1 00:00:08,340 --> 00:00:13,640 Good afternoon, everyone. It's 3.30. Thank you for joining. I hope you had a productive day. 2 00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:37,520 All right, so let's jump into the mid-year budget review. The first thing I want to recognize is this idea of the vision, the mission, the values, and how it relates to the budget. You know, when we build a budget, the most important thing we need to do in every department, every campus, is ensure that the budget is a quantification of our vision, period. 3 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:43,820 So when we measure the purchases that we make, the investments that we make like today does 4 00:00:43,820 --> 00:00:48,600 it align to our vision, our mission, our values. That's something I want everyone to really 5 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:53,100 keep top of mind. It's the antithesis to roll over budget. We just kind of roll it over, roll it over. 6 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,500 We have to think about what are we spending today that's moving and advancing the district forward. 7 00:00:57,940 --> 00:01:02,080 So just philosophically, that's the way we're going to do business. We've been doing business that way 8 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,640 and we'll show some examples in just a moment. And even when you do that, that doesn't mean you don't 9 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:14,220 have challenges, right? So I want to talk about the challenges in just a second, but I want 10 00:01:14,220 --> 00:01:21,260 to emphasize again, the budget has to align to the strategic plan. So today we had a, I hope, 11 00:01:21,260 --> 00:01:25,820 a productive day of learning and professional learning and professional development, building 12 00:01:25,820 --> 00:01:30,320 capacity, whatever we want to call it, we made an investment today. Robert Stelves here. There was 13 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:36,040 a number of folks training today. I think we had the service center one here today and two curious, 14 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:37,220 Yes, how did it go today? 15 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:39,260 What did you experience today? 16 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:40,260 Was it good, bad? 17 00:01:40,460 --> 00:01:41,660 And again, there are no titles here. 18 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:42,360 Let's just be honest. 19 00:01:42,700 --> 00:01:44,920 How was your day of learning? 20 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:46,820 Because it aligns to the investment 21 00:01:46,820 --> 00:01:48,980 in our strategic plan and our budget ultimately. 22 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:50,220 How did it go? 23 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:50,660 Anybody? 24 00:01:54,370 --> 00:01:57,070 Everybody had just a great day today. 25 00:01:58,550 --> 00:01:59,670 And what was the take? 26 00:01:59,810 --> 00:02:02,230 What is something that you saw or experienced today 27 00:02:02,230 --> 00:02:04,010 that you want to highlight? 28 00:02:07,710 --> 00:02:09,490 Did anybody want to jump on the mic and do that? 29 00:02:10,230 --> 00:02:14,950 Dr. Poole, go ahead, Mr. Poole, part. 30 00:02:16,510 --> 00:02:22,230 Over at Hattie Martin, we had a presentation on Tier 1 instruction. 31 00:02:22,230 --> 00:02:24,390 It was focused on special education. 32 00:02:26,570 --> 00:02:31,710 And our presenter put a word to something that we all do, it's called adaptations. 33 00:02:32,670 --> 00:02:37,890 She said we have adaptations and accommodations and modifications are all types of adaptations 34 00:02:37,890 --> 00:02:41,690 that we do in the classroom, and she broke it down for us. 35 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:43,590 We looked at lead forward. 36 00:02:44,430 --> 00:02:45,750 There was just a lot of great information 37 00:02:45,750 --> 00:02:46,810 that was presented today. 38 00:02:47,890 --> 00:02:48,030 Wow. 39 00:02:48,770 --> 00:02:49,510 Thank you, Mr. Propart. 40 00:02:50,310 --> 00:02:51,830 And like Mr. Propart said, you know, 41 00:02:51,890 --> 00:02:53,090 it really ties into this stuff here, 42 00:02:53,230 --> 00:02:54,310 tier one instruction today, 43 00:02:55,010 --> 00:02:57,570 where we're making very strategic investments 44 00:02:57,570 --> 00:03:00,430 to make this a district that everyone 45 00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:03,330 is really, really invested in and proud of. 46 00:03:03,430 --> 00:03:04,170 So that's a great example. 47 00:03:04,310 --> 00:03:04,970 Thank you, Mr. Propart. 48 00:03:05,110 --> 00:03:05,630 Anyone else? 49 00:03:07,450 --> 00:03:21,010 I just saw some great learning and action in Dr. Siviala's classroom this morning. They were having a great learning moment with the person who was in there from the service center. 50 00:03:21,010 --> 00:03:34,410 I'm not sure of her name, but I can definitely see that activity being presented to the students moving and just them being interactive in their classroom just to this hand on learning. 