January 28th Board Meeting

001Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Welcome to Southside ISD, a proud public school district for all in San Antonio, Texas. Home to more than 6,000 students achieving excellence. We are the best choice for education. As an award-winning district, we offer a Spanish medical minor program, CTE, and early college. >> Community involvement through town hall meetings, summer movie nights, and our monthly food distribution is a key to our success. We're the only district in Texas with a dedicated mental health facility supporting student success in school and life. Southside ISD is driven by the teamwork of our teachers, staff, superintendent, and board of trustees. Southside ISD is strong, successful, and soaring to new levels. Hey, good evening everyone and welcome to this regular call

002school board meeting of the Southside Independent School District for Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. Please let the record show that there's a quorum present. Jesse Hernandez, present. Mrs. Brenda, >> present. >> Mrs. Marielle Angob >> here. >> Mrs. Katie Faras, >> present. >> Mrs. Lisa El Salazar >> here. >> Mrs. Mary Silva >> here. >> Thank you. The time is now 6:01 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. As president, I just announced this call this regular meeting of the Southside Independent School District Board of Trustees to order. At this time, I would like to invite uh Mrs. uh Lisa El Salazar to welcome our visitors and guests and to read our mission and vision statement. Thank you. Good evening. I would like like to take the time to welcome all students, parents, grandparents, and community members

003who have decided to join us tonight. Not only those who are present, but also those who are also online. This is our first meeting of the year. So, I would like to wish everyone a happy new year. As always, many great things are happening in our district where our students and staff are champions across the state. This month is schoolboard appreciation month and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of my colleagues for their service to our community. >> Mission mission and business statement. Mission: Southside ISD seeks to be the choice when it comes to providing a quality public education by upholding the highest standards of our core values. Vision. Southside ISD will lead educational excellence by providing innovative programs. >> Thank you, Mrs. Salazar. Please note that this meeting is being

004held and has been posted in accordance with government code chapter 551, State of Texas Open Meetings Act. If during the course of this meeting the board should determine that a close or executive meeting or session of the local board is required, then such close or executive meeting or session can be held as authorized by the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code 551. At this time, may we can all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. And tonight, we have uh Mr. Eric Garca, a 12th grader from Southside High School that will be leading us in the pledge. Forward. Hello. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Forward. Arms much

005time. Much forward much. >> Thank you, Mr. Vosquez. And tonight uh we do not have any public comments. So we'll go ahead and move on to item number four which is a consent agenda. Please note that the following items make up the consent agenda which consists of routine and non-controversial matters that will be approved with a single vote unless a board trustee requests a separate discussion on a specific item. Trustees have had the opportunity to re review all supporting documents related to these items prior to this meeting. Uh at this time, uh do we have any items for discussion or do I have a motion for approval of consent agenda items A through C? >> I'll make a motion to approve consent items A through C. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. Uh Mrs. Odes

006makes the motion. Mrs. Faria second on the roll call. Mrs. Odarees. >> Yes. Mrs. Angles, >> yes. >> Mrs. Faras, >> yes. >> Mrs. Salazar, >> yes. >> Mrs. Silva, >> yes. >> And I just hear this. Yes. Motion carries. And moving on to item five, which is presentations and information. Our first presentation uh is board appreciation video and student presentations. Superintendent. >> Good evening, Board of Trustees, staff, and community members. As January is board appreciation month, it is truly an honor to work alongside such an exceptional board. We are grateful for your leadership, dedication, and continued support of our district. These sentiments are shared by our staff and students who benefit daily from your commitment to excellence. To lead us on a special recognition of our trustees, we have Miss Science. >> Good evening.

007Welcome, Miss Science. >> Good evening, Superintendent Ramirez, members of the board, and our community. Each January, we take time to honor the dedicated individuals who selflessly serve our communities as volunteer school board members. These trustees play a vital role in overseeing the operation of our local public schools and ensuring that every student has access to a highquality education. This year's theme for school board recognition month is our future is public. This gives us an important opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for their leadership, commitment, and tireless efforts to improve our schools. Thank you for your service and for all you do to support our students and community. First, we would like to share a special video. So if you look at your screens >> every day in our district, you can feel the energy of

008possibility. Students discovering their passions, teachers igniting curiosity, families placing their trust in the schools that shape tomorrow's leaders. Behind it all stands a team dedicated to one powerful belief. Our future is public. Our board of trustees works tirelessly to protect that promise. They ensure our classrooms are innovative, our campuses are supported, and our students have the resources they need to rise. Their decisions guide more than instruction. They guide futures. They open doors to opportunities, strengthen our community, and help every child see what's possible when people believe in them. Board appreciation month gives us a moment to pause and say thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your leadership. And thank you for standing firm in the belief that our future is public. And it begins right here with our students. Now we

009have a representative from each campus who will share something special in honor of school board recognition month. Our future is public open that show how much they care in classrooms and hallways and choices you make. You You give you You can You guide every little each st we take with with vision and courage. You lead the way. sending hope today for a brighter tomorrow tomorrow's day. >> We thank you for serving with heart and with trust >> because our public future begins with us. >> Thank you all very much. That was awesome. Okay, moving on to uh presentation campus student VIP award winner superintendent. >> Mr. Board President, this evening we're proud to recognize students who have gone above and beyond in their attendance, conduct, and academic performing. Joining us to present these outstanding students

010are Miss Ggo and Miss Orosco. Welcome, Miss Cu. >> Good evening, President Hernandez, members of the board, Superintendent Ramides, and members of the Southside ISD community. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. It is my pro privilege to introduce our Cardinal VIP students for January. A remarkable group of students. These students exemplify what it means to be a Southside ISD cardinal. Please join me in welcoming our Southside ISD cardinal VIP students. For men for menaka, we have Sarah Bella Aguilar. >> Turn. from freedom. We have Sawyer Tanner from Gallardo. Sebastian Montes for heritage. Aelica Garcia Rodriguez for Pierce. Leilani Edwards for Loya Penelopey Martinez for Matthew Melanie Vera and for the high school Eric Vasquez. There you go. Congratulations. Good job, guys. All right. Congratulations to all our VIP winners. Okay, moving on to

011our next presentation which is the presentation on the HB excellence in education award finalist from Manaka Early Childhood Center. Superintendent Mr. >> Board President Maka Early Childhood Center was selected as one of five finalists for the HB excellence and education awards in the early childhood center category. We are extremely proud of Miss Mattis, her students and staff. To lead tonight's recognition of menaka, we have Miss Science. >> Welcome again, Miss Science. >> Thank you. HB has named 18 finalists across three categories for its 2026 Excellence in Education Awards program, which celebrates educators and institutions that go above and beyond for their students and communities. We're proud to share that our very own Manaka Early Childhood Center is one of the five early childhood facilities selected statewide alongside schools in San Marcus, Austin, Gregory Portland, and

012Fort Worth. Please watch this special video honoring Maka. Welcome to Menaka Early Childhood Center at Southside ISD, where innovation and creativity come to life. Our center is designed to inspire young minds, making learning an exciting adventure. With a focus on fun and engagement, we set the stage for a lifelong love of education. Manaka Early Childhood Center lays the groundwork for success, propelling our students into their future educational journeys with confidence and excitement. Together, we're building a bright future, one cardinal at a time. A panel of judges will visit each finalist campus to meet with administration, staff, and parents, and community members before selecting the final winners. The winners will be announced at the HB Excellence and Education Awards ceremony on Sunday, May 3rd. The top winner will receive additional prizes, including 25,000 for one early

013childhood facility. Now we'd like to invite Principal Modis as we celebrate her and Maka. >> Welcome Miss Mattis and congratulations. >> We appreciate I was going to bring little Sarah, our little one that spoke today. We appreciate you. >> Yes support. I have one of my teachers. >> So for those in the audience that may not know u this uh HB award is very prestigious and then there's literally hundreds of schools uh across the entire state that that uh put in to to be selected or be considered for this. So this this recognition is is huge for Southside and for Manaka. So very nicely done and congratulations again. >> Okay, moving on to our next presentation of the Sasai High School varsity football team. Superintendent President, our high school varsity football team had a tremendous

014season qualifying for the playoffs this year. Uh we are proud of our students and coaching staff. We have coach Lock with the presentation. >> My apologies f to recognize Miss Monas Garcia. Welcome. Thank you for joining us. Please let the record show that Miss Garcia has joined us. All right. Might need a bigger room. All right. Welcome, coach. >> Well, we'll try we'll try and build better next time. >> See some of these guys in a while. So, had to have a reunion back there. >> Well, I uh appreciate y'all. uh school board, Superintendent Ramirez for y'all having us and recognizing this team. You know, I talked to Mr. Ramirez last spring, May, and talked about a lot of things, but one of the things we talked about was, you know, he he got the

015feeling I had a kind of a bad taste in my mouth from last year. And I told him I did. And uh but I also told him that we had a the youngest football team we've ever had here. We had so many young guys which are here today. They were underassmen that were on that team and started and played and and I I told them we would be better. I said I don't know how much we're going to be better because we were a lot better in the spring. But this 20 two uh 2025 football team qualified for the playoffs once again. Cardinals, we finished five and three in district play. We lost to Smith and Valley in the in the playoffs. Uh Smithson Valley, in case you don't know, went on to win the

016state championship for the second year in a row and their third year to play in it. So, it wasn't like we played uh somebody that wasn't worthy. They were very very good and and they you don't win two state titles in a row without not having a a good program. So, uh in saying that, I'm very proud of this team. Uh we talked all all season about protecting the tradition that the people that have come before them have set to be in the playoffs so many years in a row and win four district titles over the last 12 years. And I'm uh there's so many of these guys brothers and cousins and I've coached so many I even got so many players I got four co guys that played for me here that are coaching

017for me now. So it's uh that's strange. That's odd. But, uh, it's it's rewarding to see that and to see kids that want to come back to their school and community to, uh, to coach and to teach. So, I'm very impressed with that and very happy that they want to come back to their home. Uh, in reading some of these selections that we had, just want to, if you can hold your applause, I got a lot of things to say in three minutes to do it in. So, uh, we had a super this year, tight end, tight end MVP of the district, Madx Salazar. First team offense, Joe Lodge Pritchard at running back. First team defense, Alejandro Kasus, Juan Alanise, Maddox Salazar, Jesus Morales. Second team offense, Edgar Vasquez, Juan Alanise, Jaden Glacius, Josiah Escobar,

018Alejandro Kasus, Arturo Bonda, Jesus Morales, second team defense, Sammy Corona, Arturo Bonda, Jerry Ramirez, honorable mention offense, Sammy Corona, Maverick Vela, Alexander Garcia, Fabia Varela, honorable mention defense, Fabian Bella, Zack Wilkins, Edgar Vasquez, Tristan Sea, Joel Jimenez, and Josiah Escobar also made it as a punter and quarterback. Got a special award here that I want to because this is why you come to school in my opinion and why you why we're here. We had four people make uh academic all state Texas High School Coach Association this year. Alexander Garcia, Joel Jimenez, Maverick Vela, and we also had a trainer make it, student trainer, Danielle Mononttoya, which I think that's outstanding. I'm very proud of this group. I'm very proud of what they accomplished. Many of them are back. I'm going to miss some of these

019seniors. There's a lot of this bunch coming back and uh we'll find out Monday what district we're in. So, we're excited about that. But uh thank you for having us and uh this is a two 2025 playoff version of Southside football. So thank you very much. >> Awesome. >> Congratulations to all of y'all and thank you for your great showing uh this year during the the playoffs. And just want to thank y'all, coach, uh to yourself as well, to all your assistants, um and then everybody really involved from from the maintenance to the facilities folks and the athletic trainers as well. So, thank you. Nicely done. Tip toe. >> All right. Great job. Great job, guys. Okay, moving on to our next presentation which is the attendance award. S superintendent Mr. President >> to recognize

020the campuses with the best attendance for the month of November and December we have our peeps director Miss Sanchez and Amy Espinosa. >> Welcome Miss Sanchez. Miss Espinosa. >> Thank you. Good evening board president, board of trustees, superintendent Ramidas and Southside community and parents. This evening, we're recognizing the November and December attendance winners for the 2526 school year, as well as the first semester attendance incentives recipients. So, first we have we have our secondary winner, which is Loya Middle School. Great job at maintaining a 93% for both November and December. We know those months before the break can be quite challenging to keep the kids motivated and attending school and they make it look effortless. So, great job, Principal Blackman and and Loya. Next, we have our elementary winner, which is Pierce Elementary. No surprise

021here. Congratulations, Pierce. You've done an outstanding job at maintaining a 94% or better throughout this first semester. We couldn't be prouder for your efforts. If both principles and staff can stay upfront um for recognition, we have another recognition for you guys. At the beginning of the school year, the PES department, myself and Miss Amy, we were hustling in the parking lots. I don't know if you guys saw us. We I'm just kidding. We had a series of fundraisers to support attendance incentives um for our campuses and now it's time to give that money away to our campuses and we're so excited to be doing this for the first time. So when your campus name is called, will you please join us up front for a photo. First, we have Pierce Elementary with an overall 95%

022for the semester. They will be getting $400 for attendance in incentives for their campuses. Following we have Loya, Heritage, Freedom, and Gallardo with an overall of 94% and they will be receiving $300 to be used for attendance incentives. Next, we have Matthew and Menaka with the 92% overall, and they will be receiving $200 to use for attendance incentives. And last but not least, we have Southside High School with an overall average of 90% and they will be receiving $100 to um to use for attendance incentives. and and get used to it cuz we're going to do it again at the second semester. >> I don't know. >> Great job. Congratulations. >> Good job. >> I'm not very good at this. I'm sorry. All right, moving on to our next presentation, which is uh the 2026

023Southside ISD Fiesta Medal Art Contest and Southside Education Foundation Fiesta Medal Art Contest winners. Superintendent, Mr. board president, the campuses submitted their selections of fiesta medals so that our trustees could assist in selecting uh the winners for the district and for the education foundation. We have Miss or Rosco Mein with the presentation of the selections and the winners. >> Welcome, Mr. Rosco. >> Hi, good evening. Good evening. So, this past fall semester, the communications department hosted the Fiesta Medal contest for the 2026 school year through onampus submissions. The following artwork was presented to the board for judging. And a congratulations to Miss Vion Diaz Gara. The board has selected her artwork. And while she was unable to join us this evening, we wanted to recognize that she's done a great job um portraying Southside spirit

024in her artwork. We also wanted to acknowledge that the SISD Education Foundation opened its Fiesta Medal contest to district staff. the their board saw an assortment of talent among staff and in their December meeting voted on Miss Samantha Vega from Gallardo uh elementary. >> So for today they are getting a certificate uh marking their accomplishment but when we get the medals ordered in or shipped in they will be receiving the very first medals. >> Awesome. >> Great job. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Good job. >> Okay, one last thing. So, um, we just wanted to let y'all know, oh, never mind. Well, uh, just real quick, uh, those medals will be on sale soon, uh, pre-sale pretty shortly. Um, and for the foundation, all of those proceeds will be going to the teacher grants

025and school scholarships. >> Great. >> Thank you very much, Miss Rosco. Appreciate it, >> Miss Jon. Thank you. It's always great to see you. Appreciate it. And appreciate the support of the foundation. Thank you. Okay, moving on to our next presentation which is the 2025 resultsdriven accountability outcomes for special education. Superintendent, >> Mr. Board President, the district received the results driven accountability report, the RDA, providing an overview of special populations yearly performance. D Dr. Selenas will present the results. >> Good evening. Welcome, Dr. Selenas. >> Thank you. Good evening, President Hernandez, members of the board, Superintendent Ramirez, and Southside community. My name is Dr. Ernesto Selenus. I'm the director of special programs here at Southside ISD. Tonight, I will be presenting the 2025 results driven accountability outcomes in the area of special education for Southside.

