it relates to our deaf ed
045students. So the instructional component is one aspect of it, but there's also related services that are provided um from the deaf ed program there at Hayes and their partnership. And I Hayes has been a partner with the regional day school program probably for about 15 years. So I'm not for sure exactly how long we've been partnered with them with our four students. I do know our students are not new. They have been attending that program. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. And one other thing, we do pay it out of local funds because then we we can get reimbursement for maybe half of it about 170 180 uh with our um um high cost grant. So we do apply for the high c high cost and we do get about 180 170 back from that
046uh expense. >> Thank you Miss Holly. So I guess going through that line of reasoning then even though it's a pool from general fund or fund balance now I guess somewhere down the line there's some >> yes before we get reimbursement we get like I said about 180 reimbursement from that >> so I guess for me moving forward to to better understand this process it'd be great now that I asked and now that I know super helpful that we're not made whole again but we get something >> yes >> again as we do budget formation and and you are I guess maybe being asked to forecast this again in those budget projections contingent on all things panning out >> if you budget 300 400,000 acknowledging that there might be some type of opportunity moving forward
047to get reimbursed close to 50% will be helpful for me as a policy maker. >> Okay, sounds good. I think um what this makes me think is that would be helpful at our next budget workshop to have a workshop on special education funding since we have a new special education director. Um there have been changes that in ways that we've served students over the past few years and I think that it would be great for the board to get an update on which are federal funds, what are local dollars and how do where are they going and um how's that working? Okay. >> My last question is this considered like a professional services contract? Like is this like a vendor? >> We're essentially farming out the service for folks. >> Correct. >> In that same
048line of thinking, it'd be I' I'd be interested in seeing what all professional service contracts we have as a school district at the upcoming budget workshop. >> Okay. President Holly, do you This is more like a internal board question. >> I've never approved a budget amendment for this. >> When did this start coming as a budget amendment? Do does anyone recall? Did y'all do it last year? What's the history? >> I don't remember. >> Okay. Do you know? No, we this is the first year because last year where we were looking at our budget and it was so um with the big deficit we were trying to find um places to make some cuts and because this is wasn't it clear how many students we were going to pay that was taken off and then
049we were going to bring it as a board amendment u as I did right now. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, with those questions, is there a motion to approve the budget amendments? >> I'll move to deny the budget amendment 7C for untimeliness. I mean, this should come in our budget. Um, the staff just presented that they pulled it out because, you know, it would make the deficit look higher. I don't think that's a good budgeting concept. It's the same for kids as last year. So, I'll move to deny. Is there a second? >> I'll second for the purposes of discussion, Madame President. >> Motion to deny and a second. And are there any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your hand. All opposed. That motion does not carry.
050Is there another motion? I'll make the motion to consider the or to approve the um budget amendment as presented. >> Motion made by Miss Lopez. Is there a second? Seconded by Miss Kaine. Are there any questions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please raise your hand. All opposed. That motion carries 51. Thank you. All right. The next item eight items for action for the board of trustees. Um consider the approval of San Marcus CISD's mission statement and commitments. This is something that the board met together uh first with administration and then uh with the superintendent to discuss and revise our core commitments. Um any questions? Any discussion? Is there a motion? >> So moved, Madam President. >> Motion made by Mr. I'll second. >> Seconded by Mr. Mcloth. Questions? Seeing none, all in favor
051of alter of revising the mission statement as presented, please raise your hand. >> Can we get them on the screen? >> Oh, yeah. >> Just so everybody can see them. I know they're in the book, but if not, it's okay. >> Yeah. I think it's important to say >> we looked at our core commitments and we revised them to what we're hoping is a statement that people can learn and then be able to say this is our our goal as the district and then three commitments that flow into that overarching goal which is hopefully coming up. I haven't memorized it yet. Okay. >> Um, >> you can always take the vote and then pull it up in a minute. I mean, >> why don't we move on to item number two? Consider and take possible
052action regarding Senate Bill 11 SB 11, the resolution for period of prayer or religious text reading. >> President. Yes, Miss Kane. >> I move that the board of trustees decline to adopt a policy under Senate Bill 11 establishing a daily period of prayer or religious text reading and continue current district practices that protect voluntary individual religious expression in accordance with the resolution. Motion made by Miss Kaine. I will second that motion. There any questions, discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please raise your hand. opposed. That motion carries 6. The next item is to consider the acceptance of the slack recommendation for library book procurement. Dr. Cardona, do you have a >> I'm going to have Lacy come up and explain the changes we made from the first time we considered this. >> Good evening, board
