001Good evening and welcome to the meeting of the White House ISD Board of Trustees. Uh I call the meeting to order. Uh let the record show that a quorum of board members is present, that the meeting has been duly called, and then notice the meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Government Code Chapter 551. The board will now adjourn into executive session. to Texas government code section 551.074351.08 Coach Leot, uh, please introduce your student and join us in the pledge unteered FOR THIS. I I PLEDGE allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands, >> one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much. Good job. >> All right. Tonight's brief introductory remarks will be given
002by Mr. Flanigan. >> I'd like to choose this time to pray. So, if you would like to join me, you're welcome to bow your head. God, we thank you for today. We thank you for the people in this room. We thank you for this community. We uh thank you for all of our students, our staff, our families, and those that uh care about what we're doing here in this organization, in this school. We ask that you give us wisdom, give us strength, help us to do as you would have us to do. It's in your name we pray. Amen. >> And uh Mr. Spates is going to present our recognitions this evening. >> Good evening, ladies. If we can get you to move on this side over here, uh Coach Newton. All right. Tonight, we
003are proud to recognize the Ladycat varsity basketball team for their historic 36-0 undefeated regular season. This achievement reflects the discipline, resilience, and teamwork these young women demonstrated throughout the season. Completing a perfect regular season is a rare, and this team did it with excellence and class. Congrat congratulations to our players, Coach Leot and her staff, and to the parents and fans who supported this team every step of the way. Your commitment made this historic season possible. At this time, we would like to recognize each team member individually. As I call your name, please come forward to receive your certificate. Parents, you're welcome to come stand behind me for photos. After all names have been called, we will conclude with a group photo with the board of trustees. Lady Cats, congratulations on an unforgettable 36 and0
004season. We are very proud of you. With that said, all right, first off is number two, Carrian Franklin Jackson. Number three, Masin McDonald. Number four, Selena Katy. Number h number five Harper Fusil number 10 McGrder number 11 Taylor Morris Number 12, Emma Simpson. Number 13, Ka Irving. Number 15, Amanana De'arra. Number 20, Naa Matlock. Number 22, Chloe Allen. Number 23, India Williams. Number 30, Natalie Russell. Number 33, Zariah Moore. You'll slide. The shortest one. >> Get one right here. ready. >> Thank you. >> Oh, there is a backdrop. There's a backdrop set up. There's a backdrop set up in the room adjoining us if y'all wanted to go take a picture in front of that in the PLC. It's a step and repeat. >> Yeah. Thank y'all. Okay, we did not have anyone sign up
005for open form. this evening. So, we'll move to actions on closed sessions and M. Matthews is going to be joining us for speak about renewal contracts. >> Dr. Robbie, Dr. Whittle, uh, board of trustees. Okay. Uh tonight we bring u all of the professional contracts uh for your approval for the 26 27 school year. >> Thanks. >> All right. And then um tonight we would also like to we are very proud to present the lone finalist for principal of Brown Elementary School, Mr. Sean Little. I think he is also um here with his wife tonight, Miss Emily Little. So, a little bit about our selection committee. Uh it was comprised of uh curriculum, HR, and student services. Uh we focused on identifying a leader with the vision and expertise to guide Brown Elementary School into
006the next chapter. Mr. Little is an accomplished leader with 13 years of experience in public education, including seven years um both as a teacher and as a school leader. He has served in both Brownsboro and White House ISD, most recently serving as the assistant principal right here at Baron Elementary. The role has given him a deep firsthand understanding of the campus unique needs, culture, and successes. He has a passion for academic excellence and his ability to build meaningful relationships. Uh makes him a true asset to our district. Mr. Little holds all the require credentials including his master's degree and his state principal certification. And because of his strong ties, we feel that um he is going to be able to continue the legacy uh that has already been started for the student, staff, and families
007of uh Brown Elementary. At this time, we recommend his contract as principal uh for your approval for the 2627 school year. Do we have a motion to renew the contracts with professional employees as presented in executive session for the 2026 2027 school year? Motion made Mr. Flan second by Mr. Moss. Any questions or concerns? All in favor? Motion carries. We're glad to keep all of you. So, thanks for what you do. I mean, it's a privilege to do that. Really is. And then and then uh next item is uh do we have a motion to employ Mr. Sea Little for the Brown Elementary School principal made by Dr. All in favor? Motion carries. Welcome to uh your new role. >> Grab your family picture. Yeah, that's much better. All right, I see everybody. You're ready.