026I want to first begin with a brief overview of RDA. Results driven accountability is the Texas Education AY's evaluation tool that measures how well districts are meeting the needs of students served in special education and other federally funded programs. RDA examines academic performance, discipline, graduation and dropouts and compliance with program requirements. Each RDA indicator receives a performance level and these performance levels determine the district's final Determination levels are assigned across four categories. DL1 means meets requirements which is the highest rating and indicates strong program quality and compliance. DL2 means needs assistance which means the district is performing adequately but still has areas requiring improvement. DL3 means needs intervention which signals more significant performance issues that require targeted corrections. And finally DL4 means need substantial intervention which is the lowest classification and it indicates serious systemic

027concerns. These determination levels are designed to provide the state and the district with a clear understanding of performance standings and improvement needs. For 2025, Southside ISD earned Amiche requirements determination level one, which is the highest classification and a milestone never seen in Southside ISD's history. This recognition reflects years of focused work, collaboration, and commitment across campuses and department. This is truly a celebratory moment for Southside ISD. Now that we have reached this positive point as a district, it's natural to consider where can we continue to improve. Achieving DL1 does not signify the end of improvement but rather confirms that our systems are moving in the right direction and are capable of sustaining upward progress. Out of the areas identified for continued refinement relates to the area of discipline data. Southside ISD was noted for a

028third consecutive year significant disproportionality in the area of disciplinary removals for special education students. This is an area that we we are well aware of that needs attention and it does come with formal requirements. In response, we took the steps to review our policies and practices. We analyze years of behavioral data to better understand patterns and procedures. These findings helped us to identify opportunities to strengthen our systems. Moving forward, the district will place a stronger consideration and emphasis on restorative and instructional approaches to behavior rather than relying heavily on removals. Along with behavior, we continue to strengthen other areas identified in the RDA report. Our special education dropout rate does have room for improvement and we continue to closely monitor the students who may be at risk while ensuring that all teams coding is accurate

029and clean. Academics always remain a priority here at Southside ISD and we are committed to continued growth in the area of special education uh through strong specially designed instruction and wellsupported educators. While we recognize these opportunities for improvement, I want to return to the significance of our DL1 rating. This is this achievement is historic for Southside ISD and reflects the tremendous dedication and hard work of many people across our systems. I know I know the board has seen me up here frequently over the years uh asking for approvals in the area of special education. And I just want to share that this is the fruit of those investments. And with that said, I want to thank our board uh for your ongoing support and for approving the key initiatives that allow these improvements to occur.

030I want to thank our district and campus leadership for championing the work. I want to thank our leaders, service providers, and various district staff who implement these practices every day. And finally, I want to show appreciation to our families and students who are essential partners in everything that we accomplish. Southside ISD has reached a new level of excellence and we are committed to building upon it. Thank you for your time and I can answer any questions. >> Thank you, Dr. Selenus. Congratulations. Uh any questions or comments? First of all, congratulations. Very proud of that rating. Also want to thank you for being transparent about what we do need to work on because I think that's more important than that, you know, the actual rating because it's only going to make us better. But very proud,

031very proud of what y'all done. Thank you. >> What else? >> Okay. >> Thank you. Congratulations. Okay, moving on to our next presentation which is the December benchmark results. Superintendent, Mr. Board President, uh students completed their second nine weeks assessments. The board received the results in two formats as reported by the state with the approaches meets and masters and another report on with a 0 to 100 scale with no duplicates in any category as requested by the board. Uh Mr. Castillo will present the results. >> Good evening. Welcome Mr. you. >> Good evening. Good evening, members of the board, President Hernandez, Lieutenant Ramirez. Uh, at the end of the fall semester, students participated in the second nine weeks assessments. Uh, these results were analyzed and shared with both campus leadership and the teachers themselves in

032the campus debriefs and PLC's and other opportunities that the uh, campuses had uh, to measure the overall student achievement and progress. Today we will present the overall student achievement through the lens of the second nine weeks comparison with the last year and cohort comparison were applicable. We also have the information available as Mr. Ramirez mentioned uh to include the subops that's the emergent bilingual and special ed uh and the 0 to 100% model where the percentages equals to 100 in the approaches meets and masters. So here we have the state reporting model which is with the familiar approaches meets and masters for all student progress that we have starting with the elementary scores. We have the third grade reading language arts second language comparison from this year to last year. As you can see we

033had an increase of eight points. So, uh we had an overall increase in the approaches, meets and masters. In the third grade math, we pretty much held uh in comparison to last year. Um so, what we do see is an increase in the meats and we're hoping that uh we know that with the hard work with all our teachers and our campuses, we'll make even greater strides uh by the end of the spring semester. For the fourth grade reading language arts, we see an increase in both a second nine weeks comparison from this year to last year with an uh increase in 13 points and we see an increase in the cohort group uh growth uh with 16 points. We had an overall increase in the approaches, meets and masters in fourth grade math. Although

034we see a difference of three points in the second nine weeks comparison, we do see an increase in the cohort growth of four points. We need we know now that we need to focus in the approaches uh all those students that fell in the approaches for the fifth grade arlay. We had an increase in both the second nine weeks comparison and the cohort growth. In the second nine weeks comparison from this year compared to last year, we had an 11 point growth. For the cohort growth, we had a 9point growth. Again, we see an overall increase in the approaches, the meets, and the masters. For the fifth grade math, we see a difference of three points in the second nine weeks comparison. But the good thing, the highlight here would be the cohort growth of

035five points. So that means that our kids are growing as they're going from one grade to the next. For fifth grade science, here we see a a difference of five points of the second nine weeks comparison from the previous year. So, one thing that I'd like to make a note of is that uh the second nine weeks test was designed according to the new state blueprint. That means that we have more rigorous questions, fewer questions. That means that each question is worth more. Uh and uh it's inclusive of what we call cluster items. So, when they look at one item, they have to think of several different concepts at the same time. So, yes, it was a more rigorous uh exam. uh but in coordination with our coordinators and our campus leadership, we've already come

036up with a plan to to make sure that that we meet these expectations. Now uh if we look at the at the cut scores, they are much more uh rigorous. So if we had calculated with the prior year's uh grow uh cut scores, our kids would have done a whole lot better. So we have a harder test and harder goals to to uh or higher goals to meet. Uh and even then we're we're making strides towards improvement. Any questions on elementary scores? Any questions? >> If I may. >> Yes, sir. >> And just to reiterate Mr. Castillo's comment there. Uh when he's talking about the cut scores from the prior year, the scores were lower that the students needed to reach compared to what they need to reach this year. So let's say at the

037approaches if the cut score last year was at a 40 uh this year let's say for math it's a 43 uh for uh meats the cut score was a 58 last year this year it's a 60 so and that's uh in all the subjects so the state is making it more rigorous where you have to meet a higher standard and even then using those cut scores there was improvement so he also mentioned that they also did a comparison last to last year using the same cut scores using the same cut scores and all those subjects all those grade levels that you saw a decrease from that same grade level there was an actual increase using the same cut scores from last year. So but even then even though the cut scores are a little bit

038higher this year that cohort improved and in most cases that grade level to grade level even though there were different students they did better. So that's that's important to know. Okay. All right. Moving on to secondary. Here we have the sixth grade reading language arts comparison, second language comparison from this year to last year. When we look at the comparison, uh we see a twopoint difference. So the two-point drop overall, but we did have a three-point increase in the approaches. That means we are improving. We just have to focus on our meats and our M's students. again uh we've already come up with a plan to uh address uh the needs of our sixth grade ar sixth grade mathematics we pretty much held there's a difference of a one point when we actually calculated the

039uh approaches meets and masters it's a difference between uh ten of a point so um there's a a one point difference there but again we're circling the wagons and uh coming up with a plan to make sure that we come out on top. Seventh grade reading language arts. Now, it's always good to see these uh green pluses because that means that uh we're improving overall uh despite the fact that we have higher cut scores. Our tests are, you know, we intentionally make our tests a little bit uh more rigorous. here for our seventh grade second nine weeks comparison we had an increase of one point which is about the same but still an improvement from the second nine weeks comparison uh to the prior year. Now if we look at the cohort growth we see

040an increase of four points which is very very good. Seventh grade math we see a trend of our students uh improving from the second nine weeks comparison from this year to last year we see a six-point increase. And then so if we look at the cohort growth we see a three-point increase. Again, these fall under the same conditions, more rigorous test, tougher cut scores to meet. Um, and so, uh, this is all thanks to the teachers and the campuses giving it their all. Eighth grade RLA, again, we see an increase, uh, in reading, language arts, our second nine weeks comparison from this year to last year, we see a three-point increase in the overall component score. The cohort growth, we see an increase of one point. So there's growth uh in in the cohort and

041uh this year's to last year's second nine weeks comparison. Eighth grade science, we had an increase of two points for the uh second nine weeks comparison. So, uh, again, uh, science is is something that that we're really focusing on. And despite the fact that we have higher cut scores and a more rigorous test to the new, uh, aligned to the new blueprint, uh, we're still seeing growth there. 8th grade social studies. This is something that uh, put a little smile on my face in particular because we were seeing um, I don't know if you recall last year, we have we were struggling with our social studies. uh this year's second nine weeks comparison with last year's for our eighth graders, we see a fivepoint increase. You know, we've uh tweaked some things uh not only

042the curriculum, but our approach to to meeting with teachers and supporting them and our campus leaders uh and that's given us uh yielded a fivepoint increase from this second nine weeks comparison to the last. Algebra algebra uh is also uh has shown growth. If we're looking at the second nine weeks comparison uh to the prior year, we had a 13 point increase. That's something to uh celebrate and make a note of. Uh if we look at the cohort group when they were uh in seventh grade, we have a 23 point increase. Also very good. Again, it's it you know, they say it takes a village and this is what's going on here. Our coordinators are meeting with our campus principal and and and our leadership uh and uh we're trying to support as best as

043we can our teachers to get these results. Moving on to English one. English one we also see a an increase from the second nine weeks comparison to the prior years with an increase of five points. Usually English one uh at the high school we struggle with you know with the transition from 8th grade to 9th grade but this year we we see uh an improvement there. Um the cohort growth increased by two points. Again we're seeing uh we're making make strides. Uh and I like to use the term we're cautiously optimistic. Uh we we we it brings a smile to our face but we know that there's a lot of hard work ahead of us. English two, we saw a difference of one point in the second nine weeks comparison. You know, that's our sophomore

044group. Uh but what we'd like to note is that there our cohort group did grow by three points. You know, in our accountability, we're we're measured on on how well we grow our kids. So, that's a good thing for us. And one thing that I would like to note is in our approaches, we did increase, which is something that we were focusing on uh and and uh we're we're hoping that we know that we're going to make even greater strides uh come the rest of the spring semester. Looking at biology, our high school science. Uh so we look at at our second nine weeks comparison from this year to last year, we're pretty much the same. We're at a 46 component score, but if we look at our cohort group, we're up nine points. Again,

045we're growing our kids, we're making them better despite the the higher standards that that that we put. One thing that I would like to note for our biology scores, if we look at our masters, we went from a 10% to a 13%. It's always harder to uh increase the masters and and we're making great strides there. Our US history this year compared last year compared to last year our component score is a 59. Last year was a 57. So we have a twopoint increase. Again that can be attributed to our uh increase in our meats and our masters. So uh if we look at those scores, we have had some improvement there and that was uh what brought us up to those additional two points from this year compared to last year. And that is

046all I have for secondary. Would you all do you all have any other questions or any questions? Any questions or comments for Mr. Castillo? >> I have a question. >> How do you get the uh difference? What how do you calculate to get that difference? So what we do there's three uh components or three indicators or three categories approaches, meets and masters. We get the average of that that becomes the component score that the 2526 that 59 is what how the students perform this last uh nineweek assessment. The 2425 is last year's second nineweek assessment. So it's the average of the approaches, meets and masters. You get the component score which turned out to be a 57 last year, this year a 59. And then when we did the the the math then it was

047a plus two. >> So you take all of these and you average them out to get your difference. Is that what you're saying? >> Yes. And that's how the state does their calculations on a component score. They average the approaches meets and masters and then they come up with one score. That score uh is equal to a certain uh uh certain uh average or a certain grade. So let's say uh you need to get a 60 to be a 90. So that 59 would be sort of like a 88. The the 59 that we scored would have been an 88. >> So there's a a table where you're able to uh follow uh the actual component score and then what it equals to. Uh and we just try to do where it's a 90 6030.

048If we're able to do that, when we get to that point, then we have an A rating. So the 90 6030 averages out to a 60 divided by three, then a 60, and the 60 equals an A. >> And so how do the total students the difference, how does that affect the difference? Or are they just just numbers to show how many students tested? Yes, we should the I think uh in one of the presentations the board had asked well what does this percentage equal to or how many students are we talking about? So that's why we provided the number of students per category. >> Okay. >> But the average is for each >> for each percentage it would be like this uh 50 59 would be the average of the 91 + 57 +

04927 that you see on the right hand side. You uh add them up divide by three and you get your component score. So it doesn't matter how many students test as long as they meet the percentages that are required, right? >> Yes. The only thing with the number of students that if you have less students testing that means that each student is worth more. Uh each student you you end up if a student passes then it adds to the average on on the positive end. But if the student doesn't pass then it it becomes a negative impact on the overall average. So the more students that you have uh each student if they don't do well may not count as much when uh in comparison to when you have less students. Gota >> dilutes me.

