The time is 6 p.m. On the Board's behalf, I wish to welcome all who are present.
This is a regular meeting of the Board, and all items that will be discussed or voted on this evening have been posted as required by law.
At this time, I'd like to introduce the Board members to my far left, Dr. Bart Miller, Mr. Jim White, Board Secretary, Dr. Sherry Packer, Superintendent, Dr. John Ballerial.
I'm Board President Amy Hilton.
To my right, I'm Board Vice President, Mr. Frank Consulman, Mr. Grant Dubois, and Mr. Stan Britton.
Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to the American and Texas Flags.
And following the pledge, please remain standing for the invocation led by Grant Dubois.
The Board has public comment cards that are accepted from 5.30 p.m. until 6.00 p.m.
per board policy BED local.
Speakers may have up to three minutes
to address the Board of Trustees on agenda
or non-agenda topics during this designated public comment time.
If the topic addressed is not listed on the agenda,
the Board of Trustees may not deliberate on the topic.
However, specific factual information
or the referencing of existing policy may be provided in response.
Although there is no legal requirement to do so,
The board will ask Rockwell ISD administration to review the feedback raised in the comment and if appropriate provide a response
To be clear audience participation is limited to this portion of the board meeting only and at all other times during this board meeting
The audience shall not enter into discussion or debate on matters being considered by the board
Please keep your comments civil and courteous. Please also refrain from making personal attacks on others during your opportunity to speak
Speakers are asked to refrain from sharing personal information about your student or mentioning specific Rockwell ISD staff members by name.
Please know that you are required to stay within your allotted time for public comment, which again is going to be three minutes.
Last, we ask that you not discuss students who are not your own child.
In compliance with the Texas government code on open meetings, these proceedings are being recorded and will become part of Rockwell ISD's permanent record.
Please state your name and address which is voluntary prior to speaking during the public comment period.
Tammy Proctor.
My name is Tammy Proctor.
And Sunday was the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.
If you've experienced racial discrimination, Rockwell ISD need help or want to tell your story, contact rockwellminoritypc.gmail.com.
several people in the several people participated in the torment of our
daughter including Rockwell High School head coach of gymnastics and the Rockwell
High School cheer coaches but there was one that I'm going to talk about today
and that's the Williams Middle School head cheer coach which she still is
right now we believe that she was the ringleader in what we believe to be
racial discrimination bullying retaliation and mental abuse of our
daughter. How? Here are a few of the things. She removed our daughter from a
cheer competition for the cheer competition team for asking to leave a
practice 15 to 20, 15 to 30 minutes early. This after telling our daughter an
administration that she could have her spot back. She did not remove several
others that were white that were late or missed practices all together. They
They stayed on the team and there was not obviously equal punishment.
Most people, she put most of the minority cheerleaders in the back of major performances
and didn't allow them to fly at most of them.
Singled out minority cheerleaders by disrespectfully calling them out in front of everyone else,
both in person and online, humiliating them.
After we filed a complaint, she left the Rockwell High School
head gymnastics coach in charge where they proceeded to bully
my daughter for three games straight.
And they were praised for doing so afterward.
They said they did a good job and they did that on the cheer
forum as well.
No apology ever.
And so guess what?
Guess what I got this weekend?
and I got an email from the attorney of the Williams Middle School cheer coach teacher,
whatever you want to call her, that she doesn't want me to seek out justice for the things
that she's done to my daughter that has ended up with her in with chronic PTSD.
She's threatening to sue me for supposedly saying untrue things.
What I have said, I do believe to be true everything and I have proof, emails, pictures,
everything else that I need to back it up.
So there's two things all I can say is,
one is just remember the anti-slap clause
because I'm not lying.
And the second one is I'm not my 14-year-old daughter
or any other 11, 12, or 14-year-old
that you're used to dealing with.
Try me.
Thank you, Ms. Parker.
Hey, Tim Booth.
My name is Tim Booth.
I would like to talk to you about a practice
that is dangerous and shameful, something that we call passing the trash.
It's a term that refers to quietly moving school employees with histories of misconduct,
especially those involving students from one district to another without disclosing their past.
It's a practice that prioritizes the reputation of an institution over the protection of innocent lives.
Let me be clear, this is not just a policy failure, it's a moral failure.
Imagine, if you will, the heartbreak of a parent who entrusts their child to the care
of a school, believing that their child is safe and secure.
Only to later discover that a teacher, a coach, or a staff member with the record of abuse
or misconduct was placed in that position.
Think about the fear and confusion a child feels, afraid to speak up, believing that
they won't be heard or worse, that they won't be believed.
Imagine the scars that stays with them for years all because the system failed.
This practice, this quiet transfer of individuals who should have never been allowed near the children in the first place
sends a message that the dignity, safety, and future of our children are somehow negotiable.
But I'm here today to say that they're not. We cannot allow this anymore.
We must demand that every school, every district, every educator, every board member be accountable,
no more pass in the trash, no more sweeping problems under the rug, no more sacrificing
the safety of the children for the sake of convenience or the fair of a lawsuit, or
for the sake of avoiding embarrassment.
We are better than this.
Our schools are better than this.
Our children deserve better than this.
We need transparency.
We need strong policies that ensure any teacher or staff member that has a history of abuse,
harassment, or gross misconduct is not only removed from their position, but is prevented
from quietly moving on to another school to repeat the same behavior.
We need cooperation between districts to share information because silence and secrecy are
what allow these problems to persist.
And finally, we need you, our school board members, to stand with us, to stand with
our children.
This is your responsibility and it's time to act.
You hold the power to make the change.
You hold the power to send a clear message that no one, no matter their role or position,
is above safety and dignity of our children.
In closing, let us remember we are the guardians of our children's future.