51 00:03:34,410 --> 00:03:36,570 and that was exciting. 52 00:03:36,890 --> 00:03:39,150 Awesome. Thank you, Miss Alejandro. 53 00:03:39,630 --> 00:03:41,450 Anyone else today? How was your day? 54 00:03:41,810 --> 00:03:43,430 Hey, look, tonight my wife's gonna ask me 55 00:03:43,430 --> 00:03:44,650 not how my day was. 56 00:03:45,690 --> 00:03:47,890 My wife will ask me what was the best part of my day 57 00:03:47,890 --> 00:03:49,830 because we deal with challenges all day 58 00:03:49,830 --> 00:03:52,090 and she will not let me discuss anything negative 59 00:03:52,090 --> 00:03:53,670 till I tell her the best part of my day. 60 00:03:53,890 --> 00:03:55,410 So best part of your day. 61 00:03:55,550 --> 00:03:57,710 Miss Silva's you were gushing today 62 00:03:57,710 --> 00:04:00,950 about what you saw in IOT and Robert Stell. 63 00:04:01,010 --> 00:04:01,750 You want to share just a bit? 64 00:04:01,750 --> 00:04:10,310 Yes, sir. It was a great opportunity to see our IOT teams all together in one room. 65 00:04:10,490 --> 00:04:18,090 The room was full of expertise, leadership and power. It's amazing. Our IOT teams at 66 00:04:18,090 --> 00:04:26,110 every campus. The change that they're helping make in our district is amazing and kudos 67 00:04:26,110 --> 00:04:28,950 to all the IOT teams that I witnessed this morning. 68 00:04:30,170 --> 00:04:32,530 Thank you, Mr. Silva. I love what she said. 69 00:04:32,750 --> 00:04:39,190 The room was filled with expertise, leadership and power. 70 00:04:39,570 --> 00:04:41,310 Thank you, ma'am. I didn't say better myself. 71 00:04:41,770 --> 00:04:47,070 Okay, so let's jump into a little bit about the budget and where we're going, 72 00:04:47,430 --> 00:04:50,010 and where we are, and why we're talking about this. 73 00:04:51,170 --> 00:04:54,990 We're talking about our business office, but we're also talking about every single 74 00:04:54,990 --> 00:04:58,290 campus and every single department, every single unit, 75 00:04:58,290 --> 00:05:04,250 But every one of us is a manager of the budget, a visionary of the budget really essentially. 76 00:05:04,910 --> 00:05:07,710 And I want to give kudos to our business office specifically. 77 00:05:08,490 --> 00:05:14,530 They are doing an extraordinary job as evidenced by the superior rating we just received from 78 00:05:14,530 --> 00:05:21,210 the financial integrity rating system of Texas, great job business office, Mrs. Cisneros, Norma 79 00:05:21,210 --> 00:05:30,110 Ken Tenea, and Maria Flores, Vanessa Cano, Mary Alice, Hopi, the team does an extraordinary 80 00:05:30,110 --> 00:05:30,470 job. 81 00:05:30,870 --> 00:05:33,970 The second part of that, we just had an amazing audit, very stellar audit. 82 00:05:34,150 --> 00:05:40,190 So all of our business practices are right on point, according to external auditors. 83 00:05:40,350 --> 00:05:41,510 And that's wonderful, right? 84 00:05:41,890 --> 00:05:43,530 That doesn't mean we're not going to have challenges. 85 00:05:43,950 --> 00:05:50,510 So what I want to make sure that we address today is this concept called Bluff. 86 00:05:51,410 --> 00:05:54,250 Bluff is an acronym for bottom line up front. 87 00:05:54,510 --> 00:05:56,150 I love to give the bottom line up front. 88 00:05:56,330 --> 00:05:57,470 So here's the bottom line up front. 89 00:05:57,830 --> 00:06:00,410 In spite of all the great things we have going on, there are still challenges. 90 00:06:00,890 --> 00:06:03,670 One of the big challenges we have is this deficit budget. 91 00:06:03,770 --> 00:06:04,490 That's the current reality. 92 00:06:04,710 --> 00:06:05,870 I want to give you the bottom line up front. 93 00:06:06,670 --> 00:06:11,650 I want to make sure we understand how we got to this deficit situation though. 94 00:06:11,650 --> 00:06:20,350 Okay? We didn't plan on it. We proposed a balanced budget, but remember, and we'll talk 95 00:06:20,350 --> 00:06:26,750 about it in just a moment, a balanced budget is dependent on a lot of variables coming 96 00:06:26,750 --> 00:06:32,390 into play. A lot of variables coming into play in the right way. And we'll talk about those 97 00:06:32,390 --> 00:06:37,770 variables in just a moment. Okay? So just ripped the bandaid off $1.9 million deficit right 98 00:06:37,770 --> 00:06:44,230 now projected out. But here's the thing. The sky is not falling. We have to stay optimistic. 99 00:06:45,190 --> 00:06:50,770 We have a solution alongside you and we're going to get through this together. So it's 100 00:06:50,770 --> 00:06:54,770 sky is not falling. Might be a little cloudy, but it's definitely not falling. But we're going to be 101 00:06:54,770 --> 00:06:59,430 okay, right? So let's go through a couple of other related items here. 102 00:07:05,270 --> 00:07:06,270 I want you to understand 103 00:07:06,270 --> 00:07:12,110 where the funding comes from. And again, this is going to be a very simplified budget, school, 104 00:07:12,110 --> 00:07:18,330 finance conversation. And you can chime in in the chat at any moment. You have a question 105 00:07:18,330 --> 00:07:22,990 at any moment you chime in. If something is not clear, there are no ridiculous questions 106 00:07:22,990 --> 00:07:26,090 here. I want you to understand as much as you can about this. 107 00:07:26,790 --> 00:07:36,770 This is a breakdown of our revenue. And you can see we get about $11 million from our 108 00:07:36,770 --> 00:07:44,230 local tax base right here, about $11 million, okay? Right here. We get another 109 00:07:44,230 --> 00:07:46,010 $23 million from the state. 