001Testing 1 2. >> Mhm. >> Let's uh let's call this meeting to order. I have the I have the books here, so you can choose. Uh this is the a special called meeting of the Board of Trustees that is Thursday, May 14th, 2026. Um and it is 5:30 5:30 p.m. Item A roll call Yes, sir. Yes, so the record um everyone is here. We have a full board member. Okay. So we have a quorum. Uh item B, public comments None, sir. Okay, item C, action items, uh approval of contracts and purchases over 25,000 and our fund balance expenditures, Michelle. Uh thank you, Mr. Ganitas. Um I would like to at this time request that we uh go to action item C2 first. I think it's really important that for the board to review that item
002before the approval of contracts and purchases over 25,000 is considered. Okay, so I can can I just move on to the second item? You can. I if we can motion motion to bring up item two to item one. Okay, I need a motion to Okay, a motion by Lorena. Second. Seconded by Luis. To move item C1 after item C2. Okay. Thank you. Um Do I have a I have two motions. I need to approve all. I'll vote in favor. I. Motion carries. Okay. Uh item C2, discussion possible action approval of budget amendment BA 25-26-0. Um thank you, Mr. Ramirez. Good evening. Mr. Ramirez, board president, Dr. Benigno, members of the board. Um I am requesting approval of budget amendment BA 25-26-03. Um and I I wanted to bring this item to the board first because
003it is contingent upon approval um for item number one. However, I would have the board look at the financial purchases over 25,000. At this time, I'm requesting a budget amendment to um move between functions of 522,500. Um this request is coming from committed fund balance. What I provided to the board uh as support, this is fund 196. Um remember, board members, that we are required to stay within um a budget amendment and expense by function. So, on the left-hand side, you'll see functions 11 through 81. You'll see the original budget, 6.5 million. That's our magic number. Uh remember, that was what we approved in August as a committed fund balance. Um we I requested uh an amendment to the 196 back in February and then again in the month of March. So, the third column
004is the final approved amendment of 6.5 million. Now, I did include the sum the summary of the encumbrances. Right now, we're at 654,477 and the sum of the expenses. What we have actually incurred and expensed out. The encumbrance means it's a promise to pay. So, those two items if we expense from committed funds, we will go from 6.5 million to 4.9 million with a total expense plus commitments to pay of 1.5 million. Um and so, what does that mean, Michelle? At the beginning of the in August, you'll see the original budget amendment starting with these. Okay? All of the budget amendment equals 6.5 million. The encumbrances is what we have promised to pay. So, you can see we have BSN Sporting Goods $4,280. We have not spent that, but we have a purchase order um
005to pay that once we receive an invoice. CDW of 164,000 CEIA, which is our um our metal detectors of 108,000. Um Cooper and Kimberly Thornhill we have an encumbrance of 1,500, but we spent already 27,000. That was the amount that we paid out for the turf treatments. Jose and Gutierrez, I came to the board back in December letting the board know that this was going to be the first year that the district hosted a track meet and so we had to have concrete put in for shotput, discus, painting so that was the expense for that. Our conference for the buses 377,000. We have not yet paid that out. I'm going to skip on Louise Louise and Weslaco cuz you can see that it's a positive and then down below it's a negative so it washes
006out. The March payroll distribution 380,000. That's how much we spent on employee retention incentives back in March. Melhart Music Center 41,000 is what we spent for one-time purchases for the band. And then we have Weslaco of 23,000 which was another which was the middle school jackets that we had purchased for the middle school mariachi program. So all in all we're at 1.5 million. We have 4.9 million left. Right now I'm asking if you can see on the very far right hand column I'm requesting increases of 522,000 and resulting decreases of 522,000 so the board can see that it's a wash. I'm taking from one function to put into another function. At this time I'm requesting approval of budget amendment BA252603. Yeah, I have a >> I have one. The CDW-G, the 164,000, that would Is
