001Call this meeting to order. Uh this is a regular meeting of the school board. Uh it is Thursday, February 26 and it is 5:34 p.m. Uh first item is roll call for the record. We have a full quum. Every member is present. Uh item two is invocation. >> Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to pray. and heavenly father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather today in service of our students, staff, and community. As we make decisions, grant us wisdom, clarity, compassion, and unity so that every action we take strengthens student learning and prepares our children for their futures. Bless our classrooms where knowledge is built and curiosity is nurtured. Bless our teachers who guide and challenge students towards excellence. Bless our campus leaders who lead with vision, courage, and commitment to
002student success. And bless the many academic, athletic, fine arts, and extracurricular activities taking place during this season. May they develop discipline, character, confidence, and purpose. Help us remain steadfast in our commitment to preparing every student for college, career, and life. May our work always reflect what is best for children. Amen. >> Amen. >> At this time, I invite Vid Bera to recite the pledge to the US flag and to recite the Texas pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. flagged Texas one state one and indivisible. >> Thank you for that. The next item is the student recognition. >> Good evening, Mr. Ramirez, board members, superintendent, uh staff, community, and parents. I'd
003like to ask our middle school athletic coordinator to please come forward and introduce uh some of our students for this meeting. Good evening. Uh here to introduce two groups of kids today. Our tennis team uh we'll introduce our tennis team first. So all the individual tennis uh winners and our eighth grade boys I believe district champs. Seventh grade Gavina, can you stand please? They were coached by Gavin Molina and Jerry Martinez. Today boys people who plays and the seventh grade team. >> The district champion if y'all could please stand up. The other coach Jerry Martinez is off with our varsity tennis team in Cor. That's why he's not here. They did a great job. >> Some of our kids are also missing because they're competing in Maria and Rob's done in Maria. Congratulations. Here we
004go. Thank you. Can I do it? >> No, it's you can go over it. >> Okay. One, two, three. Got it. THANK YOU. OUR NEXT GROUP IS OUR EIGHTH grade boys basketball team. Our A team and our B team both won district. The A team was uh 7-0 I believe undefeated and the B team was 6-1. The A team was coached by Kan Marad and the B team was coached by me, coach Paul. So boys can COME UP PLEASE. ARE OUT CUZ they're competing in mariachi restaurant. >> Congratulations. Ready? One, two, three. Thank you, coach. The uh the next group of students that uh that are going to be presented, I'd like to ask Miss Gray, please step forward and introduce our middle school one act to play. Uh hello everyone. Um I'm Miss Gray
005and uh this is well a few of them are out because of mariachi and things like that too. But uh this is our 2025 2026 CMS WAC play group. Uh last Saturday I think uh they won district champs uh for the second time in a row which is really really impressive. Uh these kids are extremely hardworking and dedicated. Um and that is proven through their individual awards. Uh this year we brought home an ensemble award uh which is pretty rare in one act. Um so our ensemble award was uh Sophia Rosano. HIS bad word. We also have some more girls that are out. Uh, but we also have Daniela Gonzalez, Dela Martinez, uh, Alexandra G, Emily Martinez. Is that it? I think that's all of them. >> And yes, my tags are Yamxi Santos, Josea,
006who's here. uh Tristan Martinez, Alina Ga who's our life board. She's wonderful. And then we also brought home a uh best performer award which was Kalina. This is our one team for this year. Thank you. ready. >> Okay. One, two, three. OUR assistants for the one act are Jenna Gabrielle and of course our our lead directors Mr. Christina. CONGRATULATIONS. >> And lastly, I'd like to introduce our Sabata Middle School UIL academic team. So if uh if they would like to please come forward and Miss Mara is going to present them. >> Uh good evening. I am uh Miss Ortha and I am the UIL coordinator for the Sapata Middle School. On February 13th and 14th, um our students participated in Roma at our district meet and uh we had a couple of district chaps. Uh