110 00:07:51,660 --> 00:07:55,240 A smaller portion from the Fed, it's a very small 111 00:07:55,240 --> 00:08:01,120 portion, right? So if you do the math, you can see approximately the state funding 112 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:06,000 is, you know, three quarters of the budget, local funding is 20% and federal funds 113 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,480 about 5% roughly speaking there. Mrs. Seesnetto, I think she's on the call, 114 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:12,860 Did you want to chime in on any of that? 115 00:08:13,060 --> 00:08:13,960 Are my numbers accurate? 116 00:08:14,540 --> 00:08:16,820 I hope so because I pulled them from your presentation. 117 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:20,120 That was a joke. 118 00:08:20,460 --> 00:08:21,380 Good, Sam, you're good. 119 00:08:22,460 --> 00:08:24,500 Okay, all right, good. 120 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,960 So that's just a real brief breakdown of the revenue. 121 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:33,140 That's where we get, now the challenge comes 122 00:08:33,140 --> 00:08:36,960 and I want you to listen carefully, good people, friends. 123 00:08:37,860 --> 00:08:41,600 Whenever we have a change in some of those variables, 124 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:47,240 IE enrollment and attendance, this piece right here changes dramatically. 125 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,280 We rely on that piece right there, okay? 126 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,540 Here's what I want you to learn real quick. 127 00:08:52,700 --> 00:08:56,240 There are two parts of the budget, two parts, okay? 128 00:08:56,980 --> 00:08:58,560 The first part is 129 00:09:02,980 --> 00:09:06,100 the maintenance and operation side, okay? 130 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:06,600 Two parts. 131 00:09:07,540 --> 00:09:11,100 That takes care of our salaries, our supplies. 132 00:09:11,100 --> 00:09:17,580 It pays the utility bills, transportation, school travel. 133 00:09:18,620 --> 00:09:20,140 When we have to do a repair. 134 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:21,560 Now here's the part I want to emphasize. 135 00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:29,080 When we do a repair, whenever the M&O repairs exceed what the district is capable of doing, for example, 136 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,160 we have some repairs we've done to our school turf. 137 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,360 Back in, we replace the school turf and three fields. 138 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,280 The baseball field, softball field, football field, we replace the turf. 139 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:47,240 back in 2019, 2020, somewhere around there, that debt that loan was added to the M&O side. 140 00:09:47,340 --> 00:09:47,980 Does that make sense? 141 00:09:48,340 --> 00:09:49,860 Does it add to the M&O for repairs? 142 00:09:50,340 --> 00:09:56,080 The same thing with HVAC projects and retro lighting projects, roofing projects. 143 00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:59,200 Those things can be added to the M&O. 144 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,000 But when you do that, you make a trade-off. 145 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:02,420 You make a trade-off. 146 00:10:02,540 --> 00:10:04,460 Okay, we know we're going to pay for this from M&O. 147 00:10:04,460 --> 00:10:09,280 you know, however, you know, we know that that investment will be paid off 148 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,500 for whatever it is 10, 12 years, and then we'll have that M&O, you know, 149 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,040 freed up for whatever, right? 150 00:10:14,700 --> 00:10:18,020 But there's the other side of it, and I want you to listen carefully here. 151 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:25,560 There's the interest in seeking side as we call the debt side. 152 00:10:25,860 --> 00:10:31,620 And the interest in seeking pays the debt for bond elections that happened 15 153 00:10:31,620 --> 00:10:33,620 years ago, 20 years ago. 154 00:10:33,620 --> 00:10:39,020 So there's probably $40 million or $38 million of principal at the district is still paying 155 00:10:39,020 --> 00:10:41,560 with that INS debt. 156 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,540 Now here's an important point. 157 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:51,340 This M&O side has a what they call a fund balance. 158 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,620 I'm going to use a terrible term that I don't like but I'm going to use it to keep things 159 00:10:55,620 --> 00:10:56,020 simple. 