[0:02] All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is great to be here this evening. I would like to call this meeting to order. Today is April 21st. No, it's not. Today is June 16th. I'm just reading the script.

[0:17] 225, and the time is 533, and I would like to call this meeting of the Mid-Lothian ISD Board of Trustees

[0:23] the Order.

[0:24] A quorum of board members are present.

[0:26] The meeting has been doly called, and notice of the meeting has been posted in accordance

[0:30] with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551.

[0:34] At this time, the board will adjourn to close session as authorized by Texas Open

[0:38] reading acts, takes this government code, chapter 5551.074, 551.072, 551.082, and 551.0821. The time is now,

[0:53] 534, PM.

[0:59] All right, good evening. We are re-convening back into open session. Welcome, everybody.

[1:04] to make up a more people here than we're earlier, we are going to get started as Toby is going

[1:10] to start with our invocation.

[1:13] Thank you.

[1:14] Will you bow with me please?

[1:16] Oh, Lord, we just come tonight with grateful heart sky for all the things we get to celebrate

[1:20] Lord and somebody.

[1:22] But we just keep winning and it's so amazing to see our students.

[1:26] Lord just succeed with the help of the staff that we put in place.

[1:30] Lord, we are just so blessed in this community.

[1:32] help us never lose sight of that Lord.

[1:35] I know there are always ways to get better,

[1:37] and that is what we strive for, Lord,

[1:38] is excellence in our mission and vision, Lord,

[1:41] but remind us to be grateful because we are blessed.

[1:44] Thank you more than anything, Lord, for your Son, Jesus.

[1:47] Give us wisdom, tonight, and discernment,

[1:49] and any of the decisions that we're here to make,

[1:51] and just be with us throughout the process in Jesus' name.

[2:01] Good evening.

[2:02] Our pledges this evening will be led by

[2:04] Dietrich Middle School National Junior Honor Society Officers.

[2:58] All right, moving forward, we're going to hear first from Dr.

[3:01] Belding with our superintendant report.

[3:05] Okay, well, good evening, everyone.

[3:07] And what I want to share about tonight and like Mrs. Toby said, we just keep winning.

[3:12] So there's a lot that we have to celebrate and I'm just so excited to get to recognize

[3:17] so many students tonight, even in the summer months, because of all, you know, we kept having

[3:22] success all the way through the end of the year. But the group I really want to highlight this

[3:27] evening last Thursday we had a district wide launch for all of our staff that are working this

[3:33] summer and we have a lot of people that are in our buildings right now repairing those buildings,

[3:42] cleaning those buildings, planning bus routes, hiring people just really all in a ton of activity

[3:50] getting ready for the 25-26 school year. I know when the kids around and it's

[3:55] some of our people think that our schools just kind of hit a pause button and

[4:00] we're just sitting around eating bond bonds all day but that is not the case.

[4:04] I will promise you there's a lot of activity going on, not only planning budgets but

[4:08] staffing and filling positions and then thinking about our custodians who are

[4:14] getting our facilities ready for next year or doing deep clean, our maintenance staff

[4:20] that are repairing things, and, again, getting ready for next year, in addition to all of

[4:25] our central office staff that are just furiously planning and working, and then all of

[4:30] our teachers that are attending the professional development of contract.

[4:34] We have a lot of training that's going on, and we have this parking lot can be full because

[4:38] of all of our staff that are coming up when they're not at work, and attending training and

[4:45] getting ready for next year. So, that's my good thing is we are already so focused on making sure

[4:52] we have a Greg 2526 and we're ready to serve our students as they come back and there's a great

[4:57] deal of activity going on behind the scenes right now for sure. So with that shout out to Mr. Martinez

[5:04] and all of his group and operations because this is their Super Bowl time of the year.

[5:12] Perfect thank you

[5:23] Okay, we're going to honor them tonight, but I just wanted to shout out to the tennis team who went to stay.

[5:28] It was really a fun time going to watch in them, sweet, sweet group of parents and kiddos that it just represented us in an amazing way.

[5:37] I even got invited to the Airbnb to hang out there in the air conditioning.

[5:41] So anyway, they treated me really nice and they did a great job.

[5:45] It wasn't how we wanted it to end, but man, just being there such an honor.

[5:48] And so I'm excited to get to honor them tonight.

[5:50] I just wanted to give a shout out to the tennis team.

[5:59] I didn't say that much, I left a lot for y'all to talk about.

[6:04] What you were going to talk about is exactly what I was going to talk about from the lunch

[6:07] in last Thursday.

[6:08] They said, you stole my thunder.

[6:10] Sorry, Mr. Pengard.

[6:11] What he said?

[6:15] Well, Dr. Billings said, Richard Pengard said that was my thunder also, but I was honored to give

[6:25] the award for the servant leader to Anthony Stahlwell, Jr., and I want to read something

[6:32] about him and says, he's our district's master electrician, consistently demonstrates

[6:37] a hard-for-service, always placing the needs of staff, students, and campuses first.

[6:42] He approaches every task with humility, listens carefully to others, works diligently to

[6:48] find thoughtful lasting solutions.

[6:50] When we presented Anthony with his award, he said something that just bold me over.

[6:55] He only spoke about 10 or 15 words, and he said, all the work that I do to men, I do

[7:02] as if I'm doing it to God.

[7:04] And I was speechless.

[7:05] I thought that is the best motto that I've ever heard.

[7:09] So I congratulate him, and we're honored to have people like him working here in the district.

[7:21] So I just want to give a quick shout out to the MHUS and Heritage Baseball teams for the

[7:26] outstanding job that they did. I know they're going to get recognized this evening.

[7:30] So I just want to give them a quick shout out and really just say, you know, to coach Rogers,

[7:35] how proud I am, maybe you had your first year to take this team to go out and say, it has.

[7:40] I think the first time this decade for them to reach out to the fourth round.

[7:43] So congratulations on the success for that. And I look forward to going forward. Thank you.

[7:51] I just wanted to say two. One more thing because I had brought it up to those awards that we get to do as trustees.

[7:56] It's just really cool for us to be a part of that selection process because those awards

[8:03] are nominated by their peers and other people that work with them.

[8:08] Every year when I get to read those, it is just incredibly inspiring.

[8:12] I want my people to say that about me.

[8:14] They don't.

[8:15] I strive, but it's just really cool and I love that we get to be a part of that and get

[8:21] to be a part of awarding those because it's just so moving to see how appreciative

[8:26] the people that get those awards are and how encouraging it is for them to hear what their peers and other folks said about them that got them nominated.

[8:36] So, thanks for mentioning that, Mr. Harrison.

[8:39] We also have Gabriel and the author in the audience tonight. Gabriel Vargas is one of our winners also.

[8:51] You know, so even when school is not in session, when we are not, you know, at our traditional school time, there's still so many great things to go on in this district.

[9:00] Every single day, and it's because of the people and because of all the things, my good thing, my favorite thing that I always enjoy seeing at this time is all of the summer camps that are put on by both of the high schools in all different areas and all the different things.

[9:15] And one of the coolest parts to see is when the high school athletes are getting to work and coach up those young kids and they take so much pride and the kids have so much fun with it.

[9:27] I've been looking up to get to see my kiddos do it, and so that's one of my good things going on right now.

[9:37] And I just remembered another one.

[9:40] Well, UIL does the Lone Star Cup, which is, you know, it's all the extra critical activities,

[9:48] took recover activities, and you know, we are in points.

[9:50] Each high school does.

[9:52] And so to get in the, you know, the top part of your classification in Lone Star Cup,

[9:58] is a really big deal. And I think they just released their final update

[10:02] by Coach York. And with all the in high school came in 17th in the

[10:06] state and heritage, I think came in 36th in the state. So out of over 200

[10:12] schools in 5A. So that is, that's a really big deal for both high schools,

[10:16] really, really proud of both of them. And is a great indicator of some really

[10:21] strong achievement. Everything from academics to athletics to fine arts. I mean,

[10:26] it's huge.

[10:32] Okay, we will move on. We are going to go over our mission

[10:36] and vision for mid-Lothian ISD. The mission of mid-Lothian ISD is to educate students

[10:42] by empowering them to maximize their potential. And the vision is inspiring

[10:47] excellence today to change the world tomorrow. Our ISD cultural tenants, as a

[10:53] reminder, we are family, we celebrate the power of diversity, on a relationships,

[10:58] unlimited potential excellence through purpose and we are mid-Lothian strong.

[11:05] As a member of the Board, I shall promote the best interest of the district as a whole,

[11:09] and to that end, shall adhere to the following ethical standards.

[11:13] Student focused, I will be continuously guided by what is best for all students of the district.

[11:20] Trustworthiness and stewardship.

[11:22] I will be accountable to the public by representing district policies, programs, priorities,

[11:27] and progress accurately. I will be responsive to the community by seeking its involvement

[11:34] in district affairs and by communicating its priorities and concerns. I will work to ensure

[11:40] prudent and accountable use of district resources. I will make no personal promise or take

[11:46] private action that may compromise my performance or my responsibilities.

[11:52] Committee and service will focus my attention on fulfilling the board's responsibilities

[11:57] of goal-setting, policy-making, and evaluation. I will deal it in Agile, prepare for and

[12:03] attend board meetings. I will avoid personal involvement in activities. The board has delegated

[12:07] to the superintendent, and I will see continuing education that will enhance my ability to fulfill

[12:13] my duties effectively.

[12:14] I will be fair, I will be fair just and impartial in all my decisions and actions and I will

[12:21] record others that respect I wish for myself.

[12:24] I will encourage expressions, I will encourage

[12:36] expressions of difference, different opinions

[12:39] and listen with and open mind to others ideas.

[12:43] Honoring conduct.

[12:44] I will tell the truth.

[12:45] I will share my views while working for consensus.

[12:47] I will respect the majority decisions as the decisions of the board.

[12:51] I will base my decisions on fact, rather than supposition opinion or public favor.

[13:34] I was just going to say I promise I didn't tell Ron to mess up Richard's mic on the

[13:38] third on my first act as president.

[13:40] I would never do something like that.

[13:47] All right.

[13:47] We're going to move on to presentations and recommendations.

[14:18] Thank you, Mr. Toby.

[14:21] Okay.

[14:21] We're going to move forward with recommendations.

[14:24] It is July, no, June, look at me, oh my gosh, it's not April, and it's not July, it is

[14:32] June, but as y'all have mentioned earlier, we just keep winning, and so some of our

[14:38] recognitions have spilled over into June after school, and some of our students who

[14:44] are being recognized this evening are still out there doing other things and working, and so

[14:50] we're going to recognize a group of students who are able to be with us tonight.

[14:53] And I'm going to get us started with our CKH recognitions, but I'd like to invite the trustees to join me here.

[15:00] On the floor so that we can properly recognize our groups.

[15:08] As you're making your way, I'll make mention about CCH. We demonstrated CCH this evening when we started the meeting with good things.

[15:20] And CCH is one of the programs that we implemented in mid-Lothian ISD four years ago. We just completed our fourth year as a CCH district.

[15:30] And that program really focuses on building a sense of belonging among our students and our staff and it also focuses on culture.

[15:41] And so tonight I'm really proud to say that as a district we have been once again for the second consecutive year named a national showcase district within CCH and its program.

[15:54] And in addition to that, we have 11 campuses, 11 of our 14 that have earned for the second consecutive year, the designation as a national showcase campus, national showcase school.

[16:11] And actually one of the schools, it is their first time to break into that coveted category.

[16:18] And I'll make mention when we get to that campus this evening.

[16:21] So with us tonight are several of our principals to accept this recognition as a CKH capturing

[16:30] kids' heart, it's national showcase schools.

[16:34] We'll start with Miss Cunningham from Dolores McClunchy, Dolores W. McClunchy Elementary School.

[16:51] From J.R. Irvin Elementary School, Principal Jennifer Leonard,

[17:03] from Jean Coleman Elementary School,

[17:06] Ms. Wendell

[17:16] from Long Branch Elementary School, Principal Walker,

[17:30] Mountain Peak Elementary School, Principal Adam Hanky.

[17:39] Oh, you can't be done with any.

[17:42] T.E. Baxter Elementary School, Principal Sillman.

[17:57] Mid-Lothian High School, Amanda Rogers.

[18:13] While not Grove Middle School, Carly Wollory.

[18:26] And earning this designation for the first time this year,

[18:32] Earl and Martha Loo, Deedrick Middle School, Miss Ricks.

[18:44] And then we have two other schools.

[18:46] I don't know if you know this,

[18:47] but today was officially the first day that our elementary

[18:51] principals are not on contract.

[18:53] So we have two principals who are not in the area

[18:57] and unable to be here with us this evening.

[18:59] But we do want to recognize them and we will get these certificates

[19:01] it's to them, but we want to recognize the remiller elementary

[19:04] misburgral, and we want to recognize J.

[19:07] Votosky Elementary, Mr. Leyva.

[19:09] We'll get these to them to recognize and honor them.

[19:12] But would you join me in congratulating these schools and campuses?

[19:27] Do you have family in the room?

[19:28] Yes, is your mom or your dad here?

[19:32] Husband, spouses.

[19:35] Do you have staff members here who represent your campus?

[19:38] You could stand and wave.

[19:39] We don't do this alone. I see some urban folks, yeah.

[19:54] Congratulations.

[20:04] Our next

[20:05] recognition is that of an Eagle Scout badge earner and I do not believe he was able

[20:10] to join us tonight. This young man is Rowan Jones and he is a recent graduate of Heritage

[20:17] High School Class of 2025 and he did earn his Eagle Scout Award from Boy Scouts of America and

[20:25] And I will just remind our audience that this is a rank achieved by only 6% of all scouts.