The choice we make today will determine whether our children grow up
in environments where they are nurtured, protected and loved,
or whether they are left vulnerable, afraid and unseen.
I know which world I want for my children, for our children, for every child.
Let us end this practice now.
Let's stop passing the trash and let's build a kind of future that our children deserve.
A future where their safety is never ever compromised.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Booth.
Corey Booth.
Hello, my name is Corey Booth and I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to speak again tonight.
And I also wanted to thank you for hearing our message about the videos and at least trying to extend the video storage to 120 days.
Do I think it's enough? No. But I want to recognize your efforts.
There's a few more things that I'd like to address.
A few more policies and procedures that I believe would be beneficial to all students, parents, and teachers that I'd like you to hear out.
And some of these may seem very insignificant, but I can tell you from our own experience they're absolutely not.
And from the best of my knowledge, I'm not aware that any of these policies or procedures exist.
So if they do, I apologize.
Number one,
our son repeatedly told us that he was held back in recess and at lunch.
The only corroboration we had of that was a video that was overwritten or deleted because it wasn't secured.
So I would like the school board to put a policy in place for all students that are held back in recess or at lunch to have the parents notified before they're held back.
So they're not just haphazardly held in the classroom.
Because our older students that were in the classroom, when they got in trouble, they were actually made to walk at recess.
So when our son told us that he was being held back, we're like, no, that can't be.
What do you mean you're being held back?
What do you mean you're being held back at lunch?
There was no indication from a teacher, there was no note, there was nothing that he was actually being held back.
And the only thing that we had that did show it, like I said, was deleted.
So if we could put a policy in place to protect children so parents know if they are in fact being held back
or just simply making a policy where students cannot be held back in recess, especially by themselves
or with one other student like my son claimed happened, which we believe.
Secondly, if there's an open investigation with a teacher or a student that all footage
regarding that investigation of the incident would instantly be stored on a thumb drive
or saved somewhere. Secondly, if there's an open investigation that we wouldn't need
a subpoena, right, if you're cooperating with the Sheriff's Department or your co-operating
with Rockwall PD, they shouldn't need a subpoena to get a video that the SRO and the principal
watched. That should be instantly handed over. That should just be a basic policy and procedure
that's put in place today to protect our students and protect our teachers.
Number three, a teacher that's under investigation that all parents in the classroom would
be made aware of that investigation. In what details you give, I don't know what the
legal ramifications would be. You're going to have to talk to an attorney, but
parents should absolutely know. And in my son's case, he claimed that there was another student
held back, which that student was in fact in that video that was deleted. A four-year-old's
recollection of what happened to them, asking them a year later, is not okay. I'm a, I'm
going to, thank
you Mrs. Booth.
Thank you for your time.
Courtney Siska.
Courtney Siska. I was a student in Rockwell ISD, starting in kindergarten, moved here
when I was four, and then I dropped out of the high school, and I will share why.
This past week, several friends of mine who were on the cheer team informed me of some
pretty horrible things that happened to them when they were in Rockwell High School.
So there was a science teacher who was fired from Mesquite ISD, then was hired from Rockwell
ISD.
He gave off very uncomfortable and creepy feeling towards specifically girls in our school.
You know what I'm talking about.
You just get a feeling from somebody.
He somehow managed to become the chaperone of the drill team and for the cheer team.
He was caught looking at multiple cheerleader skirts when they were standing on the
I'm going to ask the organizers to hang up, you know, bulletins for the, oh my goodness, I'm
blinking.
Anyways, pepper alley.
Parents were never notified of this situation and he continued to teach at the school.
This good friend who was on the cheer team had to go in for a makeup test with this specific
teacher.
She was the only person in the room with him.
Thank God, prior to this incident, her mother brought up all these issues with a friend
of theirs who worked at Mesquite ISD.
This is how they found that he was in Mesquite ISD and was allegedly fired for similar situations.
She immediately knew what they were talking about, said that he was known for this, looking up at girls' skirts in the school,
and he, to never let your child be left alone with him.
Due to this information, her mother stayed on the phone with her listening while she was taking her test at school.
This is supposed to be a safe place, but it's also not in our admission statement.
My brother was discriminated all the way from elementary school to the moment that he too dropped out of high school, all in Rockwell ISD.
He had a math teacher in high school who told him he was an idiot and would amount to nothing.
My brother was kept outside of the classroom if his dyslexia teacher was not there and it happened all the way from elementary to high school.
My mom then became hired in the school district because she followed him around everywhere in elementary school because this was such an issue.
I personally was told that I would never amount to anything because I had bad grades,
didn't want to come to school, all of this by multiple teachers.
Turns out I had nine different learning disabilities.
Didn't find out until I was in college.
Specifically, the drill team director fostered an environment of drama, gossip, hate,
and overall an awful place for young girls to be developing.
She told me one day in her office that I didn't change,
that I was going to end up dead like my neighbor.
Please keep in mind that his death had nothing to do with poor decision making.
She knew that I was close to this family, that I had known them since I was four years old.
Their parent was on the school board, and then I also was employed by a school board member.
So I had people to go to to talk about she didn't care.
She was constantly screaming at our team, throwing her bullhorn from the stands and again fostering a horrible environment.
I told my parents about this, both of the school board members that I no longer felt safe around this adult.
We scheduled a meeting with the principal where she was forced to apologize to me
And then told by my mother and the principal that she was never to approach me or speak to me again at school
Those were the only things that happened to her. She
Thank
You, miss. Thank
you
Ma'am we're only allowing three minutes. Thank you
You're welcome to email us with any information you'd like to share with us
Visit miss. This guy your time is up. We appreciate you coming tonight
Hunter Gordon
Please excuse my voice. I'm a little bit under the weather, but I thought this
issue was important enough to come and speak to you about today. My name is Hunter
Gordon. I'm a freshman at Rockwell High School and I'm on the varsity wrestling
team. I've had the opportunity to get to know our head wrestling coach and
observe how he treats his wrestlers. I have never seen him force his wrestlers
to do anything.