007that for the the iPads or is that for the What that's for Mr. I'm sorry. I kind of skipped over that. That's for the technology firewall licenses that I came to the board back in December or January to get approval on. Okay. And the reason why we needed the approval for the new firewall system was because we started the Apple initiative. And so that's what Got it. Okay. Thank you. Yes, no problem. Any other questions regarding the budget? Right now, board members, all I'm requesting is to amend the budget between the functions. So, I need a motion to approve budget amendment BA 25-26. I'll make a motion. I'll motion by Boyd. I'll second by All those in favor? Aye. Aye. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Thank you. >> Motion carried. Thank you. So, we'll
008go back to item C, one approval contract and purchases [clears throat] over 25,000. And fund balance expenditures. Thank you, Mr. Ramirez. At this time we've had department requests two things. Contracts and purchases over 25,000. >> [cough and clears throat] >> Excuse me. And committed fund purchases. Okay? And so, right now, board members, I have kind of condensed everything in little subcategories. But if you have specific questions, we can go back to the support so that I can explain that a little bit better for you. So, at this time I'm requesting 91,000 and that'll be coming from fund 429 and that's the interactive online learning grant. Those purchases encompass three purchases for curriculum instruction and they are all over 25,000. Um this is part of the interactive online learning grant. It's the curriculum and instruction department
009of Five Forks. Uh fund 211, title one part A, is also coming from curriculum instruction for 94,400. That one is also coming from a federal grant and the main the main purpose of this purchase is to provide instructional kits for our summer school program and that way that we can utilize them as well for the 2026-2027 school year. Um 29,000 is from fund 274, also a federal grant. That's our GEAR UP program. Um that is also curriculum and instruction and that um our program coordinator is requesting to purchase um um uh hold on. Let me pull it up real quick. I had this ready to go because I wanted to give you all the correct information. Sorry about that. Okay. The directors put a lot of support so that you all can make sure you
010approve them. Um the uh 274 um Mrs. Alvarez is requesting to order smart boards and robot labs under the GEAR UP fund. Um and then as we go back this is where um I felt the board needed to approve the budget amendment before consideration of these last three requests. The first one the safety and security department is requesting $135,000 to purchase two police units. And let me explain to the board why two. We on the way back from the softball game one of our units they had an accident. That unit is more than likely totaled. The claims adjuster will be coming on Monday to assess those damages from Tasking. And we have another unit that has been in and out of the shop. It's kind of gone past its its useful life. >> Life expectancy.
011And so what I had a chief provide to me was the total package and not just the unit and then separate the lights, the radios. And so the total amount for those two vehicles will be $135,000. That board members I am requesting to come out of committed funds. I have a question on that. So would we then the unit that was in the accident would we be able to claim that to insurance and then get reimbursed for that? >> Correct. So okay. Yes. What are we buying like Suburban's? Not Suburban's. SUV's or or trucks? Yeah, I think they're SUV's. What are they like 65? Right? Is that with Is that with everything? The lights, everything installed? I mean Uh yes sir. Right here. And so Here it is right here. So what it includes is
012the admin package, overhead lights, and the rear partitions needed to transport our students when necessary. And so, they're the police interceptors. Do Do they include like a brush guard? I guess my question is, did this vehicle that got into the accident had a brush guard, and are the new ones going to have a brush >> No, it was a car. It was a It was a Did they put a brush guard No, that not not not on the one that had the accident. No. Is it a But there there's brush guards >> Oh, yes, yes. So, you can put on I don't know if that would be some consideration. Well, considering considering the amount of travel that they do on Highway 16, it might be something to want to consider down the road. I think
013the sheriff should consider this. Exactly. Because I I drive a lot on that road, and I hit a deer also, and I didn't have a brush guard, and I regret not having a brush guard. I mean, it it damaged my bumper into the I broke it, but not my old truck, but I got to replace my bumper. So, Is that what happened? It was a deer. Yeah, a deer. Okay. I think I think everybody's okay. Yes. I don't think the deer was hurt. No, the deer It was not the one. >> [laughter] >> I'm sorry. Um and then the last uh two things, uh board members, um 66,000, again, I'm requesting from our committed fund. That's our HR management system. So, um what Mr. Noriega has done, we have substitute management, we have absence management