160 00:10:56,620 --> 00:11:07,300 It's sometimes referred to as a rainy day fund, and we have about $4.4 million in that 161 00:11:07,300 --> 00:11:08,260 rainy day fund, okay? 162 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:16,160 This INS over here also has a fund balance, and it has about $2.5 million in it, okay? 163 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:21,920 So you have two separate parts of the budget. 164 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:28,520 However, what you have to really understand, if you're going to have a strategy to get 165 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,700 out of this situation we're in, 166 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:40,480 is that this INS fund balance over here can never be 167 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,380 used to pay for anything on the M&O side, does that make sense? 168 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:49,960 They can't cross, like INS fund balance, you can't use that $2.5 million over here to 169 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:56,960 to pay for, you know, a roof on the MNO side or a debt on the MNO side, your turf, because 170 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:02,520 it's on the MNO side. Does that make sense? Everybody with me. I'm explaining very, very 171 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:05,420 simple here. Let me check in with my team over here. 172 00:12:09,860 --> 00:12:12,380 Any questions in the chat? Anything, 173 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:18,300 no questions. I feel like some people are gone. You know what I mean by gone? That's an 174 00:12:18,300 --> 00:12:24,740 acronym. Know what that means? Glazed over, not engaged, gone. Glazed over, not engaged. 175 00:12:25,780 --> 00:12:31,480 That's a joke, okay. I'm doing a great job. I'm performing tonight, somewhere here in 176 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,440 Rob's side, I don't know where. Okay, here we go. All right, so we got that part down now. 177 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:46,500 M&O and INS do not mix, right? Let's go on to a few more components here. Okay, here's the 178 00:12:46,500 --> 00:12:49,340 The other challenge we have, I mentioned the M&O debt, right? 179 00:12:49,660 --> 00:12:53,140 And there's term and H back and roofing and all that sort of stuff. 180 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:55,980 That's about $9 million in the M&O debt. 181 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:01,580 And remember, I said on the INS side, there's $38 million of past bond elections, right? 182 00:13:02,180 --> 00:13:04,960 But here's the point that I want to make clear. 183 00:13:06,260 --> 00:13:10,880 Your big takeaway from this slide, every slide should have a takeaway, is this. 184 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:19,200 Yes, this is the $1 million a year that we are budgeting every year, even in a balanced 185 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:25,700 budget year, we include the $1 million debt payment on the M&O sign and still balance 186 00:13:25,700 --> 00:13:35,020 the budget, provided all those variables, attendance, tax rate, property values, all those things 187 00:13:35,020 --> 00:13:35,640 line up. 188 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,060 Hey, we're good, right? 189 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:43,260 When something goes awry, danger will robinson. We got to do something, okay? 190 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:50,160 All right, so what do we do? Let me pause there. Everybody tracking with me a little bit. 191 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,220 Okay, let me look at some faces online here, and I'll tell you you really are not. 192 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,080 Oh God, Monty Selleppinger is smiling like she's like, oh my God, what is going on here? 193 00:14:00,100 --> 00:14:03,220 I just care about 21st century. I don't care about this. Look, get that thing going. 194 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:04,800 All right. 195 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:05,660 We have a question. 196 00:14:05,980 --> 00:14:06,760 Who's it coming from? 197 00:14:06,940 --> 00:14:07,860 Dr. Survials. 198 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,220 Dr. Survials, reveal yourself. 199 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:10,100 I can't see you. 200 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:12,740 How much longer to cave in the middle? 201 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:13,280 Okay. 202 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:14,340 Good question. 203 00:14:15,260 --> 00:14:16,460 Dr. Survials asked a question. 204 00:14:16,580 --> 00:14:17,880 How much longer to pay the M&O? 205 00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:18,500 Great question. 206 00:14:18,700 --> 00:14:22,440 So, we have three years left on one of the notes. 207 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:23,400 It's a great question. 