Wrestling is a tough sport.
Sometimes you get hurt.
It's just part of being a wrestler.
But we've been missing our head coach
over the last month.
And I feel that it's been a major detriment
to our team.
I hope the district is thoroughly investigating
these claims before it takes any action
against our coach.
If a thorough investigation
is not conducted
and those accusations
are not proven. I believe that the Rockwell High School
Wrestling Program and its wrestlers will severely
suffer. Thank you.
Thank you, Hunter.
Alexandria Gordon.
Good evening. My name is Alexandria
Gordon and I have two children who attend school in this district.
That's my son Hunter. We've just spoke with you now.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. I'm here to speak up
about some recent accusations against a Rockwall wrestling coach.
Whatever motivations a parent or an accuser might have, this district has a duty to investigate.
Has the district investigated?
Is there evidentiary proof of the allegations that were made against this coach?
This cannot be actioned out of fear of bad press or journalists
sensationally tying these accusations to prior unrelated ones in the district.
It's an unfortunate reality that the accused is always punished no matter the findings,
especially in this case where one party chooses to pursue a trial by media
and the other party is not even allowed to defend itself.
It's my assumption that this district had vetted this wrestling coach
prior to hiring him and putting him in charge of the care of the children in the district.
If this is how it treats its own vetted employees,
what comfort do we have that the district will diligently investigate
any potential future claims, true or false,
that are lodged against its students.
How can we expect new faculty to join our school district
when accusation and innuendo can carry the day?
These accusations and how the district is handling this investigation
have created a lot of collateral damage, whether we realize it or not.
Our children here are collateral damage.
Our district's reputation is collateral damage.
I urge you to please, please, please, please,
think about that over the fear of a smear campaign
and do right by these children.
Conduct the investigations, do it thoroughly,
and make your determination and act swiftly.
If you thought the wrath of a parent
trying to weaponize the media to their own advantages uncomfortable, I can guarantee you
that there are even more parents out there who will not quietly stand by as their children are made to be collateral.
Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mrs. Gordon.
Matthew Gordon.
Well, my name is Matthew Gordon. I have two students in this district. Hunter spoke just a minute ago.
He's my son, he's a freshman at Rockwell High School.
I, too, am here to speak about our men's and women's wrestling teams.
My daughter wrestles as well.
Our teams are in disarray currently.
Their coach has been suspended for a month, and during that time,
the district and the school have not communicated anything back to the athletes,
the students, or its parents.
We don't know if he's going to be our coach or if he's not going to be our coach.
We don't know if there's been an investigation.
we don't know if we'll learn the findings of that investigation.
I personally know that Rockwell High School had wrestling coach
because he takes his two young boys to our wrestling club practices.
He is not the monster that he has been portrayed in the newspaper.
I would be willing to sign a legal affidavit for what I am about to say.
On two occasions over the summer, when the coach was at our club practices,
he was cornered by the mother of the injured child. Both times, she spent five to ten minutes
telling our coach that her son should be guaranteed the starting spot on the varsity team.
Mind you, this was for a team that the coach hadn't even met yet and for a season that
doesn't start until November.
It was awkward and it clearly made the coach uncomfortable.
The coach's response to her was appropriate.
He said that the two boys would have to compete like any others to earn their starting
spot.
That apparently did not satisfy her and she went so far as to make slanderous accusations
to the coach and others in the room against the character of the other boy.
The day the accuser was injured was in July before the first day of school.
It was not a UIL practice, it was a club practice chartered by Texas USA Wrestling.
I know because I'm on the board of the directors for the Texas USA Wrestling
and my organization provides supplemental insurance for injuries like what happened to the accuser.
It has been reported that there was no trainer on site at the time of the injury.
I will tell you that Texas USA Wrestling does not require a trainer beyond sight for
club practices.
Tournament participation was not mandatory for rock wall high wrestlers as has been misstated
in the media.
I know because coach asked my son if he would be on the team but he was unable to join
and the coach told him that that would not be a problem.
After the accuser was injured his parents drove him to the tournament the very next
day, and they did not have to take him there. They chose to take him there a day after the
injury. At the tournament, there were two other kids on the same team that had negging
injuries flare up. The coach allowed them to withdraw from the competition to protect
themselves from further injury. Again, attendance was not mandatory at this tournament. After
the tournament, the accusers' parents ran to the media before the district investigation
even got started. It clearly was an attempt to influence the investigation and I only hope that it
has not worked. What are the consequences of this? Our program is put into limbo and many coaches
now tell me that after seeing how Rockwell handled the case on top of how the football program
handled the case in Heath.
Thank you Mr. Gordon.
Tina Smith.
First of all I would like to thank
you all for your service. I know that this is a voluntary position and we appreciate that
I know it's a hard job.
My name is Tina Smith.
My son is a fifth grader at Linda Lyon and I am here today because I am confused about the roles,
responsibilities, and the lack of accountability and communication in our district.
I will be attending every board meeting going forward.
I will be bringing light to all the events and facts that have brought me here today.
I will do this until someone takes action and acts to address the issues I have brought to light.
I'm referring to the situation I have emailed our administration, as well as you as the Board of Trustees, several times.
I've also filed a Level 1 complaint, and I have yet to receive a response.
Therefore, IISD now has multiple TEA and OCR complaints for denial of fate, failure to provide accommodations, and retaliation.
I will be providing documentation in regards to the events that have transpired each time
I attend a board meeting so that this situation can no longer go ignored.
The documentation I will be providing is WACL-ISD's own records obtained via PIA request, and
it outlines inappropriate actions of the campus and the related personnel.