[20:33] And he earned this recognition through building and installing two beautiful benches outside

[20:40] the little free library at mid-Lothian Presbyterian Church on 7th Street.

[20:44] And his work has created a warm welcoming and inclusive space for our community.

[20:49] And he is a part of Troop 512.

[20:52] And so we will get this certificate to him.

[20:54] But would you join me in just congratulating this young man?

[21:06] Our next recognition takes us to the field.

[21:09] We are going to recognize our baseball teams for reaching regional semi-final, they qualify

[21:16] for regional semifinals.

[21:18] And this evening we have our Panthers with us and then the Jaguiers, they actually are still

[21:24] competing.

[21:24] They had a young man who was competing just a few days ago.

[21:27] And so they would like us to consider bringing them back for a future meeting.

[21:31] And so tonight, we're going to ask our panthers to join us as we get ready to recognize them.

[21:38] As Trustee Vineyard mentioned, this is Coach Rogers first year leading the team.

[21:43] He was, of course, a member in part of the leadership team of the Panther baseball program prior as the assistant coach.

[21:52] But he has done an exceptional job continuing the legacy of excellence that the Panther program has experienced.

[21:59] And we just want to congratulate them, not only did they reach the regional semifinals, but they are the regional semifinal champions.

[22:09] And that is where the rest of my students.

[22:17] All right, I have a stack of certificates, obviously not all of the young men could be with us.

[22:22] I'm just going to read these names.

[22:24] And when you hear your name, if you'll join Dr. Belding, Jaden Blackman.

[22:32] Drake Morris, Ben Weber,

[22:38] Ethan Harris, Harris, Harris, Harris, time time. Luke Borkman,

[23:01] yet they probably are.

[23:03] They are, they are, they're continuing excellence.

[23:09] Aiden Bowman,

[23:17] Dylan Dick,

[23:30] Hunter, Hunter Garza,

[23:38] Michael Gray,

[23:46] Alec Reyes,

[23:59] I'm so sorry, would you say their names, can you answer their names?

[24:08] All right, so this is Jacob Anderson.

[24:13] This is Corbin Hal,

[24:18] Brennan Murphy,

[24:21] Ian Chavez,

[24:25] Jason Hootman,

[24:28] and Tyson Weaver.

[24:33] Thank you coach and Ryan coach Rogers

[24:49] parents are in the room. Are you in the room tonight?

[24:54] A few are a parent of one of these young men would you stand all the practices you've been driving to

[25:02] games

[25:03] out of town

[25:39] Everybody get a picture congratulations guys

[25:45] Amanda.

[25:54] Okay,

[25:56] our next recognition

[25:59] is one that Ms. Toby mentioned earlier, we did make history this year. We had two students

[26:07] make it to the state tournament in our doubles team and they made history when they won their first match.

[26:17] That was the first time that we had experienced that for our mid-Lothian ISD tennis teams.

[26:22] And so the seedening were very honored to recognize two young ladies who were on a team together.

[26:30] And they went to the five AUI outstate tennis championship in San Antonio last month.

[26:36] I'd like to recognize sophomore Hannah Hobbs from Midlow-Kin High School.

[26:57] And we would also like to recognize class of 2025 when Robinson.

[27:12] And their coach Sam Rinkle is here with us tonight.

[27:27] And I do know that their families are here, if you are a family member of the Hobbes or the Robinson's, would you stand, because these students did not make it in Europe.

[27:58] Congratulations.

[28:09] Our final recognition this evening takes us to our staff, and as the trustees mentioned earlier each year,

[28:18] We have a program called Servant Leadership Award and it is an award that is peer-nominated and it is a board of trustees award and the trustees evaluate or review a number of applications and they take into consideration the nominations and they select one employee from each of the three groups that they recognize.

[28:45] the first group being professional manual trades in custodial.

[28:49] The second, paraprofessional, and the third professional.

[28:53] In this evening, we do have two of our third three award honorees here with us this evening.

[28:58] I do want to make mention of Anthony Stahlworth, trustee Harrison mentioned him earlier.

[29:04] He was unable to be here tonight, but he wanted to say thank you so much for honoring him

[29:09] as he mentioned last week with our staff.

[29:12] So tonight we will honor two of our recognized individuals.

[29:16] Our first is a servant leader Gabriel Vargris.

[29:28] Gabriel works at MHS.

[29:31] Our next servant leader award goes to Shannon Hoopman,

[29:42] and Shannon represents Urban Elementary.

[29:47] And are you here with one of these two staff members

[29:51] as a family member or maybe a teen member

[29:53] if you would stand and help us recognize them?

[29:57] Thank you.

[30:10] Yes, Amanda and Jennifer, a few would join. Yes, thank you.

[30:28] Congratulations.

[30:35] And that concludes our recognitions for this evening.

[36:44] Tests, hello.

[37:13] We can pass down this direction for what people need to ask questions and comments, and I've got this one that we can pass that way. We've got one that's working at the podium, so we can make it.

[37:25] Dr. Blan for having a handheld life.

[37:30] Okay, so we are ready to move on. We are going to open the public hearing to discuss a budget and propose tax rate at 714.

[37:48] Present to you, our budget, and this says tax rate adoption, but that is actually going to come later as we've been discussing the tax rate adoption will come probably in August, because we don't have certified values yet.

[38:02] but we're going to discuss our budget adoption today.

[38:17] We're just getting the slides up on the screens.

[38:36] Technology is great when it works.

[40:05] We have our slides.

[40:07] OK, if you'll go ahead and go to the next one.

[40:10] OK, so our region, our revenue assumptions for our budget

[40:13] included property value growth of about 5.92%,

[40:18] that was based on the estimates that we received

[40:21] from the appraisal district in April at the end of April, that allowed for our MNO tax

[40:29] compression to our tax rate to compress down to 0.6465. Again, that is based on that

[40:38] property growth that is in the April estimate, so that's going to change depending on

[40:43] what our certified values come back as, and we don't expect certified values until the end

[40:49] July.

[40:52] But with current law compression and with those values, our MCR would be,

[40:57] what, MCR is maximum compressed tax rate would be 0.6465 per $100 evaluation. Also for

[41:05] our revenue, we anticipate 2% enrollment growth. That would bring our enrollment to 11,663.

[41:12] We budgeted for 95 and a half percent attendance. And this revenue budget that you're seeing

[41:18] here tonight is all based on what is currently in law before House Bill 2 was passed or before

[41:25] that was brought into into the revenue calculation. So we will have a slide on that later and

[41:33] we'll discuss what next steps look like for that.

[41:39] This slide is a summary of our revenue so that

[41:41] column where it shows our proposed budget shows our local revenue at about 74.4 million our state revenue

[41:49] at about 51.6 million, and our federal program revenue about 304,000, and that is down due to the

[41:57] program changes that we've seen in the SARS program.

[42:03] Our expenditure assumptions included

[42:07] added positions to maintain a 26.1 ratio added positions for some special education programs,

[42:15] added bus drivers to cover additional routes for growth and experience roll-up in our compensation plan.

[42:22] That is just to hold us over until we implement the changes required by HB2, and then in our non-personal budget it included campuses and departments decrease their budgets in areas of supplies, travel, entry fees, recruiting, assessment costs, sharing and mowing, also we've looked at, as we've discussed through our budget workshops, we've looked at utility savings and other things of that nature.

[42:50] Also, in increase to operational expenses, some of those utilities we know are going to be increasing.

[42:58] Our property casualty liability insurance rates, we anticipate and increase tax costs and SROs and security.

[43:05] So all of those are items that we discussed in our budget workshops.

[43:12] This slide here is a summary of our expenses by object.

[43:17] You can see payroll costs at about 95.9 million purchased and contracted services, 11.1 million

[43:25] supplies and materials, about 3.2 million, other operating expenses, which does include

[43:31] our terms expense, 22.3 million, and a small amount for capital outlay at 5,500.

[43:39] And then the next slide shows our expenses by function, which is the level where you adopt

[43:44] the budget, so I won't read all of those lines, but they're there for your review.

[43:51] Total expenditures of 132.6 million.

[43:59] And then this next slide is a summary, so just bringing that all together, our revenues

[44:04] and our expenses, we anticipate a deficit of about 6.3 million.

[44:15] And then on the next slide, we have some information for you about how Spill 2, so this

[44:19] the same slide we shared in our last budget workshop. So, we just wanted to reiterate that we

[44:25] are unpacking this bill language, waiting for some guidance from TA as they unpack the

[44:33] bill language and then release rules and things of that nature. So, but we do have these estimates

[44:39] here of our additional revenue that we anticipate are from TASPO. They put together a run

[44:44] for the districts that are members. And again, this is the same information that we shared

[44:49] at our latest workshop. So just showing that we are anticipating about 2.9, close to 3.

[45:00] And for teachers, about $427,000 for compensation for other staff that are not administrators, a new

[45:13] costs of about $1.2 million increased school safety

[45:17] allotment about $347,000.

[45:20] Some increases to special education, $554,000.

[45:24] And as a reminder, majority of that is that $1,000

[45:28] for new evaluations.

[45:30] And then the remaining that's in the estimate for next year

[45:34] is just due to the increase in the basic allotment

[45:37] that basic allotment is increasing by $55.

[45:40] We have some miscellaneous items, and other revenue, and then the adjustments shown as a negative number are due to the

[45:48] golden penny yields decreasing and freezing rather than it was set to increase.

[45:55] So that's what that is.

[46:00] Another legislative update we wanted to bring to your attention is the Senate bill 4 provided an increase to our home set exemption.

[46:09] So this is going to increase the home set exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 increase of $40,000

[46:18] for all of our taxpayers who have that home set exemption on their property.

[46:24] This does have to go to voters. This requires a constitutional amendment, so it's not official until the election in November.

[46:31] But looking at this, we just wanted to provide some information to you.

[46:35] What this might look like for some of our taxpayers at certain market values of property value?

[46:41] So a market value now of $140,000 would be completely exempt and would not have any MISD taxes

[46:50] That would be provide for a savings to that taxpayer of about $431 a year and I want to say the this calculation is based on that total tax rate of a dollar or 565

[47:03] which is that MCRI mentioned earlier, plus the 41-sense NINS, which we'll get to when we talk

[47:09] about the debt service budget. That, so these calculations will change when we officially have

[47:15] our tax rate calculated when we have all of that information, but just an estimate with the

[47:20] best information that we have at this time. So a market value of $250,000 would see savings of about

[47:28] $450 a year and a market value of $500,000 would see savings of a little over $500 a year.

[47:38] So that is great news.

[47:39] That's great property tax relief provided by the state.

[47:42] They do hold harmless the loss of local revenue that districts see for that.

[47:47] So we appreciate that.

[47:49] And then just for comparison, I did get information about the average home value in

[47:55] both the NIC as of the latest estimates that the appraisal district

[47:59] hat is $486,000 market value with about $297,000 taxable value.

[48:07] So right in this range that is shown on this slide,

[48:10] so taxpayers most the average taxpayer is going

[48:13] to see about a $4,500 savings on their taxes due to that homestead.

[48:18] There also is an additional home-stead being provided for over 65 and disabled homeowners that

[48:27] home-stead is increasing from $10,000 up to $60,000 that also will be on the ballot in November,

[48:34] but just wanted to also mention that and we appreciate that extra provided tax relief provided

[48:41] by the state.

[48:44] Okay, moving on to the Child Nutrition Budget.

[48:46] This budget includes an increase to local revenue based on what we've seen in our current

[48:52] ear activity in that fund.

[48:54] Also we're anticipating that enrollment increase, so we anticipate that we would have a

[48:58] little bit of increased participation.

[49:01] We have a small decrease to our federal revenue, again, based on what we've seen this year

[49:05] in actual activity as well as that free and reduced population.

[49:11] We are seeing that it's shrinking, so we've budgeted for a small decrease in that federal

[49:15] revenue. We have an increased cost based on a factor built in with our error mark contract that's

[49:22] an inflationary factor on the costs in that fund. So that brings that fund total revenues

[49:29] of about 5.3 million total expenditures of about 5.1 million for an overall surplus

[49:40] of about

[49:49] the tax rate will be adopted at $41 since per $100 valuation. Again, we're not going to adopt

[49:56] the tax rate tonight, so we will talk more about that in future meetings, but that is how this

[50:01] budget was calculated. We have state funding that includes a whole harmless for the frozen

[50:07] levy compression from the last legislative session. The budget does include payments that would

[50:13] fees to fees some of our bonds early and then we have we are expect future amendments to

[50:20] this budget as well as to our general fund budget due to the changes that we have coming

[50:26] out of the legislative session. So for this for this budget we would likely see a decrease in

[50:32] our local revenue and an increase in our state revenue due to that change in the home set exemption.

[50:38] So when we have those values and we have all that calculated then we'll be able to bring you

[50:43] amendment at a later date.

[50:47] So just to summarize this fund, we have local revenues calculated

[50:51] at 45 about 45.4 million state program revenue at about 3.2 million for total revenues

[50:59] of 48.6 million. We have our debt service expenditures totaling 45.2 million. That's based

[51:06] on our normal payment schedule, plus about 16.8 million in a

[51:11] defense,

[51:15] that leaves that budget in a surplus of about 3.4 million.

[51:26] And at this time, I can take questions.

[51:35] Thanks for the presentation.

[51:37] I did have one question.

