[0:01] I'm going to go ahead and get started.
To call them this meeting of the Divine
[0:04] Independent School District Board of
Trustees to order at 6:30. Let the
[0:08] record show that a quorum of board
members quorum of board members is
[0:11] present and that this meeting has been
duly called and that the notice of this
[0:15] meeting has been posted in accordance
with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas
[0:19] Government Code 551.
Let the record show that Ally
[0:22] Buendelhausen, Chris Davis,
Carrie
[0:26] Carrie James,
and Candace Esparza is present. And
[0:30] of course myself.
Carol Brown. All right.
[0:34] This is my first time if you haven't
figured it out, so.
[0:38] All right, would you join us with our
our invocation first?
[0:43] Mr. Davis, Mr. Davis.
>> Yes, pray. Lord, thank you for this
[0:46] evening. Thank you for allowing us to be
in here. Lord, thank you for blessing us
[0:49] with the rain that you have and be with
those folks that got
[0:52] affected by the flooding.
But uh we pray for some more rain. Keep
[0:56] our land wet, Lord. Lord, be with us
tonight as we do your
[1:01] business here at the school. Just guide
us and direct us in everything that we
[1:03] do, Lord. And forgive us where we fail
you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
[1:07] » Amen. Would you please join me in the
pledge?
[1:10] I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America and to
[1:15] the republic for which it stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, with
[1:21] liberty and justice for all.
[1:28] All right, we did have one person sign
up for citizen communication.
[1:32] It is Ginger Freezing Khan.
Uh she is here about the TASB director
[1:36] endorsement.
Um
[1:40] I guess wherever you'd like to stand.
>> Thank you. Okay, I'll just stand right
[1:42] here.
Uh first I want to say um
[1:46] good evening.
>> Good evening.
[1:47] » Vice President Brown, Dr. Granju, and
the members of the board. I appreciate
[1:52] for the time that you guys are giving me
tonight. Um I just wanted to put a face
[1:56] to the name. I know I've sent this out
before, um,
[1:59] but sometimes if it feels disconnected
and you guys don't know really what
[2:03] you're voting for, then how do you put
your full heart into it? And I know
[2:06] you'll have business to tend to, so I
wrote a few things down because my
[2:08] family says I talk too much.
And I don't want to take your time. So,
[2:12] uh, again, my name is Ginger Breedon, I
serve as a trustee for East Central ISD.
[2:17] Um, I'm here because I submitted my name
to continue serving as TASB Region 20
[2:21] Director and I'm honored that you placed
my candidacy on your agenda tonight.
[2:25] Serving on the TASB Board of Directors
has been one of the greatest privileges
[2:28] of my school board journey. During my
time as your Region 20 Director, I've
[2:32] served on the Member Services Committee,
the Legislative Committee, the
[2:36] Nominations Committee. I've also had the
privilege of completing Leadership TASB
[2:39] and becoming a Master Trustee, where I
worked alongside trustees from across
[2:43] the state to strengthen my leadership
and better serve our local communities.
[2:47] One thing I love most about this role is
getting to represent the voices of
[2:51] Region 20. Whether I'm meeting with
legislators in Austin or serving on
[2:55] statewide statewide committees, I never
forget that I'm here to represent the
[2:59] districts in our region.
I know each district has its unique
[3:03] challenges and priorities and I believe
every district deserves to have its
[3:06] voice heard at the state level.
While I'm proud of the committees I've
[3:10] served on and the experiences I've had,
what matters most to me is being
[3:14] accessible.
I want every district in Region 20 to
[3:17] know they have someone they can listen
to, advocate for them, and work to
[3:21] ensure their voice is heard.
I would be honored to earn your
[3:24] endorsement tonight and have the
opportunity to continue serving Region
[3:28] 20. Thank you for your time, your
service, and for everything you do for
[3:31] the students, staff, and families of
Divine ISD. Fun fact, my dad went to
[3:35] school here. He just mentioned 60-plus
years ago. So, it's been a minute, but
[3:40] we still have a good amount of family
here. So, we kind of have some roots.
[3:42] That's not to sway your vote in any way,
but just to give you some context, but,
[3:46] um, again, thank you for your
consideration.
[3:48] » Appreciate you.
[3:51] All right, are y'all going to remain for
the meeting?