I understood one of the primary roles of this administration is to educate our
children and to prepare them for life as adults. One role of our board is to hold the administration
accountable in oversee policies. Rockwell ISD lacks policies relating to compliance and
my child's story is an example of it. I would like to understand why Dr. Johnston responded
on behalf of this board. I would like to understand why we have no auditing or checks
and balances between campuses, SPED, and administration. Why does Rockwell ISD not
have audits for IAPs and evaluations for compliance.
I would like to understand what it is that has to happen to get our district to do something
about our situation, which has been transpiring for four years.
I've been in contact with our Executive Director of Special Education for three years.
Three years.
And you still didn't provide a program.
Above and beyond that, I have nauseam provided documentation of documents that have been
falsified and employees who lied. I have 86 pages, 86 pages. I sent you all an 11-page
document with supporting documentation. At the end of the day, I urge you to leave this
room and walk with Mrs. Johnston to go review my son's test booklets. It doesn't take
an expert or an educator to realize that something really bad happened. At the end
end of the day, I have continued to question and all
Questions have further hindered my child's education, in addition to the others, because
of the lack of programs and accountability. Each month, I'll be providing this board with
similar documentation and a variety of topics, and I'm going to continue to do this until
my son is pulled out of the ditch that this district and my campus put him in. Thank
you.
I want to hold that this is just one, one document, and I make copies for everybody.
Thank you, Ms. Smith.
Okay, public comments has concluded.
Agenda item four is executive session.
The time is 6.31.
Do we have an additional card?
Sometimes they get stuck together.
It was stuck to someone else's.
Come on up, Christina Dawson.
I'm so sorry, thank you for letting us know.
And we are still in open session, just to clarify.
I do apologize, because this is my first session,
so my minds may not be as eloquent as everyone else's.
But my name is Christina Dawson.
I have two children that are in the district.
On Wednesday, September 11th, my daughter
was arrested by your campus SROs.
And after she was detained in handcuffs,
she sustained further injuries.
Now, I am taking the proper measures
that I need to take with Rockwall PD
in order to investigate that.
However, my concern is prior leading up to these situations,
my children, they were asking for help.
They were asking, they were having some issues
with other students, bullying and things like that nature.
I do understand there is CPI training which teaches administration and police officers how to de-escalate situations non-violently.
I could say that the scene that took place in the hallway was traumatizing for not only my child, but for any other children who've seen it,
and the proper measures weren't taken.
Although she was escalated, and we have had that conversation,
there were other measures that could have been taken,
and they also could have been proactive in the handling.
Prior to my daughter getting escalated, there was an issue that morning
that the administration at Rockwell ISD was aware of.
They did not put in measures of vigilance in order to be able to make sure
that the situation was contained to the incident that happened that morning.
So, since my daughter says there's the SROs and the public and the administrators are present during lunch at the high school,
but no one did anything or to take precautions to be able to stop the incident.
So, everything that goes on at Rockwall ISD, it's all in reaction to.
We need to be proactive.
We also need to be transparent with these kids to let them know if someone is bullying you
or if someone is bothering you that it's going to be addressed.
I, myself, as a parent, there's times where my kids had issues with other kids
and I told the administrators, hey, give this parent my number.
Let's get the parents back involved.
Let's hold some of those meetings and say, hey, let's find out why these kids are getting into it.
And let us be more accountable as a whole.
And also, Rockwall ISD needs to be more apparent in as far as notifying the parents when there
is an issue because they pick and choose what issues they want to know the parents of.
And if you're not checking their skyward, you don't even know that they've been in
the office talking to an administrator.
Thank you.
This is Dawson.
Okay.
The time is 6.34 p.m. and we are in executive session.
The
time is 8.45 p.m. and we are back in an open session.
Agenda Item 5 is Superintendent's Report, a Information Item, Superintendent Update.
Thank you, Ms. Hilton.
Trustees, I'm going to give you an update really quick on the start of school here
on our monthly bond update that's posted on the district's website and on our social
media for review.
A lot going on as we continue to build Middle School Number 4 as we prepare for
growth.
of Vader and Bond Updates.
You can go to the website.
Vader and Bond 2024 is now live.
District leadership presented this information
at 10 faculty meetings last week
and we have an additional eight scheduled for this week.
Additionally, there are two community
presentation scheduled this week.
You can visit the live website
to see more information on the Vader and the Bond.
Athletics, Rockwell High School yellow jackets
are currently at two wins and one loss
and non-district play this Thursday is their last non-district game against North Crowley
at Wilkerson-Sander Stadium.
The next week is homecoming.
Rockwell Heath Hawks, the Hawks are currently one and two in district play.
They played a very competitive non-district schedule with very young team.
Their last district or non-district game is this Friday
against Manfield Legacy at Wilkerson-Sander Stadium,
which is also the Hawks homecoming.
Volleyball update.
The Rockwall volleyball team finished the preseason with a 17 and 13 record.
They earned top 10 finishes in two of the most competitive turnips in the state.
They've opened up district play versus Heath on Friday,
or they will open, or they did open that up in one in three sets.
And then Heath Hawks, the volleyball played a tough preseason schedule
and took on Rockwall for the first round of districts.
They fell short in the three-game loss, but it was a big battle, and we are looking forward
to continue to watch our young team grow and be successful.
Tennis Update, the Rockwell Yellow Jackets district play started, and they are two-and-one.
They beat Roy City in 40, falling short to Longview.
They are six-and-three overall for the season so far, and the Heath Hawks district play.
They opened up with a loss to Tyler Legacy, but rebounded with two consecutive wins
over Roy City in North Forney.
There are overall records, three and four, with a district record of two and one.
Cross-country yellow jackets, a cross-country team is off to a great start this year.
They competed in five meets, with the most recent being the NS Invitational,
where the varsity boys and girls place first.