[51:40] I know that this school board has a long history of paying off

[51:43] debt early, and I think that's good, and that's good for the tax

[51:46] and it's the right thing to do.

[51:51] I do on that extra amount that we have the 3.4 million.

[51:55] Can we use that for current projects?

[51:58] Are there allowable projects that could be used for that?

[52:02] Unfortunately, no.

[52:03] So if that fund can only be used to pay off debt.

[52:06] So that would remain in the fund balance in the INS fund.

[52:11] And then when we can defease more bonds, we could use it for that.

[52:15] Fantastic. Thank you.

[52:22] Back on the increase to homestead exemption, the state is going to make us a hundred percent whole harmless.

[52:30] We're not going to incur any loss on these additional exemptions as a correct.

[52:35] They hold us harmless for the loss of local revenue, yes, sir.

[52:38] So we're going to be, it's break even to us.

[52:40] Okay, thank you.

[52:49] Thank you.

[52:49] Going back to the HP2 estimates under miscellaneous. You have other adjustments for the negative 159,000.

[53:00] Can you address that again? Because I'm not seeing it on this list.

[53:03] So can you go up that one more time please?

[53:04] Yes, it's so, and it's not one of the five listed there, but HB2 froze the guaranteed yield on the golden pennies.

[53:12] So, our golden pennies are tier two state funding is guaranteed by the state and amount per water, which is weighted average daily attendance.

[53:23] So, it was set to increase to $132 per water and $132 and change. I don't know the exact sense.

[53:32] It was set to increase, but HB2 froze it back at what it was, which is $129 in change.

[53:41] So it that's deep.

[53:43] So we had estimated an increase in our tier 2 funding, but now we'll see a little bit of a decrease.

[53:49] Compared to what we were estimating.

[53:52] My understanding is the $55 increase to the basic law equipment, freezing the golden penny yield paid for that

[53:59] $55 increase to the basic law equipment.

[54:01] So it's a little bit of a movement between the two.

[54:04] Does that make sense?

[54:07] So.

[54:07] Thank you.

[54:12] Any other questions or comments from the board?

[54:18] Any questions from the public?

[54:36] So yes, if the values come back higher than that 5.92%,

[54:40] which they are trending that way in the estimates we've seen from the

[54:43] appraisal district since those April estimates,

[54:47] then the maximum compressed rate will go down.

[54:50] It will compress further, and so it will be a lower rate.

[54:52] However, guidance, we're waiting on guidance from TEA on how they will handle the home set exemption.

[54:59] So it looks like they're going to have us calculate the compression after the home set exemption has been applied to the values.

[55:07] So I'm not sure at this time because we don't have that information yet exactly what the compression is going to look like after those.

[55:23] So I'm not sure why TEA put out.

[55:32] Well, the local fund, yes, yes.

[55:38] That information came from T.E.A.

[55:40] Again, we're waiting for the absolute guidance,

[55:43] the initial guidance that they put out mentioned

[55:46] that they would have, they would put out their tax survey.

[55:49] They put out a survey every year to collect the values.

[55:53] And they said in their initial guidance,

[55:55] that they sent out last week,

[55:56] that it would be after that homestead was included.

[56:00] So that is different from the way

[56:01] handled it the last time the home said exemption was increased, so I was surprised to see that as well.

[56:08] So that will not provide as much compression as we saw two years ago when they made those changes to the home set

[56:15] exemption. But that's the guidance CEA put out. We're going to wait for official guidance,

[56:21] wait for official values, and then we'll have to recalculate those tax rates.

[56:34] Well,

[56:59] yes, so the initial estimates based on the run from TASPO, which is the information we

[57:04] have up right now, provided for about roughly over 3 million more of overall income.

[57:14] So it would about cut that deficit in half.

[57:17] But again, we have to wait for some guidance.

[57:20] We have to apply those numbers to our actual data estimates.

[57:24] the estimates from TASPO are just that they're estimates, which is the information that they have publicly for our district and not necessarily the information the data that we were using for our projections for the budget, so we need to wait for a template and get all of our data put in there and see what that's all going to look like.

[58:02] It's produced that, does that?

[58:05] Yes, correct.

[58:06] All of that.

[58:06] We're hoping.

[58:08] We're hoping to have as much of this unpacked as we can

[58:14] throughout the next couple of months in the summer

[58:16] and to hopefully bring a budget amendment

[58:18] that would incorporate HP2.

[58:22] We're hoping by August, it might be September

[58:24] that we get all of the guidance that we need.

[58:28] But that's what we're hoping for.

[58:40] So I think, yeah, if you go to the slide right before this,

[58:45] theta, thank you.

[58:47] So our fund balance, is there the beginning fund balance

[58:51] and ending fund balance from each year estimated?

[58:55] So that revised budget column for 2425 is just that.

[58:59] It's the revised budget.

[59:02] That's what our revised budget is currently.

[59:09] So as a last budget workshop, I did share that we're anticipating

[59:12] that are our ending deficit for this year will be better than this 6.3 million, but we're

[59:19] again, that's estimated, and so this currently is the revised budget. We don't know

[59:25] quite yet how it will end the year, so that's the unknown. If we end the year better than

[59:31] yes, that ending fund balance, I'm estimating and hoping that it comes more in that 29 million

[59:38] the

[59:46] privilege.

[59:50] Well, the 2425 is this current year and how we anticipate ending the year. Again, I am estimating no.

[1:00:00] Middle column, the 2425, shows the beginning fund balance for 2425, and if we realize that entire deficit, what the ending fund balance will be, and then that carries up to the beginning fund balance for 2526, and the proposed budget that we're recommending be adopted for tonight includes that deficit, which would put if each of those deficits were realized we would have correct and hopefully not.

[1:00:33] And Ms. Haley, in our last budget work session, we went all over all of those numbers.

[1:00:38] That was great. So then, you know, and, you know, Dr. Messkerner, I talked about this.

[1:00:44] And, you know, this is what we approved budget and what was approved and that's why we're using those numbers.

[1:00:51] But we feel like it's going to come in much better and we've tried to be very transparent about that.

[1:00:56] So

[1:00:59] any other questions?

[1:01:04] All right, then I'm going to close the public hearing at 7.38.

[1:01:16] And we are now going to move on to the Board subcommittee report for business and operations.

[1:01:32] We had a business and operation subcommittee meeting on June 4th at 9 o'clock.

[1:01:38] Tammy Toby and I were in the meeting and we discussed RFPs and process including district wide

[1:01:43] counseling community, resource services, and some other things.

[1:01:48] Also, we discussed athletic equipment catalog bids,

[1:01:50] which will be brought to the board later in the summer.

[1:01:53] We discussed designation of the fund balance.

[1:01:56] And currently, we have about $13 and a half million dollars

[1:01:59] of the general fund balance assigned for construction

[1:02:01] of about 4.8 committed for equipment,

[1:02:05] capital expenditures, and other things.

[1:02:07] Since the district has been in a deficit,

[1:02:10] spending a situation for the last two years,

[1:02:12] any deficit situation in the coming year, it's recommended that we release the committed and

[1:02:17] assigned fund balances to be transferred to unassigned fund balances to ensure resources

[1:02:22] or available for the budget. It's spending, in a case of emergency, the consideration is today's,

[1:02:27] is in today's consent, excuse me, consent agenda. Tammy, am I missing anything? All right, good.

[1:02:35] That's all my report, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Harrison. Up next, we are going to have a report

[1:02:42] on the Facility Planning Committee. Mr. Harrison and I are both good.

[1:02:50] Hello, there it is.

[1:02:52] We're going to go over things here on this one.

[1:02:56] So since we have last all met and spoken with the board,

[1:03:01] we have had three meetings, two official meetings in one tour.

[1:03:05] So on May 20th, the Facility Planning Committee met at Long Branch,

[1:03:10] got to have a tour of that campus,

[1:03:12] and then went over MISD finances and how school funding works and so, you know, pretty easy to do that in an hour and a half.

[1:03:22] But it was it was really good. Then we heard from a panel committee of some experts in the area, including the city manager.

[1:03:32] Chris Dick, Realture, Jamie Wickliffe, Mid-Lothian Economic Development, Council Stafford, Joseph Schaefer,

[1:03:39] Ann Ardemographer, Brent Alexander, so they kind of gave some things that they see within

[1:03:47] the district and within the community and then after that we had another panel with the

[1:03:53] amazing Jose Martinez who talked about things that he sees in the district and then Chris

[1:03:59] maybe who's the associate principal at MHS, who is over the facilities there, long-range

[1:04:07] meeting anything to add to that Mr. Harrison?

[1:04:09] No, you did good.

[1:04:10] Thank you, sir.

[1:04:11] After that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Harrison, because the next meeting was an optional

[1:04:15] bus tour where all of the members of the committee had the option to go into multiple facilities

[1:04:22] within the district.

[1:04:24] And I miss that option.

[1:04:25] Mr. Harrison, got it?

[1:04:27] I got to ride on a yellow school bus, first time in decades, and they didn't have air conditioning back when I was a kid.

[1:04:33] No.

[1:04:34] They do, but we started out the ag barn.

[1:04:37] We've got a tour of the ag barn, some of its needs.

[1:04:40] And then we went to, I think it was seals was next.

[1:04:43] And helped me whose after that.

[1:04:45] It made sure.

[1:04:46] It made sure.

[1:04:47] That's exactly what I was going to say.

[1:04:48] Thank you.

[1:04:49] Went in, it made just.

[1:04:50] And we got a great tour of that.

[1:04:52] And some of the needs of those facilities.

[1:04:53] Some of those needs, like the lighting or things that we're already working on.

[1:04:56] Jose Martinez was already mentioned by President Ryan, and we're already working on changing

[1:05:06] incandescence and to LED live-overs.

[1:05:08] So those things are already there in the budget that they're being worked on right now.

[1:05:11] But there were some other things that were pointed out, such that switch panel is something

[1:05:15] that does need upgrade.

[1:05:16] So it was very, very informative, and then after that, do you want me to talk about the

[1:05:21] seal meeting?

[1:05:24] We had a meeting at the seal.

[1:05:25] So each of the times I think we're meeting, I'd like to know how our population has been.

[1:05:30] The first meeting was over 100 people at the mile, and then it's been considerably stepping

[1:05:35] down.

[1:05:36] Has it, do we know those numbers?

[1:05:39] Just curious.

[1:05:39] I mean, if you know, that's great, if not, it's okay too.

[1:05:44] It's okay.

[1:05:46] Big room.

[1:05:47] First meeting wasn't quite 100, and then we were at, between 70 and 80, at the last meeting.

[1:05:55] When we were at Seals, we had a large group, a lot of good questions, questions about tax rates,

[1:06:01] tax bills, VOK, representative from VOK was there, talked about declining tax rates over

[1:06:07] the years.

[1:06:08] One of the things I wanted to point out is the tax rate that the decline last year was because

[1:06:11] the Vator failed, it was not something that the board did of its own volition.

[1:06:16] But overall I would say that these committees have been very good, very profitable and

[1:06:20] a good thing.

[1:06:22] And I will add one last to that meeting at Frank Sill, we, you know, after having all the

[1:06:30] conversation and learning about the different things, we had the opportunity for all

[1:06:36] of the members to kind of look at different products that could possibly, you know, be needed

[1:06:43] in the district. And then they kind of did a little activity where they put what they felt was

[1:06:49] the highest need down along the way with with some stickers and it was very eye-opening

[1:06:55] was great to see.

[1:06:59] I just want to make one correction and that is the board did lower that tax

[1:07:03] right Mr. Harrison and that is because we were we had faith in our community and we said you

[1:07:08] know what? Rather than wait and see if the Vader passes we're going to go ahead and lower that I

[1:07:13] an S. So we did make that decision as a board for that right to go down. I just want to make sure

[1:07:17] that's clear.

[1:07:23] Okay,

[1:07:26] moving on.

[1:07:31] We are going to now go to public comment, and we do have one public comment. Miss Lisa Healey.

[1:07:43] Oh, everyone. Lisa Healey. Thank you for letting me have some time tonight.

[1:07:53] And I understand it's not required what I am asking.

[1:07:57] But it's the right thing to do, especially since this is a big budget meeting and you're discussing a lot of finances.

[1:08:09] You have a lot of things on consent agenda that involve finances, and it would be great if they were discussed openly for transparency purposes for the public.

[1:08:22] One being the final amendments to the 24-25 budget on there, it shows the 6.3 deficit, and it would be nice to hear that we're hoping it's going to be closer to 3 million, because that's what was discussed at the budget.

[1:08:43] And historically, every deficit so far that we've been in a deficit has decreased.

[1:08:53] So the year before, it started out at 6.1 or whatever.

[1:08:59] And when all the way down to 823,000 or 32,000,

[1:09:04] I don't know, might have some numbers mixed orders.

[1:09:07] The other thing that's on the center agenda is the changing the fund balance as Trusty Harrison

[1:09:19] Ed mentioned about the taking the dedicated funds for things and making.

[1:09:27] I had been wondering why we were only at 29 million when we ended all our budget talks last

[1:09:36] at 32 million. So I was wondering where that money went. So but if you could discuss that stuff for the public I think we'd appreciate it.

[1:09:46] Also on the consent agenda is the all the contracts for the mental health.

[1:09:55] I forget the exact wording, but there's no financial impact listed in the consent agenda for that

[1:10:06] item and I can't imagine these are free, so it would be nice to know like what that means

[1:10:12] are there any things we have to give up in order to make these fit into the budget we have.

[1:10:21] So those are just some things that I really think are important for us to cover in these meetings,

[1:10:31] especially when we're discussing finances.