008>> Perfect. Thank you. Congrats. >> Well, congratulations again. We're really excited to have you as principal. I don't know why nobody finds this the board meeting as exciting as we do. >> Just need four. Okay. Um now we'll move on to information items and uh first off uh we have your highlights and Mr. Holder, start us off. >> Good evening. Uh before I introduce our two junior high band directors, I just kind of want to take a moment to brag on them. Um I think when you think about 51% and you think about building relationships with students, uh these two gentlemen embody that in every shape or uh and thing that they do. We have a flex period um this year. It's new to us and four days a week they're pulling over a hundred
009students to work with them on top of the third and fourth period band that they have. They work so well with all of our um other extracurricular activities to make sure they not only get to participate in band, but they get to go do all the other things that our kids are involved in and they will move mountains to make sure our kids have everything they need and to make sure that they uh have every opportunity to participate in band. And so with that, I just kind of want to introduce uh Mr. Chris Huy and Mr. Daniel Sutherland. >> Good evening, board of trustees. My name is Chrisy. I'm the head band director at White House Junior High. And with me is Daniel Sutherland, the assistant band director. I've been at White House uh for
01015 years. And with uh Mr. Sutherland being in year 18 combined, we have 33 years of teaching band here at WISD. Uh so, thank you for the opportunity to come and put a spotlight on our part of the band program. Uh this year at White House Junior High, we are currently serving 148 seventh grade students and 128 eighth grade students. A total of 276 band students. Like Mr. Holder said, we have two periods of band of the junior high as well as a flex in between those two periods. >> All right. Could you describe in brief the performance and marching opportunities that the junior high band offers and how it prepares students for high school band? Uh so right now students perform at two junior high pep rallies as well as two junior high home
011football games and our eighth grade band performs at one um high school home football game giving them real experience to high school expectations and culture uh before they transition up to the high school. In the concert season we have four performing ensembles uh that compete in UIL concert and site reading which we are preparing for uh right now. Our varsity and non-varsity bands consistently earn first division ratings. Earlier this year, our students earned 179 first division medals in our uh region 21 solo and ensemble competition as well as 35 of our junior high students earning all region chairs back in December. Uh we also offer an optional jazz band that the students can choose to be a part of. Uh that meets before school or during flex time. This year there are 114 students that
012wanted to be a part of our jazz band which that's huge. Uh we may have to split into two jazz bands or maybe even three depending upon how many folks are still uh interested over the next couple of weeks. The first time they met was last Friday. Many of those students will be playing secondary instruments not their primary instrument that they play every day in class as well. All of these experiences and opportunities uh we feel help build discipline, musicianship and integrity. Those are our programs three core values that we have uh displayed and printed on all of our band binders and everything kind of teach outside of music as well to kind of all goes back into those things. Um our goal of course is for all of our junior high students to be
013fully prepared for any success um at the high school level when they're done with us. >> And then can you explain the importance of team teaching throughout the band program? >> Again, I'm Daniel Sutherland. Thank you again for for having us. But um it well for one just logistics. I mean getting all those kids in the right place at the right time. It it takes a a staff to do that. So we're we're very blessed to have the people that we work with. Uh but even more importantly being able to allow um or give the students uh the kind of the individual attention that they need. Again, you know, class size is such a a big issue all the time. And with a class our size, it it just it's impossible to know what everybody's
014doing and make sure that everybody's staying up with where they're supposed to be. So, we're able to have uh pull outs and sectionals um with a wide, you know, a diverse group of instrumentation as well. So, I'm a I'm a low brass teacher, so I teach trombone, baritone, and tuba. Um, and every once in a while a clarinet player will come up with a question and I'm like, I got a few things I can recommend, but if that doesn't work, I send to Christina Thomas who is a who is a clarinet player. So, it it it allows us to really meet the kids where they where they need us. Um, and then as as a a full program, 6th through 12th grade, we're able to kind of start them as beginners and then and then
015travel up with them. So it builds a lot of trust and uh and really unique relationships with kids. >> Why do we refer to band as a program and not just an elective? >> So band is more than just an elective course. It is a comprehensive vertically aligned program serving students across campuses from grades 6 through 12. Um each year band builds upon the knowledge and success of the year before and just keeps on going and going. One of the benefits um that students get by being in a program is simply being surrounded by a group of like-minded and consistent adults that follow their entire journey from grades 6 through 12. We get to see these kids grow up and spend so much time with them and create such great relationships and it's it's really
016really awesome. Uh we strongly believe that participation in a program be it band or choir or one of the many other opportunities the White House offers uh supports students not only through their fine arts journey uh but also in developing well-rounded graduates marked by teamwork and perseverance and commitment. Um the successes that we have at the junior high level is a direct result of intentional coordination across campuses and teams and uh directors which believe me can be very challenging or can be a very challenging puzzle to put all together >> and then the last question is what accomplishments are you most proud of this year? >> You know Mr. Huies has um told a little bit about things that we did with uh individual things. So, so kids trying out for the all region band
017and that process and uh having success there. Uh and then most recently with our soleno ensemble. Um and then hopefully we'll have, you know, we've got more to to celebrate hopefully in in the later part of the year with our UIL contest. One thing that's kind of surprising that I think kind of brings joy to our heart um is, you know, we got to take our kids on the Christmas tour going to the elementary schools. And so it's it's fun to kind of give these kids that first kind of road experience, so to speak. Um but but then watching them kind of, you know, this is their program and so they're getting to take part in the recruiting process and uh you know, those the excited elementary school kids, they don't care what we say.