208 00:14:23,580 --> 00:14:26,740 And those notes pertain to the fund balance. 209 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,560 I'm sorry, the turf on the field. 210 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:40,180 and then we have another four years on the money that goes back to the, there was a retro lighting 211 00:14:40,180 --> 00:14:48,600 project back in 2012, 2013, that was approved, so not very many years left on those two, right? But 212 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:54,140 they're still eating up that $1 million of your payments, that makes sense. But the good thing is we can 213 00:14:54,140 --> 00:14:57,960 save on some of that interest here in just a minute. Great question, Dr. Savas, I'm going to hand over 214 00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:59,960 the health hosting duties to you just as 215 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:28,380 Okay, thank you. All right. So, let's continue. All right, because this was only supposed to go to four o'clock. Do you have any board members on the call? I hope so. Anybody here, reveal yourself. I can't see you. Yes, I'm here. Dr. Puig, you bit. Hi, Mr. Villalbus. Okay, good. Miss Villalbus has heard some of this. And so I've all the trustees who've been talking about these for a few months. Okay. So just really, really quick. 216 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,520 What are some of those variables, those factors that go into the budget? 217 00:15:32,980 --> 00:15:37,200 Again, I think we'll just talk about three of them today. 218 00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:38,660 We don't have a whole lot of time, okay? 219 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:43,740 And having a budget conversation on a Friday afternoon, on a three day weekend, I don't 220 00:15:43,740 --> 00:15:45,220 know if it's the most riveting thing to do. 221 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,720 Mrs. Martha Flotus, but you look really engaged, so I'm glad you're with me, okay? 222 00:15:48,940 --> 00:15:49,300 Here we go. 223 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,580 Let's talk about, you 224 00:15:54,690 --> 00:15:58,790 know, let's just talk about, we're going to talk about property taxes. 225 00:15:59,230 --> 00:16:03,530 We'll talk about enrollment, attendance, and we'll talk about property values, okay? 226 00:16:04,590 --> 00:16:05,610 Let's just do that. 227 00:16:06,690 --> 00:16:09,170 And we'll do it in short order here, but I want you to track. 228 00:16:09,650 --> 00:16:13,030 Ask questions, just like Dr. Savayos did, just jump right in, okay? 229 00:16:14,330 --> 00:16:17,030 Okay, so the tax rate. 230 00:16:18,530 --> 00:16:19,210 What do you notice? 231 00:16:19,970 --> 00:16:21,550 It's going up, down, staying the same. 232 00:16:22,270 --> 00:16:23,070 Do you want to chime in? 233 00:16:24,010 --> 00:16:24,910 It's a group discussion. 234 00:16:25,870 --> 00:16:26,890 Mitchell and Gaudier, what do you notice? 235 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:33,740 It looks like it's going down. 236 00:16:34,300 --> 00:16:34,820 Yeah, it is. 237 00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:37,560 And not only does it look like it, it actually is, right? 238 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,260 And it's gone down significantly. 239 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,460 So you see the trend line is down. 240 00:16:43,620 --> 00:16:44,940 That's a good thing, right? 241 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,040 But let's, let's, again, bottom line up front. 242 00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:49,140 Here's the bottom line though. 243 00:16:49,780 --> 00:16:52,260 Even though they're going down and I'm not complaining, right? 244 00:16:52,340 --> 00:16:55,140 That's a good thing that the tax rate is going down. 245 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:56,820 Very proud of that. 246 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,140 The board has done a great job with that. 247 00:16:59,140 --> 00:17:06,040 the state obviously has said look MNO taxes we want to be reduced that's a good thing but 248 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,660 let's let's see the other side of that too okay and the other side of that is when you look at 249 00:17:11,660 --> 00:17:23,180 property values and so if we look at property values uh what is happening there oh my goodness 250 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:26,060 Christian, Dileon, what's happening there, ma'am? 251 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:29,860 Yeah. 252 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,300 They're going up, sir. 253 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,060 Yeah, they are, yes, ma'am. 254 00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:35,580 And they're going up. 255 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,340 You know, you were describing it like, look at that. 256 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:40,320 I mean, these things are just jumping. 