[1:10:34] Thank you for your time.

[1:10:41] Thank you, Miss Healey.

[1:10:47] We are now going to move to the consent agenda.

[1:11:06] I'd like to pull item K.

[1:11:12] I'm sorry, someone like to pull item K.

[1:11:17] I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda

[1:11:23] as presented with the exception of item K.

[1:11:30] We have a motion in a second.

[1:11:32] All those in favor?

[1:11:36] that's past 7-0. Mr. Harrison, do you still have the mic down there for item K?

[1:11:44] I do.

[1:11:45] And first of all, I'd like to apologize.

[1:11:47] I misspoke, and I appreciate Tammy Toby correcting me.

[1:11:50] The board did vote to lower the tax rate, and they did vote for to move the

[1:11:55] Vator forward, which would have raised it back up, and it would have cost more in taxes

[1:11:59] for homeowners.

[1:12:00] The concern I have with item K is this, that some numbers I got from Dr. Belding this week,

[1:12:09] we are about $136,000 on function 41, and this is for efficiency audit, and the efficiency

[1:12:17] audit is only 15,000, but that's the first step toward another Vader.

[1:12:21] My concern with this is that it's been less than a year ago that the Vader failed by a significant

[1:12:30] the gold post. And that's exactly what we're doing if we go after another

[1:12:34] Vader. We're going to try and raise people's taxes. So when we take everything

[1:12:38] that's been included for Huckabee for elections for printing, that's $136,000

[1:12:44] in this budget. If we go back to the 2024 Vader, that's about $90,000. We go back

[1:12:50] to the $23 bond, that's $168,000. So that means in less than a two and a half

[1:12:55] years we spent about $400,000 in elections and we've been unsuccessful in every one.

[1:13:04] So I'm thinking that before I can support this, I think we do need to go back and look

[1:13:09] at the items, any items that we can refine, reduce cost on, and let me say I am not against

[1:13:15] a bond, especially when it comes down to something that's extremely conservative and one

[1:13:20] possibly two elementary schools, which we've got to have very, very quickly.

[1:13:24] But that is the reason I am not going to support item K.

[1:13:32] Okay.

[1:13:32] As many times as we're going to say something that is not completely true,

[1:13:36] I'm going to continue to correct it.

[1:13:38] And that is, we as a board did not vote to raise any by taxes.

[1:13:43] We voted to lower the INS rate the same amount that we were going to get the M&O up.

[1:13:48] We have no control over any of the other items that

[1:13:53] determine whether the taxes go up. So I'm going to keep saying that because we're all about

[1:13:58] transparency. So let's be fully transparent. And the only things we control are the rates.

[1:14:03] So I'm going to say that every time you say that we voted to raise people's taxes because we did

[1:14:07] not do that. And number two, I'm just out of loss because I feel like we have to keep saying the same

[1:14:16] things over and over. And so I appreciate you coming back with that. But when you say that the board

[1:14:21] didn't have anything to do with lower in the tax rate, that's why I did offer to add to

[1:14:26] that in full transparency because that is not what happened.

[1:14:31] So I'm going to continue to say it because that's not fully truthful.

[1:14:34] I fully expect you to continue to say that because every time I've said it actually you say

[1:14:38] why and that's okay.

[1:14:40] But here's the bottom line is recently there was a discussion on this panel and Gary said

[1:14:46] it was tax increase, you said it was not a tax increase on the same night.

[1:14:50] Now, whether it is or not, I mean, you do the math, it was a tax increase, but that's not the issue.

[1:14:54] The issue right now is that I'm okay, I've expressed fine.

[1:14:57] I cannot support it, I'm okay.

[1:14:59] And with that, Mr. President.

[1:15:00] Thank you, Mr. Harrison.

[1:15:03] I will

[1:15:07] - I will- I make a motion to approve item K on consent agenda as presented.

[1:15:14] All second.

[1:15:17] We have a motion in a second. All those in favor?

[1:15:24] All those opposed? Passes six one.

[1:15:31] Thank you for that. Okay. Now, I believe we are moving on to our information item. You want to introduce?

[1:15:38] I do. As you know, we just completed a legislative session and there are many bills that have been passed and we are in the process of really trying to delve into those.

[1:15:53] One of those bills was House Bill 1481, which basically has banned cell phones on school campuses for students.

[1:16:04] And so, I as Mr. Tipton, to our executive director, our illustrious executive director

[1:16:10] for student services, to bring you some information, because some of the implementation

[1:16:15] of this particular bill is a bit timely.

[1:16:19] We don't have a proposed policy yet.

[1:16:20] We're going to have to work through that, but there is an implication of some possible equipment

[1:16:25] we may need to be able to really implement this.

[1:16:28] So, with that, Christ has got a great presentation for you, and she'll work you through it, and we'll have a conversation.

[1:16:35] A listries and great, oh boy, the bar is high, so we'll see what we can do.

[1:16:39] Yeah, well thank you for that introduction and I appreciate the time to be able to share with you this important topic.

[1:16:47] Um, implications for MISD for student personal communication devices.

[1:16:52] Just as a review, our policy that discusses this is policy FNCE local, where basically it states that the district may confiscate phones if they are not used according to campus procedures.

[1:17:07] So it's very general. There are not details. Many details laid out in that policy.

[1:17:12] It does say that the district can charge a fee for the pickup of a phone, it can also potentially dispose of phones if not retrieved.

[1:17:22] We don't do either one of those anymore unless it's a really extreme situation, but those things are listed in policy as options.

[1:17:30] So, no specifics in policy about the details of how these cell phones are governed.

[1:17:35] That is left to our regulations.

[1:17:37] And so in that second section under campus procedures, you'll see a couple of things relating to how we currently are handling cell phones.

[1:17:44] And so at the secondary campuses cell phones must be turned off or on silent and stored away during class time.

[1:17:52] And students are not permitted to take phones into the restroom when they go to the restroom during class.

[1:17:58] They're supposed to leave their phones in the classroom.

[1:18:01] cell phones are allowed to be used in the halls and at lunchtime in accordance with the

[1:18:06] campus, except it was using the district acceptable use policy, which that is really

[1:18:10] the main crux of the difference, is that this new legislation, the House Bill 1481 actually

[1:18:17] restricts students from using their phone at all during the school day.

[1:18:21] At the elementary campuses cell phones, we do have some that show up at those elementary

[1:18:25] campuses mainly for students who maybe walk to and from or want to be able to communicate

[1:18:31] with their parents after school. So the phones must be stored away in their backpack

[1:18:37] during the instructional day. The cell phones are allowed to be out at dismissal if the

[1:18:42] kiddos need to communicate with their parents. So the new house bill 1481 is going to basically

[1:18:49] amend the Texas Education Code and it is going to be a policy that prohibits students from

[1:18:55] using their personal communication devices while on school property during the school day.

[1:18:59] So that is not only cell phones.

[1:19:02] It's also smartwatches and also earbuds because you know, you can answer the phone from

[1:19:06] touching your ear buds sometimes and so those are also restricted.

[1:19:11] So the policy must specifically outline disciplinary measures for violations.

[1:19:17] It also provides opportunity for the district to have basically one of two avenues.

[1:19:21] either prohibit the students from bringing cell phones all together or designate storage methods

[1:19:28] for those devices while on campus.

[1:19:31] And so districts right now are considering lots of different, well, those two options

[1:19:36] and how those might be applied in their district.

[1:19:42] So as you can imagine there are pros and cons with this, obviously the pros are that we all

[1:19:48] I think would come to agreement that cell phones have been known to be distractions in the school

[1:19:54] environment.

[1:19:55] So we would hope that it would overall improve academic focus and decrease some of those

[1:20:00] negative peer interactions that sometimes we deal with the cyber bullying recording fights

[1:20:05] and things like that that really have no business in the school system.

[1:20:09] The negative sides of this or things that we would have to sort through is that administratively

[1:20:13] managing this on a large scale, could be difficult to enforce campus-wide. When you're talking

[1:20:18] about a campus-like mid-Lothian high school, where there's 2,000 students, there's probably

[1:20:23] on any day, 1,995 cell phones, and that's just because five may be left at home. And so to just

[1:20:32] go from every student having those phones and accessible during certain times to just saying,

[1:20:37] don't use them at all, that's a tough ask. And so we're going to provide for you some potential

[1:20:42] options for the district to consider to help the campuses to manage this transition.

[1:20:49] Obviously, there is a cost associated, but it's kind of one of those unfunded mandates

[1:20:52] that we get a lot of times from the state that we might want to have to sort through.

[1:20:59] So, one company that is kind of on the leading edge of coming up with solutions for this,

[1:21:05] is a company called Yonder, and Yonder is a company that produces cell phone pouches.

[1:21:11] It is the leading company that actually first started this about 14 years ago, it created options for school districts, but not only school districts.

[1:21:21] I don't know if you guys have ever been to a concert or a comedy show, but a lot of those Kevin Hart in particular is one that, you know, when folks go to a Kevin Hart comedy show, they all are given a yonder pouch and they put their cell phones in those yonder pouches.

[1:21:36] And so we're going to talk to you a little bit specifically about this option and then I'll show you a couple of others as well

[1:21:47] Well, I have a quick question for you. Do you know this was this a study recently?

[1:21:51] Do you know how often the average person checks their cell phone during the day any guesses?

[1:22:03] This study is 96 times per day, which is on average. This was according to Zip a cell phone usage statistics

[1:22:11] 96 times per day, which is about once every 15 minutes. Again, that's all humans

[1:22:16] So if you think about teenagers, that's going to be a lot more often.

[1:22:23] So as you can see here, we're used to seeing some of these headlines that come out in the...

[1:22:30] You know, the increase in anxiety and depression and some just other mental health issues due to the cell phones, which is a reason behind this legislation that we are now talking about today.

[1:22:45] A quick glance here shows you some of the negative impacts of cell phones on academics.

[1:22:50] That one down there on the bottom right hand corner that 68%, this is the percent of students who report that electronic devices are distracting.

[1:22:59] take a look at the year. That was from 2017. So I would I beg to say that that number

[1:23:07] is a lot higher now than it was back in 2017. And those are self-reported. That's

[1:23:13] students saying, yeah, it is a distraction.

[1:23:18] But self-owned bands are not enough. And

[1:23:20] you know, some school districts who have gone to this movement before the legislation,

[1:23:26] it's difficult, as I said, to just say students don't bring your cell phones. It's a lot

[1:23:31] easier if you've got some kind of processes and systems and communication and expectations in place.

[1:23:38] This quote there at the bottom says it's not really a ban, it's more of an un-un-inforcible

[1:23:42] wish unless you've got systems in place that can help to support that.

[1:23:47] So we've got to be able to provide systems and processes in order for this to be successful.

[1:23:52] Another piece to remember, and this is a quote from an English teacher, those of you who

[1:23:56] have maybe spoken with teachers about this, they don't want to be the bad guy, they don't

[1:24:00] to be the antagonist. They want systems in place where they don't have to be forced with having

[1:24:04] to tell a student, no, you can't use your phone, but yet this other teacher is going

[1:24:08] to allow you to. And so when you've got system-wide processes, it helps to make sure there's

[1:24:13] not an antagonist relationship between the teachers and the students, which is the most important

[1:24:18] relationship on the campus.

[1:24:22] So I actually have some samples for you today. If Dr. Williams

[1:24:26] would help me for just a second. Yeah. He told me he'd be vaniformy. So we have some samples

[1:24:32] of these younger pouches. There are two pouches, and we'll just kind of, and there are two

[1:24:36] different magnets. And so basically, what it is is a little pouch. One of them has a magnet,

[1:24:43] and the other sample that you'll see is a Velcro option. The Velcro option is for students

[1:24:47] who have to access their phones because of a medical reason, like maybe they have a glucose

[1:24:54] glucometer on their phone. So they may have to be able to access that during the day. But

[1:24:59] the vast majority, the students would be given one of these yonder pouches, they would put

[1:25:04] their cell phone, their apple watch, their earpods and any other personal communication

[1:25:09] devices in there, and then they actually keep those pouches on their body, in their

[1:25:15] backpack, throughout the day. So they are still in close proximity to themselves. And that just

[1:25:23] helps in the feel better. You know, sometimes when the students have to give out their

[1:25:26] And maybe they put in the office or somewhere the anxiety raises because they don't know who's such in their phone

[1:25:31] who's looking at their phone. So in this case those phones are still in their possession during the school day.

[1:25:41] Yes, I'm going to show you a video. Let me go ahead and zip to this video and see if this will help you to see in action how this works at a

[1:25:52] Educators around the world are seeing the damaging effects of phones on student engagement social development and mental health

[1:26:00] cell phone cell phone cell phones have been linked to many of the district's recent

[1:26:04] problems.

[1:26:05] Text and tweeting pieces of anxiety and depression, and in an effort to crack down on

[1:26:13] cell phone usage the district piloted these magnetic locking bags called Yonder.

[1:26:18] It's an easy solution for a generation in the midst of the mental health crisis.

[1:26:25] Yonder is the established leader in creating phone free schools.

[1:26:30] For over 10 years, our product and program has allowed students to experience the focus,

[1:26:35] creativity and relief that comes from a phone free school day.

[1:26:40] As students enter school, they place their phone in their assigned yonder pouch.

[1:26:44] They close and secure their pouch, keeping it with them throughout the day.

[1:26:49] When leaving school, students tap their pouch on an unlocking base to retrieve their phone.

[1:26:58] Yonder is used by millions of students every day across 26 countries.