[3:54] » No, sir. I'm going to go ahead and
leave.
[3:55] Y'all take care of your business. I
appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you.
[4:01] » All right, we're going to move on to
administrative reports and some
[4:03] discussion and I believe Todd wants to
give us his superintendent update.
[4:10] » [clears throat]
[4:15] » Great, as we prepare for the start of
school in July, our principals have
[4:18] returned to campuses and are working
diligently to ensure strong and
[4:21] successful opening for all students and
staff.
[4:24] Their leadership and planning reflect
our district's commitment to increasing
[4:27] student success by creating a safe,
welcoming, and engaging learning
[4:31] environment.
Together we've been looking forward and
[4:34] planning to continue our proud tradition
of student achievement and providing
[4:38] every student with opportunity to
thrive.
[4:41] Our district's partnership with Region
20 Education Service Center
[4:45] continues to make strong progress. Over
the last month, our district and campus
[4:49] leaders completed rigorous analysis of
all of our student performance data,
[4:53] structural practice, and stakeholder
feedback
[4:56] from our comprehensive needs assessment
through our DEIC.
[5:00] We use these findings to refine
priorities and guide continuous
[5:03] improvement efforts.
All of our current vacancies are still
[5:07] posted on the website.
And as the district prepares to welcome
[5:11] students back in approximately 4 weeks
or so, campuses are focused on
[5:15] finalizing preparations for a successful
start.
[5:19] Our campus leaders have completed their
star review. They're guiding the work of
[5:24] completed analysis throughout
the spring and summer. Even though they
[5:29] are off campus at times, they're still
working hard every minute of the day,
[5:34] always thinking about our kiddos.
So, our construction progress
[5:38] our construction projects progress
across the district continues to make
[5:43] steady
uh
[5:45] strides forward
in the preparing preparations for the
[5:48] new school year as we move forward.
The elementary corridor renovation is
[5:53] about 50% complete. Uh we had our
construction meeting today like we do
[5:57] every Monday at 9:00. They feel like
they are going to be in a good spot for
[6:01] us to be finished.
Our intermediate vestibule remains on
[6:05] the schedule for completion by Meet the
Teacher Night and we
[6:09] uh before we get back to school. And
planning is also underway for an open
[6:13] house showcasing the new construction
along with a dedicated tour for the
[6:17] Board of Trustees.
A lot of what we're still doing is
[6:20] trying to finish up the cleanup around
um all the other projects and ensure
[6:25] that the facilities are ready to welcome
back students, staff, and families.
[6:30] » That's all you got?
>> Yeah, that's it.
[6:31] » Dr. Branson, sorry. You used to hold me
hostage.
[6:36] All right, does anybody have any
questions about the Director of HR Don's
[6:40] reports or business office reports? No?
If not, we're going to move on to the
[6:45] consent agenda.
[6:48] Um
can I get a motion for the consent
[6:50] agenda?
>> Uh yes, Mr. President, I move to approve
[6:54] consent agenda as presented.
>> Second.
[6:57] It's been moved and seconded.
Uh
[7:00] all right, Ali by Ali. It's been moved
by Candace and seconded by Ali.
[7:05] Um does anybody have any discussion or
questions about the consent agenda?
[7:10] Nope.
Okay.
[7:13] Um if that's the case, can I get a show
of hands for all those in favor?
[7:20] All right.
All those opposed, same sign. And then
[7:23] the motion passes 5-0.
[7:26] Uh the
All right, we're going to move on to the
[7:29] first action item.
Um consider and take possible action to
[7:34] approve a new position at DHS to teach
the PCC
[7:38] key program in partnership with
Southwest Texas College.
[7:42] » So, PCT stands for patient care
technician.
[7:47] It's a
the exact
[7:50] » [clears throat]
>> um direction that we were heading
[7:52] whenever we had our health services
program when Nurse Wilson was teaching
[7:56] it for us before.
That was two classes this past year.
[7:59] Now, we're having to move into a
six-class uh regimen.
[8:04] And we kind of stumbled across a
partnership with Southwest Texas
[8:08] uh College. However, we If we employ the
person who is teaching the class, which
[8:15] is why we wanted to add this because
Nurse Wilson is a certified district
[8:19] nurse, but if we add
uh a teaching position to take over this
[8:23] program,
>> [clears throat]
[8:24] » it now actually turns into dual credit
to Southwest Texas Junior College.
