>> good evening. We have convened for an agenda review meeting of
the dripping springs isd board of trustees on this monday, april 15. The time is now 6:02 p.m. We have a quorum with
all board members present this evening with the exception of shannon o'connor. Who is doing lovely tax season this evening?
this meeting is being recorded. As a reminder, the purpose of agenda review meetings is to review
all the listed agenda items in preparation for the regular board meeting next week. No action will be taken until the regular meeting.
it's an opportunity for board to ask questions and request additional information. I needed, so the board of trustees is fully prepared for the regular meeting.
next week, we will have a number of recognitions,
and so just be prepared, board members, it could be a little lengthy.
we have no public comments this evening. We will also have a number of presentations next week.
we will have our learning spotlight from sycamore springs middle school.
we got a little highlight of that on our campus tour.
our board highlights, and then what I would like to discuss this evening.
again, this doesn't need to be completely formalized.
>> [inaudible]. >> sure. We can go through the slides. What do we have?
>> we have taxpayer tuesday from cyprus springs elementary.
then we have field days and the sse eclipse party.
I think y'all had mentioned last month that you'll want to mention field days because some of you all have been to different ones.
then we will have this week our visit to rooster springs elementary,
so you'll be able to talk about that next week and we'll add pictures once we've actually gone.
>> is anybody going to the athletic signing day this week? We can add that too.
>> we can add athletic signing day. >> did anybody go to the iconic?
did any board members go? Anybody else go on. I want to hear about it. I really wanted to go. The high steps so good.
so so good. I heard it was so good. I wish they had done another night.
>> we were post jazz dreamland? [background]
>> good.
>> [inaudible] . >> let's move on to our advocacy agenda resolution.
I believe holly, you updated to include our last year's resolutions.
>> we have an attachment for all that includes the two specific resolutions that y'all had submitted to tasb,
one of them was on teacher pay or not teacher pay the teacher adjustment based on housing.
then the other one was on taxes. Let me see if.
>> there were several ideas from last month that we had.
we can carry over the resolutions from last year. We can add more. We can change them. This isn't action for this month.
we're going to we will take action in may. I wanted to get as close to complete this month just on our discussion so that
we can hammer down language before next month. Olivia.
>> that was kind of my question. I feel like we have such a good runway ahead of us for the upcoming legislation,
and I think that things are going to ebb and flow needs. I think we're going to see the results of proposition four lower tax revenue.
I just think we've got a runway of things between us. Will it be a document that we can make
any changes to at a later date once we solidify the priorities? >> yeah. I think there's twofold,
they're submitting to tasb. >> that's what it needs to get done in may.
our actual resolutions that we are sending to tasb for them to advocate for us.
that's where we're coming back to what we did last time, which did not happen in last legislature,
so we could just carry those forward. But then our actual advocacy agenda,
that is probably going to change and adapt prior to actually going to capital or anything in the fall.
>> I think trisha had been to the grassroots advocacy meeting and we had just had the conversation
last year about we needed to be a little bit earlier with these specific items that we want to take forward to grassroots,
and so that's what we're trying to be ahead of. >> yeah, timeline wise to be really granular to maybe address your question, olivia.
I would anticipate. This document that's on screen that we're seeing right now. Anything we're going to change on this,
I would hope probably by september, mary jane. What I mean, we've tried earlier.
I think september is probably realistic. Or even earlier than that.
>> yeah, I think that's reasonable. It's enough time. >> but then, specific resolution,
we need to take action next month on whatever we're going to send.
>> two completely different tracks. We are always free as a board to come up with our priorities,
and then we go to our legislators. This is specifically for that tasb process,
and they have a hard deadline in june. That's why we have to do it by our may meeting, just timing wise.
also, what's good about these is that they are very specific to us.
it wouldn't make any sense to pass and obviously, resolution about recapture because there's state wide.
dozens and dozens of right. That's the question. Is there anything else that is more pertinent to us?
what they do is if there is legislation in the next session that pertains to this at all,
and when these go through the process and are approved by the state delegation,
then tasb has their marching orders to advocate for these things. That makes sense?
>> sure, so they're basically going to show up in the book that we have to take to.
I do have one question about the teacher housing allotment.
when we send this to tasb, are we going to basically tell them what exactly we're looking at?
have we seen this exact thing done in any other area?
>> well, tasb, that was a very popular one, because I remember when we first put this in,
I think there was probably 20 districts that
had something around teacher stipend, cost of living, housing allowance,
like, something along those language. Basically what they do. You can correct me if I'm wrong, mary jane, like,
they kind of condense themes and subject matters to basically find I think one that's the best worded,
and then they may even then we even have the option in
that committee to then potentially even pass a resolution to change the language even at convention.
>> there's going to be a game plan. >> is there language, you want to change right now to that?
>> not really. I just wasn't sure if this was, 'cause the way that it's worded is pretty simple.
there's no plan or thought behind it. And so I wasn't sure if we were going to give them, I guess,
more language whenever we're sending it in or if this is how we're gonna send it in or if that was.
>> I think sometimes simpler is better, but I mean, if we want to ramp it up, like, we definitely can. Olivia.
>> I think that's a really, really good point because as these things often do,
we can push it back to the state, but then ultimately the state pushes it back to our local taxpayers.
so I do think it might make sense to add language like from state surplus,
from state sales tax. >> yeah. >> not from property tax.
maybe specifically, not from residential homestead property tax collection,
so that it could potentially come from commercial taxation.
because I see exactly what you're saying. It'll end up like everything else.
>> my exact question is, have we seen this teacher allotment anywhere else or how it works,
or where would the funding come from? I just don't want to make extra for the taxpayers to pay for as a whole.
I just want to make sure that we're letting the legislature know where we believe that maybe the funding could come from, if that makes sense.
>> I think we could clean up some language. I haven't seen a resolution with that level of specificity.
I can I can review some that I saw on this particular topic and see what I've seen in the past.
>> yeah, 'cause I looked around, I couldn't really find anything. I found a couple of programs.
there's the tsahc grant,
and then there's also the seth five star texas advantage program,
and those looked like they were beneficial for teachers and administration even.
but I didn't know what exactly the program it was that we were looking to do.