[1:27:04] Our school partners report having more teaching time in the classroom, improve student safety and wellness, better student engagement, student behavior, and academic performance.

[1:27:17] Creating phone free schools is a community initiative.

[1:27:21] Our comprehensive program provides support to our school partners from start to finish with step by step guidance,

[1:27:27] parent communication materials, policy development, and proven expertise to ensure everyone

[1:27:33] understands the difference of phone-free education can make. It's amazing to see kids come to school

[1:27:40] and not have to worry about that phone one or them being bullied by someone else on social media.

[1:27:46] It was kind of annoying at first but then I saw like a difference between like my old school and

[1:27:52] I see more people like interacting rather than being on their phone, like it's best the

[1:27:57] others time every time.

[1:27:58] They are way more engaged, everyone's happier.

[1:28:02] It's nine days.

[1:28:03] I saw kids face this again.

[1:28:16] All right.

[1:28:17] So again, this is just one sample.

[1:28:19] This is just one that I brought because it's an industry leader in this area and basically

[1:28:24] the philosophy is you put these magnets and there are several different types that you

[1:28:29] can mount or that you can carry as administrators.

[1:28:32] There are some that are outdoor, their weather proof, so they come in a little case, that

[1:28:39] you can unlock.

[1:28:40] And basically, the districts that have used these, say it's the fastest way to clear

[1:28:44] out your school, because at the end of the day, those kids are going to want to go find those

[1:28:48] magnets to unlock those pouches, and so the, you know, the empty school in five minutes.

[1:28:52] And you put those magnets in the places where you want the school to be, to be exited.

[1:28:58] So if there's a door that you don't want kids to go out, you don't put a magnet there

[1:29:02] and kids won't go out that door.

[1:29:04] But so, you know, it basically the folks that we have been working with just learning

[1:29:08] more about this product, it's not just about the product, it's about the partnership with

[1:29:14] the education that comes along with it, they help us to develop the policies and procedures

[1:29:18] and do the PD, the communication with parents is a huge piece and just making sure that

[1:29:23] all those things are aligned, not just giving a kid a pouch.

[1:29:26] There's a lot more that goes along with it.

[1:29:33] Just a couple of things there again.

[1:29:34] The training and support, the curriculum support,

[1:29:36] not just the device.

[1:29:39] They have done multiple studies.

[1:29:41] Again, they've been in the business really actively for 11 years

[1:29:44] in all 50 states and over 35 countries.

[1:29:47] And from their research using this product,

[1:29:50] you can see the things that have gone up

[1:29:52] are the things that you want to improve in schools,

[1:29:54] and the things that have gone down according to the...

[1:30:00] Other studies are things that you would want to decrease with the use of this type of pouch.

[1:30:06] And again, some specific studies, excuse me, a specific study that was done that shows these statistics,

[1:30:12] improving safety and wellness, student engagement, and academic performance. This one specifically gives more data regarding

[1:30:21] the academic improvements that were from this yonder and education

[1:30:27] examination of academics and behavioral outcomes research that they

[1:30:32] performed.

[1:30:36] And then also the decrease in the behavioral referrals

[1:30:38] and the bullying and harassment pieces also went down in their

[1:30:42] study.

[1:30:46] And they came along with a lot of educator

[1:30:49] testimonials as well for those who have used this.

[1:30:53] Richardson is the biggest district that has implemented this, and they started probably seven years ago now.

[1:31:03] And I actually several months ago went and went to Richardson and talked to folks and actually heard from some of their administrators before we even knew that this legislation was going to be enacted.

[1:31:13] And so they spoke very highly of it and basically said we cannot imagine our schools without it at this point.

[1:31:19] So, all right, let me jump back into,

[1:31:25] they just gonna help me out.

[1:31:47] Okay, so again, this is just an option A

[1:31:51] that I'm calling this option A,

[1:31:53] the younger pouches, they do come with a cost,

[1:31:55] they are about 25, 50 per pouch,

[1:31:59] which if we were to implement this in all of our secondary

[1:32:03] campuses, it would be about $198,000,

[1:32:07] I don't know why it keeps falling out on me up here.

[1:32:16] As you can see, the magnets are necessary to unlock this particular option.

[1:32:21] Two other options that I just wanted to show you that are out there.

[1:32:24] Option B, that I'm sharing with you, is a product called Newcase.

[1:32:29] It is a clear, plexiglass type material that's called Newpreen.

[1:32:34] It is also a lockable device case that has a magnet system to unlock that as well.

[1:32:42] the cost is approximately $25 per student so that would come out to about $185,000 for the entire district.

[1:32:51] Option C are fair day pouches. Phone X3 is just one of the companies that would provide these.

[1:32:58] The interesting thing about the fair day pouches are these are signal blocking material.

[1:33:02] And so I guess there's pros and cons with that. I think from the parent perspective,

[1:33:07] from the parents that have had students that have used the yonder pouches,

[1:33:10] what they like about that is that the student device could still be on but on silent and so the parent could still

[1:33:18] track their kids through life 360 and things like that so they can still they can still know the whereabouts of their child

[1:33:24] whereas with the fair day pouches they're signal blocking and speaking with Commander Medina these are used in the police force a lot of times

[1:33:32] whenever they if they have a situation where there may be a phone that needs to be confiscated for evidence

[1:33:39] They'll put these phones in the fair day pouches, and so somebody cannot like get onto their Apple account and try to deactivate or delete things from their account.

[1:33:49] And so, pros and cons with having signal blocking material, but this is one of the options that does have that.

[1:33:55] This is a Velcro closure system, and the cost is about $13.99 per student for a total of about $13,000 for that particular option.

[1:34:06] And then I just included this one also just to have a different kind of viewpoint for cell phones.

[1:34:14] We have this cell phone locker option that houses about 36 cell phones.

[1:34:21] I could see this potentially being used in an office space or at an elementary school potentially to house phones.

[1:34:29] Um, if you did something like this in every single secondary campus, um, in every single

[1:34:35] classroom, you could see some of the things they're listed that could be, uh, difficult

[1:34:39] things overcom, such as the student putting their phone in their, from their first period,

[1:34:44] they would have to come back to that exact location to get their phone at the end of the day.

[1:34:47] Maybe they're an athletics, this last period of the day and, and whatnot.

[1:34:51] So, um, it'd be a little bit more difficult to manage, but it does meet the letter of the

[1:34:56] in terms of one of the options for storing those devices.

[1:35:03] So kind of in summary, basically,

[1:35:05] we are going to have to adjust our policy and our practices

[1:35:09] concerning the cell phones.

[1:35:11] And the most important thing in order for this to be successful,

[1:35:15] there's got to be a couple of things that they come into play.

[1:35:17] And that is clear effective procedures,

[1:35:20] clear communication, and partnership with our parents,

[1:35:24] and the consistency of enforcement, and the consistency

[1:35:26] of the consequences and districts that have been able to do that have had great success with these

[1:35:32] types of program implementations. So you can kind of see a summary chart there as well.

[1:35:39] Just today, I am in an email cohort with all the student services folks in the DFW area. In

[1:35:48] the last three hours of the day, there were three or four folks that got on that email thread

[1:35:54] And said, hey, what are you guys doing about House Bill 1481?

[1:35:57] Plano Wiley, Capell, we're three that, particularly that stand out just in the, today,

[1:36:02] we're saying, what are we doing about this?

[1:36:04] And so, Dr. Belding's point, the reason why I'm bringing this to you is because of the

[1:36:08] timeliness of this, being something that the whole state is going to need to respond to.

[1:36:13] There are not very many vendors that provide these pouches.

[1:36:17] And so I think if we're going to do something like this, getting on the front end to be able

[1:36:21] to get the supply and the PD and a timely manner is something that we'd want to consider.

[1:36:26] So thank you for listening and I'll try to answer any questions you might have.

[1:36:30] One thing when we were talking about this and the implementation of this that was really on my mind

[1:36:36] is I really, I remember the days and nearly 2000s, right as iPhones were coming out

[1:36:43] and what I would call the battle the cell phone even back then.

[1:36:47] And it was, you know, flip phones and no KIAs.

[1:36:51] More of those old no KIAs.

[1:36:52] They were probably belonging to museum now.

[1:36:55] But, and it was, it was just a constant battle.

[1:36:58] And, you know, we've taken them up.

[1:37:00] They pay $15 to get them back.

[1:37:01] And it was just something that, it was almost an unenforceable rule.

[1:37:06] And so, what was on my heart about this is that our teachers,

[1:37:09] I don't want to put our, like, Mr. Tiff and talked about,

[1:37:12] I don't want to part teachers in the position of being that person

[1:37:15] to be distracted and to have to deal with this just on a consistent basis and things.

[1:37:22] So that's where as much as the expenditure is, I really think for me one of the pouches.

[1:37:30] Options is probably the best option. And to assign it to a kid, similar to what we do at Chromebook,

[1:37:37] that's yours. The younger one even had a place to put the right, a copy of their

[1:37:42] ID so they could identify it as theirs. And then if they lose it, they owe us for

[1:37:46] it kind of thing to get another one and things of this nature. It just seems like it

[1:37:50] makes sense to me with to complivit this law. Just to say, don't have them, is not going to work.

[1:37:57] Okay, that's just not going to happen.

[1:38:01] So, you know, I know we're in a deficit, I don't like it, from that aspect.

[1:38:05] I do think this is a positive and our folks have worked really hard on enforcing

[1:38:10] the, not having out in the classroom.

[1:38:12] And, you know, they haven't in the hallway and they're in lunch,

[1:38:16] but not in the classroom and even that, you know,

[1:38:18] as the year goes on, that wanes a little bit.

[1:38:22] So, you know, that's kind of where I am on it,

[1:38:24] and I'm really eager to hear what y'all think,

[1:38:26] and what questions that all of you have?

[1:38:33] So I did, by the way, I think we're all working now.

[1:38:36] Yeah, I want to check.

[1:38:40] When I first looked at, I was like, OK, yes.

[1:38:43] Because so I get it, like, cell phones need to be a way

[1:38:48] during the classroom.

[1:38:49] And I know certain teachers allow it,

[1:38:52] on certain periods of their classroom,

[1:38:54] depending on whatever it's going on that day.

[1:38:58] And I've always said, how do we get rid of them?

[1:39:01] So now the state came in and said, hey, now you have to.

[1:39:04] So now we don't have a choice.

[1:39:07] Which I like, however, I do wish the state would have said,

[1:39:10] oh, we're making you do this.

[1:39:12] So here's specialized funding attached to it.

[1:39:16] You know, we're here's a grant that you can apply for the funding

[1:39:20] for your district, but you know, the state doesn't go that far,

[1:39:23] apparently.

[1:39:24] they just like to give us stuff sometimes.

[1:39:28] So me personally, I like, you know, I like the pouches.

[1:39:33] You know, I know you'll work out the logistics on, you know,

[1:39:37] what's going to happen is that, you know,

[1:39:40] as soon as you walk in there were tenda or the front doors that HHS

[1:39:44] or wherever you have to do your pouch right then.

[1:39:47] And then what's going to happen every single period

[1:39:50] does the teacher, let me see your pouch.

[1:39:53] let me see it's closed, you know, like, how is that going to go, because of the things the

[1:40:00] unlocks are going to be just stationed, you know, are they stationed only at the end of the

[1:40:06] day or are they going to be there all school days? So, right, kid could easily just go do it right

[1:40:12] away and unlock their pouch after first period. So, that's a great question. So, no, the

[1:40:17] magnets will not be accessible for students to access. These actually come off. So, the administrator

[1:40:22] can keep the magnet. This can be mounted on the wall and the end of the day, the administrator can put these back on,

[1:40:29] and standing close proximity so that this little magnet doesn't walk off.

[1:40:34] But yeah, there's all the things that you have to think about.

[1:40:37] But we would have the magnets, the magnets, available in the front office,

[1:40:41] so that if a student does say, you know, I really need to, you know, get this message that,

[1:40:46] somebody's supposed to text me or whatever, and I have to get to my phone,

[1:40:49] Then they would go to the office and they would be a procedure for them to be able to access it in the case of an emergency or that type of thing.

[1:40:55] But yeah, the magnets would be strategically placed.

[1:40:59] And in terms of the teachers would not check them every period.

[1:41:03] But from some of the districts that have had success in this, basically just do random checks.

[1:41:09] And just walk into a classroom and say, okay, everybody show me your yonder pouch.

[1:41:12] And they'll pull out their pouch and make sure everybody's got one.

[1:41:15] There might be some incentives or rewards.

[1:41:18] I used to do something like this with IDs.

[1:41:21] I walk into a classroom and heritage and say,

[1:41:22] okay, everybody have your ID on.

[1:41:23] I had to play to cookies.

[1:41:24] If everybody had their ID, everybody gets a cookie.

[1:41:27] You know, so I mean, whatever, that's simple,

[1:41:29] some little things that you can give some kind of incentive for,

[1:41:34] and the other thing that kind of surfaced,

[1:41:37] in listening to the folks from the other districts

[1:41:40] that use this and also the representative,

[1:41:43] that when you have a system like this,

[1:41:44] It's not going to be 100% full proof.

[1:41:47] Like there's going to be kids who are always going to try to get around it.

[1:41:50] But you're changing the culture and the expectations and the vast majority

[1:41:54] of kids will get in line.

[1:41:56] And they will also let you know if their students that are not in line.

[1:42:00] Because if my cell phone's in a pouch and I went in the bathroom and I saw

[1:42:03] Johnny on his phone, then I'm going to probably come back and maybe do an anonymous

[1:42:07] stop at report and let somebody know that sometimes that kind of positive

[1:42:13] peer pressure, I think would act in this case as well.