050>> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any any other questions or comments? >> Explain that again because when I do the 9157 and 27 I'm coming up divided by three is 157. >> 157 and then you divide by three. Mhm. No. 91 57 and 27 plus right divide by 3 is 157. So I don't understand. >> So 91 >> Mhm. >> 91 + 57 >> + 27 >> divided by 3 >> = 175id 3 >> 58.3. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Hold on. Maybe I did it wrong. Too slow for my calculator. >> Well, we're pretty close there with the US history. >> It wasn't doing it because I kept on. That's why. Thank you. >> Uhhuh. >> Okay. >> I was going to say for our US history, pretty close. We have a 91. We're

051three points for the meats and three points for our masters. Considering that we're mid year, I think we're in the heading in the right direction. Any other questions for Mr. Gustio? >> I have a comment. My name is >> Garcio. >> Um I'm impressed that our our um differences are mostly positive just because Texas isn't very fond of public education and likes to throw wrenches in all of our scores every year um and their curriculum just or the requirements just keep raising the bar on us. Um so so thank y'all for all of the progress that's been made. Thank you all for your support. >> Anybody else? >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ste. >> Thank you. >> Uh moving on to our next item which is informationational on the review of the financial statements. Superintendent.

052>> Mr. Board President, for an update on the finances for November and December, we have Mr. Carales. >> Good evening. Welcome, Mr. Kales. >> Good evening, President. Mr. Hernandez, superintendent Michel Medius, members of the board. Um, this uh financial report covers the expenditures, revenues and expenditures through December. Um, first thing I'll point out is if you look at that first line on the federal revenues, um 59005900, the uh budget is $500,000. Um, I want to point this out. Um, just comparing it to the audit that you all see this evening. Last year, our budget for that number was $1,360,000. Um, that number is reduced due to the SHARS. So, as as we saw some state revenue increase from from the funding, we we also saw $860,000 decrease from the SHs. Um, so so that that

053um that number was decreased. Um going going back a long ways to last June 2024 when working on the 2425 budget. We still weren't sure what was happening with SHARS. We knew that there was going to be an impact to one year. We didn't know we'd see the continuing. Um so we had left that number in last year and of course that revenue didn't come in and you'll see that in the audit. Um this year we reduced that on the budget side only owned down to $500,000 once again removing $860,000 from our federal revenue. Um the other thing I want to mention is on the state revenue. Um I think I might have mentioned this last time is the state pays us um three different ways. Um there's a payment class one, two, and three.

054Um payment class one receives 10 payments a year from the state. U payment class two is eight payments and payment class three you only receive three payments a year from the state for for your what those are are are districts with very wealthy um tax values and they're they're able to um to get by on that. Um as we move from 10 to eight we don't receive any payments in December, January, February and March. We go these four months without a state payment. Um one of the reasons a healthy fund balance is so important. So, it looks like a lot of money at one point, but we need we need a large amount for cash flow purposes because we don't have a lot of revenue from the state coming in or any revenue from the

055state coming in. Um, so I want to point that out because you'll see that 52 million um move very little or stay stagnant over the next couple of months on the collections there. Um, on the expenditure side general fund, we're we're um we're still just tight. That that's where we're at. We we don't have any breathing room. We spent the whole year last year and and honestly I think that's just where we're going to stay. We're we're in the same um I wouldn't say the same boat as every other district out there, but we're all in the same river and we all can see which way the water's flowing and where the dam or the bridge or something is at over there. And we're trying to not not fall that way as much as we

056can. Um you you'll see in the audit here when we talk about it that we we um we talked about being tight all last year. We adopted a budget that was 566,000. We moved it to a deficit budget before we closed the year. Um, and and we ended up going more deficit than that by by 459,000. The auditor will share that with you, but just kind of showing you just how close those numbers were, mentioning that all year long. Um, and and just reminding everybody that it's very difficult because we're not seeing the additional money come in. We're not we're not having anything um that allows more money to be added to fund balance. We just have to be careful with taking money out of there. Um especially with with everybody still having the needs

057that they do. So anyway, um that's an update on the general fund there. These are still tied on general fund side. Um looking at the food service budget, we're going to be bringing a budget amendment here. Um same thing as you know, it's an audit. That one added $340,000 more to its fund balance car 3.8 million. Um we still need to uh continue spending the food service budget opposite of the general fund of course. um due to the amount of money that they should have in there. Um nothing out of the ordinary. We're on track to to kind of repeat almost what we did last year right now on the food service side. And on the debt service side, we are seeing our money to start coming in at $2 million. Um we will make

058our payments in February and August. So you see very little expended on the on the debt service fund. That's all I have for the reporting. >> Mr. on the food service um budget. Can you just explain a little bit how we end up adding revenue to that just for folks who might be watching? >> So we we we see three sources of revenue. One is going to be the local revenue things people pay for out of their own pocket. Um state revenue state gives us you can see a very very small portion of money that actually comes out of state. Um most of the money on the child nutrition is from our C program um community eligibility program. That is something the district applied for a few years ago. Not not every district is using

059the same thing depending on how many um economically disadvantaged students you have and if you're if you fall profitable once you run the calculations our district does. So the majority of our money comes from um the federal reimbursement on that due to the program that we're we're in. Is there anything else you want to touch on? >> Uh, no. Okay. So, thank you. >> Well, that's why we see such a large number on there. Um, something else to kind of mention is that we apply for reimbursement and usually get a month later. So, for example, this is probably uh just revenue booked through the end of uh November. So, December revenue hasn't been booked yet because when we close out um that money is still just being applied for at that point in time. So,

060it trails a little bit behind. Um, and most of the money comes in as federal >> and and I know we've done a lot of improvements over the last several years uh at the different schools and uh you mentioned you know the need to spend additional dollars. Uh what's what's the the right um balance or that we should be carrying there? Well, so what makes that a little hard to answer is we saw balances grow during COVID. What happened during the co 20 through the few years there um they allowed districts to apply for the seamless summer option which has a higher reimbursement rate and it's easier to qualify for feeding feeding all the kids. So we're getting higher reimbursement rate and feeding more students. it was just easier to participate in that program. Um

061it was by intention, that's what the design was to get as many kids fed during the pandemic out there and they also ran that for a few years afterwards. Um that helped build it. Before that, many schools we struggled with actually maintaining a fund balance. I haven't looked here, but before that option, um we we had a tough time actually keeping the three months for the for the most part. Many districts were on the spot of of uh having to transfer out at the end of the year. Um Now we're seeing higher participation rates. Now we're in the community eligibility program. Um if you were to ask me, I'd probably say we'd probably want to stay pretty close to the 3 to four month mark. Um if we're if we have the money coming in,

062we do want to allocate it. We don't want to just hoard it and save a bunch of money in our savings accounts, which we wouldn't do, but that's why we would actually update our facilities or whatever we could update with that money. So we would spend it and not try to keep more than three or four months in there. >> And the monthly spend it's about 900 to a million. Is that >> on the what? >> The monthly spend. >> The Yes. Yeah. Very close to a million. Yeah. So So >> Okay. >> Um I think you would take the 8.6. We have 10 months of feeding. So 867,000 maybe 9 months of feeding. So closer to 900,000 but right under a million dollars. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Any uh questions

063or comments for Mr. Cares? >> I do have a question. Could you go back to the other the beginning? >> There was there was something down at the very bottom intergovernmental charges not in other data codes. What is that? >> That is money that is in what we call a function 99 and and that is money we used to pay to the appraisal district for our appraisals. Um, so it's an intergovernmental charges that we actually we receive a charge from the appraisal district for them appraising our values and and so that's where we issue the payment to them. Um, it is new. So if you're spotting it now, historically that money had been in a function 41 paid out of the business office as an administrative cost. Um, just a few years ago they did

064change the resource guide which allowed us to move the coding to a 99 which moved it out of a function 41 which helps with the administrative cost ratio. So it doesn't make us look like our administrative cost ratio is over inflated and we're able to that that's actually where the charge goes. So that helps us keep our administrative cost ratio down. But that was just moved a few years ago. >> And what is it used for? >> To pay the appraisal district >> for for our taxes that we collect. >> Gotcha. the the the um we we our tax rate we we set the tax rate here. The school board sets the tax rate. We don't appraise anybody's value here at the school district. The appraisal district does that, but they charge us to actually

065do that. >> I see. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> This was something new though, right? >> It would be the first or second year that we're using it. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Has it always been reported or >> um >> or is this the first time? >> We we've we've used to keep it in a function 41. Okay. >> So it was comingled into that that entire function 41 general administration. >> So is this the first time you report 99 then >> 99? >> Probably not the first time I reported to the board. >> I I don't remember ever seeing it. Just copy. >> I I I don't I don't think this time. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Any other comments? >> I do remember you mentioning um something about something being

066pulled out of one function and put into another one. Was that the only one or was there more than one? >> No, the uh the the No, ma'am. The the clinic was another major one that was moved out of there. We moved that to nursing services. We had that administrative cost also that was eligible for for for health services. Um so that was another one that's moved out. That's probably the big one that I've mentioned lately. >> Okay. So when when we're looking at 33, then that's our health that that's our clinic. >> Well, now yes, ma'am. But we don't actually have to. Now this year is different than um last year. Last year we were still paying KA ATC where this year we don't actually have a payment to university. >> Got it. >>

067And so we'll have that carryover for was it three or four more months >> carry >> from KATC expenses >> was wouldn't that be to like April or June somewhere like that right >> from last year? >> Yeah. >> It's already paid. >> We're done. Okay. >> Okay. So at some point then we'll see line 33 drop off or well not drop off but zero it out for >> we we didn't budget Kerry TC this year. We we were we when we did the 20 when we did the set budget for starting September 1st we we didn't have any payments due to Kerry ATC anymore. >> Got it. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? >> Thank you sir. >> Okay. U moving on to new business which is um discuss and consider approval for

068TASBY and Diamond Communications Connect Ed Texas program onsite proposal. Superintendent. >> Mr. Board President. Tasby and Diamond Communications will present a proposal for a cell tower on district property with Mr. Herring opening the presentation. >> Good evening. Welcome Mr. Hering. >> Good evening board of trustees. Superintendent Ramirez. So, um, as a follow-up to last semester's connected Texas program and site marketing agreement presentation, which is, uh, designed to increase the cell signal coverage in our area, um, we're here to discuss a proposed in district site to be located east of the Lozano Professional Development Building. I will now turn it over to Lou Morales from TASBY and Katie Harms from Diamond Communications to present the option and ground lease agreement and other project details. Good evening. Welcome. >> Thank you for having us. Um I'm Katie

069Harms with Diamond Communications. I'm the site acquisition manager um at at Diamond. And I'll let Lou introduce himself. >> And I'm Lou Medalis with Tasby. So just to recognize y'all, thank you for what y'all do from TASBY, from all the staff there. We appreciate you. We appreciate that. This is board appreciation month. We don't know why y'all do it because we always ask that question to board members. It's like why? Why do you want to do this? But thank you. Thank you for from the community. Thank you for what you do for the kids. So, we appreciate you. >> Thank you. >> So, um a couple years ago, we approached TASBY or actually Tasby approached us um during a bidding process because they were getting um contacted by schools like yourselves that the coverage was

070not good. They were getting, you know, phone calls from parents. um teachers weren't able to make phone calls from the playgrounds. We had several where they had injuries on the playground. They couldn't get calls out. So, it turned into almost a public safety issue. And so, TASBY put out a opportunity for us to work through. We went through what eight 18 months, two years of going through back and forth to form a wonderful relationship with with TASBY. And so, we've been working with them since the agreement's been signed over a little over a year. We've now gotten to the point where we've signed over 70 site marketing agreements with school districts across the state. Um, and so we're working to boost coverage for you guys and our goal is to bring the revenue to you

071guys and not necessarily a private entity. And so that's that's a big goal for us. So we did a coverage analysis of uh the Southside High School, you know, just on right here. Um, and so you'll see here these are called heat maps. Um, we use a program called UCLA. If you guys have ever used um uh uh speedtest.net for anything, UCLA owns speedtest.net. But we we pay a a lot of money every year to be able to have the the ability to see the coverage um everywhere anywhere we need. And so we do these coverage maps to determine what what's needed, what carriers are here, and what we can do to boost that coverage. So, right now you'll notice um that there's some red and orange there for AT&T and T-Mobile. That's unreliable coverage.

072We want to boost that to green. Green is where where you want to be. So, depending on what you guys use, I use Verizon. I noticed I got full bars sitting in this building. If you guys have anybody else, you're probably struggling. You're probably at two bars. And so we want to make sure um we're a tower infrastructure company. So we work with all the major carriers. I've got I've got agreements with all the the the carriers and we we try to boost as as many carriers on one tower as possible. Do you guys have any questions on this? Because I know it can be confusing on the the decibb and stuff. Okay. So here here's our little lease exhibit. So, we worked with Cliff um and the team to determine the best location because

073we knew that there was a coverage need here, you know, at the high school and the administration building. And so, we found that this kind of backed in the corner, you know, away from public eye to make sure that you guys had adequate coverage without having to see, you know, sometimes people feel like a tower is an eyesore and so they want the coverage. They don't really necessarily want to see it. We felt like this was a really good spot because it tucks back still on your property. or we can bring um better coverage. So um it's a little bit hard to see which is probably the point, right? This is a photo simulation of what we what we would do if you could see. Um I I can kind of walk up. I know

074you guys are looking at your screens. Tower is right here. >> So we do a photo simulation to kind of show you guys that it kind of blends in. you've got you've got a lot of utilities, um sports lighting, whatever it is, and that kind of blends in the background. This is a second one. So, right there on um on the road coming in, you know, obviously we're parked right here, you'd see where that tower would be. Do you guys have any questions about the simulations before we move on? Okay. >> And this is the the third picture just kind of coming from the the back side. This is an illustrated economics. So, um, working with TASBY, this is part of what kind of took so long working through the agreement with TASBY. We wanted

075to make sure that everybody was, you know, benefiting from this coverage. So, in in the revenue, we work as a revenue share with the district. So, the higher revenue that we get and we negotiate with the carriers, obviously, you guys get because it's a percentage share instead of a fixed amount. And so if you break it down, for an example, there's 25 $2,500 we'd assume that we would get from the carriers every month. So AT&T is hopping on this tower. They're going to pay me $2,500 a month. You guys would automatically get 30% of that $2500. So in year one, you'll notice that there's about $9,000. That's the 30% each month of that 2500. The second year, you would get a 2 and 12% escalation. that escalation is based on an escalation, we would negotiate

076with the carriers as well. And then if um in year five, say we get a second and third tenant, that second tenant would be another 30%. So another 25% that we'd get from the tenant, you guys would get an additional 30%. If we get a third tenant, you would that would be bumped up to 40%. So you would get 40% of that revenue that we get from the the carriers and that would include that that escalation every year. Does this make sense to you guys? >> Okay, great. >> Question for the on the ten is a tenant like Verizon or >> tenant would be Yes. So each individual carrier. So tenant one would be AT&T. Tenant two would be Verizon. Tenant three would be T-Mobile. >> And why why wouldn't we get all three tenants

077year one? >> Why would you >> why wouldn't we? Um, so it's this is a good question. So carriers base everything off of their budgets like any any business, right? So our goal is to have as many carriers on theirs as possible. We want all three. We want you guys to have all three, but depending on what their coverage or needs, like when you go back and you look at Verizon here, we don't know if they're necessarily going to hop on right away. as the school district grows, as your community grows, there's something called a capacity ad. So, you're going to need the more people, the more it struggles on the towers. So, we can see Verizon hopping on in a few years, but not necessarily right away because right now the coverage is decent.