>> I think we're talking about two different things though. Because you're talking about, things that are in existence.
we're talking about advocating to the legislator.
from the resolutions I've read on this topic, none of them specify where you should take the money,
but that doesn't mean we can't. I've just never seen that language included in the resolution.
>> well, and I think the whole idea came out of elaine, correct me if I'm wrong, but there used to actually be a cost of index adjustment
that was there was a sliding scale that used to be within the formula. That has come out.
this came back for us basically at the time that this got decided upon,
I was like, we should bring back the sliding scale. They used to do it by area.
the austin area is so broad, so we were saying based upon the cost of housing in the district,
which they are assessing through state value. It was a combination of what used to happen within
the formulas in a more localized way to districts.
>> that's all I have. Thank you. >> I saw mary jane, and then we'll move.
>> just as an addendum. I'm pretty sure that the form once we send it in.
this is the verbiage of the resolution itself, but then there's a place to give further clarification below.
>> yeah. Trisha, back to what you were saying, I have heard about some districts that are looking at some land purchases to set aside,
some really low income type or lower income type housing
that they would be willing to work with on their teachers that they hired a couple of other positions.
I want to follow up on some of those, but I'd like to get back with you all to see which
districts are doing it and how they're able to make that happen.
>> olivia? >> I was going to revisit quickly on the priorities I had sent and thank you.
my thought is that well, one, we have to remember that every top tax dollar
regardless if it coming from a surplus or the state, every tax dollar comes from the same places, regardless of what bucket or line item is in,
and so being aware of that. My recommendation last month was to go for property tax exemptions for current residents,
like a civil servant exemption. It just seems to be a little less bureaucratic,
I guess, would be the way to put it? On the land, I was going to point this out really quick.
I talked to a couple of my developer friends recently. Here's how it works and what I don't think we have,
and I wish that we did. What the developers who are doing this low cost housing,
what they're looking for, is their for-profit businesses. They're looking for tax exempt land
that's legacy or already owned by a local taxing authority entity that's
donated and then a for-profit developer comes, goes vertical, and then they're earning the income on the sales or the rent of that.
but the assumption is that you're on a zero base on the land and it's tax exempt.
I've read a lot of the headlines of it, and it looks super appealing. That's only what I've learned and it seemed
to make sense for a real estate perspective. >> yeah, and I'll just say elaine is working on investigating all of that.
there's a lot of different formats to do that, so maybe another agenda item, some other time that we can talk about,
kind of what she's doing on that front for research and preparation.
>> yeah. On this topic, if anybody has any suggestions,
I have received some from olivia that we'll formulate,
and I guess what I'll get with holly on prior to may's agenda review meeting,
we'll just pull the different resolutions that different board members have requested.
and if we want to vote on all of them, we can adopt all of them. If we want to just pick and choose the ones that we want to agree upon,
that's fine, as well. Moving on to consent agenda,
any questions or discussion on any of the consent agenda items? Trisha?
>> this probably possibly was discussed at the budget workshop,
and I was unable to attend. But I just wanted to,
what does campus department requested budget transfers?
what does that mean exactly? >> it's, they have to pay for things by function,
and so they may need to move funds from one function to another in order to code things correctly and at this time of year,
when they're getting lower on their budgets, they're moving money around, and we always bring that to the board,
so it's no budget impact. It's just them moving funds around between different functions.
>> that's what I thought. I didn't want to assume. Thank you.
>> moving on to our first action item. Consideration approval of proclamation 2024 instructional materials recommendation.
>> I don't see dr. Whitman in the room. She just stepped out.
there will be some members of the committee here to address the board as will dr. Whitman.
they have some suggested materials that they'd like to recommend to the board for science and specific cte courses at the high school,
and they'll give you that full list. I think you have that list already, but they'll give you the breakdown for that.
>> they'll present next week. >> yes.
>> okay. Any discussion from the board at this time?
okay. Consideration approval of annual. Trisha?
>> well, this next one goes with the, it's eight a, and then then eight b is kind of the same.
is that what you're saying, we have our list? Is this the list, or is it something different?
>> [inaudible] >> double click. >> double click. This annual tic certification is something that we have to
do every year to say that our teachers have access to materials that align with the tics,
and so this is certifying what materials we have currently, and this includes those new adoptions with kind of a pending.
that's why you see the adoption comes first or the recommendation or consideration,
and then the tics certification. That's just an annual thing that the board reviews every year.
>> moving on.
>> we're getting a presentation next week. >> you're getting a presentation on eight a.
>> on eight a. >> eight b is fairly standard, as dr. Kidd just announced.
if there's questions on eight b, ask them now. >> yes, and rhonda walked back in,
so if you have any questions, she can answer specific questions. There's not a presentation with a powerpoint.
the committee will be here, and dr. Whitman will go over that process,
how many people were involved, and then the different vendors that they looked at and basically the why behind the recommendations.
>> rob, do you have a question? >> this is all new, so I wouldn't even know what question to ask.
you said to bear with me after I hear the presentation? >> okay.
>> right? >> no. Sounds great. >> I would recommend if you look at the attachments and read through the language,
if you have questions prior to next week, just send them via email to holly.
>> yes. >> okay. >> I will do my very best to accomplish that.
>> trisha, did you have another question. >> I do have a question on b. I don't know what I was thinking,
but the requested curriculums,
I know that we are using them currently, so the current curriculums have online access as well as books,
or is it all strictly online? >> we have a mixture of both depending on the content and the level. Yes.
>> okay. >> we have a availability for students that request the books.
>> perfect. That was my next little general statement. [inaudible] options, so perfect.
that's all I got. Thank you. >> you're welcome. >> consideration approval of the use of
fund balance for the purchase of technology equipment. We did briefly talk about this in our budget workshop.
>> we did talk about it in the budget workshop. This would be the summer refresh of devices for students and staff,
according to their replacement schedule. There was some discussion. This was part of the revamped financing plan in the bond.
this was fund balance use. Then you can see how that number grows the next two years.
this is asking for fund balance to purchase these devices, so technology can get those up and going over the summer.
