[0:01] Good evening. I call this meeting to order that the record show that a quorum is present, and that notice of this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. The time is 616.

[0:17] With that, I'm going to ask that everybody please welcome the Papa Military Choir, who will lead us in the budget, followed by a short performance.

[1:56] Good afternoon. My name is Jadae Gonzalez, and I'm the music teacher at Papa Military, and this is the Papa choir. We're going to be singing

[2:04] a piece that I wrote called we will succeed and I have to put a little special note on this.

[2:10] This is my 25th year here in the district as well as being a music teacher and I'm so happy.

[2:16] Thank you.

[2:19] And I couldn't think of a better place to be than Doe Valley.

[2:22] Ooh, that rhymed. I couldn't think of a better place to be than Doe Valley.

[6:21] Thank you for that. Can we go ahead and go have another round of applause?

[6:35] Next we'll move on to our recognition items. September elementary students of the month.

[6:40] It is my honor to begin this evening by recognizing our students of the month.

[6:45] This special recognition allows us to celebrate the excellence in positive contribution students across our district.

[6:52] These students exemplify outstanding academic achievement, strong character, leadership, and

[6:58] a deep commitment to learning.

[7:00] They truly reflect the values of Del Valley ISD and help create a nurturing, supportive, and high quality educational environment for all.

[7:07] is unhonor para mí comenzar esta noche reconociendo nuestros estudiantes del

[7:13] mes este reconocimiento especial nos permite celebrar la excelencia y las

[7:18] condiciones positivas de los estudiantes en estos estudiantes

[7:24] explican logros académicos sobre salientes un carácter sólido

[7:29] lirerdasco y un documento con el aprendizaje ellos realmente reflejan los

[7:35] valores del valle AST y ayudan a crear un entorno educativo enriquecedor, solidario y de

[7:42] alta calidad para todos.

[7:45] Now welcome our deputy superintendent, Dr. Mark Cantu, to recognize the student trustee

[7:50] and Dr. Lutherist, please join us in the front of the dyes.

[8:27] Alrighty, so this evening we're going to start off with Smith Elementary and our first

[8:31] student we're going to recognize is Buddy Sol Garcia.

[8:34] Our

[9:03] next student from Creedmore Elementary, Samuel Rios,

[9:37] and from Hillcrest Elementary,

[9:40] we have Luis Garcia,

[10:11] from Betty Elementary, Daniela Arlamides,

[10:42] from Delvalli Elementary,

[10:44] Eva Reed.

[10:57] Wow.

[11:08] from

[11:24] Gilbert Elementary, Lelani Vera,

[11:49] from Papa Elementary, Sofia Guerrero,

[12:14] and from

[12:15] I'm Hornsby Elementary, Alina Flores.

[15:28] All right.

[15:38] Thank you, everyone. We have no public comment tonight. So with that, we are going to turn it over to Dr. Gutierrez or Superintendent's comments.

[15:51] Good evening, President Guadian, Trustee, staff, families, and members of our community. It's hard to believe we are already a full month into the school year. The first few weeks have given us a great opportunity to see our priorities in action across Del Valley ISD. One of the things I've enjoyed most is being out in our schools.

[16:09] I have visited classrooms, participated in family, connect nights across the district

[16:13] and spent time talking with staff and families.

[16:16] I continue to see teachers building strong relationships with students and creating classrooms

[16:21] where students are deeply engaged in the learning.

[16:24] This year, I also started a new feature called taking flight, where I highlight some of the

[16:28] teachers and the great work I see when I visit our campuses.

[16:32] Each week, I am sharing a different educator who is making learning, engaging, challenging

[16:36] and fun for our students.

[16:38] These posts are on my social media and are just a few highlights of the many examples happening across the district every single day.

[16:45] I'm also excited to announce our Ready Connect Teach initiative.

[16:49] Beginning this semester, every central office administrator will spend a day serving as a substitute teacher in the classroom once in the fall and once in the spring.

[16:58] I will also be participating too.

[17:02] We talk a lot about staying connected to our schools.

[17:05] Now we are putting that commitment into action.

[17:07] I just said that,

[17:12] sorry, I was right, sorry.

[17:17] We talk a lot about staying connected to our students.

[17:18] Now we are putting commitment into action.

[17:21] Our central administration team will have the opportunity to experience the classroom

[17:25] from a different perspective, work alongside our teachers and students, and bring those

[17:28] experiences back to help us better support our campuses.

[17:32] That same commitment to listening extends to our families and community.

[17:35] I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to talk to me at Family Connect Nights,

[17:39] and I look forward to continuing those conversations throughout the school year.

[17:43] Our first coffee and conversation opportunity is coming up Thursday morning at Hornsby Dunlap,

[17:48] which will give us another opportunity to listen and hear directly from our community,

[17:53] and to receive important updates from administration.