018You know, they want to see kids that are their age, a lot of them that they saw a year or two before. Um so it's it's just a lot of fun to watch them um kind of take ownership in in their program like that. question. >> I mean, you answered that almost part, you know, at least in part what I was going to ask, but you know, when we first moved here, which has been a long time ago, all our kids went through White House, but one of the things that really struck me was how large the band program was. It's just amazing. I don't know what percentage of the junior high is 276. >> So, right now we're sitting at about 776 kids. I'm not math wasn't my strength. So I wasn't looking at
019it either. So but third of the kids. So I guess my question is how how do you present that to the sixth graders or the elementary kids? How do you get that many people interested in band? Obviously you're doing something really well. >> It's fun to play an instrument. >> I think too when I walk through there like the kids are having fun, right? There's high expectations there obviously and you can tell by the uh the success that they have, but they're also having fun. And so That's something that's really really good to see. >> Is there a reasonable uh percentage of the of the eighth graders that will continue into high school or do you know you lose 20% 25%? >> Yeah. Uh we usually sit at anywhere between a 82 to 92% retention
020rate every year. Yeah. >> We're particularly proud of this year from six going to seven. I think it's 95%. >> Thank you all very much. >> That's awesome. >> Thank you. >> And then we'll just get you to continue with career and technical education. >> All right. Uh good evening. So our goal with career and technical education is to provide relevant learning experiences to ensure our students will be college and career ready. And then I can share some numbers with you towards the end that shows our progress towards that goal. We are currently offering 17 programs of study, but we're going to have 18 next year. And you may have heard the news that we have one that's coming that is really big and creating lots of excitement. And we have cosmetology that's going to
021be on our campus next school year. Uh all of our programs of study, they have to meet a couple of criteria where they're regionally in demand. They are considered high growth and high wage. And all of our programs of study have uh occupations that align with that criteria. the Perkins or federal the the federal compliance is that our go that we're supposed to have somewhere around eight programs of study for a school our size and we currently we're about to have 18. So I think we're doing really well with lots of options. So, we're got told you cosmetology is coming. That is uh in partnership with Tespa here in town or the salon professionals. That is the the salon school that is right beside Brookers in the same the same shopping center. Uh I am
022currently in the process of acquiring equipment. We received our first piece of equipment which was a shampoo bowl and it was very exciting. It was exciting to see the bowl in the chair come in. It's not it's not plumbed in yet, but it it just lets you know and gives you the assurance that it's happening. Uh sometime after spring break, we're expecting to have a TDLR inspection. That's the Texas Department of Licensing. Our goal is to be credentialed with them so our students can start earning the hours they need to be eligible for the operator license, the cosmetology operator license at the end. We still have a plan for them to get the hours needed. if we don't get it. But I'm I'm fairly positive we're going to do that. And we're not having to
023build a new a new facility for this. We're just kind of converting SL15 in the science in the science hallway as our cosmetology lab. The biggest thing that we're having to do on construction is we're going to take it's got three sinks in there. We're going to pull one sink out and plum in a hair washing station. Uh the first two years of the cosmetology program will be on our campus and those are single block classes. Uh students the first hundred hours that they are in this program they cannot touch a real life human being. They have to touch mannequins. Uh if you want to see creepy you can come on by my office and I I can show you. Uh then their junior and senior year they are going to go to T-sp and
024we kind of set this up just like our automotive students with TJC they will travel there use their facilities and they'll be triple block classes they got to be triple block classes because how do you know like for 45 minutes you can't have a customer come in and expect to be done in 45 minutes so we have to require enough time for them to touch real life uh a new practicum option and this is not necessarily new. This we're going to call this renewed and that is with East Texas refrigeration. We have three students that are taking advantage of this opportunity with ETR. Uh on Tuesday, Thursdays they go from 2 o'clock to 4:00 and ETR is providing the training they need. And this summer they said after they graduate they're going to go in
025the truck and start riding with a level one technician. By the end of that summer they're probably ready to take that level one technician uh test and get their own truck. So, we're, you know, this is the fast track and it doesn't require them to go to school. Uh this is a great opportunity for kids because they're getting the training that other people are getting at TJC without the tuition cost. We also are going to have a new practicum called Practicum of Human Services. This is going to be in our human services pathway. Uh we currently have one student that is going to be ready to take this class and so we're trying to find practicum options. I say we're trying we did uh we're going to run this simultaneously with our practicum of education
026and training where our students in the practicum of human services is going to they're going to shadow our elementary counselors. You know, this is a a program of study that's hard to find practicum options for kids because age requirements and the confidentiality clauses of of mental health professionals. So, elementary counselors is a good this is a a good start for us. We are also working on doing some job shadowing or interning with our engineering program. We uh have a great connection that's really helping us helping us lead that way. Uh and this and this is not going to be anything new for our students. Uh this is going to kind of we want to set it up and model it like our practicum of entrepreneurship and our health science practicums where they leave two days
027a week. Some of them like our entrepreneurship students, they basically get an internship where health science students is more of a job shadowing. We don't know what it looks like yet for engineering, but we know we're trying to set up opportunities for students to leave campus and see what it's like in the workforce. So talked about new practicums. Uh and by and while we're on the practicum, I just want to throw this out there that if we do move forward with the staggered start, this could greatly benefit our practicums because we currently start school before a lot of companies open for business. And so that cuts off periods that our students can't use as a as an option. So expected decline in course enrollment. Well, we're kind of seeing this happen already, but our work
028release practicums, this is the old days, we would call this the the job program or the work program. We kind of expect to see a decline in that because of other options that are available to them. We also expect to see a decline in business information management one. You're probably not going to see that name next year because TEA changed it in January, but due to graduation requirements, students don't need that technology credit. We're not doing away with that class, but instead of offering five to six sections, we're expecting it to eventually drop down to two sections. Uh, principles of technology, again, this is the same thing. We're due to graduation requirements. We're seeing a decline in enrollment to the to the level that we're not going to bring it back next year. And it's
029al it's a standalone course, so it was not helping our students gain the completer status that they need to get the CCMR credit. Uh so increase in enrollment. I don't have data that says where our 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are, but I do have data for our incoming uh our incoming eighth graders and the ones that are in ninth grade and our new ones. And we can see that our digital communications has gone up. Uh and I can attribute that to the news broadcast that our students are doing once a week. It's making that program more visible. Human services has gone up and law enforcement has gone up. Our law enforcement teacher has done an excellent job on selling his program that every time we have a community event, you see students in uniforms.