078Does that make sense? >> It does. >> Okay. So, in regards to the the month, so year one is $9,000 for one tenant, but in year five, if we have three tenants, wouldn't it be $27,000 versus the 12? >> Yeah. So, if you look if you look at each tenant, you've got your first tenant one on year five is almost 10,000. So, the total would be almost 80 86 87,000. >> Got it? So ideally, best case scenario, you guys get all three tenants. We're ready to go. By the end of your lifespan with us on the tower at 35 years, you guys are accumulating 1.5 million. And this is just one tower. If we end up finding a second location that the carriers need with your district, that's one tower. So this this could be

079a potential for an additional one. So, this is just a little bit of the program if you guys have any additional questions on it. I kind of went into kind of our relationship with TASBY. Um, but a little bit of of Diamond in itself. Like I said, we're an infrastructure company. We're out of New Jersey. I am a Texas local. I came down from New Bronals today. Um, and I work all of Texas. I'm all around the state every week. I work with school boards. I see school boards every week and I and I work through this program. Um, so we provide the opportunity to bring revenue directly to you guys. Like I said, this goes directly to you. It doesn't go directly to a private entity. Um, and you know, this is the same

080presentation that we gave Cliff a few months ago. Um, you guys have full approval rights. We discussed a location. If that doesn't work for you guys, you NYX it. If you say, "We don't want you touching our elementary schools." We don't work. We don't touch them. We don't market them. We don't do anything. So, you guys have a site marketing agreement with us, but we you guys always have final final approval on location. Um, and like I said, a little bit about Diamond. Um, we're we've been around since 2006. We're out of New Jersey. Um, however, we do have presence in about 25 states. Like I said, I I work remotely in Texas. There's a couple of us in Texas that specifically work this connected program. Um, so we get to see, you know, guys

081like Lou all the time. We were at TASA yesterday. Um, we we work about 4,000 tened sites. That means we own actual infrastructure. 4,000 sites across the country. That could be rooftops, that could be towers, you know, anything like that. We also market about 500,000 sites. That could be uh transmission lines because we've got agreements with Georgia Power, something like that where we market it out or we get um school boards on. You guys have 30 campuses. We're marketing out all those campuses. Do you guys have any questions about who Diamond is or the program at all? Okay, I think that's it. >> I'll just add one thing on one thing that we did as far as TASBY. really came down when the Uvali situation had happened. It was really bad. We knew that they

082weren't able to get cell signals and this is why really TASBY started looking at this. It's a safety issue. How many districts are actually using Raptor? Those are all going through sell signals. So that's why it was important for us to address that situation and bring on somebody like Diamond. and we vet our vendors really well as far as we go through they go through a pretty rig rigorous process in getting approved as far as being when we go out for RFPs. So, we know they're a good partner to have and I think you all would have a great relationship with them. >> Great. >> Thank you. Um, couple questions. Uh, in regards to to liability of the tower, who owns that liability? >> We do. So, built on the lease, um I'm not sure

083if you guys have seen the lease physically, but there's there's insurance in there that's built in. We we own the tower and anything that happens with the tower, we maintain. So, um any situation that might might arise, we handle all of that. And >> so, is the district indeentified from that? >> Yes. >> Yeah. That there's a dendification built in. >> Okay. And then um maintenance >> inspections, how often you got to do inspections and >> everything is handled by us. So literally I I like to call this mailbox money. You guys sit back and you you you get the check for letting us use your property. So um we handle any of the permits. So my specialty is permitting and and and zoning. So, I work directly with the jurisdictions as well as the

084school districts and get it through the process. Um, making sure that we've got power fiber runs all built into that lease. You guys have there's an easement in there, utility easement that's built into that lease that allows us to run that. We have a separate power bank. So, there's there's meters there and everything is submetered. So, you guys don't have to deal with any of that stuff. That's handled directly with the power companies. >> Great. Any other questions? >> I do. How many school districts have signed up with you all in the state of Texas? >> We have over 70 site marketing agreements with districts. So over 70 school districts we have signed on. Um I just got um like ENSD signed on. We've got a really good relationship with Fort Bend ISD. So a

085lot of the big ones, but we also work with some of the rural communities. >> So the easement is already there. >> It's built into the lease. Yes. >> The tower already. >> Yeah. So, it's built into the lease when you um if we go back. I don't know. Am I able to see the presentation again? Okay. So, do you guys see the red line coming off of um Martinez Loya coming down? So, that little red mark is basically the easement that we would build build in. It's a a 20 foot wide access and utility easement. >> Okay. >> And it's built into the lease. So we would we would grant that when we approve it, rent grant that easement. >> Yep. So it's part of the lease including that that yellow box is basically

086a 2500 square foot um lease space. So the each carrier has equipment on the ground and so it'll be compounded in. >> Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Any other questions? Scarcia, >> how long until we know um like if we have any bids from companies? >> What What do you mean bids? like getting a carrier on board. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, um that's that's a great question because we don't build a tower unless a carrier's on board, right? We don't want to have a naked tower out there. It doesn't do us any good. It doesn't do you guys any good. Um so, we have to make sure a carrier's on board. We believe that a carrier is needed here. Kind of part of what happened is we not only signed a site marketing

087agreement, but we also had a site acquisition company that was working directly Verizon reach out to Cliff. Cliff directed him to us because we have a site marketing agreement. So, we know the carriers are interested. It's just a matter of what budget year. Um, we the second we have a lease signed, they usually are ready to go pretty quickly because they know you guys are serious. >> So, you start building when you start constructing the tower when the uh carrier comes in and not before that. >> Um, yeah. So we wouldn't start construction until we had a carrier that basically they call it assignment. They assign it to us um and we work the project. It's about a ninemonth process. So from the lease sign, say I have Verizon on today. We sign the lease

088today. I've got to go through environmental reviews. I've got to order a survey drawings. I've got to get in front of planning and zoning, everything like that um to get it through the process and and order steel. Right now we're dealing with um you know shipments in that are delayed a bit but um for the most part it takes about nine to 10 months from lease sign to getting a site built. >> Um is there any possibility that we can go over three carriers? Um, I would love to say yes, but right now, I don't know if you guys are uh, you know, >> aware, but the we did have a fourth carrier. It was Dish um, or Boost Mobile as they became. They're kind of not running right now. So, hopefully we have something

089and the FCC comes up with something for a fourth tenant, but right now we've got three. Now, we have worked with um local jurisdictions or even the school districts on doing some some two-way on lower elevations if it's needed. Um so that could be a tenant if you if you needed, like we could work directly with with the city or the county to to have them as a a first responder if they needed. Um I don't see it very often because they need specific um elevations and locations and stuff but that is is an opportunity. >> What about Spectrum? >> So Spectrum is owned by the carriers. So it's not an individual. It's actually owned by the carriers. >> How far out does does the service go from the tower? >> It's a good question.

090So um this tower is going to be about 150 ft. to high, right? So, it's a monopole 150 ft high. You're going to see um very good coverage for probably about a mile in circumference. Now, that's all dependent on if there's any blockage, but you know, we're we're central Texas. There's not a lot of unless we get up to the hill country. We don't have a whole lot of blockage like big buildings or anything like that. >> Any other questions, comments? So, okay. Well, thank you for all this information and appreciate the the partnership. Um, just want to thank uh Mr. Ramirez. I know it's probably been over a year, right, that we we saw this at conference and and and asked as a superintendent to follow up, which he always does. And and it's

091nice to see it come to fruition. Thank you for all your work. I know you've done a lot of the lab work on this, so I appreciate everything you and your team have done. So, >> thank you. >> Appreciate it. Okay. At this time, do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve moving forward with the placement of the tower on-site proposal from Connect Ed Texas and Diamond Communication and to execute a contract with Diamond Communication. >> My second. >> Thank you. Uh, Mrs. uh, Lisa Oalazar makes the motion. Mrs. Mary Silva seconds. Mrs. Olivarees. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sang Robles. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Faras. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Morales Garcia. >> Yes. Mrs. Salazar. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Silva. >> Yes. >> United States. Motion carries. >> Okay. >> Second.

092>> Okay. Uh, moving on to our next item, which is discussing consider approval of the fiscal year ending 2025 financial audit. Superintendent. >> Mr. Board President, the Garza Gonzalez audit firm will present the district's audit results highlighting the district's finances and compliance for this past year. Good evening members of the board. Again, um Kim is here to present. Um before she does, I do want to say thank you from the business office. Um thank thank Dalia in the business office, of course, the rest of the staff and everybody else who helped um all the other departments and everybody else that we bothered for for materials and of course thank the auditors for for assisting in this part. So just want to get up here and say thank you to everybody. >> Thank you. >> Welcome,

093Mr. Gonzalez. >> Thank you, Mr. President, members of the board. Mr. Ramirez. I'm Kim Lopez Gonzalez. I'm here representing Garza Gonzalez and Associates, the CPA firm that has performed the audit for the district for the fiscal year ended August 31st, 2025. That period covers the months from September 2024 through August 31st, 2025. As uh you've heard me say before when I've been up here once a year is that this audit is uh generally due January 2, 287th of each year. However, this year there was a uh TA provided a delay to that to February 27th due some due to some updates that they were doing on their end. So uh this report is due to TA by February 27th of 2026. I would like to thank all staff of the district because of during the

094audit we do not only work with Mike although he and Dalia are our major our main contacts but we do have a lot of involvement with other uh staff members. An audit is not uh very simple. So we do have we do ask a lot of questions. We do ask for a lot of information and I would like the board to know that we were provided with all information in a timely manner. uh we were able to talk to in each individual that we requested. So we were not limited in any form or fashion. Very positive for the school for the school board to know that because we are independent. We do report to you board members, but while we're performing the audit, we work very closely with management. And with that said, you do

095have uh a few documents related to the audit in your board packet. One of them is the larger uh document. It is titled the annual financial and compliance report. This is the uh financial statements and compliance report. You do have a second document that is titled the uh audit communication letter. This is our communication to you. We do follow our auditing standards and this is how we um ensure that we are complying with those standards and that's how we communicate to you. The and lastly the document that I will be using to make this presentation is titled the audit summary. Does everybody have a copy of the audit summary? Great. This audit summary and feel free to stop me if you want to open the I have the report in front of me. I know

096you have the report in front of me. If you want to go through a to a certain page, I' uh I'm open to do that as well as I'm going through the audit summary. The audit summary does have the page numbers that are referenced in the report. Does everybody have the audit summary? >> I thought what was inside of there was that And so I took the audit summaries away. I'm sorry. >> Do you have it? >> I can go print them real quick. >> You don't have They were in the in the box. Do you have like >> I wasn't given a box. I was just given a stack of >> There's an audit communication letter is what we have. The communication letter in our packet and that's it. the box. >> Well, I'm

097going to just start for now and what I can do is I can ask you to refer to the pages of the report as I'm going through the audit summary. But um on pages 2 through four of the big audit report, the larger report, the annual financial and compliance report, this is our auditor's report. This is our opinion to you indicating and to third party readers indicating that the as a result of the audit we are presenting to you a unmodified opinion that indicates that the amounts are fairly presented in all material material respects in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. That is nothing different than what the opinion has been um in the previous two years that we've performed the audit and that is the best type of opinion that an entity can receive.

098So uh again congratulations on that and that is very positive once again for the district. Items two items two and three are our other opinions and reports to you based on a single audit because the district does administer federal funds that exceed 750,000. The page numbers are there. I don't know if you want to refer to them, but I'm just going to let you know that again very positive for the district as a result of our single audit. When we tested the major programs, when we tested internal controls, we do we do not have any material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, no non-compliance required to be reported in the larger report and no question costs. So those items one, two, and three are again positive for the district. Item number four um is this is this

099is something that is new to the district. This is something that's positive to the district since we've been the auditors for fiscal year 23. For fiscal year 24, the district has been high risk because of the results that from the fiscical year 22 audit. So when you're a high-risisk audit, we're required to test a greater percentage of federal programs than if you are a lowrisk because you did not have any material weaknesses in fiscal years 23 and fiscal year 24, you are able to be identified now as a lowrisk audit. So very positive. Number four, different from fiscal year the previous two fiscal years when we were up here presenting to you. Um, I'd like to congratulate you on that again because that is positive to be identified as a lowrisk considered a low-risk audit.

100The major federal programs that we tested as part of the single audit for compliance with the grant requirements was the child nutrition cluster and the child and adult care food program. Now, if you want to turn to page 17 of your report, and I'll turn to page 17 of my report. Also, this page 17 is the balance sheet for your governmental funds. I'm going to highlight the general fund because this is the fund that the board makes uh most decisions on. But again, all the funds are here in this statement. And um what I'm going to do is just if you want to go down to the last part of that page 17 under fund balances, you have the fund balance for the general fund of there's a small amount of 14,820, but then you

101have the larger amount of 25,24,028. That is titled the unassigned fund balance that has not been restricted for any for any uh types of expenses. it is available for the district's operations. That amount represents 132 days of operation. 132 days is positive. It's a good healthy fund balance. Usually what the TEA will recommend is that you have 90 days of operation. So having 132 days is positive for for the school district. Um in fiscal year 24 it was 135. So you're it's it's pretty comparable to uh what it was in fiscal year 24. If you move to pa if you turn to page 21, I'm still going to stay on the fund balance, but I'm going to turn to page 21. And this is titled the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance.