053of trustees. Dr. Cardona. When it comes to procurements, um that list is a little bit longer in the spring primarily because of um recommendations from groups that you'll see in the far right column. We added that column for you for a little background on why those books, you know, some of them were recommendations, some are the next in a series. Um and remember, since we're only doing procurements twice a year, those lists will be longer than just random throughout the year. And then it's Well, I guess we're just on that item, so I'll wait. Is there a motion to approve the recommendation for library books procurement? >> Miss Kane has made the motion. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> Second by Miss Lopez. Are there any questions? >> Mr. Mclofflin, >> couple
054questions. Um, so on the procurement list, line item. No, I'm just kidding. Um, of the 728, um, was that the original list? Was there anything called out or did just a total of 728 come and then 728 were recommended? >> Correct. The Slack did not recommend to remove any. >> Okay. And is there is there was there some tell me how that process worked. Convince me this was rigorous. the committee that you assigned is given lots of information weeks in advance. Um, we ask them to do their due diligence. We give them links to the materials and the initial invitation that you sent to them when picking them previewed the requirements of being on this on this committee. Um, so I am not able to monitor them at home to see how thoroughly they do
055that. But they are a pretty passionate group who come prepared um and put a lot of trust in our school librarians and these other professional organizations that provide recommendations. Um so in the case of this item though the group did recommend to procure all on the list. >> I think what if I'm not speaking for Mr. Mclofflin I think he also wants to know what happens prior to this at the campus level. like I'm my understanding is they met during the summer to go over some of these purchases as well. So the campus level also >> right and all that's in the collection development policy that we provided. So we can if that's a workshop item or we need to go through and dive more deeply into we'd be happy to to do that. >>
056We can um I think y'all approved that in the a fall meeting so we can resend Any other questions? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion to approve, please raise your hand. Opposed on that motion. And item number four, consider the acceptance of the SLAC recommendations for the library book challenges. So, uh, we did make the requested change to take it item by item. And so, the committee made a motion for every item. And, um, I was just going to highlight for you some of the robust discussion that happened around these items. One, the committee discussed the source that discussed the source that the challenger the challenger used for all challenges, used for all challenges, booklooks.org, booklooks.org, and they had a conversation um about their opinion on the um the sources bias or political
057leanings when um reviewing books in part or in whole for literary merit. So, that was some of their discussion. One, the committee their discussion. Um they did concede as they have before that in isolation some passages might seem rather shocking and offensive but they still the committee is very committed to looking at the weight and merit of the book overall when discussing whether it's worth keeping. Um they highlighted a couple of books that had been challenged as books that are nominated for national awards widely taught in high schools across the US and even embedded in some AP curriculums. um they did have some issue with some of the challenge forms having some errors and so we're going to make sure that we clean those up before they ever make it to the Slack going forward.
058Um they did have a conversation on the comparison of our students to an incarcerated population and um had a conversation just clarifying again how parents can deny the access. So, those were some of their talking points and they also they concluded with a really um wanting to amend the challenge form. You know, we have to use what TEA gives us. We can't omit or edit anything there, but you can add and they would like to add a couple questions just to get a more global understanding of the challenge. And so, we're working on a a version that we would bring to you later this spring to see if you would accept that. But those were some of the talking points during this portion of the meeting. Is there a motion? >> Motion to approve. President
059Holy. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Ardondo. I will second. Are there any questions? >> Mr. I don't know. >> Will you remind me the process or how how do we notify parents, guardians that there is a opportunity for them to restrict certain text from their child accessing it in the library? >> Yeah. Have we taught them how to get on and do are you aware I'll ask Miss Lindberger of our campuses sharing that? >> So we need to double check and refine that. So throughout this exercise, people coming speaking, expressing their concerns. I know I have leaned heavily on it's not my responsibility to restrict what a parent allows your student to read. I know that's a complicated process cuz it's tax dollars buying the books, etc. I guess what I'm hoping for and