007we had Madison Lopez, district champ for impromptu uh 8th grade. We had Alina Guzman, district champ for listening skills, seventh grade. AND we had Karisa Perez, a sixth grader that got district champ in seventh grade division calculator applications. Some of them are out. >> Sophia. >> So, those of you that please can you come forward, please? One, two, three. >> CONGRATULATIONS. And again, these students are samples of of uh our kiddos in middle school. They're under the direction of a bunch of teachers that that are their sponsors that do an amazing job with them. So, thank you to them, too, as well as uh as well. So, thank you. That concludes our presentation for order. Stop. Please. Okay, next item is item. >> No public comments. Thank you. Uh good evening board members, faculty, staff,
008parents, and community, and those of you watching from home. As part of my report tonight, I want to briefly highlight attendance because regular attendance remains one of the strongest predictors of student success. When students attend consistently, they not only improve academically, they develop discipline, responsibility, resilience, and the ability to work through challenges. These are life skills that extend far beyond graduation. And we are seeing that impact across our district. Our students continue to excel in athletics and fine arts and in academics. from competition fields and courts to the performance stages to academic competitions as we saw tonight. Our students are representing our district with excellence. I also want to acknowledge all of the hard work that went into our parent engagement summit that happened on Saturday. Um that is a huge undertaking and it includes
009so many different individuals that that volunteer their time, their hard work and their efforts uh to make sure that that event is something memorable for our parents and it did not disappoint. We had uh about 350 people that showed up uh on Saturday and and so we want to continue pushing those efforts because we know that through partnership between our community, our parents and our schools, uh that is the way that we are going to open doors for our students and that's what we need to be about is empowering our students. So none of those things happen by accident. they are very deliberate and strategic and so to the staff that work diligently to make that event and every day possible um I extend a huge thank you so thank you for tonight >> thank
010you >> um item E consent items Michelle >> thank you uh Mr. Good evening um board president Dr. Finino, members of the board and audience. Um today for consent items, I'm requesting approval of the minutes for the board workshop held on January 15th and the regular school board meeting held on January 22nd, 2026. >> I'll make a motion. Do have a motion by Garcia. Second by Luis. All those in favor? >> I. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Uh item F, administrative reports, Michelle. >> Um at this time, I'd like to call Miss Jessica Vad for the February 2026 of the month. >> Good evening, President Ramirez, school board members, and of course, Superintendent Devin. Tonight, I'm very proud to recognize February as career and technical education month. At top county ISD, our CTE department plays
011a critical role in preparing students not only for graduation but for life beyond high school through rigorous academics, industry aligned coursework and hands-on learning experiences. Our programs equip students with technical skills, certifications, and real world knowledge needed to succeed in both college and in high demand careers. Our CTE pathways provide students with meaningful opportunities to explore their interests, develop employability skills, and earn credentials that give them a competitive advantage. Just as importantly, these programs strengthen our local workforce and contribute to the continued growth of our communities. This month, we also proudly recognize the dedication and expertise of our CTE educators. Their commitment ensures our local workforce uh our students are prepared to meet the demands of an ever evolving workforce. We are proud of the impact CTE has on our students and grateful for the
012opportunity to celebrate its continued success at the county ISD board members. At this time I am very very proud to recognize and honor our CTE department who are present here today. Many are could not be here. As you all know this morning we had a big send off for a uh mechanic students who are on their way to San Antonio to go show them the best Habata has to offer. So, we're very proud of them, very proud of our department as well as our middle school principal, Mrs. Marian Gera, Miss Nancy Gata, High School, and just very, very proud of the work that we're doing in CTE, and only great things will continue to happen. So, at this time, I'd love to call our CTE department up to be recognized. Yes. First one. your name.