102It could also be known as an income statement because it has the revenues and expenditures. But when you go down and I and Mike did cover this a little bit on his presentation. Um he did f he did indicate that if you look all the way down on on the first column of the general fund, you will see that the net change in fund balance was a little bit over a million dollars. But also, um, when I get to the when you when you when I ask you to turn to the, uh, budget to actual, you will see that, um, and and Mike did indicate this, that you did plan for a 566,000, uh, dip into your fund balance. So, this went a little bit further in of about 459,000, but even by using that

103fund balance, you are still having the 132 days of operation. So even even go even having a a net change of a deficit of a million dollars for this year, you're still able to have the 132 days of operation. >> Oh, good. They were found. >> Does everybody have one? >> Thank you. >> And um what I was covering is on page two of the summary, item number 6B. That was page 21 where I just indicated that for fiscal year 25. Um just reiterating also what Mike had covered before was there was a decrease of million25. But if you also look on that audit summary, if you move down to item number 7D, um there was a a plan for the fund balance to decrease by 566. Um, so about 459,000 more than what was

104planned. And, um, now that we're here, if you want to turn to page I don't know if you still want to look at the financial statements or you want me to just cover through the little summary. Okay, great. Um, moving to item number seven. Your final amended budget for your revenues was 71 million. Actual revenues were 68 million. So, uh, you didn't quite meet your 71 million. Uh, it was below the projected budget by 2.3 million of of about 3.3%. And I know that Mike did cover with you just a little while ago that part of it was the SHs uh, revenue. The final amended budget for your expenditures was 71.6 million. Your actual expenditures was were about 70 million. So, uh, you stayed within your budget and, uh, you didn't ex you you didn't,

105uh, expend what you were projected to by 1.7 million. Um, following item number seven. Number eight is more just for information purposes. Um, and that can also be like, as I indicated, there's some page numbers if you ever wanted to go back, but just uh, letting you know that there you're you do have some debt out there for your bonds and your tax note payable. um your taxes, your debt, your bonds are paid out of your debt service fund and your tax notes are paid from your general fund. Moving to page three, in addition to bonds and notes, there are some other long-term liabilities and again this is for information purposes as well. Um something to note is item number 9A, compensated absences liabilities. This is just in the governmentwide financial statements. It didn't doesn't

106affect your fund financial statements. you just pay what what the compensated absence is for employees when they're used. But there an audit uh accounting standard number 101 compensated absences was required to be implemented this year uh which required that not only that you uh show a liability for for vacation and sick leave that's going to be paid when upon termination. Now you have to show it if it is uh if if you expect the employees to use it and that's why there was such an increase in the compensated absences this year. Item number 10 again for more for information purposes because it does not affect the financial statements for the fund statements. The only this is related to the U net pension liability and the post employment benefit liability. The district has made met 100%

107of the required contributions to TRS and everything else for the liability is just required by accounting standards. Uh item number 11 property taxes again more for information purposes um for related to property taxes. And item number 12 um just wanted to highlight you know you do have some internal service funds. This has been a uh some a hot topic kind of I guess um with the with the the management and the board. But it's it's not negative. It's just that action has to be taken to uh decrease this uh negative fund uh net positions in the internal service funds. So um it's it's like I said it's it's you are carrying a negative net position but it's just that accounting entries have to be made to clear out those deficits. Cash doesn't have to go

108out again because everything has been paid already. So it's not a cash transaction that needs to be done. It's an accounting entry that needs to be done. And um that really is the summary for the financial statements. The last page is the uh summary for the second report which is the audit communication letter. This as I indicated uh is our letter to you board members. Uh this is where we report if we had any difficulties. I'm happy to note that we did not have any difficulties in performing the audit. The school district has come a long way from the first year that we that we were uh hired as the district auditors in 2023. There was as you know a lot of uh turnover but come to 2025 I'm happy to report that there we

109don't have any comments to report to you. I I know in 23 we had like two pages of of comments and recommendations and um as as the as you've been able to keep the employees stable, we've have seen that um they they've been able to address the comments and recommendations because we do follow up on all the comments and recommendation each year. So again um that is the summary that is uh of the audit and I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. Thank you um Kim for for the the work uh that y'all do and for for the recap and for the audit. Uh it's greatly appreciated and it's it's great to see uh this type of audit. Um I know as you mentioned we've gone through some

110challenges over the years, but it it's really great to to be here and congratulations to to the team, Mr. Carales and your entire staff uh Mr. Damedes for for everything that y'all have done to to get us here. I appreciate it. Just one question. And I think I know the answer, but I just wanted to to ask in regards to the deficit for the health insurance fund. I know you mentioned it's not a cash transaction, but the the days cash on hand, does that have any impact on it at all? Or >> if you were to make a transfer from the general fund to the internal service fund, um actually Mike and I were talking about that. And you probably don't want to take a hit of a $6 million each one year like you

111probably want to uh stretch it out a few years. I did a calculation where if you were to do um a million dollar transfer or a $2 million transfer, you'd still be well above the 90day. >> Okay. What What's our daily cash? >> Actually, this is the number of days of operation. Not really the cash number of days or the operation cost per day. >> Right now, it's 132. Um TEA does recommend it's a good business practice for 90 days. the dollar amount for the district for daily daily operations cost >> you would divide the total expenditures by uh 360 >> and then that would be the daily. Yeah. >> And I did I know you had that question on the child nutrition program earlier. I just wanted to just give a little bit information.

112Um before 2025 it was TA did recommend a three-month operation and now they extended it to six months. >> Six months. >> Yeah. So, so that's good. >> Just for the child nutrition operation or for the entire district? >> For the child nutrition operations. >> Got it. Got it. Thank you. That's helpful. Any questions or comments, Miss Salazar? >> So, under number eight, can you explain on the second bullet? Your bond principal pay payments. >> These are the uh these are the payments that are required to make to be made by the district. It doesn't include interest. It's just the principal part. And this year you did have a defecence of 5.5 million to bring your your debt down by 5.5 million to have it a uh savings by defasing a part of the series

1132015 bonds. And and so in this audit, is there any um representation of the TUR or no >> the >> of our TUR issues? >> No, no representation. I believe that's over. That's done with. >> Any other questions or comments? >> All right. Well, again, thank you. I appreciate all the work that y'all did and thank you so much. >> Thank you for your oversight. Okay. Uh, at this time, um, do I have a motion for approval of the audit? >> I'll make a motion to approve the audit report for the financial services and transactions from fiscal year 2025. >> I second. >> Okay. Um, Mrs. uh, Lisa Osaras makes the motion. Uh, Mrs. Bonales Garcia second. M. Solaris. >> Yes. Mrs. Sandra, >> yes. Mrs. Faras, yes. Mrs. Morales Garcia, >> yes. Mrs. Salazar,

114yes. Mrs. Silva, >> yes. >> I just announced. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you again. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Uh, moving on to our next item, which is uh discussing consider approval of a contract renewal with Reliance Air and Refrigeration LLC for the purchase of kitchen maintenance and repair services on an as needed basis. Superintendent. Mr. >> Board President, Mr. Garza M Ramirez will present the result of a request for proposal for kitchen maintenance and repair services in the child nutrition department. >> Good evening. Uh welcome Mr. Garza. Mr. Ramirez. >> Good evening. Uh board president Mr. Hernandez, superintendent Mr. Ramidz, board members, staff, and members of the community. The purchasing department is requesting authorization to approve a renewal of an agreement with Reliance Air and Refrigeration for the purchase of kitchen maintenance

115and repair services on an as needed basis in the estimated annual amount of 61,000 as requested by the child nutrition department. And I have miss Ramas here for further information. >> Good evening. um we had an RFP um about >> last year um with an extension um every year. So that's why we're coming here. Reliance is um the company that um got awarded the contract um and they're the ones that take care of all our all our units when they um break down or they need repairs, prevented maintenance, and just keep the kitchens running. Great. >> Thank you. Um, Mr. Ramirez, any questions or comments? No. All right. Okay. At this time, do I have a motion? >> I make a motion to approve Reliance Air and Refrigeration LLC for the purchase of kitchen maintenance

116and repair services on an as needed basis at an hourly rate of $79. >> Thank you. Mrs. Morales Garcia makes a motion. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Mrs. Far seconds. Mades. >> Yes. Miss San Roles. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Faria. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Monales Garcia. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Salazar. Yes. >> Mrs. Silva. >> Yes. >> And I just motion carries. Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to item uh next item discussing consider approval for a budget amendment for the current fiscal year in the amount of $400,000 as requested by the child nutrition department. Superintendent. Mr. >> Board President M. Amidas and the child nutrition department have done an excellent job managing the program and generating a budget surplus. As a result of this strong fiscal stewardship, there's a request

117to utilize portion of the excess funds for the purchase of warmers and coolers freezers. We have Mr. Kales Ramirez with the presentation. >> Welcome again, Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Cavales. >> Okay. Hello again. Uh we um currently have um I want to say maybe a little bit under six months on the fund balance. Um TD8 um let us have um six months and we're about right there right now with our fund balance. Um so I want to keep it maybe a little bit under the six months and get the equipment that the kitchens are um in need of. Um, since I've been here since 2018, we've been adding new equipment to the kitchen. Um, right now about all the kitchens have been upgraded except for the walk-in cooler, walk-in freezer for Matthew and for Gallardo,

118which are um very old because they're the the current units when the uh the schools opened. Uh we also have freedom and we have peers with rich in warmers and richin coolers um who are obsolete. Um we're giving a lot of business to Reliance right now because he's been able to keep them running uh when we are not able to longer find parts to repair them. Um so we need to replace um those units um and those units have already been replaced at the other campuses. So, these are the last two except maybe with the exception on Matthew who's still holding on, but we're going to give him the walking cooler if this uh passes. So, I'm requesting to transfer uh $400,000 from the fund balance to the budget in order to um make those

119purchases um for those four campuses. >> Great. >> Thank you, Mr. Fulz. Any questions? >> I just want to make sure that we clarify it's child nutrition fund fund balance that that she's talking about, correct? Childish and fun balance. Yes. >> Yeah. So I want to make sure that people say >> um and you said uh Matthew Garlo Pierce and Loya. >> It's it's going to be a walk-in cooler walk-in freezer for Matthew and Gallardo. >> Okay. >> And the reachins is the units that we have on the serving line behind where we have the food ready to put on the serving line to serve the students. Um those are the units at at those two campuses and I believe it's a total of four on each side that need to be replaced. Um and

120those are the ones that are obsolete and they becoming very expensive to keep. >> Any other questions or comments? Okay. At this time, do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve the budget amendment in the amount of 400,000 for the child nutrition department. >> Thank you. Mrs. Lisa Salazar makes the motion. Do I have a second? >> I second. Okay. Morales Garcia second. Mrs. Solivarees. >> Yes. >> Sang Robles. >> Yes. >> Mr. Faras. >> Yes. >> Miss Morales Garcia. >> Yes. >> Mr. Salazar. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Silva. >> Yes. >> And I just unan. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Okay. Moving on to our next item discussing consider approval of an agreement for the purchase of district medical insurance. Superintendent. >> Mr. Board President. The district issued a request

121for proposals for medical insurance. And Miss uh we have Miss Shauna Robinson and Mr. Garza to present the proposals and the recommendation. >> Thank you. Again, the purchasing department did issue a request for proposals for the for district medical insurance. Proposals were received by the due date and time and were individually evalu evaluated to include requests for best and final offers. Meetings were held with staff and uh discussed the submitted proposals and Miss Shauna Roberts Robinson is present for additional information. >> Welcome Mrs. Robinson, it's great to see you. >> Good evening. We today honor and thank the board very much for the countless hours that you dedicate to your community, the employees, and the students of Southside ISD. So, thank you so much for what you do. So, good evening, president, distinguished school board

122members, and superintendent mayors. We are so excited with the responses that we received. So, uh I think it was one of those that, oh, can you do it? Um over a holiday period, and we did. So, um, Dan worked tirelessly to get out about a 62page RFP, I think. Um, we got it out before the holiday and we had seven respondents, which let me tell you for a medical is a wonderful response. We actually had nine that wanted to respond. Two just a decline because their stop loss could not be competitive enough. So, very, very excited with the response that we had. And I think that is a true testament to the fact that people want to do business with Southside ISTD. That being said, we quickly created the in-depth spreadsheet that you all have

123in front of you. We had the top four contenders on there. We did live off the others just because um they didn't really make the uh final cut after the Baffo. So, that being said, 2:00 we finished the Baffo yesterday and went ahead and finalized. We've been meeting with administration and HR for about the last five or six days to make sure that we were able to make the changes and uh request from the carriers the things that they would like to see. So, we're very pleased to uh recommend with administration and HR the ESC 100 plan that you see in front of you. The top one is going to be what we currently have. We wanted to make it easy for you to be able to see the differences and any changes that might

124take place should you all choose to make this change. The rates you see on top are going to be your current Blue Cross Blue Shield and then the new ones are the ESC 100. Very comparable. There is a little bit of change. Keep in mind we are going to be level funded. No more surprises at the end of the month. It will be exactly what Mr. Carales um anticipates and is able to budget for that final number. And I'll get to the CARES program in just a second. Um Ozimpic, I do want to point out a few um just key elements that um are going to be a little bit different. So I want to make sure that the board is very aware as you make this decision. I am so excited about what we're

125doing. I really thank uh Mr. Romeirez, Mr. Cares, and the board for giving us this opportunity. I think this will alleviate some of the challenges we've had in the past of really being able to manage a plan. Um we've done a phenomenal job with um uh what we've um had in store for us, but we also now can really make that commitment that this is going to be a flat rate. That being said, Ozimpic and Majara will no longer be free through Global RX. And I just want to make sure that you all are aware in case you get tapped at the grocery store. They're going to have to pay for it, but they would have to pay for it on any other plan. I can tell you right now, and I'm not using this

126as a negative comparison, TRS is $300 for those two drugs should you go pick it up at your local pharmacy. Um, ours is going to be about $140. Now, that being said, if it's somebody that's strictly on it for weight loss, they're going to be denied, but they are being denied now as well. Um, that change was made at the first of the year. So, I just want you all to be aware of that. The next one is we're going to have two networks. So you can see there IMS network will be the um HDHP and the direct care. >> They have been uh in the state of Texas for about 40 years. Came out of El Paso. They're stationed in Dallas. They have a very robust network. I am not concerned about any disruption

127with IMS. I will tell you, we have had a few folks in Greenville that are also on this current plan that um if we needed to add them, they were added within 5 days. We have not had one person that's declined to be added because they are paying more than the carriers are paying. So, it really behooves any physicians to go and join the network. Thank you. Uh, next thing that I want to point out, ESC 100 has guaranteed us 18 months. I'm so excited about that. So, what that means is we will start March 1st. Should you all decide to move forward, that will take us all the way to August 31st, 2027. They have also just guaranteed for another 12 months, which takes us to 30 months, that they will have no increase

128larger than 3% if an increase at all. So they um really take great pride in managing um they do a better job than any of the other TPAs that I'm aware of because they've got skin in the game as well and so they have made that commitment to us as well. So I'm excited to announce that. Um another point that I want to point out is we still we will be participating in CARES. I know we've been talking about that for about a year and a half now. What that means is if somebody um would be better suited on another plan other than the districts, then if they qualify for CARES, the CARES team will be meeting with them. ESC 100 will reach out to them and then share with them the opportunity they have

129and go ahead and help them switch over. Currently, we have 10 people on CARES. Um we are going to be seeing three of those shift off as of March 1st. Um and then there's about five others that ESC 100 believes that they will be shifting over to CARES. It is not an astronomical number. They don't ever even foresee having over 15 to 18 people on it, but they're cons they they um are predicting they'll probably be 12 people that we have on CARES out of the 746 that are currently on our plan. The plans are very similar to what we have currently. So, there's going to be very little disruption. The pharmacy preference is going to be HB, Walmart, Sam's, and Costco. It does not mean employees can't go to Walgreens or CVS, but I

130will tell you and um uh ESC 100 will be able to show that as well. It is less expensive for our employees if they do choose the four that were mentioned. So, not only is it going to be less expensive for the employee, it's going to be less expensive um ultimately for our level plan. Although that um uh cost is the same for the district every month, the more that we can reduce that spend, then there's not an increase for us that following uh 12 months. We will begin enrolling on Monday. Mr. Ramirez quickly shared the calendar last week with all of the principles and department heads should the board decide to move forward with ESC 100 this evening and then we would make that switch on March 1st with lots of communication in between

131now and then. And with that, I will be quiet and see if you all have any questions. >> Thank you, uh, Mr. Robinson. So, thank you to you and your team and again, Mr. Cavales for you and your team. I know uh it was a mad dash to put all of this together very very quickly. Uh so appreciate all the effort and I know we had a lot of discussion over the past month. So thank you again. Uh any questions? >> So one of the concerns that I have been hearing back from um the staff is in reference to the ded their deductible since they started since the beginning of the year. So how is that going to work? Because >> thank you so much for bringing that up. I should have mentioned that. That

132should have been my ninth bullet. Um, the uh ESC 100 will honor any monies that they have spent in their deductible to date as of February the 28th. So, what we will request Blue Cross do is give us a full audited sheet. Every single employee and how much deductible that they have contributed so far. Not your copay, right? That doesn't go towards your deductible, but anything they have spent on a deductible that will be honored by ESC 100 and then they will not be charged that wherever they're at. It's good >> question. How is um so I know right now Blue Cross Blue Shield is accepted through University Health and that that's our campus clinic. How is the would that also be covered through ESC 100? >> Yes sir. And yes ma'am thank you for

133asking that as well. That was the very first question that we asked and we also stated in the RFP that um you needed to accept university considering that our clinic is currently with university and we have a partnership. Yes, they are in network. Uh, currently in network is going to be Baptist and University. U Methodist and Christas are not in network on the IMS plan. They are in network on the United plan. That being said, you're not going to have a deductible that's going to cap out if you go to Methodist or Christmas, but you're still going to be reimbured 50% of your cost. >> So, it's not as if they don't receive anything. It's just they'll only receive 50%. And they stay in work. network. They only have 20% out. >> Any other questions?