060what I'm really leaning on is that because I am leaning into it's a parents right that we communicate that with parents and guardians in a in a proactive way which we do the student code of conduct and expectations and attendance and school bus policy. So, as we develop that for this upcoming school year, I hope that I can like explicitly point to or if a parent approaches me and says, "Hey, this book is in the library. I don't want my child reading it." I can point to, "Hey, this is how you do X, Y, and Z to accommodate your >> absolutely agree personal preference." Yeah, we went pretty thoroughly through with principles, but I think we need we absolutely have to circle back and make sure that that um we've monitored that they've passed that
061along on their campus and I think a district-wide effort is is called for. Yeah. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your hand. All opposed. That motion carries 51. Thank you very much. The next item is the discussion consideration of possible action to authorize the superintendent to send a letter to the city manager of the city of San Marcus requesting an exemption of the assessment of storm water utility fees against San Marcus Consolidated Independent School District and matters related there too. Madame President, um, as the requesting trustee for this item, if there's no burning desires for my colleagues, I'd like to pull this from consideration. >> Any discussion, questions? All right, we will table that. >> All right,
062are we ready with the commitments on the screen? >> Yeah, >> they are. Yay. There they are. Okay. No, no, no. That's great. I thank you, Miss Kane, and thank you for uh rehearsing for everybody the process and why we settled on these commitments and the statement. Um, any other questions, discussion from the board? Seeing none, all in favor of the approval of the new mission statement and commitments, please raise your hand. Opposed, that motion carries six to zero. Thank you. All right, that brings us to item B. Um, consider contract with Haze County for the purpose of election services. And here we have item two is consider resolution to participate in joint election to be held on May 2nd, 2026. Item three is to consider a contract with Caldwell County for the purposes of
063election services and joint elections. And item four is consider contract with Guadalupe County for the purpose of election services. Um I have asked one of our associates uh from Juan Cruz and Associates to be here this evening. >> Oh, there's two. >> There's two um to discuss with with us um the elections that are coming up for the school board. Um because I think that we at least we are find ourselves in a situation that I'm unfamiliar with that I um have not experienced in my tenure on the board and I'm not sure that anybody else has. Um I certainly don't think in recent memory we've had a situation quite like this. So can you please introduce yourself and explain what what is happening right now? >> Yes. Hi, I'm Mario Perez. I'm an associate
064attorney with JCA Law and yes you know it you you're right. It's not a very common situation and actually the statutes and the election code don't really don't really I guess have much to say in one of these scenarios where you just don't have anybody running for the position. I know there is some some or at least I've heard that there is some controversy on the processing of an application that appears to be had been filed after the deadline uh for it to be accepted and the issue about uh maybe previous guidance from our office that may not be entirely congruent, right? Um and so the issue is that u a potential candidate filed an application, however, they filed it for the incorrect office. Um and then the next day it was filed with the
065correct office. However, that was after the deadline. It's important to note that the initial application that it was filed and it's pretty important the difference between that application and the application for a school district writing candidate, it requires the school district candidate to sign an affirmation that uh essentially sex violators are not allowed to run. So the original application doesn't contain that language. Now, when it comes to the law, and it's it's I understand how it can be frustrating because it's not entirely congruent, but that is the state of the law. And what requires the district to do is that uh if the application is defective, the person who's in charge of processing the application essentially has what we call a ministerial duty, which is an administrative duty to reject the application. There is no,
066let's say, wiggle room there. When it comes to residency, the law is pretty clear that when it comes to residency, it has to be up to a court because there is under the law a spectrum as to what residency actually is. It's more of a matter of intent. U and so because of that spectrum, the election code mere simply doesn't grant the elections officer the ability to uh accept or reject a defective application. So that's that's one of the differences. I know. Yes, sir. >> Can you please back up though because I think we need to explain that. So, we have three elections that are coming up for place one, place district one, district two, and district three. And we have our incumbent in district 1 who has filed for reelection and our incumbent in