014for all of our employees, and we have time clock, and HR The The department that does >> central. Yeah. The The hub for certifications, that's the records, everything. And so, um we felt like this was the best time to make the transition. One, because the uh the um the software that we had, the platform that we had before, significantly increased in budget. Um and so uh Mr. Rohan Y'all did his due diligence, uh kind of vetted for the last 2-3 months. Um also got uh our input as well, and um found this new company, PowerSchool, that offers everything together. Um however, with the new system, we have to up front the cost of the equipment. And so, that's what this amount this for. And then lastly, is fund 196. Um this and the purpose is
015for student extracurricular and academic. This amount, uh board members, is a little high, and I'm going to explain why. Right now, I'm requesting 232,600 for the mariachi trajes. And the band uniforms, okay? In addition, I I have mariachi equipment included in that amount, and I'm it's equipment such as the instruments. And I'm going to tell the board member that Mr. uh uh Martinez reached out to me and indicated that if he had to make a choice of what uh he could he could allocate, he would rather have uh the instruments at this point versus the mariachi trajes. And only because right now the program is growing, and I did include I worked with him, and I included for the board a breakdown of the program um and where they're at. So, this is in the
016support backup. Uh right now, the the instrument current inventory, they currently have about 209 instruments, 164 at the middle school and 45 at the high school. However, that does not include broken or obsolete instruments. Um what Mr. Martinez does with those broken or obsolete instruments is he uses them to model to the students. Um and give them an opportunity to try it out before they use the um really expensive instruments, the newer ones. I don't have the number of the obsolete yet, but I did ask him to find out, give me a number, as well as to find out if we would receive a um a um credit a credit for the amount that we um are turning in. I also included the student numbers. This year at the high school, we had 43 members.
017At the middle school, we had 132 for a total of 175. Next year, he's projected high school to be at 54. Middle school, he's he projected that a little low because he has not received his numbers, and he was going based off of fifth grade enrollment into sixth grade. Um and then the breakdown of the proposal for committed purchase. As you can see, board members, I did not want to uh I wanted to provide the the board members the total picture of what it would cost with the 35 mariachi trajes. And as the board can see, they are very expensive, 53,000. And then the instruments um that uh total close to 90,000. Um and so, when looking at the financial, there is room for us to move as necessary to provide the mariachi program what
018they need because they do a lot of competitions in town and out of town. Yes, sir. When was the last time that we we purchased new equipment? Not equipment. The last time we purchased something for the mariachi program was 2 years ago and it was a harp. That was the last instrument. But 7 years ago, I went back to the financials. 7 years ago, we probably spent about 35,000 on instruments. They need to have they have a big growing program and also the the uniforms that they currently have are really really nice that were purchased. But they already at least 4 years old. It's our turn. And yeah. Yeah. And and what he was saying is like, well, I could buy 25 of the 50 or that or whatever the 50 of the or 10
019of the what? Yeah, 10 10 uniforms. Yeah. That he would want the instruments and maybe 10 additional uniforms. >> Yeah, but then but then next year then it would be time to yeah, so And so so is it like the way it worked in the past where like the varsity uniforms mariachi go down go go to the school okay. And and what do we do with the leftovers like It's going to go down to the JV Yeah, but do we cuz it creates a You talking about the Yeah, the last room. Yeah, the last Well, the middle school barely got uniforms out there or No, no, we don't I don't think no, they're not really resellable cuz they've been using them for 4 years. Yeah, it's done. They've used them a lot. Yeah. And they