[1:42:16] That's awesome.

[1:42:17] And then my only other thing would be obviously this day and age parents love to have communication

[1:42:23] with their child, even though they're in a very safe space and if anything, what's to happen

[1:42:29] in the parents, you will be notified, I promise.

[1:42:32] But I know that that's going to be, I would imagine we're going to have some education needed

[1:42:40] for our parents as well. You know, having that tie kind of severed from them, not being able

[1:42:49] to actually text their child, you know, during the day. So, or if the school goes down

[1:42:55] on temporary lockdown, or maybe it's a full-on lockdown, and then everyone sort of screaming

[1:43:00] in the next thing, you know, it's on Facebook, on certain pages, and then all these parents,

[1:43:04] you know, I want to make sure, and this is all y'all for logistics, right? I don't need to

[1:43:09] know what's going to happen, but I want to make sure that we do have specific communication

[1:43:16] procedures in place. So if a school goes on lockdown, we're not going to have a thousand

[1:43:21] parents calling the front office. Why can't you, let me talk to my kid, get my kid in the

[1:43:26] office right now, do this as this. You know, I want to make sure that ample communication

[1:43:31] goes out to ease the parents, you know, tension or anxiety or whatever.

[1:43:37] Well, luckily, Ms. Kirkand over there has been working on an implementation of a new

[1:43:43] mass communication system that we much easier to use called parent square and that

[1:43:48] will help address that.

[1:43:50] But, you know, in any situation that's emergency situation is going to take a little time

[1:43:53] to get facial information and get it out correctly and things of this nature, but

[1:43:57] absolutely that it'll make it easier to do that.

[1:44:00] Well, the problem is with doing that just as you put communication out,

[1:44:05] So-and-so campus is not the exact communication, but the parents would need notification because we get an notification anyway

[1:44:14] All ready whenever our campus goes on lockdown. I get it. If it's my thought is if we put it out too early

[1:44:20] Then we're gonna and now that they can't communicate with their child through cell phone

[1:44:25] They're coming to the campus not calling. They're coming to the campus and so I would definitely not want that communication going out prematurely

[1:44:35] to keep people from coming to the campus because then we'll have a flooded campus and

[1:44:43] not to mention like you said the flood the phone calls flooding the front office.

[1:44:47] Which nobody's going to answer anyway if they're on lockdown. Exactly.

[1:44:50] Which I'm not saying like prematurely, I'm just saying that, you know,

[1:44:56] it's not communicating at all. We'll definitely have parents banging on.

[1:45:01] Right? But, exactly, I just, you know, in those situations parents, you know, get a little bit more anxiety. I just want us to make sure, like I said, I don't care how you'll do it.

[1:45:15] Just me personally as I was looking through this, I was like, okay, put myself in the shoes as a parent.

[1:45:21] You know, what would I expect my district to do? At least some form of communication with you guys do now.

[1:45:28] You know, I just want to make sure that that stays kind of in place, I guess, this where I'm going.

[1:45:35] Yes, ma'am, and not just the emergency communication, but more also the day-to-day, just like,

[1:45:41] hey, your dad's going to pick you up today, don't ride the bus, right?

[1:45:44] That's important information that you're going to need to know.

[1:45:46] So, we're definitely going to have to have clear systems through our communication

[1:45:50] and make sure that we really get ahead of all of that so that everybody knows what the procedures are

[1:45:57] and that they're clear and easy and consistent.

[1:46:03] You mentioned something earlier that this was for secondary only?

[1:46:08] Well, we could definitely do elementary, but when I spoke with the elementary principles,

[1:46:13] I kind of just surveyed and they said that the majority of elementary kids that bring their cell phones.

[1:46:19] It has not been a problem with them having them out for the majority. They keep them in their backpack.

[1:46:24] They keep them off. They'll get them out at dismissal.

[1:46:26] But it didn't seem like it was as big of a need.

[1:46:30] We could certainly look into that option and get a quote on that if you're interested in that.

[1:46:35] Well, I'll always bring that up because it isn't that mandated by the state that no cell phones in any campus.

[1:46:42] It didn't say secondary.

[1:46:43] Correct.

[1:46:44] Or, or you tell them not to bring them.

[1:46:46] So, and that's where the little storage device, the little cubby locker system,

[1:46:52] might be good for elementary.

[1:46:52] So either we say elementary kids, you cannot bring them or if you bring them you're going to have to put them in one of the lockers in the main office and that way they are stored and in compliance with with that policy

[1:47:06] Okay, now what about because I mean obviously the cost involved and this is

[1:47:11] You know right now we're talking you know roughly $200,000 on the low side

[1:47:17] because we haven't included anything with elementary schools yet and we can't ignore that because just like with anything else, don't bring them is not going to work.

[1:47:26] So we can't ignore that.

[1:47:29] I do think elementary is a little different ball game.

[1:47:32] I think they're way more compliant about that.

[1:47:35] So I do, and even talking to the principals myself, they felt pretty comfortable with saying, hey, don't bring them or, or, you know, if you do bring them.

[1:47:44] they're over here, right, and where they don't necessarily need a pouch and individual

[1:47:49] pouch.

[1:47:50] I'm not saying we need to do that.

[1:47:52] I'm saying that locker system what you're talking about, is still an expense of what

[1:47:56] we're going to have to do.

[1:47:57] It's what I'm saying.

[1:47:57] We're not talking about 200.

[1:47:59] We're talking however many it's going to take to do that, too.

[1:48:02] Right.

[1:48:02] I was about $70 a piece.

[1:48:06] So, I mean, the legislature and the infinite wisdom has done another unfounded Monday.

[1:48:11] You know that we're what we're that we are foot with the bill on so that being said

[1:48:19] And I'd use the word pass through cost

[1:48:22] But we're already in a negative deficit negative deficit as it is is this a pass to a cost that can be passed on the parents because does it is their kid bringing the phone to school

[1:48:32] So you either pay for it for your kids call your kids phones days home

[1:48:37] So yeah, that's gonna work if that would work. We wouldn't need the pouches

[1:48:41] that's not going to work. So the parents are not going to pay for

[1:48:48] it.

[1:48:49] Okay. So we're just looking at around 230,000 because if we did the, um, excuse me,

[1:48:57] the, what are they called? The cabinets.

[1:48:59] Right. It says here 475. And that's all across all elementary.

[1:49:04] No, sorry. That number. I was just trying to clarify.

[1:49:07] Oh, you're right. So that's, that was for secondary campuses. That was basically to put one in every

[1:49:12] secondary classroom, that was just so that you could compare all secondary options together.

[1:49:18] So the elementary, sorry, I should have clarified that, but no, the elementary would be, you know,

[1:49:23] if you want to put one of those in each office, there's 70 bucks a piece and it's only 36

[1:49:29] lots. So on average, how many kiddos actually have a cell phone, you know, have a cell phone

[1:49:38] that elementary campus is that 400 kids out of 700 or, you know, so we're looking at needing

[1:49:44] 400 of these slots, you know, or enough of them to make 400 slots.

[1:49:49] No, I think we're getting into the weeds over a little bit here because Christa just said

[1:49:54] that our elementary principal said that they don't need it, like they can police it enough

[1:49:59] and I can tell you from the first hand point, it can be police enough, they said, yes, legislation

[1:50:04] and said legislation, if it stays in the backpack all day and they don't see it, what

[1:50:08] we're trying to what Ms. Tipton I believe. And the rest of the administration is trying

[1:50:13] to do is to keep that off of these secondary teachers, so that they don't have to police it

[1:50:20] so that we can not worry about that. It's not an issue at elementary. It is, and it's going

[1:50:27] to be an issue at secondary. I think looking at the heads nodding in the crowd with the people

[1:50:30] who are with secondary kids all day long.

[1:50:33] It's going to be in his meat, I love it.

[1:50:36] I don't like $200,000.

[1:50:38] We don't have it, but it's worth it.

[1:50:42] It is like the quoted there was from what's his name,

[1:50:46] hate from the anxious generation.

[1:50:47] You haven't read it.

[1:50:48] It's amazing.

[1:50:50] This is the state got something right here

[1:50:53] by putting this into play,

[1:50:55] because it needs to happen in our secondary schools.

[1:50:57] And it needs to happen for our kids.

[1:51:02] So, either way, if we do the cases a few of the cases because you said they option either you don't bring them or for the kids because some fifth graders are probably going to need to have communication for after school or whatever.

[1:51:20] So, I would just want a bottom line. Okay, this is how much it's going to truly cost to implement is what I would like including at least a few cases for those individual students.

[1:51:30] students at the elementary campus that, you know, have to have some type of communication

[1:51:37] because maybe they walk home and their parent is still at work so they have to call

[1:51:41] their mom to get in the house or to open the garage door because it's on an app on their

[1:51:47] phone and they have to open the garage door to get inside their house so they have to have

[1:51:50] their cell phone so there's going to be those type of situations I think as well where

[1:51:54] they're going to have to have their cell phone so I would just like to have the final

[1:51:58] cost because no matter what we have to do it. So yeah. So so the whole reason for this is I wanted

[1:52:05] to get your feedback on, are you comfortable with the pouches and they cost. It's really about

[1:52:10] the cost and then we will put together a basically a proposal and bring it back to you for action

[1:52:17] to be able to implement this. Now this, this will be outside the policy. The policy is different work,

[1:52:24] But we want to get on the front end of making these orders that way we're not waiting till December

[1:52:30] To get some things in, and we got to go the first semester and not have it in. So that's what we're, that's, that's why I wanted to bring it to you, get your thoughts. And then now we can reach something back to you.

[1:52:40] That has some specifics to it and then approval or consideration of approval that way we can place in the order. Perfect. Thank you. Great presentation.

[1:52:52] Thank you.

[1:52:53] It was illustrious.

[1:52:54] It was illustrious.

[1:52:56] Oh.

[1:52:56] No, all is going to say that.

[1:52:58] I appreciate the presentation, and I want to give Tammy Toby Kudos.

[1:53:03] She recommended the anxious generation to me.

[1:53:05] I read it.

[1:53:06] It's one of the best books I've read in the last five years.

[1:53:09] And I was excited to hear you quoting from that tonight.

[1:53:12] And he said there are two things that schools can do.

[1:53:16] He has made them phone free when you quoted that 77 percent statistic.

[1:53:22] That's just saying don't bring him that's exactly what he said so there was no enforcement mechanism behind that the other thing

[1:53:27] He says more free play. We're not talking about that tonight, but I I like this. Thank you. You're welcome

[1:53:33] Thank you

[1:53:44] Okay, up next we have a report on our spring 2025 star EOC preliminary scores

[1:53:52] With Miss play lock. They're wonderful

[1:53:55] Thank you for that. I couldn't think of a big enough word like Dr. Welding for illustrious

[1:54:01] to do a great job.

[1:54:04] He boosted her up.

[1:54:05] Okay.

[1:54:06] I do think that it's quite timely.

[1:54:08] The discussion we just had regarding cell phones and ensuring that our students are

[1:54:12] hyper-focused on the learning experience and less focused on those pieces of

[1:54:17] technology that distract them.

[1:54:19] That directly correlates in some ways to our discussion tonight, which is a preliminary

[1:54:24] look at our end-of-course star scores for the 2025 school year.

[1:54:30] So, as we look at our scores, first of all, just want to remind us that these are required

[1:54:37] for all students to pass out their star EOC assessments.

[1:54:41] They have to master their end-of-course knowledge, demonstrate in, of course, knowledge and

[1:54:45] skills to progress to the next level.

[1:54:48] And ultimately, graduate and head to either college, a career or the military, takes a high-school

[1:54:53] student's must pass, and that's at the approaches level, as you can see on the screen this

[1:54:58] reminder from T.E.A. at at least approaches in five different areas,

[1:55:02] algebra one, English one, English two, biology and US history to earn their

[1:55:07] high school diploma from a Texas public school district. At this time, these

[1:55:12] scores are considered preliminary and it will be that way until the state's

[1:55:16] quality control process is completed and they evaluate the student populations

[1:55:21] included in the current data that we have and take and remove any students who are

[1:55:26] here on Snapchat. So we know that these scores may move just a little bit. Additionally,

[1:55:32] our goals, as you've heard, our principles discuss, I don't know why that's not popping up,

[1:55:38] is for us to reach at, uh, approaches 90% 60% at meats

[1:55:50] to hold your mouth just right up here.

[1:55:53] Okay, um, 60% at meats and 30% at masters. Um, that is also at the district level and so you will notice

[1:56:00] that some of our score points are very close to this tonight.

[1:56:04] So we're going to take our first subject at algebra 1.

[1:56:07] The state reports that algebra 1 scores are slightly up across the state as compared to

[1:56:12] last year at the meets level.

[1:56:14] And so to walk us through our graphs and front of us, you will notice that our first

[1:56:19] graph is presenting data at the approaches level.

[1:56:23] The blue bar, it shows 85% that represents our mid-Lothian ISD students that reach the approaches

[1:56:29] level or above. So within that approach, data point are also include students who scored also

[1:56:36] at the meets and the master's level. And the orange bar, you will notice that is students

[1:56:41] that are at the region 10 level, which is our comparison group in the metroplex at the approaches,

[1:56:45] which was on this score point at 77%. And in the green bar represents all the students across the

[1:56:54] exam and they scored at 76%. As we go to the middle section, this is giving us information

[1:57:02] around our meets performance. At meets, we scored 11% above the region with our students

[1:57:09] hitting 60% of our students reaching the meets level, 49% of our region reaching that level,

[1:57:16] and we were 13% above the state where students performed at 47%. At the master's level, the very

[1:57:23] highest level. This is our long-term goal. You hear us talk about meets because that is a demonstration

[1:57:28] of on-grade level performance. But master's level is truly where we want to see our students

[1:57:35] obtain their highest level possible. So that's a goal point for us. So as we look at this 38% of the

[1:57:42] Mid-Lothian ISD students reach this level, whereas 32% of the students in the region reached

[1:57:49] meets masters and 29% reach that at the state level.