067district three who has filed for reelection. Um, and but by the end of the filing deadline on Friday, we did not have anybody who filed for the district 2 seat. However, on by the close of business on Tuesday, we did have a person file for the district 2 seat, but they filed as a writing candidate. And this is where I think that I'm certainly confused because I didn't really realize that was a thing or how it works and what makes it different. So, I don't even understand what happens when the only candidate who is filed files as a write-in candidate. Does that mean do we have an election? Must we have an election? Can we cancel the election? Um I I don't How would an election work if one person has filed as a write
068in? I just I need you to explain. >> Well, yes. And and appreciate the question as well. According to the uh the elections code, if you have the positions and you have an unopposed candidate, then the school board has the right to certify that that person has been unopposed and thereby wins the election, you can cancel the election. So the answer is yes. So you do have those three positions. Uh nobody's unopposed. That candidate that writing candidate would be considered to be an unopposed candidate. And that's directly from let's say the horse's mouth from the elections division at the uh Texas Secretary of State that that clarified that for >> So then what's what makes it a writing candidate? Do you see what I'm saying? Like I don't I really don't understand like >> right
069>> what the second deadline is and what distinguishes it >> and how how do we have a c an election where the only person who's filed is a writing candidate, >> right? Yeah. Um well, school district might be a little bit different than your average governmental entity because it has a deadline for the writings. You just can't have anybody show up to on the day of of the election and write in everybody's name. Again, that's because of the >> you can or you can't. >> You cannot. That's because of the added qualifications for a schoolboard trustee that they have to affirm that they're not an offender under some crimes. And so that's just a little quirk in the elections code where if the writing candidate their application was approved, they are officially a candidate, they're
070considered unopposed under the elections code and so you can cancel that election. >> Okay? So, in order to be a candidate at all, you have to have filed that paperwork. And then, so even if if we had an election in district 2, nobody else could win the election except for the person who had already filed because they hadn't filed to be the writing candidate. >> That is correct. >> Okay. That's all new information to me. Um, other questions on this, Mr. McGloin. >> So, I understand that the initial application was defective, right? Rejected. That was the Friday application. >> It it under the law it would be considered defective because it it didn't satisfy the requirements that have that language the >> otherwise satisfy the requirements. >> I believe so. Um I believe that the
071mere fact that it was on the wrong form is a defect. >> I understand. And so then that same person submitted a corrected application on Tuesday. Is that right? >> Pass the filing on there. Nobody had filed by 5:00 on Friday. >> Okay. >> So, one person filed to be a writing candidate by the deadline on Tuesday at 5. >> Tuesday is the ride in deadline. >> Correct. And then it was determined the next day that they had filed the wrong application. >> I see. >> And then they refiled a corrected application. with the with the >> when you took that information to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State's office said what? >> Yes. Well, basically that and it's it's it's a loaded question. Basically that we have to reject the application. Um
072and again going back to the concept of how much authority the elections officer has in some circumstances, it's not the same authority in all circumstances. And so at the end of the day, the elections officer has the authority of if all the filing requirements are met, I either accept it or deny it on the face of the application. Um, and so it it's different when it comes to residency. I know that's that's an added question, but at the end of the day, if the four corners of the document meet the requirements, then you are obligated to accept or reject essentially. >> Mr. on that. >> Uh, thank you so much, President Holy. So, going back to the original application that was submitted, this candidate submitted it to the administration and it was received as valid
073or are all forms to be validated after the fact? I I guess I'm trying to understand how that works, right? So >> the time frame I don't I don't have the time frame uh too concretely said but essentially you have to accept the form after processing it. So the elections officer has to receive the form review it for satisfying the requirements of course with legal counsel and then accept or reject the form. And historically, have y'all I guess like when I filed to run for election in 2024, was your office retained to validate my application for a place on the ballot to make sure it was valid or did y'all accept the administration's acceptance of the form as valid? I wouldn't be keen onto the situation, but I believe that the elections officer at the
074first instance would review it for if all the information was f filled in, etc. And then unless there's an issue with it, then they forward it to our office. But I don't think our office automatically reviews all of the form just in case they have a legal question on it. >> So, how was it flagged this time? >> I guess who flagged it for you? that I am not I'm not sure who at the district flagged whether it was uh what defect was there. I >> mean we have an email chain. I'm not sure if this was exactly it, but I certainly sent a question to the superintendent and to legal counsel asking what I just asked. What happens in when we have one person >> as a writing candidate? How does that work? Right?