013Thank you. Kyle. Okay, Miss Val and Mr. Guzman, I can't see y'all. Yes. >> Yes. Perfect. Okay, this works. Okay. One, two, three. Awesome. >> Thank you. Hello. How are you? Now Michelle fin Board members, the uh financials for January 31st, 2026 for the child nutrition fund reflect total realized revenues of 1,519,274 and actual expenditures of 1,576,120. 25 for an excess of revenues over expenditures of 56,851. The general operating fund has total realized revenues of 19,273,719 and actual expenditures of $14,31,981 for an excess of revenues over expenditures of 4.9 million as of January 31st, 2026. year-to-day comparative by function. What we spent in our general operating fund um yeartoday cumulative this time versus what we spent last time. Uh this year our expenditures were at $14,31,981. That reflects a 2.5% increase as compared to last
014year uh where we were at 13.9 million. Does this board have any questions? >> Yeah. >> The debt service fund uh reflects total realized revenues of $2,290,532 uh zero expenditures. Our first payment will be in February uh for our interest. We just paid our interest um on our bonds. And so that will reflect in March's report. Bills, claims, and accounts for January 2026. Uh total amount of bills, claims, and accounts that were paid in the month of January uh were were $889,287.99. how that compares to last year in January. Uh we uh spent $540,000 less than last year in the month of January. The board have any questions? Our tax collection report, the district received a dispersement of $1,832,34154. that is reflected in our 199 uh local revenues collected. How that compares to our budget?
015Our budget is from September to January, we've collected 85.47% of what we budgeted. Um we're at about the same as last year. Now, how does that compare to our current tax collections and our opening levy? Our levy this year is uh just hovering above uh 9 million 900 million um at 100% of the valuation we have a levy of 9.48,000. Um what we've collected from October to January in current collections only is about 78.69%. We're about uh 1% higher than previous year at this time. Um and as the board um knows, January is the last month uh for collections to be paid. Um and then they are considered to be after January 31st. Does the board have any questions? >> Questions donations? Sorry. Okay. The donation reports as of January 31st, 2026, the district re
016well for the month of January, we received $10,965.85 in donations. What we've collected here to date is 89,000 for a total amount of $100,427.50. This does not include any inind donations that the district received. This is all monetary donations. Does the board have any questions? >> Any questions? Nope. Thank you, Michelle. Um item G's are action items. Uh number one, discussion of an approval of 2024 and 2025 audit report. I'd like to uh take this item back to executive session. Um do we need to table it? Do we need to approve on table? >> Yes. >> Okay. I have a motion by by Laura, second by Leo. >> So, it's one and four. >> Yeah. Okay, we can do one and four. I'm sorry. Um, >> that's fine. >> You can. >> So, item four
017is approval of one-time retention incentive for all employees uh which will also session. So, the motion was made by Luna and second moved by Luis. All those in favor? >> Motion carries. Thank you. Uh item number two, approval of contracts and purchases over 25,000. >> Thank you, Mr. Nitz. This will be the sixth request um that the Department of Finance uh requests for approval of contracts and purchases over 25,000. Um this month, we're asking for the board to approve uh three purchases. Um the first one is um our um our metal detectors. Um we are requesting 108,000 to um our vendor CIA. That'll include two metal detectors at high school and two metal detectors at middle school. Um the second uh request that we'll be asking for is 130,000. That is through our interlocal agreement
018with a choice partners. Vendor is Edgysource Corporation. What we're asking the board to approve is furniture and decor for our South Elementary campus. What we've been trying to do with our excess fund balance is trying to update every cafeteria. As the board remembers, middle school was last year. Um they got all new serving lines. Looks amazing. Um, this time we're asking for updated furniture and decor at South Elementary. And then lastly, uh, we're asking for 85,000 to CDW. Um, and this is going to come from our MHM grant and our federal programs department. Um, as the board uh knows, our federal programs department was able to obtain a grant um to help our most needy families with technology. And so this will be uh the amount that we pay for laptops and accessories uh for