020take They took really good care of them. He sent them to the >> cleaners and they they gave them a garment bags and so they keep them in garment bags and but their their hats got done Thomas aguaditos and it just looks They need an upgrade. They need an upgrade. Yeah. I I don't think we should compromise like uniforms or instruments. They need really good ones. I agree. I mean they do from what I can tell it's been a while since >> And And not only that, I mean there are state a state Definitely. recognize my archery group and we're like Show the support. Yeah. Yeah. Um and so at this time members of the board I request you to approve contracts and purchases and committed fund balance of 648,000. I just have one question
021if I may. Um on the summer program I I think you mentioned that we would use those kids like the 26 27 school year. So they're not consumables for summer? You know, I'm going to show you There the the scholastic Pull that up for you so that you can review that. Right here. So what they are they're bundles as you can see. Um Ms. Morales They're bundles. Of books it's the scholastic. So with this set of books and then they have their interactive notebook. So the interactive notebook is a consumable for the student but we get to keep the set of books for next year. We will purchase the consumable interactive notebook for the student but it it's at a lot less a lot less than the set. Thank you for that. Okay, I need
022a motion to approve contracts and purchases over 12,000. I'll make a motion. Motion by Martha Morales second by Luis Gavaldon all those in favor? I. I. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you Michelle. going to be very excited that I have They deserve that. Okay, item number three, discussion and possible action regarding an agreement between UTRGV RSOC and Sabal County ISD. Michelle? I'm going to go ahead and present this on behalf of Ms. Gray. She is at a technology conference. And at this time this contract, this what we're requesting approval on is the interlocal to be a part of the interlocal agreement with UTRGV. And UTRGV acts as the regional security operations center. So, all we're requesting doesn't cost anything to be a member. However, because it's an interlocal agreement, we do have to obtain board
023approval. And this is so that they can provide assistance because the cyber security is crazy right now. And so at this time, we're requesting approval of the interlocal agreement. I kind of skipped through it. I I saw I didn't see us being committed on the hook for anything. We're pretty much It's basically we are they're providing services. And what we're saying under TEA purchasing code is that they're an approved vendor providing these services to us. So, the procurement of certain if we have to call them or if they have to provide certain recommendations, we're part of the interlocal agreement. And so, we don't need to come for board approval every single time. Any other questions? Nope. I need a motion. I'll make a motion. Motion by Gloria, Yes, I second by Mary Sandoval. Those in
024favor? I. I. Motion carries. Uh item number four is the approval and possible action to approve to open a curriculum and assessment facilitator position for South Oak Cliff High School. And I'd like to move this item, uh take it to executive session uh for further discussion. >> Do we need to motion on that? >> Yes, sir. I'll make a motion. Okay, motion by Manuel, second by Luis Olmos. Those in favor? I. I. Motion carries. Uh item number five, discussion and possible action regarding revisions to the 2026-2027 district dress code to a to include a clear backpack policy. Uh yes, sir. Good good evening, board members uh Dr. Dorinio. Uh this item was uh mentioned in a workshop uh and I advised the board that we do need to provide uh the opportunity for up to
02590 days before the start of the new school year if we're going to change the dress code. Now, um I believe technically you can argue that it's not part of the dress code, but we would like to have it part of the dress code. That way we can make sure that it has uh your all's uh approval and blessing since you don't have to approve the student code the student handbook. So, the the um the request is to amend our current dress code to include this if that's the will of the board. Uh Is that for all campuses? >> That was the the proposal is for all campuses, yes. Is this a state requirement or is this this is just coming from Uh I think it's Safety? >> long time coming in my opinion. What
026uh what I would add to that is that we are already have a clear bag policy for our facilities. Now, this will even reinforce that uh as well because it is difficult to to to to manage for our facilities. Uh but this is this is going to reinforce that policy that we've been uh struggling a little bit with with our with our community. So, that would kind of go hand in hand with And it it does come with a cost to the district, I think. It does, ma'am. The cost of district is is going to fluctuate, but roughly you're looking at providing about a thousand students with that would qualify for this for this support as they would qualify for any other required uniform that the district decides to do. So, at a cost of