075>> What can the board do? What can't the board do? What's the board's responsibility? And my I I would I we can forward the email chain, but my sense is that in that email chain, it was requested by your office to see the applicant. That's my memory, but it could be different. >> So going along that line of I guess chain of events, you were asked, is this a cancelable application? We ruled them uncontested and y'all reviewed the form and deemed it invalid. y'all just on your own perusal was like, "Hey, this is the wrong form. They're actually ineligible." >> I I'd have to talk with the specific attorney from our office who reviewed the form, but yes, I believe that the issue came up and then they reviewed it and they noticed that it
076wasn't on the right form uh after the deadline had already passed. >> Okay. So, on the ISD website, it enumerates the ex of how to file for office, right? It says, "Submit a form with your name on it listing the office." So, separate from the actual filing document being wrong, was it clear that candidate X was running as a writing candidate for a seat on the school board for a specific position? Did it say they were running for county judge of San Marcus CISD or tax assessor collector of San Marcus CISD or US senator for San Marcus IISD? Could you understand what the form what the intent was? >> And I appreciate the I appreciate the question because I think it goes to whether there's good good faith compliance or sub what we call substantial
077compliance in the law where uh the law is complied with in good faith to a certain extent. Unfortunately, and I appreciate the comment because it seems that that would be fair, right? If the intent is of the filer, then it should be fair to give them some wiggle room. Not in this case. The elections code and the authority is pretty black and white whenever it comes to not satisfying on the four corners of the document. And so it's it's pretty limiting in the authority of the elections officer and what they can do, right? they can unfortunately they don't have the discretion to accept a filing that appears to have been filed in good faith. Uh, and I appreciate that and I, you know, that's that's probably a good change, but as it stands, it's more
078of what we call a ministerial duty, which in the law is sort of like a rigid duty that must be followed a certain way and there cannot be any deviation. >> And so based on what I understand, a form was submitted with that information. Obviously, it didn't check a certain box. That form was accepted, signed off by the school district, I guess pending validation now, and then they came in and submitted a corrected form after the deadline. Correct. >> And so those two don't it doesn't matter. Even though you have the original and the amended that satisfies the requirements, it was obviously notorized. Prove that she filed it before the deadline, it's still considered invalid. >> Yes. And and I think that I think your question, if I'm understanding correctly, is does it link back
079to the original application even though it's been filed after the the the period for filing? And unfortunately, it it doesn't. Uh again, these ministerial duties very rigid. There's a famous case from the Supreme Court called Marberry v. Madison. It's like one of the most famous cases. We always learn it, right? And that case was about a ministerial duty, something that had to be done. and there can be no deviation. It's the same thing here. Unfortunately, unfortunately, there's no authority giving the elections officer the ability to ascertain good faith, ascertain intent. It's more of a black and white. Is it four corners? Does it satisfy yes or no? Um it's it's very rigid, unfortunately. And you know, there's been it happens every election. It happens every election in every community that a candidate filed using the
080wrong form. It it it happened in Laredo. It happens all the time, unfortunately. >> I have a few more questions, Miss Kane. So, I'll I'll save my editorializing for a later date, but in terms of now what I presume is a vacant position. Can you explain like I think I understand the process of an appointment but I do have I guess some questions regarding this is a full term and so it's my understanding election code speaks to having a special election at the next uniform election date. Can we have a special election? Can I say we're doing this on June 1st? Is that allowable? I mean, I know other jurisdictions have >> elections that are not in in a cycle. So, can you explain, I guess, that process? >> I mean, that's pretty much correct.
081>> Yeah. The the two options for the district are to either appoint or to run a special election. Um, the consideration with a special election is the cost. Um, and you guys are going to have 180 days from the time of the vacancy to do that appointment because it's a vacancy of more than one year. So again, we're not agendaized for this and it's impossible, but if we were to appoint somebody tomorrow, I got on the school board by running for a seat that was vacated by my predecessor, but the appointee had to run in the next general election. So again, if we say for instance, we appoint somebody tomorrow, when are they obligated to actually run for the seat? Because I'm assuming I can appoint them tomorrow and they fill the full unexpired term.