[17:56] And finally, I want to invite our community to come out and celebrate with us this week.

[18:00] We have our community homecoming pep rally tomorrow night.

[18:03] And then the homecoming game at the stadium on Friday night.

[18:06] And I hope to see our students, family, staff, and community present.

[18:10] These events are more than about football.

[18:13] They are opportunities for a community to come together, celebrate our students,

[18:17] and show them that we are proud to fill the valley.

[18:21] Thank you to our staff for the way you show up for our students every day.

[18:24] And thank you to our trustees for your continued partnership.

[18:28] We have a lot of work ahead, but I'm proud of what I'm seeing across the district already.

[18:32] And we are ready, we are connected, and we are helping every student fly.

[18:36] Thank you.

[18:39] Thank you, Dr. Gutierrez.

[18:41] Next on our agenda is the Del Valley High School Update with Dr. Katrina Bailey.

[18:57] Good evening, President Guadianne, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Gutierrez.

[19:02] Tonight, we are presenting an update on Del Valley High School.

[19:06] This presentation will actually be co-presented or primarily presented by our Executive Principal

[19:11] of Actressate.

[19:15] Good evening Board of Trustees and Dr. Dietz, my pleasure to present an update on the Valley

[19:22] High School.

[19:23] First, I do want to recognize that today is international.dev and at the High School

[19:29] on Homecoming Week it was polka dots or stripes pick a side and so you see what side I'm on

[19:35] is polka dots.

[19:37] Alrighty, so here we go.

[19:38] The purpose of the presentation today is to just give you a general update on where we

[19:43] are at our high school, and also our goal, which is building a more consistent connected and

[19:49] student-centered experience, or not only our families, our students, but also for our teachers.

[19:56] And so we have some information to share with you about early indicators of our work,

[20:01] and the first one to shut off with what our priorities are as a campus. Our priorities were

[20:08] We're chosen based off of teacher feedback, family input from last year's survey.

[20:14] So I'll get into a little bit about why we chose these priorities.

[20:18] But in a nutshell, school wide systems, attendance, effective tier one instruction, safety and

[20:24] security, a focus on CCMR, and

[20:27] also supporting our emergent bilingual students, our priorities this school.

[20:32] And one way that we're able to achieve those priorities is

[20:36] relooking and thinking about our culture, which is how we do things on our campus, consistent

[20:42] expectations, those academic habits, accountability for staff, not just testing accountability,

[20:49] but ourselves as administrators, our staff, and also holding our students accountable, and

[20:54] then building that culture of respect.

[20:57] And what we hope to see is that we have safe and supported students, staff is supported,

[21:03] that we're known and connected.

[21:05] We want everybody to feel proud to be a cardinal and most importantly that we're ready to learn.

[21:11] And so I mentioned earlier that we conducted a teacher exit survey at the end of the year

[21:17] where we surveyed more than 200 of our staff. This was the information that we got from our survey.

[21:25] So strengthening our priorities. Our teachers and staff noted that the strengths of

[21:30] Valley High School, our staff collaborate in the field season teamwork are resilience

[21:36] through change and also dedicated teachers and staff. Some of those priorities that we

[21:43] were able to discern from the survey is that our staff were asking for us to be focused

[21:49] on student discipline and support, so clear expectations, meaningful consequences, and

[21:55] consistent follow-through from our administration team, as well as communication, so transparent

[22:00] communication, consistent messaging, and then hallway supervision.

[22:05] And so based off of these priorities, we put together a plan.

[22:09] Some other notable comments from staff was confidence in leadership.

[22:14] So they mentioned about consistent leadership.

[22:16] So these were just some of the most noted comments that we saw from the survey that we put together.

[22:23] So wanting that stability, that presence, and that confidence.

[22:27] So, based off of this survey information, we have four focus areas that help us organize

[22:33] our work, building strong culture through clear and consistent routines, strengthening our

[22:38] academic habits and ownership, and then modeling respect and restoring relationships between

[22:45] staff to staff, but also staff to students, and then responding quickly to information that

[22:51] we're receiving from our student staff and our family needs.

[22:54] And so this is the culture of change process that you see here on the wheel, right?

[23:00] We're making sure that even though we've established some consistent systems and practices

[23:06] that we're adapting to this change and that we're responding to what we're hearing.

[23:10] So we're listening, we are using data that we're collecting from a variety of sources and

[23:16] then reinforcing that and then making adjustments in the moment.

[23:19] So making sure that we're clear with our routines and accountability.

[23:22] But there were also having systems in place like PBIS, restorative practices, a place for staff and students to share their voices, and then also strengthening our community partnerships and some of those examples we had before school started with Cardinal takeoff, we invited community partners from across the street to come and join us on campus and you'll see more of that throughout the presentation as well.