030Uh they're always out there and active. They've become very visible and he's done a good job of growing on our decreases. I see a decrease in exercise science and it says 2%. Uh we we're going from 22 students down to 17. So I don't think that's a Not it's 2% but it it's it's a few kids that have chose probably law enforcement. Uh a mechanics is the same way. Uh a mechanics we see a big drop as program in software development. Now one thing where some of these students may be going is cosmetology. You can see that cosmetology. We had 18 students choose cosmetology and that was kind of our goal is we wanted to start with 20 students. That's what we were going with and that's I think by the time school starts next
031year we're going to be there. All right. So in September I gave you an update and said we started the school year at 63% with CCMR. Uh when I pulled this data on February 24th, we are currently at 91.3%. So yes, it's very exciting. Uh we've had about half of our CTE programs have done their certification testing. But a big another big contributing factor was the college bridge that students completed in college prep, math and English 4. That helped us out a bunch. I have 22 students who currently are not ready. I would say I think a real world just me hand calculating because I have a spreadsheet where I hand track every student. I think uh 94 to 95% would be a realistic goal where we finish. We would love to be at 100%
032but sometimes life gets in the way for some of these students and we we have to we'll give up a little bit here to gain ground over here that's better for them down the road. All right, this is my favorite part. This is the part that I like uh gathering all the pictures. Uh this last year we started so uh fashion marketing. We started fashion marketing. This was a project that they did in class where they tracked the fashion trends by the decade, down to the color, down to the fabric style, and down to the influencer of the decade. Who was the influencer of the decade and that's what you see the pictures of all the the different the decades of fashion. some of our practical and culinary students uh making some desserts or some
033of this was one of our welding students that's running an oxifuel acetylene torch computer science building a computer there. Uh, I enjoyed this picture because I can see the confusion in their faces and I'm glad that I I would say that I'm glad to see the confusion on their faces while they're in a learning environment versus kind of what I felt when you were sure >> you you get that and go, "Oh, how does this work?" So, this was in our human growth and development class. Uh, this was some one of our education and training students that is uh they're interning at the elementary school, working in a small group. one of our plant science students. We have uh we're currently planning on having a plant sale uh that first weekend in April. We the
034greenhouse is full and I'm very proud of that. It is full. And this is one of our pharmacy tech students working with a compounding technician and they are compounding a medicine, an ointment. They're they're creating they're creating that while they're there on the site. So, we talk about how wonderful our pharmacy tech program is and it's opportunities like this that they don't get in other schools. >> Any questions? >> Super impressed with the percentage raised on the CCMR. I mean, I remember several years back when we saw the percentage and I just thought this is impossible that it was as low as it was. You think every student in some way is going to be college career military ready and that's just super impressive to me and I appreciate the continued progress from the last
035report to now. >> Well, I found out you know the buy in on the teachers is the important thing and once they buy in and understand the importance of those certifications and our counselors our counselors knowing that they've got to keep those kids in the classes for four years to get the completer status that helps. It really does. And so I've shared that data As the school year goes, I email that out to our CTE teachers. It says, "Hey, we just got done doing our testing in law enforcement. Here we are. This is how it it went up 8%. We just got done with our welding certifications. Look, it went up 7%." So, that's I share that with them and they kind of get excited watching it watching it grow. students. Now, we have some
036opportunities at TJC. If a student was would ask for it, we could see what we could set up. We don't have currently do not have anything on campus. Now, our a mechanics classes do offer those. Those are TESS in some of those a mechanics classes especially our a structures class. It's electrical and plumbing and concrete. >> Is there a next cosmetology landing? Is there another one that you got your eye on next? >> Uh yes. And that would be >> Go ahead, sir. Okay. It it would be ROC as the next one. >> I wanted you to say >> yes, but right now there's uh we kind of dove into it and started doing a lot of research and hit roadblocks. And it's funny how uh almost weekly now tea. Here we are in February
037or March. We're getting starting in January. They started putting snippets out that kind of help us get over that next hurdle, that next hurdle. So, the big one was that they've dropped the where it used to be a hundred students to get the CCMR or to get the CTE weighted funding, they have dropped that down to 50 students now. And I because I think that was going to be a hurdle for us was the 100 especially. I think we would get there eventually, but to start the year off at 100. >> Well, you only need 50 now. >> Well, over four grades. Yes. Or and we could take it down to seventh grade if we wanted to. >> We we looked into this and I think we missed the application for the ROC program. So,
038it'll be this summer that we we go we go forth with that as well. >> So, our our goal or our intentions are to apply this summer and we will apply to several different branches and then we have to we get to choose what branch accepts us. So, I would like to We apply for one, we get the one that we want, but we've been advised to apply for all of them because you're not going to get approved by all of them. You you accept the ones that approve you. >> Big point out we've been working on cosmetology for for a pretty good while and I just wondered if you know hiring a superintendent that had hair helped us get it across the finish line. But I don't know. I've had I've had the same
039haircut since seventh grade, sir. So, I don't know. My wife would tell you I have no style. So, I don't know if that was practice on me. >> I do go to the great clips here in town and once, you know, just in the small talk and they're like and I tell them, "Yes, I work at the high school administrator at the high school. I have yet to have a haircut without somebody going, "Man, I hear they're getting cosmetology." >> Well, can you speak a little bit like cosmetology, but the other kind of maybe we'll take off from that like the barber shop. >> Barbering. So we do >> the barbering is cosmetology requires a thousand hours and barbering requires 1300. The thousand of a thousand of the 1300 is in line with cosmetology. So
040barbering is the new is the new trendy thing. And if you go to a they have the salon style barber shops now and they are fastpaced. They get you in there. They're charging you 40 to $80 and and roll you out roll you out in 20 minutes. And so there's there's money to be made in barbering right now. And so that's why there's a big shift in the industry that way. Thank you again for all the work on and they're working really well with us because I'm I have about weekly I talk to the the trainer over there and he was asking me questions and I about we have a student that runs track and that track meets are on Thursdays what do we need to do? And so we I mean he was very
041flexible with us and we we got it worked out. So they're they're working well with us, too. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. >> M you want to give us a math curriculum update? Good evening Dr. Whittle and school board members. Thank you for this opportunity to present our uh curriculum math curriculum update. So uh our focus for tonight is align with our school board uh school goal providing relevant learning experiences to ensure our students will be college and career ready. Now I want to give you a little bit of background so you know kind of where we were and where we are going. So in uh 2023 the Senate Bill 2124 require us to enroll all sixth graders if they start I'm sorry fifth graders if they uh score 60th percentile or higher