They ran at the Dustin Rodriguez Invitational in Wiley.
That'll be this Friday.
And the district championship is in October, or October the 9th in Tyler.
The Heath Hawks, this season the team continues its area and district dominance.
The Boyd's Varsity led by Evan Herrera and a state ranked runner has placed second in
first and three of the five meets so far.
The Varsity girls for the first time in four years have placed second or in the top five
in the majority of their meets.
On a fine arts update, so far 271 fine arts events have been submitted in the fine arts
calendar for this 2025 school year and they're going to be, all of our students in
finance will be busy and they're off to a great start. We also want to just thank
our bands for their hard work this summer in preparing for their competition
to state along with supporting our athletic programs. Rockwall and Rockwall
Heath Choir on Saturday, September the 2nd. Rockwall and Rockwall Heath
Choir students compete in the first round of competition to be selected for
the Texas Music Educators State Choir.
Rockwell High School had 50 students
and Rockwell Heath High School had 64 students advanced
to the second round.
The second round of competition will take place
on October the 1st.
Theater, Rockwell High School, Rockwell High School Theater
production of The Outsiders will open on October 3rd.
Tickets are now available and then Rockwell Heath
High School Theater did an amazing job
with their production of the Adams Family last week.
A quick update on Marine Junior ROTC,
The Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy held a ceremony in honor of the Patriot Day
on September 11th, which included the new Marines Corps JROTC. The students and staff
took a moment to honor and pay tribute to the brave individuals who have shaped our country.
First Responders Night, last Friday Rockwell Heath High School kicked off a non-district
game with its first annual First Responders Night. It was an honor to thank our first
responders for the sacrifices they continue to make in keeping our community safe.
As a reminder, the ninth grade campus dedications are September 29th on a Sunday.
We look forward to seeing everyone there.
And then Silver Club, last week, Silver Club had their first meeting of the year.
Coach Webb and Coach Brooks spoke about the plans for the season and the Silver
Club members enjoyed a nice breakfast during the program.
Another reminder, Student Holiday is Monday, September 23rd.
It's a staff development day, professional development.
Classes will resume on Tuesday the 24th.
And then fall break, early release, October the 4th.
District will be closed October 7th through 12th.
So an early release day on Friday, October the 4th.
And then district will be closed 7th through 12th.
Again, athletic events and things like that
will continue during that time.
And that concludes my update.
Thank you.
Agenda item six is an academics update.
A is an information item.
Dr. Johnston and Dr. Gist.
Good evening, Dr. V, President Hilton members of the board.
This evening we bring to you an academics update.
First, we wanted to let you know that we had a successful summer in our elementary schools.
Before you, you have our elementary summer program updates.
We served 117 students in our bilingual ESL, English as a second language program, as well as we serve students, as you can see throughout the chart, preparing them for the school year.
And this took place at Dove's Elementary this summer.
So overall, we serve 437 students in our elementary schools in our programs.
Good evening, Dr. V and Board. Like elementary secondary also had a very successful summer
serving students. We served a total of 720 secondary summer school students in our middle
school, star, and of course credit recovery, acceleration and extended school year programs.
We also, in our back to school update, as you know, we welcomed 430 students to our
new Amanda Rochelle Elementary, and we have some pictures here to show you about our successful
first week back to school. Additionally, and under my purview, is a rock, and so we are
pleased to say that we have over a thousand students being served in our rock after school
program, and we were able to get our employees' children off any waiting lists that we had,
And we have 493 employees that are getting that perk of free rock after school care.
And when you think about that, that's roughly the size of a large middle school across 16 campuses after school.
And we just appreciate the work of Karen Hunter, our director, and all of our site directors.
We employ over 75 employees that serve these students after school.
So we do appreciate all they do for our kids.
We, as you know, opened our two brand new 9th grade campuses this fall.
So that was pretty exciting.
The first day of school was a true celebration.
We had our drum lines, our drill teams, our cheerleaders all there
to welcome our students for their very first day.
Rockwell Heath High School 9th grade campus opened with about 830 students
and Rockwell High School 9th grade campus opened with approximately 750 students,
approximately 1600 9th graders.
We've received a lot of positive feedback from parents, students, and staff about the opening of those campuses.
But one of my very favorite things is just seeing how confident our ninth graders are when you see them walking in the halls
and participating in class with their teachers and their peers.
They love it.
And the hallways are much clearer at the ninth grade campuses and the main campuses.
That's a great thing to see.
Our ninth grade students have the opportunity to try out for all of the programming at the main campuses as well
in Fine Arts, Athletics, and CTE programs.
So we have ninth graders in our marching bands
and our sports teams and in our CTE programs
at both of our campuses.
As Dr. B. shared, our MCJROTC Marine Corps
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
has kicked off strong with 95 students enrolled
from Rockwell High School and Rockwell Heap High School.
They just had their first debut color guard presentation
at the September 11th ceremony that Dr. B talked about.
That was really exciting to see.
I'm looking forward to seeing them at some of the football
games and our events such as the dedication coming up.
Our middle schools also kicked off the year with a combined
district total of 2,890 students in seventh and eighth grades.
The renovations that have been completed thus far in some
of the common areas have been really well received by the
students and the parents.
And as you know, we are getting ready to move.
Dr. Johnson and I and our teams move sixth grade up to the middle schools for fall of 2025 along with opening middle school number four
David and his team are doing a great job with the facility. And as you know, we are also busy planning for the academic
the academic planning progress and
Deciding what courses are going to be offered to our sixth graders working on the master schedule and what that looks like when we add
Sixth grade to our four middle school campuses as well
And just as a reminder, we know we have talked a little, we've talked about STAR and the redesign.
And as you know, the Texas Education Agency led a redesign of STAR over the last couple of years
that now includes an extended constructed response at all levels.