[1:57:56] As we move on to English 1, the state

[1:57:59] data shows that English 1 did see a slight decline from last year. As we look at our first

[1:58:05] area approaches, our district score was at 84% of our students reaching that level 68% of the

[1:58:13] students in the region and 66% of the students in the state were at the approaches level. When we

[1:58:20] Look beyond that, to study the grade level performance at meets, we were 14% above the region

[1:58:27] at 68% region at 54% and then 17 percentage points above the state at 51%.

[1:58:37] When we look at our master's level, we at our students 20% of our students reach the master's level

[1:58:43] 18% and the region and 16% of the students across the state.

[1:58:50] As we look at English 2, we also saw a slight decline across the state in this course as well this year.

[1:59:00] But as you can see in, as I'm sorry, I removed the animation on the rest of the slides.

[1:59:05] I think we've got kind of this cycle.

[1:59:07] So on English 2, 81% of our students reached approaches.

[1:59:12] And we were at 10 percentage points above both the region and state that both performed at 71%.

[1:59:18] When we look in this intersection at our meets level, we were 11 percentage points above the region.

[1:59:25] Our students at 68 percent, the region at 57, and our state at 56.

[1:59:30] So those two running very closely to each other.

[1:59:33] As we look at our master's level performance, you'll see that this is a lower percentage across the board

[1:59:39] from some of our other content areas for both us, region and state.

[1:59:43] 10% of our students reached the master's level and at the state, we had 9% of our students

[1:59:50] reaching that level.

[1:59:55] When we look at our science test of biology, for end, of course.

[2:00:00] The state did show notable improvements of biology across the state, 94% of our students met at approaches, and 91% of the state and region performed at approaches.

[2:00:12] When we look at meets, we were 8% above the region, our students at 72% and the region at 64, and we were 10% above the state, who was at 62%.

[2:00:24] When we reach the master's level, we see 26% of our students obtain this highest level, 23% of the region, and 21% of the states.

[2:00:36] And our last required course is U.S. history. U.S. history remains constant from last year across the state.

[2:00:43] with 97% of our students in mid-Lothi and ISD reaching the passing standard at approaches

[2:00:49] and 94% at the region in state. At meets we saw we are about 3% above the region and 4%

[2:00:57] above the state with our students at 72%. And at the master's level 39% of our students did

[2:01:04] perform at master's 41% of the region were at master's and 37% were of the state were at master's.

[2:01:13] This one is the only area in which our middle of the students did not perform above the region, which of course always makes a save.

[2:01:21] Wait a second, what's going on here?

[2:01:22] So we've already started to break down that data and understand exactly what supports are needed and how we can begin to work to ensure that that master's level does continue to excel and succeed.

[2:01:36] Our principles have this data and are aggressively breaking that down.

[2:01:42] From the second, they start asking us about 48 hours before the scores are supposed to

[2:01:47] come out.

[2:01:48] It is they are eager to see if all of the hard work that has gone into place this year made

[2:01:53] a difference.

[2:01:54] And where it made a difference.

[2:01:55] So they are looking at the student data level currently at our district office.

[2:02:00] We are obviously analyzing the data that we have, we're looking at item analysis, reporting

[2:02:06] categories and determining how these scores align to what we expected, but also how we can

[2:02:12] alter and provide even more supports to our teachers and our students for the future.

[2:02:18] Parents and families can currently view their individual star EOC results by visiting

[2:02:24] the school system's family portal and Texasassment.gov results for star for grades 3 through 8 will

[2:02:31] made public, publicly available on Tuesday, June 17th.

[2:02:36] That's already come out, and parents and families will be.

[2:02:39] It can view their child's individual 3 through 8 results by using their unique

[2:02:42] ASK access code, and if they need that, they can reach out to their campus

[2:02:47] or to our offices, and we'll help them with that as that comes out.

[2:02:51] As we receive our elementary scores, we will be bringing those preliminary reports

[2:02:55] to you in the very near future.

[2:02:56] And we just appreciate all the hard work of our teachers, but more especially our students

[2:03:02] for giving it their best and working extremely hard on what's a really challenging opportunity

[2:03:08] to prove what they've learned.

[2:03:13] Do you have any questions that I can answer tonight, Board?

[2:03:17] When is the makeup start test date?

[2:03:19] Is there one district wide that you know of?

[2:03:22] We do have a star make-ups in this month in June.

[2:03:26] I can get that date for you from my team.

[2:03:31] Do you know which date this all week?

[2:03:38] Miss tips and it's reporting that that is this week.

[2:03:40] So we can get those dates beyond that,

[2:03:43] with a specificity to the subject area.

[2:03:48] Oh, they did.

[2:03:50] Oh, we will, yes, we can.

[2:03:54] This is really exceptional work by the entire staff.

[2:03:57] So I just want to give Kudos to everybody because this is really, really good work that

[2:04:02] they've done all year long to accomplish this, so a great job for everybody.

[2:04:07] Thank you.

[2:04:07] Our high schools have worked very hard.

[2:04:11] We're really proud of their growth and hyper focus on individual student data.

[2:04:19] Thanks for the report, really exciting.

[2:04:22] We haven't quite achieved our goals, but we beat the state in every single one of those categories

[2:04:29] on every single one of those tests, and that should be recognized.

[2:04:34] The only other thing I'd ask could we have like 2024 information so we make sure that we're

[2:04:42] year-over-year growth in those performances?

[2:04:45] Yes, sir.

[2:04:45] When we do our accountability presentation, we will bring that year-over-year data so we'll

[2:04:51] be able to publicly discuss that comparison from last year to this year.

[2:04:56] Yeah, we'll get that in the taper report and because in the take sake I can inform report they pull

[2:05:03] The kids out that weren't here on snapshot so it's not really comparing apples to apples. So that's why and but yes, you definitely will get it

[2:05:16] Thank you Ms. Byelot,

[2:05:21] all right now are fine answer reports with Dr. Metzker.

[2:05:27] Yes, so I have our financial reports from the month of May

[2:05:32] First is our cash flow report

[2:05:34] So we did have negative cash flow again in the month of May that is expected this time of year.

[2:05:41] The overall net cash flow was a negative 14.5 million.

[2:05:45] Again, we expect that this time of year because we're not collecting the local revenue

[2:05:49] and the state revenue, although we are getting a payment from the state.

[2:05:54] Each month, again, starting in April, the payments are much smaller.

[2:05:58] So we do expect that this time of year any questions on the cash flow report.

[2:06:05] Okay, the next report is the debt service fund.

[2:06:08] So the big change to this fund is that we did record the refunding, that refunding actually

[2:06:14] occurred in August.

[2:06:15] It just got posted to the books this month.

[2:06:18] And so it just records those new bonds, that's the other sources of income and then the

[2:06:24] other uses is the refunding bond issue and that's pretty much the majority of the activity

[2:06:31] in that fund.

[2:06:32] because there's not there's we didn't have any debt payments or we're not collecting a lot

[2:06:36] of revenue in that fund at this time. Any questions about the debt service report?

[2:06:42] Next is food service. We have just sort of regular monthly activity. They did start their

[2:06:47] summer feeding. There was a couple of days of summer feeding included in that may income.

[2:06:54] Any questions about the food service report?

[2:06:58] then we have our general fund so we're close to closing out the year where 11 months in that would be expected to be about 92% of our budget spent.

[2:07:10] Our budget does show about 81% that is because as we know we have a lot of accruals that hit in the month of June.

[2:07:17] So we're busy working on those adjustments and working with our payroll office to get our payroll accruals all posted that we need to post for

[2:07:26] the month of June and then next year we'll have our next month.

[2:07:30] Next month, when I report the June financials, we'll have a much clearer picture of where we're hoping to end the year when all of those accruals are made.

[2:07:39] We have some visualizations for you just the same that I've been showing you each month.

[2:07:45] Our revenue comparison, showing the amended budget, what we would expect our annualized budget to be through May and then a last year to this year comparison of where we were through May.

[2:07:55] So we have that for our revenue, and then we also have an expense comparison, those same four bars.

[2:08:02] You can see at each functional spending level.

[2:08:06] And then that last visualization for you is just our fund balance in comparison to our target.

[2:08:15] Any questions on any of those reports?

[2:08:23] Thank you.

[2:08:28] Any questions?

[2:08:30] Thank you, Dr. Madscare.

[2:08:44] Hello, Dr. Butte.

[2:08:45] Hi.

[2:08:46] We are going to hear now.

[2:08:48] update on 2024 25 optional flexible school year program review well it is one of my very favorite things to talk about

[2:08:58] I'm going to give you an update on leap academy the progress that students made this year and then

[2:09:04] hopefully you will approve the optional flexible school day application to be submitted to TA for next school year

[2:09:13] Optional flexible school day provides in non-traditional route for

[2:09:18] graduation for students we can offer a flexible day in a flexible time for students

[2:09:24] to come these students are at risk of dropping out of school.

[2:09:27] They have dropped out of school or they're behind in their core credits.

[2:09:31] So we provide a place for them to catch F and graduate.

[2:09:35] This year we served 114 students and celebrated 62 graduates of our

[2:09:41] 114 students, 68 of those students or 18 years or older, 25 of those students will come

[2:09:47] back to us in the fall and all of those students should graduate on time next school year.

[2:09:53] We did have 27 students that left the program, this school year, which is a little higher

[2:09:58] than it was last school year, about half of the students who withdrew left the district and

[2:10:03] so they enrolled in another district, but then the other students, honestly, they dropped

[2:10:10] out because they had extenuating circumstances that did not allow them to continue with their

[2:10:15] education. The great news with optional flexible school days is that we can recapture

[2:10:20] them in the fall. Hopefully things have settled a little bit. We are still in communication

[2:10:25] with all of them and we do expect them to come back in the fall. We can accept them until they

[2:10:30] hit their 21st birthday and we can keep them until they're 26 but we're not going to keep them

[2:10:35] long. We did return to students to the campus or to their home campuses this year just

[2:10:42] because they came over and they realized they needed additional support that they couldn't

[2:10:46] get in an online platform with the support of our teachers and so they went back to campus

[2:10:51] and two of those students actually graduated from their home campuses last spring.

[2:10:57] As I said, 62 graduates this year, 78% of our students graduated with 26 credits. That's a

[2:11:03] 14% increase from the year before, and 95% of our students earned a CCMR point or a college career

[2:11:10] military readiness point, which is a 25% increase from the year before.

[2:11:15] So our goal is to ensure that these students are getting the same level of education as

[2:11:21] students on a traditional campus, so that they are absolutely prepared for their futures.

[2:11:27] We use that genuity.

[2:11:29] It's an online platform where students log in and they earn credits that way.

[2:11:32] our teachers are there to support them, but this year they worked over 22,000 hours in

[2:11:37] ingenuity and completed over 62,000 activities, earning 700 to 1.5 credits. They worried

[2:11:44] a little bit towards the end. I was like, you guys, we have to hit 700 and so they squeaked

[2:11:49] by 700 to 1.5. This is our second year in a row for them to have reached that 700 mark.

[2:11:57] We serve MHS students and heritage students, students, can either initiate interest in leap

[2:12:04] academy.

[2:12:04] Their parents can do that or their counselors are monitoring potential dropouts and they

[2:12:11] can do recommendations as well.

[2:12:13] They get a leap application, it goes through their school counselor, it comes to me, we review

[2:12:17] it as a committee and then we determine if they're accepted or not based on criteria.

[2:12:21] this year we served 60 heritage students and 54 MHS students. We did have a

[2:12:28] waiting list for a very long time in the fall. So we started the year pretty

[2:12:33] full and we stayed pretty full until right at December we welcomed five new

[2:12:38] leaf students in December and then we had 18 more join us in January and so we

[2:12:43] had a long waiting list and then we were able to move students a little bit

[2:12:47] through the spring and so we did not have a waiting list in the spring.

[2:12:53] We had 63

[2:12:54] mills and 51 females which is pretty on par for the district and the students

[2:13:00] all come with a story. I'm sharing numbers with you but behind all of these

[2:13:04] numbers are students, individual students with pretty incredible stories.

[2:13:09] 84% of our students are at risk of dropping out of school, 59% are

[2:13:13] economically disadvantaged. We had five students this year who were identified as

[2:13:18] can even toe, which is homelessness, and in one student was served with pregnancy related

[2:13:23] services.

[2:13:27] They and the students that come to us continue to receive the services that

[2:13:30] they had at their home campuses, so we had 28% of our students had 504, 19% of our students

[2:13:36] received special education services in 12% were emergent bilinguals. Next year, we are adding

[2:13:43] a special education teacher full-time with DAP and Leap, and so we're excited to be able to

[2:13:47] fully make these students needs.

[2:13:52] Our ethnicity is pretty on par with the district.

[2:13:55] Our Hispanic Latino population was a little higher this year

[2:13:58] than is reflective of the district.

[2:14:01] But we expect that to go back down

[2:14:02] because many of our students that were in that category

[2:14:05] graduated.