[8:29] And
the kiddos that are um
[8:33] involved in the program, we're going to
have about 20 per cohort, so 20 per each
[8:38] grade starting
this year. Um with that being paid
[8:43] with that teacher being paid out of our
um
[8:48] our staff, the
dual credit hours are at no cost to the
[8:52] kiddos that are in the program.
Um the reason that
[8:57] it makes more sense for us to do this
too is they said that they don't have
[9:00] anybody that they can hire. They can't
find these people to do this.
[9:04] But, we've had
>> [snorts]
[9:06] » a couple of people in the community
express interest that are in the field.
[9:11] They will be on the teacher pay scale.
So, we're looking at if starting pay
[9:16] with zero years, which it's not going to
be zero years because what we're looking
[9:19] for is a bachelor of science in nursing,
so that this person is highly qualified
[9:24] to take over the program.
Um
[9:28] probably would be around 60 to 62,000.
Not like a 5-year teacher, 6-year
[9:33] teacher.
[9:38] » Any Anybody have any questions?
>> Does it take over Wilson's classes, too?
[9:43] » Like all of them?
>> She won't be able to teach classes
[9:46] anymore.
>> Yeah.
[9:47] » [clears throat and cough]
>> It wasn't built Chris is like that was
[9:49] not a sustainable model because
>> She was doing two classes at first and
[9:53] then if we moved to six classes then
it's kind of like worse.
[9:57] » Yeah.
>> Plus she did equals plus
[10:00] » Yeah.
>> So this is a much more sustainable
[10:01] » And what this also does is helps us on
our CCMR piece cuz when we get these
[10:05] kiddos getting an extra dual credit
hours
[10:08] we don't [clears throat] know we haven't
been able to see it right off the bat
[10:11] yet.
>> Like Natalia has the same program with
[10:13] the same college but in CCMR funding
they have what they call outcomes
[10:18] bonuses now and so we feel like a good
portion of this will come back with some
[10:23] additional CTE funding.
[10:28] » All right. No other questions. Can I
have a motion?
[10:32] » Mr. President, I have a motion to
approve additional full-time CTE
[10:35] teaching position for the PCT program as
presented.
[10:38] » Second.
>> All right. I have a motion by Candace
[10:41] and a second by Carrie
to approve the additional full-time CTE
[10:46] teaching position for PCT program for
the PCT program.
[10:51] All those in favor raise your right
hand.
[10:54] All right. The motion passes 5-0.
All right. We'll move on to consider and
[10:59] take possible action to approve the new
innovative course at DHS.
[11:05] And uh do Is there any questions that
y'all have about that? Mr. Wilson is
[11:11] here and he said he'd answer them.
>> So I looked at this one Mr. Brown it was
[11:15] This one is for the industry connection
for Divine High School. So it's another
[11:19] CTE course
designed to
[11:24] match our kiddos up with industry and
give them a little bit more experience.
[11:27] Also very valuable in our life skills
setting.
[11:31] So which is we're probably going to send
grades to these. So, right now we have a
[11:36] um, students working either through the
transition program or um, so, this is
[11:40] one of the courses that we can assign
them to.
[11:42] Um,
and uh, Region 20 advises that this is a
[11:45] really good course because we also
receive CTE funding for it. Um,
[11:49] so, that's another advantage to this
adding this course in.
[11:53] » And we just have to add you guys at a
host that we don't offer currently in
[11:56] the curriculum. It just doesn't cost us
any more money.
[11:58] » No, it's it's yes, that's correct.
>> Okay.
[12:01] » Yeah.
>> We're creating a course to put kiddos in
[12:04] to generate
opportunities
[12:08] and everything pathway, like you said,
for
[12:10] we're beneficial for our life skills
students.
[12:14] » If there are no more questions, I'll
accept the motion.
[12:18] » Mr. President, uh,
I move to approve the new innovative
[12:21] course, student to industry connection
at the DHS as presented.
[12:26] » Second.
>> I have [clears throat] a motion by
[12:28] Carrie, a second by Ali
to approve the new innovative course,
[12:33] student of industry connection at DHS.
All those in favor, raise your right
[12:38] hand.
All right, motion passes 5-0.