>> trisha. >> sorry. Lots of questions today.
what type of device is in the other category?
>> I have to phone a friend. [laughter]
>> those are chrome boxes replacing chrome bits.
I think, about 20 of them that are out of service. They've reached their end of support.
>> when we're saying they've reached their end of support, we're saying that they're broken or that they're just obsolete?
>> they'll no longer receive updates. >> okay. What do we do with
these devices whenever we're getting rid of them? Where do they go?
>> yes. The board approved, goodness, it's been about two years I think,
a contract with an it asset disposition company.
we wipe them in house, and then we recycle them,
that's a certified recycling company. They also provide us with an additional certification of sanitization.
>> do we get any money back for that or we pay them? >> typically do. Yes.
>> where does that money go? When we get it [overlapping]. >> just goes into the general findings and miscellaneous revenue.
>> perfect. Thank you.
>> quick question. Quick follow up. Sorry, if you would. We talked about this.
all apple computers that we are on now, we're basically on a, what are we on?
like a lease agreement with apple, right? Are we leasing though on a refresh every three
years we're cycling through those as a part of that lease agreement? >> we did do a three year lease last year.
>> okay. >> this year, it's a very small amount. It was more dell than apple this year.
it was the recommendation that we not lease this go round.
>> okay, so we're going to purchase all of these. Which is the 55k? >> correct.
>> got it. Okay. Then in the out years, basically, this is your refreshed life cycle of the existing systems,
in addition to the growth systems we're going to need to support a growing staff and student population.
is that what we're looking at here in '25/'26 and '26 /'27?
>> we're estimating growth as well. >> estimating growth as well. >> yes. >> okay. Great. >> we did do a note, that google gave us a gift and extended some life.
>> great. >> those numbers, as situations change,
they could move down the road just a bit. >> great. While this 380 was in the budget workshop that we
saw for this year as a fund balance expenditure. >> correct. >> great. Perfect. Thank you.
>> reports and information. We have our communications quarterly report?
>> yes. I'm coming to you actually a little early. I came in february with my quarterly report and here I'm back in april,
but there were a couple of updates that I wanted to make sure you saw.
towards the back of the report, we have an opportunity. As we talked in february.
it's kind of been a slow roll on the branding, as we all have day jobs.
I put a call out to my colleagues across in the area to see if anybody had
professional connections agencies and got in touch with an agency that did the rebrand
for eanes and have had some really good conversations with them.
and as we talked in the budget workshop, as you know,
we've had some sponsorships sold, and so we have a little bit of efficiencies in the communications budget.
I feel really good about the agency and the work they do,
and they can turn the district branding project. It's like an eight week scope,
and it would really set us up to be done before the next school year,
and so wanted to provide that update for you all. The summary is in there,
and then also the scope of work from the provider is attached. You can see the eanes work.
eanes basically did exactly what we did. They started at the district level,
then went to westlake high school, then did all of their schools all with this four wings marketing agency.
I think several of you all know claudia mcwarder. She's a parent out here in the district.
she's my colleague here in their district. The agency comes highly recommended.
I just wanted to make sure you all are up to speed
on that recommendation and give you all a chance to ask questions about that.
our recommendation to move forward with that, I think it would allow us to move forward and have that done and expedite that process.
so thoughts. >> I think it's exciting. I think it's great.
I was very impressed hearing from you all at the budget workshop just how you all are thinking outside the box and you are such a lean team,
and you're doing so many things. >> yeah. >> I just want to clarify this project is just solidifying our current branding.
this is not a rebrand to expansion, or would it solidify current branding with some growth potential.
>> right. What the scope would be is get the district brand done and get us that strategy piece overall.
get that high level piece, which is [overlapping] >> as a present day though?
>> right. But overall, what do we want to do overall,
get that brand guide done, primary palette, secondary palette at the district level.
but that preliminary conversation about directionally, where do we want to go.
obviously, you all would be very involved with that. I think that will take a few workshops with you all.
>> workshops within this eight weeks or [overlapping]. >> I think that timing could change.
I think they could do it in eight weeks. Like if we just turn them loose, they were like, this work would take us eight weeks.
I think that's flexible. We can push that to however long we think it needs to take.
it would get the district branding done and get us
a strategy piece on the brand overall moving forward.
you can see in their proposal, they outline what would be included in that scope.
initial conversation, for instance, about recommendations about tiger the tiger.
we know that's going to be a large community conversation, so that's not making that decision,
but kind of getting us a plan about what that could look like and what would that process look like.
high school number 2 is going to be taken care of through vlk through their pixel process,
so we don't have to deal with that. But we've got a lot of cleanup to do overall,
and we need a plan for that. That planning part would be done as part of the scope, if that makes sense.
>> we've talked before about needing to get to a point where we're branching and we're not there yet.
jennifer has solidified our maroon and gold, which gives us that starting point. This is that next phase of now,
what's the range of options, and they're going to come back with options and give us that broader range so that then we decide are we going in this path,
this path, or this path, and then it starts again locally from there.
it's helping us broaden from here in a little bit faster timeline.
>> olivia. >> this is my world very much.
I appreciate and validate that we've taken it to the point that we can get it,
and it's time where we need support, but I want to make sure I understand because
this is not a budget item that we've had in the past. Initially, we were going to do this in-house, I believe, and now we're bringing agency in.
there's no tangibles. It's not actual,
no one goes through and changes your signs or anything.
it's our colors, it's our fonts.
>> I think they're actually coming back with some. Your logo could look like this,
you could do a scale, you could do a crest. But they're starting to bring us further down that line.
>> you could design digital. >> yes, all digital. >> I'm just pointing out that we're then going to have
subsequent costs that we'll have to review that if now we go onto campuses and change all the
tigers or go on to campuses and change logos, it's a multi tiered cost for each campus, essentially.
>> yes. >> [inaudible]. >> but this is
the logo we're talking about as the district brand. I mean, that's on our fleet of vehicles.
but that logo is actually mainly used digitally.
there is some expense, but I still think it's the right thing to do
as far as getting that refresh fund. >> I think for most of our campuses,
they don't have it in the floor, like a gym space in wood,
like those types of places. Most of our schools are using it so we're not [inaudible] monuments [inaudible].