134>> I see that the there's um any for the direct care plan under out of network, whereas for Blue Cross Blue Shield, it's 50%. Um why is it not applicable? >> Okay, so that's deductible. So they're not going to have a deductible. What I mean by that is they're not going to end up with I've hit my deductible and I don't owe anymore. So if you choose to go out of network on the so if you choose to go to Methodist and you know that they're not in network, you can still go there. You're not going to be told you can't go there and you can't receive care, but you're not going to have a deductible that once you hit that 5,000 you don't owe anymore. They're just going to reimburse you 50% of whatever

135your spend is at that particular location. >> Okay. doesn't it doesn't um eliminate people from being able to have the choice that they want in their healthare but they won't have that that maximum out of pocket and they no longer eliminate. >> Okay. And I know you mentioned um the average cost for like Mount Jaro ZIC would be 146. One of the the feedback comments that I got was I I can't even afford $58 and that was they take it for the diabetes. Um, do you know if like there are any alternatives or will their insurance be willing to work with them? >> Exact question last week from an employee. Um, and I will tell you, uh, you know, I have two children. Um, but that being said, I went and researched the ozic mangaro

136zbound and there's a four >> there are 11 options before you get to oimpic or mangaro or zbound that can all be used. diabetes type. So, it's convenience, and I'm all about convenience, don't get me wrong. Um, it's simplicity. Uh, hopefully, you know, it increases compliance, but that is a really costly way for unfortunately type 2 diabetics right now to be able to maintain their diabetes. There are a lot of other choices. So, we'll just have to be more aggressive about sharing those choices. I will tell you, university is not just writing those scripts anymore. They are challenging those employees and um kind of I would say dialing back that prescription and helping them do more of that step therapy to see if there's something that they could be utilizing instead of Majora or Zip

137only because the costs are high for everybody. So, um it it won't be as convenient for those that choose not to pay the 140, but there are 11 other alternatives today that are just as >> Okay. And are we um so through Blue Cross Blue Shield on their app, they offer um like if you get a mammogram, you get $30 back. Does ESC 100 have any of those incentive programs? >> They do not. >> Okay. >> You're not going to see that with a level funded and a fully fully funded. Um so on a selfunded, we're really paying for that in the back end. >> Okay. >> Any other questions? Um, so I know the last time we talked about this insurance, there was a concern about have using the insurance out of state. Are

138they going to be able to use this out of state? >> United is a network that's national. They're the second largest in the United States. So that should not be a problem. And we have IMS that's statewide. And then if you were out of the state for some reason, you had an accident, that's an emergency. That's always going to be covered. If you have a stepchild or a child or a a child that's off at college, then we'll be able to make sure that those people have coverage as well. They'll fall default back to the United N. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, any other questions? >> I just like to make a comment. I'd like to thank uh Mr. Garza and as well as Shauna because I know this this all came at last minute

139and we were full speed. So, you know, thank you for for for putting in the work and having seven companies actually put their time and and actually um putting documents into us at that time because it's holidays, right, is phenomenal. So, I think, you know, all we can do is go up from here. >> We appreciate that. And I know you almost hate to not have seven winners because they definitely um have supported us and uh lots of conversations back and forth on that baffo. These people want to be here. So, um, we're excited to say that we're recommending ASC 100, but all seven carriers were very interested in participating. >> Great. And remind me the employee contribution is how much? >> The the employee contribute uh 400 >> 414. So when when we do

140the math um at the end the total expense for this plan would be 5,376,422 with the contributions that the district receives in revenue would be 5,200,000. So we would be short 176,422. But if you compare it to the existing expense that we have right now is 6,193,730. So, this would save the district with the current expense about approximately $800,000. >> And that's keeping at the 414, right? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> But don't forget that we voted for 350. >> So, how much does that give us? What's the numbers on that? So at 350 and I and I didn't send an email uh as far as legal and what their thoughts were. >> So at 3 350 if we would just do a the just the math and in general without looking at the individuals

141that are in each of the plans because each of the plan it's a it's a little bit different. So that would be so times about 700 about $537,600 that we would save with that with a decrease in the contribution from the district from 414 to 350. >> That's for an entire year. >> An entire year. beginning. >> What's that? >> Beginning what? The beginning of the school year. >> The recommendation was >> That's what >> the attorneys recommended. >> Correct. >> So we we wait till September 1st. Is that the date? >> Yes, sir. >> So then uh we would we would keep the 414 to allow our staff to to adapt through through the remainder of the year and then September 1st we will make the change. All right. Yes, sir. questions, thoughts, comments.

142I do have a comment. I think that this needs to be put on as one of your agenda items for the budget workshop. um showing different scenarios of savings with the reduction of the contribution. >> I can do that. And I'd like for um maybe the conversations with with your department directors and your your professional team to start that dialogue on how it affects our employees and what their thoughts are and you know to get their input. Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Miss Salazar. Any other questions or comments? Okay. Again, thank you very much for for all the work. We really do appreciate it. >> One last thing is we will be hand delivering medical cards. So, I know that's going to be something that uh is just going to cause a little discomfort for

143some wondering when that's coming. So, um we've asked uh all the carriers uh through the BAFO that they would have those to our office by the 26th. then we will turn right back around, stuff those in envelopes that are already ready, sitting in our office, and then we will hand deliver those. Just so y'all know in case somebody, you know, happens to run into you and ask you. And I do want to give a shout out to HR. So Mary Bell and her team work very closely with us. We're on the phone with them daily um about something and they've been very instrumental in this process. So I just want to make sure that you all know they're working hard as well. >> Jesse, you have a question? >> Yes. Um, can we have a

144representative um from the chosen insurance company to help hand out those insurance cards? So, if anybody has any questions, they'll be on site. >> Absolutely. They're going to be at enrollment. >> Okay. >> So, we will be on site with you guys all next week at every single campus, every department. They're actually going to have a representation at that as well. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And and we are going to be handing out little a little mini book, six pages that has all of the important information they need, phone numbers, as well as the Okay, great. >> Thank you. >> So, thank you again and and just want to just want to make the comment that uh you know, healthc care is something that's that's crucial and critical to to everybody. Um we we

145all use it and and we depend on it for our families. So, these decisions are not made lightly and and we do it in the best interest of of the the staff and in the district. And I know we've had to make some very difficult decisions, but it's something that um unfortunately has continued to go increase significantly over the past decade probably. Uh every single year it's been going increasing and so uh we'll continue to look at options and get creative. So um we'll take the feedback um that anybody has. Um, so please share it with your your leaders and and um, you know, let let us know what your your thoughts are and we'll continue to try and look for options and I know Mr. Robinson, you'll you'll continue to be an advocate for

146us to find those options. So, thank you. >> We're so excited that the prices are almost identical. There are just a couple variations from what we've had in the past. So, hopefully that will help those employees be able to transition as well. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Uh at this time, do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve an agreement for the purchase of the district's medical insurance. Can you can you add with the contribution >> uh the with along with the contribution the uh of 350 >> 414 sorry >> 414 >> I'll make the motion to approve an agreement for the purchase of the district medical insurance along with the contribution employee contribution uh 414 >> with ESC 100. >> Yes, >> thank you for reminding me of that. So,

147thank you. Mrs. Faras makes the motion. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Mrs. Lisa O Salazar second. Miss Oliveres. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Angles, >> yes. >> Mrs. Faras, >> yes. >> Mrs. Morales Garcia, >> yes. >> Mrs. Salazar, >> yes. >> Mrs. Silva. >> I just hear on this. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh moving on to our next item which is uh consider and take action with respect to proposed projects and financing scenarios for a May 2026 bond election in the district. Superintendent Mr. Ward President Mr. Kales and Hilltop Securities will provide different bond options along with proposed projects based on the district's needs for each option. Uh Mr. Kales will start off the presentation. >> Welcome again, Mr. Kales. No, that spreadsheet is fine. >> Is that showing on

148y'all's computers? That's spreadsheet. Okay. Um, so I'm I'm going to step aside real quick. I I wanted to I heard Miss Hazard's question um to the auditor that asked about the principal and um um the interest on the bonds that we actually have. So, I don't know if I need to speak in this thing. I have to move it. But, but what we have here is um um a 2015 bond. And if you slide over a little bit, uh thank you to the beginning. There we go. Yeah, that way. Right there. Slide. Um the 2015, you can see here we have the 26. We have payments here. The first column is going to be principal on that bond that's left. And then 2015 is the interest that's actually left on that bond. um 2016 that

149that will be paid February 15th and that bond will be paid off at that point in time. 2017 was a 30-year bond at that point in time. That's the longest one we have out there. 2020A and 2020b I was not here at those times, but you can see they're they're titled refunding. So, more than likely what was happening is the district was taking advantage of the interest rates dropping down to approximately zero. um that is during COVID when the rates dropped extremely low and and many districts or whoever you were who had debt actually refinanced at that time. So So those those pieces right there are are older bonds that were refinanced and I don't have more information on that on the spreadsheet, but that's that's what that information is there, of course. And then

150we have the maintenance tax note. This is actually paid out of the general fund. Um and that maintenance tax note out of the general fund gets paid in 2028. Um, this is this is nothing official, but but this is just my spreadsheet to actually keep track of um what what bonds are due, what principal, what interest, and what what dates are actually due through years. So, um the audit doesn't break it down to that level. Um but I don't know if that helps with your question on when when things are due. >> So, Mr. Carlos, I really appreciate this. We haven't seen anything that's like this. very easy to read, very easy to follow. Um, it I think clears up a lot of questions, right, Miss? >> Yeah. And it it allows it allows everybody

151to understand the bond process, but also the bond payments. >> I I I do think at some point we did put when we got our um we received an award from the state controller for transparency that we did actually get this on the website. I didn't share with the board at the time, but um I update it once a year um or if any changes actually happen when we defeat the debt. Um we we there was some changes to this. So we we just update it with the information. Um but it doesn't change very often. So I mean the only thing that changes is is you know there's two payments a year of principal and interest and and that's >> Can you add this into your workshop as well? That way at least we're we're

152able to talk about it. >> Yes, ma'am. Of course. Yeah. So I that that's why I ran I ran out to email the technology and kind of put him on the spot. So I want to thank him for for for putting this up. I ran over there saying I hope this helps answer the question that you had for the auditors. Um because the audit will not give a breakdown like this. Not not that it's bad. It's just not the purpose of the audit to actually break down the debt. >> This is really help >> scheduled to this level. So that's that's the debt that the district currently has out there and when these current bonds actually get paid off. Uh side note to all that and not a good time. Real quickly on the defeasence

153on the $5 million, could you explain uh how ahead of schedule we ended up uh paying those $5 million? >> That that's a good time to introduce Michelle right now. >> Okay. >> Hi. Good evening. Welcome. >> Hello. Hi. >> Thank you. Michelle Aragon with Hilltop Securities. I was here I believe we did it in August maybe. Um, and we started talking about the defeasance and defeasence is just a fancy word for paying off debt early. And so when the districts issues bonds, there is what's called a call day associated with those bonds. Once we reach that call date, we're able to either refinance the bonds uh, like Michael was talking about, or we can pay them off early. And so we came up to that date for the 2015 bonds and we went ahead,

154let me see, we paid off 5.52 million principal early and that was a savings of 7.31 million on gross savings. Present value was 1.7 million. And and one of the things we could have done or or or could still do now is um I have a before and after the the 5.5 million and and that was paid off. So I have one of these that I saved before and then of course then the 5.5 the impact it actually has to our payments and our schedule. >> I can share that with you too actually be able to compare them side by side. I can print them off and have it with the workshop that we that we have to kind of let you have them side by side and see the impact of the five million

155dollar. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. >> Okay. So, that was a quick change. Um, now if I could ask technology to give back the real presentation that we have here, get back on track. Um, very very very quickly, there's um talking about tax rates, we we have two that everybody knows. We set the tax rates here. Um, the maintenance and operation um and and the interest in sinking. Um, those two tax rates for us for this current year are a$18 1.0805. If I'm talking in a presentation, I'm going to say a dollar8 instead of 1.805. But the reason for the four placement is that's what the summary of finance. So if you look at the tea funding summary of finance where they pay us, it goes to four places. So we carry the four the

156four four places when when sharing the information. um emergency operations at 75 cents and the INS is at 32 cents um being a$1805 that's our current tax rate with our situation right now um if if we leave the M tax rate the same at 75 cents and we leave the debt service or INS why they have two words TA does that so debt service and INS Yes, if I say that, that's that's the debt side of it right there. That's the 32 cents. Um, the district would be able to issue uh or is eligible to issue more debt up to 45,650. Of course, that's an estimate. That's approximation, but that that is the amount of debt due to keeping it at 30 cents and defeasing debt early. Um, we would be able to issue debt