[2:14:08] So before I tell you what we want to do next year,

[2:14:12] I would love to tell you a story

[2:14:13] because that's really what this program is all about.

[2:14:16] We had two girls that started really pretty early

[2:14:20] in their high school career with us last school year. They were at risk of dropping out, really

[2:14:26] one had dropped out, but we captured the sister and then captured the other one. They were

[2:14:34] involved in some pretty risky behaviors. Their aspirations were pretty risky as well,

[2:14:40] but because of the staff, they decided to give leap a try. They gave leap a try, and one graduated

[2:14:48] on time this year. One graduated actually a year early. The younger sister will start a junior

[2:14:54] college in the fall and the older sister is completely um she's employed.

[2:15:00] Full time employed. In doing great, the grandmother caught me at Leap Celebration and said, you have no idea what you just did for these girls.

[2:15:10] Their futures were uncertain, and this program has completely changed their futures. So that is what Leap Academy does for kids.

[2:15:19] So, as I said, we have 25 expected continuers right now. We have nine new students that are absolutely confirmed for the fall,

[2:15:27] Which leaves us 22 open seats, however, I've talked to several counselors over the last few weeks,

[2:15:33] and they are getting morally applications and so really I expect to start with about 10 open seats.

[2:15:39] We are changing from three hours to four hours next year, which will benefit our students.

[2:15:44] I'm allowing them more time and edge annuity, but it will also allow us the opportunity to do some employability activities with them.

[2:15:51] Much like we did with our CTE students.

[2:15:53] We will work on filling out job applications, interview skills, resume building, interest inventories and really try to guide them into what they want their futures to look like and provide some experiences that can broaden their perspectives.

[2:16:10] We will also use that extra hour for accelerated instruction for ESCs.

[2:16:16] So, I would love for you to consider approving the application for the optional flexible school day submission to TEA so that we can continue making a difference in these kids' lives.

[2:16:31] This is probably from me one of my favorite programs, just because of what it does for these kids. It's such an amazing program.

[2:16:38] I know several kids that have graduated from that program.

[2:16:42] I have a few questions.

[2:16:44] One, you'd mention about the activities.

[2:16:45] What type of activities are they involved in?

[2:16:47] I know you mentioned a few.

[2:16:49] It's basically just a long enough stuff.

[2:16:51] Are they doing a community service to?

[2:16:53] What are they doing?

[2:16:54] All of our students have to do community service.

[2:16:57] As part of their graduation requirements.

[2:16:58] But yes, they are involved in many opportunities.

[2:17:02] This year we took students to the Dallas Workforce Solutions job fair.

[2:17:07] to allow them to meet some potential people

[2:17:11] that they could be employed with,

[2:17:13] which took them to TSTC so that they can see

[2:17:15] what a junior college looks like,

[2:17:17] and what kind of a career-tech place,

[2:17:20] what kind of opportunities they have.

[2:17:22] A lot of our students want to be cosmologist

[2:17:26] or welders, and so those are kind of the directions

[2:17:28] that we are leaning towards for next school year.

[2:17:32] Thank you.

[2:17:33] And you had said earlier, when you first got started,

[2:17:36] that you had several that were on the waiting list on that question about that.

[2:17:43] For those who are waiting and it could be several months even a full semester before they

[2:17:48] get in there, but to do that, would it be possible to get them in a students with one to

[2:17:54] one technology where they can actually get involved in it and maybe have a laptop where they

[2:17:58] can start getting involved even though I can't necessarily be at the location?

[2:18:02] is that an option for those so that until they can actually get to the campus or no?

[2:18:07] So we don't have an online ad home option.

[2:18:10] So these students are still enrolled at MHS and Heritage in the counselors really do a great

[2:18:14] job of taking away some of the classes and providing edge-newty courses.

[2:18:19] And so they are working at edge-newty and doing their other classes at the same time.

[2:18:26] Thank you.

[2:18:27] I moved to approve the optional, unless the number is going to be a question.

[2:18:31] I'm moved to approve the optional flexible school day program application for the 2526 school year.

[2:18:37] Second.

[2:18:39] We have a motion in a second. All approved?

[2:18:41] Yeah, thank you.

[2:18:43] Thank you, sir.

[2:18:44] It passed the 70.

[2:18:46] Dr. Blake for you all.

[2:18:47] Appreciate you and your team.

[2:18:50] Michelleton the whole group over there.

[2:18:53] One of the priorities as we move forward into the future will be to try and expand this program and get more seats.

[2:18:59] because I think we could definitely use it

[2:19:02] and your team does a fantastic job over there.

[2:19:05] So thank you.

[2:19:10] Okay, up next we have considered designation of the 2025

[2:19:14] MISD representative and alternate for the TASV

[2:19:18] delegate assembly.

[2:19:23] Generally this honor is bestowed upon the darn newest members.

[2:19:30] I will tell you it is interesting and it's

[2:19:33] It's really great to be in the room and hear the things that people bring up and the people

[2:19:38] shoot down quite often as well and so we will need to have a representative and an alternate

[2:19:46] for that.

[2:19:48] On nominate, Mr. Knight, as our representative?

[2:19:53] That's right.

[2:19:55] Okay.

[2:19:56] I think that was volunteered.

[2:19:59] And just so you know, it's at the conference which is actually going to be in Houston.

[2:20:04] this September correct so it's all all weekend and it'll be separate like normally on

[2:20:11] Sunday so you won't be right it's normally on Sunday Saturday or Saturday okay so

[2:20:18] just FYI. There's also a really really good sandwich lunch.

[2:20:28] It's like extra bread like the real thick you know so we have a motion in a second

[2:20:33] all those approved.

[2:20:38] Yes. So we're going to do the alternate set. So that passes seven

[2:20:41] up and congratulations, John. Welcome, Mr. Knight. Anyone interested in being the alternate?

[2:20:50] Since it's in Houston, I'll volunteer this year to be the alternate.

[2:20:57] Second. We need a motion to.

[2:21:05] I'll make a motion for Tammy to be designated alternate for

[2:21:10] for delegate assembly.

[2:21:14] Second.

[2:21:15] Motion.

[2:21:15] Second. All those in favor?

[2:21:18] Passes.

[2:21:18] 7-0.

[2:21:23] Thank you, Mr. Knight.

[2:21:23] Thank you, Mrs. Toby.

[2:21:25] Moving forward.

[2:21:30] We are going to look now at the consideration and adoption of the resolution of

[2:21:33] proving contingent fee legal services contract.

[2:21:40] Yes, we discussed this in close session.

[2:21:43] This would be the possible action on that.

[2:21:55] I move that the Board of Trustees adopt a resolution,

[2:21:58] approving the contingent legal fee services contract,

[2:22:01] that includes the findings required by Texas Government Code 2254,

[2:22:05] Sub-Chapter C, and that are needed for the submission of a contingent fee legal services agreement,

[2:22:10] and a request to the Texas Attorney General for expedited review.

[2:22:15] Second.

[2:22:17] We have a motion in a second. All those in favor.

[2:22:21] Passes the 7-0.

[2:22:33] Now, we're going to do the consideration and adoption of the contingent fee legal services agreement with Island and Bonin, P.C. and O'Hanlin, Demerath and Castillo, P.C.

[2:22:48] I move that the Board of Trustees adopted a proof of entering into a contingent fee legal services agreement with Island and Bonin, P.C. and O'Hanlin, Durham, and Castillo, P.C. to represent the district and youth, social media, usage and related.

[2:23:03] identification.

[2:23:06] Second.

[2:23:08] We have a motion and a second. All those in favor.

[2:23:13] Passes 7 0.

[2:23:21] All right. Up next, it appears we have Dr. Williams coming up to discuss and consider 2526

[2:23:26] compensation plan.

[2:23:30] Yes, sir.

[2:23:32] You sure you don't want to read all those lawyers names again?

[2:23:36] So tonight, we are here to discuss the first of two compensation plans you'll

[2:23:41] review over the course of this summer.

[2:23:43] As we've discussed in our board workshops,

[2:23:45] this compensation plan that will be included in the

[2:23:49] budget numbers that you will see with Dr. Metzker in a few moments.

[2:23:53] Only includes a one-year step increase for

[2:23:57] all staff across the district.

[2:24:00] This will be revised in a later date

[2:24:03] to be in compliance with House Bill 2.

[2:24:06] We are optimistically hoping that we'll have something for July.

[2:24:12] Could be August by the time we work through all of the details that are in

[2:24:17] Haspel 2 and how that impacts compensation.

[2:24:20] When you look at this plan, you will see numbers that look exactly like the 2425

[2:24:26] compensation plan because nothing has changed.

[2:24:29] The only difference is all the employees have been rolled up one step.

[2:24:32] When you get back to the back section in supplemental pay schedules, you will see that there

[2:24:39] are some added stipends for robotics instructors.

[2:24:44] This is a relatively new career and technical education program that's impacting our secondary

[2:24:51] campuses and we need to get those folks on par and compensated with their peers.

[2:24:55] This also included their required additional special education self-contained teaching stipends

[2:25:03] for the added self-contained sped staff that were approved at a previous meeting.

[2:25:09] The total cost of this compensation plan, the increase, which is the step increase and

[2:25:16] as additional stipends comes out to $684,377.

[2:25:20] In the event that, well, when we bring House Bill 2's compensation plan in the next month or two,

[2:25:30] the required teacher increases will be less the difference that we've already added at that step.

[2:25:37] So, you know, if someone's going to go $5,000 increase, which is what five-year teachers would get,

[2:25:44] that would be less the step that we've already approved tonight.

[2:25:46] So we'll we'll talk about that a little bit more when we get that updated compensation plan for you.

[2:25:52] Any questions about this particular compensation plan or questions regarding what's to come in the next month or so?

[2:26:05] I moved to approve the compensation plan is presented for the 2025-26 school year and acknowledged that the board will modify the compensation plan after adoption to increase compensation amounts in response to legislation from the Texas legislature

[2:26:17] or the available availability of additional funds.

[2:26:22] Second.

[2:26:25] We have a motion and a second.

[2:26:27] All those in favor.

[2:26:30] Passes 7-0.

[2:26:32] Thank you, Board.

[2:26:33] Thank you, Dr. Williams.

[2:26:38] All right.

[2:26:40] Next, we're going to consider the option of the 2526 General Fund Child Nutrition Fund

[2:26:45] and debt service fund budgets.

[2:26:48] Dr. Metsky.

[2:26:50] So we did go over this in the public hearing

[2:26:53] presentation. So here you just have a summary of each the general operating the debt service and the food service funds

[2:27:00] By functional spending category, which is the level the board adopts the budget and then I would just reiterate that when we bring the

[2:27:08] Changes to the compensation plan that will be

[2:27:11] HB2 compliant. We will then amend this budget in order to incorporate all of the changes that we're expecting from HB2

[2:27:22] I'd like to make a motion, please

[2:27:27] Any questions?

[2:27:29] I moved to approve of the 2025-25-26 budgets for the general fund, Child Nutrition Fund,

[2:27:36] and the debt service fund as presented.

[2:27:41] Second.

[2:27:43] We have a motion in a second.

[2:27:45] All those in favor.

[2:27:49] All those opposed.

[2:27:51] That's a six-one.

[2:27:56] Thank you, Dr. Metzker.

[2:27:59] Okay.

[2:27:59] And our last discussion item for the evening is the designation of board subcommittee members for the 2526 school year just as a reminder to the board we have for subcommittees curriculum and instruction committee the administrative and HR committee business and operations committee and the governance committee.

[2:28:24] Board officers make up the governance.

[2:28:27] And so that one's already set, but we do need members, trustees, at least two, and an alternate on each committee.

[2:28:39] I'll do the HR committee.

[2:28:43] I'd like to say on the B&O and the CNR committees.

[2:28:47] Okay.

[2:28:48] I'd like to volunteer for the B&O and as an alternate for the HR.

[2:28:54] Okay.

[2:28:54] So we have or

[2:28:56] You know, right

[2:28:59] I'm watching you because

[2:29:03] We have one C and I I would like to remain on the C and I committee as well.

[2:29:13] Sorry, shelly

[2:29:15] They kicked me off.

[2:29:19] I can take over on C and I

[2:29:24] Thank you, Gay

[2:29:27] We need one

[2:29:36] Yeah, Jamie's into

[2:29:37] And

[2:29:41] just could you be alternate for business operations or C and I

[2:29:47] We'll see you in the next video.

[2:29:49] Oh, for me.

[2:29:51] So Jessica, you'll be...

[2:29:53] Hold her for a second.

[2:29:54] Sure.

[2:29:54] Okay.

[2:29:55] And then Tammy's all trying for business operations.

[2:29:58] Then we're good.

[2:29:59] Do I need to read this?

[2:30:05] Okay,

[2:30:09] so our subcommittees for CNI, we have Mr. Harrison and Mr. Vineyard with Justice, Mrs. Ward as the

[2:30:19] alternate, business and operations has Mr. Harrison and Mr. Knight with Mr. Toby as the alternate and

[2:30:26] HR has Mr. Pena and Mrs. Toby with Mr. Knight as the alternate and then governance is the board officers,

[2:30:40] and if that, with that, do we have anything,

[2:30:48] no public comment,

[2:30:52] any agenda items for future meetings?

[2:30:56] I'd move to adjourn.

[2:31:00] I have an option to second all approve.

[2:31:03] Pass the seven out.

[2:31:04] You all have a great night.

[2:31:05] Thanks so much.

Jun 16, 2025 Board of Trustees Regular Meeting

Agenda

Transcript