042on our grade five star test or if they are top 40% on local measures. So as you can see on the chart that we have a great increase from 2023 24 of 128 students all the way to uh 206 students enrolled in math honor math class and the last update is that in 2025 the state adopted um advanced math teach grade six okay all right so currently we're using now we have a lot of acronyms in education so the TCMPC program which is uh Texas curriculum management program cooperative lots of it's a mouthful so we always call them PCMPC and then you'll hear the word yeah it just means yearly at a glance document so we use that to uh for all sixth grade all the way up to uh our honors classes and supplemented
043with other resources and we're using those resource curriculum to make sure that we're meeting all the state standards and You can see on the next slide, this kind of gives you an overview. Uh it illustrates our current math pathways from uh sixth grade all the way through graduation. This framework uh provides multiple avenues for students to challenge themselves and earn college degree a college credit while in high school. So that's our current status right now. So for the future, so we have to kind of consider what is upcoming. So star that's the first thing star will be replaced with SST that's called students success tools in 2027 28 and uh so it's a assessment that's designed with the beginning of the year middle of the year and end of the year assessments to measure growth
044and we're still receiving a lot of updates from TEA to kind of know what that looks like. Um also in 26 27 beginning with our sixth graders at that time we are going to slowly face in all the new state adopted uh advanced math teach by using TCMPC advanced math gaps. And then for our algebra 1 and two we will utilize the preap curriculum frameworks from the college board. And then finally, we will also offer u honors eighth grade math for students who are not yet ready for algebra. Okay. Now, so in order to serve our students, we also have a timeline. And so this is our goal that our math honors math committee will review and select instructional materials that will follow the phase in. So for example, right now 2026 spring, we're focusing
045on sixth grade honors math, preap algebra 1, preap geometry, and preap algebra 2. And for the next two springs, we will focus on seventh grade honors math and an eighth grade honors math. So um with this phase in uh process, it will ensure our teachers and students have the best resources available as we implement those new standards. Do you have any questions? >> If you double the number of kids in honors math and you know half of those presumably were an on level malf. What does that do to your honors class? >> We feel like so once the numbers not changing sixth grade because we're using fifth grade star to bump them up and the sixth grade honors class. So that's our very first roll roll up with our new TE's. So what's going to
046happen is really the curriculum will change some certain TE's will be covered um in seventh grade instead of sixth grade. So I think that's why we're having to start with sixth grade. Um now for the future we may take a little hit on seventh grade start. Maybe that's the projection possibly, but we feel like, you know, for a couple years it will kind of even out as we kind of switch roll over to the new state. >> And I think what we see and and Kyle, you could maybe speak to this as well, is you're getting a student that is um by law required to take an advanced class because other than a test, they may or may not want to take that class. They may or may not be ready or be able to
047have the their home or whatever it might be. And so you see a little bit of a different makeup of honors class and regular class. It doesn't look like it did three years ago. I think um it's definitely different and maybe uh more diverse in terms of learning abilities um in both of those classes. >> I think that's really what I was asking. You know, how do you manage that? You know, if you have people that are different rates and now they're in the same class, how do you need of So for now for specifically junior high or or sixth grade I think for either one of them. So for example like um our seventh and eighth grade because currently our seventh graders are taking pretty much all seventh grade I'm sorry eighth grade TE's
048and then one seventh grade. So they are taking a lot of advanced classroom I mean a lot advanced already. new adopted math curriculum will rearrange some of the teach in different grade levels. So, uh I think the learning will be about the same just they have to adapt to different teeth that's covered in every single grade level and as we learn more about uh this new SST test that also will guide the path but I think ultimately in high school they will have other pathway after algebra 2 they will have multiple other pathway as they select different courses based on the choice. We can probably customize that for them. >> I think for the junior high, how that kind of impacted us, uh, in the past, we had one teacher that taught seventh grade honors
049math, which was really eighth grade math, because we've seen an increase in the number of students that are in seventh grade honors math. We now have all of our eighth grade uh online math teachers, they're now teaching seventh grade honors math, too, to kind of combat the the increase that we've seen. So, they're getting eighth grade math and they're getting seventh grade honors math. And next year, what we'll end up having is we'll have an algebra, we have one algebra one teacher, we'll have an additional algebra one teacher. So, that's kind of how we're managing Thank you very much. Thanks. Thanks for the work on it. For sure. >> And then it takes us to our teacher incentive a lotment. And you know, start by saying thank you for all the work on that because
050we know it's a lot of effort to get it all the program in place and approved. >> Awesome. Well, thank you. Switched over here. All right. Well, good evening, Dr. Ravi, Dr. Whittle, and trustees. Um, as was shared, I'm going to give you an update this evening on the teacher incentive aotment. Um, and this actually aligns to some of the programs that we've been talking about this evening as well. So, um, I want you to kind of listen for how we are moving some of our CTE programs and some of our other special programs into the district into being teacher incentive aotment eligible. Uh so this program aligns with our board's goals of attracting, retaining, and growing a high quality professional staff. Um because the intent of teacher incentive aotment back in 2019 when HB3
051was passed in the state of Texas was for um it to be both a retention and a recruitment tool. Um, so the idea by retention, the goal of TIA was to make a pathway where teachers could potentially earn a $100,000 a year salary while remaining in the classroom. And so on the um retention side of things, uh there's no secret that TIA's one of their core objectives is to try to get some of our highest caliber teachers to actually stay in the profession and remain in the classroom as well, where they have the most direct and greatest impact on students. Um, it's also designed on the other hand to be a recruitment. Uh, you know, it's sometimes hard for students when they're thinking about future careers and knowing that education is something that they might
052be interested in. Um, but knowing that it's not always the highest paying profession that's available. So, teacher incentive aotment uh while imperfect is is something that is utilized to try to leverage success in both of those areas. Uh so in the 2425 school year we saw teacher incentive aotment implemented in 650 districts across the state of Texas. So not I guess at um a little bit more than half of the districts across the state. Um within the state there were 42,000 designated teachers and overall $475 million of additional funding um going into teachers or going to teachers through school districts um as a result of teacher incentive aotment designations. Uh so what that looks like in White House ISD um in 2425 our allotment amount so the amount that we received to turn around and
053give to our teachers was $387,287 which actually represents a more than a $100,000 increase over the prior year. Uh so what you can see here on this slide is the average allotment amount for teachers in White House ISD. Uh so your recognized aotment, the base of that is around $3,000. Um but the amount of allotment a teacher generates is dependent upon the socioeconomic status of the students at that school and also um if that uh school is categorized as a rural or urban school that also impacts funding. Um so there's no strict numbers as far as you can only have this many teachers at each level. Um, but by and large, teachers who earn a TEIA designation should be around the top 33% of teachers across the state of Texas. So that's kind of a