>> we don't have a whole lot of that. >> we really don't. But yes, you are right.
there would be some, but I think it would be evolutionary. I think as the fleet is replaced,
that it would not be like a rip and replace. That won't be anyone's recommendation.
>> they're still going to hand out the happy meals until they [inaudible]. >> yeah. Right. That's on extreme [inaudible].
>> yeah, they're beautiful. I'd reviewed it all. This could just come out of the communications budget?
>> yes. Yeah. >> their work is great. >> yeah. I think we would get to it.
it's just as I told you in february. My plan is we meet on it 90 minutes every other week,
and we just can't get to it. Branson, blake and I can't get to it fast enough,
and I'm just scared we're never going to get it done. We have done some revenue generation this year,
and once I met with them, and once claudia and dr. Arnett recommended them so highly,
I just feel like it's the right thing for us to do. If we feel like collectively we can commit to the process,
I feel like we'll be really glad that we did it in
august when we can start the new year with the brand.
>> you've made revenue. You've also made some efficiencies in your department. >> absolutely.
>> this dollar amount, this 28,800, it's paid for by what you're saying?
>> yes. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. >> trisha, that was my question.
it's just being absorbed because you've saved money and other [inaudible].
>> right. You weren't in the budget workshop, but for instance, sponsorships through convocation, sponsorships through the teacher feature video,
we sold some advertising. We've done some things that were new and different that
we didn't budget for last year because they were pilots for us. But thankfully, they were successful for us this year,
and so we're in a position that we can do it without having it be a budget impact for us.
I think we feel like it's the right decision.
at the end of the day, you'll see in the scope, they'll give us 3-4 options for us to consider.
I think they're pretty flexible, it's a small agency.
I think we'll have a lot of creative things to choose from.
I think it'll be good. Any questions about that piece?
>> I just have a couple. Well, number 1, your team is doing an amazing job.
you guys have done a great job just yourselves, and I appreciate everything that y'all have done.
I just want to make sure that the community knows even they are not working on the new branding
for the new high school. Correct? >> no. Absolutely. That would be nothing to do with the new high school.
>> but they are going to help us set up to where we can have that conversation,
and it be a streamlined process. What would that look like? Help us think through that,
just at the very high level of that strategy piece. >> perfect. But did you say vlk is going to actually help with that branding deal?
>> yes. There's part of the vlk process, it's called pixel. That is the branding part of their design process. High school number 2.
>> okay. I think that's all I have. Okay. >> absolutely, this sounds great.
happy to support y'all spending money on something like this to help your team out. I guess, for me,
just clarity of vision, it sounds like we're going to use this to formulate a strategy going forward.
thirty thousand foot level, just trying to fully comprehend the vision for what we're trying to accomplish,
and that's just high level. If you can maybe sum it up in a sentence or two, what are we really trying to get to with this exercise so that we as a board,
have a full understanding of directionally where we're going with this exercise. That's my only question.
>> right now, at the district level, our branding is pretty weak.
we're basically borrowing a high schools branding. When we go out to recruit,
we go out to tell our story, we don't have a great logo,
we've had really inconsistent, we've not had good discipline with our branding.
our colors have been inconsistent, we haven't had a good brand guide,
we just haven't had the discipline around our branding. What?
>> scattershot. >> as we grow, I think it's time for us to get that brand at the district level done.
the high school brand, of course, has to stay strong, and second high school,
and those are very important brands because that's what the community stands on,
and that will always be true. But we have to get the district brand strong too from
a recruiting perspective and for many other reasons as well.
that, historically, has just been weak.
we got to get a logo, we got to get a brand guide. >> like we've done with other things.
I'm familiar with a lot of this stuff in the industry. We're centralizing this effort at a district level,
so that we can set a baseline, set the expectations. Then on the campus' behalf in some instances,
we'll create a strategy, we'll work with them to formulate this so there's alignment across seven schools,
eight schools, nine schools, 10 schools, 12 schools. That vision makes perfect sense. >> [inaudible] some structures to some things that have been very loose,
which was part of why jennifer worked for a year on what are our maroon or our gold.
there were some that were brown, and some that were purple, and everybody was using a different color.
trying to get to what is our color, what is our brand,
not every school picking their own tiger. Everybody making their own letterhead and you making a letterhead,
and you making a letterhead, and you all using it from the same campus. We're trying to create those systems and structures,
but it starts with the district brand and then moves down. >> that sounds great. Let's do it.
>> thank you. >> [inaudible]. >> mine was just an additional affirmation.
I'm involved with another organization with a much bigger communications department than you have.
this is such a specialized area of expertise that I'm fully in favor of.
>> I fear we would never get it done. It's the thing that keeps me up at night.
I worry. I'm like, I'm going to be here in a year from now and it's still going to be hanging over my head.
>> well, this is the thing I'm always asking about. I'm excited it's just finally getting done.
I fully acknowledge every time I ask questions on this that I know your team is so limited.
but it's like business land. I love branding personally,
and I think we're already behind on this. >> yeah, we are. >> but we absolutely have to have it before we start
expanding at the rapid fire that's about to come in the next five years.
I think this is the perfect time in a lot of ways, but we cannot wait any longer on this.
I'm excited that y'all just saw this opportunity and reached out to them, too.
remind me, is this something that will come to action for the board?
is this something to make? >> at some point it will. I mean, we've always said we would bring the brand back.
>> the actual cost number, though. >> no.
>> it's within the parameters? >> yeah. It's within parameters. Really, we just wanted to,
because it's been such an important conversation piece, make sure that y'all were aware jennifer has
a couple of big things that they've been working on, tiny team, big work, and so we wanted to make sure that y'all were up to date on that.
we did her quarterly report just a little bit early so we could just make it out in the loop before we started pressing forward.
>> if there was workshops, I heard you say august,
is that the goal to have it done by? >> yeah. >> okay. [inaudible] is the summer goal.
>> [inaudible] y'all can help. Is it a gray navy? >> yes.
>> colors are important. I understand. >> as long as it stays maroon, I'm going to be really happy.