And so these item types were new.
We also had an additional change at the end, I mean, for 2024 regarding computer base scoring on those extended constructed response.
We do get some questions about accountability and those are on hold with regard to the ratings
and designations.
Just as a note, current litigation, there's current litigation on the 2023 accountability
ratings and that will be heard later at the end of the year.
At this time, those ratings are not available.
Additionally, the Texas Education also has halted the release of the 2024 accountability
ratings because we are awaiting a judge ruling on that, and actually that hearing we believe
took place, is taking place today and tomorrow.
So once we have more information, we will share that with you, but at this time we
are, you know, in a holding pattern, but we just wanted to make you aware of that.
And also, if you have any questions, we would be happy to answer those at this time.
Anybody have anything?
Thank you.
We appreciate your support of all of our academics and Rockwell ISD.
Yeah, just a quick comment.
Just thank you for the opening of Rochelle.
I think they're a great start with a brand new building.
I was over there today and got to see the playground start to come forward and be ready for our kids.
and who would have thought we would do an almost an entire bond in 24 months.
So thank you to your team, Will.
You know, whenever you do get to sleep we appreciate your effort.
Tim, you know, all you guys, thanks for what you guys have done.
Our kids were able to start school in brand new buildings on time and ready to go.
And I visited other districts who are putting new buildings and still have some work going on,
but it's a tremendous amount of work that you guys did in such a short time
in order to benefit the taxpayer as the inflation continues to increase, so we did it all combined.
And as we move forward, we're getting ready for the new middle school to open up next year,
along with the construction you're having in current middle schools, which includes Cain,
and their large growth that they have over there and managing lunches and new students as well.
So just want to thank you for your work there that you've done to start a school in a positive way.
Appreciate it.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
Agenda Item 7, Finance, Operations, and Technology Department, A, is an action item.
Consider approval of purchase pursuant to Board Policy CH Local for purchase in excess
of $100,000 from Board-approved Cooperative Purchasing Program for expansion of digital
video recorder storage capacity.
Thank you, President Hilton.
Dr. B, good evening, trustees.
So the Board Policy References tonight for this design are Board Policy CH Local and
CH Legal.
Per Board Policy CH Local, any single budgeted purchase of goods or services that cost $100,000
or more requires prior board approval and per Board Policy CH Legal provides the district
of flexibility to utilize an interlocal contract to satisfy state procurement requirements
for our purchase greater than $50,000.
So I believe in our August board meeting we discussed the potential to expand our
DVR storage capacity. I think we talked about that time. We did estimate that it would exceed
two thresholds that we just outlined here. So the first threshold being $50,000, which
does trigger certain state procurement requirements that we'll have to go through. And then the
second threshold that we anticipate that is going to surpass is the $100,000 threshold.
So anytime we spend a single budgeted purchase of over $100,000, it does require board
prior approval. So that's the board agenda item you guys have before you tonight. I will
say over the last couple of weeks in preparation for this board agenda item our operations
team and our technology team have been working with our security consultant trying to clearly
define the scope of this project and contingent upon the board's approval tonight we will
move forward with that procurement process and eventually installation. We do estimate
that this total project is not going to exceed $750,000 at this time.
The project costs, as we discussed at our August 19th board meeting,
the project costs are estimated or will come from the district's
local operating budget fund 199.
And with that, the recommendation from the administration
that the board trustees approve the purchase pursuant to board
approved cooperative purchasing program for the expansion
of the digital video recorder DVR stores capacity project
in accordance with board policy CH legal and CH local
and authorize the senior chief financial officer to execute the necessary documentation.
I'll be happy to take any questions.
David, what do you see as the timeline for procurement and installation?
Yeah, so for procurement, it really, and installation for that matter too, it really comes down
to finalizing the scope of the project.
And so this is the first step in that process is getting y'all's prior approval
for this project.
As I mentioned, Will and his team and also Lou and her team are working with our security
camera vendor to try to determine exactly what is needed to be able to expand the capacity
to the threshold that we're trying to get to.
So we're still in that process.
Once we have clearly defined the scope, then we can take the next steps as far as procurement.
The vendors that we're looking at are, as I mentioned in the board synopsis, are
part of purchasing cooperative programs that we are members of so that helps
speed up and accelerate the purchasing process. We don't have to take it out
for bid and accept bids which would typically be required if a purchase is
over $50,000 or so. Having said that, I don't have an exact timeline for you but
once again a consistent upon y'all's approval tonight it should be
relatively quickly. Will, do you want to add anything to that? Yeah, not
I think it's going to come down to the specific option that best serves the district long-term.
So there's options that have that data housed in the cloud, and then there's options that
have that data housed locally within the district.
And so working with Lou Ann and her team, we're making decisions based on what we
think is going to be the best long-term and most reliable option.
And so it's going to depend on which option we ultimately decide, because some of those
options are going to have hardware components, and so it would really just be down to the
lead time to get those hardware components here.
Most of those drives and things that we're looking at are fairly standard, so we're
hoping that there's no, you know, tremendous long lead times, but it's going to come
down to the specific option that we choose for the lead time.
but I think we're talking, I don't want to talk for Luan, but, you know, months, you know,
in any order, months not, you know, six months or a year, right?
I mean, we're talking about months to get it executed, installed, and ready to go.
And this is to take us to be able to store for how long?
So, right now our store is capacity, and correct me if I'm wrong,
is anywhere from 30 to 40 days depending on the variables.
And what we have instructed the team to work with our vendors to try to get that up to 120 days.
And again, we feel that the funds that we're allocating for this project will be able to get us to that level.
And as the Board may recall, from our August 19th meeting, we also increased the allocations in the 24 bond proposal to increase that even further.
Okay. And I think we said what we added to the bond proposal, that would take us to 180 days. Is that right?