082>> It it it is the full and expired term. >> I can appoint for the entire three-year term >> and do not have to call a special election. >> Yes, we historically have not done that. We've put them on the next one. So, my understanding was if we made an appointment, they would this seat would be open in May of 27 and run with whatever seats were up at that time. is since that's our standard practice if seven of us want to do that in your legal opinion is that permissible? So, if there were you you all would want to maybe not fill this vacancy until >> we're going to we're going to fill it and then that person if they choose to or whomever wants to run is going to sign up in we're
083going to redo this whole thing in May of 27 >> for a two-year term or for a full >> for an unexpired >> Yeah, for the unexpired two-year. >> Yeah, >> that's what we did previously. So it when this previously happened the person didn't finish the term >> we appointed somebody so they would start in say if say if we appointed somebody right they would start in May and then next May they would be up for election and it would be a regular election happening coinciding with the other regularly scheduled elections for the remainder of that term >> but in that situation there was less than a year remaining on that term. Is that correct? It doesn't matter. This seat, there's still somebody in the seat until May. >> So, yeah. Sorry, I shouldn't have
084said like immediately. When I was elected, my predecessor was elected in May, resigned over the summer. An appointee, I guess, an individual was appointed and then that following May, it was on the ballot again for the remaining two years and change. So is there not some type of requirement that if like a majority of a term is or does it I guess is it different from like a resignation and we have I don't know I'm trying to get an answer if you understand what I'm saying. I I mean there is no requirement that um that you all have to appoint for you know just some just a short amount of time and then and then vote you know to uh elect that you know the community votes to elect for another amount of time um
085for if that is the practice that's been done I mean me personally I would have to do more research into that into whether that is something that you all can do Um, like I said, I I wouldn't know. >> Yeah, I'm looking. >> It's got to be fine. Like more democracy is always good. Like there's no way the rule is no, no, no, no. Can't have an election. Like there's just no way. >> I mean, my sense is that if we go to the appointment process, there's a lot of latitude in what we can do. Miss Leos has a question. >> Okay. So, just so I can understand it from my 5-year-old brain. So, Miss Pondo is in her seat until May, correct? And so, we have 180 days from the point that she vacates
086her seat to a point. >> That is correct. Is that correct? Okay. So, the timeline starts at her at her last date of service. Then we move to that 180. If we if we do choose to appoint within that 180 days, then we can hold that election in May with the others so that we're more cost effective and give a people give the community some time. Right. >> Okay. I just want to make sure I'm tracking that correctly. Now, this individual who, you know, unfortunately filed their paperwork a little off, um, they're still eligible for that appointment if they want it to be considered. Correct. >> Sure. as long as they meet the, you know, the general requirements. So, you're not a sex offender, etc. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Arondo. >> Since we know
087there's going to be a vacancy, can we start the appointment process to where then it would be established the moment the current trustes term is expired? Like again, we know no one's filed. We know when her term expires. Can we start that now? If we enact some type of interview, application call for service, >> you you can if if that's the type of process that you are going to do that requires some you know prior work. Yes, you can. >> So because it is a interim appointment pending what might be a special election. Do the residency guidelines for single member districts still pertain to this? like can I appoint someone from outside of the of the single member district? >> Uh that specific question I don't have the answer to but I very much doubt
088it. I believe it you probably still have the same residency requirements. >> Can you double check on that though and get back to us? >> Just I guess third question. We historically hold our elections in May. We are typically a standalone entity that does that. I don't think we're partnering with anyone. We can have that conversation. I think we try and partner with Martinale, but I know they cancelled their elections. Can we or again, y'all probably don't know this. Can we hold this election in November and like partner with the city of San Marcus and everyone else who's already going to be on a November ballot to like save us costs from hosting a standalone election? >> Is there another trustee election in November? >> No, I don't believe so. >> Can we get like
089a definitive answer on that? >> Okay. Miss Ku, >> I thought we had talked about elections other than at May previously and I thought that there was something with the LUAC council lawsuit that told us that we had to have them in May. Can can we have to check on that for sure, but I mean but obviously we have I mean I think that once we figure out what happens this evening then we have options. We'll just need to get some more guidance on what action we take what the options are that are available to us how we make sure that we stay in compliance and are transparent um in this process. Miss Kane, I know you had another question and then I have a one too. I just because we have a series of
090things we're considering related to all of this. I just want to make sure I have this straight. So, there are two seats that are unopposed. We would have canceled the election for those seats anyway. There's one >> Well, that's what we're going to decide. We haven't them yet. We We have those are on that's on the agenda to to >> Okay. And then we have this third seat that no one qualified for. So we're our decision upcoming is are we going to cancel the election entirely? >> Correct. >> Okay. But so I have a question going back to the district 2 seat and the person that has applied for that. Does the board need to take action on that? Is the board the defining entity on that? I think Miss Gunther is the elections officer.