257 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:40,820 Look at that. 258 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:41,680 Jumping. 259 00:17:42,340 --> 00:17:44,180 Now, here's what I want you to understand. 260 00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:45,000 Here's the takeaway. 261 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,200 Even though the property tax goes down, 262 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:51,680 if the values go up, 263 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:53,180 you don't necessarily pay less, right? 264 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:55,520 That's just the way it goes. 265 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,260 I mean, I love to see the values go down and the text, okay, all right? 266 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,540 But that's just, we don't control that. That's a factor we don't control. 267 00:18:02,940 --> 00:18:06,700 Although I do at home and I will protest my taxes and I hope you do the same, okay? 268 00:18:07,300 --> 00:18:11,020 So yes, it's a side note, but it is a variable that we can't control 269 00:18:11,020 --> 00:18:16,220 that impacts the way we collect local revenue. That $11 million that we get, 270 00:18:16,420 --> 00:18:19,720 you know, that's impacted by the, by the, how much we can collect when the values go 271 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,040 up, we collect more. But guess what happens on the state side? 272 00:18:23,220 --> 00:18:27,300 when the values go up the state gives us less. Oh, y'all got it. Oh, y'all got it. 273 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,140 Values go up, state goes, okay. Oh, you got Tesla in your backyard. Okay, you get less. We're 274 00:18:31,140 --> 00:18:37,840 going to pay you less. That's the reality. Okay. So that's just the way school finance works. 275 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,760 All right. So let's jump now to the next slide. If I can, 276 00:18:46,700 --> 00:18:48,820 takes a steady finger and 277 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,000 you raise these check marks here. Here's the good thing. 278 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,180 Pat yourselves on the back, teachers and staff, you're doing an exceptional job with the 279 00:19:00,180 --> 00:19:00,560 attendance. 280 00:19:00,780 --> 00:19:01,300 It's going up. 281 00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:03,160 Have y'all noticed that in your campuses? 282 00:19:04,580 --> 00:19:05,280 You'll notice that? 283 00:19:05,540 --> 00:19:06,900 Now, is it where we want to be yet? 284 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:07,300 No. 285 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:08,580 But is it going up? 286 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,120 Absolutely, it is. 287 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:10,920 It is going up. 288 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:20,060 In fact, so you know, 1% increase, a 1% increase in our attendance for the year is nearly 289 00:19:20,060 --> 00:19:20,940 $300,000. 290 00:19:22,460 --> 00:19:33,920 So do the math. This is a difference of, you know, 1.2 here. Just multiply 1.2 times $250,000. That'll take a much more trending up. Now it'd be nice that we had 2% increase, 3% increase. 291 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:38,720 Now you're talking three quarters of a million dollars, right? Okay. Any questions about that? 292 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:42,640 Me pause here and check with us. 293 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,280 All right. My team tells me to continue. All right. So here we go. 294 00:19:57,530 --> 00:20:03,710 here is the bottom line up front and you take nothing away today take this 295 00:20:03,710 --> 00:20:11,990 he take this away okay the enrollment this is that snapshot every October every 296 00:20:11,990 --> 00:20:17,910 October here it is here it is look how good we increase increase increase we did 297 00:20:17,910 --> 00:20:21,710 not predict this and nor did anyone here on this call predict this 298 00:20:24,620 --> 00:20:26,000 there is the 299 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,560 $1.9 million right there, 300 00:20:30,570 --> 00:20:31,770 does that make sense? 301 00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:36,130 So the attendance and the enrollment is critical. 302 00:20:36,370 --> 00:20:37,630 All of us are marketers. 303 00:20:37,850 --> 00:20:45,010 We have to sell the fact that we have an amazing choir program, a Mr. Part, and Michelle 304 00:20:45,010 --> 00:20:45,650 Desmond, right? 305 00:20:46,010 --> 00:20:52,410 We have to create an experience and sell the fact that we have a STEM elementary. 306 00:20:52,590 --> 00:20:53,970 We have a fine arts elementary. 307 00:20:54,170 --> 00:20:56,590 We have a leadership academy. 308 00:20:56,590 --> 00:21:00,430 We have all these great things and not to mention all the CTE programming, right? 