[23:48] One of the biggest things that came out from our staff as well as students, I know last

[23:53] year I went into enforcement classes, gave me a presentation on what are some things

[23:58] that they need for our school to feel safer.

[24:01] And so we drew from student presentation and our staff survey data to come up with some

[24:07] of the action items that you see here.

[24:09] And so we revised our hallways, so we have color coded hallway passes so that teachers

[24:15] and staff know where students are moving, daily ID checks that are done through the arrival

[24:21] stations as well as during class periods. We have consistent Ross Road duty stations,

[24:27] so I have a duty station on Ross Road, my associate principal does. We've also started incorporating

[24:32] our teaching staff into that as well, and that is an effort to have students remain on campus,

[24:38] because we're a close campus and we want to make sure that they're safe and they're learning

[24:42] at all times. And then ongoing perimeter improvement, so we've had some funds that came

[24:48] directly from our school board to support just the gates around, like making sure that

[24:56] they were, the parking lot was closed off properly, having that private security monitoring

[25:02] our parking lot increased safety support. So staff members, we received five additional

[25:09] allocations for safety support, and we've actually already hired three of those five positions.

[25:15] And so those individuals are highly visible at all times, so our assistant principals work

[25:20] in zones together with our safety support, and we've also changed their uniforms, which was

[25:25] an important part because we wanted our students and staff to see that there is visible support

[25:31] in the hallway. Some of the positive behavior supports that we're working on in our school

[25:38] is an initiative that we call cards, so we're highlighting and I say where it's our

[25:43] teachers that are recognizing our students for this, so they recognize character, accountability,

[25:49] respect, determination and service from our students and every Friday our students can turn

[25:55] in the cards card at lunch to get a reward or a snack. So even high school students like to get treats,

[26:01] don't let them fool you because they love rewards. Some ways for us to build a sense of belonging

[26:07] our student group, so we were fortunate enough to be able to reallocate some of our staffing to implement a restorative specialist.

[26:17] And what that restorative specialist does is she does active groups with students during the school day, which helps our students learn communication skills,

[26:26] emotional management, how to work with others like student to student, but also staff to student relationships.

[26:33] So, she'll start doing what we call breakfast club, we'll have cardinal leaders, we're excited

[26:40] about food truck Fridays, so we've partnered with our businesses across the street and

[26:45] other businesses in Del Valley to come and do food truck Fridays for our students, and

[26:51] those are just some reward systems that are built into PBIS.

[26:55] We've already kicked off with a lot of pep rallies.

[26:57] Every student gets an opportunity to participate in those pep rallies.

[27:01] We've done at least once every other week, especially during football season, and that

[27:06] helps us build those positive relationships.

[27:09] Some academic pieces that I wanted to highlight is we have what we call quick rights, daily

[27:15] quick rights during second period.

[27:17] We have an extended second period, which is 28 minutes longer, and during every class period

[27:23] our students have writing prompts.

[27:25] And so every class during second period is writing in our class across our campus.

[27:31] And then some early signs of progress.

[27:33] We are seeing fewer students in the hallways.

[27:36] We're actively collecting data, so our safety support team will collect data.

[27:41] They have clipboards and they're taking numbers and documenting that information for

[27:47] us so that we can adjust our systems as needed.

[27:49] Tardy sweeps, which are not as popular with our students, but I do have data to make

[27:56] an impact there.

[27:58] Our physical altercations are also down from the previous school year, and we're having

[28:02] consistent follow-through.

[28:04] And that last piece is coming from parent feedback.

[28:07] We're hearing parents tell us that our assistant principals are making more communication with

[28:12] them, and so we're closing that feedback loop about what's happening on campus, and also

[28:17] making those connections come.

[28:18] So, this is a snapshot of some of our tardy suite data.

[28:23] My associate principal texted me yesterday and we had 97 students earlier this week.

[28:29] And so those numbers keep going down and I was joking with my counselors today.

[28:34] We had a warning bell ring and I heard faster footsteps to class and I was like, oh, okay.

[28:39] So our students are knowing the signals for the bell and when they need to get to class

[28:43] on time.

[28:44] So this is promising information for us.

[28:47] And then just what we're hearing, I took emails, text messages, records of emails that

[28:55] my associate principal was receiving comments from our business partners across this street,

[29:01] letting us know that the work that we're doing is having an impact.

[29:04] And so these comments or quotes are really encouraging for us as a team, knowing that we're going

[29:10] in the right direction.

[29:12] And then lastly, our academic supports.

[29:15] As you know, more than half of our student population,

[29:19] our students that are emergent by language,

[29:21] and we are graded for accountability or telepaths.

[29:24] And we want to make sure that we're focusing on our students

[29:27] that need the most support.

[29:28] And so we have developed a language acquisition plan

[29:32] where we'll have a language lab and daily practice.