054benchmark that we look at when we look at our teacher performance and student performance data. Uh, so teacher incentive aotment, it's really a twostep process. Um, first the system review, that's the system that each district creates, is unique to the district. So there is an opportunity for local context when developing your TIA system. So I know a question that's been asked in the past is how does the number of designated teachers that we have in White House compared to other districts? That's kind of a difficult question to answer because some of district some of our peer districts here in East Texas, they may only have certain campuses where you have to work at that campus to be teacher incentive aotment eligible or they may only have it for core subjects. So, as you'll see as
055we continue on, we are in the process of looking to expand that um but in a meaningful way to where we can still manage that process and have positive outcomes for our teachers. Um, so that's step one. TEA has to approve the program that you put into place. And then every year we go through data validation. And so we submit data to TEA and Texas Tech University. Um, and the designations that we submit, it's an all or nothing thing. So, uh, that's why it's really important to carefully and thoroughly look at that process because we want to get it right. Um, and I'm proud to tell you that every year that White House has submitted data, thus far, our designations have been approved. So, as we look ahead, uh, TIA is a two-year process. So,
056in June of 25, so it hasn't happened yet, uh, we'll get word from TEA if our current application, as it stands, is approved. And then in October of 26, we'll submit all of the data from this current school year. So right now, appraisers are in the process of doing test evaluations for the teachers. Um if students have a pre-est post- test measure, that pre-EST took place in August or September. Uh so over the summer months and into September, we'll be reviewing all of that data, sharing it out with our teachers and administrators uh to submit it in October. And then February of each year is when we receive notification from TEA if those designations have been approved or denied. Um and then in August, that is when teachers receive their aotment amount. And then in
057September is when districts receive that funding back from TEA. So that just kind of uh gives you an idea of how that annual timeline progresses. So in 2425 we now will have as a result of the 2425 data we will now have 101 designated teachers in White House ISD and that is actually up from 66 designated teachers last year. So tremendous increase there. Uh we also have 43 new designations, meaning 43 teachers are entering the TIA program that were not a part of it before. Um and we also have 32 improved designations. So maybe they were a recognized teacher and they've moved up a level. Um and in comparison, we had seven teachers move up last year. So, as we are continuing this program in the district, we are we are getting better at it
058in terms of being able to access these additional funds for our teachers. And so, what's next? So, we have been approved to submit data um next October to add our life skills teachers. So, teachers who are in self-contained life skills units. Also, English two. Uh the reason English 2 was not eligible before was because of the way growth was calculated on STAR. Star 2.0 changed that. So it was easy to pull in our English 2 teachers. Um we're also adding eighth grade social studies, biology, and US history. So as a result of that, we'll have our EOC areas covered uh just in time for the SST to to be coming in soon. Um but we're kind of holding true to that wanting to address those core foundation core curriculum are areas. Um but for 2627
059we are going to be submitting in our application to include prek. So our prek teachers would now be eligible and that would take care of all of our core content elementary teachers um and then also select CTE pathways. So, we've been working on what are kind of some of our um populated programs, most populated programs in CTE um also with high rates of success in order to draft that. So, that's something that we're working on right now as well. All right. So, any questions or comments related to teacher incentive aotment? Great question. So when a teacher earns a designation, that teacher's designation is valid for five years as long as he or she remains in a teaching position. Um, now as far as the program longevity, it was codified into law back in uh 2019
060and so it is going to be a program until the legislature makes a change. not not as far as the band amount for each aotment, but actually um in the future they're going to be adding a new accomplished level. Um and the ultimate goal is for about the top 50% of teachers in the state to receive some sort of TIA designation. And so when that new accomplished band comes in, the recognized aotment will drop down to the new accomplished. And so everybody else will see a little bit of a bump in that funding band. >> Okay. >> Thank you again for all the work on that because that that really rewards our teachers for the work they're doing. Very exciting. I'm really glad to see the program expand. That's a lot of work. >> Yes.
061Thank you. >> All right. Is it okay if I stay? I'm gonna do another one. >> You can definitely stay. >> Okay. Great. All right. Uh well, tonight I'm going to provide an update on school start time and program report. Uh so we first presented to trustees back in January some um findings of our calendar and survey. Um then in January we shared some information related no I'm sorry that was January February uh we shared some information related to transportation and the study that our district engaged in there and tonight we're going to share a little bit about how this impacts academic programs. Um the three primary areas we're going to take a look at tonight are academic programs, fine arts and athletics. So um this presentation supports two of our board's goals. first of
062course around relevant learning experiences um but also encouraging our students to be involved at school be that in their curricular activities extracurricular co-curricular uh creating an environment where our students have the ability to work between different academics and organizations and CTE uh internships opportunities um as our junior high band teacher said it can be a really difficult piece to puzzle to juggle right um and so we're thoughtfully trying to look at how do we make the student experience the best it can be here in White House. Um so as we launch into these three areas tonight, I do want to start by saying these scenarios do assume that we would have some sort of staggered schedule for the next school year. Um so for each of these areas, we've highlighted four ways that things would
063look different next year if we proceeded with this uh transition. The first is offering a zero hour. So zero hour would look like our high school students, some high school students coming to school at the same time they do now. Um in order to take a course that they need for graduation requirements either as an opportunity for credit recovery or as a way to accelerate um their their schedule. Um because this actually goes with our core courses as well in that this opportunity would allow us to give all of our juniors one up to one early release period and our seniors one to two off periods. Um so what this really allows us to do is re leverage how a student designs their day after their sophomore year. Uh if they're a student who works
064outside of school or has family obligations outside of school, we're introducing a model where their schedule can be a little bit more flexible to allow them to come early in the morning, take a class, and then be done in the afternoon after fifth period. Um on the opposite side of that, if you're a student, I know we have some students that work late into the evening hours. Um, so that might create an opportunity for you to have the the school day that ends a little bit later, but then go to work and have some additional time in the morning before you need to be back at school. Uh, we already talked this evening about CTE practicum opportunities. That's just a logistics thing where um a business can't accept our students when they're not open yet.