>> rob is not going to be happy. >> add a little burnt orange, and we're good.
>> there's that article. >> don't you do it, holly. Don't you do it.
>> the other thing I wanted to point out, and I understand,
I think dr. Watkins has already mentioned this to you, the creation of a brick and mortar store here at the spirit store.
that's another thing that we've made progress on. Rob's face. We also have made progress on that.
we are moving forward with that. That is in the works.
we're meeting with a couple of vendors over the next month or so,
working back from an august go live. The branding part of that doesn't have much of
an impact because mainly they're going to wear high school ds tiger stuff.
working on a business plan with the finance team to make sure we have all of our ducks in a row,
but we've got the finance piece worked out. We've got our space planned out.
we'll be ready to go before the first friday night lights. That's the goal.
just wanted to make sure y'all were up to speed on that. We are moving forward with that plan.
the space, it's just in that main hallway.
>> where you first walk in? >> yeah. >> cool.
>> it won't be staffed with a full person. Karen will just manage it.
probably buy online and pick up in store, something. We're working through those details,
but we're excited, I think. As we try to bring that business and revenue back in and we build
a licensing program concurrently with that and try to bring some of that revenue back in house,
that's all throughout the community. That's exciting too. I wanted to make sure y'all were aware.
>> would this be an opportunity for, say, the pop up shops that are out there that they could sell their stuff through this?
>> no. I think, first, we need to just make sure we-
>> have your own. Cool. >> we get going. Want to make sure we can get our feet under us.
just so we're clear before anybody gets too nervous, we're not shedding anything that the booster clubs are doing.
we're not going to take any money from anyone. For us and the ds brand,
we're just trying to get that opportunity retained here in the district.
our booster clubs will still be able to do all that they do. We just want to make sure that we're also selling that spirit wear.
>> thank you. Kim. >> I think it's going to be great with all the new families that are coming to the area.
the first question I hear from a new family moving in, where can we get merchandise?
where can we get something that supports what's going on in this city?
great place to live. Now we'll have a place to send. I just think that's a great idea.
they won't have to go to 10 stores. They can just come here. >> absolutely. We'll have to start small,
but we have big vision. I think it'll be great. >> mary jane.
>> before we moved on from communication, I just had a question about the website.
we just continually hear about the search feature. I know for me, I'm going to google first.
I'll put in dsisd and what I'm looking for, and can always find it. Takes me back to our website.
that's not always the case in the actual search bar of our website. I'm just assuming that this new platform will be more robust.
>> yes. You're not going to have any of that old dead content that we can't ever get rid of.
olivia sent me something today. You'll see the response. I was like, I didn't even know that was out there.
no, it's fine. I always appreciate it. >> it was only from 1999.
>> I just can't ever. >> it's every single page is there.
>> anyway, yes, it will be much improved once we are on the new platform. I hope.
that's what they tell me unless they're selling me snake oil, but I don't think so. I think it's going to be much better.
very optimistic. >> very exciting. Thank you. L&I.
>> for the l&I report, on page 1, if I was going to sum up this content,
there's a lot of words here. I'm going to sum it up. It's collaboration and cost savings.
the first two items, grading guidelines and report card committees.
dr. Maphies has been working with elementary teachers just to align on standards-based report cards and the timeline for the year at a glance,
making sure everything's in alignment there and working collaboratively with the teachers.
then also the grading legend, making sure that makes the most sense for parents.
the next steps after that committee has met is to bring it to our principals at the end of april,
and then we'll notify the board in may, just bringing you what was decided and any changes, if any.
I don't even know if there are changes, but just what they came up with. Also, we wanted to let the board know that we
do have a committee that's really focused on ai intelligence and looking at best practices and how to use ai instructional.
it does feel like we're a little behind the times. I think that was something somebody else said.
we are a little late to the game on this, but we're hoping this committee will meet and come to a great recommendation to provide
us with sometime in the summer.. Then if you scroll down to the very last,
the social studies vertical alignment. Again, there are new standards coming out for social studies.
dr. Maphies did a great job getting vertical team of teachers together to review those new standards,
which is very proactive. Those standards come into play next year. Just analyzing, looking at those and creating that vertical alignment piece.
then the cost savings is that reading academy. As you know, reading academy was required by house bill, I think it's 3.
don't quote me. But yes, it's right there. House bill 3. For the longest time,
we had shannon voges who we paid $12,000 to this hybrid connection with region 13.
it was $12,000 flat fee. We can send as many teachers. It was beautiful.
shannon left her position. Region 13 kept on going with that hybrid with $12,000 until tea stepped in and said,
you can't do that anymore. Now we want the comprehensive model that every district has to pay for.
it's $3,000 per participant. I think we're looking at cost savings for this budget this year.
I put in 22 teachers, potentially. That was $70,000-ish.
when we're really looking at cost savings, we do have a highly certified instructional coach on our staff who can lead a cohort.
rather than paying region 13 that large lump sum,
having a leader that's leading the cohort saves us the money. We still continue to pay the 12,000,
and we can back off of the required 3,000 fee from tea,
if that made any sense to you. It's good. It's cost savings. On the page 2,
this is all about learning. Our counselors and our nurses went through professional development here recently.
then also gt feedback. Dr. Kristen reyes working with our gt advisory committee made up of parents,
getting their feedback and input. Also, I'll change the verb tense on that round table for students.
they held a round table for juniors and seniors about their gt experience in dripping springs.
they're really going to be looking at that feedback in may, and then we'll be able to look at that programmatically.
pretty exciting stuff. Then as always, wanted to include the staar schedule.
we have a staar test tomorrow and also accelerated testing. There was 188 students participated in testing of those 351 exams.
out of that, 35 students met that 80% mastery.
we're looking at changing that process so that we don't test first. We look at more of a triangulation of data before we allow the test because that
is cost savings if we can figure out which kids would mostly get benefit from that test.
dr. Whitman's working on analyzing those students to find out where those parameters are so we can go after those students that we want to target.
>> kim?
>> I'm excited to hear we have an ai committee that we're putting together.
I've been waiting on that. I look forward to the reports that you will bring to us for their recommendations.