[29:36] So this is in addition to our daily writing,

[29:38] and we will start our language lab coming in the next few weeks.

[29:42] I've already had a couple of meetings with our teachers.

[29:45] And so this is teacher driven and teacher run based off of the data.

[29:50] And so talked about this a little bit about targeted support.

[29:53] So using Summit K12 which will give us real-time data

[29:57] on improvements for our students.

[30:00] And we're connecting all of our data with our English one and English two EOC test results. So, we see, I don't want to use the word correlation, but a relationship between English one and English two star scores and how successful our students are on the telepass test that they have the team. And then our CCMR action plan, we made some adjustments from previous school years where every assistant principal is tracking by alpha. And one of their requirements, actually what they're doing right now,

[30:29] while I'm in here, they're doing data presentations tracking by Alpha, where their students are, and CCMR is just a part of that.

[30:37] And so we track that every week, and it's also goals that we have embedded in our campus improvement plan, which I know you all will get to see as well.

[30:46] And I talked about this already, really student and family voices driving our action.

[30:50] and so we take every bit of information,

[30:53] whether it's for calls, survey data,

[30:56] or just observational data, what we're hearing,

[30:59] to make those adjustments as we go,

[31:01] because we know that we're not perfect,

[31:03] but we do want to listen and learn from our staff

[31:05] and also our community, as well as our students.

[31:09] And this is just an example of the training

[31:13] that we're doing based off of our survey data.

[31:16] So, classroom management was one

[31:18] one of the highest most selected professional developments for our teachers.

[31:22] So we'll be working with gear up, which is one of our partners to provide that pd

[31:27] along with restorative practices and trust-based relational interventions.

[31:32] And then just some pictures to end the presentation of our teachers in training,

[31:37] building treatment agreements.

[31:39] And those are how students treat other students in class, how students treat the teacher,

[31:45] how teachers treat students, and those agreements are done in the classroom and

[31:50] post-it in classrooms for students to see but also for our teachers to refer back to.

[31:56] And then with our breast partnership, the Big Rocks education, we're doing coaching

[32:03] and feedback, and so these are just some examples. I was really excited because I

[32:07] went into the algebra classroom and we were doing some improvements with time,

[32:12] voice and body and I was able to see it with my own eyes in real time. We got real excited because

[32:17] the breast coaching is very intense for administrators and for teachers, but to be able to see the

[32:24] coaching and feedback cycle in real time working was really promising for us. And so we were seeing

[32:30] improvement there with student engagement using the strategies that we're learning with our breast

[32:35] partnership. And then just some more evidence of PLCs, which our teachers noted were already

[32:42] some strong points on the campus, but teachers teaching in real time going over the lesson

[32:49] plans together and sharing input. This is actually the biology PLC, and I was excited to

[32:55] put this picture in the presentation because the person presenting is a first year teacher,

[33:00] Mr. Driscoll, and he's been doing amazing things.

[33:04] It takes a lot of courage to get in front of your colleagues

[33:07] and do presentation or less than internalization.

[33:11] And I literally called him on the spot.

[33:13] It was like, Mr. Driscoll, we were in your classroom.

[33:15] Can you stand up and teach this lesson for us?

[33:17] And he did it.

[33:18] No problem.

[33:20] So lastly, what we need.

[33:22] We just need continued support from teaching and learning

[33:26] our Board of Trustees, our superintendent,

[33:28] it definitely is supporting us to just keep practicing these strategies and then having

[33:35] that real-time data to make the adjustments, support with our community partnerships.

[33:40] So that's always helpful.

[33:42] The ability to be able to respond to any community needs and staff concerns.

[33:48] And then just those updates, right?

[33:52] So we're still waiting on a couple things like the guard shack or controlled access.

[33:56] we have our private security out there, which is definitely helpful, but just those other

[34:02] improvements that we're still waiting on for that. And then front office capacity, which I believe

[34:08] Josh Thomas from our DVISD Foundation has already reached out and met this need, which literally

[34:15] I was like wanting to cry yesterday. I was telling my husband last night, I really just made this

[34:19] presentation and we already have support. And so these are just things that help fuel us with

[34:26] our goals with our campus. But Josh said that Southwest Airlines is going to help our high school

[34:33] with customer service and our front office. So it was pretty awesome, yeah. And my husband's

[34:37] like, wow, who has those kind of connections? Southwest Airlines. But we just thank you for that

[34:43] because this work is hard, right? And so for us, what comes next is just keep listening, keep moving

[34:49] forward, collecting that data to make those change. We know that culture only happens whenever

[34:55] our students, staff, and families feel that experience, consistency, and connection,

[35:00] and definitely the support that you all provide us helps us in the past.

[35:07] If you have any questions, thank you, Dr. Holliday.

[35:10] Trustees, do we have any questions or comments?

[35:15] Vice President Lizas Mowoodie?