I don't remember the exact days. What we did include is roughly another $750,000 in the bond proposal.
So between these two proposals, it's roughly about a $1.5 million resources that were allocated for this project.
And again, we'll know a lot more after we finalize the scope of this initial project,
how much $750,000 roughly buys in stores capacity and so we'll be able to give you a more accurate
estimate of if the bond does pass, how much that could potentially increase the capacity
going forward.
Okay.
And I have one more question.
Why would we not do the cloud?
Is there a reason why it would be better to?
So I'm a little outside my strike zone here.
I might defer to Luanne a little bit.
So there could be security issues with that, a little bit of loss of control.
If we are storing things on site, then we have complete control over that.
We also have complete security over that.
And so there's advantages and disadvantages to both options,
which is why we're trying to take our time and make sure we pick the best option,
because obviously this has long-term potential impacts to the district.
Right.
So I don't know if you guys heard that, but just for the view in public.
So the purchasing hardware, it's an upfront one-time investment,
and you don't have to pay for a renewal subscription after that.
The cloud version is a subscription that you're having to pay basically forever to be able to maintain that.
So there's, again, there's advantages and disadvantages to multiple options.
Okay.
And just for clarification, so now 30 to 40 days on or about day 40 or 41 it starts kind of overriding.
Is this going to get us to where on or about day 121 or so it's going to start overriding again.
Same type format as what we currently have correct. I mean the goal is to extend that storage capacity up to 120 days
And again, there's lots of variables right on that. So there still will be a range. It depends on the quality of
The picture it depends on as you guys know after hours our cameras are set by motion
So it depends on how much motion and how often that camera is being set off by traffic or
that you can see outside or if there's staff that are up there on the weekends working on a Saturday or Sunday
So it kind of ranges. That's why there's a range between 30 and 40 days
But yes, mr. Britton. The goal is to extend that up to about 120 days
But what more than that the bond passes because we've got that other money in there
Yes, ma'am. That's the plan is to continue to expand that
to give us capabilities for cold storage. So if there's an event of some sort that we need to hold
things in perpetuity that we can move things over to.
Again, and correct me if I'm wrong, anybody,
but once we get notification that we need to pull footage,
we can pull that and hold that for indefinitely.
We can put it on a jump drive and it lasts forever.
But we're required to hold that for a,
is it three year period of time?
Minimum three years.
And that's statute, that's legislation, correct?
Under the public equation, that's what we're going to say.
Okay, thank you.
So, Mr. Carter, looking at it right now, what's the ballpark we in for cost in shallow, what
you believe that so far?
Well, again, I'm Mr. Costman.
We don't estimate that this project will cost more than $750,000, but again, since we haven't
finalized the scope, it's really tough to give you an exact estimate of how much
each project is going to cost.
So I can say I don't think it will cost more than $1.5 million between both projects,
But if we go with a cloud-based solution, it could cost less upfront but have a longer or more ongoing cost.
If we go with more of the traditional onsite servers and switches which would currently operate,
then it may have a more higher upfront cost but a less ongoing cost.
So right now it's really hard to give you an exact answer because we just haven't finalized all that scope of the project.
Where we are in the investigation portion is we're working with our camera software folks and so looking at taking inventory of what the capacity is we have right now and then they're helping us because they know what those frame rates are, they know what those bit rates are, they know what those additional servers are, so they're helping us determine what that capacity is going to be.
So we have a range of cameras, right?
We have our exterior cameras, our 4K cameras.
So how many, as we continue to grow the district, right?
We have to take it into account, you know,
we're gonna open up middle school, number four,
and when the bond passes, those additional facilities.
So we want to take into account
all of those additional components
as the district continues to grow
so that we can continue to maintain
that 120 days is the goal.
So right now where we are as we're working through,
How many terabytes do we need to meet that goal of 120 days?
And so I think that's where we're adding the process right now.
Once we identify that, then we can identify what's the best way to go out
and get that 1,500 terabytes or whatever it is,
whether it's to go out and lease it from somebody
or to go out and purchase it in a system that we can add on to in the future.
So just to clarify, this would be fund-balanced spending and anything future would be bond spending.
Correct. So right now the agenda item before you guys tonight would be coming from our local operating budget,
and so it would be spending some of our fund reserves.
As you know, currently our budget deficit is about $7.5 million,
so this would be dipping further into our fund reserves.
And then again we have currently allocated roughly about $750,000 from the 2024 bond proposal to continue to expand this.
And then at that point it's at the board's purview to expand that with whatever resources we have in the future.
So tonight we would be giving you authorization to do anything in excess of $100,000 but no more than $750,000.
Correct. So technically what you guys are authorizing is for us to spend it over $100,000.
And really, there's no cap on it per se, but we don't estimate that it will cost any more than $750,000.
Is there a way to tie the spinning into the bond?
So it would come part of the bond if it passes?
Excuse me?
No way to tie it with the bond?
This particular agenda item?
I
mean, you could not approve this agenda item and say that...
Okay, so that means it either has to be okay?
Yes, sir.
All right.
I'm going to approve the purchase in excess of $100,000, I'll second.
Okay, a motion by Mr. Consulman and a second by Dr. Packer. Are there any other questions or comments?
If not, I'll call for the vote. All in favor,
that's 7-4-0 against and 0 absent.