I think it's a hot topic with students out there right now and I'm looking forward to whatever you're going to bring that that committee comes up with.
>> I'll look at my colleagues' comments. Agree. I don't necessarily know if you're late to the game.
we heard yourself a little bit in my opinion, because the technology is still emerging.
you come in early, and you start making policies around generative ai and how that affects what our students are doing.
I think this is the right time, in my opinion, to look into this fully.
if I could just opine briefly on that, I really think it's opportunities with ai
for student engagement and for opportunities, from a career perspective.
I think it is worthy of conversation. Then of course, there's the, I don't know if you call it academic honesty components of that,
that also need to be considered for sure. I think the two things is, by the way, I'm a late adopter on ai,
just to be really clear. But I think those two things are important. Then I'm going to ask you, a first year board member question.
grading guidelines and report card committees. Is that specifically around the report card,
or is that committee also looking around academic rigor, grading criteria, those types of things?
>> yes, it can be all. The grading guidelines sit in a document that teachers reference and collaborate on,
but then also stand behind with grading guidelines and number of grades, formative and summative assessments,
what that looks like, how many. But then the idea of rigor and assessment happens in plcs when we're planning,
through grade level committees. >> got it. Now, is that going to happen in the summer? Let me say a high level thought,
and then you can tell me where it might fit into. I get a lot of feedback. Even me as a dad, with my kids.
the necessity around what was coming out of covid and the ability to retake examinations on however many basis that is.
I know that was critical for my daughter as she was coming out of covid and behind and those types of things.
I hear a lot of feedback from parents, and some from teachers for that matter around,
where does academic rigor and the challenges around being
a first time go in the examination and all these good study habits that come in preparation for something like that,
align itself with the necessity to continue to close the gap?
of course, that is all in your lane. I don't know if that is something that gets worked out in this.
I would just say, I think this board up here,
we're interested in that because of the conversation a lot of our parents are having in our community around that balance,
where we strike that, why we strike it that way. Does that make sense? All in the realm of this,
I don't want to create an extra [inaudible] here. I'm just trying to say, is that in this world here? >> it absolutely lives in this world.
this committee that we discussed in the report is really elementary, but it does expand to k12.
just real quickly around grading, anytime a student fails a test assignment,
it's in legal and local policy, we have to provide a retest opportunity.
of course, we want to. As teachers, we're always teaching for mastery of the standard,
not just a punishment. Well, you didn't do it, or you didn't study, or you weren't prepared.
>> a 100 percent agree with that. >> it's not based on when we think they're ready to master a content area.
then when we reflect on practices in the real world, there's not a single test that's given in the real world that can't be retaken.
think about that. The attorney, taking a bar, if they fail, they can take it again.
we take our driver's license test. I hope you didn't fail, but if you did, you can take it again.
>> you're right. >> there's always going to be an opportunity to retest. In our philosophy with personalized learning,
not every student's going to come ready to take a test and master the content on a tuesday because that's when the test was.
they might take a little bit longer, and we want to personalize that and give them the opportunity to.
I did hear that sometimes, kids, they don't study or they're not prepared.
we don't want to use that as a behavior consequence thing. There's ways that we can see and teachers do report.
if it's an ongoing persistent issue with a student, they're referred for mtss,
they go to tutoring. There's other ways rather than using the grade to discipline them.
I think it's a good practice, even if they don't fail. Because the ultimate goal is you want to continuously learn.
if the student made a 90 and really wants a 95, yes, go learn.
let's go master that content. That's the philosophy. It's been that way for a little bit,
I think even before covid, if I'm not mistaken. But I can get corrected. That's okay.
>> no, that's okay. Certainly, it's just this philosophy on this
has shifted quite a bit since any of us we were in school. >> yes. I forgot to mention one thing, I'm sorry.
assessment is just a form of feedback. We want to make sure whatever that assessment grade is,
is a form of feedback to informing the instructor, but also informing the student about what's left.
what didn't you master that maybe we need to go back and revisit? Because ultimately we want everybody to be well equipped to go onto
that next content or that next grade level or that next chapter in their lives after high school.
>> I'll only interject on this because at the time when I was in medical school,
my medical school was piloting essentially a no grading system,
or basically a pass or weight system. I just want to give what you're describing a mastery.
you want people who graduated medical school to have learned the material. You don't want people to get an f and just that f sits.
it's a little different perspective that I like this conversation a lot.
honestly, this owes itself into a discussion meeting because
this is a very interesting conversation happening in the community right now, and I can really understand a lot of depth to this.
but this idea of actually just learning the material,
I think it is an important thing to interject. Thank you for clarifying and offering all of that, too.
yes, every [inaudible] you take, like medical licensing, everything, you can retake it.
>> maybe that's a good next step as we go in, just so this board fully understands.
>> sure. >> especially as the officer are knew to this, and it's a lot different than we grew up in.
I've personally seen the benefits of this so let me just share it. I'm certainly not here to go,
yes, this isn't working. Hold the phone, that is not the case. But there are concerns in our community,
and with parents going, we're making this too easy on them.
as a board, I think we owe it to our community to make sure, hey, we're not, and here's all the benefits to that and here's why we do this.
I'd just like to learn more, maybe a discussion meeting will be appropriate setting for that. With that, I'll yield back. Thank you.
>> absolutely. >> we've got lots of discussion meetings. We got branding, we got grading.
all right. I saw trisha next. >> I wanted to echo the ai?
I'm super excited about that, and I'm really glad that the l&I team is partnering with technology.
that's been at taz b conferences several times,
and it's an interesting conversation and I'm excited just to see how it flows.
I do have a question about this talk we're testing in the community.
there's a lot of pushback and kids are missing school because they don't want to be tested.
do we know how many kids are staying home on test day?
>> yes, we have reports that we can run.
I think there's an opportunity and I'll look in.
dr. Whitman, if I'm wrong, you can wave your hand. But there is a makeup period,
but it can extend the test now the way the state allows us to do a two-week window or as before it was one day snapshot with one day makeup.
that two-week window, do we decide on one day for makeup pretty much?
>> [inaudible].
>> rhonda, it doesn't end up in the audio, otherwise. Sorry.