[35:20] Okay, that was a lot, and I appreciate that.

[35:23] I love the recognition of our students.

[35:26] That's pretty awesome.

[35:27] A couple of questions that I have, and this is just stuff that I've been seeing and hearing

[35:31] online, and I know it's all hearsay.

[35:33] but I just wanted to get your opinion on stuff.

[35:38] When we talk about student discipline,

[35:40] how are we notifying our clearance of all of these changes?

[35:42] Because it seems to me that it may not really happen.

[35:46] You know, because I hear some that we're not doing enough

[35:49] and some that we're doing too much.

[35:50] So how are we communicating?

[35:53] Absolutely.

[35:54] One of the things that I do weekly is I send out the weekly scoop.

[36:00] And so that's done through Parent Square.

[36:02] and those have been sent out every Friday.

[36:05] They will be updates on the campus

[36:07] that include academics to discipline any responses

[36:11] or adjustments to information

[36:13] that we hear from our school community.

[36:15] And then through our community organization,

[36:19] so we speak with families like tomorrow

[36:21] and we have our community cap rally.

[36:23] We'll be out speaking with families,

[36:25] listening and sharing information word of mouth.

[36:28] But also we recently just had our cardinal connect today.

[36:31] I gave a presentation there on academic priorities, some of our updates with discipline as well as ways that our families can stay connected with us at school.

[36:42] The next one's going to be around tardies, and I know from experience that my daughter had to go from main campus to PTEC, to athletics, where can students go, and do students and parents know where they can go to based on their schedule, get extension to get from class A to class B.

[37:00] if there's a longer, yeah.

[37:02] Absolutely.

[37:03] So we have a large campus, it's almost like a mini-college campus.

[37:08] And we know that our students participate in a variety of programs, which we want

[37:12] them to, right?

[37:13] And we want to honor the fact that because there are in so many programs, the distance that

[37:17] they have to go in between different buildings, right, from the athletics, whether it's ECHS,

[37:22] PTEC, what have you.

[37:23] So we have what's called a minute pass, and they can obtain those minute passes from

[37:29] their assistant principal's office, but also in the front office, and I have them in

[37:34] my office as well. And what we will do is just do conversations or students checking

[37:39] in. It goes on the back of their ID badge, and it identifies which class period or class

[37:45] period students need additional time. And so that way, if they are caught up in a tardy

[37:50] sweep or something, they flash us the badge and the back of their ID. And then we know that

[37:55] they are actually cleared because they've had to go a distance between classes.

[38:00] Okay, perfect. I have more if anybody else has. Okay, I'll let somebody else go.

[38:06] Secretary Wagner?

[38:09] Thank you very much for this presentation. I appreciate that you took

[38:13] time out of your busy schedule to throw all this together for us and it's working. I mean, I love

[38:18] the partnership. I mean, it was out there that we need this and all of a sudden, you know, we've got

[38:22] a foundation stepping up to say, hey, can we do this to help you?

[38:27] And that's going to go a long way, so thank you for the work that you're putting in.

[38:31] A couple of questions, so on our sheet for this item, it says that we serve approximately 3600 students.

[38:41] So what my question specifically is is, what's the capacity including the freshman building,

[38:47] including the Athletic Facility, P-Tech, E-C-A-D, and on and on.

[38:52] What is the, because I know years passed, it's been put out there that we only have room for 3,200.

[38:58] Well, maybe in the main hallway, but we've got multiple buildings.

[39:03] So, for your statement, it is a mini college campus.

[39:06] So, if you know, I'd appreciate that.

[39:08] I don't know off the top of my head, but I do have a draft email asking specifically for capacity,

[39:14] just as we're planning pet rallies and stuff,

[39:16] that's really that's true from.

[39:18] But according to Dr. Bailey,

[39:19] she's telling it's a little over 5,000.

[39:23] And that's what I had believed

[39:25] because we have received that before.

[39:26] The entire building.

[39:27] Yeah, it's a lot more than our 3,600.

[39:31] And I'm not suggesting that we cram it for 5,000.

[39:34] You know, oh no, thank you.

[39:39] Secondly, going to the staff voices,

[39:42] strengths and priorities exit survey,

[39:44] Were those like exit the end of the year, are those exiting employment with Del Valley and then where did the 200?

[39:54] How many teachers do we have?

[39:56] Yes, a little over 200.

[39:58] And so the way that we were able to get large number or response right to the survey is this was done at the end of the school year as part of our teachers checkout process.

[40:07] And so they had to take the survey before they left and it was all teachers and so it whoever was employed in 2526, school year.

[40:17] Yeah, perfect. Thank you for that. That's all I have.

[40:21] Yeah, I think it's separate from the district climate survey.

[40:24] Yeah. Secretary William.

[40:26] Do you trust your uncle?