065And so we know we'll be able to produce just more opportunities and different opportunities for our students. Um, and then with our students coming to school earlier, there will be some time to utilize possibly tutorials or makeups for exams or things of that nature. U, something I didn't really appreciate until seeing it here in White House is how involved our students are in high school. Um, and as a result of that, they're going to competitions. They are um, being pulled during the school day for different facets of their organizations. And so sometimes even though we have a flex period, it is still difficult for students to go back and see all of the teachers that they need to do and make up all the work that they have. So this also just introduces another layer
066of flexibility for our students and teachers as it relates to their academics, fine arts. So, uh, our band teachers earlier this evening, you you saw that band is, um, it's a big emphasis in White House, and we're privileged to be able to have shared staff that works between all of our secondary campuses from hallway to junior high to high school. Um, but as a result of that, that also creates some unique challenges. and our fine arts teachers actually with the exception of theater are all shared across our secondary campuses. Um so by having some version of a staggered start time, it will allow us more flexibility with band scheduling. Um something that may not that you may not know is that right now band is only offered at Holloway in the afternoon. And so you
067can imagine how that kind of bottlenecks the school schedule when you've got a lot of kids in band in sixth grade and all of those kids need to take all their core classes in the morning. So by um having some more flexibility with our scheduling that will allow us to open up band in the morning at Holloway, which would really improve how we're able to schedule students throughout the day. Uh we also have a growing dance program in our district. It's only been a few years. um since we had the sixth grade Maroon Illusion, I'm sorry, Wildcat Elevation at Holloway, Maroon Illusion at Junior High, and then of course um we're all familiar with with our high school drill team, the First Ladies. Um Mrs. Whitley has her hand in all of those dance programs
068across campuses. Um so by altering the times we more intentionally allow um an opportunity for her to continue to oversee those programs but also maximize the time that she's available at the high school both for palm squad dance classes and for first ladies. Um and then theater and choir um they're kind of an indirect beneficiary of this because a lot of our students that are in our fine arts programs they share students with theater and choir. So by maximizing time in the morning where we have band potentially have band marching practice in the morning where we have dance first ladies already practice in the morning it creates that afternoon space to free up for students so that there's not as many conflicts within their schedule and they're able to participate. And then finally with our
069athletics programs, uh you know, currently we already have a lot of our organizations and sports that are practicing in the morning. Um but that is still somewhat limited just due to logistics such as space and then things like lights on fields and things like that. There's really only so early that we can start those practices and be able to get the bang for the buck that we're looking for. Um, so a later start time allows us to maximize that time before school. Um, it also allows us to take a really critical look at how we're sharing facilities and make sure that we're scheduling those times out, giving priority to our in-season sports, but also still having a plan for our offseason and our outofse sports as we continue to develop our athletes. Um, this we
070do have some coaches currently that travel as well. Um, and so with creating this alignment in our scheduling, it actually allows us to also open up a pre-athletics offering at Holloway, which could be a great benefit to our students, especially if they have not had access to some of those sports prior to going into junior high school, which is often the case um for some of our students. So, I'm going to invite Mr. space up at this time to share a little bit about what benefits and challenges this poses for the high school specifically. >> Thank you all for the opportunity to talk about the the staggered start and the impact it can have at the high school. I'm excited because when I when I sum up what I have on the screen there, it's
071about flexibility. Right now with a traditional eight period day, we're boxed in with some constraints that really don't take into account maybe our students home life. What do they do after school? What are they involved in? With this staggered start, it could potentially open those doors up, break some barriers down, and really provide some flexibility that our our kids can have. Uh Dr. Taylor kind of spoke on the the zero period. Uh that that would be big for us. That that allows kids that would like to they they sign up for that course, they take that course and then they could potentially be done after lunch and they can go It lets kids um uh capture credit that they might need for for graduation, but it really allows for the flexibility for the kid to
072cater their schedule somewhat, not not completely, but somewhat to their lifestyle, their home life, and the needs they have. What we're trying to encourage all kids to get involved and do all these things. It really opens those doors and allows them to to capture credit, to participate, and to have have a school schedule that might not be quite traditional um but still fits a school day. We can have robust programs and have kids uh take part in in what they want. Um in regards to the shared staff that kind of the the the way we have things now, you know, we have to provide we'll have to do this too, but you you provide a conference, you provide a lunch for our shared staff. you coordinate across three campuses, that can be very challenging. And
073from time to time, some programs, you might have a director or somebody that can't get to every campus to cover every uh period or every class. This could allow us to do that. Not not 100% you have to get everybody in the room, but it gives us the ability to do that at a better rate than what we do now. I think trying to coordinate the logistics of all that uh really opens those doors. Um the and we do share staff amongst all all three campuses. Um, one of the probably the hurdles that I've heard faculty talk about and we have a lot of faculty that have their students that ride buses to their own kids that ride buses to the high school. When we do, if we were to do a staggered start, you're
074going to have a little bit of time where those kids get here and their parent that are still in the room. Um we are are currently trying to identify uh staff members which we have that could watch these students. It's not an overcomeable hurdle. It's something I think we have the resources to cover. But when you look at some hurdles there are some hurdles there but I think we really have a a reasonable solution to those. At the end of the day if you were to come out in our bus loop now at at the end of the day you have these little ones from prek up through sixth grade running through the herd of high school kids. You can't even see them. you know, you're trying to part the the waters for them to