>> I just say, there's just been a lot of conversation about parents that are intentionally keeping their kids home,
and that is, they're prerogative, for sure. I just wanted to know if we knew how many kids we were losing.
>> we don't have a large number. Gosh, I'm going to say in the district,
we're probably, I'm just going to guess. Just from last week,
we're probably less than 20 kids. But the way this works now is there's really not an opt out.
however, the state is allowing schools,
their administrators on campus testing coordinators to actually go
in and mark those students test as scored.
if they stay home that first day and they come back the next day,
and the parent has already said, they keep saying there's not an opt out, but basically,
that's what it is, and people understand that word. What they can do is they just tell the administrator,
we don't want them to test. The campus testing coordinator goes in, scores the test.
it still gets graded. They don't even have to put them in front of a computer or give them a paper test.
they just don't do that. What we run into is we're not providing
an alternative location in the school for those students to hang out.
but we don't have the personnel for one thing. Then what you're doing is that they're not getting
any instruction if they're here and just sitting in a room because our teachers are testing.
because like at the elementary school, we're doing all three grade levels.
we're not making a big deal about it. We just say, thank you for letting us know, they get scored.
the campus testing coordinator or the principal will call those parents and say,
I want to make sure you understand that it will be scored. Your student will get a non passing score.
they will have to participate or you will be contacted for the accelerated instruction,
which they can then opt out of. There's a process.
then we just reiterate the importance of being there.
it is an unexcused absence. Usually, they're just staying home one day,
they're coming back to school, and then it's taken care of.
our makeups, depending on the circumstances
is typically that first two or three days after.
unless we know that somebody's got the flu or something,
and they're going to need to take it next week. >> that was my next question.
parents say that they oppose the exam, where are the kids staying. You're saying that we don't really have a place for them if they opted out.
they're just hanging out with the test in front of them? >> no. They don't even have to have the test in front of them.
if they come to school, they sit in the classroom with the students and read a book or whatever.
but we also reiterate to the parents, that's awkward for a student to be sitting in the classroom.
but we just do not have alternative locations. There's not that many students.
but when you're trying to do the logistics of the testing,
and then you're having to provide an alternative location for a student that their parents have decided not to.
we may get to a point that we have to look at that, but the state has now allowed us an opportunity to just score the test.
they never even have to see a device or a paper test or whatever.
they don't even have to come close as long as we've got documentation to support why they're not doing it.
>> I can get you some numbers, hard numbers. >> we can get numbers. >> I'm interested in that because it's interesting to me when this comes up,
how many parents come to me or I hear
about that they just don't like the test and they don't want their kids to take it.
my kids have always taken it and it's just an interesting subject, I think.
but I'm glad to hear that at least they
don't have to take it if they come because it's good for them,
unfortunately, to just hang out. >> well, in its logistically trying to keep up
with those students from a campus standpoint of who's absent and who was opting out and who is this and that for a week or two.
after now, we're in a two week period for each subject.
by this friday, anything related to reading language arts is over.
then science and social studies started up this week and they have a two week window,
and math will start and have a two week window. It's still not just drawn out for weeks on end.
I think we have a pretty good system, and I think parents feel comfortable talking to the administrators,
and that's just a personal preference. But they're not being gone for long periods of time because before,
as many days as they came, whatever day they came back,
you had to go find them and give them that test. They could stay home four days,
on the fifth day they had to take that test and we don't have to do that anymore.
>> thank you so much. >> before you sit down,
I had a quick question for you. Does that count against us?
>> it does count against us in our accountability.
but like I said, fortunately, we don't. I'll get the numbers before next week.
I'll find out how many. But in just talking, we're probably talking two or three kids that I am aware of.
at the end, we usually count because we need to know, but right now, I haven't heard of a lot of parents that are doing that.
typically, they started in third grade.
we know who those parents are and those students, so we already anticipate that.
the other thing that we do tell them is this is going to be important when they get to high school.
just keep in mind that they're going to have to take eocs.
if they wait till high school to take one of these exams,
it might be more problematic for them than if they had just gone up through.
I'll get you the numbers on that. >> I just wanted to echo in support for the idea of whether it's
a workshop or it's the equivalent of taxpayer tuesday but for doctor kids area,
testing tuesday to make sure that we all understand the why behind our policies.
I'm reading a book. It's actually an audio book right now called, why we remember.
it's about brain research. It's not about education, but there was a section.
it was just fascinating to me because the contention of this researcher is that
students do learn better when they go through the pain of trying to remember,
see if it's up there somewhere. It was counter intuitive to,
I think what we would all have assumed that the best method is you study and you memorize and you study,
and then you finally take the test, and it was the opposite. It was better to actually take a test,
go through that process, and you're more aware of what you don't know,
and you're more likely to learn it and internalize it, and I think that's a very important discussion,
and it dovetails with our emphasis on map testing.
I'm all in favor of a workshop sooner rather than later.
>> perfect. Heard loud and clear. Olivia.
>> I'll be really quick, but I want to echo that because I think it's important that you hear the will of the board.
the ideal in the community is that a kid can just take a test and fail and get to do it again.
I shared with some parents previously, I said, it's like an 80,20.
if you make an 80 and you move on, you're going to continue down those lessons never having gotten that 20%.
we're stopping, we're intervening, and we're making sure. Like that analogy for medical school I think was the best.
but I echo what mary jane is saying. I think that if we better understand
the specific policy as it relates to elementary and high school, and I know you've done a great job in the reports.
but also, I think this is a really important subject matter that I would like to be more articulate about,
but also have these conversations with the community.
this is better preparing our kids. We're bridging that gap. We're taking that sea you were stopping.
we're making sure that they learn the material before they go further.
perfect example of sometimes perception and reality,
but stopping to hear what the perception is so that we can better understand and educate the reality.
>> I love that, and thank you for bringing that. I would talk about this forever.
let us know when that workshop is, and we will be ready. >> good. I'm looking forward to it.
finance. We got a lot of update recently at our workshop.
what else do you got for us tonight? >> it'll be pretty boring tonight.
this is just, there's updated information just on the monthly status or this year's status.
this isn't about '24, '25. We continue to see an increase in tax collections.
we're still continuing to be about a month behind, but we've collected a lot more this last month,
so we're getting close to our target. Then, of course, you have the budget to actual so we continue to fine tune
that and look for the savings and project the savings we're going to see in different areas.