[40:30] Thank you very much for this presentation. This is fantastic.

[40:32] I'm actually been wondering how we're doing at the high school level, as Vice President

[40:38] Woody said, there's a lot of chatter online, this is refreshing to hear.

[40:43] Going back to your CCMR, I notice you said we have meetings monthly, I'm assuming that's

[40:47] internal staff meetings.

[40:49] What does that look like from an alignment process with regards to what the community may be

[40:55] needing as far as jobs that are out there and how we're aligning our CCMR programs to what's

[41:00] the ever changing landscape of the professional world.

[41:04] Absolutely, thank you for the question.

[41:06] And so, yes, those are, so a lot of those

[41:08] we have to happen in terms of, yes, we're,

[41:10] hopefully going to onboard tonight

[41:11] a new workforce development coordinated.

[41:13] We're working with our new CT director.

[41:15] We're also working with the foundation,

[41:17] the DEVALE education foundation as well, too.

[41:20] One of the things that we are really blessed to have

[41:25] is our new CT director who is a part

[41:27] of the Texas business community

[41:29] and actually sits on the board.

[41:31] And so that information comes pretty regularly.

[41:34] We also monitor workforce needs and solutions.

[41:37] And so as we get that information in,

[41:39] we figure out exactly what our students are

[41:41] and then what opportunities may exist

[41:43] and be available for our students.

[41:44] Because again, when they leave from us,

[41:46] you want to make sure that one we're equipping them

[41:48] with the skills to be able to be employable

[41:51] or whatever their post-secondary pathways

[41:55] has for them, whether it's college or career,

[41:57] that they leave ready for that.

[41:58] and especially if they intend to stay in the greater Austin area that we are also being

[42:02] responsive as a district and as a community to the needs of the jobs that may be available

[42:07] for them. So it's a coordinated effort with our high school team, with our teaching and

[42:12] learning team, CTE director, and then our workforce development coordinator as we get ready to

[42:17] onboard that person helping to make sure that one that we stay connected but then also that we're

[42:22] providing the opportunities where we may exist. Fantastic. Well thank you very much for both of

[42:27] We offer that presentation and Dr. Holiday, thank you for the excellent work you're doing of being the mayor of a little mini city there, so thank you very much for that.

[42:34] Thank you so much.

[42:36] Vice-president Liz Lawoodie.

[42:39] Okay, so this one is in concern with staff.

[42:45] So I see that there's staff supporting staff, the resilience of staff, people making this building strong, all this good stuff in communication.

[42:56] How are staff members able to speak about these changes, whether they're positive or negative without feeling like they're being called out or feeling like, you know, they're, you know, complaining or whatever, whatever.

[43:11] How can they, you know, talk to you about, hey, this change seems a little bit much.

[43:16] Can we, you know, do this? Is there some mechanism for that?

[43:19] Yeah, absolutely. I have a couple of mechanisms actually. One of the strategies I employ are called heart to heart meetings and that went out in one of my weekly newsletters.

[43:30] We've it was this week or last week, the staff. So in addition to sending the newsletters out to the community, I also do it with the staff and staff can sign up on my calendar for what are called heart hearts with doctor holiday.

[43:43] in my message it specifically says that I come with no agenda, it really is just to listen.

[43:50] And so those are one of the avenues that staff can provide that feedback without feeling

[43:55] like they're put on the spot or that there's something that they can't say.

[43:58] The second one is we did our exit survey at the end of last school year.

[44:04] However, one of my assistant principals is currently crafting another survey so that we

[44:10] can kind of get a temperature check or a pulse check with our staff before October.

[44:15] And so that will be part of our data that we use to continue to make those adjustments

[44:20] and make sure that our staff are being heard, students will also receive a survey like

[44:25] that internally at the campus level so that we can kind of make those adjustments.

[44:30] Okay, so then this next one's going to be, and you may not have the answer to it, but

[44:33] I just want to throw it out there.

[44:35] Is it documented?

[44:36] it because the last thing I ever want to hear anybody say is there's a fear of retaliation

[44:40] because I said something.

[44:42] So how are we able to say, hey, that's not the case, yada, yada, yada, yada, yeah.

[44:49] So if you're talking about specifically the heart to heart meetings with me, those are

[44:54] documented as far as it's on the calendar so you'll know when the meeting occurred, right?

[44:59] that also helped.

[45:00] Let's keep me honest to make sure that I'm meeting and with what staff I'm meeting with. As far as the documented piece, I am just taking notes and responding to staff based off of a just a thing. And that's shared openly with the staff member. So there's no, you know, other method other than using that information from staff to help make sure that we're doing right thing for them. Thank you.

[45:28] First, as a parent of high schooler, I am so grateful for your leadership and for the

[45:34] hard work you and your team are doing.

[45:35] I mean, you can feel it when you walk the halls with family connect night and I know your

[45:39] team is working really hard.