309 00:21:01,070 --> 00:21:05,410 So these are opportunities right now for us to really sell what's happening here, because 310 00:21:05,410 --> 00:21:10,670 we've got to stand the tide of this, okay, pause, thoughts, wondering about that. 311 00:21:11,150 --> 00:21:12,190 Was anyone aware of this? 312 00:21:12,350 --> 00:21:13,190 Not aware of this? 313 00:21:14,210 --> 00:21:14,650 Curious? 314 00:21:18,700 --> 00:21:19,000 Anybody? 315 00:21:19,860 --> 00:21:21,960 Everyone knew that we had dropped 126 kids? 316 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:41,700 I know that you had mentioned it, sir, to us about the enrollment, you know, that some have gone to a private sector, some have gone to the homeschooling, you know, so I know that that was, you know, mentioned to us as the board, you know, so and we were kind of aware of that. 317 00:21:41,700 --> 00:21:47,660 But now my question is how do we go about on getting these kids back, especially the ones 318 00:21:47,660 --> 00:21:52,440 that are the homeschooling ones, maybe, you know, to kind of find out, is there a way 319 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:59,080 that we can find out why they went to homeschooling or was there anything kind of thrown out there, 320 00:21:59,300 --> 00:22:03,420 you know, I mean, when they withdrew because I know it could be some, you know, bullying 321 00:22:03,420 --> 00:22:09,040 or they didn't feel safe or I mean, I don't know, you know, is there something that we could 322 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:17,240 correct and reassure them that we can you know provide the safety you know for 323 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:23,640 their student and that public school you know our public sector is the best you 324 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:28,140 know choice that it's beneficial for the kids I'm just kind of like 325 00:22:28,140 --> 00:22:33,300 uncomfortable with just leaving it like oh they just withdrew and they're doing 326 00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:38,980 homeschooling now yeah yeah and I don't think anyone's leaving 327 00:22:38,980 --> 00:22:40,260 even at just like, oh, they're gone. 328 00:22:40,380 --> 00:22:41,100 Oh, too bad. 329 00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:41,800 So it's had for us. 330 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:42,760 I don't think that at all. 331 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,160 We do have to do, we do have to do a little digging 332 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,580 and do a little additional marketing around 333 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:51,780 selling the experience here. 334 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:53,840 There are too many good classrooms. 335 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,240 I've been in that the experience is exceptional. 336 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:57,460 But we have to sell that now. 337 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:58,780 Schools are a business now. 338 00:22:59,140 --> 00:22:59,800 Parents have choices. 339 00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:02,080 Just like, I don't tell a restaurant why I don't go anymore. 340 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:02,720 I just quit going. 341 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:05,340 I don't tell a vendor why I quit using them. 342 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:07,320 I just quit using them because there's something 343 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,060 I'm not getting. 344 00:23:08,060 --> 00:23:11,480 So part of it is the experience, we have to make sure that they're getting, right? 345 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,980 Okay, we've got about 300 seconds, I'm going to zip this last bit here, okay? 346 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:20,440 All right, so I'm not going to cover all of that right now or that, let's jump to this part. 347 00:23:20,580 --> 00:23:26,260 Part of the solution that the school board and myself and some others have talked about is this, 348 00:23:27,060 --> 00:23:36,490 part of the solution is this idea of using, really using the INS fund balance, 349 00:23:36,490 --> 00:23:41,350 that $2.5 million to pay off some of this M&O. But remember, you can't do that, right? 350 00:23:42,810 --> 00:23:51,110 Do you remember that? But what you can do, what you can do, is transfer that debt over 351 00:23:52,890 --> 00:23:58,010 with voter approval. You can move it over, but the key thing I want to emphasize here is, 352 00:23:58,770 --> 00:24:04,510 when you move it over, you're not increasing the taxes, right? No, you're just saying, 353 00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:09,290 And, okay, let's move that repair debt in this bucket over here. 354 00:24:10,990 --> 00:24:13,650 And what is that going to free up another million dollars, right? 355 00:24:13,750 --> 00:24:15,390 So that's part of the solution. 356 00:24:16,330 --> 00:24:21,430 It doesn't raise any taxes, it just moves from one bucket to the other, so you can actually 357 00:24:21,430 --> 00:24:23,450 use the fund balance in this bucket over here. 358 00:24:23,910 --> 00:24:25,870 So that's something that we are exploring. 