019that grant. Does the board have any questions? >> I have a question. >> Yes, sir. on the on the first one, the fund 186 committed funds for the uh police department on the the um >> metal detectors. >> Are those portable metal detectors? >> Yes, they are. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Phase one. >> Yes. >> What What do you mean by portable? Like >> you can take them from a door to >> Yeah. I I went to the game at the the basketball game for the playoff with the girls and they had portable metal detectors. So that they had them there. Everybody's coming in from both teams. They're out of town teams and they're having to pass the metal detector and then after the game I saw them just put them on a cart and
020they were carrying them off on a cart. So like so you could put them for let's say whatever >> um be in your board packet on page >> and you can see what they look like. They're they're small. They're for it doesn't look like you know regular >> square. >> Yeah, they're they're fully portable. >> Those are the ones that they had. >> So this is phase one. cover on Riddle and I our high school, but eventually what we need to order more for the the the secondary campuses so that we can use at the games and the stadiums, but also eventually get it to the middle the elementaryaries as well. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I have a question. Do do they include the wants or we already have that? >> Uh we have the
021the manual um but we've had them for a really long time. Um Mr. Gonzalez was obtain was able to obtain a grant brought you about 10 years ago. Um and so the campuses have had those handheld W metal detectors that now those are what they use at the middle school DAP and I don't know about high school >> High school too. So they are being used. Um, but this will be a a a more efficient way to get our our kids um checked out and it's just it's really efficient. Um, and actually this company um obviously the the police department vetted them. Um, but you don't ask them, oh, I just need two. No, they ask you how many students are you serving? what's the time frame that you need from when a school's open
022to when you need to the doors closed. So, they have a lot of of requirements and then they make the recommendation. Well, you need to at the high school, you need to at the middle school for your needs. And so, um >> do you do you think we needs brand new ones or I mean it seems like they're outdated? >> I think uh I was speaking with Mr. Gonzalez about this at board members there are grants that are available and so what we want to try to do Mr. Garcia is like Dr. Drevinho said this is going to be the first phase and hopefully we can continue to look for grants to see how it can help support uh the equipment because it is very expensive uh for safety. Is is one unit uh two
023of those or is it just one that spins >> two of them on each side? >> Yeah, just one set >> because of the entrance. >> So these these would be different from what we have right now. These are portable mainly. I imagine you can use them for both, but you're looking at for like academ like games and stuff that's here to be able to transport them. >> I think that's one of Or is it to replace some of the ones that aren't working right now? Um, well, I think the ones, correct me if I'm wrong, the only thing that's not working on are one or two of our handhelds. Well, one of our big one of our our big >> because I know you're talking about efficiency and I think that's awesome, but I
024think also what would help because I do know that the middle school does have the kids are in line before I'm waiting to get scanned and I think one of the things would help. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Uh, but I think clear backpacks would also help move those kids right along because if what you're worried about is what they are bringing in and that's why you're scanning them. if you can see what's coming in. >> I think you bring up a very good point and I think as we get ready to start working on the student code of conduct for next year since we're going to be changing that, we need to do it in advance. So, it'll be something that we include. We had talked about it last year. It was kind
025of like at late on the onset. Um and and there's some requirements about when you're going to change something up like that, you have to provide adequate notice. So, we'll start doing that in the spring. >> Perfect. Great. I make a motion to approve if there aren't any other questions. >> I'll second that motion. Do you have a motion? >> Okay. Second. >> We're approving contracts and purchases over 25,000. I have a motion by Morales and second by all those in favor. I motion carries. >> Thank you. Um, and then item three, discussion, possible action approval of the budget amendment BA25-26-02. >> Thank you, Mr. Midas. Board members, this will be the second request um that I will be asking for to amend our current budget um in our fund 101, which is our child
026nutrition fund. That one will affect fund balance. I'm asking for a transfer in from fund balance of $100,000. Of course, that will be specifically to uh support the decor and uh furniture project at the cafeteria. Uh for $1.99, I'm asking for a transfer from function 11 to function 36 of $40,000 for our mariachi and our band end of year expenses. uh our programs have grown and um especially uh with uh you know all of the travel that took place at the beginning of the year for our band uh there they need a budget in order to support their endofear programs. So I'm asking to uh transfer in 40,000 for that and then of course uh 10,000 from our committed fund. So, the board at the beginning of the year approved through committed fund 75,000 for