[45:41] It's a lot of kids in a lot of space.

[45:43] Thank you.

[45:44] I know accountability isn't everything but the place where we're struggling as I understand

[45:50] is the closing the gaps.

[45:52] I'm curious, what is the student group or how would you describe the need there that we should be addressing and I'm curious how your strategies are sort of moving towards that?

[46:03] Yeah, one of the things that my team and I are working on is when we were also gifted with the ability through support with our human resources department and staffing to change or combine some of our allocations.

[46:16] And so instructional coaches is one of them.

[46:20] That's our really hard position to hire for.

[46:22] So what we did was we were allowed to combine

[46:25] those two instructional coach staffing positions

[46:27] to create an assistant principal.

[46:30] And so all the assistant principal of instruction

[46:32] focuses on is working with the instructional coaches

[46:35] that we do have, working inside PLCs

[46:38] like with some of the photos that you saw.

[46:41] And then really addressing that engagement

[46:44] and working through that breast partnership that we have.

[46:47] And so really to close those gaps,

[46:50] it really happens with what's inside the classroom,

[46:52] that tier one instruction, and that coaching feedback cycle.

[46:56] So that assistant principal of instruction

[46:58] also coaches all of my assistant principals,

[47:01] because they, while they do do other things,

[47:03] like hallway supervision, you know,

[47:05] they deal with the discipline and contacting parents

[47:07] and like football, duty and stuff,

[47:10] they're also supposed to be instructionally.

[47:11] So we're trying to build capacity with our assistant principals and instructional coaches through that coaching backside.

[47:17] But it starts with that tier one instruction in the classroom.

[47:21] Those writing priorities, the student discourse that checking for understanding,

[47:26] that's how we're going to close the gaps for our students.

[47:33] Secretary Wagner?

[47:35] I just want to make a comment and listening to the replies.

[47:38] Thank you for assessing where things are going and where the needs are.

[47:44] and then doing the reallocations with the budget.

[47:46] So thank you for providing that as an opportunity and thank you for taking advantage.

[47:51] Thank you.

[47:54] I just want to commend the work that you and your team are doing.

[47:57] Having had the opportunity to visit the high school numerous occasions and

[48:01] visit all of our English one classroom, some English two classrooms,

[48:05] all of our biology classrooms, some chemistry and Algebra one.

[48:10] It is so encouraging just to see the alignment and the transformation that has happened over the last several years.

[48:18] And I know Trustee Sierra has had the opportunity to walk alongside me on those visits.

[48:23] It's evidence of the conversations that are happening in PLCs.

[48:28] But the support that our campuses are receiving from their leadership and to have that academic assistant principal and to see her in action is truly making an impact.

[48:38] because teachers are getting feedback just in time, and then the other thing, leaving the office

[48:45] to leave for a meeting or go off-site or lunch or whatever it may be, I always used to get anxiety

[48:52] when I was going to turn out here to see the number of kids because it was just so difficult to keep

[48:56] them in the building. Today, when I left for a meeting around 1130, I saw no kids at the bus stop,

[49:05] And I saw no kids, because I pay attention every time I drive by, no kids at the convenience store at Sonic are anywhere.

[49:14] Now, that's not always the case, it's a small city there.

[49:17] We have 3600 kids, you're going to have kids that get out.

[49:20] There are times when I drive by and there's a handful.

[49:24] But it's not the dozens or the many kids that have the opportunity to go and grab Sonic or

[49:30] hang out behind the bread basket when I go pick up my boys and pry by the bread basket, I'd see

[49:36] dozens of kids just behind that convenience store. What a transformation. You've started strong,

[49:43] now it's a matter of just inconsistent, but it's also the partnership that's been established with

[49:48] the parents and giving them an opportunity to partner with you all because you are getting feedback.

[49:52] We are getting feedback on the communication that's happening, not just with the assistant

[49:58] of principles to parents, but even with teachers to parents, and when we communicate with parents,

[50:03] they're more willing to partner with us and support us when they know what's happening.

[50:07] So thank you, we see it, we notice it, and I also want to think the board, because they have

[50:12] put in support for the high school to enhance what you're doing in particular with safety.

[50:19] Thank you, we feel it, and we appreciate you all very much, thank you.

[50:23] I have one final comment.

[50:26] One final comment.

[50:27] One final comment if you don't mind.

[50:30] I completely agree.

[50:31] Thanks to everybody.

[50:32] It takes a community of village.

[50:34] Things have been looking differently for sure.

[50:38] And I just wanted to say it's not just us on this board, but it is the entire community that's coming together.

[50:42] I think to really change things.

[50:44] I had a really good conversation with Constable Gave by the other day and he was telling me some of the work that they're doing behind the scenes.