091Uh feels like a a lot to put on her to make her be the but but she's obviously doing it in council with you and the secretary of state, but I just want to make sure that we understand who's doing what and who's responsible for what. >> Yes, the board has already authorized her to act as the elections officer. She she already has the authority to act on herself to accept or reject the applications. So then we would be determining whether or not to have an election that nobody can we can So in theory we could go ahead and call an election for place two but nobody can be on the ballot. >> That's right. Yes. Um >> okay. So our options seem to be to either go ahead with an election on place two
092that has nobody on the ballot or cancel that election. >> Well actually it it seems like the even the right to cancel it is non-existent. So it seems like we have to run the election even if there is nobody in that position. >> Why? >> There's no authority to cancel it. That's there's authority to cancel an election if somebody is unopposed. There's no authority to cancel it >> If you don't have any and you have to have an authority laid out in the law to cancel it. >> Okay, Mr. Ardondo. >> Uh thank you, Miss Hollyy. So, it's interesting how we're here tonight, but I guess to tea up what I'm going to suggest to my colleagues later is I'm looking at postponing any type of vote on the district 2 election pending a couple
093of answers from our legal counsel. I I am interested in understanding the we have to have an election. I guess the ballot is blank and there are no names. >> That's right. Um, which again, okay. Um, other than that, if we're going to pay for an election, if we're contracted, if it's legal and we have to host something, I'm wondering if we can like postpone until November, or we can select a different date, which if we select a different date, I don't know, August 1st, I'm making up a date. Will then that trigger a refiling, like an opening of the filing period, right? Because I guess if my options are host an election with no names on the ballot in May cuz all the statutory deadlines have passed or holding a special election which it
094sounds like I'm paying for either way. >> Right. >> Is there a date that I can do this sooner than than May, right? Cuz again based on your answers is we have to hold this election regardless. Is there a way to reopen the filing or if there's not then I need a new date to hold an election, right? >> I think for these elections because of the policies already enacted, I think we're set in place for this election. Like we cannot push it if we've already adopted the policies. >> I'm just not going to have an election with nobody on the ballot. That can't be the law. So maybe we can just do a standalone motion on that. >> Mhm. >> And then allow this to work itself out before the next board meeting. >>
095So maybe maybe if I So So >> and three, >> so one and three are the ones where we have a single candidate. Is that right? >> So I'll make a motion to cancel the elections for districts one and three single member district trustees. >> I'll second. Is that under uh item B1? Consider a contract with Hayes County for purpose of election or are we going to take this? >> Can we do them all together? >> Yes. Yes. It's under the the >> Okay. So, this is for items one through four >> and the associated contracts let's say to my motion if my second >> for one and three. >> Okay. The motion is to cancel the elections for districts 1 and three and the associated contracts for this May. Is there a second? >>
096Miss Lopez. Okay. Are there any other questions? >> Okay. Seeing none, uh, all in favor of the motion, please raise your hand. Opposed. Okay. That motion carries 6. >> Congratulations, Miss Lopez and Miss Kane. Thank you for your service. Um, do we need another motion or we move on from this item? >> I guess the expectation understanding is this will come back to us >> in March >> or maybe agenda. I mean, I don't know. It's like the third Monday in March. Were we really too late? I don't know. I guess Jennifer Dornoff will answer that tomorrow when you explain our situation. Correct. Maybe >> we were late >> because we have to do the election by the third of March. >> 3rd of March. >> So we're going to have elections. >> That's Wednesday.
097>> That's Tuesday. >> Tuesday. >> So like count. >> So I need like an answer and an agenda item by March the 2nd which is next agenda prep. and we'd have to move it to Monday night and we'd have to call that meeting >> by Thursday. >> No, tomorrow full days. >> Okay. So, I I'll make a motion to table the remainder of these items to the agenda prep meeting >> and we're moving the agenda. Does the motion include moving the agenda prep to an evening meeting? >> I think I think you can do that in your discretion if it must. Okay. No me on first Monday evening. >> I'll second. And then I have a question for legal counsel. >> Okay. The questions on the motion to table the remaining items to the agenda
098prep meeting on March 2nd. >> Uh I just had a question. Miss Miss Hollyy mentioned it and so now I'm curious. Can I get a copy of all district communications between the school district and legal council regarding this item and also any communications in writing um about trustee residency in the last 24 months? >> You can I just have to double check what the pol the board operating procedures were would require you to do in order to get that information. >> I can submit a public information request if I need to. I just >> No. and and and your request would have a privilege to it. So you don't need to submit one, but there is some requirements about uh sub the method of submitting it and the method of responding to it. I just