[12:43] We'll move on to our next item.
[12:47] All right, it is to consider and take
possible action to adopt the 2026-2027
[12:52] student code of conduct.
Uh, Dawn says she did not need to
[12:55] present, but uh, she's here to answer
any questions y'all might have.
[13:01] » The only question I had, some of the
things you you don't have yet from TASB,
[13:04] right? And then just have to be put in.
>> Right, I was going to meet with
[13:07] leadership next week. I was going to ask
the admin team, do y'all want choice A
[13:11] or B, you know, just kind of and
reviewing a few things that we haven't
[13:15] talked about in a few years just to make
sure what we're putting in the handbook
[13:18] is what we have in place.
[13:23] » All right.
That's the only question. We will
[13:26] entertain that motion.
>> Mr. President, I move to adopt the
[13:29] 2026-2027 student code of conduct as
presented.
[13:34] » Second.
>> All right. I have a
[13:36] motion by Candace and a second by Ali to
approve or adopt the 2026-2027
[13:42] student code of conduct.
Uh all those in favor, raise your right
[13:46] hand.
All right. Motion passes 5-0.
[13:50] We are moving.
All right. Next one on the
[13:56] agenda is consider to take possible
action to endorse TASB Board of Director
[14:00] candidates.
>> Did you skip one?
[14:03] » Did I?
>> Substitute.
[14:04] » Which one?
>> The substitute.
[14:06] » You was going to come back to that one.
>> Oh, there it is. Okay.
[14:11] All right. Consider to take possible
action to revise the substitute pay
[14:14] schedule.
[14:20] » All right. You all may remember that we
approved new sub pay earlier in the
[14:24] year, but there was a little bit of a
discrepancy for like a like it was a
[14:28] degreed sub if they worked
more you know five days to four weeks,
[14:33] it went up
a little I don't remember the number
[14:35] let's say from $80 to $100, but then if
they were working like four plus weeks,
[14:40] it went back down.
>> Oh.
[14:41] » And so it was just clearing up that
language so that it was
[14:46] the way that it was intended.
>> It looks similar, but
[14:48] you're saying it was just
>> changing that that worded so that they
[14:53] it didn't go down to the daily rate
after four weeks.
[14:57] » Okay.
[15:00] Any questions? If not, I'll turn it
motion.
[15:04] » Mr. President, I move move to approve
revised substitute pay schedule as
[15:09] presented.
>> Second.
[15:11] » Motion by Ali, second by Candace to
approve
[15:14] the revised substitute pay schedule.
All those in favor, raise your right
[15:18] hand.
All right. Motion passes 5-0.
[15:23] We'll try not to skip the next one.
[15:27] » Uh consider taking possible action to
endorse the TASB Board of Director
[15:30] candidates.
>> So, this is the TASB Board of Directors
[15:34] that Ms. Friesenhahn gives us a little
bit about earlier. They actively promote
[15:37] the purposes of the association.
This position oversees its fiscal
[15:42] affairs and establishes their board
policies. They have 43 members composed
[15:46] of the president, president-elect,
intermediate past president, and members
[15:50] from the 20 TASB regions across the
state.
[15:54] Our
>> [clears throat]
[15:56] » our recommendation is that we
support Ms. Friesenhahn.
[16:03] » And there's a second position too.
>> There's two positions, but the second
[16:06] one's not worth sending tested.
>> Do we have to approve [clears throat]
[16:10] it?
>> Um if they need to get a certain number
[16:13] of endorsements, otherwise they'll have
to do at the at their annual meeting.
[16:18] » Find the name.
>> Um Duran, I think.
[16:24] » Duran?
>> The other one running for 20D.
[16:28] » Duran.
>> Duran.
[16:32] » Carla Duran.
[16:35] » All right.
If there's no more [clears throat]
[16:37] questions, I'll entertain a motion.
>> All right, Mr. President, I move to
[16:41] endorse Ms. Friesenhahn for the Region
20 Position A and Ms. Duran for Region
[16:45] 20 Position B for TASB Board of
Directors as presented.
[16:50] » All right.
>> Second.
[16:53] » All right, I have a motion by Candace
and a second by Chris
[16:57] um to endorse the two candidates
mentioned for Position A
[17:01] and Position B
for the TASB Board of Directors. All
[17:05] those in favor, raise your right hand.