[50:48] As far as posting up in different locations to make sure that our kids aren't, you know, coming off of coming off campus

[50:54] So it really takes a whole village, and I really appreciate that

[50:59] If I may just add you know since we're talking about the support one thing that that sticks out with our high school

[51:06] Community is the support that we've had from families

[51:10] Even though we have to have difficult conversations with families whether it be academics and insure

[51:15] Xavier, one thing has always stood out and our parents care and they show up.

[51:20] They show up every day for their students and that's not something that you find everywhere.

[51:25] And so I'm really proud to be a principal of a high school that has parents that are involved

[51:30] and they want to be here for their student.

[51:32] And that makes all the difference.

[51:35] Thank you for that.

[51:36] Any other questions or comments?

[51:39] Thank you, ladies.

[51:41] Thank you.

[51:43] With that, we'll move on to governance items.

[51:45] Do we have any committee updates by Board of Trustees?

[51:51] All right, thank you, we have no updates.

[51:53] We'll move on to the consent agenda.

[51:57] Do we have any concerns or make a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented?

[52:05] Vice-president Liz Smith would he make some motion?

[52:07] Do I have a second?

[52:09] Trustee Sierra makes a second, all those in favour?

[52:13] Motion passes unanimously.

[52:15] We

[52:25] will now recess for executive session as authorized by Chapter 551 of the Texas

[52:30] Government Code under sections 551.071, 07.074, and 07.066.

[52:37] As a reminder, executive session is a continuation of the board meeting.

[52:41] I respectfully ask that the audience members refrain from approaching the dice and more board

[52:45] members at this time.

[52:47] The time is, well, 7.08, it wasn't coming up.

[52:53] The

[52:56] board ended its close session at 8.29 p.m., and in accordance with the open meetings law, the board is now reconvened in open session at 8.31.

[53:12] Let's go ahead and move on to action items, disgusting close session.

[53:19] Do you want to start with the motion, Tara?

[53:20] Yes.

[53:21] I would like to make a motion that we accept the superintendent's recommendation regarding the possibly hiring of the Director of Mathematics.

[53:29] Yes.

[53:32] That's the one we're skipping.

[53:34] No.

[53:34] My bad.

[53:35] We're skipping that one.

[53:36] No action.

[53:36] We don't have anyone brought forward.

[53:38] Actually, the first one is going to be that I make a motion for the superintendent's recommendation

[53:42] regarding the hiring of our CSR workforce development coordinator.

[53:47] I'll second that.

[53:48] Secretary Wagner makes the motion.

[53:51] Trustee Franco has a second.

[53:53] All those in favor?

[53:56] Motion passes unanimously.

[53:58] I'm going to name it.

[54:29] To include the

[54:33] name of the CCMR workforce development coordinator is going to be Rintel Gaines.

[54:40] Do I have a motion to approve superintendent's recommendation regarding possible hiring

[54:46] of Director of Technical Services? Yes, I'd like to approve Justin Sprayberry

[54:52] as the Director of Technical Services. Secretary Wagner makes a motion. Do I have a second?

[55:07] I would like to make a motion that Katelyn Palmer is the superintendent's recommendation,

[55:13] which we accept for the secondary literacy coordinator.

[55:18] Secretary Wagner makes a motion.

[55:20] Do I have a second?

[55:22] Trustee Pantoha makes a second.

[55:24] All those in favor?

[55:27] Motion passes unanimously.

[55:29] I

[55:34] have a motion on the action regarding certified educator resignations.

[55:39] Yes, ma'am.

[55:40] I'd like to make the motion to find that there is not good cause to support the resignation

[55:44] of Tahi McDonald and that they should not be released from their employment contract with

[55:49] Del Valley ISD at this time.

[55:52] Secretary Wigner makes a motion.

[55:54] Do I have a second?

[55:56] Trustee Liddell.

[55:58] Vice President Liddell, if my wording makes a second, all those in favor?

[56:02] motion passes unanimously. I would like to move to find that there's not good cause

[56:10] to support the resignation of Simberley Miller and that they should not be released from

[56:14] their employment contract with Del Valley ISD. Secretary Wagner makes a motion. Do I have

[56:20] a second?

[56:22] Trustee Burton makes a second. All those in favor? Motion passes unanimously.

[56:29] And those are all our action items.

[56:31] We do not have an action for item F.

[56:39] With that being said, do we have any future business?

[56:45] I would like to add a possible under governance that we add conference updates as well.

[56:53] Thank you.

[56:54] I did think of that, but it hadn't been mine, it's interesting, but we'll put it on the next one.

[57:05] Do I have a motion to adjourn?

[57:07] Trustee Pandoja makes a motion, do I have a second?

[57:12] Secretary Wigna makes a second, all those in favour?

[57:16] Motion passes unanimously, the time is 8.35.

Sep 15, 2026 Board Meetings

Agenda

Transcript