099want to make sure it's full. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? All in favor of the motion to table. Raise your hand. Place your hand. Opposed. That motion carries. 6. >> Thank you very much. Um, >> President Trustee President Holly, I doubled your name. >> Is the applicant here? >> No. Okay, that's all I have. All right, >> Miss Hollyy, can I just go ahead and make a motion that we approve items C1 and C2? >> Yes. Motion made to approve the waiverss and >> seconded. Are there any questions, discussion? All in favor, please raise your hand. >> Are you raising your hands? I did. >> I'm sorry. I was too slow. six. Um the next item, operations consider the approval of the purchase of up to 10 buses
100from Longhorn Bus Sales, Rush Bus Sales, and Thomas Bus Texas for up to $1,810,839 through the use of 2023 supplemental bond funds and the authorized the superintendent or his designate to ex execute the contract. Is there a motion on this item? Mr. Walin, uh Miss Kane? Yes, I move it. >> Thank you. >> I'll second. >> Thank you, Miss Lopez. Are there any questions? >> Questions? >> No questions. I'm just I don't We tabled this at the last meeting to a budget workshop to consider the purchase within the context of broader financial decisions. And then we didn't do that. And then it came back to us on the very next meeting. So I I think that we all voted to table it to a workshop on the budget and now it's back. So I'm opposed
101on principle like we we run our agenda and there's no urgency or emergency about the 10 buses. So I think it should have come back in the context of a broader discussion about how we're going to use funds. So I'm opposed. >> Mr. Understandable. Can you please let us know is there a reason that we need to consider this outside of our regular budget process? >> No, there's not a reason. >> Is it is it not possible for us? >> So, y'all tabled it and it just carried over to the agenda. We didn't put it back on. It just stayed on the agenda because I don't remember the discussion about taking it to a budget discussion. >> It's in the minutes we approved. That's when I was preparing for the meeting and I was looking
102at the minutes. That's what refreshed my memory, too. But yeah, I'm not saying it's sinister. I just would like to do that at least myself. But if the rest of you don't, you know, >> there's no reason that we can't wait until we do consideration of the next year's budget and the supplemental bond funds and look at it in that context. As far as you're concerned, >> no, just just about 9 to 10 month window. What's the lead time for buses? >> So, it is going to be anywhere between 9 to 12 months, but we also are up against the 2027 regulations. And so, the prices of buses are going to go up by another $25,000 May or >> But that's what everybody who's trying to sell me anything says every time. And so, I
103I'm unmoved. >> Mr. Ardano. >> Yeah. One, I just wanted to acknowledge I appreciate staff moving this into supplemental budget requests from bond dollars because I think originally the original plan was like pull from general fund, right? And I'm trying to put as much of general fund into like people and students as possible. So, I'm glad that this isn't coming to me as a like I need 1.8 million that could go to teachers and staff and students into I need to like keep kids safe on buses vote, right? So, I appreciate that. Um, I agree with Mr. Mclofflin that as I'm looking at supplemental bond funds, as I'm looking at the 26 27 budget, like I I I have like a lot of questions, a lot of concerns. I still got to burn my saddle
104about us like not giving midyear pay increases, but I know I lost that vote. Um, and so I just need to see it all at at the same time. Um, yeah, that's all you got. Any other questions, discussion? All right. Uh, all in favor of the motion on the table, please raise your hand. Opposed? That motion is 33. So, it does not carry, which means I think that we will reconsider it in the context of the larger budget considerations in a couple of months. All right. Um, the next item is the close session is authorized by the Texas government code section 551.071,551.072 551.076 and 551.087. Is there a motion? >> I'd like more description on what we're doing discussion matters. I don't recall it being on the draft agenda. Was it was it a trustee
105ad or administrative ad? It was a It was a trustee ad. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Motion made, seconded by Miss Kane. All in favor, please raise your hand. >> Yes. Thanks, everyone. All right. The board is reconvening in open session. It is 8:18. We have um five board members in person and one board member on Zoom. Uh the item for action is a discussion action regarding personnel matters. Is there a motion? Yes. I move to authorize legal counsel and the board president to negotiate a contract addendum with the superintendent of schools under the terms discussed in closed session. >> I'll second. >> Motion made and seconded. Are there any questions or comments? >> Uh President Hollyy. >> Yes. Mr. >> I just want to acknowledge that my no vote tonight is because I
106do not support the counter offer being proposed as discussed in executive session. >> Thank you. Any other questions? All in favor of the motion, please raise your hand. Opposed? That motion is 5 to one. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> I would second. >> All in favor, please raise your hand. Mr. McGlothams, followed by Mr. Arando. All in favor? Seconded. All opposed. Sorry. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned at 8.