157of additional $45.6 $6 million without raising um one penny of taxes on on either side, the M or the debt service. Um the calculation comes out and once again that's why Michelle's right behind me in case somebody is wrong. Um if if we were to look at one penny on the debt service side, that would move the total tax rate to $19 and and that would allow the INS or debt service to now move up to 49,700,000. So approximately $4 million increase for for just one penny that the district would be able to to issue debt up to um $49.7 million. So any questions so far? Okay, let me keep going here. Th those are two scenarios. And and now um >> th this is not scenario number three. This is this is a whole

158different scenario, a whole different side of it. But this this is another possibility. Um, since we're talking about tax rates, we're talking about some type of election, then um I I need to also um share with the board what would happen on the maintenance and operation side. Um not a suggestion, but needed to share. For example, um I think we had four TREs in Bear County in November. Um what would that look like for us? Whether we want to do it or not, at least share with the board like why are people doing this? What's happening? We'll probably see some more in November. So since we're talking about tax rate on the INS, I thought I'd share with the M side the same way. So the M side works a little bit different. This there's

159a tier one and a tier 2 that make up the M tax rate. And for us, there's 32 C or 63 cents and then the 11 cents rounds up to 12 cents. But th those are the two numbers that total to the 75 cents. Okay. One thing that'll actually happen is when we're working on the tax rate calculation, we we work with the state for tier one. You'll hear either tier one or maximum compressed rate. We send in our values to the state comproller and tea and they look at how much growth we've had and they decide at that point in time if we need compression. Historically over the last few years we have continued to see approximately a penny of compression. So this number um goes down as our values go up. That was

160structured in 2019 and that's just the way the the the the funding structure works for us. Now the tier 2 is where you hear the words golden pennies and copper pennies. And at one point this district probably went out for their 17 cents. Um adding a level of complexity what they just for fun I guess is why they do this. But you have a tier two level one and a tier two level level two. And that's your copper pennies and your golden pennies. Um the maximum amount of golden pennies the district could ask for on the main operating side is 8 cents. We are there. We've asked for the maximum amount of golden pennies that are available. We could not get another golden penny. We're at that max limit. However, we um we we have

161some room on the copper penny side because once again, we we could we could have 17 cents on tier 2. And so, you're getting 17 cents, you have eight golden pennies and nine. Right now, we're at the 3 95 or four pennies there, which allows us to go five more pennies in order to get to nine. The reason I share that with you is that would move that would move the M tax rate up 80 cents for us. And that that generates on the M side approximately $2 million a year every year after this. And and that's why people are doing the TRE. They have a different amount. No one generates the same amount of money on a TR, but we're eligible for the five additional pennies moving uh the tier 2 level two getting

162more copper pennies. Um and and those five additional copper pennies would require a vote, but they would generate a continued $2 million every year after that. So, I want to share that with you. Um, once again, the reason that's not a scenario one or two, it's something on we're talking about this one. I if the district was to say, "Okay, if we want to keep the tax rate the same and attempt two separate elections, you could have an election to ask for the five pennies on the M side, reduce five pennies, which would not take an election, but you could just reduce the five pennies on the INS side, leaving the tax rate exactly the same." What that would do for the district is they would be eligible for bonds of or debt of $27.6

163$6 million um a one-time um influx of money to for for construction and and then um a $2 million on the maintenance and operation side continuously every year after that and that's my final slide on this page here. So any questions on tax rates? >> Any comments or questions for Mr. Kav? Can we go back to the to the one penny slide? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Right there. >> Here's one penny. So this would be a t a uh tax ratification election. Correct. >> No on the IS side on this one. No, this would be a bond election. >> This would be a bond election. >> Yes, ma'am. Not affecting the INO, not the M, but the INS or debt service side. >> How would the language be on that? on one P >> because

164it h we have to change the language right when we go forward. So how would that read? >> So >> if we increase >> if you if the board opts to go for a bond the language on the ballot regardless if you leave the the tax rate the same or if you increase it on the ballot it's going to say that it's a tax increase. That's why we wanted to present this because that 1 cent increase would go along with what's going to be on the ballot. In the past, uh, the community, and this happens all across the state, uh, tend to think that somebody's lying to us. How is it possible that without increasing the tax rate, it's going to generate this amount of money. So, somebody's lying. Uh, because it states it in

165the ballot and we keep on saying there won't be a tax increase. There won't be a tax increase. In this scenario, it would go along with what's on the ballot. It would be a one penny increase. And and that's that's the increase. And that language is in all caps at the beginning of the proposition on the ballot per law. >> I didn't know if we had to the reason I was asking I didn't know if we had to state the actual >> No, that would be in the voter information document. So, not actually when you would go vote, but if a voter would request to see the voter information document, you would see all the debt service numbers and you would actually see that tax rate. And and the the penny would be per $100

166of property value, right? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay, Miss Man Garcia, >> do we So, I know I know we need a bond, but do we know exactly what we're requesting to fund through the bond? So, so different proposals are going to be presented in a second for each of the options on different projects that are available uh or that based on the needs, input from the community, input from uh trustees, staff uh and so for each scenario, some proposed projects will be presented in a second. >> Okay? Because I think it would be beneficial for us to know the budget before we look at what we're asking for. >> We we have that list. Yes ma'am. >> Okay. >> And we we have that on the not on this slide or presentation but it's

167the seven seven presentations available right >> coming next. >> So so then um one one option is is the penny that's going to generate a potential of 49.7 million right. >> Yes sir. >> Um is there a second option for a TR bond? not a TR bomb, but once again if you if we were to do so so yes you would the TR is a tax ratification election and that goes straight to the M side only to the maintenance and operation side separate from this could you ask for pennies on maintenance and operation in November and also pennies for your bond yes you could you would you're you would there's we are capped at five pennies on the M side the maintenance and operation side we were capped at five pennies though but that's the

168highest we could go up which would generate approximately 2 million >> one thing to note if so the tax rate elections uh ravagation that has to happen only in November you can do those in May and if you choose to do the route where you do decrease your INS tax rate this is for the next tax year so that is adopted in the August September time frame so you could lower your INS tax rates go out for the Vader or tax rate election in November, it not pass, but your INS tax rates still stay lower. That happened to a lot of school districts. I just wanted to caveat that. That happened to a lot of school districts whose vaders did not pass this last November. There was actually only one in the Bear County area,

169which was Bernie IC that passed. So, I'm just going to speak here. Um, so I've been involved in the in the TR and we passed ours. So, um, that was back on my first run. This is being presented. Totally different from what I've ever seen a bond being pushed, right? So, for me, it's a little deceptive. Um because there should be a committee >> that we did it each of the board members gave a person to represent them from the community to come to the table. Um, for for me, I would like to see that happen, but I would also like to see us work with that person um as cohesively together as a team to get the information out to the community, but also have the team decide on what's needed in our district

170with our superintendent. Um, you would have some key people in place as well. Um, there's usually an architect involved, CFOs involved. Um, all of that is run down, but everything is bulleted out and then prioritized and discussed and, you know, and it it gets very emotional, right? Because there are some areas that people are like, "No, we're not doing that." but based on the needs of the district. I think that's an important piece >> that we bring the community in. And if if our selection is a staff member, then that that's our selection. But um I feel like that's our piece. But we're also been talking about going out to the community and educating our community. What a perfect time. What a perfect time as a group to go have have those meetings posted or

171bring them into into the buildings, you know. Um it just it just sends a different message. >> It sends a different message. >> I think that's where I was trying to get with >> we're not being transparent on what we're asking for, >> right? So when I looked at this right away in my head, I was like, "Okay, TR, I can do that. I can support that." as a bond, I'm not going to support it. And I think you and I have had the discussions of the reasons why. Um, so just to put it out there, that's that's my recommendation that we do. You guys can, you know, agree or disagree. So the the plan is yes to to form committees uh get the community involved have 100 million sessions at every single campus. Um

172it turns out that from the last election uh 181 people who voted had students here in the district and 537 did not have children here at the district. So the approach would be that we find out where these individuals are and of course knock on those doors and have conversations with them. It's difficult to convince a person who doesn't have children here about you know us telling them there won't be a tax increase if that's the route that the board takes for them to believe us and say well why would I if I don't have any children here at the district. So over 75% of those who voted in the last election do not have children here at the district. So but our our plan is to go and have all these meetings. Now the

173the uh proposal on the tax the TR the reason we brought it is that it's two different elections and and try to combo both of them together. So because the TR can only be done in November, that's why it's not being proposed for in May. I'm I'm I'm Yes, for in May. So in that scenario, without increasing the tax rate, you generate $27 million on the bond and then you would go for the TR in in November, if it passes, it would generate an additional $2 million. So, what's good about the TRE is that it's not locked into what you state that a project is. That money can be used however the district needs and it's $2 million every year after. So, it's just increasing. So, if you do a comparison with the $49 million

174one to the to the one with the combo of the TR, it would take 11 years with a $2 million increase every year to get to that $49 million. That the $49 million, you would get it all at once. But after those 11 years, you would still start you still continue getting the $2 million. Now, unfortunately, we're in a time crunch that the election in case the board opts to go for a bond election is the the the the deadline is the 11th, >> The 13th. So, February the 13th is when the bond the election needs to be called. So, that's the only issue, but we plan to have all the meetings and everything with with the community. Now just know that what was placed on that list is is coming from some of the

175issues that were brought in the prior bond election that we had committees formed and discussions who that took place also with the existing needs which includes for example the high school track that needs to be addressed. Getting $800,000 to fix that track. Unfortunately, we cannot pull it from the general uh fund because it's really going to have a negative impact on our finances. That's in addition to everything else that's needed. So, I if the board would allow us just to show the list so you can see some of these items that I'm sure that community members have brought up the concerns. For example, the Manaka parking lot that is an ongoing discussion that has brought up a lot of concerns on that we need this taken care of. that is one of the projects that

176that would be proposed but for each of the different scenarios. So I if if the board can see that list and then at the end if the board says hey we're not interested and you know what do the comm the meetings and everything and we will wait until uh November of next year. But the thing is that in order to take care of the needs of the district there's no way around it. The only way that we're going to be able to do it is either through some kind of bond TR combo or a bond because coming up with us not the state not funding uh sufficiently for us to be able to take on these expenses is just absolutely impossible. It cannot be done uh as far as when you see the needs of

177what those projects are uh or what those projects are addressing. So that that's what we have and that's the time crunch that we have. >> Let's take a look at the list. You know we can have further discussion. So, I think everybody has it on their computer there. Hopefully, you can show, but there's three different columns. One, um, with a $49 million list or approximately $49 million worth of items on there on the left hand side, dark blue. Um, the one in the middle of the $45 million list. Um, and then of course the $25 million list. Um would you all like me to just go through the list or y'all able? Okay. So, kind of quickly going through here is um um 11 buses um buses are on the list. Um classrooms for Freedom

178Gallardo Heritage and Pierce uh four classrooms a piece. Manaka with four, Loya and Matthew with two new additional classrooms. High school with five additional classrooms. um desk or furniture um for the students here at $120,000. The parking lot from Manaka at 2.5 is on the list. Um Gallola has um foundation renovation that's needed. Freedom House foundation renovations that's needed. Um a paved road and heritage, a student drop off section. Um playground equipment for the elementaryaries at $960,000. That's elementary campus science lab renovations. Lo staging area is asphalt and lines 295,000. Uh Matthew um does not have a track and still needs one. Um the showers need some upgrades there and repairs. Um high school science labs also needing upgrades. Um auditorium seats are needing to be replaced. Um, auditorium lighting also needing to be replaced.

179Auto shop lighting needing to be replaced. Of course, stadium lighting, all that would have an impact with the LED lighting, saving money. Um, high school restrooms, high school card ADA readers for compliance issues, high school interior doors. Um, we have a grant for exterior doors, but interior doors are not allowed in the grant. Um, the high school track, um, completing that. um heritage uh and menaka mares. We've known about the mares for a while also. Um continue on page two for me here. Technology items. The data center. The data center is something we've tried to get in the last few years, but um we just it it doesn't fit for a $600,000 um one time. Um we need a data center upgrade. Um replacing the mobile devices. Many of these things were bought with CO

180money back in 2020. So we're in 2026 now. how many things are um at at the end of life cycle. Um network uh infrastructure upgrades. Interactive smartboards districtwide district phone system replacement. The phone system that we actually have um will be obsolete soon. So it'll be hard to get replacement um for the phone system we actually have. Um electrical work for the elevators at Loya Asis High School. Um intercoms, fire panels, getting upgraded on the maintenance section. HVAC. Of course, with as many units as we have, we always need upgrades there. Of course, the uh variable air volume uh boxes need to be replaced. Um we also had some band instruments, calculators, microscopes, and then some cameras for the doors. Um if you that is the most extensive list at 49 million of course and

181then if if uh you were looking at a 45 million um then it would it would obviously remove the items and you can see which items have been removed and then removing more items down to a $25 million section. >> So Mr. Carales uh so thank you uh for briefly going over over the list. Um who or how did we come up with with the list? So input from everybody campus principles on what their needs were from maintenance on what their needs were from uh for example the data centers coming from cliff in the technology department um mission medius is feedback that he has from parents and employees and whoever's talking to him and telling him what's what what's needed also. So I guess for for example for for classrooms so is there is there

182some data based on growth trends or anything that tells us we're going to need four new classrooms or are we lacking there or what what is the the future forecast like that? Is that what was taken into account for that? >> Yes sir. We we have um right now with the capacity high school has capacity to add 116 students. We're aware of that number. Um between the two middle schools um they they have capacity to add 241 students. Um the elementaryaries of course have different fluctuations but total with elementaryaries right now is 207 um is a capacity the amount of students we could actually add right now. So we we have the numbers to show where um a new facility is not needed. For example, we're not going to build a new high school for

183116 kids. Um but that's that would be the number that we would just use the classrooms for. >> So from from a timing perspective um if if we're to take what what Miss Mrs. Salazar said in regards to you know forming forming a committee from one trustee provides a recommendation the superintendent's recommendation um to form this committee and and then we have these sessions out in the community right with where everybody has has additional input um from a timing perspective if we're to say and this is just me talking not not take action today but let's let's do this committee Um or maybe the direction is to form the committee today. Um do that over the next several months and then come back in November. Um I'm kind of looking at you for some guidance.