027vehicles for the police department and I believe uh 35,000 for miscellaneous equipment. So, we have the money in our committed fund to support the purchase for the metal detectors. All I'm asking for is $10,000 to move from another function um to make sure that we can cover the whole purchase for uh the four metal detectors. >> Have a motion by Gonzalez. All those in favor I >> motion carries. >> Thank you. Um so the next item is item H discussion. Uh we're we will now go to close session uh pursuant to section 551.071 and 551.074 of the government code and it is 610. I don't know. I don't We're back from executive session. It is 7:56 p.m. So, let's go back to action item uh G1, discussion and approval of 2024 2025 audit report. >>
028Thank you, Mr. Dominguez. A board of trustees, at this time, I am asking for approval of the 2024 2025 audit. I'd like to make a motion to approve the 2024 2025 audit report as discussed in close session. I will second that motion. Okay. Motion by Luis, second by Michael. All those in favor? I. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you so much. And I just want to say thank you board of trustees, the finance department, the finance, >> our administrators, our campuses. This was true group effort. So, um, thank you everybody. >> Next item. >> I always tell everyone that your department is a department that we never worry about. I I at least I never do. >> Thank you. >> So, great job. >> I'm always left and all like, >> thank you so much.
029Um, >> you still have to go to work tomorrow. >> Don't leave cuz the next one. Well, you're going to do that. >> Uh, let's go back to item G4, approval of one-time retention incentive for all employees. >> Uh, yes, sir. The purpose of this program is to support and retain our employees for their loyalty and dedication to the district. administration recommend the approval and the execution of said resolution uh adopting the employee retention incentive plan payment plan for the 2526 school year as presented in close session. >> Yes. I'd like to make a motion to approve the one-time retention incentive for all employees as discussed in close session. >> I'll second that motion. >> Have a motion by Luis Gard, second by Garcia. All those in favor? >> I >> Do you have to
030specify what >> everybody whoever But do do we have to specify the amounts if if the board would like to >> No, >> it's two different amounts. Yes. >> Yes. I think that it' be best for the record just to clarify. >> Okay. Yeah. >> It's uh $500 for non-exempt employees and $800 for >> exempt employees. Yes, sir. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, each of us has to vote on it. >> I'm in favor. Yes. >> Okay. Motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate >> Congrats everybody. >> So on the on the close session items, we don't have to do anything, do we? >> Sorry. >> On the close session it >> Yes, I believe we do have >> uh do we go one by one >> on number two? Welcome. >>
031I needed some racial profiling report. >> There was no action. >> No action has taken uh to consultation with legal council regarding the county 2024 char program. >> Do we have anything for that? >> Appeal. Yes, >> we do. >> Yes. I'd like to make a motion to withdraw the formal appear appeal challenging HHS S's adjustment to the district 2022 SH chars cost report. >> I'll second the motion. >> Motion by second by all those in favor >> I. >> Motion carries. Um item number three consultation with legal council regarding Schneider Electric proposal. No action was taken. I would like to make a motion to authorize the superintendent or their designate to negotiate uh with with a Oh, that's the wrong one. I'm sorry. That's you. >> Uh I'll make a motion to move to
032table the item H3 uh referencing Schneider Electric proposals. >> I'll second that motion. Got a motion by second by Garcia. All in favor? >> I say I. >> Motion carries. Item four, consultation with legal counsel regarding agreement. >> Now it's my turn. >> Uh I make a motion to authorize the superintendent or their design to negotiate with regarding an increase in their classroom uh utilization. >> I'll second that. >> Motion by motion by second by Morales. All those in favor? I >> motion carries. communications. >> Um, uh, we will be, uh, having a board workshop on March the 5th and a special call board meeting on March the 10th. Uh, where, uh, right after that, we will be breaking for our spring break uh, returning back in district on March the 23rd. >> And is
033that from that? I think that's it. >> That's it. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn by second by >> second all those in favor. >> We are returned >> and it is 8:02 p.m. >> Thank you so much everybody.