I expect in the next month, this will tighten up some more and we'll see how we end the year.
>> any questions? Thank you. Operations?
>> nothing special to point out. >> hr?
>> we're super excited to be honoring our teachers of the year next week. >> I'm sorry. Trisha, do you have a question on the bond reports?
>> just one quick one. Do we have any updates or movement on the 18 plus facility?
>> no movement. >> no changes for you. >> hr?
>> again, we're just really excited to honor our teachers of the year next week and recognize them for being identified as their campus,
and then also be able to select and present to everyone our elementary and secondary teachers of the year.
>> reception before hand, you want to talk a little bit about that? >> yes, absolutely.
you should have gotten an invitation, but I'll double check on them. But yes, our reception will be in the live training room before the board meeting,
and we'll have our teachers of the year and their families and their campus staff there.
then obviously everyone here is invited to attend. >> awesome. Superintendent report?
>> fun item in there. We have our speech and debate students going
to the national championship this summer is when it'll happen.
they're planning for about 10 students to compete there. It'll be in iowa.
>> lovely. >> maybe better rather than texas. Trisha.
>> I just had a question about the retainer. Is that not incorporated in the other line items in the lawyer legal fees?
I feel like it's like the pubble it up again.
>> yeah. So retainer, that's just the flat fee we pay?
>> it's just a flat fee. It doesn't go into any other line items?
>> no. >> so it's just on the top? Yes. That's it. That's all I have.
>> our policy report is our first reading.
>> so we have conducted a policy review with tasb.
we have a whole list of policies that we've gone through with them either aligning to the tasb policy because
our local decisions were not necessary or changing policy to add local decisions where we felt like looking at the policy,
we wanted to clarify what we are actually doing in practice. Whole administrative team was a part of that.
we'll bring it back for another cycle. We are rereading the policy updates as well.
we've just gotten them back from tasb based on our conversation. We're also re reading.
while y'all are reading, we'll be reading to make sure that they are what we were anticipating,
and we'll bring them back next month again to look at with y'all. If we have any changes in between,
then I'll be sure to let you know, but for right now, it's a first reading.
yeah, I didn't see a whole lot alarming changes.
do you have any highlights on some specific things that you pulled?
a lot of it was just sort of redundancies that I saw. >> we went through so much. We're looking at
almost every policy for practice and looking at the things that are local.
I'll try and go back and think about what it was that might, if there's anything interesting to highlight for all.
>> yeah, when we get some of these, especially on a first reading, I know the tendency of the board is just to ignore it.
then second reading comes up and they're like, oh, we need more time and then we end up doing third, fourth reading.
I think it may help us in the future, when we getting these first readings to give us maybe a high level of just,
we changed the redundancies of language this particular policy was completely outdated.
'cause if it's all just small things, almost cause a lot of these are.
when I say small things, I mean, just like, a word and typos and aligning them to be similar.
but if there are some bigger things that we need
to pull out just to maybe have a separate sheet for us,
almost like a coding guide. >> sure. We can do that. The policy review really is a lot of those small adjustments.
it is the aligning to their policy. A lot of times it is just taking out words and rearranging and making
that alignment just for tightened language based upon their attorney recommendations,
and then us making sure that we've gone through and read it together as a team and discussed it and said,
this is what we do in practice, and so that it aligns to our practices as well.
and so that's really the process that we're going through. But yes, I'll go back through it and see if we can come up
with just a quick brief for you all to just help. >> yeah, and we're not voting on it this month,
but I think if we can have a little bit of runway and maybe as a board,
we can do a better job of actually reading them on first reading.
and speaking for myself, too, but I know that that's just our natural inclination, so trisha.
>> I did have so with the methods of voting section.
there's been a lot of chatter. >> tell me which policy are you on?
>> that is. I did not write that down. Give me one second.
>> is the top of one. [noise]. >> yeah. It's like one of the first ones. I just wrote it.
yeah. That's the first page. Bbb local.
>> yes, bbb local. >> instead of the candidates receiving the highest number of votes for
the number of seats with expiring terms shall be elected.
there's been a lot of discussion in the community with us having place seats.
is that something that the school board decides, or is that something that we would put out for a vote?
>> it would be a policy we would decide. >> I would be would be a policy. >> that would be something the school board would decide.
that wouldn't be something that you would typically see us change in a policy review, like what you see here is change 2023-2032 adding in the next election cycle.
>> okay. >> well, we're going to bring you in a policy review is very routine. If all wanted to make that change to policy,
those big policy changes, we would bring it as an individual policy for you all to discuss,
and then you all would vote on that and make a change to the policy. That would be a separate process.
>> okay. >> [overlapping] policy, which is high level. >> I would like to request that be a discussion in the future.
>> that probably is another meeting.
>> just so you know, though. That's not something that can be done in house.
we would have to bring in legal counsel because we looked into it a few years ago.
for one thing, you can never go back, which is a crazy quirk in the law.
you can never go back to at large. But anyway, I've watched board meetings from
districts across the state that have had that discussion, and there are so many considerations that they often decide to press pause.
going to need a little more runway, I think with that. >> yeah, I definitely want it to be a discussion,
and I want to learn more about it. I don't know all the ins and outs of all the things, so I think it would be a really great discussion for our board to have, for sure.
>> right. Next week,
I will read my very long script about our continuing education.
>> [inaudible] >> go us. The board will now convene in a closed meeting to discuss
the following items posted on our agenda this evening as allowed by texas government code, section 551.071,
551.072, 551.074, 551.076,
551.082, 551.0821, 551.089 and 551.129.
no voting will take place in the closed meeting. Any action the board wishes to take as a result of discussion in
closed session will take place after the board reconvenes in the open meeting. The board will reconvene in open session at the conclusion of the closed meeting.
we are back in open session at 7:49 with no action to take this evening.
we stand adjourned at 7:49 pm. Thank you.