184Uh what what is >> November bond election and you have to call it by August. >> Call it by August. So that gives us the spring the spring to to do that work. From a timing perspective, you mentioned some dates like what does that do to us to be able to start? So let's say um you know call it in August, vote in November. Um when does it become effective? >> You if the bond election passes, you have a 30-day canvas period and we could do a bond issue as quickly as so a year from now. So January and then you would get the money in February 2027. So, a couple months after the bond, >> couple months >> or the election. >> And we we don't we don't actually have anything from legal that

185needs to be signed today to actually call the election. So, that that's not actually here today, by the way. That we're not we're not >> Yes, sir. >> We don't even have the the language drawn up if we're not asking for today. >> We would we would do that at the next meeting. >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, so with the just real quick, uh with the classrooms, uh looking at the capacity and where each of the campuses are, uh the other scenario was well, why don't we just build in an elementary campus? The thing is that there's needs as far as the numbers of a concern at the elementary with the future growth that that we have here or the current growth that we have here. also at the high school is it's

186going to become an issue on uh the capacity and the and the need for extra rooms. So uh doing just one uh set of grade levels unfortunately would not resolve the issue that the district will eventually uh will will experience. So that because of that those different classrooms were were um were put in the proposal and as you can see at the middle school it's less than what the elementary and the high school because based on those needs. Now by any chance would you know uh the approval rate and uh bond elections in May in comparison to November? Last year, um, we had a lot of, uh, the May elections pass more than in November. Um, I don't know if that was had to do with there was a lot more voters because the Spurs

187uh, propositions. Um, and so you had a lot of voters that didn't vote that went out to support the Spurs and then they just saw a tax rate increase. That was kind of the opinion in our industry. we thought about with the vers too because all most of all the verselled as well in November. Um, and so of course November you have a lot more things on the ballot as opposed to May. >> And I'd like to say just May May is I mean everybody knows that that's local. So you know um that it's school board so it would be easy for us to get our people out and the community out and you know >> for me >> next year It's too fast, too quick. >> But it's too quick for this May. >>

188So you're saying not do November to wait till a year or 15 months? >> Do it in November. I think if we I think if we do it right, will we we will be able to pass it. >> I agree. you know, everybody wants to do I mean, I'm frustrated myself because I know that we need these things, but I just can't support these things at the moment. So, for me, it's kind of like, you know, I'm in the middle. This this this is my community, as I've said before. So, I want to make sure that we take care of of our our students and parents and community, but I just think process and procedures is first and foremost. So, >> Mr. Armas, do we have if we if we don't go after the bond,

189I know we're concerned about classroom numbers, do we have a plan if we don't go for a bond? >> Yes. Uh, and depending on the numbers, we would move students around. I don't think it'll be an issue in the next maybe two to three years, but eventually it'll come. and we're hoping that it doesn't come all at once. Uh but I think we we should be fine for the next couple of years with the available space, but just know that the approval takes place when we hope that it does that uh it takes a year, you know, before this construction is taken care of. So, we're looking at a year after uh if if they complete on time. Um so, we will do whatever the board would like for us to do. just know that

190um some decisions will have to be made on that track uh moving forward whether we're going to incur that expense or wait for an outcome of of the bond if it's in November of of November or May of of next year. Um and and that of course we would have that discussion and then the board can can guide us on what y'all want done. But we have no issue. I mean we're here to follow the guidance of the board. Uh our intention was always of course to get input from everyone and and to be transparent and everyone to be involved. Uh unfortunately we ran into this issue of some expenses that need to be taken care of already and because of that that's why the proposal was brought I have a question. >> The Matthew

191showers don't already have hot water. >> So, no, they don't. Uh, it it has a little bit of warm water. The thing is that they're not being used. The students do not use them. Uh, because they just don't tend to shower. We're we want to make sure that they're not that they don't want to shower. I mean, it's just that they're not accustomed at that age in that in the middle school to shower. uh at the highest school, they tend to care a little bit more, you know, about that. Uh so, so we want to make sure that it's available and it it has been uh something that it's on and off and it's working. Uh but we've tried to mitigate the expenses and this is one area that we've said, okay, well, it's somewhat

192working. It's not being used. We can hold up on that. Have we reached out to like any organizations or businesses ACOG CPS to see if there were any rebate programs or any like classroom school upgrade programs that we qualify for? >> Yes, ma'am. We we've done it for transportation for buses. Uh Mr. Herring on the technology side, Mr. Morial on the energy savings side. Uh they are uh looking for any grants available that could assist with the with those expenses. >> Yeah. Thank you. What's the expense for the hot water? >> For the hot water >> 150,000. We probably would have approved it if they would have asked. >> What's the What's the issue there? >> Pretty sure it's a code violation. It >> it's on and off and it it does provide warm water.

193It's not being used at all. Uh we don't have any students uh using the showers at this time. Uh but it's on and off. There's a little bit of warm water coming out. >> But I guess some would argue that they're not being used because it's cold water. >> No, even on hot days of 100 degrees, you know, that is not cold. They're not being utilized. >> It's a bo it's a boiler issue or >> boilers are 100 gallons. There's two of them that are >> and and that cost $150,000 yesterday was uh engineered. It's two horizontal units that that we have to replace at some point. >> And you've looked at other options, spoiler options that maybe full replacements that wouldn't be that type or >> uh we looked at other brands that would

194be then that cost would escalate because of the way it's piped in and engineered prior. I would have to move to a different area mezzanine and create other penetrations. I've looked at every avenue and this is one of those, >> excuse me, >> we've looked at all the uh avenues. Uh I've brought in uh engineers. I have an engineer study that was done by Leaf Engineering with recommendations. Uh there's uh several options, but they're their pricing is escalated than than what this would be. Mer, >> how long has how long has this been without hot water in that area? >> I would say estimated on and off for three to four years already. >> And we haven't heard about it, other than the community. >> That's a code violation. >> Well, and our elevators are

195too. >> So, when we look at compliance issues and out of compliance issues, without an elevator, you're ADA. >> Gotcha. if I may. So, the the warm water is on and off. Again, it it hasn't been used. Uh they've brought it to my attention. We've had discussions. Uh and at the time, you know, when we asked and I think even they went and asked the students and the administration on whether it was being used, it's it's not being utilized at all. And we're talking about on hot days. Uh so, but it's on and off. Uh if you go right now, there might be a little bit of warm water coming out uh but they're not being utilized. And because of that expense of $150,000 that we have to decide, okay, what is it that we

196can wait a little to make sure that we are within budget with the expenses that we have as far as the elevators? They've been repaired uh and they continue now that they're a little bit older. They continue to have issues that we continue to repair. Because of that, those elevators are part of the list as well. >> But so they are functioning today, >> correct? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Is there a way we can get um Well, I think we're all kind of on the same page. I know we're getting this that and the other, but because I'm seeing that some of the stuff on the list, if there's like a way we can like get like what's really needed versus what we could because I'm also looking like at the foundations for G though

197and freedom. I mean I know at Gallard though like I live in that area like we've got foundation issues but maybe that's something we could hold off on for now and go with hot water some something else that's kind of comparable that maybe is more of a need at the top. But maybe I don't know rating some of these as to what's really really needed versus what's what could possibly be like held off. Like if we're talking timewise, like if we're thinking like classroom sizes and this and that, maybe putting those on a rated system of of what is really needed versus what maybe is not or we could hold off and see. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Well, just that's just my >> and I I know some of this like the technology piece. So,

198can somebody slide down a little bit on this? So, we voted on that. that was approved already. So, there's some of these items that have been approved already by the board and I think that needs to be shown too >> because we've we've discussed it. >> So, some of these are not new to us, but some are. >> Yes. >> So, yes, if I may, sir. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes. So, for example, the 6,400 student mobile devices, Chromebooks, we brought a proposal to the board that we would face in for the next uh three, four years, that we would face in I think it was like 600 or 700 Chromebooks each year. So, there's a plan for that. Under this proposal, you get them all at once. You you get them all at once

199if it's passed. And uh this would be where each a a student would receive a new device uh a brand new device also the staff that they would replace their laptops and and with new devices. The data room is something that was proposed that we would come back and if there was any way that you know to figure out how we can uh get what's absolutely needed from that data room. That is another expense that of course was brought to the board that we can find a way to pay through this uh proposal and not have the general fund incur that expense. So yes, a lot of these items are items that either in a board meeting have been brought up and there's other items that I have received calls from some of the trustees

200on concerns on some of these items along with parents and staff bringing up these issues. Have we reached out to organizations like Tech Block, Port SA, Google Fiber to see if any of them might be able to assist us with some of this? >> On the technology side, Mr. Hering, you've looked at grants and >> so um I've reached out to our our major vendors. I reached out to the CDWs of the world, the bigger uh vendors that we have that they they are uh a basically a global uh vendor for any technology to kind of see what options are there for buying technology whether it's through some type of um um lease agreement um anything like that that will help us. Um because we of course are not the only school district going through

201this issue. um these companies deal with other school districts that are again have the same thing going on over there that we have here. Um and and really it just kind of boils down to the same thing is is funding is limited. Um they're they're they recognize the need and they're willing to work with the pricing of the devices. Um it's just a matter of just kind of figuring out, okay, how do you come up with the upfront cost to pay for some of the stuff? >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> Um, so in reference to your list here, so going through there, one of the things I noticed is um how like you start with the first list and you go to the second list and there's a couple things that

202were taken off, but then you go to the third list where it has the bond scenario for the 25 million. Um there's quite a few things that were taken off on there and and some of the stuff that I noticed on there I felt are important that especially new desk. If we're talking about getting new classrooms, we need desk and and um do we have the right amount of um number of desks that we need to request? It seems like it's kind of low, but yet there are certain things and I don't want to call them out because I probably would get in trouble, but um where it stayed the same across and I don't understand like why that happened for the one particular area and you know I'm trying to understand that why that

203didn't change >> me sir. Yes sir. that. So in the rooms in the classroom proposals, it already includes the desk that separate item. And so every classroom that's there on that list includes the desk, the technology, everything that goes with that classroom. It's already included in those price estimates. The other item where you see the additional desks is to replace uh desks that uh are old already at the elementary level >> and some because of the growth like say for example at Gallardo we have more students come in so they need additional desks. They have desks already but to replace some of the older desks. >> At Loo Soya when it used to be an elementary campus they have the smaller desks. their desk for students but we would like to replace them for with

204larger desks for the students that it's suitable for those students at that size. >> Okay. So maybe okay that explains that I didn't understand that why you know such a less desk. Um the other thing I just think that we need to you know like they're talking about prioritizing the stuff on here. I do think that there's stuff that's missing from here. We have a barn that is not in good shape and but yet you have other organizations that you're giving all this money to and we're not sharing it across the board. I mean, we have, you know, athletics that they need new uniforms and I just think we should share it across and be fair to everybody, not just put all the money into this one organization and that's just my opinion. I think

205we need to look at other things that need the needs of our kids. Um, we the uniform shows pride, brings pride to our kids and the community. And then the barn situation, I mean, they're live animals and they're getting sick, you know, they can't even go show them and win because they're sick and they spent a lot of money on the the animals. So, I think that's something we also need to look into. So the board has the discretion to change the amounts to change the items to say hey we have uh committee members who have brought up these concerns we they they we add them to the list and remove whatever needs to be removed. So the board has that discretion along with the committee that's formed that they decide, hey, this needs to

206be changed. We come back to the board. We we explain to the board and then at the end whatever it is that y'all want changed. >> All right. Any other comments? >> We do like a workshop on this like >> just this like >> So I think it would be a series I think it'll be I think it will be a series of workshops, right? >> So any comments? I am going to make a motion. I don't think I need to make a motion, but I want to make a motion. Um, my motion is going to be that we we direct staff to form a committee that will consist of each trustee providing someone within the district or staff um that will be a part of this committee. Uh and also going to direct that

207we uh ensure that this committee meets um at least monthly now through through the end of May uh or yeah through the end of May to come up with a a list of bond projects. Not putting a dollar amount yet. That's going to be identified by the committee uh to determine the right dollar amount. Um and so at that time then uh the committee would provide um some input uh at the May board meeting uh and at that meeting then we would determine if we're going to be moving forward with with uh with next actions. Right. >> Can you add on there that have have Mr. Carales give us scenarios of one two three four five pennies because we can go up. >> Yeah. And including including various He's gonna >> including including uh the

208addition of Mr. Gales providing uh uh penny options, right? >> Uh okay, >> great. >> Is is that clear? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Any questions? >> Uh and so that that's my motion. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay. Mrs. Salazar second. Um Mrs. Olivarez. Yes, >> Mrs. Sang Robles. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Faras. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Morales Garcia. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Salazar. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Silva. >> Yes, >> I just hear this. Yes. Motion carries. Um, I would just just uh close it out by by saying that um you know when once we have that uh then then my thoughts would be that that hopefully we do get to a point where uh in the November time frame if my colleagues would entertain me, we would we

209would look at some options to bring some money into the district. Um, and then also applying lessons learned from the last bond election that we had and see how we're going to do things a little bit different. >> Yeah, >> I I feel that the last bond election we had about 90% school employees on that committee. And I think it also puts a lot of pressure on them. >> Y >> because if they don't agree, >> somebody is going to be upset >> and and so um I I agree with with Miss Silva and and I think um we need to get creative on our on our community input options. I know in in a different different capacity that that I lead, we've done some social media town halls, right? And that might be a

210good option for us to leverage that and to take input. Some of it might not be so nice, but um we'll take it all right. Uh and and see how at least we can say we captured input from everybody and and at a time that's accessible to them as well. >> So um we'll get it done. >> Yeah. Which reminds me, um thank you for moving forward what we discussed in our communication meeting about the grandparents. Uh that was really nice to see the organizations y'all reached out and I think that's going to help us with the bonds too. So um I was really excited that really I was I'm glad that you followed through on that. So I really appreciate it. I'm sure Mary does too because we were got into that conversation. So

211thank you. >> Thank you for that. So uh the last thing I'll say is in regards to expenses and looking at you Mr. Gales and and the rest of staff. So, I've mentioned this multiple times over my gosh almost seven years now on this board, but if there's something that is just critical that we need to have, I mean, yes, we want to have a bond and and that's the right way to do it. But if there's something crit critical that we need, bring it to us. Bring it to Mr. and and and to us. And then that's our job to to find the money, right? And to figure it out. Um and and we'll we'll make those tough choices. But if there's something that you say, "Hey, I absolutely need this or the kids

212need this, bring it, right? And let us figure out how to how to find the money to do that." And and I'll do everything within my power. I know I'm I'm one vote, but I'll do everything within my part to make sure that you have what you need to make sure those kiddos get what they need. Um, with that said, I that's the third time I say that, right? Um, you know, the the the track, um, we need to figure out a solution for the track. These showers, we need to figure out a solution for that. Um, so that's where I'll leave it. >> Okay. Any last minute comments or questions? >> Thank you'all for entertaining that and for listening to me. Uh, with that, uh, we will not have any close meeting. I think

213everybody's ready to go home tonight. So, we will not have any closed meeting. So, I will make a motion to adjurnn. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Miss Salisar seconds. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All right. The time is 9 now. 9:04 p.m. Be safe. Stay warm. It's going to get really cold again, so y'all bund it up. Thank y'all. >> Keep you busy.