All right, the motion passes 5-0.
[17:13] » Duran, do you have 20A?
>> You don't have to take it.
[17:16] » Okay, this is just my name.
>> Okay.
[17:19] » All right.
Consider take possible action to approve
[17:23] the district's professional development
plan.
[17:26] » So each year a board shall review the SB
continuing education and training
[17:30] clearinghouse published under education
code 21.4514
[17:35] and adopt the professional development
policy that must one, be guided by the
[17:40] recommendations for training in the
clearinghouse. Two, note any differences
[17:44] in the policy adopted by the district or
school from the
[17:47] recommended
uh trainings in the clearinghouse.
[17:50] Three, include a schedule of all
training required for educators or other
[17:54] school personnel at the school district.
This is to the extent of any conflict of
[17:59] frequency requirement for the completion
of training provided by statute prevails
[18:04] over a frequency requirement that the
training included in the professional
[18:07] development policy.
So we have already been implementing
[18:11] our trainings for the staff. The current
academic calendar has been with the
[18:15] administration and myself to determine
when the best time periods for
[18:19] professional development would occur
and we will continue to use the online
[18:23] training in many of the areas that are
required and that give employees
[18:27] opportunity to do it
at a time [clears throat] where they can
[18:32] observe a
a flex day that we have at the beginning
[18:36] of the year they do their training at
the summer.
[18:41] So our recommendation is that the board
approve the Divine ISD professional
[18:45] development plan.
[18:49] » All right, can can I have a motion?
>> Mr. Secretary, I'd like to make a motion
[18:53] to approve the district's professional
development plan.
[18:56] » Or Mr.
>> You're good. Just keep going.
[18:58] » Whatever you want.
>> [laughter]
[19:01] » Uh development plan as presented.
As presented.
[19:05] » Second.
>> Did I hear you Carrie?
[19:07] » Yes.
>> Okay, I have a motion by Ali and a
[19:09] second by Carrie to approve the
district's professional development
[19:13] plan. All those in favor raise your
right hand.
[19:17] Motion passes 5-0.
[19:21] All right, last one. Consider to take
possible action to set a date for EISD
[19:25] team building training team building
training.
[19:28] » So to keep the board current on training
requirements, the board should consider
[19:31] setting a date for team building
training. Training will keep the board
[19:35] in compliance with legal and local
policy.
[19:38] We joined the board training co-op with
Region 20, which will provide most or
[19:42] not all of our board training.
And so each board member is required to
[19:47] complete 3 hours of team building
training each year. To receive credit
[19:50] for the training, all board members must
be present and the superintendent must
[19:54] be in attendance.
In addition, evaluating and improving
[19:58] student outcomes EISD training is
required every year.
[20:03] So Region 20 will conduct a training at
the conference on February
[20:08] 21st and through the 23rd.
Um where you can complete the required
[20:13] » But it is the 21st that the team
building training is, correct?
[20:16] » Yes.
[20:18] So if all of us are unable to make the
21st session, we would need to get
[20:21] another one to get somebody to come here
possibly.
[20:26] » February 21st, okay.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[20:31] Um
[20:33] » Jared, have you gotten any feedback from
anybody that says they can't do at least
[20:37] the team building?
>> No.
[20:41] » Anybody here?
>> No.
[20:42] » No.
>> I think that's Sunday evening, correct?
[20:45] » Yes. Yes.
>> Okay. Well,
[20:49] I'll entertain a motion.
>> Mary, um Mr. President, I move to set
[20:53] February 21st
for EISD team building training as
[20:58] presented.
>> Second.
[21:00] » Okay. Motion by Candace and a second by
Ali to
[21:05] set the date of the 21st of February in
the evening, Sunday evening, for EIS for
[21:11] EIS team building training.
All those in favor, raise your right
[21:16] hand.
Okay, the motion passes 5-0.
[21:20] All right, we're into closed session.
Board of Trustees beginning at
[21:25] 6:51.
[21:29] We'll convene in closed session in
accordance with the Texas Open Meetings
[21:32] Act for the purpose of discussing items
listed under the Texas Government Code
[21:36] section 551.074
and 551.082.
[21:41] No final action, decisions, or votes
will be taken while the board is in
[21:45] executive session.
Thank you for coming.
[21:54] Time.