359 00:24:26,430 --> 00:24:31,490 Now, the other things that we have to explore, and it goes alongside with Ms. V. 360 00:24:31,490 --> 00:24:35,650 level said a moment ago. And let me clear this off here. 361 00:24:37,770 --> 00:24:39,530 I need to get better at using this eraser, 362 00:24:39,890 --> 00:24:46,830 Miss Alejandra, what do you think? I agree. Am I doing okay? Yeah, all right. Okay, we're doing okay. 363 00:24:47,310 --> 00:24:55,340 All right, so the the next piece is this kind of solution thinking. And here's what I want you 364 00:24:55,340 --> 00:25:01,100 out to leave with today is we have solutions. Yeah, there isn't a problem. We can't solve when we do 365 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:05,840 it together. When we come together to solve it, there's nothing we can't solve as an organization. 366 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:13,300 All of us are smarter than one of us, and I hope you believe that because we have a lot of smart 367 00:25:13,300 --> 00:25:17,920 people in this district, right? So, if we look at some of the ideas, one is going to start with, 368 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:23,180 you know, everyone's mindset just being like, it's not about spending more money. It's about using it 369 00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:28,340 in a way that's impactful, that impact the vision. A lot of times with budgets, we get this mindset of, 370 00:25:28,340 --> 00:25:32,320 Hey, wait a minute. If I don't spend it, I'm going to lose it. Use it or lose it. 371 00:25:33,420 --> 00:25:45,140 I mean, if we're not spending money in February, March, April for Title 1 stuff and buying it, hoping it's going to impact this year, probably not the most strategic spending. 372 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:52,600 But if you're going, oh, wait a minute. I don't spend. I'm going to lose it. We've got to change that mentality. It's about strategy, right? 373 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,480 The next thing is this, every investment we make goes back to that strategic plan. 374 00:25:58,580 --> 00:26:00,720 That four-part strategic plan, right? 375 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,300 We are doing and we'll be launching a staff survey, so we're going to send you a Google 376 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:13,140 form, three questions to get your input on how we can find some savings in the district. 377 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,820 And I'm sure the first one will be, never mind, okay, I'll stop there. 378 00:26:19,020 --> 00:26:21,760 The next one is navigating deficit budget series. 379 00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:24,980 I am training alongside embassy snows 380 00:26:24,980 --> 00:26:27,580 doing a lot of capacity building and staff development 381 00:26:27,580 --> 00:26:30,060 in ourselves in managing deficit budgets. 382 00:26:30,460 --> 00:26:32,280 We have a staffing study that we just finished 383 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:33,420 that we have a draft of. 384 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:34,940 And the purpose of that staffing study, 385 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,420 just to help us look at how do we write size, 386 00:26:38,420 --> 00:26:41,040 the district, write size enrollment changes, 387 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,220 then you take advantage of attrition. 388 00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:45,380 You don't just, okay, keep hiring when enrollment, 389 00:26:45,460 --> 00:26:46,100 you can't afford it. 390 00:26:46,340 --> 00:26:47,200 That's not a value judgment. 391 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:48,520 and you don't have the revenue to support it. 392 00:26:48,620 --> 00:26:49,920 So you have to look at attrition 393 00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:52,360 when you look at some of these staffing data. 394 00:26:52,860 --> 00:26:54,200 We're looking at the master schedules 395 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:55,840 making sure those are efficient. 396 00:26:57,300 --> 00:27:01,900 We had some major pains capacity staff development 397 00:27:01,900 --> 00:27:03,500 last week and this week. 398 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,380 And then lastly is really, again, 399 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,900 thinking about this idea of shifting the MNO over to the INS, 400 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,980 just to ensure that we're maximizing the strategies 401 00:27:14,980 --> 00:27:21,720 we came to fill, to free up some of that M&O money, to pay salaries, to give raises, to 402 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:27,700 ensure that we can fix things without having to go into any more debt. Okay? That was a good 29-minute 403 00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:32,000 discussion. Any thoughts, wondering questions, closing comments?