Okay, a 7-B is an action item, consider approval of a resolution,
nominating a candidate to serve on the board of directors of the Rockwell County
appraisal district. Thank you President Hilton. So the authority references are
several sections from the Texas property tax code section 6.03. The
district shall submit the names of the nominees to the chief appraiser before
October 15th and then before October 30th the chief appraiser will prepare
about listing candidates whose names were timely submitted. I believe you
you guys have a copy of the resolution in your board book where we are recommending
nominating Tim Hartley and John Hohenshelts to serve as the Rockwell Central Appraisal
District Board of Directors. With that, the district's recommendation is to approve a
resolution nominating the candidates to serve on the board directors of the Rockwell Central
Appraisal District. And again, I believe that you guys have a copy of that resolution
in your board packet. So this is the first step where we will nominate directors and then again as
mentioned in your board synopsis the chief appraiser will come back by no later than October 30th
and prepare a ballot and then at our I believe our October board meeting or maybe it's our November
board meeting excuse me you'll also notice in your board book you have the number of votes
that are allocated to Rockwell ISD there'll be another agenda item that we bring to you
for your consideration to allocate the number of votes for Rockwell ISD based on the directors
nominated at that time. And then that will be the conclusion of that process. But having
said that, I believe we just have a short resolution for you guys to read, and I'll
be happy to take any questions.
Do we have any questions? I think we need to do the vote before we read the resolution.
I'll make a motion to approve as presented.
A motion by Mr. Britton.
I'll second.
second by Mr. Consulman. Any questions or comments? I'll call for the vote. All in favor?
7-4-0 against, and 0 absent. Dr. Packer, yes, no.
Be it resolved by the Board of Trustees of the Rockwell Independent School District that
we, the Board of Trustees of Rockwell Independent School District, do hereby nominate the
following to serve as the director of the Rockwell County Central Appraisal District
Board of Directors, Tim Hartley, John Hohenschild.
The resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees
as duly called public meeting held on September 16th, 2024.
The agenda item eight is Student Services Department.
Eight A is an action item,
consider approval of Texas Education Agency
class size waiver.
Thank you, President Hilton.
Board of Trustees, Dr. Villarreal.
The Texas Education Agency permits school districts a waiver process
that allows districts the opportunity to modify certain standards.
At this time, the following waiver is being requested.
That is a maximum class size waiver.
Districts are required to review class size enrollment and grades pre-K through fourth
to determine whether the classes meet the requirements of Texas Education Code 25.112.
The allowable pre-K for class size is 22 students to one teacher.
The district must submit a request for exception waiver should any class size exceed this limit.
In your board book, you have documents showing the current list of class size waivers as being requested.
There's a total of 39.
You also have historical data that shows you the annual, as well as the annual divided into fall and spring.
So the recommendation is for the Board of Trustees to consider approval of the request for the Texas Education Agency class size waiver.
And I'll take any questions if you have any.
our story that 10 for Billy Stevenson that seems kind of like an anomaly was
there something that happened that caused that or it's just growth in it
growth all over in that area definitely growth in that area okay thanks yes I'll
make a motion to approve motion by mr. White well
second second by mr.
consulman any questions or comments not all for the vote all in favor that's
seven, four, zero against, and zero absent.
Okay, eight, B is an action item.
Consider approval of contracts for election services
with Rockwall County, Kaufman County, and Cullen County.
Thank you, President Hilton, Board of Trustees,
Dr. Villarreal.
November 5th, 2024 is designated by the State of Texas
as a date for a general election,
which includes Proposition A,
a voter approval tax ratification election,
and Propositions B, C, and D,
issuance of bonds
by the Rockwall Independent School District.
The district will contract with Rockwall County,
Kaufman County, and Colling County,
and will coordinate with the election administrator,
excuse me, of each county.
A contract of election services must be agreed upon
by the school district and the municipalities
that will serve as polling places
for individuals who reside within the boundaries
of Rockwall ISD.
I would like to add that there's an approximate cost on your synopsis, but I had an opportunity
to speak with a county election administrator on Friday who provided me an estimate of their
services which will possibly require an increase in what's currently on your board synopsis
just based upon the possible predicted voter turnout and the amount of services and support
and individuals that will have to hire to serve at those polling places.
So a rough estimate of what the total cost for all of the elections in those three counties
is approximately around $60,000 based upon the additional services and supplies and needs
and individuals don't have to hire to work at those polling places.
Can we pay a portion of that?
We do.
So each county has their own formula as it relates to what each municipality,
based upon their registered voters or possible voters,
there's a percentage in which we pay a portion.
And all the different government agencies that are having elections play a percentage of the, okay, making sure.
So Dr. Shroy, the approximate was 40,000.
So was that based on the last election or was it 40,000?
Yeah, that was based upon previous elections that we've held with our county election administrators.
But as I stated, due to the...
So 150%?
Roughly 50%, yes.
And that's an estimate of what the total cost may
be for each of those county election administrators.
So
the recommendation is for the Board of Trustees
to agree to enter into contracts for educational services,
election services, forgive me, with Rockwall County,
Kaufman County, and Collin County as presented.
I'll make a motion to approve as presented.
Motion minus.
think about the motion by Mr. Britten. I'll second it. And second by Mr. White. Any questions or
comments? I'll call for the vote. All in favor? 7-4-0 against and 0 absent.
Agenda item 9, consider approval of the consent agenda. A, minutes of special
session held on August 14th 2024 and regular session held on August 19th
B, financial information, August 2024 financial highlights, August 2024 financial report,
September 2024 budget memo, September 2024 budget amendments, August 2024 purchasing
cooperative report donations, C, personnel, resignations of personnel and employment of
personnel, D, consider approval of defense agreement and case number, the case number
on your board thing, pending in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Texas,
E, consider approval of off-campus physical activity
programs for fall of 2024, F, consider
approval of the District Educational Improvement
Committee, the DEIC, for the 2024-2025 school year.
Make a motion to present.
We approve this presented for the consent agenda.
OK, a motion by Mr. White.
And a second by Dr. Packer.
Any questions or comments?
No, I'll call for the vote. All in favor?
Aye.
7-4-0 against N-0 absent.
Without any further questions or comments, the time is 9.20 and we are adjourned.