027you can estimate 20 to 25 dollars back, that would be the the estimated amount. 25,000 [clears throat] to 30 30,000. Any questions? I think my only I think my only thing would be like Um I don't even know how to say this, but basically clear how clear. Cuz I know that there are kids who are really funny about their personal belongings, especially backpacks. So, in my opinion, I would think that like like don't make like Don't make it like super be like super clear cuz I know that there's backpacks that aren't clear, but have like glitter on them. So, I wouldn't want them to get in trouble because they come in with a backpack that has glitter, so you can't completely see through it, you know, and So, your your approval also allows the principal's
028discretion, right? So, I'll ensure that that that your your opinion is shared that we need to be understandable and flexible. And also, I believe that being very clear in our communication to our parents over the summer is very very important, right? >> and what's not acceptable? >> Exactly. And I think that's the key. I know several of the principals discussed this item or or this with me, and and they really really want that. Really. And there's some you know, they still have backpack they still have bags that they take for gym. Yeah. And so those do go through the the metal detector process, but it just helps alleviate because right now they're having to go through all the backpacks and that takes a lot of time. So. Yeah. Besides the backpacks, are there changes in
029the student dress code? No proposed changes at this time. No. Not yet. And and if there would be significant changes, it would be too late. So any adjustments would be very very minor. So the the community could rest assured that there would be no changes that would significantly change at all. If that would be I would have already I would not be tonight to report. Right after graduation. And And this will take effect this next coming school year? >> Correct. Today's the 88th day. So we we always have a week of school that we're, you know, talking to kids, reminding them of the dress code. So we're still within within the compliance. Can I get a motion to I guess possible action regarding revisions to the 2026-27 district dress code to include clear backpack policy.
030I'll make a motion. Motion by second the motion. Second. Second by All those in favor. I. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay, we will now go to closed session pursuant to section 551.071 and 551.074 of the Texas >> Mhm. >> Yes. Yes. We are back from executive session. It is 6:38 p.m. For the record, Ms. Jonas and Mr. Cole had to leave our meeting during executive session. So, she's no longer in attendance. In attendance. We still have a quorum. So, let's move back to item number C4, approval and possible action to approve to open a curriculum and assessment facility application. I'll make a motion to table this item for next board meeting. I'll second it. We have a motion by Luis, second by Joel. All those in favor? Aye. Motion carries. And then discussion and consultation
031with legal counsel. Uh uh Board to take appropriate action. This is E item E. The board will take appropriate action on items as necessary as discussed in closed session. Item one, approval 2026-2027 administrative, teacher, professional, support staff term and probationary contracts. Are those the renewals? Yes. Okay. I'll make a motion to approve uh the 2026-2027 um probationary contracts. Administrative teacher >> Administrative, teacher, and professional support team term and probationary contracts. Okay, I have a motion by Louise. I'll second. Second by Michael Morales. All those in favor? >> Aye. Motion carries. Any other business? No, we do have lots of events that you all were provided with the calendar of everything that's going on, and we will have a board meeting next Thursday on the 21st. And if you have some more If there is any
032updates to that calendar, provide us an updated calendar. I I have an updated one. I asked the principals this afternoon again, and they all gave me a thumbs up, but I can just double check again with them. Yeah, if you can please send it. Because I might I just I I preface it by saying, you know, any activity or event that that the board should I should be aware of. And I'll send it to you all again tomorrow. I'll text it to you if that's okay. Yes. Thanks, Marcus. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Okay, we have a motion I'll second. by Robert second by Robert. All those in favor? We are adjourned and it is 6:41 p.m. Thank you so much, everyone. Why don't we say goodnight?