075come through with this. They get here before our school gets out. We get them secured. We're watching them. I think staff would definitely appreciate the impact of that. But I to sum it all all up again and kind of expand on what Dr. Taylor has talked about. It gives us a lot of flexibility to really offer things that our kids haven't necessarily have. So, it is exciting. If we move forward with it, I know it can impact our kids. Thank you. And I just want to kind of reiterate that I appreciate Dr. Taylor and all of our principles work on this. Uh Mr. Holder uh and Colet Hallway. The part of this I think is important is the three principles are getting in the room and they're working on schedules together, right? How do we
076make this coordinate this to work so these things we're talking about become a reality? How do we best use our people? It doesn't work if we change start time, staggered a little bit, and then tell them to go back to their offices, shut the door, and work on their own personal schedule without thinking and considering what's best for the other campuses and their staff. And so, I'm grateful that they have been collaborative in that nature that they've said, "Yeah, let's sit down and talk about it." Again, it's just looking at different options. And our goal always is how do we provide the best experience for our kids, right? So, we have kids that want to do multiple things. Does does a later that forces a athletic or a fine art period in before school that
077doesn't require a kid to come back after school. Does it allow them to pick up some time in the afternoon to kind of go do that second thing or third thing? Again, this is a tough decision. We know that it affects many people on many fronts, but again, we are just evaluating um the different proposals for you guys to consider um to make sure that again kids are kids are serviced in the best way we know how. >> All right. So to kind of close us out this evening on this topic, there's some things that we would be looking at differently next year. Um the first transportation protocols. So what we would be looking at here is uh being a little bit more proactive in collecting our wrership data so that we are building transportation
078routes for our students that are utilizing transportation rather than building transportation routes for all residences. Um, when you factor in the early re early release and late arrival for some of our high school kids, that potentially could really change what afternoon transportation looks like at the high school. Um, better logistics for our shared staff as Mr. Space was sharing. Um, we are able to now go back and intentionally align those schedules and beginning and ending periods. Uh whereas right now we may have someone who needs to be at say come from the high school to the junior high at sixth period but that's a different period currently at the high school. Um and so we kind of need to realign what that looks like. Um it really comes down to better utilizing the morning. By
079better utilizing the morning we're really better able to utilize the entire day. both how we schedule our um activities that would be utilizing both that morning and afternoon time to make sure that they're able to maximize that time um so that that effort can be concentrated and um hopefully give us a greater impact for our students and their success. Um and then also we talked about a little bit the late arrival and early dismissal. Um, but we anticipate that there would be a reduced need for transportation at the high school in the afternoon, which would most certainly free up buses in the afternoon, uh, in order to get our kids to athletics, other competitions, uh, not only our athletes, but all of our other student organizations as well that support those efforts. So, with all
080of that said, what questions or uh, talking points would you like to talk discuss this evening? Absolutely. >> Yes. >> So, it is an optin on both sides. It is driven by student choice of what courses they would like to see offered in zero hour and also the availability and interest of a teacher to teach that zero hour. Uh so we are able to provide flexibility at the campus level in terms of what their contract day looks like. Um and so it wouldn't necessarily be a longer contract day or it might be some extra duties that that teacher has. It just depends again on the student interest and teacher interest in providing that course and it wouldn't be for every course. Um, and there would be some limitations on that, right? Like if I'm a
081band student and we march in the morning, then zero hours not something that's available to me because I'm already committed at that time. >> I've heard some elementary parents express that it makes them nervous to put their elementary kid on a bus with junior high school. does have an impact on that? >> It would depending on what type of staggered schedule we end up looking at. Um, it does have implications for how routing is handled in transportation. >> Thank you again for work on that. >> Yes, thank you all. >> All right, next it takes us to action items and First up is our cons consent agenda. I know everybody's had an opportunity to go through that. Any questions or discussion about that? I have a motion to approve. Motion made by M. Conway, second
082by Mr. Flanigan to approve the consent agenda. All in favor? Motion carries. We will not have an election this May. We have all three of our incumbents returning unopposed. Um, so do anybody have any questions about that? Okay. Do we have a motion to approve the certification of unapproved unapproved unopposed candidates? Motion made by Mr. Mos, second by Ms. Conway to certify the unopposed candidates. Questions about that at all? All in favor? But have everyone back? Thanks. Thanks for serving. But obviously there was not a lot of other people that wanted to do it. So we appreciate the dedication. So, and since we had unopposed candidates, we'll want to cancel the election presumably. So, do I have a motion to that effect? Motion made by Mr. Flanigan, second by Mr. Treble to cancel the election.
083All in favor? Motion carries. And that will take us to >> Well, yep. I appreciate it. Um, just as a reminder, it's hard to believe that uh spring break is next week and then when we get back, we will be in the heart of testing season and uh that will that will begin quickly and and go all the way through May 1st. Uh we actually started some testing today. Uh and so you may hear some of that and know that our kids are kids and teachers are are uh stressed and and and the testing is going on, but it's a it's a necessary evil that we've got to do. And then lastly, just just as a reminder, I think we've all talked about it, but uh graduation is scheduled for Friday, uh May 22nd at
0848:30 in the stadium, and we'll follow our typical uh inclement weather procedures, which would be if we had to cancel that night, we'd pick it up the next morning. Uh but I've already looked at the weather forecast and it looks like it's going to be beautiful, a little cooler than normal, and we're anticipating a good time. So, uh again, we're looking forward to that day. Perfect. All right. Well, that concludes our agenda. Do we have a motion to adjourn to all in favor?